Sewing Over the Weekend

Last week Friday was the first time that our 'locals' who attended the February quilt retreat were together.  We compared notes about our various progress (or lack thereof) on the Twisted Bargello we were working on.

I didn't have my camera so I don't yet have pictures of the others' quilts but Amy and Nancy got their tops to the point of needing borders!  Amy of course is a project person and classic over-achiever, and did a queen sized bed quilt while the rest of us are doing wall hangings, and Nancy loves to finish things!

Zel has hers about as far as I do... and Sharon's not telling.

My strip sets are complete, and all the cutting is done.  They are in plastic baggies, waiting for the next time I have a sewing session.



This is my spectrum, laid out by color and intensity, starting with number 1 on the left and going to 20 on the right.  The colors are great!  They're sewn into sections of four and sub cut. 

I pinned the sections on my design board, and I'm just loving looking at them.  Maybe this will inspire a sewing session sometime soon!  Zel, Sharon and I should try to sneak in an extra sewing session to catch up. 

This is not a standard bargello where you just sew the strip sets together.  There is movement and color change giving it a "TWIST" in the middle.  The finished project is lovely, so it's back to work!!

Other things I've been doing include our church quilting group's monthly meeting.  The group has made a number of quilts since January.  We chose to sew patterns with half square triangles in them this quarter.  We make quilts to give to each child baptized in our church.  And we have had a lot of baptisms this year, including three sets of twins!!  I'm in charge of choosing color combinations from our stash of fabric and cutting up kits.  I think I pressed out about 50 yards of fabric in my basement in March...

This isn't what I pressed but it feels like about the same amount of yardage!!

We also sent many charity quilts out, the most recent being 5 to the mission in Ysletta, Mexico.  More will go to Lutheran Womens' Missionary League this summer, and we'll send some on whatever mission trip our congregation goes on this summer.  So we have been busy!

Sewing for someone else, especially to fill a need, is so very satisfying.  Even if you consider yourself a beginner, you can find some project to work on.  Project Linus, Quilts of Valor, LWML, homeless shelters, almost anywhere you look you can find someone who needs what you do.  Or go to the nearest senior home or nursing home and do some mending for the residents.  You'll feel good and be doing a good thing.  Everyone benefits!

Sew on...

My Family History

I write because I just have to write.  It's kind of a compulsion!  When I sit down at the keyboard and see a blank white screen on this blog or in a word processing program, I just go.  I have a whole list of topics I want to write about.  I'm writing a family history.  That's fun in so many ways.  Writing my memories of events, checking what facts are verifiable, getting input from other family members and their recollections is a great experience.

My cousin Joe is actually researching our family geneology.  He makes trips to courthouses and cemeteries, and has compiled lots of facts about our mutual grandfather.  I don't know how many of the relatives have discovered his blog, but if they do they'll find it interesting.

I was able to help him with a point of confusion over names at one point.  I liked doing that.  My great great something or other came to the US from Europe, and language was a barrier to communication.  Immigration officials made spelling guesses and errors.  Record keeping back in the 19th and early 20th century was by hand (some of it beautifully written).  So sometimes names were written as they would have been in the 'old country' and sometimes they were changed, or Americanized.

Thinking about those great-greats and what they went through makes me think that they were very brave!  Could you pick up and sail across an ocean not knowing what you might find on the other side?  Sometimes there was family over here already, but someone had to be first!

That's probably how the family got this crazy ability to adapt, to cope, to deal with any situation.  We're kind of amazing!

My Family

Someone asked why haven't I written something about my dear spouse in my profile, or said more about my immediate family.  I have referred to them by their initials or their family position, for example I might mention my dear husband, or DH.

One thing about the internet is that it's so public.  Social media like Facebook and Twitter are just so 'out there' for anyone and everyone to look at!  Even if you try to restrict your FB settings to 'friends only', if someone is a friend of a friend, how do you know they aren't seeing what you've posted?  Sometimes people have responded to soemthing I've posted and I think, wow, how did they see that?

I'm pretty social.  No one who knows me would say I'm shy and retiring.  And as I said in a previous post, strangers are just friends you haven't met yet.  Well, some strangers are soon-to-be friends.  Some strangers are strange and should remain strangers!!  There are a lot of wacky, twisted people out there, folks. 

So my DH is a pretty introverted person.  Yeah, he talks -- to me, and only if he has soemthing to say.  He has his friends, and he talks to them.  He hates answering the phone if he doesn't recognize the number of the person calling.  Which can be a problem  for me since I know a lot of people that he doesn't!

When I started blogging he said "I have one request.  Don't write a lot of crap about me."  OK, fair enough!  OK, I can live with that.

Monday's Blogs

Monday mornings are so stressful and I understand they're even more stressful on the week we 'spring forward' for Daylight Savings Time.

There was a story on CBS Sunday Morning yesterday about sleep deprivation.  Most adults don't get enough sleep.  Boy, don't I know it!

I usually go to 'sewing night' on Fridays, then sleep in a bit on Saturday.  Then I'm not tired on Saturday night and I stay up later, usually in my sewing room.  Sunday I get up early for church and then do something fun in the afternoon.  But Sunday night I stay up later -- trying to make the weekend last, I guess.  So it's hard to get up early to go to work!

