This Summer In the Garden

With the lack of rain we’ve had recently, the weeds haven’t yet had a chance to overtake the whole thing.

My community garden plot is currently doing…OK. I am growing tomatoes, onions, kale, peppers, some lettuce (I already harvested some), cantaloupe, watermelon, cucumbers, corn, basil, and zinnias around almost 3 sides of the borders.

I’ve kept everything pretty wide open this year. Some of my tomatoes are not disease-resistant, and I am noticing sign of fusillarium wilt. This is a soil-borne disease, and I really can’t do much about it except to plant resistant tomatoes.

I made a quick run to the local privately owned nursery to see what’s left, and lucky me, they had some disease resistant tomatoes. I purchased a 4-pack for $1. Seriously. $1. And I got them in the ground as quickly as possible. The new tomatoes will likely start to produce sometime in September, but who cares? That still works.

I have already harvested some cherry tomatoes. I’m waiting for the others to ripen. For some reason, the cucumber plant produced one early cucumber and now I’m wondering if it will continue to produce. There seems to be some other starts on it, but they are tiny. Usually cucumbers all come in at the same time. I am having some pollinator anxiety because I simply have not seen a lot of them yet. And I have a neighbor across the way who uses every possible chemical on his area. His veggies are not troubled by any insects. But we are supposed to be organic. Who’s gonna tell this old gentleman that he can’t use Sevin whenever he wants?

The zinnias are taking a little time to begin blooming regularly, but most of them were from seed so I can be patient. I am hoping that by the end of July I’ll have blooms all the time.

I hope you are having a relaxing summer. I’m not sure that I am, to be honest. I’m just trying to get from one day to the next, just like everyone else. I focus on what’s in front of me, and I’m not sure I can do anything else.

As for sewing? I haven’t really touched a thing. But I did set aside an old sheet that I think would make a nice late-summer skirt or a top.

May we all find strength and peace in the season. Right now, around Fourth of July, I tend to begin focusing on Fall projects. I’m sure the sewing inspiration will return. Until then, eat healthy things, take care of yourself and love the Earth.

Time for a Modern Quilt

I wanted a clean-lined quilt for my newest great-nephew. His mom had mentioned that the colors of the baby’s room were tan and forest green, with woodland creatures.

So I found this pattern in Modern Quilts Illustrated #15.

The curved piecing was very reminiscent of leaves, so the first challenge was rounding up all the fabrics that I thought would work for my project. I didn’t want to go with the grey background and thought I might be able to substitute a tan and still get the same transparency effect.

In keeping with my effort to only purchase organic fabric, I found some that were nearly perfect from Hawthorne Supply Company. Many of their regular quilt fabrics have an organic option.

So the above fabric was the inspiration, but I knew it would just be on the back. I really loved the idea that the quilt would have this slick modern look/feel on the front but still have an element of the baby’s room and theme on the back. It’s always nice to have something that will extend beyond just “baby”.

At any rate, I was a little concerned about the curved piecing, but to be honest it was pretty simple. The directions and graphics in the pattern are very straightforward. I made a copy of the template on some template plastic that I had hidden somewhere for years. (It was perfect for the task.)

And I set about piecing and laying out the quilt. It had plenty of white space so overall it was a fairly quick assembly. The hardest part was all the planning in order to get the colors just the way I wanted them.

The result was an extremely cool pattern and vibe.

I ended the quilt with some machine embroidery which I put on the front of the quilt next to the binding in one straight line. It added an element of interest, like a painting signed on the front. I don’t have a pic of the quilt label, because I don’t want to make all the names public. (sad face emoji)

From this pic, you are seeing the bottom half of the quilt as it hags over the railing, so it’s about twice that high.

In general, it was one of the most satisfying quilts I’ve done. Matching the colors to the back, maintaining the theme, and still incorporating craftsmanship and interest. I wanted it to be a quilt that could be washed and washed and loved to pieces.

Don’t be afraid to walk away from your usual work or traditional quilts once in awhile. You might be surprised to find a fun and interesting new aesthetic. I never want to be boxed into a corner or predictable in this craft.

