Slow But Steady

Posted on May 30, 2014 by edges

I am making some progress on the Polka Dot tree. Getting the basics right is always slow going…and the truth is, I am making this up as I go along so we’ll see how it turns out.

The shape of the tree was first drawn on freezer paper.

As you can see, I had to tape several rows of freezer paper together. Freezer paper is cheap. Large format drawing paper is not. I can work with almost anything.

Next I took the garment wool, which was half-price at the local shop, and I attached Wonder Under 805 to the back. Any double sided adhesive paper would work, especially Steam-a-Seam Lite. However, my experience is that once I attach the wool and iron it into position, the Wonder Under causes fewer problems with the sewing needle getting loaded with glue gunk. Every project is slightly different so we’ll see how this goes.

Next, I laid out the wool with the fusible on the back right side up over my cutting mat, and placed the freezer paper drawing on top. Then I simply trace the drawing with a rotary cutter.

Next comes the tricky part, as the tree then is just a squiggly bunch of fabric that has to be switched over and laid out on the red twill. Once it is moved into position, then I carefully remove the backing which allows me to fuse the tree to the background.

This is where you have to get creative. I happen to own a small flat ironing pad which I literally move around under the flat tree, and iron/fuse a little at a time until the tree is attached to the twill. It doesn’t have to be perfectly fused, as I will be stitching down all the branches and the trunk. The fusing just has to be enough to hold everything in place while I am moving it around under the machine to stitch it on.

Next I spread it out over a layer of quilt batting to act as stabilizer.

This is NOT the quilt sandwich!

I will eventually trim off the edge of the quilt batting and attach more fabric to the sides of the quilt (I think…if all goes as planned). But I will be fusing polka dot leaves on top of all the branches – 60 of them, one for every fabric I received in the exchange. Then I plan to do some embellishing and then once all is finished on the top of the quilt, I will add ANOTHER layer of quilt batting and the backing and then quilt the whole project.

Whew! I’m exhausted just thinking about it. But everything follows one step at a time.

Keep putting one foot in front of the other and eventually you make progress. Just like life.

Baby Steps Toward a Project

Posted on May 9, 2014 by edges

I’m getting ready to start working on the polka dot project. I have an idea about creating a tree with the different polka dots as the leaves. I am starting as a base fabric some absolutely lovely twill which I ran across on rosie.com, which had an advertising link to Honey Be Good. Honey Be Good sells premium organic cotton. I’ve only purchased this red twill there so far, but wow, the twill is yummy. I need some clothes made out of this stuff.

I’ll be adding wool as the trunk of the tree, and I wanted to outline it in white. I’m never sure how it will all turn out, but that’s the thought right now.

So I experimented on the machine using white perle cotton, size 8, as the blanket stitch thread.

As you can see, the perle has a lot of dimension, jumps off the fabric and generally adds a lot of pop. But size 8 is just too large to go through the tension disks properly.

I used a 90/14 needle and reduced the tension somewhat. But you can see that the back side was looking like it might get knotted and nested at any moment. Considering the size of this project, I just don’t want to be worrying so much about the thread.

I switched to Aurifil, size 28, and used the triple blanket stitch. I made the blanket stitch a little wider for visibility, since the thread is so much finer. Aside from having a more “machine-stitched” look, it does the job with the same “eyeball impact”.

So here’s where I’m eventually headed. I will be using much larger pieces of wool on the twill, with the white blanket stitch around it. Eventually the whole project will be machine quilted, but not until I get all the details that I want.

I urge you to really experiment with your machine and some of the thicker threads. You can get a hand-stitched look, and even when it does not look quite as hand-stitched, you can certainly add texture, dimension and detail to your project.

Be bold. Nobody is writing the rules.

Rediscovering Our Hands

Posted on May 2, 2014 by edges

Everything old is new again. Almost. I’ll never be ready to turn in my sewing machine (like, when they pry it from my cold dead hands), but this trend toward more work being done by hand is therapeutic, charming and totally exciting.