But Mondays are good days to catch up with my 'blog' friends.  Rita's back from the big sewing expo, and Bonnie has a wonderful post about the new edition of 100 Quilt Block, the magazine.  Stop over and read up!  You can use the link below to go right to her blog:

http://quiltville.blogspot.com/2012/03/quilts-from-quiltmakers-100-blocks-give.html

And happy Monday, everyone!

I'm Guesting on American Sewing Guild's Blog!!

Just wanted to let you know that today I'm a guest blogger on American Sewing Guild's blog!

I've been a member of ASG for a more than 14 years.  They have always been a great organization for those who love sewing.  They have a wonderful web site at http://www.asg.org/.

Recently they have made great strides in electronic communications. Available for members only from the web site are the Notions Magazine on line edition, chapter newsletters and FREE sewing webinars!  And this is at no cost once your membership fee is paid.  You can even join on line and pay your dues with a credit card!

My guest blog topic is teaching kids to sew, and my blog model is my oldest granddaughter, E.  We hope to make this a recurring appearance as she develops her sewing skills.

Check it out! If you do, please leave a comment there.  And my thanks go to Samina for her encouragement and assistance.

Full Moon Last Night

And this

would be why everyone I encountered had

a bad attitude today!!

SOW Along -- The Phone Guy's Wife Quilt Squares

I previously posted about doing the SOW Along with Randy in California's Barrister's Block blog,  http://barristersblock.blogspot.com/

Since my DH used to work for Ma Bell, I'm calling mine "The Phone Guy's Wife".

Since then, the author of the book Randy was basing the Sow Along on asked her to remove all references to the book due to possible copyright infringement.  Now I understand copyright infringement, have been a supporter of enforcement of rules all of my life, and I understand from whence this lady may be coming.  But many, many quilting teachers teach classes based on books and patterns by others.  They either include the price of the purchase of the book in their class price or require to book (or pattern) to be purchased by each student.

Hard to do on the Internet...

All of the patterns used in the book are in public domain.  I know because I bought the book.  Yep, my interest in the project made me go out to Amazon.com and buy a copy.  Because, you know, I love books, and I love sewing, so books about sewing are like a little piece of heaven!

The book contains a CD with templates, but beware -- depending upon what printer you use, you may have to adjust the size of the templates slightly.  I made the first block exactly as my little Canon printer showed them, and the finished block was a little on the small side.  There are no construction directions either, so you have to look for directions elsewhere.  That's why Randy's cutting and sewing directions would be so helpful.

I decided to go into my bin of green fabric, and toss in some light neutrals.  Last night I finished up my six blocks for the month of February.  I started at the back of the book with the first pattern, and they're in alphabetical order.  So this month I did these blocks.  Sorry about the photos, some of them are a little crooked and the flash was too close. 

Attic Window:  an easy block, kind of fun to do.  Not too challenging but I used a piece of fabric from my 'grass' fat quarter in the smallest triangle.

Autumn Tints:  Why is this called Autumn Tints??  The illustration shows the larger squares using a fussy cut, but I just used a fabric I liked.

Basket:  I put some floral fabric 'in the basket'.  Baskets are not empty at my house!

Basket Weave:  here I used almost the last piece of a fat quarter with apples on it.

Bat Wing:  Uh, I have to tell you I hate this square, and I will never make it again!  The odd angle had me ripping twice on each wing at least.

Big Dipper:  Quarter square triangles in a fabric I love so I used it again.  Once I knew the finished size I dug out my triangle paper and Thangles to see if I had the right size.  Eureka!  Saved by math!

Coming up for March -- more beeees! 

1. Birds in the Air - some large and lots of little triangles
2. Bouquet - kind of like a basket
3. Box --nearly all HSTs
4. Bow Tie - fun and easy
5. Broken Dishes -- Small (1.5" finished) HSTs
6. Broken Sugar Bowl -- four patch, HST

Keep on sewing!

The Road to Tara

In July 2010 I attended the American Sewing Guild Conference and Annual Meeting in Atlanta, GA. Wow, what a show! Almost 1,000 attended, and the teachers and presenters were among the best in the industry. Shirley Adams, from Indiana, a ground-breaker in the field of teaching on TV, was inducted into the Sewing Hall of Fame. Sadly she's retiring from the circuit, but I don't think we've heard the last from Shirley!

Many vendors come to Conference, showing off the latest and greatest in sewing tools. I picked up some shrinking thread, which actually helps to create puckers and tucks in fabric, making for interesting textures. I also bought some lovely wool, a few hand dyed horn buttons, and of course a couple of patterns and books.

A really special part of the trip was the tour I took on Monday to Jonesboro, GA. The site of a Civil War battle (or as the Sourherners say, the Recent Unpleasantness), there are many museums and memorials in Jonesboro. One is the Road to Tara Museum, dedicated to the film and book Gone With The Wind by Margaret Mitchell. The other is a lovely Plantation called Stately Oaks.

