I'm not feeling well today. :-( Don't know if it's allergies of some sort or a cold. Sore throat, sneezing, head achy.... Not what I need the week before our big national conference, where I am on two panel discussions and giving an invited talk! Argh! Staying in and resting today.
Just a short post to say I posted information about the May meeting of the Great Lakes Modern Quilt guild HERE. So, hop on over and check it out, if you are interested. Lots of important stuff this month.
Hope to be back tomorrow with more quilty fun. Sorry.
I hope all the mothers out there had a lovely Mother's Day! Mine was an interesting one...I'll tell you more about that on Really Random Thursday. Today, I'd like to share what I made for my mom for Mother's Day. (Click on any of the photos in this post to make them larger.)
I made her this linen scarf, with a bunch of different colors of peach floss. (Yes, I used DMC despite my previous experience, because I had already purchased it prior to my last experience. So, Mom, be careful washing it!) The "fringe" on the scarf is the beautiful selvedge on this fabric. I am happy with how it turned out.
Here is a more full view of it. The morning sun was pretty bright, so you can barely see the hand stitching on it in this shot, but this shot does give you a feel for the size of the scarf. The half-way point is at the top of the branch. It's about 17" wide and 80" long. It's a really nice size for a shawl or scarf.
I used a kit and a tutorial from The Purl Bee, and you can find the tutorial right here. This is not difficult to make at all, though it did take a little time. There is one machine-sewn seam in the entire thing. The rest is all hand sewn. So, it takes a little time. But that was okay with me. You know, one thing I enjoy about making hand-made gifts for people is that while I am working on them, I am reflecting on that person, fun times we've had together, etc. So, I enjoyed having some quiet time to reflect on my mother and how lucky I am that she's my mom.
The design is made by a series of lines that are running stitches. So, this would be a great beginner embroidery project. Very easy. And all the knots on the ends are hidden in the side hems, which you do last. The pattern even provides instructions for how to vary your colors on up the way. I modified the color scheme from the pattern so that the colors graduate from dark to light as they progress up the scarf.
I was having a fun photo shoot with the scarf, because we finally had a summy morning. Again, the fringe is super easy to do, because it's already tehre as part of the selvedge. To make the base of the scarf, all I had to do was tear a yard of fabric in half, from selvedge to selvedge and seam it together.
Here is the seam where you sew the selvedges together. I'm not sure what you would call this seam. It's almost like a flat-felled (sp?) seam that you have on jeans. It's nearly invisible, and there are no raw edges on either side. It's a beautiful way to join two pieces of fabric together when you want both sides to look equally good.
I liked this photo with the shadows of the tree branches on the scarf. :-) This linen was absolutely beautiful to work with. It was heavier than the linen I had used for my Urban Nine Patch quilt. I found myself wishing I had found and used this in that quilt instead of what I used. I think I may need to order some of this yardage just to have in my stash. I really love the hand and drape of it. It is Essex Yarn Dyed Linen. The color I used is Flax. Yummy.
Purl Bee had kits available, but I see they are currently sold out. At the time of this writing, their website does say they are getting more, and there is a link where you can request to be notified when more are in. The kits came in this peach and another with blue thread. However, you could easily go get the supplies yourself and use the tutorial to complete this project.
The tutorial is well written, with good photos to help you along the way. Very recommended project, kit, and tutorial. As I said before, I would put this at a beginner/easy project.
I love how it turned out, and I hope my mom enjoys it.
I had an absolutely wonderful time yesterday learning to hook wool rugs at The Hen House. Today, I'd like to tell you about my lesson and show you around the store more. Last time I as there, I missed half the shop, because I never even walked back to the classroom! Shame on me!
Nancy began our lesson by having a discussion about frames and how to attach our linen to the frame. She has the most beautiful wooden frame. Oh, is it gorgeous! She's a woman after my own heart. She loves good, high quality, beautiful tools!
