Monthly Archives: September 2010

using some buried treasure

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The best part of doing a studio clean-up is that I find things that I’ve forgotten about. And when I see them again, they connect with something I’ve been working on more recently… you know, since I hid them in that far corner of the top shelf.

I found a bag that had some of this crewel fabric in it. I immediately knew that I wanted to make some fish with it. I made both of these fish from one large fabric sample piece.

I needed to make fish because I had a request that I couldn’t refuse- my son wanted one for his birthday. I won’t post that one until he receives it. But, of course, I can never make just one of anything!

Next on the agenda- focus on beards.

quilt details

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since you seemed interested…

here are some close-ups. This fish fabric was something that my mom bought for me when I was in high school (think early 70’s). I loved it so much, I could never bear to use it. I have finally gotten to the point where that seems very silly. I worry a bit about how the older fabric will hold up.

This is a piece of Japanese cloth- probably a gift wrapping cloth. The weave is slightly looser than a standard quilting cotton but still a solid fabric.  I have been collecting Japanese cloths for years. My mom had some that I got when we cleared out the house. I got other from various places over the years- I visited Japan in 1983, my brother gave me some (he lives in Kyoto), there is a Japanese Cultural group in town and they have a yearly yard sale. I am always keeping my eye out.

This piece is more of a gauze fabric. Maybe a towel?

Another gift wrapping cloth-

And the top swirls are another one of the gauzy fabrics. I hope they hold up. The chain design cotton along the sides is from a roll of kimono fabric that my mom bought, sometime between 1965 and 1986- she went to Japan a few times during those years.

None of the main pieces are pieced- just big blocks. The strips of red and navy on the front, and golds on the back are pieced. On the back, that center section is Marimekko fabric. The stripes are printed on it.

I have made great progress on my studio clean-up. I think I am about to call it done… for now. There are always a few things that I can not deal with. They usually look like this-

Sort of my studio version of a junk drawer…

cleaning up

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and a few other things.

I got an idea that if I raised the bottom shelf about 4 inches, I could actually fit another row of bins on the floor. Once it had occurred to me, it was the itch that had to be scratched.

Yikes- easier thought then done. Firstly, moving the individual shelves on these metal wire shelf units is no easy task- especially alone. And, I think it hadn’t really sunk in, how much stuff I have on that thing. Oh well, it was time to take everything off and go through it all anyway.

Here we are, shelves rearranged and bins starting to go back on.

I have been going back and forth- sorting and putting away until I am bored and then over to hand-sewing the edge binding on the quilt. Both are moving forward! Here is how things look this evening-

I just have a little left to go on the binding. Both desks are beginning to reappear. I have found many, many partially finished dolls- certainly more then I remember having. I’ve re-found fabric that I now have the perfect use for. Still a ways to go on the cleaning but I have made great progress.

Also, I took my Bernina 930 in for a spa treatment-  you know, a tune-up, and am using my Bernina Nova. What a great little machine it is. And speaking of machines… my son wants a sewing machine. I have one that I thought about giving him, but I have heard many tales of woe about shipping sewing machines- they just don’t like it. He lives in the Minneapolis area. Does anyone have suggestions for a place that sells good used sewing machines in the Twin Cities? I saw a perfect Bernette when I took my machine in today and would have loved to get that for him- but of course I would still have the shipping problem. Thanks for any help!

one more thing- Classes in October. I will be teaching my Fresh Fish during this Art Weekend that looks like so much fun! It would be great if you could join in the fun! Also, Tiny World Pincushion on Oct. 30  at my house- there is still space if you are interested. Check out the class link for details.

remember that quilt?

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I pieced the top in January. Fast forward to April, when I pieced a back and basted it together with the batting.  Now it is September!

I have quilted it. Yes- I was very nervous. I did not want to do that thread knot quilting method- (whatever the real name is, I don’t know) like I did on this one. I knew I did not want to hand-quilt another full size quilt. I wanted to finish this before  another 20 years had elapsed. And yes, I could have sent it out, but really, I am too cheap. And, I wondered if I would be able to let it go enough to accept what someone else did with the quilting. So what method did I use? I cut it into pieces that I could manage with my sewing machine, quilted them, and have sewn it back together. That took a lot of nerve and I’ve been talking myself into it for the past 5 months!