At Stately Oaks in August, you can take the Victorian Mourning tour. The public rooms of the house are decked out for mourning as if there had been the death of a child in the family. The docents leading the tours area knowlegable in all phases of mourning in the Victorian era, which was approximatlely 1850-1905. After the regular tour, our group was treated to a southern style luncheon, and then a presentation from Miss Martha on 19th Century clothing construction. She is the acknowledged expert, helping to keep the Plantation's docents and re-enactors authentically garbed.

The dresses she made are made the same way a woman in 1864 would have done it. The seams are impecably finished inside and out. Bodices are lined, and 'underpinnings' protect them from touching the body. Believe me, if you took 30-40 hours of hand work to create a dress, you would not want it to be tossed into the washing machine! She showed us the inner construction techniques, and the hundreds of tiny Cartridge Pleats that gathered skirts and sleeves. Amazing work, considering the woman of the house would have done all this after her normal chores.

Underpinnings, and men's shirts

Had you lived in 1864, you would probably have had 3-4 dresses for every day and one for 'good' -- that is unless you were very wealthy and could hire a seamstress! But just like today, chances are your good dress would have been black.

I have a new appreciation for sewing machines, sergers and steam irons! Although I am making myself a vow to try to get more proficient in better seam finishes, so the insides of my garments look better, even if they never reach the stature of Miss Martha's work.

Doll Clothes

I love dolls and their wardrobes.  Actually some of the first sewing I ever did was for dolls.  I remember taking my babysitting money to buy a Barbie doll when the first ones came out.  They were easy to dress because the clothes only took two square inches of fabric!!  Not really but you know what I mean.

About 20 years ago I found a doll that my mother had packed away.  I'm not sure whose doll it was, I don't remember ever seeing it.  She might have purchased it at a rummage or the Goodwill, as she sometimes picked up toys to fix up for her visiting family to play with.  This doll was left behind when she and my dad divorced and split house.  It was a sad little orphan, probably paper mache or maybe some kind of early plastic.  She doesn't feel like a modern doll.  She's almost 16 inches high, with a child's body and eyes that close when you lay her down.  Her hair was in sad, sad condition.  No amount of washing and combing could save it.  It was a wig applied with glue, so I removed it.

That bald doll bothered me a lot!  I bought a doll wig at a craft store and gently applied it to her head.  She looked amazing!  It was a brown curly wig that probably belonged on a Victorian lady doll, so I trimmed it up, and to me she resembles Shirley Temple!

She had a red plaid dress on when I found her, but it was also in pretty awful shape. I wanted to make her a new dress.  I purchased some doll dress patterns that had multiple sizes, but nothing really had the right fit, although some came close.  I made her a blue plaid dress with some white lace.   It fits, but probably not well.  So at least she was dressed.

Now when my dear daughter was small, she had some Cabbage Patch dolls.  Moms over a certain age will remember how we dashed all over town trying to buy those dolls one Christmas in the 80's.  I spent more money than I care to admit because DD wanted one!  And I made a bunch of clothes for that doll and her subsequent siblings.  Those clothes were fun, almost like baby clothes.  In fact, we reused some of her old baby clothes for Tommy and Olivia... as they were named.

Fast forward to the birth of my first grand.  This child, a girl, gave me the opportunity I needed to play with dolls!  Alas.  She did - not - like - dolls!  She was into DOGS.  She had (and may still have) about 5 million stuffed dogs.  You could get almost any species of dog in the fake fur variety, and she had LOTS!!

One day I was knitting a sweater for someone's baby, and she decided her dog needed a sweater too.  Makes sense I guess.  So I made a yellow sweater for one dog and a blue scarf for another dog, and a red sweater for a Clifford dog.  I knitted sweaters for teddy bears that came to live with us too.  But ix-nay on the olls-day!! 

I was still adding to my doll collection, but since no one was going to actually play with them, I bought the ones that I was most fond of.  I bought one of those famous 18" dolls, but I also picked up some nice porcelain dolls, mostly at rummages or Goodwill.  They were all wearing lovely dresses, and they look so beautiful on my bookcase.

The addition of two more granddaughters was occasion for hope... maybe one of them will love dolls too.  Happily, I can say that BOTH of them love dolls.  The dolls I bought are finally being played with properly!

I have for a long time had a big box of scraps in my sewing room marked "For Dolls".  I've always made clothes for dolls, for my DD and her friends, for my cousins and for friends' kids.  I like how you can make an outstanding outfit with small bits and pieces.  I don't even mind making tiny clothes for those 11 inch fashion dolls -- although I am happy that they are not so unrealistically shaped now.  Really, no one could actually LOOK like that, they'd fall on their faces before they could move!

Today I made a bunch of outfits for the auction that will be taking place at our church in April.  The youth group is earning money to pay for a trip to North Carolina, where they will be building houses with Habitat for Humanity and teaching a Vacation Bible Study.  Sewing those little dresses, skirts and tee shirts was more fun knowing they're going to a good cause.  I hope the little girls who are gifted with those items enjoy playing with them.

Here are a few pictures.  I'll post about the process tomorrow.

Yellow cotton dress with lace trim.

Denim jumper and sweater knit with self striping sock yarn.

Yellow pants and tee with fleece vest

Sew on!

Learning new things!

