What Material To Use?

 I have always enjoyed crafting it doesn't really matter what it is. I enjoy crocheting, sewing, quilting; my most loved craft is embroidery. Growing up I didn't have a lot of money to put towards my crafts, I could only get what fit within my budget. Sometimes, I simply had to use fabric from clothes that no longer fit me. There has always been material that worked or didn't work. However, I have always shied away from what they called high end fabrics. When you can make a meal for 4 for what it costs for 2 yards of high end quilting shop fabric, well you know the meal usually comes first. With this being said I have used the high quality fabric and if you can afford the fabric by all means get it. No matter what your budget is though you can make beauty with all levels of material. 


What is the difference between material at your local fabric shop, Joanne’s, Hancock’s, Walmart, Hobby Lobby and the Quilting shop fabric? I began a monthly quilting class this week and I heard a term I had never heard before or it didn't register when I did hear it, but the word was Greige goods (Greige is pronounced "gray"). Greige goods are the raw fabric before it is dyed and printed. Quilting fabric is usually 100% cotton with the ending of the Civil War the cost of Cotton began to increase and is still increasing. According to an article written by Josh Sager in April 2013 "it requires approximately 400 gallons of water to make a simple T-Shirt" that’s a lot of water, a standard bathtub only holds about 90 gallons of water. Now this may be an accurate quote or it may not but what it does show is that growing cotton is expensive.  This is a picture of cotton before it is harvested. For some reason this looks so nice and clean but you know with wind blowing, rain, smog and all the other things we have introduced to the air this just seems super clean to me and I just don't think it comes that way.

So once the cotton is taken from the fields it then needs to be cleaned and milled. You go from white cotton bolls to these big blocks of cotton smashed and bound together.

And here is a short video but a great video on how cotton is made into yarn or thread.

How to make Cotton Yarn

And another video that shows you how the yarn is turned into fabric. 

How Its Made Fabrics

So what it comes down to is this each piece of fabric that is made with cotton is a woven piece of material. The quality depends on the thickness of the yarn used in the vertical and horizontal weave of the fabric. The horizontal weaves are called weft and the vertical weaves are called warp. If you were to take cotton sewing thread and cut 40 pieces approximately 10 inches long and weave 20 pieces horizontally through the other 20 pieces that were laid out vertically you would have a flimsy piece of fabric. But if you were to take 40 pieces of embroidery cotton floss and do the same thing your piece of fabric would be slightly thicker. This is the difference in fabric found in the different stores.


So the fabric at Walmart is made with a different thread type then what is made at Joanne's and a much different thread type is used within quilting shop fabric. The patterns, the colors, all play a part but it is the thread that is most important when we look at the difference in fabric. No matter what cotton fabric all begins the same way on a cotton plant. Once it is taken from the cotton field it is then processed the same way but then it gets sorted by quality and the better quality thread that is put into your high end fabric and the lower ends get divided into categories. 

So just like some people are able to quilt on a domestic machine, others are able to quilt on a mid-arm machine like aHandi-Quilter and still others can use a long arm machine like  Gammill. You have some people who can quilt on fabric from thrift stores, Walmart, and some who quilt with Joanne's, Hancock’s, and others who use nothing but Quilt Store fabrics. I believe that no matter what you use if you practice enough and work to improve each type of fabric has a beauty within it because it is the journey not the destination that is important. And to be honest I would not want to practice my stitching on fabric that 2 yards would buy a meal for my family. If once I have improved enough to step up a notch in fabric then I will.

What is the RIGHT Way?

Lately I have noticed that besides working on getting organized I am also willing to slow down and gather everything together prior to starting to work on something. I suppose that falls under the category of getting organized as well and yet I find myself slowing down while I am cutting. My desire to get that perfect cut. When I cut fabric, I have various tools that I use while doing so, I have mats, rulers, scissors, rotary cutter, exacto knives and now I have added the Brother's Scan and Cut. So much to learn how to use properly and efficiently and so often I wonder am I doing this right.

