Happy Thanksgiving

Well, here we are again. The big day of thanks for those of us in the States. It has been quite the year around here, and not an easy one. It has been an emotional roller coast, with more lows than highs and many head-slapping WTF moments. But I'm grateful for it, as it seems to be winding down in a more positive way that I don't know if I'd appreciate if there weren't some big dips along the wave of life. We're all still here and we're all still well. In the grand scheme of things what more could you ask for? So thank you, life, for being what you are (and certainly not apologizing for it).

Now, I'm going to go put on my pants with the stretchy waistband and settle in. Happy Thanksgiving, and as the younger of my nephews would say, "Boggle boggle!"

Brit Kit #3

I promise this is the last you will see of my subscription box posts, because I've cancelled this one as well. The premise of a subscription box is that you sign up for one (and there are many to choose from) and every month you receive a surprise box of goodies specific to the genre you chose (crafts, food, bath and body, and so on). While I do love the idea of it, my experience with them has been less than stellar, so I'm stopping for good.

I'll show you my final kit I received, but I'm not making anything with it. I would never use it and consider it a waste of good zippers...

OK, so I'm supposed to take those perfectly good zippers and cut them to pieces (intentionally!). Then I'm supposed to cut that black piece of vinyl into the shape you see on that card. The zipper pieces get glued or something to it. Then I take the chain in the baggie and use the pliers to get the whole thing to become a necklace of sorts. It is nothing I will ever ever wear (and don't know anyone who would) so why waste the stuff in making something useless just because?

So I'm stashing these perfectly lovely zippers--

--and putting the pliers with my sewing notions because you never know--

--and I'll see if my sister wants the jewelry bits as she's the jewelry-maker (but I doubt she will as they're kind of cheap looking). And I'll use the vinyl bit to practice sewing on leather for when I get the guts to try to make something out of leather...

So I'm done. I'm not signing up for any more of these. I did enjoy the surprise each month, and the money wasn't a hindrance. It's just that I want to like the surprise I'm getting, hahaha. So what I've decided to do if I'm feeling the need for some random crafty bits is to pick something from the tons of pins I've got on Pinterest and make that instead.

To quote Forrest Gump "...and that's all I've got to say about that."

A Perfectly Imperfect Quilt

If you follow me on Facebook you may know that on Friday afternoon I had a certain bit of stitching whirring through the washing machine and then tumbling around the dryer to crinkle up. Yes, my dears, it is the quilt that I have been going on and on...and on...about for a long time. It all started when Katy posted that she had lost interest in finishing a Sherbet Pips quilt she had started, and was offering the bits (a quilt in progress and a jelly roll) up to a good home. So they came to live here. I had most of the quilt top done in short order. But then it sat because I just couldn't get my act together to cut some squares out of a jelly roll she sent. Yes, laying down strips and cutting in one direction is apparently hard work. But at some point at the beginning of the month, my motivation came out of hiding and I have been tackling a ton of projects, most notably this one. 

The pattern itself is very easy--a disappearing nine-patch. Easy cutting and sewing with a very interesting result that doesn't look like what it starts out as. Throw in a few borders (if you want) and you've got yourself a quilt top.  The center part inside the pink borders came to me in progress and with the other blocks all cut and ready so it was very easy to stitch up. I struggled with a good border color but went with pink in the end as the center had a lot of white (though gray could have been nice as well).

I really wanted to do a long wavy sort of stitch that could almost loosely mimic free motion quilting, but of all the stitches my machine has it lacks that one. So I went with the one above. It reminds me of cupcake holders--nice and crinkly looking. This quilt finished at a twin size and is the largest I have ever made. As such, I really had a time quilting this one (it is quite heavy). But I managed and I love it.

I wanted to go only in one direction with the quilting. The quilt is full of squares, and to my eye the squiggly stitch softens it a bit. I didn't want to add another square element to it if I didn't have to. I used Warm and White batting, and was curious about how it must be stitched. I checked out their site, and as long as your stitching is ten inches apart in any one direction it's OK. So one direction it was.

I went with a tonal gray for the backing. I had always thought this quilt would have a gray backing, but it seemed to always be the color that was out of stock. I had visions that the stitching would be pink (even though it'd only be on the back) and was kind of irked it might not happen. I ended up buying plain white at Joann's, but when I laid it out to baste it the fabric was riddled with flaws. I returned it and had another look online, and lucky me they had gray in stock. It's like it was meant to be--it was there when I was ready for it and not a moment sooner.

There are a few teensy puckers in the back that formed in the instances I was force-feeding the quilt through (and stopped when I chillaxed a bit). But with the stitching and the crinkling you have to look pretty hard to see them. This stitch was a bit beastly to pick out, so unless it was really bad I left it in as the picking was more frustrating than the pucker.