I think I've said before that I'm not exactly up on the new phone stuff, and if not I am saying it now.

Due to circumstances beyond my control I was forced to upgrade to a digital phone several years ago.  The lady in the phone store had asked me whether the kids were laughing at my old phone!!  So I got a flip phone with a camera and some other stuff I didn't use, and that was nice.  Then I upgraded again to a flatter, more square model with a bigger 'screen', also with a lot of stuff I didn't use.

Then I dropped it in some water.  Long story... boring beyond words.  Suffice it to say, damage done!  So last August I got a new Smart Phone.  A really low-level Smart Phone, but still, LOTS MORE stuff I don't use.  Do I really go enough places to need GPS??

So while my camera was lost, I took phone pics.  Fun, but frustrating.  How to get the blasted things from the phone to somewhere usable, like my computer??? 

Enter eldest child, my son the techno-wizard.  Last weekend he enabled my email on the phone, a task I had been heretofore unable to accomplish.  He said "now you can email the pics anywhere".  He even showed me that I could upload the pics to Facebook, which he did, adding a rather self-agrandizing message for a laugh.  What a guy!

But later when I tried to email those pics to my computer, guess what?  NOTHING!!  It took me a whole day of stewing to finally figure it out.  My email is smart enough to know it's trying to send a message to ITSELF and it will not waste the time!  Ha! 

So today I emailed my pictures to my work address, and now I can retrieve them from my home SENT mail, plus I have a copy at work if I want one. 

Here are some of the pictures from my phone:

Someone likes to take pictures... Grand 'A' was in the car with me while we waited for her mom to join us for Chinese food.  She was kind of bored until we took out the phone. 

She also took a picture of her favorite shoe... in her favorite color, of course!!

This is a quilt I worked on at the retreat I attended.  More detail on another post.

This is a quilt I made to replace one that Miss A has loved nearly to death.  Along with her friend Sock Monkey.  More on that another day too...

For now, let's say I'm happy to be able to move these pictures around and not lose them!!

Lost and Found

As usually happens with me, my new camera came in UPS last week, and yes, my old camera showed up on the kitchen table last night!  So where was the little devil??  My daughter had it.  I thought I put it somewhere safe, like the linen closet (because everyone stores important stuff there, right??)  But she must have borrowed it and told her dad, but since he didn't know I was frantically looking for it, he didn't mention it.  Oh well, now I have two.

The new one is smaller, and it's red.  So I shouldn't have any trouble locating it from now on, right??

Anyway, now I can start posting my own pictures instead of using clip art!

Speaking of posting, I've been asked to be a guest blogger on the ASG web site.  That's American Sewing Guild for the uninitiated.  www.asg.org is the web site and the blog can be read by clicking on the BLOG button in the upper left corner.  I haven't decided what I'm writing about yet, but my oldest grand and I discussed it last night and we may post some stuff on teaching your kids to sew.  She has already passed the first hurdle which is being afraid to get your hands near the presser foot, so she's ready.  And she's excited about possibly being a 'blog model'.  Hollywood, here we come!!  LOL!

Keep on sewing...

Teaching -- Sewing, or Anything Else For That Matter

There are many people who purport to be sewing experts.  There are many people who are teachers or who try to be teachers.  Like anything else, some are better at it than others. 

I know lots of people who do beautiful work.  They can sew or craft or embroider or whatever it is.  Some have won prizes for their creations.  Some of these folks are great teachers, and I've learned a lot from them.  Actually, I've learned a lot even from the not so good teachers! 

Some people who can do a thing are just not good at explaining to someone else how to do it.  So I was thinking about what it takes to be a good teacher.  My friend John's wife Nan is a good teacher.  What makes her and other good teachers I know into good teachers?

Patience has to be the first thing, and a sense of humor is a must.  And a big dose of self-control -- because I'm CERTAIN that anyone who sees someone else struggle with something MUST want to just grab it and do it!  But what I think is the most important trait a good teacher has is that they never make you feel bad or stupid for doing something wrong, and they know that there are certain things that can be done in more than one way.  I've never been fond of the "my way or the highway" school of anything.

As part of our church's Board of Education, every week I help guide small children through the learning process on many topics.  I've learned that you have to repeat things and watch for the glimmer of understanding to light their faces.  I love that moment!  And when there are frowns I often ask if there are questions, because I know something's cooking in their little heads! 

With adults, whether it's been teaching someone to use a machine, or follow a pattern or choose appropriate tools or materials, I've tried to be careful to make clear distinctions between what must be done only one way, and where you can make multiple choices.  If you know the differences you can go a long way.

You can do anything in this world if you are prepared to take the consequences.

 W. Somerset Maugham (1874-1965) British novelist and playwright.

So for example, if you're sewing a tee shirt and you sew the sleeves in before you sew up the side seams, that works fine.  In fact, sewing the sleeve in flat is easier and doesn't make a difference in most casual garments.  But if you want to sew the sleeves in without sewing the shoulder seams together, that might not work. 

During the past three years I helped ASG get a mentoring program started.  One of the leading principles of mentoring is to allow the protege to DO the task.  Mentors offer suggestions, give guidance, help the protege think things through and make good decisions.  They say "try this" or "did you ever think about that" and only correct when things are going the wrong way.

