Who will be cushioning pins??
SKATE!
Send me your mailing address, and I will send you this pretty pincushion!
Thanks!
Snowflake curtain
We have a window that angles right onto the street corner, with a miniblind that doesn’t work. You know how it is… the miniblind is large and matches the other four (in a very odd color) so I can’t afford to replace it, and I don’t want to make curtains for just the one window of the five, etc… But it’s like being on one of those TV shows where your life is on display. Any time it’s lighter inside the house than outside, drivers and pedestrians can’t help but look in.
I had done this earlier this year, with regular paper, and it hadn’t turned out well for several reasons. Then a little boy in Bible study ran his fingers through it… so I got Matthew to clean the window and have been planning to do something else.
So… as I was clipping coupons Saturday afternoon, I noticed that the double pages were quite large. I abandoned the coupons and cut a lot of snowflakes in a few different sizes. I used a pan of water to wet each snowflake and stick it to the window. They were drying and falling off faster than I could get them all up there, but eventually I finished and sprayed over them with that spray snow stuff. They were so pretty then — they looked like stained glass windows with the sun behind them. I let them dry there, because they were pretty to look at, until they fell off. I waited until dark to take the “after” picture.
It’s not a perfect privacy screen – more like lace curtains – but it helps and still lets light in during the day. And it makes me happy to look at it.
Sewing can be very creative work, but it’s also a technical skill. Once I have an idea and it expands into a vision and I select the fabrics, the creative work is done and the process becomes technical. The left side of my brain takes control. Because I am a very visual person with a short short-term memory, I sketch pictures or create and print them on the computer. I draft the pattern and write the instructions. The assembly starts then: cut efficiently and accurately, organize the sewing order and maintain precise seam allowances, press carefully, assemble logically…
I’m a math person. The drafting, writing and assembly parts are easy, but the imagination and design process frequently take me longer than the actual construction. I need to give it my full and focused attention.
So once I am involved in the “making” of the quilt or other item, the right side of my brain gets bored. It starts suggesting ideas that might be more interesting than sewing miles of 2″ strips: reading, going to the gym, eating, calling my mother, rearranging the furniture, eating, starting a new dress for a granddaughter, writing stories or articles, beginning a new and different quilt project, eating or sleeping. I try to channel it into productive thought or prayer, but along with the short-term memory comes a short attention span. If I can’t give it my full and undivided attention, the left lobe strays like a three year old.
I’m really not much of a TV watcher, and I do need to keep my eyes on that 1/4″ seam allowance, so the perfect solution for me is audiobooks. I love being read to, and since I have very shallow tastes in literature (see note above re: short attention span), I can usually absorb all of the story while I work. Sometimes I do have to back up and re-listen to part of the story, but not too often.
The best source for audiobooks in cassette, CD and downloadable formats, is my public library. I have access to thousands of books there. I do all of my browsing online and order what I want from the comfort of my own home. The downloads are my favorite, because I don’t have to leave the house to pick them up. Short short-term memory, short attention span and sluggish inclinations. That’s me.
Downloads can be transferred to an mp3 player or listened to from the computer. The mp3 player is nice for listening while I clean house or work out, too. My car only has a cassette player, so I am always glad to find those “vintage” audiobooks.
There are a few online sources for public domain audiobooks in downloadable formats. Most of them are read by volunteers and the quality varies. I have purchased some audiobooks, too, just as I buy books to keep from some of my favorite authors.
Now, I may get the opportunity to read and review audiobooks. It looks like most of them are Christian books, fiction and nonfiction, on a variety of subjects. I have set up a blog for that purpose, but naturally, the publishing company wants to know that I have READERS of my blog! I don’t. My book blog exists in a dark corner of cyberspace. I haven’t written much on it, and I recently removed some of the reviews I wrote a few months ago. It echoes.
I am going to rewrite the old reviews and write some new ones. I have two favors to ask of you:
1. “Follow” that blog in your favorite reader: google reader or bloglines or whatever you prefer.
2. Comment on that blog often.
I thank you!! In return, I have two sweet little pincushions to give away. There is one here and one on the Conspectuity blog. You can only win one of the two pincushions. I will draw a winner’s name by random.org on January 29th.
This one is a nice plump 4″ across. It’s filled with local wool, cleaned and carded. Lovely for sharp pins and needles. You can be entered in a drawing to win this one by leaving a comment here to tell me that you have added the Conspectuity blog to your reader. You can get a second drawing entry by following this GloryQuilts blog, too. Just comment to tell me you did it. I trust you.