If you’ve been plugging along, feeling like you are in a rut, try something completely different. In fact, try the opposite of what you normally do. I’m personally feeling like I need some improvisational quilting these days. Structure is feeling a little uncomfortable.

I guess we’ll see what comes next. Happy stitching, friends!

One Quilt Done, and a Tip for Sloppy Eaters

I thought I would share the final version of this quilt.

Looks like I’m ready to move on to a baby shower gift. The next one will be a modern quilt. I’m busy cutting out pieces at the moment and will share it with you as soon as I get a bit further.

But here’s a little idea for those of you who do machine embroidery and drop food on yourselves. Wouldn’t you like to see the Venn diagram for that?

Anyway, I do both those things. And so I had a stain from something delicious on a shirt that I made during the pandemic. The fact that it has held up for a few seasons and many washings makes it even better. Nevertheless, I had some kind of drip down the front of it that the washing machine and dryer just made permanent. I’ve never been good with stains and I will take any and all suggestions. I don’t remember quite what the stain was on this shirt, likely some reddish fruit juice. (That’s not a euphemism for wine. I only drink white, and that’s rare.)

So I added an embroidery design. I wanted it to be light weight…and it needed to be the shape of something that dripped while I was eating or drinking…or cooking.

Luckily, I found this collection from Embroidery Online called Heirloom Birds. Turned out to be the perfect design. Lightweight, easy and quick to stitch. I purchased the whole collection. I am a healthy eater, so there’s bound to be more where this came from.

Anyway, I hope you are enjoying your craft. Don’t be afraid to use it to your advantage. None of us is perfect. But a little embroidery goes a long way. (That has to be in a Jane Austen novel somewhere.)

Happy Spring! I’ll be in touch as my next quilt gets further along.

Process and Progress: The Journey of a Quilt

I started working on this quilt last year, hoping to send it with my son as he headed off to college. Now, after spending some time on it, he will likely see it when he gets married. Some day.

Just kidding. Sort of.

I’m in the final stretch, but it has been quite a journey. Thankfully, my son loves the pattern, and has been patient.

It starts with hundreds of half square triangles. The pattern is Les Petales from French General. I managed to scrape up enough of their fabric to use as well. I’m not even getting into the hours spent cutting all the fabric before a single stitch is sewn.

Here is a look at it from above, before it was completely pieced. At this point I thought I was getting close to being done. Nope.

Once the bulk of the quilt had been assembled, I went to work on the border. How hard could it be, I thought. Ha.

Have you ever pieced a quarter square triangle border? There is just not a single intuitive thing about it, and the pattern did not give any specific instructions.

An acute angle sewn to a right angle SEEMS like it would be an easy and quick thing to do.

Not so. Or not sew.

Every piece needs to be measured, marked and pinned, almost like a Y seam. On the acute angle, you must measure 1/4 in. from each side, and the pin goes at the intersection. Same of course for the right angle…which is much easier.

In the next step, it’s the mirror of the process, and so on, and so on…

Here is a link to a video that I found very helpful from Fons and Porter.

At one point she refers to part of the process as an “idiot check.” I’m not going to take that personally. No, I’m not. And if you try it, you won’t either.

A quarter square triangle border is a lovely thing.

But it takes forever to piece. And even when you are working very hard to get it right, you will still have some points that are not perfect. But you can fix them as you assemble as long as they are not off by too much. Don’t ask me how many I ripped and redid.

Finally, I am at the quilting stage. I want the quilt to be soft, washable and survive a lot of uses, so I am going with a simple quilt pattern.

I’ll give you another peak once it is complete.

I hope you are challenging yourself with new patterns and new techniques. It’s all about process, isn’t it? When it’s done, it’s just done. But the learning journey and the persistence to follow through…that is the thing.

Happy stitching, my friends! Spring is coming!

The Lowly Zen of Cardmaking

No one uses paper any more. I know. Just a quick email or text…how are you? what’s up? how’s everything? hey, thanks (I may be using too much punctuation.)

But I am a card writer. I would much rather tell someone how I feel in long form. And if I want to confound my son, like sending a message in code, I use cursive, which no one in younger generations can interpret.

Last year, or maybe the year before, or maybe even 2019, I purchased some card stock for machine embroidery.