Let's discuss the binding. I was struggling with choosing something for that as well. But a few months ago I won a giveaway and one of the things I chose was a yard of the perfect binding fabric for this project. Stripes, pink, and red. Yes, yes, yes! I made it up before I even had the quilt basted, because if I didn't have this ready to go it would have sat for another six months.

There was no way in anywhere I was hand-stitching this binding, but my machine binding never really looks as nice as I'd like it to as straight stitching can be so unforgiving. I've always loved that little asterisk stitch as it reminds me of a snowflake, so that's what I used. I had not a single issue, which has never ever happened. No puckering, no veering off course, none of that. I think it might be my favorite part.

My main issue with binding is that the back never seems to catch like the front and gets some funkiness to it. This stitch kept that from happening, especially since I pressed it and clipped it in place before I stitched it. It took a long time but it was worth it.

When I look at this quilt I can't believe it took me as long as it did. Everything about it is quite simple, but sometimes the simple things get hung up because I'll think "Oh, I can breeze through that whenever I want" but whenever doesn't come and things don't move forward. I also tend to get hung up on things being perfect instead of just...being themselves. This quilt was made my inner child (whose name is Rosie, by the way)--the pinks, the wavy lines that aren't evenly spaced because I wanted lines straight down the centers of the pink border pieces (and because it was all eyeballed), the snowflakey binding, the puckers on the back that don't count because they won't be seen, all of it. Once I moved forward with it I had fun doing it and the work zipped along, especially when I didn't obsess over a crooked stitch or ten.

I always get 'yelled' at when I say there are mistakes in something. But I don't say it in a woe-is-me way or in a please-praise-me-anyway manner, but because so often online you see nothing but perfection. Fabulous pictures, perfect stitching, not a hair our of place if you will. I've found that can hold people back--"I'll never be able to do that so why try?" seems to be the mentality. Try because you want to. Try knowing that nothing is perfect, and embrace the imperfections as perfect in their own way. Life is so much easier when we cut ourselves a little slack. So no, I don't make perfect quilts. I don't know if I'd want to. Because then you get into "I can't use it because it'll get messed up." See what a vicious cycle perfection can be? Break that cycle--sew a pucker, stitch a little crooked, chop off a point, and snuggle under your beautiful creation that is the only one like it.

This was finished just in time. That little girl in the pic above may have been swinging free and easy yesterday, but today she was snuggled under this quilt as it plummeted to the twenties from nowhere. Unfortunately I'll have to crawl out from under the covers to go to work, but it's a short work week so I think I'll be able to survive. Have a happy Monday, chickens!

Linking up here:

Sundays: Sunday Showcase, Think Pink Sunday,  Submarine Sunday

Monday: CraftOManiac Monday, Making Monday Marvelous, Market Yourself Monday, Made By You Mondays, 

Tuesdays: Take-a-Look Tuesday, Show Me What Ya Got, Homework

Wednesdays: Your Whims Wednesday, We did it Wednesday, Whatever Goes Wednesday

Thursdays:  Catch a Glimpse, Craftionary

Friday: Link Party Palooza, Frugal Friday, Weekend Bloggy Reading

Saturdays: Show and Tell Saturdays

A Few for Friday - #47

Ahoy ahoy! I have had quite a busy week. I've been parked behind my sewing machine, and I am this close to having my quilt finish. All that's left is trimming, binding, and giving it a wash. I am so excited for this to be done. It is my largest quilt ever and has been patiently waiting for over six months. I would glance over at it and see it folded up and unmoving week after week, patiently sitting there--the guilt will be gone and I will feel like a weight has been lifted. We should all have such ridiculously meaningless problems, eh? Anyway, here are a few snaps I took the past week--

My sister's friend of a gazillion years asked me to put some blanket stitches on some thin fleece so she could have a nice snuggle blanket for her tot. Once I got into the rhythm of it the process was actually kind of soothing and rhythmic. Plus it was chilly and this kept me cozy while I worked my way around the edges.

 I saw this display in Michael's and said "Are you freakin' kidding me?" loud enough to draw stares. First, who does this? Many people, I suppose, as the box was fairly empty. But the freaky part is the photos. Those nails look ridiculously humanesque. I think if the pictures weren't so creepy I would have merely hoped it was non-toxic and moved on. Also--whose dog would sit still for this? I've never known a dog to lay perfectly still while you play with its feet. 

 I spent a whole evening crawling around on the floor putting pins in this sucker. It is heavy!! But almost done. Can't wait!

 This is the side yard of my house. I have a feeling those leaves won't last much longer. So many trees not have that depths-of-winter look. One windy day or rainstorm and they'll all be gone.