If you understand the goal, and you understand the options, then you should have the freedom to go the way it's most comfortable for you.  That's what's so great about new sewists, they don't know they're not supposed to leave garments unhemmed or use denim for a swimsuit.

I don't believe in the Sewing Police.  I don't believe in the School of One Way Only.  I did not drink that Kool Aide.  So if something is working for you, and you're getting the desired results, keep doing it that way.  Be open to other suggestions, and if what you're doing doesn't work, try something else.  But beware the "My Way or the Highway" group.  And try not to be their leader!  Everyone will thank you.

Sewing in the Basement

What have I been doing lately? I tried to figure that out on the drive to work the other day. OK so this month I assisted my oldest granddaughter in the design and construction of a Barbie's cheerleader outfit. I cleaned and organized my magazine collection, tossing a lot of stuff I didn't need.

And I actually did some sewing for myself.  I made a really cute top using the Linda Lee/Louise Cutting pattern Nine Lives. I just have to find some buttons to match. The cool thing is that the fabric came from the fabric resale room at the sewing expo in Platteville, WI, a couple of summers ago. Cost of fabric -- $2.00! Cost of pattern -- more than $2.00! I also finished a red twin set with a McCalls pattern by Nancy Zieman, and a vest from a McCalls Palmer/Pletsch pattern.

Sewing is an activity I have enjoyed for many years. I'm not telling HOW many, but let me say I started sewing about 5 or 6 years before I could legally obtain a driver's permit. My 'stash' or as I prefer to call it, resource center, rivals the best of them. But it's so satisfying when the granddaughters ask to help with or do a project and we can just open a bin and viola! the makings are ALL available without any aggravating trips to the store. When we feel creative, we just create!

The only slightly negative thing about sewing for me at present is where I sew. I'm in a finished room in the basement, which is nice, and it was my choice. But some days I go down to my studio at 11 a.m. and don't see another person until I come up for dinner! I miss seeing what the kids next door were doing, whether there were any birds feeding in my garden, and what the sunshine looked like through the trees.
I do catch up on the episodes of Jeopardy I recorded ... lol!

I dug in the resource center bins and came up with a green wool blend for an unlined, single layer jacket from another Nancy Zieman McCalls pattern. Got that cut out, hopefully I'll have time for another basement session next weekend!

Happy Sewing, or whatever else you plan to do with your day.

Farmer's Wife Sow-Along

The idea of sew-alongs have always had some magic for me.  I really like the idea of a lot of people working on the same pattern but coming up with different things.  That's been a favorite idea of our American Sewing Guild group, and of my very favorite family sewing group.  We love to work on things and then do sew and tell.

Bonnie Hunter's Orca Bay quilt was fascinating, a mystery involving sewing.  The quilts turned out beautifully, but it went a bit fast for me.  I don't have all THAT much sewing time to start with, and I've got lots of projects going.

I've mentioned before how I love books.  And books about sewing are just a bonus!  Last year I bought a book about Wisconsin Quilts, the Dear Jane pattern book, and Jennifer Chiavarini's Sylvia's Wedding Quilt book.  Additionally I recently acquired digital copies of the first three of what I'm sure will be annual editions of 100 Quilt Blocks magazines.  So I really didn't need another compilation.

Last week I was surfing the web over my lunch hour and found the Farmers Wife.  It looks so familiar, maybe because it's another collection. Or maybe because since I love sewing, books and history, not necessarily in that order, I already have it???  No, that's not the case.

OK, so I broke down and ordered a copy from Amazon.  Hey, with a couple of other things adding up to $25 shipping is free, and I didn't even spend any gas or time to get it, so it's a bonus.

So this morning when checking out yesterday's Quiltville blog, guess who's talking about the Farmer's Wife?  Yes, you guessed, it's Bonnie!  Hey, if SHE can find time to do a sew-along, maybe I can too.

So I hopped over to Randy's blog, the Barrister's Block at www.barristersblock.blogspot.com.  Feel free to go and look.  She's calling it a SOW-along, because that's what farmers do, sow seeds.  My DH was never a farmer, guess mine will have to be called phone guy's wife, or grumpy's wife, or maybe grampa's wife.  What do you think of that?

It's 111 blocks at 6" finished, the book has templates but no patterns.  But they're going to do only SIX A MONTH.  Hey, this is my speed!!  If I can do more when I have time, I might even finish this one at the same time everyone else does.  It's on the 2 year plan -- do the math.  I am liking this!

All I have to do is scout out a background color and I'm in business.

Quilting With Friends

I'm at a quilt retreat this weekend, and I have to say that the most fun I've ever had sewing has been with these ladies!  They are part of our Friday night sewing group, my friends as well as my relatives. 

The view while you're eating breakfast.

My favorite thing to do is sew, and my second favorite thing to do is visit with friends, so you can imagine how happy I am to be doing both at the same time.  Oh, and my philosophy about strangers is that they are just friends you haven't met yet.