I recently ran across Jane Austen’s book “Emma” from Penguin Publishers, and they have released it with hand stitching illustrations on the front and back covers. It’s actually a photo of the stitching, but the work is so lively and fresh, it’s alone worth the purchase. The commissioned embroidery is done by Jillian Tamaki.

Front cover.

Front cover detail

Inside back cover.

One of the big trend setters and players in the new hand embroidery movement is folk artist Sue Spargo. Her work is colorful and, well, just interesting to look at. I think we’re reaching a point where we actually want to appreciate details again.

Sue Spargo bird

I think the re-emergence of wool applique and some of the new hand-dyed colors in wool is another inspiration. Wooly Lady keeps it fresh with their designs.

Wooly Lady

Just for fun I dug out the first and last hand embroidery I ever did. I think it took me months and was from a very simple pattern. I had it stuffed in a drawer, and I think the best part is the bag. Venture stores has been out of business entirely since 1998. The one where this bag came from was one that had originally been a TurnStyle store. Oh, c’mon all you midwestern oldies but goodies, you know what I’m talking about! Retail at it’s finest…hand embroidery from Venture. I’m such a time machine.

Save yourself — from Pinterest

Posted on April 25, 2014 by edges

If only I could. But every now and then I get sucked into it.

If you sew, you know just how many absolutely gorgeous fabulous creative bright shiny fresh interesting lovely stunning fabric-savvy darling sweet edgy smart…whew…IDEAS are on that site.

I am helpless to resist.

So this little t-shirt project was inspired by one of the ideas I saw there at some point, and I wish I could credit the original poster. But that’s the thing about pinterest. You click on something, then on another thing, and before you know it you are down the rabbit hole somewhere on a blog, mixing all the ideas together.

So, for the record, I bought several of these cheap tees to use at a class for embroidery positioning. The students used them in the class and now I have them left over and I was wondering what else I could do with them. Here’s the upcycle idea:

Before.

After.

Just a plain tee to start, but it gets cut up into a shrug-type garment.

In the summer, I think it will look cute over a tank or tee. Not bad for the $5 or so that I paid for it.

In the meantime, I’ll be shielding my eyes from the inevitable lure of pinterest.

For the moment.

A Sketch With Breakfast

Posted on April 23, 2014 by edges

Second Half of the Polka Dot Fabric Arrived!

Posted on April 21, 2014 by edges

Your fabric should either be her or in the precious post! All polka dot exchange fabric is shown...60 squares!

Your fabric should either be here or in the previous post! All polka dot exchange fabric has arrived…60 squares!

Well, the second half of the fabric has arrived, and I spent the morning pouring over the notes, and fabric and addresses (just to see where everything came from). This whole event has been a fabulous experience…and I haven’t even started to work with the fabric!

Vilbert, Germany. Wisconsin. California. Illinois. Derry, Ireland. Canberra, Australia.

Then, of course, was the fabric square from Edyta Sitar, from Laundry Basket Quilts, who also participated and did a lot of promoting of the exchange on her blog.

At this point, I have an idea of what I want to create with all of the polka dot fabric, but I need to work out exactly what I’m going to do…I’ll keep you posted.

Many thanks to everyone who participated and to Prairie Stitches for coordinating. This has been a terrific experience and I hope we can inspire one another to great things with all of our polka dot creations!

I Must Be Crazy

Posted on April 3, 2014 by edges

And so it begins. The long task of hand quilting this baby, stitch by stitch.

I started with a lovely 28 wt. Aurifil, which I would highly recommend for machine quilting. But after a few minutes, I switched to a much heavier weight (8) Valdani cotton. I agonized over the two threads for a long time, finally consulting my husband who asked what would happen if I mixed them, or if, heaven forbid, I decided to machine quilt about half way through. What if you get bored, he asked, or frustrated, or your hands seize up from the constant grip of the needle, or carpel tunnel sets in, or arthritis? Will the quilt police come after you??

