Guaranteeing a Successful Studio Adventure

Have a quilt top you like a lot ready for quillting.  These fabrics are from Janet Clare's Wordsmith line.  I used a layer cake and a jelly roll for the front, and leftovers are in the backing.

Make sure you have the right batting.  For this particular quilt, I am using a poly bat because I want this quilt to be light and airy feeling.

Have a backing that is bigger than your quilt top.  A great opportunity to use up scraps from the front and other bits in your stash. 

Have another project or two ready to go.  These are two SewPowerful purses cut out, interfaced, and ready to assemble

Have other piles of fabric just sitting out in plain view so that planning can begin.

Seriously, my one big rule for the studio?  I try very hard to always leave a project at a point where I know I want to come back to it.  If there's a hard part, I'll do it before I end for the day.  Kind of a good rule for life, too.

Five Purses for SewPowerful.Org

I'm thankful for those who are committed to social activitism, like the Sew Powerful organization and its organizers Jason and Cinnamon Miles.

The first of 5 cross-body bags for the February 1, 2017 deadline.  These five took three days of sewing.

Each bag starts with 11 various pattern pieces, all of which are interfaced.  I'm going through bolts of ShapeFlex 101 and always buy it when it's on sale.  Here's one kit with all the pieces.

I'm stopping with these five completed bags for the Thanksgiving break, but have these two kits ready to come back to after I work on a quilt top.

Changing Gears: From Quilts Back to Purses

 This quilt - the 4th in my pre- and post-election series - makes a nice dent in my Marcia Derse fabric collection.  I'm pretty sure this particular design is from Blue Underground Studios, but of course I can't find it right now. I have loved the fabric that is the background for this quilt.  But it's finally gone.  Time to move on.  This quilt is 90" x 96" and another wonderfully soft one.  The quilting is all straight lines and suits the overall design perfectly.  Time to fold it up as it waits for its rightful owner to claim it.  Not sure who that will be...

These are the purse fabrics.  I'm not crazy about them personally.  But I know they will sew up into purses that some Zambian young ladies will love. 

Not Quite There, But...

This quilt isn't quite finished - I'm still quilting it and then of course must bind it.  But I wanted to take advantage of this gorgeous day - it is almost 70 outside.  Tonight there is going to be an extreme temperature drop, and I'm hearing rumors of snow over the weekend. 

Wrestling with a quilt in order to quilt it is meditative and soul-soothing.  This is my 4th quilt since October 22.  I think I almost have my head out of my butt.  And I'm turning back to purses for Zambia and SewPowerful.org.  Just in time for the weather change. 

A note about this quilt:  I'm using a polyester batt and had forgotten what a nice texture it has.  Also check out the various bits for the backing.  Thrifty, eh?

Still in Pieces

What Material Are We Leaving?

The pear tree in our backyard is the last tree to change colors and lose its leaves - it has yet to start turning to gold and yet so many of the surrounding trees have lost their leaves.  This quilt is my third one in two weeks - let's call it stress sewing.  I'm disappointed at the outcome of the election and grieve for those whose voices will be further suppressed.  I was a bit buoyed by the meeting between Trump and Obama yesterday - Trump admitting that Obama is a good man and Obama pledging to work with Trump.  It's a start, eh?  My glass is always half-full.  I am not making light of the political situation today, but I am optimistic that our nation will survive this tumult.  I am optimistic that Trump supporters will suppress the racist elements of their party.  And I am optimistic that the Democratic party will regroup.  And I am incredibly impressed with Hillary's gracious concession speech - she deserves to live a life of ease after so many years of public service.

I've been listening to "Hamilton" a lot - we are seeing it Thanksgiving weekend, and I'm incredibly excited, especially since we're taking 4 of the grandkids as their Christmas present. If you are a longtime blog reader, you know that I have frequently paid homage to Stephen Sondheim - his lyrics resonate with me. But I fear he is being supplanted by Lin Manuel-Miranda. So many of the "Hamilton" songs pertain to what's happening right now. In Act I one of the song's lyrics is "History is happening right now." And its so true. History is happening right now. When the revolutionists won the Battle of Yorktown and realized that perhaps their revolution had been successful, they sing "The world's turned upside down." I'm sure Trump supporters feel like this. And I know liberals for sure feel like this. But the one lyric that resonates more than the others is "Who will tell your story?", a wonderful anthem at the end of the play.

My hope is that the Trump we saw on the campaign trail is not that Trump we will see as president.  As we toured the presidential museums this fall, we saw over and over how ordinary men rose to the office.  I must believe - that despite different political philosophies - Trump will do the same.  He is making history, and history will be written about him.  My brother Al the preacher says to live a good life so he can preach a good funeral over you.  President Trump, be better than you have been so that history can write a good story.  Fellow liberals, figure out the next few years because history too will be written about how we respond to these days.  "History has its eyes on you." 

Sewing as Therapy

 When I am grieving or rejoicing, I sew.  And when I am in turmoil, I sew.  The politics of this season are so unsettling.  The thought of a Trump presidency is stomach-churning.   While I do have faith that the American electorate will do the right thing, I am in turmoil.  So what do I do?  I sew.  This quilt is the second one to go in the mail this week.  The first was this one, which is on its way to Louisville to my nephew Nathan.  And this quilt pictured here is going to my niece in Columbus, IN.  It is 74" x 88" and is just the softest quilt ever.  It's made from Alison Glass hand-stamped scraps left over from a swap project.  I test-drove it on the sofa this morning while drinking my coffee, and I love it.  I am so happy it's going to Ali.  She asked if I could bear to part with it.  And here's why I can.