On the Conspectuity blog, there is another pincushion! You get one entry for posting there, to tell me that you have added it to your “follow” or “reader” list. You will also get one entry for each comment you leave there on the other posts. (One comment per post)
Making Mug Rugs
Silliest thing I ever saw…
When I first saw a “mug rug,” I thought it was just another way to make and sell quick projects, thriftily using old blocks and scraps of fabric.
Gimcrackery: an ornament, showy but cheap and useless (Webster’s New World Dictionary, Third College Edition)
It looks like (and is) a skimpy placemat or an overgrown coaster. Placemats and coasters come in sets of four, however, and each one has to be individually bound. The binding takes longer than the rest of the project! I don’t mind tablerunners, because that’s only one binding job. A single quilted block, less than twelve inches square, looked like a cop-out. That’s not even big enough to be a wall quilt. It’s more like a potholder, but even those are usually sold in pairs.
I just couldn’t justify the making (and especially the selling!) of one little quilted mat. Besides, it wouldn’t even be very profitable, since anything really nice would take over an hour, and they wouldn’t sell for more than $10 each.
But as time went by, I started noticing things: When I carry my coffee cup into the livingroom and set it on the coffeetable, or take it up to my studio or into the office, I always have to find something to act as a coaster. Cups get hot, and I tend to dribble. I’m not fussy; I usually have some (unbound) coasters stacked on top of the piano, so I grab one of those if I am in the living room. Otherwise, I use a cloth napkin. Or dish rag. Or a paper towel, if the cup isn’t too hot. On my desk, I always have a few envelopes and other papers sporting brown rings.
It’s not the end of the world. Our life is simple. I won’t die of embarrassment if I have to hand a flannel or terrycloth napkin to a coffee-drinking guest.
And then I realized that sometimes I was using two napkins, or a napkin and a coaster. Yes, I sometimes have cookies or some other small treat with my coffee. With a mug rug or snack mat, I’d have a handy – and much more attractive! – place to set everything. I’d even have room to set down the spoon after I used creamer or sugar. My days of slovenly coffee drinking are at an end!
Possibilities abound. I can make them in colors to coordinate with each room, or in seasonal fabrics and patterns. I might make two dainty mats for tea parties with my granddaughters, or some his-and-hers sets. I think there ought to be “manly” ones, and some discreet enough to use at the office.
Think of the possibilities for gifts! You could assemble a very nice gift basket with one or two mug rugs, pretty (or manly) cups, and packages of coffee or tea. Or maybe even animal crackers and cocoa to drink!
And I only have to do one little binding.
Jobs and Hobbies
I have heard it said that it’s good to make your hobby your job – to do what you love, to make money from it. Do you agree with that? Sometimes I do, and other times I wish I felt free to just design and sew for pleasure, for me or for gifts.
I have been working outside of my home for the past year, and it is harder to find time to sew enough to make real income. Often, I am just too tired to go into the sewing room! If you work outside your home — or if you have a high-maintenance household (children, for example) — how do you keep the joy in creative work and actually make time for it? Is it all about organization? Self-discipline?
Can creativity be accomplished on a schedule? Obviously, you can allot a certain time frame for the actual work, but can you be creative like that?
There are several ladies on etsy who make good money with their sewing. They are very talented, efficient people, and I hope their ability will rub off on me. Check out the Quiltsy listings!
Share your thoughts… how do you do it all?
We Really Need Some Rain
I finished another Noah’s Ark wall quilt! I made the top several years ago (okay, it was probably 15 years ago) for a class sample. The pattern is Debbie Mumm’s, and she designed most of the fabrics, too, except for the animals. The animal fabrics were fun to shop for! I found an “ant” fabric in a nice gold color and decided it could go on the back of the quilt. You know… the ants go marching two by two, hurrah, hurrah! Very appropriate for the story of the Ark. I machine-quilted it. As usual, I haven’t done the hand-stitching of the sleeve or binding yet. I save that for traveling or “sitting” time. I finished one of the Cowgirl Boots wallhangings and started another at the softball game last night.
I also did that client project that I mentioned, and I am working on an order for another client. A productive weekend!
UFO Reduction – the last four boot blocks
I admit… I was very tempted to throw them out. I thought there were three left, but when I cleaned my sewing room, I found another. *sigh* I made two totes and two little wall quilts. The binding on the wall quilts is not stitched to the back yet, so it looks a little messy here.
