Meditation Bowl

Posted on September 22, 2014 by edges

These bowls are enough to drive you sane.

With a little bit of practice, you can make these and they are useful, visually pleasing and mesmerizing to sew.

I start with 20 yards of cotton cording (generally found in the uphostery section). Traditionally, folks used cording like this as large piping or for drapery –home dec. sewing.

This particular cording, because it is all cotton is very soft, not rigid, like clothesline cord.

I used King Tut all-cotton variegated thread from Superior in both the top and bobbin.

Be sure to have more than 1 spool available. You go through quite a bit of thread. Set your machine to a nice wide zigzag…enough to cross over both sides of the cording.

Start in the center of the bowl and simply sew the cording together. Keep the cording to your right so you can feed it into the machine.

The bottom section of your bowl stays flat. As you progress, gently lift the side of the flat disk and continue sewing. This begins to form a shape.

Crazily, uncharacteristically, the sewing begins to feel like sculpture, like pottery. This is where the meditation kicks in.

You continue to sew at a relatively slow speed, always keeping your eye on the two cords. Is the zigzag always straight down the middle between the two?

You’ll be tempted to keep sewing while you glance away at the cording to see how much you have left. Don’t.

Stop sewing if you need to, but don’t take your eyes off the needle. Guarantee you will slip off track.

The beauty of the process is that if you keep going, you’ll ascend to a higher place. You”ll become a part of the hum, a part of the cording. Your hands will follow the movements automatically and you’ll feel the flow.

Your mind will calm and focus on just about 1 inch of space on the earth.

And when you are done, you will have created something very peaceful, very zen.

And it will be more than just a bowl. It will be the place where you put your effort for a while, and the time when you let your racing thoughts evaporate.

Namaste, friends.

Sew Practical

Posted on September 12, 2014 by edges

A lot of the quilts I make are decorative. Or they are gifts for family or friends. Or they are just something whimsical I decided to try for fun.

But lately, I’ve been looking around the house thinking we need some changes.

Pottery Barn has some queen size duvet covers I really would like, but they never seem to fit perfectly. They are always slightly too large. And they cost upwards of $150 plus shipping if I order online. If I want something in the current line (not on sale) it is closer to $200.

I should stop right here and say that I have a love/hate relationship with Pottery Barn. I love that they always have interesting merchandise. I hate that I could make so much of it myself. One part of me loves to go in and wander around, get ideas, be inspired, wish my house looked that way. The other part of me is just scornful at the way they sometimes say their quilts are “hand-quilted”…by whom? And how much are they getting paid? And who needs all this stuff anyway? So, it’s an ugly argument with myself.

That aside, we still need a duvet cover.

So I picked out some French General fabric from Moda. La Fete de Noel.

Now, I spend a lot of time around fabric. I touch it, fold it, cut it, work with it day in and day out.

But this stuff is really lovely. The fabric is made in Japan (very little fabric is made in the US, but that’s changing.) For some reason, the Japanese have a way of making their fabric very soft…like silk.

After I washed it, it felt like brushed cotton…even better for quilt fabric.

One of the best parts is the lovely selvage, which is almost a shame to cut off.

A duvet cover sounds easy enough, right? Just a couple of pieces of fabric sewn together.

Wrong.

First, quilt fabric doesn’t fit across a bed. You have to assemble it. Second, you have to get the measurements at least somewhat precise. Third, for a queen size you have to lay out and assemble all that bulk of fabric, pin it, press it and on and on.

Pottery Barn is starting to look pretty good.

But all’s well that ends well. Got my new duvet cover for the cost of some fabric (lovely fabric) in the pattern I wanted – with coordinating fabric on the back.

Now our front window is leaking…too bad I can’t sew up a new window. But the valance? Hmmmm…..that’s another story.

Slow But Steady…Maybe Just Slow

Posted on August 29, 2014 by edges

Finally, between all the end-of-summer commotion and back to school and bus rides and new schedules and coordination, I found a few moments to sew.

I wanted to get back to the Polka Dot Tree project, which has been sitting on my machine for, I don’t know, months now.

I continued outlining the branches, using the triple blanket stitch. This is such a common stitch but is a little trickier to use than a simple blanket stitch. However, for my purposes, it stands out on the tree and branches so much better and has the look of hand stitching.

Throughout the project, I had the dual feed engaged and used a number 20 foot so that I could see exactly where I was going.

With the branches done, it looks a little more like a Halloween project than I was hoping.

However, after positioning some of the leaves, I got a better feel for the direction this project is headed. I guess that’s the beauty of designing and creating my own projects.

I have no idea how something is going to turn out til after it’s done.

With the polka dot leaves laid out, I am liking the patchwork/scrappy thing that’s happening. I am planning (at least at this point) to do some hand embroidery and hand stitching on the leaves, adding in some wools for dimension. You can just get a hint of some of the fabulous wools in the upper left-hand corner of the shot.