How do you know if your doing something right, if you ask someone else who uses the tool you will get a totally different way of using it, is it the right way though. I have attempted to read books, I have joined groups, and I have even begun to take classes all in the hope of learning the RIGHT Way. But what happens if your a lefty, do lefties look for the LEFT Way? I often wonder just what it will take to find that zone and just zoom like I see so many others doing.

Zooming while cutting though is definitely not the RIGHT or LEFT Way to do anything. Fabric is a creature with a mind of its own. Sometimes when I think of fabric I think of that book in Harry Potter used for the class Care of Magical Creatures.

Yep fabric is just like this book and the key according to Hagrid to opening this particular book was to stroke the spine. Fabric requires a great deal of stroking itself. You would think that when they cut the fabric off the bolt that it would be cut straight but, it isn't, certain fabrics can be torn and that will give you a much straighter edge and yet you still must stroke the fabric until it lays smoothly on your cutting surface. Then once you have stroked your fabric into complacency you must then place the ruler at the proper position to get the right size needed. Do you use the lines on the cutting mat or do you use the lines on the ruler to size up what you wish to cut. Furthermore did you know not every ruler is marked the same. You can not lay one ruler on top of another ruler and have them line up. The closest you can get is to lay one ruler on top of the other from the same manufacturer, yep folks the clue here is to use the same ruler for all your cutting on each project you do. So if you pick up a fisker ruler once and then you pick up an omnigrid your blocks will be off. However, back to the question of which line to use, I use the lines on the mat to line my fabric up straight and to give me a straight edge to measure from. I then use two rulers I measure the distance of what I want to cut lay my ruler or straight edge down and hold it and then use a second ruler to double check my measurement. Like the pictures below.

Having various cutting tools for cutting long strips and blocks I find a rotary cutter the best to use depending on the type of fabric and the size of the strips and blocks sometimes a large, med, or small rotary cutter is required. The more simpler strip but with lots of to cut the larger rotary is best. For standard cuts a medium rotary will work. however, the more complex a cut is it may be best to use a small rotary cutter. I find something really complex, something that accuracy is a must that a cutting machine one that uses dies or like what I have the Brothers Scan and Cut is probably best. If you are going to do a lot of standard cut an Accuquilt or Cricut may be a better choice for you. As far as which Rotary Cutter is best well you know that all comes down to What is the RIGHT and LEFT Way. 

What there is, is a preference everyone has a preference of how they like to do something and no one preference works for every single person. Play around with what feels the wrong way until you find the RIGHT or LEFT Way that works for you. I guarantee you that if you do enough playing around and enough questioning you will find that just like Forest Gump said: "Life is like a box of Chocolates", you just have to find the right chocolate for you.

Progress in the New Year

I have never really been able to make a declaration of what I intended to do in the New Year and see some results so quickly. This year though I can honestly say I have made some progress. On December 31, 2014, I made a list of projects that I had going and that I wanted to finish before starting any new ones.

This is my list from December 31, 2014:

Unfinished Projects

Quilting Projects

Globetrotting Quilt

2- Table Runners approximately 70" (length) X 20" (Width) -DONE

28 coasters -DONE

Lonestar quilt

rag quilt -1/2 way done

Aurifil Quilt

Embroidery and Sewing Projects

Love Squares

Angel

Christmas Window Hanging

Smaug

Christmas Towels - Done

Crocheting Projects 

Umbrella

Easter Eggs -Done

As you can see there are 13 projects that are started but were not finished as of December 31,2014. I completed the 2 Table runners.

 

 I completed all the coasters:

The Easter Eggs I crocheted in the Spring of 2014 I believe and had not decided what I wanted to do with them well this weekend I made some decisions and here is the result.

So I am left with 9 projects 2 of which will take me awhile to do Smaug is hand embroidered so I am estimating at least a year on him. And the other is a 36" in diameter hand crocheted thread umbrella top. I am making good progress on it but I still estimate at least another 3 months.

