2020 31 Day Blog Writing Challenge - Day Twenty Eight - Skill I Want to Improve

Prompt for today is Skill I Want to Improve. 

Ruler work. But first, I have to solve what machine that I have that could DO ruler work. I have no space for a long arm or a mid arm, so it will have to be one of the machines I already have. I can get the ruler foot for the short/low shank machines  - Elvie ( the Singer 15) is probably the only one that I could use, but I have no extension table for Elvie - probably would SWIM in Jenny Lind's extension table. And the throat area is a bit small - I could learn on Elvie and hope to get a bigger throat machine someday. 

 

And then I will have to invest in some rulers! I have enough to learn on. but it sure would be nice to get some of the fancy designs.

And I would like to get better on all Free Motion Quilting...not just Ruler Work. I need to banish some of the stuff that is living on my sewing table!

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2020 31 Day Blog Writing Challenge - Day Twenty Seven - Techniques to Try

Today's prompt is techniques to try. I have more questions! Are these techniques 'I' would like to try? or are they techniques I have tried and want to pass on? I am going with 'Techniques I would like to try'.

One technique I would like to try is using my new SewTites to hold pieces while doing flat-back EPP.  I already have tried the clips with the flat-back stitch, but I need to try with these magnetic pieces to see if they hold better - or if the magnets just drag on the pieces. 

Susan Carlson's collage technique. I would love to have her Master Class. Or Emily Taylor's collage technique. I have read both these ladies blogs but have never done a fabric collage.

Susan Carlson

Emily Taylor

Some esoteric things it might be fun to try:

encaustic collage - but...I don't have enough workspace in my studio for hot wax. Maybe someday. 

alcohol inks - I have the inks and paper but my studio has carpeting and I have been loathe to even try this just in case it would get away from me. I suppose I could do this on the patio - will have to think about this.

Stained Glass - I probably don't have the strength to crack the glass anymore. So, I make do with stained glass style quilting.

Repairing a plaster carving - I have one of my grandfather's plaster carvings that has some minor damage that needs repairing. Would love to get that out of my studio and onto the wall. 

I would love to make a Moravian Star...I have the templates in a file, just need to print and sew. This one is so elegant! and I need that hanger too!

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2020 31 Day Blog Writing Challenge - Day Twenty Six - Favorite Sewing Foot

Topic for today is my favorite sewing foot. Not sure I have one. 

I tend to use the general purpose zigzag foot on Jenny Lind (my main machine) most of the time. I do switch out to a hopping foot for free motion quilting (FMQ), but I cannot say that is a favorite foot - it's square and it squeaks and is a Pain In The Posterior to put on. I sometimes use the zipper foot, but can't say that is a favorite either.

On Aurora (the treadle), I have gone footless for FMQ- a bit dangerous but I only do it if I have use the Octi-hoops. But that IS fun! There was a guy named Tim Latimer that did FMQ on treadles that had a modified open toe foot, but I haven't seen him posting in a while - but gosh his work was splendid. I can't get an open toe foot for either Aurora (she has back clamps) or Jenny Lind (she is a slant shank) nor can I get a ruler foot - the folks at Westalee that make ruler feet for domestics have not found enough interest from the slant shank sewers to make it worth their while to produce one. Alis is a short shank, but trying to do ruler work with an hand crank just seems like it would take more hands than I have! I suppose I could try it on Elvie (model 15) - she needs a good spa day though before I can use her much.

I have a CurveMaster foot. That might be a favorite, but I don't do enough curved piecing. I suppose it could be used as a 1/4 inch foot, but, again, I don't do much real patchwork.

A pillow cover I made with the Curve Master foot:

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2020 31 Day Blog Writing Challenge - Day Twenty Five - Show Your Scraps

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL!

Scraps...there is a saying we quilters have. 'You should never leave two scraps together in the dark, they breed!'

I will never use up all my scraps - unless I wholesale stuffed 'em into a pillow form. But then I would be looking for that perfect piece of fabric and it would be gone...so nah, not going to stuff them!

We saw some of my scraps the other day...here are more...they are breeding. I tend to group like scraps into a zipper bag - sometimes with a label on the bag but more often than not I don't.

Bottom of the scrap box

On the worktable

In the closet

On the side of the worktable

Top of the heap in the scrap box

I have a lot of scraps. This is only some of my scraps...hard to believe, but there are MORE.

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2020 31 Day Blog Writing Challenge - Day Twenty Four - State of My Worktable

Oh dear...the state of my worktable is the topic for today. Yikes. It's in disarray!  

