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!

Glue, Scissors and Stitch...

This sewn accordion book was birthed from my love of magazine images. I find it difficult to discard magazines before harvesting some of their beautiful and interesting photos. I keep a ring binder with the images stored in sheet protectors. Why? It may partly be an appreciation that some very skilled, artistic, and unknown someone worked to make those images happen, and to make them so appealing. I just can't toss them. But what do you do with all those bits and pieces? Well I have a glue stick and a sewing machine, so stitched collage is my answer. I'll share my process later in this post.

I pick up magazines at our library used book shop for 25 cents apiece. Lots of them are travel or fashion magazines I would not purchase on the newsstand, but I do love to leaf through and enjoy the photography. That Tuscan building- those shells- that magnificent door- they just draw me in.

Some collages include realistic views like the ones above, while others combine fanciful elements like these. It's fun and relaxing to "shop" my image collection or to go through an issue to come up with bits that I think need to go together.

The collages begin with a background image to which I then add and arrange other elements. You can see that this book is not complete because two of these (the center image has an ornate plate added) are just the background currently. That may be enough to satisfy me, though most often I'll go back and add more.

An example is the cityscape in this one-I thought the addition of the color and graphics added to the mood, as did the lovely full moon combined with the delicate flowers in the second one. Soothing somehow.

Once I finish a group of the collages, I bind them into a fold-out accordion book by arranging them in an order I like, then butting them up side-by-side and stitching them in a long chain. Oh, and I edge-stitch each collage ahead of that, so that all have a decorative edge. Here are some awaiting further elements plus awating a few more collages to join them in a book of their own.

In case you'd like to try this yourself, I'll outline the steps I follow. First, tear out pages of images you like from the magazines. Study them to envision which part of the image you'd like to feature in your collage. I used postcard-size pieces of watercolor paper (though cardstock would work as well), so I'm looking for an area about 4" x 6". And I usually work on several backgrounds at once.

Once you locate the area you'd like to feature, turn the magazine page over and glue the paper to the back side. Aim for the area you like when placing the paper, but be flexible- you are working a bit blind here, and may not get an exact placement. Notice in the above photo that you can use more than one part of an image, depending on the size of the collage you are making. Glue tips: Use a lot of glue stick to get good coverage on the watercolor paper. Glue on top of a throwaway sheet in order to get glue all the way to the edges. Put some glue on the back of the magazine page in the area you're aiming for in order to get good adhesion. Smooth the watercolor paper in place by placing a clean sheet over it and burnishing. Remove the cover sheet and place the glued page (either side up) under a heavy book or object to dry.

Once dry, cut away the excess magazine page from the back side, using the 4" x 6" paper as a guide. Turn the piece over, and drink in your lovely background! Stop there if you love it. But I usually continue on. It is collage after all. Collage is the art of sticking various material onto a backing as per the dictionary. So more is more, and the surprising ways you can enhance your background are endless.

I've now started the collages shown above by adding at least one element so far to each one. As I look at my collages, I see that I apparently favor pink roses in a lot of my pieces. They do add a colorful and graceful feel- I can almost smell their sweet fragrance! If you'd like an inexpensive, creative, and very satisfying way to spend a couple of hours, give a sewn collage book a try. A lot of the process can happen right on a tv tray when you are watching. Try it, I'm pretty sure you'll like it. Have fun!

Vintage Everything....

It was all about old quilts at the Alachua County Library Headquarters in Gainesville, Florida, last week. In fact, it's been all about quilts all month long in many of the branches, but more about that later. I was given the opportunity to put together a program featuring antique quilts titled "Revisiting Old Beauties." I invited two quilt collecting friends to join me, and together we shared some lovely pieces. This Golden Wedding Ring is a unique rendition of the timeless and popular 1930s Double Wedding Ring pattern. The colors have stayed so vibrant.

This is collector Jill Allen's Lone Star quilt top. It's a Pennsylvania quilt, her specialty in collecting. The large star is precision pieced while the satellite stars were pieced, then appliqued on the quilt top. It's circa 1920s and may have been what is known as a "kit quilt". This means the fabric colors were selected and pieces cut by a manufacturer, leaving the sewing and assembly to the quilter. It sparkles.

Jill was unable to join us for the presentation, though she did send her quilts. Here I am, left, with quilter and collector Debra Johnston, right, standing in front of Debra's Golden Wedding Ring and getting ready to talk about each of the quilts we brought. We estimated that at least half of our quilts were a century old, with others approaching that.

