Purses and Plans

In January I made a commitment to make 12 Sew Powerful purses a month.  And here are mine for February.   Notice the top row, 2nd one. I’m used the curtain material for the flap and strap,  I think I’ll do more next month.  And just as I was finishing these, a flap of friendship arrived from Shannon Greene in Oklahoma.  A perfect baker’s dozen! 

Meanwhile, my guild has started three new bees.  I loved participating in the last one when I made The Piano Tuner’s Daughter quilt.  I am using this new bee to repeat this project.  Here is the first quilt, and here are the forks for this project.   I can’t wait to see what my guild mates create.  

Former student Bridgette, the retired Marine who keeps me and several others working out daily, says she’s ready for a new bag.  And she wants a Dot Dash Dot bag.  I made several almost 10 years ago, so it will be fun revisiting this pattern.  And she has chosen the drapery material.  I think this will work.  Despite my vow to not start another project until I do grandson Brandon’s quilt, I just gotta make this bag first! 

Piano Tuner's Daughter: The Most Satisfying Project Ever

Piano Tuner's Daughter - 58" x 71"

Part 1:  When I was little, my parents lived at 64th and Stewart.  My dad tuned factory pianos for the Kimball Piano Factory at 26th and California.  But when they bought their house in Western Springs in 1956, my dad became an independent piano tuner working with my mom, who made his appointments and kept his books.  My dad was a musician, an accordionist/entertainer who knew he would always have to supplement his income with tuning.  As he build his tuning business, his regular gig was at the Edgewater Beach Hotel, a drive he made from Western Springs 6 days a week.  Eventually, with the help from agents, he was able to cut back from tuning and focus on gigs.  But the tunings were his financial ace.  Just as I would open his accordion case and sniff how horrible it smelled of smoke, I would look at his tuning case and sometimes play with his tuning fork.  

 Part 2: I love my Chicago Modern Quilt Guild and always want to be a team player for whatever activities suggested.  Although I am an independent sewist, the group activities I've been involved in have always been fun and taught me things.  With this spirit I joined a quilting bee, headed by Bill Keller @kiltedquilter67 .  There are 9 of us in this bee - Bill, Amy Struckmeyer, Debbie Pine, Natalie Holtz, Jenny Grover, Laura Hartrich, Adamandia Kapsalis, Jennifer Quick, and me.  We have taken turns asking bee mates to make blocks for one another.  Adamandia has finished hers, and its' wonderful.  Check out the hashtag #chimodbee for examples of blocks and completed projects.  

I asked bee mates for forks  5.5" or 10.5" wide, and any length, with dark forks and a low volume background.


I was very happy with what I received although a couple of mates tested me.  Amy gave me that big green fork (which I now love), and Laura gave me a couple of forks that were 2.5" wide.  I also love those.  The idea for this quilt came from Heather Pregger @heapregger who has a whole series of tuning fork quilts.  I understand why - its a great motif.  

I need a better picture, but the last thing I want to say is that I faced this quilt, rather than to bind it.  The front design just runs right off the edges without a binding to interfere with that line.  I do like this facing technique that I used - 

https://www.cottonandbourbon.com/tutorials/tag/Facing 

Such a fun and meaningful project!  Thanks, Bill and bee mates! 

Part IV:  I love this quilt because it makes me think of my dad and his work ethic.  I'm amazed that he and Mom were able to pay for half of my college.  I still borrowed a sizable amount and didn't pay it all back until I was 32.   After I had taught for a year, my dad helped me with my taxes.  I made more money my first year teaching than my dad did.  So this quilt reminds me of my parents' financial brilliance as well as their work ethic.  Such a good visual memory.  

Catching up on this, that, and the other

 My tuning fork quilt is coming along nicely with some horizontal quilting and quilting in the bigger forks.  Once it's finished, I plan to face this rather than bind it.  It will be my first time for facing.

In the studio I've been working on bringing things to completion.  This "Get Happy!" quilt for my doctor which has been finished since late March now has a label and is wrapped.  I just need now to get it over to her office.

But mostly the studio has been all about purses - Sew Powerful.  I'm working on a PowerPoint for my guild about the actual construction of these purses and have been doing a lot of photographing for step-outs.

I like to group my purses by straps and flaps.  And then I can fill in the rest - body, lining, and pockets.

Here's are all the parts for five purses.  From the bottom up: lining, front body, and back body,  These purses may only be 7" x 9", but there are several pieces to the pattern, most of which are interfaced.

These purses are based on flaps made from scraps of a project for a guild mate.  Rather than try to organize the leftover strips, I just improved them together.  Along with an orange body, some fun living, and a blue strap, I think these are great.  We pursemakers hear over and over that the girls in Zambia love orange.  

But before mailing, each purse needs a note to the young girl.  In exchange for the purse which contains underwear, reusable pads, and soap, girls pledge to stay in school and do their best.  In addition to hearing that the young ladies love orange, we also hear how much they treasure these cards.  The cards are my least favorite part of the process.  But I'm learning to use graphics and washi tape to make them attractive.  

I'm also learning to keep my messages short and sweet.  All the girls read and speak English, but they do no read cursive.  So this is a task I have to take my time with. 

Since I'm so eager to get this batch posted to Washington state, I'l get them done very soon,

Now I'm getting back to a baby quilt that's in process and solidifying a plan for the youngest grandson's (he's 19 - it'll be his 3rd) quilt.  

Sewing but not blogging? What's up with that?

For the past year I've been part of a small little bee within my guild.  I've always heard of bees but have never been a part of one.  There are only 9 of us, led by Bill Keller.  Every 6 weeks one of us becomes the bee queen and directs others what to do.  Look at the #chimodbee for some examples of what we've done.  When it was my turn, I asked my bee mates for tuning forks that were either 5.5" wide or 10.5".  The length didn't matter.  And I asked for dark forks against a low-volume background.  As these began to arrive, I slapped them up on the design wall.  I love these forks, even the bright green one and the one with a dotted pink background.  And then I took a tip from "Macbeth" and was bloody, bold, and resolute as I began to attach them to one another.  I am thrilled with the final product and am eager to hand quilt it.  I'm almost ready for it.

 

While I was dithering away at the design wall I did have a couple of Sew Powerful purses going.  The stack of fabric for future purses is getting bigger and bigger.  I'm learning that this little purse need a big impact fabric on the front, and I love these dots.  Wait until you see the additional fabrics I have!  In fact, look at this pile of fabrics below:

Years ago Mary Radnor came to the Chicago Modern Quilt Guild meetings.  She was a librarian working at the University of Chicago and living in Hyde Park.  We got together a few times and forged a nice friendship, despite the difference in our ages.  Mary was from Kansas and decided to move back to her home town.  A few years later John and I were doing our "presidential library tour" (Hoover, Truman, and Eisenhower), and Mary drove from Hayes, KS to Abilene and met us for lunch.  So much fun to see her!

 Since that lunch, Mary has gotten married and is deciding she's done with quilting (she's a fabulous knitter).  That pile of fabrics above?  That's what she sent me.  Most are at least 2 yards! Sew Powerful purse makers know that the girls especially love oranges and purples ad brights.  These fabrics are perfect for purse making.  Knowing that Mary spent a small fortune shipping these fabrics and being appreciative of the quality and quantity, I asked her which fabrics were the hardest to let go of.  And she pointed out the ones with the bright pinks.  

These bags went into the mail this morning.  I think they are kind of perfect for knitted things.