I can show you what it SHOULD look like - and did for a short time when my son first moved out and I snagged his room for my studio.

It hasn't looked like that for many a year! I keep acquiring more and more stuff!

Here is a peek at what it looks like today...If I have to cut something, I have to move piles. It would be nice to have a bigger workroom. I dream of an open area. Or I guess I could pitch some stuff, but sure as shooting, the day after I pitch the stuff, I would NEED it. 

My scraps have taken over. Will show those to you tomorrow. And maybe get some of it cleaned up!

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2020 31 Day Blog Writing Challenge - Day Twenty Three - Pre Wash or Not?

Oh...Pre Wash or Not - the greatest debate for quilters...not so much for sewers, since for sewing, you should ALWAYS wash so that shrinkage happens before you invest your time in sewing and fitting a garment. 

For quilters, it's kind of a toss-up. Some people have to wash every piece of fabric in their stash since the finishing chemicals bother them. But most of us will probably admit we don't always wash. 

You probably should not mix washed and unwashed though - that shrinkage problem can crop up and if you have unwashed and washed together, you will get an uneven surface...unless...that happens to be what you were going for in the first place.

Some colors need to be prewashed...black, dark blues and dark reds especially if the quilt has white or off white or even tan as part of the colors- there have been nasty surprises when the quilt is washed with crocking or bleeding. Always use a color catcher or two on the first wash of a quilt to help keep the loose dye from settling where it shouldn't.

Scrap quilts you probably can get away with not washing or even mixing washed and not washed since the scraps tend to be smaller.

If the fabric has an extra heavy sizing, I  wash it before use.  

You can get into trouble even steam pressing if the fabrics are not washed. Here is an applique project that I almost ruined steam pressing - the applique fabrics were not washed and horror of horrors, the dark pink on the blossom on the right bled into the pale blue background!! I had many a blue word to say about how stupid I was to steam this piece! Fortunately, I did not let it dry before I tried repairing. Repeated applications of water with a q-tip swab diluted the bleed until it was pretty much gone - I can still tell its there, but I doubt anyone else can. (Sweet Magnolias - Cathy Van Bruggen design) This wall hanging should never be washed!

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2020 31 Day Blog Writing Challenge - Day Twenty Two - What Do I Listen To/Watch

The answer to what do I listen to/watch depends on what else I am doing. 

The answer to that question for when I am sewing/quilting is..... nothing!

Sewing/quilting is a peaceful activity for me, and I don't need the distraction - though if I liked patchwork more, I could see having some tunes on to break up the monotony of repeating the same block over and over. But never whilst watching something...I don't have a TV or even a music playing device in the sewing room. And I don't usually sew in the living room where the TV lives.

If I did though, my tastes run to lovely melodies like the songs that Enya sings or classical music. I enjoy harp music and musicals. Pentatonix is also a favorite. Or The Piano Guys.

In the car, I listen to talk radio - I love talking back to the hosts and their guests!

However...I do crochet using buttons, perl cotton  and a teeny tiny crochet hook while listening to meetings! (Started when COVID hit...so this is my collection so far), At first I was just making plain button flowers, but I branched out to seeing what else I could make with a button center. So there is a blue bird, a mourning cloak butterfly, a monarch butterfly and a yellow butterfly, a rose, a sunflower and an amaryllis. And a few leaves, but I am less satisfied with them than the flowers.

I haven't decided just WHAT to do with these button flowers, bird and butterflies. I have not come up with the perfect background... the leaf fabric is not 'singing' to me. I am envisioning a vase or a garden. Originally, I thought about making them into statement necklaces. Might still do that.

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2020 31 Day Blog Writing Challenge - Day Twenty One - Top 5 Gift Ideas

I am presuming my Top 5 Gift Ideas would be things I could sew? Or could they be things I would want as a sewer/quilter? What age group? and are they for adults or kids? I am just full of questions!

Anyway, I decided to go with things I have sewn.

Bags. I have tons of them, and have given away tons, but I still run out.

Potholders.

Mug rugs.

Neck or travel pillows. These dog-bone pillows are comfy.

Lap quilt. A bit more involved project, but doable. This one I made two pillows to go with the quilt. There is a handwarmer pouch hidden in the top squares.

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2020 31 Day Blog Writing Challenge - Day Twenty - Proudest Achievement

This isn't so much just my achievement, but a collaboration between my Dad and me.

One day as I was trimming up a bunch of blocks, I wondered if there was a way to do the setup to trimming easier.