And even though I have gotten material for new projects I wish to start I have labeled those and placed them into containers to be started once I have finished some of the other projects I have listed above. All in all a good start to a new year.

Still On The Path To Organization

It's a New Year and I am still working on organization,if you are like me then you constantly have thoughts pop into your head. Those thoughts could be while your driving, cooking, cleaning, or even sleeping. Sometimes those thoughts are so vivid and so persistent that you know if you don't get them out of your head they are going to float around and around until you are consumed by them. You know you just have to do this project and then boom you go to get the material and the thought is now all jumbled and you forget that perfect vision. Because of this major affliction of mine, I have tried various methods of keeping these ideas in my head in some kind of easy clear method. Keeping these ideas in my head just didn't work.I had to devise a method that would keep the thoughts somewhat clear and for me that meant starting a collection which included so many different things. Just so you know besides the computer, groups, facebook, files, Pin Interest, Bookmarks and so forth I have taken a snapshot of a few more methods that I have used.

Yep, there are 9 other ways I have attempted to get the thoughts clear and concise, I have used a phone and a tablet to store pdfs, pictures. I have used post-it notes which I must tell you they are very easy to lose. The others are various forms of journals and they all have their pro's and con's.  I have found that it is best if I keep one by my bed, one in my bag, one on my sewing table, one on the living room coffee table, one in my kitchen. For me I needed not only a journal to write in but one to draw in, paste in, color in. I am still working on this form of containment and I don't have a clear direction of which way is best for me. I know I have lots of tutorials, pdfs, bookmarks much more than I will ever use I am sure. I know because of the lack of clutter the computer has become my favorite method of containment, however, I don't like not being able to easily find what I am looking for. So I am still in the process of searching for that perfect method for me of containing my ideas and my wants.

Yep it is just not an easy thing for me to keep track of all the thoughts and ideas that flow through my brain. My husband says that is because I am an "Artist" mind you he makes word sound like a mix of a Texas drawl and a Parisian accent. I know that he truly means this and believes it. I find that I can't go to a meeting or a class without taking some form of work with me. When I go to a long meeting I tend to take my crocheted work with to do. It is amazing to me how many people say they use to do it but no longer can because of this reason or that reason. For me I simply must do it, it is a driven compulsion, of course what do you do with all the products well for me that is not an easy thing to do, I love making it but I hate selling myself. So I am slowly but surely building up a great supply of items. And as I see someone or something that suits my item somehow it always seems to go there. For me it is all about the creation of it.

On The last day of 2014, I gathered up my notebook and I wrote down all of my current projects that were in progress and I wrote a list of projects that I want to do. On the list of my current projects I am in the process of looking at what I want done asap and what I know will take some time to do. I am thinking that this is the best way for me to do my projects. I have also made a list of projects that I know I want to do.  Tomorrow I will show you the list of my projects and I will go back through my posts and hopefully show updates of those projects at least mention if they are completed or not. 

As I mentioned to someone last night it isn't about the destination folks it is all about the journey.

January 1, 2015 Yep its a New Year- How will you store your thread?

In 1974, I got a few skeins of  white and black J & P Coats  Embroidery Floss. I was so excited, I had no idea how to embroidery and sewing didn't seem like it would be something I would pick up on easily but how I loved thread and fabric. Every chance I got I would pick up a new embroidery kit at the time I did pre-printed patterns that came with the thread. I did these kits religiously, eventually I grew to buy transfer patterns and the fabric and thread to create my own color version of the design. And I began to accumulate what those who craft call a stash. Yep, I kept everything, it wasn't that it cost a lot to get my crafting supplies it was that the money I used was precious. Survival items were more important and I didn't have a lot of extra funds to go towards crafting.