I am all set up and ready to hook!
Nancy showed us how to pull the strips of wool up from under the linen. We learned how to start and stop and how high to make the loops. We learned about cutting wool strips and all the different widths you can use. We had a discussion about wools and high vs. low quality wools. It was a ton of fun.
Especially fun for me was that I got to meet Sue of Simply Pieceful Quilting. She came to the lesson, too! I've been reading Sue's blog for a few years now, and we've had a lot of email communication. It was so nice to meet her in person! I had a gret time with her, and it's always more fun to learn together!
Here is the cute classroom space we were working in. Our stuff is all over the table. I loved all the different antique chairs that were at the tables, and there was so much to look at in the classroom!
From my seat, I got to look at all the basket-making supplies. How fun!
And next to those (on the right) were vintage, hand crank sewing machines (Nancy sells them), along with some fun quilts.
To the left of the basket-making supplies were all these finished baskets. I love baskets. They are containers after all, and you know I have a fetish for containers!
If I looked to the right from where I was sitting in class, I could see the sale wall. Lots of goodies in there!
Closer to me on my right was this vintage stove, where the "Hot Sales" were. How cute is that? I love attention to detail like this.
On the back wall, to the right of the vintage sewing machines is this rug that Nancy hooked. Isn't it fantastic? I love it. This is one reason I wanted to learn to rug hook. I want to make one of the primitive pumpkin men rugs for Halloween. (There is another vintage sewing machine below this rug. I meant to get it in the photo, but blew it when taking the photo.) You can see the light from the back door coming in on the right-hand side of this photo. It was such a beautiful day, we got to have the door open. It was so nice!
On the way out the back door, there are some more fun Halloween quilts.
I especially liked this one. I complimented Nancy on it, and she told me it was a quilt she had designed for one of the local shop hops. I love it. I meant to get this pattern and forgot. I need to remember this next time I go there!
Going back out to the front of the store, I found this cabinet full of thread. I had completely missed this last time I was there! What an excellent assortment. And Nancy carries Aurifil thread, which you know I love.
And this might be a TMI, but even the bathroom is adorable! Everything in it is so in keeping with the shop.
Here's the view while you're doing your business. LOL.
Nancy showed us her progress on her hexie table topper. I think it is just wonderful! I am looking forward to seeing it finished.
I also saw this little wall hanging on the way out. Nancy designed it, with monthly little quilts you can make and change out, using the little clothespins. So cute!
I forgot to take a photo of my rug to show you my progress. I guess I'll do that in a future post. But I had a wonderful time. I learned a lot. Nancy is an excellent teacher. I appreciate it so much that she was willing to arrange this class to meet MY schedule! When I finish my rug, I'll go back for another lesson on how to bind and finish the rug. That will also be fun. I hope Sue can come then, too!
And Elise, who also works in the store, is just the sweetest, most wonderful thing. I really enjoy seeing her in the shop when I come in. What a combo these two women are!
I have to say, I'm feeling pretty bad it takes me over an hour to get to this shop. I really love it. It's probably a good thing. If it were closer, I'd be in there all too often! ;-) Nancy does have an online retail business, too. So, if you see something you want to peruse, you can see her website here.
Have a wonderful weekend, everyone. It's a rainy one here.
And Happy Mother's Day to all the mothers out there!
I didn't feel like lugging my machine to my Friday Night Sew In last week. I took handwork, instead. Man, was that a relaxing way to go! I'm going to have to consider that carefully for future sew ins!
Last weekend was so. incredibly. busy. Sweet Pea had three birthday parties to attend, one of which was a sleep over. Then, Saturday night, she had a friend overnight. They wanted to sleep in the tent outside. Papa Pea set up the tent, and they immediately got inside (see that child's arm sticking out of the door?) and played for HOURS. Loved it. Belle kept watch. She slept outside with the girls to keep them safe.
