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Monday, April 20, 2020

Bejeweled in Quilty Style...




I've had more luck at completing smaller projects in the sewing room during these days of Covid Confinement. Our Country Road Quilters' Guild will hold the biennial quilt show in early November of this year. One of the highlights of the show is The Shoppe, a boutique-style area featuring quilt related items members have made and donated. I committed to make one of my charm necklaces, and used this time to assemble it. It contains all sorts of sewing related charms and should be fun to wear for its new owner.



I got started by making the button charm that is the centerpiece of the necklace. I'd seen some interesting button necklaces on a quilting friend's social media and got the thought, "Oh, I must try one of those." It's stacked buttons joined with wire wrapping, and has a cute charm suspended from the bottom. You can see other charms here, including the tape measure, sewing bobbin, sewing machine, and puffed yoyo charms.



There is also a scissor ribbon charm, a beaded yoyo, and a wrapped wire bird's nest.



On the other side there is a heart button charm, a bottle cap charm, and one we call Toni's Tray. Guild member Toni made that one up. It's a jewelry tray piled high with tiny seed beads, and is surprisingly lightweight.



While I was at it, I came across a number of cross charms from necklaces worn over the years that had a broken chain or some other reason they could no longer be worn. But I saved the charms. There they were all sitting together as I pawed through the various findings in my collection, when it dawned on me to make an assemblage necklace using them all at once. I like the idea of assemblage jewelry, so I'm sure this will be my next rabbit trail to follow! There are a lot of pieces and parts in my supply boxes.




Monday, April 13, 2020

Little Things Mean a Lot...




I've had a bit of a surprise while isolating at home and in my sewing room. And count us as those who are carefully following the distancing guidelines! Somehow I thought I'd whip the sewing room right into shape and make it orderly... all the while turning out quilt after quilt. Ummm... that has not happened. Instead, I've been a bit scattered it seems, working first on this project and then on another. Only one quilt has happened, with two others getting closer. And the room looks as disorderly as ever. Has that happened to you? But with that said, I have been working on and completing small projects, so I'm okay with that. The photo above shows one of two journal covers for composition books. They are all quilted and yarn couched, just waiting for some evening hand sewing of beads and embellishments. Hand stitching is pure pleasure to me.



And I made these two patchwork baskets, one of which I'll donate to our Quilter's Boutique for our Country Road Quilters autumn quilt show (details of the show can be found at that link). It's made using a PDF pattern from Etsy and there are three sizes to choose from. This one is the medium size.



And mask making has been happening as well. I know lots of quilters have been at work stitching these for personal use and to donate. Because I find the various organizations who need them have various requirements, I've stuck with sewing masks for personal use and for friends and family. I've made over a dozen (not counting the three that got lost in the mail being sent to our son and family). And I've tried three different patterns. The first style (above, top) is the standard three tuck model. I had no elastic then, so improvised by using three strands of elastic thread for some, and cut rubber bands for others. The third style I tried (above, bottom) is the Better Fit Face Mask designed by PrettyHandyGirl. I like the adjustable straps on this one which allows you to snug the mask up and prevent openings. It also fits under the chin and is shaped with darts.



The pattern offers options for the ties and I chose T-shirt strips. I cut a clean T-shirt crosswise into bands, snipped off the seams, and had nice long lengths of knit. After cutting about 10-12" lengths from the strips, the T-shirt material is stretched so that it rolls into thin tubular cording. Then each strip is threaded through a bead (with a large hole-not every bead will work) and knotted at the ends to prevent the bead slipping off. The bead becomes the slide that allows you to adjust the fit. One tip- I use a floss threader or a length of thread to pull the folded cord through the bead hole. It's much easier than trying to push that soft and somewhat thick knit through the hole.



And this is the second style I made once I got some elastic. This one is very comfortable and designed by Sewing Therapy. There is even a method for adding an optional filter, which I did not do. It seems that among those I've gifted masks to, each person has a favorite style. And each mask has its benefits in terms of ease of sewing, materials needed, and comfort. I have one of each style, and can say that all are quite comfortable and serviceable. Instructions are free and downloadable at the links noted above. Oh, and I've been enjoying the various free instructional videos and classes such as those offered through BluPrint. They even had a mask instructional there. There are still a few days of free streaming available if you haven't visited. I'm loving the embroidery class instruction. "Boho Mixed Media Embroidery" is a fun one. Do stay well and stay in touch. Keep on sewing- Great therapy!