So  how did I store my precious thread and fabric, you might ask. In the beginning, I would wrap the fabric with the hoop around the few small skeins of thread that I had. Then once I started buying the kits I kept it within the plastic bag that the kit came in. Then as I began to accumulate my stash, I progressed to plastic tubs. You see how this is going right, you start out small and what you can afford and soon you have this snowball effect. I would love to say that my snowball effects looked like this:

Ya n, it looked like this and trust me today, I know that the amount of time I took unwinding, and dismantling knots, was an artform in and of itself. 

 So, how did I change this, well I started my mission in attempting to be more organized. I don't have any pictures of what the thread looked like before I began my mission so I have found an image off google to show how the thread looked when it was bought. From this:

I went to rolling my thread onto small cardboard pieces and they looked like this, you will also see some newer plastic pieces as well and one that is simply cut from a piece of card stock: 

From this idea I then went to putting my thread on large clasping O-Rings:

From this I went to ziplock bags and yes this has a little hole cut in the bag with a hole punch and it is connected to a clasping O-ring:

From the ziplock bags I went to partitioned plastic bins like this:

From the partitioned bins I went to this, and this is a specialty thread case that is a fabric notebook with thread sleeves and long thin thread rolls that fit into the plastic sleeves:

No, my thread collection isn't only embroidery thread and mind you I still do all of the above mentioned methods to store my embroidery floss. And this is how I store my crochet thread:

This is my machine embroidery thread:

 My serger thread:

 And last but not least my preferred method of storing my thread in completed projects. This piece is one that took me 3 years to do it is all done by hand no machine work here at all. It is a photo of my husbands and my first Halloween date. It is done on white satin with Rayon and Cotton Floss, The original photo is kept with this piece. The embroidery work is 17" X 17" and the completed framed and matted piece is 30" X 27 1/2".

You see no matter how much money you have or how you keep your thread the best way to keep the thread is in my opinion to use it. Find what works for you and your budget and just create. Even if you can only afford a few skeins these are easily transported and you can work on them during breaks at work, while your watching T.V. the goal is no matter how much you have use it as much as you can.

Last Day of 2014

I have been busy cleaning and organizing since my classes ended on the 14th of December. When I am in classes I do minimum cleaning it never seems to fail that I just get so wrapped up in the classes. This next term due to begin January 12, 2015 all my classes are online. Which brings me back to the cleaning and organizing I am hoping that by getting everything cleaned and put together that I may be able to do more sewing and complete more projects while in school.

Looking at this year there are many things that are about to change one of those maybe that 2014 will be the last full year that I have had a child in my home. My daughter turns 21 in January and in March she is looking to move out, I am hoping it goes as she wishes it to go. I wished to move my sewing and crafting into a separate room so we are looking at putting my sewing into the office and turning her room into the office, this way if said daughter needs to move back in we only need to move our desks and computers out rather than all the sewing equipment.

When looking behind I always seem to look ahead at the possibilities, I find that when I do this I don't regret as much what I haven't done because when looking ahead I can still achieve so much more. So much is coming together, I am absolutely thrilled with what my husband is doing in the kitchen and now that I have tile and my oven and my cooktop it is so much easier being patient as he puts the rest of it together. I just know it will look fabulous when it is finished. And you know most women would not be as ecstatic about a closet as I am but I simply have to show you all what he has done for me. In the hallway to our bedroom there was a small closet I think at one time it may have held a heater I am not sure as it sits above the return vents to the house and the heater is now in the mm I guess you would call it an attic but to me it is a crawl space. So when we first moved in we store the vacuum and odds and ends in there but what I wanted to do was to be able to store my craft supplies you know to keep them all together. Well my husband could have simply thrown some shelves up and you know I probably would have been just fine with that but nope he did so much more he measured my largest tub and built the shelf space accordingly  and then he stained and finished them so that I wouldn't snag or damage anything that I stored in there.And it is right across from the office which we will be putting my sewing and crafting into so it is a win win. So now I can get to really rearranging and organizing I may even be able to label some things and use what I have.