I thanked him for all the positive encouragement and cursed the fact that he knows me too well.

Meanwhile I decided on the Valdani. It will be a wee bit more expensive, but I love the obvious hand sewn look. At a size 8, this thread simply will not go through a machine, at least not as a top thread, and therefore is only used for hand work.

I love that it gives the whole quilt top a homespun look. I really do not want a quilt that looks like I purchased it at Pottery Barn (no offense to Pottery Barn, they have lovely merchandise.)

I just wanted something that could not be purchased anywhere. So, yes, as crazy as it may seem, I’m going with the large thread and the hand quilting.

According to my calculations, it takes me a steady 1 hour to complete a block, and in the quilt there’s approximately 108 blocks, plus the border. I would have no problem machine quilting the border, but for kicks, let’s add it in. If I worked an hour every single day, I could complete the quilting in 4 months. Skipping days here and there, 6 months.

Realistically… one year. So, boys and girls, this is not a project for the instant gratification crowd. This is an endurance sport. If you haven’t noticed, I’m trying to psych myself up for the task.

I can do this.

Even though I have lots of other projects I want to work on in between bouts of hand quilting, and you know, life.

I won’t bore you with the ongoing work, at least not too much. I’ll just give you occasional updates.

So call me crazy. Or call me overextended. Just don’t call me late for dinner.

How Many Quilts in a Lifetime?

Posted on March 26, 2014 by edges

One of the things I hear constantly in a quilt shop is “I wish I had more time.”

Usually someone is walking around a store, inspired by the work of others, inspired by the patterns, inspired by the fabric, just plain inspired. But what is it about quilting that brings out the lament, “I wish I had more time” ?

When I worked in a fast-paced, deadline-oriented job, I never heard those words. Never.

Something about the act of creating makes us wish we had more time. Or maybe it makes us wish we didn’t have to ever make any decisions.

But the truth is, we all make decisions about how to spend our time. Walking around a quilt shop, looking at all the work and beauty that goes into each and every project, we come face to face with the hard reality that none of us will ever be able to do it all. We simply cannot make all the quilts, travel to all the places, have all the adventures, meet all the people, have it all, be it all, do it all.

None of us. No matter how productive, no matter how many sewing machines, no matter how much time we devote, no matter how skilled, no matter how trained or talented, no matter how much balance or non-balance, no matter how hard we plan, or how well we implement the plan, no matter how. hard. we. try.

We cannot do it all.

And every now and then, we look at one another and while we’re in a safe place, we say the words out loud.

I wish I had more time.

On a good day, someone smiles, gives us a hug and replies, “Me too.”

Larger than queen size. Finally assembled and ready to be hand-quilted.

Color My World … with Polka Dots

Posted on March 22, 2014 by edges

I’m ready for the World Wide Polka Dot exchange.

The fabric has been cut. The envelopes are stuffed.

Now all I have to do is bring it all over to the quilt shop that’s sponsoring the event — Prairie Stitches Quilt Shoppe in Oswego.

Honestly, there’s still time if you want to join! It took me a total of about an hour and a half to 1. cut the fabric, 2. stuff the envelopes, and 3. add my return address labels.

I realize, of course, that this whole little event will mean I absolutely must create something with the fabric I receive from others. But that will be a fun little challenge I can take on over the summer. I’m leaning toward a sweet polka dot garden idea. With ricrac. Because what in the world is cuter than polka dots with ricrac?

Thank You Robert Frost

Posted on March 10, 2014 by edges

The Road Not Taken

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim
Because it was grassy and wanted wear,
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I,
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

Cedar Waxwing. Is this not a stunning bird?

Cedar Waxwing. Dozens of them.

Edgestitch

Sewing is life. Life is art.

Category Archives: Creativity