The two best places I have found to purchase card embroideries are Embroidery Online, Embroidery Library.

The designs you see here are a mix of the two.

I did not purchase anything new to make these. That’s part of my new goal, to be as much of a non-consumer as possible unless it is electronic. The designs don’t count, at least not in my book, as they are digital–a simple download, and off we go.

Here are a few tips if you want to work with machine embroidery and cardstock:

  1. Use designs specifically digitized for cards. Unless you are daring and a pro, I don’t recommend trying to use any design that is stitch-heavy. It’s just not worth the hassle.
  2. Use a sticky back cutaway stabilizer like Stabilstick Cutaway from OESD
  3. Score the paper side of the stabilizer, and remove it from inside the hoop. You hoop the stabilizer first, paper side up, then score it with a straight pin. Don’t be afraid. Then just tear it out of the inside of the hoop.
  4. On OESD designs, the first stitch is for placement of the card. The first color of the design is a stitched rectangle that goes directly onto the stabilizer and shows you where to place the card. It saves you from some fiddling you might have to do with other designs to get the placement centered.
  5. General machine embroidery tip: If the machine says it will take 15 minutes to stitch out, allow 30 minutes. The time allowed for stitching is just that: stitching time. It doesn’t account for any thread changing time, or cutting of jump stitches or your general speed that you like to work. The more thread changes, the more time you should allow “over” the predicted time.
  6. Always start with a well-oiled machine, a full bobbin and a new needle (sharp or Microtex 80/12.)

This Christmas card from OESD was quite stitch heavy, and I’m not sure I would do it again. It required an applique for the black background. I measured the placement stitch and cut a piece of Kraft-Tex to fit. It turned out well, but I did not appreciate the amount of time involved for one card.

You can see the back of one of the cards. I think you can cover that up with another piece of cardstock. But I thought that some of the charm was that it looked as nice from behind as it did from the front.

As someone who loves stationery, I found these lovely and easy to stitch, for the most part. The designs do come with thread charts and instructions, but it’s a lot more fun to choose your own color way.

Finally, for the last card in the box, I took one of my photos (a peace lily bloom, with a pointsettia background). I transferred it onto the card using Transfer Artist Paper. It was simple and easy, and now I have a set of personalized cards for all occasions.

I hope you still write letters from time to time. I love to receive them and I think others do too. In a world where everything is fleeting, fast and electronic, let’s cherish a little bit of slow communication.

Peace out.

Kraft-Tex and Machine Embroidery…My Favorite Combination

Once again, I’m on the path to create something new and fresh for Valentine’s Day. I don’t know why I always want to make something for this holiday…it’s so over-hyped and over-done already. Except that it’s mid-winter, and once I put the holiday decorations away, I’m left yearning to do something different. And I always find something unique for Valentine’s Day.

Here are a few of my past posts:

My Heart’s Greeting, and Other Valentines

–The Un-Valentine

-Valentine’s Day Kraft-Tex Project

–My Practical Valentine

-Kraft-Tex, Transfer Artist Paper and Living on the Island of Lost Tools

–Buttoned-Up Valentine

I noticed that I tend to use Kraft-Tex paper a lot for this holiday. Not sure why, it just inspires me.

These days, I am obsessed with little houses. So I found this set of cross stitch designs on Etsy, from Waxing Moon Designs. It is an e-pattern with 3 designs.

I don’t do cross stitch, but I digitize designs. So I used my Bernina Embroidery Software to re-create these in machine embroidery.

I love thiem.

Each one is adorably cute and just perfect for Valentine’s Day.

These are stitched out on the brown craft paper color of Kraft-Tex. I always use 2 layers of Stabilstick cutaway stabilizer when machine embroidering. I could easily turn these into cards or ornaments or hanging decorations.

Here is a post where I created an entire village for a Christmas tree skirt. (It’s from 2020.) And below is a video (I’m not good at videos.) showing all the different buildings in the little cross stitch town.

These days I’ve been kicking around the idea of a quilt village, with my own designs of tiny houses and a village. I have some ideas, but I have to work out the patterns.

I want to do them in applique, but it’s all still in my mind. I have other projects to finish before then.

So stay warm during this mid-winter season, and Happy Stitching!

