First Museum Challenge

I am working on my first Vision Museum Challenge. The challenge was to create a 10" X 14" abstract piece. I wasn't a hundred percent sure what abstract was except it usually deals with shapes or something that represents something but doesn't look exactly like it. I know that abstract art is by definition "art that does not attempt to represent external reality, but seeks to achieve its effect using shapes, forms, colors, and textures." So with this definition in mind I collected several fat quarter pieces and a fat quarter is a piece of fabric that measures 18" X 22" and a half yard of fabric so about 18" X 42". I then laid my fabrics out one on top of the other and I took a photo of them.

From this photo I then edited the photo to a black and white photo. And by changing the photo to black and white I could see that I had a good range of dark, medium and light choices. So even though I had a large variety of colors the tones of the fabric  blended well together.

I then began to layout several different designs as to how I wanted to do my piece. I knew that I was going to do some hand appliqueing for this piece since it was such a small piece and applique is something I don't have a lot of experience with. 

 Once I had a general idea of what I wanted I then sewed the small squares together I cut squares out 1- 1/2" X 1-1/2" both in colored fabric and in black fabric. I then folded a 1/4"  under on all four sides and pressed the sides under and then sewed each colored square onto the black squares so just two sides of the black fabric showed.

I then sewed the strips onto the brown background fabric  and added the squares in where I wanted them. I used a blanket stitch to add the strips and squares to my background fabric.

I then quilted with a monofiliment thread. Will finish the sleeve, label and binding soon. And it will go on display at the Vision Museum in April.

Staying Busy

It always seems that the beginning of the year is a time for refocusing and evaluating goals. This year is no different. Between working on the budget, taking classes and taking more classes, we have begun to look at what we want to accomplish around the home front this year. We have made arrangements to finally put in our French door and replace the sliding glass door that is something we have wanted to do since we first started remodeling our home. Our last child will be moving next month which will open up a room for my sewing, so we went out and purchased a new desk for me and a new chair to place in the sewing room. We drew out the dimensions of the sewing room and also drew out the pieces I wish to put into the sewing room so we know things will fit. We have already painted the rooms and done the laminate flooring so I don't have to worry about doing that but I will need to do some massive cleaning and rearranging soon.

I have been taking two classes at the school Graphic Arts and Photoshop II those take some time but it is all good. And I have also been taking a once a month sewing class and have a two day free motion quilting class coming up the end of this month.

So what have I been doing sewing wise, I completed the January and February blocks for Pat Sloan's vacation time quilt along. The first block is January and the second is February. I am using black as my primary background fabric and batiks as the focal fabric. I actually had to buy the Eleanor Burns Flying Geese ruler in order to get my points to come out on my february block. In my January block if I don't redo it I will probably lose my points when I sew the sashing on but my february block came out pretty good.

 You can go here to join in with Pat Sloan's Mystery blocks
http://www.freequiltpatterns.info/2015-vacation-time-mystery-bom.html

Here is the link for the Eleanor Burns Flying Geese ruler that I used.
http://www.quiltinaday.com/shoponline/rulers_display.asp?i=707

I bought my rulers at a nice little quilt shop here locally at the Crazy 9 Patch Quilt Shop the ladies there were so helpful and it is a nice clean well kept shop.  Here is a link to their website.
 http://www.crazy9patch.com/


And finally the wonderful quilt ruler storage center that my husband built for me. He is most definitely willing to make one for you as well. Feel free to contact me if you would like one of these as well.

Soon To Be An Empty Nester

My youngest just turned 21 will be moving into her own place in March. So during her waiting time she has been going through her furniture and she decided to let go of her piano. Which in turn opened up space in my dining room, her moving motivated me to begin to look around and see what things I liked and what things I wanted to change.

We have decided that her room we are going to take over for our office and the office is where I will set up my sewing area. So with that in mind I have decided to convert my L-Shaped desk into my sewing area and will use it to sew on with two of my machines. I am also going to convert the old glass top desk into a light table and printing station. I have already turned a bookcase into my fabric storage area. And my large filing cabinet has been converted to hold my patterns. I will be going through the patterns soon and most likely selling the patterns I never used and getting rid of the others one. I have lots of quilting patterns that I need to go through and organize. I realized that I have accumulated almost as many quilt pdfs, as I have accumulated embroidery patterns. Hoarding craft ideas is just something I have always done. Either today or tomorrow I will measure the room and furniture for the room and begin to decide how to set it up. Fortunately it is only being moved from one room to another and I have already begun to clean up and clear out stuff. So it won't be that big of a disruption in my sewing schedule. The final move date will be in March, this weekend we went and got a chair for my husband for in the sewing room so he can sit and browse his computer while I finish up. It always amazes me that he continues to support and encourage my sewing and crafting needs. He is truly my muse, he inspires me and gives great fabric color choice advice, he helped me this weekend go outside of my color comfort zone. One day I might even use a big print fabric.