I won’t be able to start quilting til after all of that is complete.

Since the fabric on this quilt came from 60 different people around the world in a polka dot fabric exchange, the idea of being united is important to me. I am toying with the concept of adding a machine embroidery quote along the bottom. We’ll see. Ideas are easy. Implementation takes a little time.

Sometimes a Locker is Just a Locker

Posted on August 13, 2014 by edges

One more week and school starts.

Yesterday, my son and I dutifully scrambled over to the middle school to get his schedule, locker, locks, gym uniform and all the stuff that gets done a few days before school starts.

When we stepped through the door, we found a barrage of mom-volunteers, lined up with clip boards and boxes, maps of the school, directives and summaries of where to go and what to do. Bless their hearts.

The noise was deafening, as parents (mostly moms) and students clamored to drag in their wheelbarrows full of school supplies, divvied up into copious plastic bags from Target or Dollar General or Walmart.

Some remembered our son from elementary school. “Don’t worry,” they all shouted, “you’ll love it here.” Good thing I’m not going to school any more. I already hate it.

As we lumbered up the “up” stair case and down the hall, I saw a frantic mom “wallpapering” a locker. Seriously. I glanced at my son. “Don’t even think about it,” he said without slowing down.

Others were furiously unpacking their child’s supplies, taking plastic wrap off of folders and loading up lockers.

When we reached my son’s locker, we opened to a yawning empty abyss. He could barely reach the one and only top shelf. To the right of us, a mom and daughter team had just finished their remodeling job.

Her locker looked like my first apartment.

It was decked out like a California Closets ad. She had a mirror…at the perfect height, a small organizer on the door and on the back wall, shelving, decorations and a tiny chandelier hanging from the top. (My first apartment did NOT have a chandelier). Her books and binders were all lined up neatly on the shelves. She flipped her hair and looked at me.

I looked back at my son who had managed to throw all his Target bags on top of one another on the floor of his locker and was shoving at the door trying to get it to close.

“Where did you get all that?” I asked the mom on the right, shouting above the din. She was on her cell phone. “Container Store!” she yelled back. “And they only have 9 more left! My friend is picking up more shelving for us! Call right away and they might reserve one for you!”

I sighed. It’s been 40 years since I was anywhere near 6th grade. I was not driving 20 miles to the nearest Container Store.

We trudged home. “Don’t you think it would be nice to have some of those shelves?” I asked. “Yeah,” he said. “That would probably help.”

To be honest, I did not even know what to google. Locker shelving? Locker organization? Locker stackers, as I heard someone refer to them? I called the nearest Staples.

“Do you have any shelves for lockers?”

“Oh yes! We have lots of pink ones!”

“Do you have any other colors?”

“hmmm…let me see…ummm…yes there’s one black one. Maybe one more in black.”

“Good! Hold it for me, I’ll be right over!”

I have often wondered why our son just simply does not have huge organizational skills. I don’t wonder any more. Apparently it’s genetic.

But I’ll say this much: At least today in school I learned something.

Here’s a pinterest link to locker organizers!

Multi-hoop project is quilted, bound and finished.

In Over My Head…As Usual

Posted on July 20, 2014 by edges

Silly me.

I thought I would try multi-hooping in machine embroidery.

But I didn’t start with a simple design that might require 2 hoopings. No. Not me.

I didn’t even start with a design (as recommended by Amanda from Bernina) with 3 hoopings. Nope.

My design requires 14 separate hoopings. What could go wrong?

The truth is, it’s a pretty nice design. I used some of the Sepia Petals collection, resized them, wreathed, mirrored and aligned them.

The effect is lovely. But the design is upwards of 157,000 stitches and measures about 2 ft. by 2 1/2 ft.

I used the hoop canvas in Embroidery Software 7. When I went to save, it asked me this question: Would you like the export to split the files-one file for every hooping–SHOW ME first.

The SHOW ME turned out to be the most critical part of the design. It displays a map of every hooping, in relation to every other hooping.

I am only 7 hoopings into this.

Needless to say, after about 2 hoopings I was about to abandon the whole project. The registration marks were pulling out. Nothing was lining up properly. But after about the third hooping I began to get better at facing the challenge.

I relied more on the precise positioning on the machine to help me line things up.

I got good at keeping the software open and showing the view of the hooping that I was stitching (was this number 6 or number 7??) Anyway, at this point I managed to get the second half of the tree stitched…not yet shown in the pic below, and I am starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel.

This pic is obviously a work in progress and I don’t have a final to show you yet. I am planning on adding some coordinating fabric and quilting before I am finished. But at least you can see where it’s headed.