The bags are lined and have interior pockets. The back of the pink one is pieced . The drawstring bag is made with Michael Miller’s medium teal Fairy Frost fabric.
Now I have to take a break to do a current project – making a bench cushion for a client. But I’ll be back to my UFO Reduction soon!
Stash Reduction Project – Part Two
If you missed it, here is Part One.
A big part of that stash reduction was cutting the strips. My husband made me a big, high cutting table a few years ago, so it’s not too hard on my back. I don’t think I could have done this on a standard table.
This is an example of my starting tote, except that it’s too empty to be representative. Virtually all of the totes were absolutely crammed full of fabric and I had to work hard to get the lids to stay on. This was the second tote full of clear blues (the green/teal blues are in a separate tote.)
As I mentioned in Part 1 of this series, I cut the smaller or narrow pieces of fabric into 2″ or 1 1/2″ strips. This is from the pink box, obviously – a real priority, since I couldn’t get that one shut even if I sat on it!
This is one of the totes for 2″ strips:
And this is what most of the totes looked like after I had purged them of the scrappy, stringy pieces:
After I cut strips from the blues, I was able to fit the bigger pieces into one tote, which was good, since I needed another tote for strips.
That was the calico. I have three (crammed full) 18 gallon totes of 2″ strips and two of the 1 1/2″ strips. Yes, I use them!
And…
I have a good friend who sews flannel nightgowns and baby items. She sends me her scraps, and I have been shoving them into miscellaneous “flannel” boxes in the attic. A while ago, I decided that I needed new napkins for my diningroom table, so I sent one of my big, strong male people up to the attic to bring down all of the boxes labeled “flannel.” There were four of the 18 gallon Rubbermaid totes crammed full of flannel scraps.
I spent the next few days cutting them into usable squares and strips. I cut squares according to the size of the flannel, starting with 9 1/2″ (still thinking of napkins), all the way down to 4″ squares. Pieces too narrow for squares were cut into 3″, 2 1/2″ and 2″ strips. There were two main groups of squares: sweet baby/child prints and then some that were darker, plaids, wildlife prints, etc. I did not separate the strips – just tossed them into three smaller totes according to width.
With my squares already cut, I was filled with energetic enthusiasm for using them up. In the space of a few days, I made eight baby quilt tops, and I still have one large tote of big pieces/yardage, one of organized squares and a few smaller totes of the strips.
I find that having the strips and squares ready-to-sew make me more likely to start new projects. I’m not sure that’s always a good thing, but it’s fun!
G.K. Chesterton on Attics
I realize that he was really talking about contentment, but the idea still applies. I do appreciate all there is in my own attic. I am pleased when I look at it. Yes, a little embarrassed by the vast amount of it, but I do use things eventually, so I am not going to feel guilty.
Right now, it makes me happy to look at it. I’m sorry the pictures are dark, but it is an attic, lit by two bare lightbulbs. It has terrific “attic ambiance.”
SPECIFICALLY FOR QUILTING:
DRESSMAKING, RUGS, AND OTHER PROJECTS:
DENIM AND UPHOLSTERY (and a few other things):
Obviously, I didn’t get to this part of the attic yet.
This is a corner of my sewing room. There are a few other boxes, totes, piles of unfinished quilts and fabrics, too. AND… after I “finished” cleaning out my stash and had the attic all clean, I found two more totes to be sorted and two more totes of 2″ strips. Also, a tote of gingham and two totes with quilt patterns and gadgets. I stuck them back out of sight in another, darker corner of the attic.
There you are… proof of a clean and healthy stash, just waiting to be put to good use!
Very Appropriate for Our Rainy Day
Our farmers would like to see several more days of rain, but probably not 40 days and nights. This very bright baby quilt was made with Avlyn fabrics. The Noah’s Ark print is adorable, and the green polka dots coordinate perfectly. I also used those strips I told you about yesterday – the Borders & More line from Avlyn. I couldn’t find a picture of the yardage in this particular colorway, but here it is in Christmas colors: AVLYN BORDERS & MORE Yes, I think I have some of that, too.
The Flying Geese strips and the Goose Tracks blocks are all printed instead of pieced. Black borders on either side of the strips made it look more like real piecing. For a more “authentic pieced” look, I could quilt around each little piece. Yeah, right…. I’m thinking that when I get around to quilting this one, I will just stipple it. Much faster!