So I contacted my Dad and described what I wanted to make, and he made it for me. I named it a 'SquareUp'. First one he did out of plastic which was ok, but the pressure handle was kind of strange. The second one he made was out of wood and has a hand hold slot cut out so I could take it to class. We briefly thought about trying to sell these, but unless you were going to have them made in China in vast quantities, the price to produce one is prohibitive! So, I have the only two in existence! 

The arm folds up flat against the base. The cutting surface can rotate (or not, depending on how you set the levers) - it can go in one direction or in all directions!  

One year at Retreat, I picked up a set of plexiglass squares with a hole in one side for a ball chain. Those work well as the cutting edge.

This is how you line up a block. The arm puts pressure against the plexiglass holding the fabric - the dial on the top of the arm lets you put more fabric under the cutting form, if you wanted to cut multiples. You just have to whack off what sticks out!

Here is a block after trimming...

And a stack of trimmed vs untrimmed blocks!

My Dad and I work well together. He has made other items for my sewing room as well.. my Big Board ironing surface that fits over my ironing board, a collapsible hand quilting hoop and an extension table for my sewing machine for taking to class, Retreat and craft days. He unfortunately cannot do building projects anymore so I am very grateful to have these items.

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2020 31 Day Blog Writing Challenge - Day Nineteen - On My Design Wall

 

This is what is on my design board at the moment. The astute viewer will note the poppies are actually from the Martha Nordstrand class from eons ago. I got this notion a few nights ago and took the poppies off the wall to see if I would like them in this bowl and I really do! They have been waiting for a long time to get into a quilt! 

 Most of the rest of the design came from a class from Diane Kirkart - her pattern is called 'For Anne' and looks like this:

First change...didn't care for the black background...so mine is a mottled tan. and I cut out the hundred or so pieces of fabric for the ferns, but I just did not want to make that many of the same thing over and over (the same issue I have with patchwork!)  So my bowl of flowers is a bit different than the pattern. The flower units are mostly the same, but arranged differently. The picture on mine is a bit foreshortened because not all of it is pinned to the board and I am hesitant to try to prop it up until I am sure the elements are not going to fall off! 

I am going to stick the appliques to the background with GlueBasteIt hopefully in a few days so I can work on it over the Christmas break. It will need some embroidery - the stamens on the amaryllis and the center on the big poppy and maybe some lines on the bowl. And I might add a butterfly or two... and I still think I need to darken the pink on the amaryllis a bit more...and the pears could use a bit of shaping with yellow.

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2020 31 Day Blog Writing Challenge - Day Eighteen - 'If I Could Sew With...'

Who I really would like to sew with is my craft/sewing/quilting buddies AKA 'The Krafty Techs Guild'...but this blasted COVID virus is getting in the way. (Bad, Bad Virus...go away!) This is mostly the same ladies that go on the So Cal Quilter's Run together. I worked with two of the ladies who ended up working with another of the ladies and a couple of them are in a Dungeons and Dragons club and that is where some of the other members came from! There is one member who moved out of state that we miss a lot. Another just retired to Arizona which will make it a bit more difficult to all meet. Sigh.

We had a good thing going. We would meet usually monthly at one of the ladies' house. She inherited her childhood home when her Dad passed and remodeled it heavily to suit her needs...First she evicted all of the yard implements and other stuff normally in a garage to the back shed. Then she had the garage outfitted for a craft studio! She has a large table in the center where all of us could set up our machines and an industrial level power bar for us to plug into that comes down to the table from the ceiling. On nice days, we could raise the garage door and have a nice breeze and fresh air since she is kinda close to the ocean. All of the light colored furniture is on wheels so she can move stuff around to suit her whim and how many crafters are enjoying the area. We would have lunch on her patio and snacks on the kitchen counter. Her sister would make us tea.

Here is a view of the side of the studio...the piano did not fit anywhere else in the house, so it lives in the studio! Note the shiny floor - it was epoxy coated!

Here is a view towards the back of the studio...she later had a sliding door put in so there is cross ventilation. In this picture the lady in the back is beading, a couple of us are sewing and the gal that is standing is designing a CosPlay outfit for ComicCon. 

Here is the industrial power supply coming down from the ceiling.

This is one of my setups. I was sewing the 'Chicks in Red Shoes' at this craft day.

Chicks in Red Shoes

She has the neatest showers in her bathrooms. This is one...

And this is another..

And her kitchen floor is splendid too!

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2020 31 Day Blog Writing Challenge - Day Seventeen - Favorite 'Sewlebrity'

My favorite 'sewlebrity'...oh gosh there are so many of them! Not sure I have just one favorite!