Now I must trot off to my aerobics class. I have been trying to behave with my munching and getting to class as the holidays will taunt me with their goodies. I figure if I get into a healthy mindset beforehand the damage might not be so bad. Have a most excellent Friday! And I'm hoping I'll have a quilt to show you very soon :)

Brit Kit #2

I had a bunch of small sewing odd jobs this past week that I finished up and have ready to move on out the door. I feel quite accomplished. When I was cleaning up my sewing area afterwards, I came across the box that my second Brit Kit came in and immediately set to (read about the first here).

This month's (or I should say last month's) box was for a set of clay-covered candle holders. I've never been a sculptor--my Play Doh exploits include snakes, balls, spaghetti, and boulders. That's about it. But these were actually really easy. Here is the box of supplies I received--

I actually received three candles, but in the initial delivery two of them were broken. I contacted the company and they shipped new ones, so I had four to play with. I don't know that I would have chosen the colors, but I wasn't about to buy more. So what you do is lump your clay into a...lump, and then roll it out smooth and even. During my Pluffy misadventures a few years ago I had bought a roller for clay, so I used that and it was marvelous. Once it's rolled out, you roll your votive holder in it--

--and then trim to fit. You roll it around a few times to smooth out the seam, and that's about it for that.

Included in the kit was a lollipop stick for making designs. I should have had my sister help with this part as she is a fantastic doodler and I am NOT, but I didn't and just poked away. The first one is all-over polka dots--

--and the others are random shapes. The extra one I cut out some little confetti bits from the leftovers and stuck those on to see if that could work out. After the holes are all poked through (or shapes stuck on), you preheat the oven to 275 and pop these in for about ten minutes.

Take them out, and let them cool. Then put your candles in and light 'em up.

I thought I was going to hate doing this, but did it since I had paid for it. BUT once I was working on them I found myself enjoying it quite a bit. Basically you need some glass candle holders (these weren't super thin so I didn't worry about smashing them when I was wrapping them and squeezing them), and some clay that you can bake on. And some sort of poker. That's it. These things are all actually fairly inexpensive at any craft store, and would thus be a cute little gift for a child to make (with some adult supervision for the trimming and the baking). Christmas colors with cute shapes, white to look like snowflakes, red with hearts for Valentine's Day, and so on could all be really adorable. In the pic just above, see how that heart reflects nicely? Wouldn't some of these grouped on a silvered or mirrored tray twinkle just perfectly?

If you do give these a shot, keep in mind that the thinner you roll the clay the more the holder will glow in whatever color you rolled it, while a thicker clay wrap will mostly just show the lights through the holes. 

I was absolutely pleasantly surprised with this kit. My initial thought was "Oh. Clay." But as I said before, once I got going I found it to be quite engaging. I'm working like the dickens to have most of my sewing tasks done by the end of the month so that I can be free and clear to do whatever I want, and I'm thinking I may just want to do more of these...

Linking up here:

Sundays: Sunday Showcase, Think Pink Sunday,  Submarine Sunday

Monday: CraftOManiac Monday, Making Monday Marvelous, Market Yourself Monday, Made By You Mondays, 

Tuesdays: Take-a-Look Tuesday, Show Me What Ya Got, Homework

Wednesdays: Your Whims Wednesday, We did it Wednesday, Whatever Goes Wednesday

Thursdays:  Catch a Glimpse, Craftionary

Friday: Link Party Palooza, Frugal Friday, Weekend Bloggy Reading

Saturdays: Show and Tell Saturdays

A Few for Friday - #46

OK, so have you ever had an irrational fear of, oh, let's say spiders, and then been sitting in your living room where there is a piece of dark fuzz on the carpet that you keep seeing out of the corner of your eye, and every time you see it your heart does twirlies and you feel like you should run, but you look and it's a fuzz, but this keeps happening and God forbid you get up and pick up the stupid fuzz so you spend an evening in a heightened state of fuzz awareness, trying to convince yourself that it could still be a spider? I'm hoping I'm not the only one...and if I am just forget that you read anything, m'kay?

Maybe we should move onto some photos...

Sherbet Pips by lamplight. I have had most of a quilt finished since spring, waiting for its border to be pieced. I finally did that and have the top all finished now. I almost got it basted, but when I laid out the backing it was riddled with pulls and flaws, so I returned that and ordered some online (in gray instead of white, which is what I wanted anyway, so yay, I guess).

 The interesting thing about all these clips holding that new zipper in place is that after I got to about the second one I stopped and took them all off and continued just using my fingers to position everything. What do you mean that's not interesting?

A's treasures from playing outside--a cruddy looking leaf and a stone. Not a rock--a stone, according to him. His vocabulary and pronunciation astound me. I am truly blessed to have two very smart, good-looking nephews (and there's no bias there. None at all).

Got any fun plans this weekend? I'm having dinner tomorrow with a friend who I don't see enough, and then hopefully finishing up putting some edge stitches on a fleece blanket. Then I have to check my list. Busy is better than bored snacking, I suppose. Toodles!