After showing each quilt, our expert holders and folders lined the quilts up on tables so that program visitors could take a close look at the fabrics, stitching, and quilting on each of the 20 or so quilts we brought. You can get a glimpse of my late 1800s to early 1900s sampler top, my early 1900s Bow Tie, my late 1800s Red and White Triple Irish Chain, Jill's early Pennsylvania Log Cabin, Debra's 1930s Touching Stars... and that's about as far as you can see in this photo.

In addition to collecting, we talked about revisting vintage quilts by replicating them- making a quilt in the same patern, but using new fabrics and methods. Jill loves to study old quilts and replicate them, as she did with this beautiful Cotton Boll quilt. She had an extra applique block left over and put it on our guild free table. I grabbed it up and made a funky Christmas wallhanging with it, foreground.

Mary Peer of the Quilters of Alachua County Day Guild wore her patchwork pants to represent at this festive event. Mary did all of the hard work of coordinating themed quilt displays at library branches throughout the county. She's standing in front of another antique quilt replicated by Jill Allen. Jill calls this one The Vermont Quilt after seeing the original, which is in a private collection, in a publication of quilts of Vermont. Her work is masterful, and she's an award winner.

To add to the vintage celebration of the day, this terrific old 1956 Studebaker car was parked outside the library. I had to add a photo of it. We completed our program just ahead of the library suspending all programming in the coming weeks. Now we will stay in and sew. Wishing all of you well. Hope you enjoyed revisiting these old beauties!

Color Splash at Daytona Beach...

Lots of quilters traveled to Daytona Beach, FL, for the recent American Quilter's Society quilt show. It was a feast for the eyes and full of inspiration. This time I was drawn in by color-drenched quilts like Bricks 'n Gears by Claudia Pfeil. The complex piecing and wonderful quilting added to the beauty of this quilt.

The bright, happy fabrics used here, along with the variety of fonts in the lettering made this a "feel-good" quilt. It's called Against Such Things There is No Law and was made by Ben Darby.

The Studio Art Quilters Association (SAQA) had a special exhibit of quilts called Aloft. Each depicted the perspective from above which made each piece especially interesting. This is Lisa Thorpe's Flight From Portland, with an urban view.

Take Off by Jan Soules also gave a more pastoral air flight perspective.

I found Jean Renli Jurgenson's Hong Kong Taxi quite mesmerizing and almost dizzying!

Although not part of the Aloft exhibit, Kyoto Ochai's Space Fantasy has that aloft perspective. I've not seen rick rack that large, and I love the wonderful background fabrics used.

Marriane R. Williamson's Tornado certainly conveyed the terrifying chaos of such a weather event.

The color stimulation continued in the classes offered by various instructors. I took quilt artist Barbara Olson's Freeform Funky Castles class. It was a fun and playful session, and this is my Cotton Candy Castle that emerged. Of course it's just the beginning of it- I'm not sure where it will go from here.

 Barbara had lots of examples to inspire us in cutting and designing our castles. She uses fusible applique and finishes the edges with machine satin stitching.

Barbara uses black backgrounds make the colors really stand out.

Do you see Barbara's fantasy castle here? My brain switches back and forth from seeing candles to seeing castle turrets.

Here's the building material for our castles- a big pile of colorful prints. With classes, lectures, vendors and wonderful quilts, the AQS show was a great way to ignite the creative quilting juices!

Let's Face It...

One of my favorite ways to learn is in online classes. I'm currently enrolled in Wanderlust 2020 which offers weekly mixed media instruction taught by a variety of teachers. A recent lesson by Jeanne Oliver was jam-packed with new techniques. We learned to dye fabrics using avocado pits, turmeric, tea, and other kitchen items. Then we used those fabrics, or other dyed ones, in printing lino cuts of faces. And finally, we added embroidered details to complete the pieces. This face is printed on ice-dyed fabric and backed with dyed cheesecloth. It was great fun to make, and I learned a lot about lino cuts. There's a learning curve!

I made a second print on another scrap of dyed fabric, but this time I used free-motion stitching to outline and define some of the features. A bit of fabric marker for lips and cheeks, and she's done. The machine stitching allowed me to fill in some areas missing ink. I used acrylic paint as I didn't have any lino printing ink for fabric, so the coverage of my prints is a bit light.

