Hello, gorgeous!

I scored this lovely Arrow Deluxe sewing machine over the weekend at a flea market. The belt is broken and she obviously needs a clean up, but look how pretty! They don't make 'em like this anymore (which might be a good thing, given the sheer, back-breaking heft of it). But...

Yay!

Shiny... Pretty...

I found these fabulous beads last Saturday at Golden Beads on Queen Street West. They were all two bucks a strand, and Buy Two, Get One Free to boot!! Usually, talk of quilt "embellishment" grates my nerves like fingernails on a chalkboard, but these just might, might, find their way onto a quilt.

Finished!

Here is the Taupe and Citrus Log Cabin quilt. I made it as a "teaching quilt." The backing fabric is one that I bought a while back at Ikea and had been saving for... something. The Perfect Project with which to show it off, I guess. But, since I'm trying to use what I already have on hand, it landed on the back of this quilt. It seems happy enough there.

Taupe and Citrus

I'm currently working on a Log Cabin quilt that I hope to teach as a class in the next few months. I'm still pretty excited about working with solids, and I've built quite a nice collection.

I'll show the top when it's done...

Grannies Again

I'm branching out. Living on the edge. Granny Squares with more than one colour of yarn. Yes, yes, I'm a crazy thrill-seeker. After sewing my brains out lately, crochet feels like an actual hobby- strictly for fun. Once my "big enough for one person but not too huge" throw is done, I might actually attempt something from this book. The projects are mega-cute! Sorry, I meant "Kyuuto!" I do have a bit of crochet cotton around here somewhere...

Pinocchio was a pirate

Here are three items from the Trove. (Need I mention that these don't even begin to scratch the surface? No, didn't think so.)

Treasure Trove

We recently explored some attic storage in my house to see exactly what an elder relative had stashed away. Box after box (after box after box...) emerged from hiding. Think clowns spilling out of a VW Beetle. The majority went straight to the Goodwill, but after the entire contents of all the boxes had been gone though, I ended up with an overflowing basket of Vintage Goodness. And I do mean vintage. Lovely printed tablecloths? Check. Pretty hankie? Check. Random chunks of midcentury barkcloth? Lonely embroidered linens? Check and check again.

Now, what to do with it all? I'm not sure. Pictures to follow. Suggestions are welcome. Help. Me.

What's new?

This post, that's what! In the next few posts, I'll show what I've been up to lately. For now, here is a Simple Doll I'm teaching at the workroom on Sunday, June 1st from 12 noon to 3pm. She was fun to make; I think she needs some friends now...

Thread Wrangling

When I get a small ball or skein of perle cotton, I like to wind it around a big, fat, flat craft stick. It takes up less space (than the ball with the cotton wrapped around a squat cardboard tube), and the cotton can be unspooled without turning into a tangled mess (like in a loose skein).

As a bonus, it's also lollipop-like. Yummy candy colour. The bottom two are from The Cotton Mill Threadworks . They are a delight to work with, not to mention utterly gorgeous!

The Enabler

Me to Nancy: ...so I did a little experimenting with crochet cotton to see how it handles for hand-quilting. I've used hand-dyed perle cottons before, and I really love the effect. Anyway, it works great! And it's so cheap, Nancy. I can get a huge ball of it at Zeller's for three bucks!

Nancy: Well, you know, I have a bunch of it that I'm just not going to use, so you're welcome to have a look...

Me: Are you really sure you're not going to use it? Come on, Nancy- you make lots of stuff!

Nancy: I have LOT of it, Johanna. You're more than welcome to it. Take as much as you want...


Oh, the shame...

Slide Show

On a recent trip to visit my folks, my dad unearthed some ancient slides and we were treated to an Epic Slide Show. I was delighted when an image of my grandmother slid into place and onto the little portable screen.

There she is- Grandma at her sewing machine! She didn't sew much for fun; she sewed because she had to mend things. She did, however, enjoy needlepoint and crewel embroidery. I'm so glad to have this photo showing part of my "needlewoman" heritage.

Tutorial: Salad Bowl Pincushion

By popular demand (well, two or three of you), here's my first tutorial. I started off with a straight-sided wooden salad bowl, but with some creative tweaking and glue, you could use other shapes as well.

1. Sew a couple layers of tightly woven fabric into a circle that will fit inside the bottom of the bowl. I used the bowl as a template and did two lines of stitching. Leave a small opening and fill with sand. Glue the opening closed.


2. Cut 2 circles of very thick felt, using the bowl as a template. I had some industrial felt- the thick stuff used to line winter boots. My circles were too big to begin with, so I kept trimming until they would fit snugly into the top of the bowl.



3. Using your felt circles as a template, cut 2 circles of thin quilt batting about a 1/2" to 3/4" bigger all around than the felt (eyeball it), then cut a circle of your top fabric 1/2" bigger than the batting. On one pincushion I made, I stitched the batting around the edge to attach it to the top fabric, and on the other one I didn't bother. Either way worked OK.