I also did manage to finish my Globetrotting Quilt top by Saturday as I planned. I added the additional 4 inch border on it. And I am in the process of piecing the back together now. I am not doing any particular pattern with the back, I am just attempting to use the remaining fabric that I used in the front to create the backing. All the fabric originally came from my fabric collection, I had to buy more off white and more black and white polka dot, but otherwise this quilt is as they call it a stash buster, makes me happy. And I have made progress on my pattern for an crocheted umbrella for upcoming soon to be niece's wedding.

Going outside of my comfort zone to try new things is something that I resisted for a long time, however, I find that I invariable learn and grow when I do attempt to go outside of my comfort zone.

Pat Sloan's Globetrotting Quilt Along

Last year, I found a quilt along that I really wanted to try it was Pat Sloan's Globetrotting Quilt. At first it was a journey of trepidation and then it became a journey on precision. I wanted to work on cutting the pieces straight and as close to the right size as I could. Maybe I should have chosen a less complicated quilt along but you know I just don't roll that way. I choose a project by how much it screams at me to do it. And this screamed at me to do it. Now, I had a couple of goals, one was to cut as well as I could, two was to try and keep up, and three was to complete the quilt. I blew goal two because I did not figure on classes keeping me away from the sewing machine but hey you have to have a few failures in order to truly appreciate the successes.

I really like how Pat Sloan does her quilt alongs she gives detail cutting instructions and she also has a fabric line she uses for her quilt alongs. I am truly more of a solids kind of girl because I like to add my own embellishments, so I chose to do a black and cream quilt, I had a great deal of the fabric already on hand so it was pretty easy coming up with the colors I wanted to go with.

Here is the link to Pat Sloan's tutorials for the Globetrotting Quilt

 http://www.freequiltpatterns.info/globetrotting-2014-mystery-bom-by-pat-sloan.htm

And below is one of Pat Sloan's colorways of the quilt made in her fabric it is very bright and pretty isn't it. I could totally do a red, gray, and black version of this as well.

Another thing I like about Pat's tutorials is she walks you through the steps, which makes it really easy to follow. And she has a facebook page that she is constantly replying to questions and suggestions. She has a new Block of the Month started this month for 2015 it is called Vacation Time. Here is the link to that one as well:
 http://blog.patsloan.com/2014/12/pat-sloan-2015-free-mystery-bom-vacation-time-jan-block.html

I haven't started the Vacation Time yet but I do plan to right after I finish putting together the Globetrotting top. And that is the really exciting part. I am hoping that by Saturday, January 24, which just happens to be my daughter's 21st birthday as well, I will have the top completed.

The above picture is 3/4's of my blocks put together, and I did get one out of order but hey my goal was to cut better, and since I already blew the keeping up portion the third goal was to complete it. And I am doing pretty good with the 2 out of 3 thing. And for the most part I managed to hit the desired size on most of my blocks. I still have some work on finding that perfect 1/4" seam or scant 1/4" seam they all talk about. But I got quite a few points to line up and am pretty proud of myself as most of these blocks I have never made before.

This is a shot of all the border pieces I have cut and you see that white polkadot on black fabric that was such a heartache, those pieces are 2-1/2" by 6-1/2' pieces. I needed 54 of those pieces, yep you got it I ran out of fabric and I only needed 6 more pieces. So yesterday had to run to JoAnnes to see if I could find fabric similar as I bought this fabric years ago. Well, I found something similar but not close enough to just add the six pieces in, I will have to recut all 54 pieces, but what I will do is use all the remaining pieces from this quilt to piece together the back.

This is where I had to stop because I ran out of the fabric. I am confident though that I will be able to piece a nice backing with the remaining fabric from this adventure. I just keep repeating my motto of the year: "It's the journey not the destination that matters".

On another note, yesterday I also got a really nice trip to a lumber yard and while there I saw a tree trunk that was really cool. This particular lumber yard goes and gets trees that have fallen down or have been felled for safety reasons I guess so it is all pretty cool. But I grabbed a picture that I thought would be really cool if I could reproduce in fabric.

Time Gets Away From Me

I sometimes think that the time gods enjoy messing around in my life. I work really hard to get organized and do things in a timely manner. The problem is I never know how much time something is going to take. If it goes really well, no time at all. However, if I have to depend upon someone else to help me well then your looking at a whole different schedule. Now, my husband he is a meticulous man, he likes things nice and in order and that is how he works. Not surprising as he is in IT. He and I actually work quite well together. Now my daughter, well she can be a fanatic about her own belongings, but when it comes to doing something with others well she is less fanatic. My son, well he is like my daughter to some degree. So how do you get around having to manage other people's time schedule? Well, that is simpler said then done, according to others you work ahead. MMHMM!