The learning curve involves remembering that what you want to show in the print stays, and the rest gets carved away. Somehow my brain resists that line of thought so I had to keep reminding myself. And I learned that if you slip and cut away something you wanted, it can't be put back. Note part of her lip along with a couple of other places where a steadier hand might have helped.

Since the acrylic ink didn't work so well, I then tried permanent stamp pad ink. That's a bit too light as well. So I've ordered some of the proper ink, and we'll see what happens. The yellow background is turmeric dyed cotton. I'll keep practicing this new skill.

Meanwhile, our instructor for the online class Sunshine Dolls, Kecia Deveney, encouraged us to try our hand at drawing faces for dolls. So I drew some circles on cotton fabric and spent an evening drawing and coloring these whimsical faces. They'll be used in some upcoming doll projects. So for right now, it's all about the faces!

Be Still My Heart...

Hearts- apparently a theme for me. I began this heart needlework piece years ago and it just sat, unfinished, in my sewing room. I'd come across it, think I needed to do something with it, and set it aside again. Well at last the heart has come into its own. I finished it in time for Valentine's Day! All those lace, silk ribbon, button trims- finally see the light of day.

I turned the heart into a stuffed hanging door accent by stitching on some silk ribbon-yarn ties. Now I can look at it an enjoy it on a daily basis.

Hearts are a tricky shape when it comes to stuffing them and keeping a smooth edge. My method to overcome the challenge is to completely stitch around the heart shape with the backing, right sides together and leaving no opening for turning. Then I slice the backing and turn the heart right side out through it. And I add the poly-fill stuffing through the slit. That allows me to push the stuffing up against the seamlines all the way around, while trying to smooth the edges as best I can. Once that's done, I hand stitch the opening closed in the back and add another heart shape to cover it. I used double-stick fusible to the second heart shape and stitched on beads to edge it. Now the back looks presentable again.

Here's another hand- and machine-stitched heart ornament made some years ago. It was shown in Piecework Magazine in response to a call for readers to submit entries.

I used the same method to cover the opening in the backing.

And the third heart is one I showed recently on the blog, but it seemed to be a good time to add it to the mix. I do love the Crazy Quilt style. More than two of anything is a "collection" I'm told. So here is my heart collection!

Arty Things...

With a good deal of excitement I'm sharing the current issue of Somerset Studio (Spring 2020 issue), on newsstands February 1. My crinkle journal is one of the featured articles! I sent it off to the editorial offices in response to a call for journal art and was invited to submit an article describing the process of making it. The cover line says, "A Crinkle in Time-A Handmade Book Filled with Transparent Beauty." There are more than a dozen other articles plus lots of photos of art work in the issue.

Are you familiar with the Stampington & Company magazines? They are beautiful quality publications with wonderful photography. I'm delighted with the images and layout of my article. The journal has a transparent look and is made using cereal box liners. Those allow you to embed threads, images, paper doilies and more in the pages. And you can sew it all up. Recycling at its best!

And in other arty news... I had the chance to visit Ocala, Florida's Appleton Museum for the opening of a wonderful exhibit on Flamenco-From Spain to the US. In addition to the exhibit, which features beautiful costumes and artifacts from Flamenco's history as performance art, we were treated to a guest speaker and curator's lecture and demonstration. Photography of the exhibit itself is not permitted so I can't share that other than to say it's worth the admission price! The exhibit is on until late May.

We learned that Flamenco has its roots in the tradition of the Romany Gypsy people of Spain. Our speaker, from Santa Fe's Museum of International Folk Art, has danced Flamenco from the age of 11 years. She outlined the elements of Flamenco and told how it developed and was shaped by cultural influences.

Fans were used to tell a story in the festive dance.

And of course castanets! There are pairs in the exhibit for museum visitors to try out. Our speaker advised that castanets are to be worn over the thumbs- there is a right and a left in each pair. And each one of the pair has a slightly different sound. Percussion is a big part of Flamenco.

Colorful embroidered shawls are also a part of the drama of the dance. They were usually imported from China.

Want to try it yourself? The museum gift shop has a colorful display of shawls, fans, books and more.

And here's a fun addition in the shop- it's the Art-o-Mat. Purchase a special coin, drop it into the vending machine, and choose a lever to pull. Out pops a small treasure created by an artisan. Support the arts and get a surprise!