We're going to spend some time working on one project or another from Friday morning to Sunday afternoon.  We'll also spend some time visiting some cousins who live in in the town we're in, whom we don't get to see a lot.  But when we're here, we make a point of visiting, eating and laughing and talking.  My cousin's youngest daughter will be getting married this spring so I'm sure the conversation will be lively!

Another cousin is a relatively 'new' sewist, what we call in Sewing Guild an older beginner.  I promised to sit  near her and make sure she has all the help she needs to do a finished project. 

Two aunties will be along this time.  One doesn't sew.  Well, she says she doesn't sew although she knows how, but she does beautiful redwork embroidery by hand and that counts.  But she's a great 'ironer'... and when we get together, that's her task, ironing pieces for other sewists.  (I can say the word 'sewer' but when you type it, it looks so much like the word for the plumbing refuse system that I resist!!)

Wherever you are this weekend, I hope you're with people you love, or people you really like a lot, and you're doing something fun together.

Sew long for now!

Where have I been and where am I going?

Oh my goodness dear reader/followers (both of you!)... I visited my blog at lunchtime today and realized that I haven't posted in a week!  So belated happy Valentine's Day, and I'll try to be more current.

Last posting I wrote about making sample blocks and what I do with all those 'oprhans'.  I made another one last night (no pic, sorry).  I saw the quilts my aunt and cousins brought back from the quilt retreat last fall and wanted to see if I could figure it out.  It was called 39 And Counting.  You can see a picture of it in the fall 2011 newsletter for Quinessential Quilts in Reedsburg, here:  QQuilts Reedsburg Newsletters

I took my paper and pencils down to the sewing studio (basement) and did a little drawing.  I started with a two color four patch from a light print and a dark print.  Easy, no challenge there.  Then I put skinny 'logs' in what looks like a solid color on opposite sides and trimmed them until they looked right. 

Now I do not have a pattern for this, but I did examine Amy's quilt last Friday so I have a pretty good picture in my head!  We'll see if I'm close!

After pressing, I went back and measured the pieces of the almost solid, and wrote that down on my drawing.  I took the two prints and cut them long enough to cover half the resulting block size plus a half inch.sewed the strips together on the short sides using a quarter inch seam allowance.  I sewed these on the opposite sides first, lining up the center seams as well as possible with the center four patch.  I pressed and trimmed.  Then I measured those pieces and wrote that on the drawing too.

The last step was to repeat the process for the two remaining sides.  Now I measured the block.  Hey, 9 1/2 inches!!  Cool.  I started with 2 1/2 inch strips, because I have a whole bin full of those, and the solid frame around the four patch was cut down to 1 1/4 inches. 

The colors I used were dark green, a tone on tone of pale green, and a bright lime green.  It's a totally different look than what the cousins made at the retreat -- they used black & white prints and either one color or many solid colors for the frames.  But I have LOTS of green fabric.  Tons.  And I never saw anything that didn't go with green.

Knowing the sizes of strips and squares I need, I'm going to make a kit for this pattern and make 30 of these squares for an actual quilt.  I haven't decided what color scheme to use yet.  I think I have to look at this green square for a while to see if any inspiration comes to me.  Or maybe I need to make one more with different colors.  I was thinking maybe greens with a black frame, or blues with another color.  Or red and white??  Hmmm.

This is the part of sewing or actually any craft that I like the best.  Picking the materials, choosing color combinations, planning it in my head.  I actually have too many ideas sometimes, they get jumbled in my head and I lose track of them.  I try to stay organized, kitting things up in baggies or plastic bins.  My DD bought me a label gun for Christmas one year, and I use it!  But this year I committed to actually finishing some of those projects.

The winter quilt retreat starts this Friday.  I'll be packing up my project kits and traveling tomorrow afternoon.  There IS that bargello quilt that's being taught and that's all cut and ready to go.  But I'm taking along a few other things, in case I get bored.  That's one of my problems, and why lots of things go on the five year plan.  Unless there's a deadline. 

I did finish the quilt top I did after the last retreat I attended a couple of years ago.  It's a beautiful top, lovingly pieced and complete with borders.  Maybe one of these days it will actually become a quilt!!

Keep on stitching!

What do I do with all these quilt blocks??

In my mailbox nearly every week there will be a new quilting or sewing magazine.  I haven't counted how many I get, but I know off the top of my head that I get Threads, Sew News, McCall's Quilting, Fons & Porter's Love of Quilting, Better Homes & Gardens Quilting, and maybe a few more.  The joy of opening those covers and checking out what someone else made knows no bounds!

When they first come I spend a few minutes rapidly paging through to look at all the articles and patterns.  Then I take them one by one and spend some time studying the patterns.  Are they based on 2 inch or 2 1/2 inch or some other size strips or squares?  Can you assembly-line sew parts, are there triangle units or geese units?  I love figuring that out, and I love it even more when the author or editor has good, clear directions.

Then I spend some time looking at the color combinations.  I especially like it when a second color scheme is included.  Sometimes I think I don't like a pattern just because it's not my favorite colors, or I DO like it because it is in my colors, so I like to see a second or third colorway to test the theory.