On Sunday, we took Sweet Pea and her friend to Wicked. We were all really excited about it. I think I've said it before...One of the really great perks of working for a university is that you get faculty discounts on play tickets. :-) We try to take advantage when we can.
The stage was incredible. I enjoyed this play so much. The scenery, costumes, story, acting, music....everything. It was great.
There were some really funny lines in the show. I liked how the folks in Oz treated the wizard almost like a god. They would call him, "Your Great Ozness." And one time, I think someone said, "Oh, my Oz!" I really cracked up at that. I know some bloggers don't like OMG or "Oh, my God." It is like taking the Lord's name in vain. "Oh, my gosh" has never really gotten it for me. But I'm kinda liking "Oh, my Oz!" So, that's my new thing. If you see me say, "OMO!" you'll know what I mean, now! haha.
The tulips were in full bloom outside the auditorium. Very beautiful! Michigan has a really big Dutch community. I think it's "Tulip Time" right now. I really should get to one of those festivals one of these days!
The weather has been beautiful. Our tree out front still has the blossoms on it. It's starting to leaf out now. The blossoms have gone from white to pink. (Well, at least this is how it looked yesterday morning. It rained a bit in the evening last night. When I took Sweet Pea out to the bus this morning, I noticed we now have a pink driveway. Even Sweet Pea noticed. She was mad that the most of the flowers were done in by the rain.)
I love this tree. We really need to figure out what kind it is, because we want to plant more of them. It's a great shape, and we love the flowers. We put our little café set outside under it. It's such a nice, shady spot to sit in the summer.
And now, our apple trees are starting to bloom. (Can you tell which way the wind blows by the way the tree trunks lean? LOL)
Some flowers are open, while others are still buds. So beautiful. It's such a treat, because last year there were no blooms (and no apples either!). We had that really warm week in March--like 80 degrees--and then everything froze. Totally ruined it for the fruit trees here.
The trees are all buzzing with bees. When you are standing out there, all you can hear is buzzing. They are everywhere. And this is a really small bee. Most of them are huge and fuzzy.
I needed some new summer sandals, so I went to DSW the other day. OMO. I love DSW. So does Sweet Pea. She was definitely having a blast in that store.
When she was about 18 months old, she went into a shoe store for the first time. I almost died. She RAN into the store, sat down on the floor, ripped her shoes off, started grabbing shoes out of boxes (and I mean adult women's shoes), and was trying them on. Seriously, she had NO previous experience in a shoe store. But she knew exactly what to do. I swear, it is genetic.
Last week on Thursday, we had a UPS attempted delivery. I wasn't home to receive it. I got this notice saying someone had to be home to sign for it, and that someone had to be at least 21 years old. I tried going online to schedule delivery at a better time, but it didn't really work.
I left the following note for our UPS driver, "I will be home from 2:00-5:00 pm if you can deliver then. Is there some way I can sign for it so you can leave it?"
When I got home, I saw he had been here (shoot!). He left me a note, saying no he couldn't leave the package. I had to be here to sign for it. He'd be back on Monday, or he could leave it at the UPS station for me (wherever that is!). Bummer.
But then, about 5:15 pm, the UPS truck comes down our driveway. I said, "You came back!" He said, "Yeah, I had to drive right near here to head back to the shop at the end of my shift. I usually take the other road, but it was just as easy to come down this road instead. Since your note said you'd be home, I thought I'd come by and try again."
How's that for nice???!!!! Seriously restored my faith in humanity.
My brother and his wife had sent me a bottle of champagne as a congratulations for my new position at work. How sweet! Loved it! Drank it already! Thanks, Bud!
I had my Art Quilt Group meeting on Wednesday night. One member brought this old family photo of hers. She said there are no names on them, and she doesn't want them. Would anyone else like them? We all looked at her in disbelief! We tried to convince her to keep them. But she would not be convinced. I said if she was going to chuck this one, I would take it for my cowboy bedroom.
