3 hours later

Abandoned projects.  We all have them - myself included.  Having unfinished business lying around (or hiding out of sight, but not out of mind) drives me nuts and pinches my conscience....so I try force myself to finish off most things before I start another one.  Every once in a while, though, one will slip though my fingers.  Sometimes I get stuck and don't know how to proceed.  Other times it gets side-lined, usually in the name of tidying up (and once it goes away, it tends to stay away....because often the reason the mess is all out and about is because I'm stuck...).  So I guess it usually all comes back to being 'stuck'.

The good news is that I've learned that last year's (month's, week's, decade's) version of being stuck usually vanishes shortly after I haul the project out to see the light of day.  Whatever I might have thought of as insurmountable at one time, is often easily overcome with the benefit of time.  Sometimes this is because I've just worked it up into a much bigger problem than it really was....sometimes I learn to just accept whatever was bothering me....sometimes I've learned something new in the interim....and sometimes I simply decide that to try something and fail is better than having things hanging around gathering dust.  At least if it really doesn't work, I can toss the lot and assuage my guilt.

Remember the Table Mats I started making last summer?  They've been hibernating for a whole year now....and after talking about it for weeks, I finally got around to pulling them out tonight.  I think they were abandoned because I didn't know how I was going to sew on the binding - or if I even had enough fabric to make it.  But after three hours of ironing, cutting, making mitred seams (this tool is awesome - and works every time!), pinning, sewing, and pinning some more.....the first table pad is ready for action!

We are having a family gathering at the campsite this weekend, so it will get it's debut....and I will try to take some snaps of it in situ.  Once I try it out on the table and make sure it fit and works okay, I plan to resume working on pad #2.  In the meantime, it's looking like this....

Something tells me it's going to take more than 3 hours to finish off the next one....LOL!  But at least I know that I am going to have enough fabric to finish off the binding (I didn't quite use half on the first one...yippee!)

voila!

One quick, last-minute run to the fabric store for elastic later, it's all done. And I couldn't be happier. Well, maybe there are one or two little things I'd change next time.....but there probably won't be another next time.... :-D

almost

There were a few more start and stops.....but I really do think that I am starting to get the hang of this FMQ (free motion quilting) thing. Of course, I also recognize that a class or two would help tremendously. Not too shabby though for my first efforts, but I guess the true test will be how it wears.


The piece is fully quilted and trimmed, the binding is cut and pressed, the wool lining is chosen....and now if all goes according to plan, my iPad will be sleeping in a cosy new bed tonight.

more playing

I'm starting to get my groove back. I ordered some pretty teal yarn and bought a new pattern yesterday. So now the rush is on to finish the iPad cover before it gets here.....and I get lost in the knitting. It would make a great September in England sweater, non?


After fluttering about for most of the night, I finally settled down to sew a little bit before bed. Truth be told, I was a little hesitant to start again - worried that I had waited just a little too long to get playing again. Not being able to remember which foot (of 2) I had experienced the most success with on the weekend didn't really help me feel confident....so I just guessed. I was lucky.

The overall size of the piece I'm quilting is going to be plenty big enough this time around (I wasn't going to make that mistake again so soon)....and I'm hoping that I will be able to finish off the rest of the FMQ tonight, playing a bit with some other threads in my drawer to add some more colour on the topside.

I'm still debating about how the assembly will come together in the end.....but luckily there is still a bit of time to decide. I dug out my favourite travelling purse last night and happily discovered that my iPad will fit inside, so long as the sleeve is not too puffy.

playing

What a great weekend! It combined just the right amounts of sleep, swimming, eating, reading and making for me. After finishing off one sweater on Saturday, I finally dug Juliet back out again and was delighted to discover that instead of the days of knitting that I had imagined, it only required a couple of hours. So I'm happy to report that I finished knitting two things this weekend. Pictures to come soon.... (To be completely honest, I still need to find buttons for one, sew the closure onto the other, sew in the tails on one, and block both....but really, that's nothing, right? ;-) )


(Practically) finishing off a couple of things gave me free license to start a new project. So yesterday I dug through my fabric basket and settled on a piece of batik to form the basis for my iPad sleeve. Once decided, I was very keen to get going, so I quickly figured out a pattern, found some batting, pressed a piece of wool for the inside.....and started sewing. I sewed, and swore, and sewed, and smiled, and sewed and swore a little bit more. It's not always easy to learn a new thing -- especially when you are trying to teach yourself. Just when I was starting to get in the grove and feel like I knew what I was doing, I decided to 'try it on' my iPad. Big mistake. In my haste to just get started, I didn't allow enough surplus for the shrinkage that resulted from all of the quilting. In short, it's too short.


So needless to say, I will soon be starting over. A new print, a new (larger) pattern, and a new sense of understanding of how to bring my vision to life. It's a new week, after all :-D
I just need to figure out what I'm going to do with my WIP....

making a sandwich....

I did manage to work a little more on my table mats on Thursday night. I still have one top to piece, but I was so eager to see it come together that I started assembling the first one. I am by no means a expert when it comes to quilting -- I've just learned from observation and experimentation. This makes for a fairly relaxed way of working, but there are always a few bumps along the way (sometimes literally!)

I sewed a few pieces of blackish denim together for the back...and then taped it down on the floor. Laid the batting on top, and then taped the pieced "top" on top of that to make my sandwich. Thursday's quick visit to my local quilt shop yielded some great curved safety pins for basting it all together -- as well as a really cool tool to help push the point through the fabric and then lift it up to close the pin (without hurting your fingers!). Both a time and a sanity saving tool wrapped up in one! :-D

I did start quilting a bit, but have loads more still to do. I will work on that tonight....

from 'funk' to funky....