Dig Out All Those Old Fatquarters!

It’s that time of year where we start to clean out our fabric collections. This time, I dug deep and was ruthless about not “saving” these fatquarters for something else. The time for saving is over. Now is the time for using. And NOT purchasing.

If they weren’t slated for a project, they were open season to be made into grocery bags. My commitment this year is to avoid as much in single use plastic as I possibly can. Those pesky grocery bags were something I got away from a few years ago, and then along came COVID, and we worried about what we’d be bringing into our homes.

Now, we know it’s much more likely that we will breathe in the virus, and not as likely to get it from touching something that touched something else that might have had COVID sneezed onto it.

At any rate, it was time for me to stop with the plastic bags. Again. Fabric ones are easily tossed in the wash, reused, and if nothing else, I like them. At one time or another I purchased the fabric because I liked it. So there’s that. And, if along the way, I can avoid a tiny bit more in the landfill, then that’s my goal.

I shuffled through my collection of odds and ends of fatquarters and gathered twenty-five of them. Twenty for bags and another five for the handles.

It took me two days to make them all because I only worked about an hour a day. I lined up all the fabric and partnered each fatquarter with another that *could* be compatible. And I sewed them up on three sides.

On a serger, this just zipped right through.

The one thing you want to be careful about is having finished seam allowances. These will be washed over and over.

Next I made a bunch of handles that could be mixed and matched on the bags.

This type of sewing is really a lot like therapy. In these dark days of winter, sometimes I don’t have the energy to take on a tough project. Or to start something big. Or to work on that monotonous thing I committed to do, but have lost interest in doing. This stuff’s not hard. It’s not serious. It’s fast, it’s colorful, it has a purpose, and therefore satisfying.

And when you’re done, you have something practical and a little fun.

So get those old fatquarters out of hiding. You know you’re never going to make something with that bundle you just HAD to have. Or maybe if you look around, you’ll find the fatquarters you didn’t even know you had. Or possibly, you have leftovers from some other project.

Use them!

And make it fun and easy. Next week you can start that complex thing. You know.–the one that requires you to do THIS, before you can do THAT, and so on and so on, until you do nothing, because now you have to spend all your time looking for your good scissors.

I’ve been there.

It’s been a rough couple of years.

Do something simple and practical that will never be in a competition or on display or will never be judged. You’d be surprised at how freeing it can be. And those pretty fatquarters you’ve held onto for years? Or even the not-so-pretty ones you’ve also held onto for years?

Now they have a job.

Re-incarnating My First Quilt

Though it’s not a great picture, I created this quilt over 20 years ago in the aftermath of 9/11. I distinctly remember yarn-tying each and every little intersection with hunter green yarn. The news was on all day, and doing something with my hands was the only way to stay calm.

The quilt was enormous. It is a giant square, so 40 % of it is hidden on the other side of the railing. The squares are homey, comfy flannel. It was designed to say “cozy” every step of the way. Of course, even my first quilt, knowing absolutely nothing, I didn’t use a pattern–just laid it out in a way that seemed pleasing to me.

I didn’t have any idea how to quilt, though…thus the yarn-ties. And I put it together, like a pillow case. Turning the whole quilt sandwich inside out, I sewed 3 sides, turned it right side out, and managed to secure a seam along the remaining side. Then I started tying.

And it does work. You really could make a quilt that way.

However, the yarn started to fall out. Every night on our bed, I would find another one or two strings. And the quilt was so massive, that it was impossible to find where the yarn came from. After a few weeks, I decided that it needed some more work.

So I put it away.

In a closet.

For 20 years.

My nephew recently married, and he and his wife have a cabin-themed home…they love all the pine trees, the deer and northwoods-type atmosphere.

I went back to the closet and pulled out this quilt. I sent a pic of the pattern to my sister: Will they like this? Oh yes, was the answer. That’s just their style.

I examined the quilt and that night I got out the seam ripper.

I took off the entire backing and pulled out the batting. I straightened and corrected and made sure the quilt top was completely solid again.

I found some neutral backing which had also been in my closet…hmmm…maybe 7-10 years now.

And I laid the whole quilt sandwich out and quilted it for the first time, on my home machine. This time done right.