Working ahead is really difficult when you have a full life. I began classes again on the 12th of January, originally I had 3 classes, registered several months ago for them. One of the classes required some big ticket items that I wasn't ready to purchase at this time, so bye-bye class. It would have been nice to know ahead of time about the big ticket items before hand. So, I quickly scanned the catalog and found another class to register in. Yep, you guessed it this is an accelerated class, however, that isn't too bad as I like the topic. But, because I just registered for the class I don't have the book yet. That is a problem. Then I have the one class I really wanted to take and that seems to be going ok, so far. The third class, I really thought I would enjoy, however, after attempting to read one chapter of 32 pages for the last week and a half. Yep, dropped the class. So what good is working ahead when your not sure what the outcome will be. And does it mean you should work ahead in everything you do?

I have found that there are areas in your life where you can't work ahead so the answer to the question is no you don't have to work ahead in everything you do. When scheduling look at the factors surrounding what your trying to do. If your baking a cake you know you have to have the ingredients to bake the cake and you only need to follow the directions and allot the amounted time as the directions tell you to. However, when your sewing or doing anything with a pattern in mind, your best bet is to break it down into sections. And due to my experiences so far this is how I have chosen to break my sections down.

The first thing I do when I am deciding on a project to do, I talk it over with my husband. He has great insight into how I actually do things, and he makes great suggestions. This section can take as long as it needs to, And if it is a project that doesn't really have a pattern it can take some time. There is no pressure here except what I put on myself.

The second thing I do, if I am using a pattern I gather the material. If I am not using a pattern then I am only guessing at what I think I need and sometimes my thoughts work and sometimes they don't. However, no matter what if I buy something for a specific project I have learned I need to put it all in one place. Either a ziploc bag or a plastic tote bin. I also need to write it down on the project notebook that I am doing, otherwise it is going to get lost or used for something else.

The third thing I do is prepare my material, that means if it needs to be prewashed, I do that, then I dry it and iron it to prepare for cutting. This in itself can take up to 2 days to do, depending on how much material I have. So give yourself the right amount of time.

The fourth thing I do is I begin to layout my design. With my embroidery work, I have found that I need several copies of the pattern, so if it is bigger then printer size I need to go to the copy center and get a couple of copies done. That will take at least a day.

The fifth thing I do is prep the material and break the work up into sections. And this step right here is where I begin to lose my time schedule. I allow a day or two to cut fabric all depends on how much right. But once I start to lose what I think is my time schedule well, then I begin to become anxious it isn't much at first but over time it grows.

The sixth thing I do is begin working, this step is where my anxiety really begins to grow. Not only because I feel at times that I take to much time but because I really want to see it finished.

So in reflection, time just gets away from me and I have to give myself a break and realize that Time takes Time. That the only schedule there is, is what is in front of you. So if your like me, slow down, enjoy the journey and quit trying to jump to the destination. I am beginning to think that my motto for 2015 is enjoy the journey, it isn't about the destination as that keeps popping up for me.

I am making progress on my project list from December 31, 2014 that I needed to finish.

Unfinished Projects

Quilting Projects

Globetrotting Quilt

Lonestar quilt

rag quilt -Just need to put binding on

Aurifil Quilt

Embroidery and Sewing Projects

Love Squares

Angel

Christmas Window Hanging- Sewing on the last pieces by hand.

Smaug

Crocheting Projects 

Umbrella- Have gotten it to about 12 inches needs to be 36 inches

So with that I leave you with this saying. Found on the web.

Monday January 12, 2015

I wasn't able to get near as much done this past weekend as I had hoped to get done, I embroidered a gift for someone but I still need to complete it. I did get two BOM's done, these are for Elefantz's block of the month, here is the link to her blog:

http://www.elefantz.com/search/label/My%20Vintage%20Kitchen%20BOM%202015

I am starting 3 online classes this term and will still be doing my projects and hopefully updating my blog. I did figure out how I was going to finish one of my WIP's (works in progress). Got the pieces embroidered on the machine and just need to sew those down.

I have 4 of these to sew down and then this should be finished.

This is a corner block for Globetrotting

 The blocks for Globetrotting I still have 2 more corner blocks to do and two more blocks for the pattern itself and then I just have the sashing and border to do. Then to quilt it.

And finally my daughter sold her piano this weekend so now I have a possible spot for the Singer Treadle Machine that she bought for me.

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.