Sometimes I get an *idea* but the execution turns out to be a challenge. The idea- a gingerbread house tiny world. That is as far as my idea went when I started in on it- pretty typical work method for me. I like to figure it out as I go along. Anyway, I love these little worlds, but they were not easy or obvious!
That is all for now- I am off to set up my booth in an hour. If I don’t see you this weekend, see you here next week!
2 snowy tiny worlds-
I put tiny wreaths on the front doors.
And I finally got around to photographing the fish. They have been done since the weekend- 8 of them.
The herringbone school-
and the others-
I know I’ve mentioned it before, but I am taking all these things to my market this weekend and will then have a big update in my Etsy shop on Monday. If you are interested in something special, I can let you know on Sunday night or Monday morning if it is available.
after doing a class, I have a number of partially finished pieces and I always have fun finishing them up.
This one was certainly inspired by all the foresty tiny worlds that happened on Saturday.
I had a fun expedition up to Dorr Mill Store yesterday and came home with a big bag of fabrics- always inspiring! They are now all getting washed and ready for projects. Back to the studio!
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…
all finished- signed, washed, dried…
and the back. Sideways.
And I still need the name of a used sewing machine dealer in Minneapolis, if anyone knows of one.
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!
I’ve started a carry-around-project bag to stick in my purse. I seem to have a number of appointments lined up on the calendar and I like to have something to work on as I sit in the waiting room. I am cutting out circles.
This is a garland that I made in the first batch, before I went to Renegade Brooklyn. You can see it hanging in my tent, here.
I am trying out some single hue strings- pinks
blues-
reds-
Which do you like better?
They have 100 dots per strand. That is about 12 feet.
My studio is once again a complete disaster. I’ve got way too many things going on right now. I am cutting and sewing a range of dolls (with the help of Sage) and will then finish them over the course of the Autumn. The result is stuff everywhere, every surface covered, entering the room is a challenge…Â but hey! I am getting lots done. I’ll clean it up another day.
We had another great meetup yesterday. Topics that I can remember going by- how to get artwork to markets, holiday shows and application deadlines, edgy shows vs traditional shows, Facebook vs Twitter, thinking about licensing, 1000 Markets, all the good things that are happening at Etsy, where to get business and stickers printed and what it costs… if this is what you are interested in and everyone around you is either clueless or bored by it all, our meetup is the place for you!
I finished these on Tuesday-
Some of them are available and will go into my Etsy shop, probably this weekend.
wow- I just realized that I will have gone a month without posting a new doll. What a crazy month! It is not that I haven’t been working.
Sage (my intern) and I have been working on a big pile of girls. We’ve got ten going. When I get home from Paris, these are going to get finished up. I also was working on a project that is one of those fun things that I can’t tell you about quite yet… actually, just having a project that I can’t mention is a thrill in itself! And, of course, there has been all my Paris prep. I am making myself a few new skirts and shirts. Hopefully I will actually finish them before we leave tomorrow.
If you are interested, here is the google map I am making with all the interesting suggestions people have made. I sure I won’t get to everything, but I have a lot to choose from.
And the garden is thriving. I’ve got my tomatoes in, using my containers, but this year I tried lining them with corrugated cardboard before stretching the t-shirts. So far, so good.
I am growing Carbons, Pink Brandywine, Copia, Bonny Best, Opalka, and Isis Candy.
Well, see you in Paris!