 I have more of the Janet Clare Wordsmith fabrics, the same one I used for Nathan's Trip Around the World.  Enough for another Trip, and then I still have a layer cake and a charm pack to play with.  Now I can start these two quilts and fall in love with them as I make them.  And look at the picture below - these are 5" charms on a navy background.  I don't know what exactly this will be, but I like playing around with these.

And these Marcia Derse blocks are all ready to be set into a quilt. It's nice to have the time to do all these.  And then I must get back to the SewPowerful cross-body bags for the young girls in Zambia.  The fate of the USA is out of my hands - I have been proactive and done what I can for my candidate Hilary Clinton.  Whether she wins or loses, there is going to be unrest after the election.  My answer is to reach out to others, be as generous as I can be, and do what I can for future generations.  I will brighten the corner where I am.

Getting busy...er

This is the body of a Spectrum quilt and is 63" by 85".  Unlike the illustration and suggestions for this quilt which uses a dark background, a Kona snow is used for the horizontal sashing and will be the background, too.  I am counting on my longarmers Frank and Terri Karls to do something terrific with all the negative outer space.  I now need to do some heavy-duty calculations to turn this into a generous king-size quilt.  So I am stopping for the day.  This kind of sewing is exacting and exhausting.  And this quilt body represents 3 days of work.  I did take a few hours out of this sewing to make a couple of Mors bags, including one made from red, white, grey, and black scraps. ***as I write this, John is answering the door for Halloween and making the kids say "Trick or Treat."  As well they should!***

Two of these have boxed bottoms.

The reverse of the above bag

Before...and After!

This little napping quilt has been quilted and bound - it is for Sarah's Inn in Oak Park.  Each one of these quilts has a simple  label with our guild's logo and the year.  I'll be eager to hear the final tally for quilts, pillows, and zippered pouches.  Amy S has done a terrific job of leading this effort.  This quilt is going into the wash along with the quilt that I have patched.

Love the label for this quilt.

This quilt is now functional. The patching? An example of intentional mending. While I tried a bit to get the patch to match the fabric, it's not a complete match. And the back patch doesn't line up with the front patch - and that's ok. It's ready for washing.  And using.

All Retreat Projects, Great and Small

It's always tricky planning retreat sewing.  This may sound strange, but it's such a luxury to devote entire days to quilting projects.  For this retreat at the Siena Center, I knew I had to start with something I've been wanting to do that requires a lot of simple sewing.  So I took my Marcia Derse fabrics to make a quilt I have made before that my senior-in-college grandson has (which coincidentally was made at the Spring 2014 retreat).  I finished all the strip sheet sets and will insert them into the lovely neutral that makes the light strip in all the blocks. 

I finished these easy but tedious strip sets by late Saturday morning and got out my red and black cork fabrics.  Since I haven't sewn with cork fabric before, I had to do a wee bit of test sewing.  And I discovered it's fabulous to work with.  I quilted the cork fabric onto Soft and Stable interfacing and created the front, back, gusset, and outer pocket for Sara Lawson's Hey Mercedes bag, a purse size which I really like.  I would have kept going on this project except I didn't have the right hardware with me.  Since I am thrilled with how this project is going, I have a feeling I'll finish it fairly soon.

Now it's late Saturday afternoon, and I have nothing completed to show (and my guild is so fond of ding-ding-dinging the bell announcing a finish).  And what do I do when I need to have a completed project?  Right!  A Mors bag.  I brought with me a fat quarter, some Kona brown, and strapping for handles.  The scrap table gave me the fabrics for the inside of the bag.  This bag is going back into my car for trips to Mariano's and Walgreen's.   And now - what to do the rest of my precious retreat sewing time?  Some of my guildsters and I joke about taking our fabrics for rides in the car to various retreats.  And my pile of Alison Glass scraps have gone of several sewing weekends with me.  But this time?  I actually got them out!

My scraps were all 3" wide and 14" - 18" long.  In between each row is a 4" strip.  So far this top is about 60" x 80".  I will need to do a little bit of piecing in the upper right and then may use the rest of the scraps to make outer borders, but I am loving how this is turning out, especially since it's been so long in the planning.  And this kept me busy until Sunday night!  I am very happy with what I got done.  Last night I slept for 9 hours, a rarity for me.  I think I was pleasantly tired from the weekend.

Guild vice-president Amy has been heading up a charity effort for Sarah's Inn in Oak Park.  We are making pillows, zippered pouches with little luxuries, and napping quilts.  Amy finished piecing this quilt, and I volunteered to take it home with me for quilting and binding.  Funny to come home with more than I took up.  But it's a good thing.

This isn't a retreat project - I just have it out and want to get to it.  I made this quilt for my father-in-law years ago.  It has a nice, neat, big hole in the border.  Mending this is in my future, and I may wait until after the November Chicago MQG meeting where Heidi Parkes will be our speaker and her topic is intentional mending.    Or I may just reinvent this wheel and forge on ahead.  And I must take a breath and put away the piles of fabrics so I can at least close the cabinet doors. 

It was a good retreat.