 

Little Stitches on the Prairie

A few weeks ago my mother asked me "What are you reading? I'm almost done my book and I need something new." I told her "I'm rereading the Little House books right now." She didn't think I was serious. I was. My mother will not reread something as there are so many other books out there. I, on the other hand, have and do. It appalled my sister a little bit that I was reading what is basically a children's series. My take on it is that I am a different person than I was the last time I read them, maybe...in high school? I don't remember... The first time I read the series I was in sixth grade and loved the historical aspect of it. I remember then reading them several years later, and identifying with Laura's introversion and love of her family. This time I found myself paying attention to the more adult things--how long those wagon rides must have been when a ride out to Pittsburgh makes me crazy; making a campfire meal with not much more than a pan and some flour; how Pa would do whatever it took to provide for his family in lean years; the unimaginable cabin fever they must have experienced during the long winter. And then when Laura left home to be married and enter a completely new life? I felt the same sadness she must have.

One thing I certainly zeroed in on this time around was the sewing and knitting that was always taking place. Knitting needles always had stockings and mittens on them. Secret embroidery projects became unexpected Christmas presents. Lace was crocheted for petticoat edgings. Things I know I glanced right over before now stood out to me, in a kindred spirit sort of way. And, of course, the sewing. Hehehe--were you wondering where I was going, or are you used to me by now?

Truth be told, when I was younger Laura Ingalls Wilder was my idol (this was before I realized the whole lack of indoor plumbing thing), but I do not think I would have been able to hang on the prairie. Take, for instance this bit from On the Banks of Plum Creek:   
 

Mary was still sewing nine-patch blocks. Now Laura started a bear’s track quilt. It was harder than a nine-patch, because there were bias seams, very hard to make smooth. Every seam must be exactly right before Ma would let her make another, and often Laura worked several days on one short seam.

Yeah, I can see me working for days on one seam. But this time I knew what bias seams are. 

Or how about this bit when Laura had to help Ma sew new sheets just before The Long Winter?  

Laura  was sewing two long breadths of muslin together to make a sheet. She pinned the edges together carefully and fastened them with a pin to her dress at the knee. Carefully holding the edges even, she whipped them together with even, tiny stitches. The stitches must be close and small and firm and they must be deep enough but not too deep, for the sheet must lie smooth, with not the tiniest ridge down its middle. And all the stitches must be so exactly alike that you could not tell them apart, because that was the way to sew.

Without even focusing on all those hand-stitches, how about we focus on the fact that they all had to be identical?

If you modernized this statement from Little Town on the Prairie  it would kind of be exactly why I dislike sewing garments for myself:  

She had cut the patterns from newspaper, using her dressmaker’s chart of thin cardboard as a guide. Lines and figures for all different sizes were printed on it. The trouble was that nobody was exactly any of the sizes on the chart. After Ma had measured Mary, and figured and marked the size of every sleeve and skirt and bodice piece on the chart, and cut the patterns, and cut and basted the dress line, then when she tried the lining on Mary she had to make changes all along the seams.

Just...no.

But then, of course, came the invention of the sewing machine. Pa was describing it to Ma, and while things have gotten fancy the basic principles are still the same: 

"You work the pedal with your feet, and that turns the wheel and works the needle up and down. There’s a little contraption underneath the needle that’s wound full of thread, too. It goes like greased lightning, and that makes as neat a seam as you’d want to see."

Which led to much simpler sewing and some subsequent grave-turning during These Happy Golden Years:

"I have an idea for making the sheets,” Laura said. “I’m not going to sew those long seams down the middle with over-and-over stitch by hand. If I lap the edges flat and sew with the machine down the center, I do believe they’ll be smooth enough and even more serviceable.” 

“It may well be,” said Ma. “Our grandmothers would turn in their graves, but after all, these are modern times.”

My grandmother might get twitchy if she saw how I don't baste anything (or even use pins sometimes), but these are modern times...

But the passage that made me put the book down for a minute (Little Town), and just think and imagine? The description of the dry goods store where Laura worked basting shirts and sewing buttonholes (again, by hand): 

At her right hand was a short counter-top of glass, and inside it were cards of all kinds of buttons, and papers of needles and pins. On the counter beside it, a rack was full of spools of thread of every color. Those colored threads were beautiful in the light from the windows. The sewing machine stood just behind the front end of the other counter. Its nickel parts and its long needle glittered and its varnished wood shone. A spool of white thread stood up on its thin black ridge. Laura would not have touched it for anything.

Do you ever read something more than once? Do you wait a few years, or just turn right back to the first page and start over (like I may or may not have done with Fried Green Tomatoes)? If so, what was it? And what sorts of things jumped out at you?