Let's see...should it be Eleanor Burns? I have visited her store many times on the So Cal Quilter's Run. Got to see her at Road one year. She is a fun Sewlebrity..

or should it be Alex Anderson? or Ricky Tims? or Kathy McNeil? or Holice Turnbow? or John Flynn? I have met each of these at Road to CA. They are definitely Sewlebrities...

or should it be Jinny Beyer? I'd like to meet her! I'd like to take a class from her - thankfully I have her books!

or should it be Sharon Schamber? Oh I would LOVE to take a class from her. I used to spend hours watching her YouTube videos before they all got lost. She is a big Sewlebrity.

or should it be Mary Ellen Hopkins, who said 'Its OK if you sit on my quilt'  and devised the ' Personal Private Measurement' system which works as long as you keep it consistent thru the whole quilt and my favorite of all of her sayings - 'Put your big girl panties on!' She was a hoot to listen to...and I learned quite a bit thru her funny lectures...like to make a pillow case for your foam core board so you can take it off to wash it! (I went right home and made a pillowcase out of flannel for my foam core board! Still have it...) Definitely up there in my favorite Sewlebrities list...a funny, witty lady who is missed!

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2020 31 Day Blog Writing Challenge - Day Sixteen - Why Do I Sew?

Why do I sew? Because I can...

At first, what I sewed was clothing. I made quite a bit of my garments from Jr High to College. I took Home Ec in High School. The first sewing project was a skirt. Now, I had already sewn many a skirt by then. The teacher said to come to class with fabric and a pattern. She expected a normal skirt pattern with a zipper - those were the kind of skirts most girls wore in that time period - we didn't get to wear pants to school. I came in with a wrap around skirt pattern since that was something I had not yet tried and was all the rage. Teacher was very upset with my choice of pattern! She said the purpose of the lesson was to put in a zipper. I had put in MANY zippers by that point. So I picked a dress pattern and made both in the same time that the others spent on making their skirts, just so she could see me put in a zipper! The challenge on the wrap around skirt turned out to be the buttonholes.

Many years later when I became a quilter, my Mom presented me with a flip top crate of all the scraps that she saved from her sewing projects and mine! She had intended to ask my Granny to make quilts from them, but by then, Granny had passed - so that project fell to me.

This became several quilts (and I still have a lot of the scraps left!)

This is the first quilt out of those scraps. I made this for my Mom to give to my Sister. And she has loved it almost bare. The applique's were originally done with silk thread which did not last with heavy use! I repaired it a few years ago, going back around all of the applique. 

She had asked for butterflies, ladybugs and dragonflies. I alternated the bugs with flower patches and the quilting thru those flower blocks looks like the trail of a bug. 

The blue fabric is not included in the scraps - but being a new quilter (this was probably my fourth quilt) I bought a HUGE amount!

There is a poem written by my Mom on the label.

Next is the one that I made for me - Heart's Garden - several years and many other quilts under my belt. It is a two sided quilt, intended to use up those scraps - but, I still have a tub of scraps left! The fabric for the wrap around skirt is the top big heart on the right side. The fabric for the dress is the pink heart on the second row from the bottom. 

There are SOOO many memories in these quilts. Band uniforms, dirndls for our trip to Germany, Grand Bethel dresses, swimsuits, formals and a bridesmaid dress, the dress Mom and I made when I was sent home after a race riot at the school, shirts and Easter dresses, play clothes for the summer. 

I used the blue from Sister's quilt on the back and had just enough of that to make the big blue pieces. The green sashing on the front was from the aprons for the dirndls. The blue sashing was from a band uniform. The white was new fabric, similarly to Sister's quilt's blue. The squares were made using Quilt As You Go. Ended up having to re-sew those long pieces several times to get the intersections to line up -by then, the quilt was really heavy and kept pulling out of alignment. I ended up hand basting to get it to stop squirreling around. My Dad made me a Plexiglas square so I could square up all of the squares.

There is a poem written by my Mom on the label on mine too. Plus some pictures of my Mom and Sis and me wearing items from these fabrics.

front

back

This is a quilt-let that I made from the corner cutoffs from Sister's quilt. This became a lap quilt for my Mom. The design was to try to make columns with the colors spinning around the single color in the center - Twisted Pole layout. Eh, it did not work out really well with these leftovers - the columns would have been better if they were a different color. Can you see the columns? (the elongated diamonds)   I tried to make the columns stand out more by heavily quilting them. Might have worked better if I used a different color of thread.

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