It really was a huge quilt to attempt at home, and remember the top is flannel. Not lightweight.

But I got it all quilted with an overall pattern and an edging that gives it some distinction. I still have to make a label and bind it, but I think it will make a perfect Christmas gift for them.

An heirloom, in their style, with a breath of fresh life. Nothing thrown away–just recycled, re-used and re-incarnated.

I wish I were better at re-purposing. I think it’s a skill I want to improve and increase.

May your holiday season take you on a spiritual journey… to loved ones, to the Earth, and possibly to the back of your closet.

My Newest Website Addition–green.edgestitch.com

I’m launching a new website called green.edgestitch.com. You can access it from the top menu on edgestitch.com or visit green.edgestitch.com. Of course, I will continue to post on edgestitch.com for sewing and art related topics.

But in addition, just as it sounds, I have decided to curate some content around Climate Science. Now I know that plenty of info is out there. That’s the problem. As folks who are going around in our everyday lives, we don’t always have the time or the energy to search for good data in a million different places.

Furthermore, I think we are all in for some changes. Ready or not, climate changes are affecting our lives in ways we could not have imagined years ago. And the changes will continue. This will not end with most of our lifetimes. It will continue to the next generation, and so on and so on.

Yet, if we are to preserve so much of what we hold dear in this ecosystem, (say, for instance, our food and water), we must make big changes. And this is very likely to cause anger, uncertainty, upheaval and fear.

I don’t want to go through that alone. I want to do it in community, with the help from experts and truth tellers.

I don’t think most of us are prepared for what’s to come.

So in an effort to get through this trying time together, I am sorting through information, presenting it with as much clarity as possible and backed by science and data from reputable sources.

I’ll meet you there.

As a start, Here are a few links. I’ll be adding more content as time goes on.

green.edgestitch.com

–Introducing the EN-Roads Modeling Tool

–Plastics are the New Coal

The Eco-Redemption of My Husband’s Pants

One day my husband strolled in the house after work, and turned his back to me to put something in the sink.

Me: Did you wear those pants all day at work?

Him: (slowly turning) Why?

Me: (coming up behind him and wiggling my cold fingers through the giant tear in his rear end.) Just wondering.

Him: (turning in circles, and reaching around) Oh man. Can you fix it?

He stripped right there in the kitchen and I made the obvious assessment.

Me: No. That tear is shredded, the fibers throughout are worn, and those pants should be thrown out.

Him: I really like these. Can’t you…(waves hands) make something else out of them?

Of course I can. And now I’m looking at my whole closet differently.

The pic above is the original tear. And you can plainly see that the seven inch tear down his backside was not going to be an easy fix. And look at those beltloops…worn past recognition.

He brings a bag to work every day for his lunch, so he needs a few of them. That’s where I started. A simple bag made from his pants.

I used the pant leg hems for the finish at the top. Some simple coordinating straps and I handed him a new bag the next day.

A few days later he was helping me hang a mirror in our son’s room and he strolled past a pillow and stopped in his tracks.

Him: Is that made from my pants?

Of course it was. I ran out of fabric for the back, so I used some coordinating fabric from my stash. A little serged trim and voila! New pillow. That button was salvaged years ago from the flea market where I am inclined to purchase containers of old buttons.

This is all that remains, but I’m saving it. Sometime when I’m watching TV, I’m going to harvest that zipper, and possibly those hooks. All that will be left will be a few shreds.

I’m starting to think about all our old clothes the same way. Fast fashion, as you know, is one of the hugest polluters on the planet. We purchase clothes for a season and off they go to the donation box or just the trash. They’re not constructed to last.

Now, I can’t really say that about my husband’s pants. He’s been known to wear his clothes until they literally turn to dust.

He’s way ahead of his time.

But now I’m re-examining everything in our closets. Doesn’t fit? Hmmm. It matches this thing over here. Polyester? Oooh, that will last 200 years before it breaks down. What can I do with that? Scarlet O’Hara and her drape-y dress have nothing on me. I’ve been giving my old drapes the side eye. (And of course, all I can think of is Carol Burnett coming down those stairs…)

You might be surprised at the inspiration you get from things already in your home. Have a little fun with it.