                   

I also took back a bookshelf that I was letting my daughter use to store my fabric in rather then the wardrobe I was using because I couldn't see all my fabric. So now I have my fabric all rolled up onto comic boards or actual bolt boards as I have begun asking for the bolt boards when I go to the fabric store and it is so much easier to store it that way. So I went from this wardrobe to this shelving.

I have made some progress on cover of my soon to be nieces umbrella for her wedding I am at about 10 1/2 inches in diameter now so only about 26 more inches to go. I am making faster progress than I thought I would and I like the pattern that is emerging.

 

 And finally the last of my clean up not organizing mind you but clean-up is on my sewing table now. So now I just need to wrap this up and label it for the project I have in mind and then finish up a few other projects and maybe I can get back to Smaug.

In 2015 there will be many changes for me some ok, some spectacular, some scary, but no matter what it will all be changed for me. And if it is anywhere close to what I felt in 2014 I will enjoy it all.

Never Enough Time To Do All You Want

Here it is already December 23, 2014! I remember growing up and thinking I will never see the year 2000 I was never very good at math you know. And yet not only did I live to see it I have lived beyond it and am still going. As I look around myself these days so much has changed and so much is still the same, the parts that have changed in many ways I am ever so glad they did and the parts that have remained I am also ever so glad they did. My creativity is still so very strong in me and as I continue to explore this avenue I am slowly but surely building the confidence that I seek. My children are all grown and the final one will leave the nest to try her wings in a few months, I am not sure that this will be a final leave taking for her, however, I hope that she finds what she needs in life to feel the confidence and security that I have today.

I found that trying to work among chaos today doesn't work as well for me as it once did, sooooooo I have set myself a goal of finishing up small projects, gathering other projects together and doing a through cleaning and organizing for the New Year. With my last fledgling leaving the nest this opens up the avenue for a studio area for me and I am finding I like this idea as it means putting my creative chaos into one area and not spread all over. Of course this also means that I must adjust and arrange my creative material to fit into one room hmmm this shall be interesting as currently I have the hall closets and yes that is plural as there are three of them, the living room and the dining room as my playground right now how will I ever pair it all down to just room. Yes you got it I must clean and organize hence the remainder of 2014 will be spent going through everything I have. I have found that it is much easier for me to let go of things that I know I will never use today, where once I could not let loose anything as it may very well be useful one day.

OMG, how is it that I can be sitting here talking about cleaning up and organizing and bam another project just jumped into my mind. A quick flash thought of my daughters grandmother and the thought of an embroidery project that I started OH SO MANY YEARS AGO but never finished because of one reason or another and then it got stained and I have held onto to it for what ever reason and now I know what to do with it and it will be a perfect memorial for my daughter. I will of course have to pull it out and see how to incorporate this project as well. You see I am so obviously easily distracted by my own thought processes so it will definitely be a challenge to complete my organization that is needed. However, I am truly determined to do so. Of course I can't just clean and organize I also have to have something that I can work on to ease that need that I have. So I have also been working on a design for an umbrella for my nephew's fiancee as they are to be married in 2016. So I have begun to work on the pattern to create the umbrella here is a photo of my progress so far it is about 9 1/2 inches in diameter at this point and I believe I need it to be approximately 36 inches in diameter.

The last image is of another woman's work just to give an idea of what a finished product looks like I simply Googled what I wanted and saw her work and found that she has an Etsy shop and that she sells her umbrellas here:

https://www.etsy.com/listing/154982407/48-ivory-or-white-lace-crochet-flower?ref=shop_home_active_13. 

From the reviews she does beautiful work so if there is a want for one right away she does have them available or can make them.

However, as I enjoy the work I am working on my soon to be nieces myself. I did finish my kitchen valance which makes me so happy   and my kitchen remodel is coming along really nice as well. It is so very different from the home we moved into about 3 years ago.