After I've been through the whole magazine I go back with sticky notes or flags and put them on the patterns I most want to try.  If there are three or more in one magazine, I will usually keep the whole magazine.  But if there are only one or two, I'll make photocopies of the pages I want and recycle the magazine to quilting friends or the local sewing guild free table.  This way I can pare down my collection and keep myself from starring in an episode of Hoarders!

A couple of times a month I'll sit down with my patterns and make up a test square.  Sometimes I make more than one in different colorways.  I test how long it takes to make one, and see the finished size.  Often I take these 'tests' to Friday night sewing for 'sew and tell'.  Sometimes we're inspired to make more and finish a top.  But sometimes the test is the only square that actually gets done.

If they were always the same size or colorway, they might be made into a sampler quilt.  But they're not, because, well, that would be boring.  So I end up with a box of various sizes and colors and patterns.  If I can make a 24 inch square or a 24x30 rectangle, they can become a doll quilt.  If the squares are smaller, say 8 inches, I've made them into eyeglass cases and pot holders.  That's also a good use for those bits and pieces of batting.

Other things you can use your leftover squares for are purses and bags, table runners, pillow cases, children's clothing (think a square in the middle of a small jacket back!) or cushion covers.  I've been wanting to turn some of my nicer squares into a seat cushion for my office chair.  It's a wonderful chair but it has a mesh seat and back, and in the winter it gets a bit chilly.

I've also seen very cool covers for the backs of those square-backed kitchen chairs.  You make a sleeve that fits over the top third of half of the chair, and it dresses up your kitchen.  I want to turn a set of bright colored squares into some valances for the spare bedroom, to dress up the plain white curtains that are in there now.

Lately I've seen those extra squares used very effectively with large chunks of fabric for quilt backs.  There's no reason why the backs can't be as lovely or interesting as the fronts, is there?

One other very interesting way I've seen these orphan squares used it for a kind of crazy quilt top.  Not 'crazy quilt' in the classical sense.  More like a wildly insane top made with bits and pieces.  I can't remember who did this, but the person cut the squares on the diagonal and sewed them to other squares, intentionally mis-matching.  But because each piece appears more than once in the top, it looks planned.  Then smaller squares were enlarged, or sewn together into groups to make a panel, and when the panels were the same size, those were sewn together until the top was large enough. 

I think that one will take more planning than I can devote to it right now.  Meanwhile, I'm still sewing some sample squares every week.  Last week's was Bonnie Hunt's Scrappy Sister's Choice , which you should go and view on her blog.  I made some with 2" strips because I already had a bunch of nine-patch squares done.   They're super cute!  They'll be a quilt for some lucky American Girl doll sometime soon.

Try something new.  If nothing else you'll end up with some jazzy pot holders!

A Sad Farewell to a Friend

This weekend, we were informed of the sudden death of a man my husband has known since high school.  This man was DH's best friend for many years.  We spent time socializing when the kids were all small, visiting each other's homes and going on 'double dates' with him and his wife.

Over the years we lost touch, but would exchange Christmas cards saying 'let's get together'.  Sadly, even with the best of intentions we never did.  I think the last time we saw them was at a family funeral, probably over 10 years ago.

I remember him as a gentle, soft-spoken man.  He loved his family, was a proud and caring father and a devoted son to his parents.  He and his wife and my DH grew up in the same neighborhood, went to the same schools and churches, and shared many values.  Not that they were peas in a pod, but you know how it is with the familiar and safe.

I was a new and unique ingredient in the mix when DH and I married.  I am a good deal younger then the rest of them, and I had a different take on a lot of things.  We didn't always have converging viewpoints, and I'm sure my opinions sometimes threw a monkey wrench into things.  But overall, we valued their friendship.  DH is not hugely sociable, and when family events made picking a date to get together kind of tough, he didn't seem to mind not visiting with his friend.

Would he have liked to socialize with his friend more?  Should I have encouraged him to call and make fishing dates or coffee dates?   He's an adult, he can make his own decisions, but could he have used more motivation?  He DOES get together with other friends, and those get-togethers are initiated by the other party as frequently as by DH.

I guess the moral of this story is not to take a single day for granted.  You will never know how many days you have left on this planet, only God knows that.  Stay in touch with those you care about and don't wait for them to call you.  Go outside your immediate circle and let people know you're still around!

The good news is I know that this man knew Jesus, so I know he's going to heaven and I'll see him again.  (I hope that didn't offend anyone, but this is MY blog, after all.)

So wait for us on the other side, old friend.  We'll miss you.

Superbowl Sunday

This coming Sunday February 5 is the most important day in the lives of most American men.  The Superbowl is being played to determine who is the best team in the country, or maybe for all I know the universe.  I am really not a football fan.  Well, not of professional football anyway. 

According to most of the men I know, it's not right that the Green Bay Packers aren't playing this year.  Since I'm not a purposeful fan, and I only 'follow' them because I can't escape it in the office, I suppose that's true.

I remember going to Friday night games in high school.  I loved how it felt to go out with friends, to sit in the bleachers and freeze your butt in the coolness of fall in Minnesota.  It was cool to actually sit in class with some of the players.   Even cooler if you knew you were helping the team by tutoring some of them in algebra or chemistry! 