Remember, its about a 2 ft. x 2 1/2 ft. design when completed. It hasn’t been pressed in about 3 hoopings. But I think I can make it work. What a learning opportunity this has been!

Stay calm and keep stitching. Amen to that.

I’ll share when it’s done.

Gesture Drawing — Learning the Art of Letting Go

Posted on July 7, 2014 by edges

I’m not sure the formal definition for gesture drawing. Leonardo DaVinci did it all the time.

Waaaay back, when I was in college, we were taught the technique in order to de-stress, to loosen up and to relate to our subjects in an entirely different way.

It is a “no judgment” form of art. All it takes is a pencil, some paper and the inclination to look around you. Focus on something and begin to draw…no erasing. Keep it loose and free. Try not to perfect it, try not to correct, simply let yourself feel the essence of the subject. This is more relational than visual. And it’s a brilliant way for everyone to begin to draw. The focus is less on creating a likeness than on creating a feeling.

At any rate, if you are like me, eventually you’ll tighten up. I can start out very loose. But then that’s never enough. One more line, just a little more shading. In my mind I must try a little harder, and before long it’s no longer gesture…it’s “I am irrelevant unless I can create something masterful.” And then of course, all the fun is gone.

A gesture drawing should never take more than about 5 minutes. When you start feeling anxious, stop. Try drawing something else. Or simply walk away.

The beauty of this technique is that it takes about 15 minutes out of your day. It doesn’t have to be lovely. It doesn’t even have to be good. It just has to be fast, before that higher part of you brain wants to take over and tell you it’s not good. Interesting exercise.

A pad of paper and a pencil. No eraser. Not because you won’t make mistakes. But because worrying about mistakes is just not the point.

Loyal Hearts – Civil War Quilters of Illinois

Posted on June 25, 2014 by edges

I don’t have much in common with my 12-year-old son any more. I don’t write Minecraft apps and he doesn’t embroider. My idea of fun is strolling through a lovely garden and his is slipping and sliding feet first down a water slide.

That’s OK. We venture into each others’ worlds often enough, and luckily we both love the art of conversation. Today we found a precious piece of common ground. He is a civil war aficionado and I am a quilter. And Illinois State Museum in Lockport is bringing both of these interests together in a stunning display until Oct. 17.

Please make the time to go visit. You won’t regret seeing these lovely pieces of history in person and reading the stories.

Just a few samples:

This white on white embroidery whole cloth piece is just stunning. Ask the docent to run the light over it or behind it to get the full effect. Something that had me just mesmerized was the way the cloth does not pucker from all the stitches. I’m still not sure why. The thread is heavy and the stitching is dense and very elaborate. A mystery that went to the grave with this woman.

This one was probably done 1912-1915. Hence the 48 stars. The women who assembled this would have been commemorating the local soldiers, and this likely was a raffle piece.

Detailed hand embroidery for every name on the quilt.

The young lady who created this quilt was from Aurora IL in Kane County. Her husband went off to the war and she stayed home with family and created this masterpiece.

It is speculated that she had ties to the general store and had access to precious fabric. Cotton was not easily obtained so she used wool.

My favorite piece, which is obviously one of the stars of the show is this Log Cabin quilt. The story is that the woman who made this quilt had sons in both the Confederate and Union Armies. Pieces of uniforms from both sides are embedded in the quilt.

I’m not sure why, but it never occurred to me that Illinois could lean both toward the North and toward the South. Chicago, of course was Yankee territory, but southern Illinois, down near the Kentucky border, was very much considered the south. Precisely what makes this quilt so very “Illinois” and so very poignant.

Finally, I had to include this gem. Taken from a note sent with a pair of socks, it is a civil-war era form of social media. Match.com-style. We gals haven’t changed so very much over the years, now, have we?

Fresh Projects and Fresh Strawberries

Posted on June 16, 2014 by edges

This is a project I worked on at work and at home for the June Bernina Software Sampler, which I teach. The project involved learning techniques for machine embroidery applique. The bud of the flower is part of the tutorial, but I went ahead and incorporated other elements as well, adding the stems, leaves etc. to create a simple but “summery” table runner. Once again, I was inspired by something I saw on Pinterest.

No pattern available, but for those of you with embroidery machines and Bernina Embroidery Software 7, it’s a piece of cake….well, once you work out the dimensions. The flower panels are 8 x 8 inches finished, and everything else falls into place after that.

(How many pairs of glasses does one sewist need? Hint: At one point I used them both.)

One of my favorite times of the year is when the strawberries are harvested at the local farm. Here’s a shout out to friends at Norton Farm. They are an important part of our summer! We’ll be waiting for the tomatoes, broccoli and finally the fabulous corn! I’m growing a few tomatoes and cukes out back, but the weather has been a little cool, so they are taking their time developing.