Things have been a little quiet around here lately. Sorry about that. This is one of those times of the year when things are crazy busy at work, I end up staying a little later than usual, and arrive home feeling (more than) a little fried. So there has been a lot of laying about reading, playing Catan on my iPad, watching movies, napping (!), and not much of anything else.

I was reflecting on my sorry state the other day, and realized that I was in a funk, to be sure....and then I got to wondering whether my recent lack of hooking might be to blame. Just because I couldn't hook didn't have to mean that I couldn't do anything else in the creating department....so I resumed knitting on Juliet. Knitting is is definitely a slow practice for me, and one that usually conflicts with my need for some instant gratification and real creativity (unless I'm mixing lots of different yarns together -- and I'm not on Juliet).....so it helped a little bit, but not enough. Enter: the sewing project.

We bought some new furniture for the family Campsite this year....including two new glass topped tables for dining, game playing, etc. While more durable (and way prettier!) than the plastic ones we had before, we've come to realize that the glass is not always the most practical. The idea of making some extra-large, table-sized placemats was born, and I volunteered to make them. I started sifting through my fabric stash and found my pile of Kaffe Fassett and Brandon Mably prints -- a little on the bright side for inside my place, but very pretty and perfect for the summertime.

The stack was washed, some charcoal/black denim was purchased, and I started cutting and sewing and pressing. My initial plan was to keep things simple and just have varying widths of strips, laid in stripes along the tops (which will each be 40" by 70")......


But then last night, after struggling with figuring out how I was going to measure and cut my too-big top to be a perfect fit for the table top, I decided to cut up each one into more strips and then sew them back together. I like it much better (you can see a sneak peek up top) ....but at the same time I am realizing that it's a whole lot of work for what started out as a quick and simple project. I could almost combine the two mats and make a quilt top.....but then I would have to go and buy something else to make the table mats, and what would I do with the quilt? Hmmm.......

I am resuming work on it when I get home tonight, so I still have a bit of time to decide :-D

Trish Johnson's Rugs - part four

As interesting as it was to see all of Trish's rugs on Saturday....what really caught my by surprise were her little art quilts. They were all the more wonderful because I arrived expecting rugs - not quilts. All of these quilts are companion pieces for rugs that she hooked....and I think that they make great little studies. I didn't think to ask which came first (Trish, if you read this....maybe you can fill me in?).

Regardless, I think quilts such as these would be a great way to try out a design idea, sample colour combinations or play around with composition - without requiring the same time commitment as hooking a big rug.



I was particularly fascinated by the backs of these pieces. The sometimes random thread colours, the interesting designs and the stitches coming together to form a simple sketch, without the clutter of the fabric colours or patterning.









My new sewing machine is capable of doing free-motion quilting, and I've been looking forward to taking a chunk of time and having a big play and experimenting with it (still waiting for things to settle down....LOL!) I've been waiting for years to give it a try -- ever since I set eyes on Diedre Scherer's fabric portraits.

From everything I've read on line, it can take a long time - and a lot of practice - to really get the hang of FMQ - which makes Trish's quilts all the more impressive in my eyes.

Thanks again to Trish for sharing all of her creations, and allowing me to share them on my blog. What a treat! :-D

the goods...

Have I told you lately how much I love batiks? Well, just in case you forgot, here are some new beauties I picked up in New England....




I know it might look like I went a little overboard, but considering they were almost half of the price they are here at home....I'm surprised I didn't buy more! ;-)


My yarn stash was only a little enhanced with these guys...and I've already started some knitting with two of them, so obviously they were needed, right?

Here are the places we hit on our travels....and we bought something(s) at every one!

Yarns for Your Soul • Manchester, VT
HodgePodge (yarn store) • Newport, NH
The Quilter's Workshop • Newport, NH
New England Fabrics • Keene, NH
Garden of Stitches (quilt store) • Bethel, VT
Vermont Yarn Company • Middlebury, VT
Middlebury Sew-n-Vac • Middlebury, VT
Knits & Bolts • New Haven, VT
Northeast Fibre Arts Center • Williston, VT

P.S. Thanks for all of the comment love lately -- it's been wonderful! ;-)

christmas came early....

I'm home from a wonderful holiday in Vermont.....and while I do have lots to share from my week there -- and I will in the coming days -- I want to report on my new toy. It's a little more here and now, and demanding most of my excitement today.

I've wanted and needed a new sewing machine for a very long time. After working my way through several "antiques" over the last decade or so, I was finally ready to take the plunge -- and put down the dough for a new one. It arrived when I was away, and I was thrilled to run out and pick up my new baby at lunchtime today -- and very anxious to play with it when I got home tonight.

After a couple of minor glitches, I was in business....and in the process of discovery, I even managed to fully complete my first project already.....


My new machine comes with a couple hundred stitches....and basically does everything except for the dishes! (which was no problem tonight, since I was far too busy sewing to make supper ;-) ) I am eager to explore it some more.....and I just know that I will be using it for many, many years to come. It's truly going to make sewing a joy for me again -- just as soon as I manage to block out the cha-ching, cha-ching price tag......

P.S. In case you're curious, it's a Pfaff -- and currently on sale BTW.

P.P.S. The Gingher rotary cutter shown above is one of the souvenirs from my trip -- and I am already in love, after just a handful of cuts. Like butter.