The sport never appealed to me much even then.  I dated a basketball player for a while.  That was a more elegant sport.  The guys were cute in their uniforms, and that was the most 'skin' we EVER got to see of any boy other than our brothers!!  And as to football, did you ever wonder why 200-300 lb men put on 20 lbs of equipment, then intentionally run into each other?  They gotta know someone's going to get hurt eventually!

I married a guy whose very blood is green and gold.  Nothing interferes with Green Bay football at my house.  And if I choose not to watch, so much the better!! 'Just stay quiet wherever you are OK??  And keep the food hot.'

When the kids were small we used to have a neighborhood party on Superbowl Sunday.  Someone would make chili or soup be the host, and the rest of us would bring snacks and desserts.  The kids would play games, the women would congregate in the kitchen, finding alternate entertainment while managing the grub. 

Every year for the past six or seven years we've done a similar thing with some friends from work.  Similar but different.  Some of the other wives are actually interested in the game!  And they're knowledgeable about the sport! 

I normally find some alternate activity that can be done in the same room with the sports fanatics.  I've taken knitting and hand sewing, but I have drawn the line at reading a book while they watch the game.  That might be bordering on the rude -- although my impression is that no one is too concerned over whether I'm enjoying myself and they might not notice!  That's not strictly true, I'm sure.  And I love socializing with these folks... I DO have a good time.

So this year, we all said the theme is going to be something along the lines of 'the game we don't care about because it's teams we don't like'.  Everyone else can rely on their football knowledge to be for one team or the other.  But I can't even pick a team based on the color of their uniforms because they're both going to be in red, white and blue.  Maybe cute QBs?  Not so much.  Mascot?  Theme song?  Phooey. 

I'm really just going for the commercials, and the snacks.  OK, just the snacks.  What down is this?  Who has the ball? 

Lunch hour? What lunch hour??

It's almost 1 p.m. here in the Midwest on Monday, and I have just started my lunch!  Not that I'm not hungry, the tummy's been rumbling for over an hour.  No, my problem is I work in an office area populated by people whose attitude is "Lunch hour?  What do you mean, lunch hour?"

My boss does not eat lunch unless he's taking someone out, or he's attending a meeting where lunch is being served.  His idea of lunch is switching from coffee, the morning beverage, to diet soda, the afternoon beverage.  One of the other guys eats ALL DAY LONG, no kidding this is annoying.  Some of the others play cards during lunch hour, so they go off to another room and are not seen for an hour.  It might be nice if someone said 'hey, we're leaving, it's lunchtime'.

I set my calendar to send me an electronic reminder when I have meetings or calls to attend.  Maybe I should have it remind me of lunch!!  Maybe then I'd get it before dinner-time.  I worked at another company about 16 years ago where they had an organized break every morning and afternoon, and the whole office took its lunch hour at the same time.  They had a big lunchroom, lots of chairs and tables.  It was nice and social, and your desk didn't get messy from eating there.

Our office is being relocated this summer.  We're not moving far; actually it's only six or seven blocks.  But when we toured the building last week, I saw a big space full of chairs and tables, with a coffee/tea/snack counter, a big screen TV up on the wall, and actual people socializing with each other!  I'm actually kind of excited about this development.  They have tenant activities like Tai Chi and weight loss groups, and they offered to set up a knitting group if I want to try one!  Cool stuff.

You have to understand my current situation to know why I'm excited about this.  Our current building is only about half full, and even our staff is not all on the same floor.  I'm in an area of the building that's kind of closed off from the rest of the staff.  And for about the last two years, this group of offices has consisted of way too many testosterone sources and not enough estrogen donaters. 

Yes, at least a year or more ago the last of the women moved out of this area, and I've been surrounded since then by football pools, baseball scores, fishing stories, car stories, and once in a while dog stories.  No socializing about sewing shows or sharing Project Runway stories around THIS water cooler! 

If there is one thing I have learned over the past few decades, it's that nothing beats the friendships you get from your girlfriends.  Nothing.  I mean, you love your husband and your kids, your parents, your siblings.  But really, what can beat the woman to woman friendship?  Nothing.

MY girlfriends are super-special, because some of them really are family too.  My Friday night sewing sisters are the best.  Feel blue?  They cheer you up.  Feel crummy?  Someone has made chicken soup, or can tell you a funny story to make you smile.  Disappointments, crappy days, you won the lottery?  Hey, this is the first group you have to tell.  They understand that when you're whining about DH, you still love him, you just don't like him very much right now.

I have a couple of 'friend circles'.  If I had to talk to someone I know who to call to discuss what topic.  I have one friend who lives in another town, and we only see each other once every six months or so.  But when we do get together we pick up right where we left off. 

I have Facebook and chat friends too.  That put me back in touch with siblings living in other states.  I love seeing the photos!

But I will totally look forward to being able to lunch with friends, sit down at a table and chat over yesterdays' leftovers or a treat from the coffee place.  Nothing quite matches the face to face interaction, reading body language and seeing the facial expressions.

So I'm happy if you're reading blogs, mine or anyone else's.  It's nice to see your updates on FB, or get a card or letter in 'snail mail'.  But remember to have the original social networking experience - a live lunch meeting with a real person.  I for one can not wait!