Here it is, in 4 pieces. Two pieces that are the middle section and two pieces that are the sides.

I slit the seams on the front, but had to cut through the fabric on the back. And, I pretty much had to rearrange my whole studio. That wasn’t a bad thing though- one of my post-Renegade Market resolutions was that I needed to do a major clean in there. In the above photo, all the pieces are already quilted and I am ready to start the sew them back together process.

Here, I am sewing the 2 middle pieces together. My plastic folding table (behind my machine in this pic) proved to be very useful. I move it to wherever I need some quilt weight-bearing.

Now the table is on the other side of the machine. I am getting ready to sew the backing together along the cut line. Yes, I lost about 1 inch in total quilt size for each of the cuts.

Here is stitching the backing together. I have pinned back the batting and the top fabric.

I did the top finishing seam by overlapping the pieces and carefully sewing down, as close to the edge as possible. My walking foot was invaluable. I could never have done this project without it. I know this because I started without it- since I don’t do much quilting, I don’t even think about it. So, I started and was unhappy and frustrated with the results I was getting- within about 3 minutes. Queue lightbulb over my head!

Here we are, all sewed back together and ready to trim off the excess batting and even out the edges.

Now, on to the finish. And here I want to mention the power of stopping a project when you are tired. Last night I got the quilt trimmed, pulled out my bins of fabric with something in mind for the edging. I found it, cut out 30 feet of bias strips, sewed them together and ironed them. Then I went to bed. At some point in the early morning I got the message (weird, huh?) that I had made a very off choice. All wrong. This morning, back to the bins with a clearer vision. I am back on track and have spent the morning moving forward. Hurray!

more from Chicago

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I arrived in Chicago on Thursday afternoon and my daughter and I went to a taping of Wait Wait, Don’t Tell Me. It was really funny and I always love seeing the side of things that doesn’t show in the finished product. Like the retakes. And the snarky off-tape remarks.

Here we are- Eleanor showed me how to take the standard Facebook photo… hmm, how tired do I look?

On Friday, we had a car and spent the day doing errands. One errand was to stop in at the Renegade Handmade shop to give them some paper work. What a fantastic shop! I saw artwork by some of my favorite artists- Kate Savage of feltidermy fame, who also stopped by my booth on Saturday. Great to meet you in person Kate!  Cotton Monster, and paper puppets by Pin Pals.  I was very tempted by this one and probably would have bought it if I had been there on Monday instead of Friday- wasn’t thinking too clearly at the time!

Look at all the beautiful Renegade Market posters-

I had a chance to check out the Hoot! show, although it wasn’t completely set up yet when I was there. I was very impressed by all the entries that I saw and very happy to be included in the group. It is a great show- go see it  if you have a chance.

And, there was a wine company doing their marketing at Renegade Market on Saturday. They had some guys dressed up for the part. I made these 2 fellows pose for me.

Love the Stripes!

Renegade report

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phew, am I tired. Bone weary. The making things part of the blog is going to be quiet for a while. Renegade Chicago was amazing. I only wish I could stand in my booth and meet all the incredibly wonderful people who come in  and also walk around and meet all the fantastic other vendors.

Here is the photo report- my daughter took a bunch of these photos- Thanks Eleanor!

Saturday morning, setting up in the rain.

Wet, rainy street.

But lots of people came.

Packing up at the end of Saturday-

Sunday was a Beautiful day! It got so busy that there were no more photos.

And, the rest of the news. I didn’t win the Hoot! contest. Bummer. But, if you are interested in any of the owls, they are available here.  My list of project for the next month includes make the Owl pattern. Hopefully that will make it happen!

four fish

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Hey! I’m in Chicago!

4 fish-  the last of the things I finished before Renegade Craft Fair.

Please go over to the Renegade site and vote for your favorite in the Hoot Show- sometime over this weekend. All the info is HERE. Of course I’d love it if you voted for me, but when I stopped into the Gallery today for a sneak peek, I saw some amazing work so check it out and I will never know who you voted for!