Today, I'm driving to Charlotte, MI for my rug hooking class at The Hen House. (I blogged a review of this shop here.) I get to meet blogger friend, Sue, in real life for the first time. She is taking the class with me! How fun!
Good morning! It is so sunny and beautiful here today! I hope it is the same for you.
Recently, my friend Amanda Jean (who you might know as one of the authors of one of my most favorite books Sunday Morning Quilts--so proud of and happy for her!) wrote a pattern for her thread catchers. I was really excited about this pattern, because I had been wanting to make some. You might remember she gave each of us one as our "Happy" at our quilt retreat at Gruber's last July. I've been hoping she would put out a pattern, because I thought these were the cutest little things and would make great gifts. Well, her pattern is now out. She gave me a copy (so nice!), and I made up a couple this weekend. Here they are! They are about 6" tall and about 14" all the way around (so, around 3.5" on each side). How cute!
I used my stash of Mod Century fabric, which I got at Marmalade. (You can get there by clicking the button on my sidebar, too.) I just love this fabric! There are lots of great prints in this line, and the linen looks are also wonderful.
Each one is lined, so they are very finished and polished looking.
The pattern includes four variations. One of them is this one, which has no interfacing or batting in it. The top is cuffed over, and I used some variegated Valdani perle cotton to do the running stitch around the cuff. I didn't want to use any DMC floss, for fear it would run if it got wet! Looking at this closely....looks like I got a crooked stich there in my running stitch. Oh, well. The charm of something handmade, right? I used the turquoise blue linen look from the Mod Century line for the lining.
I like this one, because it's very "crushable." It's a great little thread catcher for throwing in your travel bag for use on the road or when you're at a sew in. It barely takes up any room. And when you get there, you just fluff it back up, and it stands up great. I love it. This is the style Amanda Jean gave me at our retreat, and I just love it. I use it a lot!
I also tried one of the other variations. This one has no cuff, but it does have batting inside. There is a strip of patchwork around the thread catcher. In her sample, the thread catcher was quilted with straight-line quilting, and the base was made of linen. I used the "linen-looking" fabric that is part of the Mod Century line and decided to practice my pebble quilting. This is a really nice sized project to practice some free-motion quilting on! I used some grey Auriful thread for the quilting. I had fun practicing, and I think it turned out very cute. Because this one has batting in it, it is more stiff and sturdy, if you are looking for that.
The other two variations are a cuffed version without the running stitch and a fully patchwork base. They are all so cute! These took very little time to make. I think the quilted one took me an hour, and the one with the cuff took maybe 30 min. And they would make great little gifts. I could even see these in a bathroom holding Q-tips or cotton balls. They would also make a nice little trash collector in the car, for all those little scraps of paper that seem to find their way all over my car.
The pattern is well written and easy to follow. This is another great beginner project or, like I said, a quick and easy gift project. (I needed a couple of little gifts for sewing friends in the next couple weeks, so these will be perfect.) I was thinking they'd also be great for making multiples (thinking of boutiques at your next quilt show) because they are quick and easy.
If you'd like a copy of the pattern, you can get it here. I'll definitely be making more of these. It's fun to put fabric combinations together for the project. And the two patchwork versions are great ways to use up small scraps!
Well, between yesterday and today, you've seen about everything I accomplished this weekend. We'll see if I have anything else to share this week! Not getting much done in the sewing room lately! Hope you have a wonderful day!
Until next time,
Full disclosure: Amanda Jean gave me a copy of this pattern. However, she did not ask me to review it in return. She simply gave it to me as a friend. Although I paid for the Mod Century fabric myself, Marmalade is one of my sponsors. I just love Tammy's (of Marmalade) taste in fabric and thank her for sponsoring my requests now and then. She has great customer service in her shop, too. Check it out! Neither Amanda Jean nor Tammy asked me to review these products. These are just my humble thoughts about them.