Assembly:

1. Put in your sandbag into the bottom of the bowl. Give it a shake to even out the layer of sand.


2. Fit your 2 felt circles into the bowl on top of the sandbag.


3. Position your layered batting and fabric on top of the felt.


4. Using a wooden craft stick (popsicle stick), tuck the fabric/batting around the sides of the felt.



Voila!! Finished pincushion! And since nothing is glued in, you can change out the fabric when it starts looking tired. Yay!

Un-idle Hands

The idea of being away from thread and fabric for several days makes me a little edgy, so while I was getting stuff together for a weekend trip to Michigan, I was racking my brains for something portable to take along. I scanned the bookshelf for ideas. Hold on a sec... "Stitch Sampler"... let's try that.

With some pretty threads, tools, fabric and the book in hand, I was ready to go. Here's what I did on the weekend.








Unfortunately, I'm hooked now. Mental gears are turning.

Demon: Victorian Crazy Quilt! No wait- a modernist, contemporary crazy quilt with all this gorgeous stitching!

Angel: But all those unfinished projects... Must... stay... focused...

Salad Bowl Pincushion

Like most crafters, I love a re-purposed cast-off. I picked up a stack of 70s-era wooden salad bowls from a garage sale last summer. I knew I would do something craft-ish with them, but I wasn't sure what.

Then, inspiration: A pincushion! A big hefty one! The Mother of All Pincushions!

Months pass...

Today I got out one of the salad bowls, and in less than an hour, I have the best pincushion ever- large pinning surface, substantial enough to stay put while removing pins, cool looking (I think), and I used stuff I already had to make it. Wheee!

New Tote

I finished this new tote from that swirly, irresistible Ikea fabric! In fact, my sewing room has been a frenzy of activity this week. In my constant zeal to make-make-make, I've amassed quite a collection of half-finished projects. Some of those are demos from classes I've taught, but those are relatively few in number. The simple ugly truth is, most are just UFOs just laying around making me feel guilty and unfocused.



SO! I'm taking control of the situation and completing unfinished projects into finished... things! Three orphaned 9 Patch blocks? You are now a potholder! Random hexagon rosette? You are now also a potholder! (I told my sister to expect a steady stream of random patchwork objects for her home.)


Huge group of really nice little 9 Patch blocks? You are now all together and will become a throw for my couch! And the strips are the result of me fishing through all my scrap collections, finding everything blue-ish and green, and sewing them all together. These will somehow live with the 9 Patch group in the same throw, I think. One bag of scraps used up, only a million more to go! Eat my dust, scraps!!

The Big One

I've started it. The Big One. The Monster-Huge Applique Project.

I bought this lovely book at the CreativFestival (what's with the absent "e"?), and I've been wanting to do an intensive hardcore applique project for a while now. I thought removing the design-angst would be a good idea. Look at this beauty...



Here's Block #1 from the book, and my start on it. I have my palette all picked out- aquas, greens, indigo, mustard, light and dark neutrals. It's gonna take a while...

I've been tagged.

I've been tagged by Claire from Needlebook! I feel like a real, live blogger now!

Okay, you know the drill- here's 7 interesting (or not) facts about me. Ready?

1. I "collect" U.S. presidential sightings. I've seen Ford, Carter, Reagan, Bush #1 and Clinton. I still need to get an in-person visual on Bush #2.
2. Webbed toes run in my family. That's the second and third toes stuck together like little Siamese Twins. My dad and sister have them. Cool!
3. I'm a dual citizen (U.S. and Canadian).
4. Tragically, I'm unable to wear bangs (and believe me, I've tried!).
5. When I have a lot of fabric cut at the fabric store, I insist on folding the pieces myself. Because I am particular. Staff are usually slightly puzzled at first, then glad for having less work. See? Win-win!
6. Moving-to-Canada culture shock moment: Milk in a bag. Whaaa...?
7. Michigan relatives think I sound Canadian. Canadian friends will sometimes point out an occasional Michigan twang. Maybe I should adopt an obviously fake British accent and be done with it. Like Britney Spears.

And there you have it.

And since those I would have tagged have pretty much all been tagged themselves lately, the Tagging Buck will stop here...

...except for Ally! Superb figurative sculptural artist, vintage-inspired craftster and my "talk me down from the creative ledge" friend since college. Check 'er out!

New Acquisitions

I went to IKEA today and ever-so-casually swung past the fabric section. New prints, kids! This one is crying out to be split up the centre and used as a quilt border. It is 18" wide with the long selvage edges prefinished, apparently intended for use as decorative hanging panels. I have used another print as teatowels for my kitchen.



This other chunk is a print they've had for a while, and I've been eyeballing it for ages. I finally broke down and bought some. I'm going to make a tote out of it. This week. I will sew it into something right away. Really. I mean it.

Extreme English Piecing...

Back to "Honeycomb" for a sec, here's a detail shot of one of the wings. For you, Marnie.

Liberty at last!

I bought this delightful little bag from the equally delightful Claire of Needlebook blog fame. I spotted this bag in her suitcase of goodies at the workroom and City of Craft Valentine Trunk Show event this past Sunday.

Way back in May 2006 I bought this issue of Everyday Food just for the pictures of the background fabrics. Of course, I searched everywhere for this print and couldn't find it anywhere to buy for myself. Then Sunday! Yay!! The bag was a must-have.

Now if I could just find this one, too...