Month: January 2012

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Deep For Someone Who Uses The Term “Duh” So Often

 Remember this?  
 
It’s that learning swatch that I started for no apparent reason and had no goal for.  
It was fun to work on, though.
Once I started quilting this really big quilt together using meandering lines of embroidery thread, the urge to work on the smaller, more pointless piece with meandering lines of embroidery thread vanished. 
The swatch sat neglected and was increasingly getting in the way.  Getting in the way because I’ve been making so much mail art that I am running out of room for other projects.  
The answer to my dilemma has become wildly obvious to you already, isn’t it.  
It smacked me right in the face yesterday morning.
This was destined to become postcards!
DUH!
So I cut it up into nine pieces – the first cut was really scary.  But once you start, the committment is made and there’s nothing to do but move forward.  Deep, huh?  Well, deep for someone who uses the term “duh” so often.
Last gratuitous macro shot of the stitches.
 So, let’s call this a tutorial, shall we?  After cutting up the fabric, I cut up some light cardboard to match the size of the fabric square.  I used a little bit of glue just to keep the cardboard from slipping around while sewing.

I sewed them together, using the longest and widest zig zag stitch settings on my machine.  I shortened the stitch later when I felt more comfortable.  The key is too keep the stitches long and wide enough to avoid perforating the cardboard.  If the holes from the needle are too close together, it all just falls apart.

     

I sewed with the cardboard side up first because it was easier to control.
Then I flipped it over and sewed around the edge of the fabric side.  I followed  the edge of the cardboard the first time around and then the edge of the fabric after I flipped it.  That way I was sure to keep it all lined up and minimize the fraying.  They didn’t always line up exactly, which I really enjoyed the look of and didn’t want to lose.
   
 Ta-da! 
Repeat nine times.  If you biggify the picture you’ll see more variety in the stitching than I described here.  I became more experimental as I became more comfortable working on this.  One postcard became totally biased and I think that’s my favorite one.
 
Then you just need to address and send them.  I added a pretty stamp and used some pink poster board for one, again, it’s that variety I love.  
OK, this is the last gratuitous macro shot.  I loved photographing this piece up close!
 The only downside is that they were so expensive to send.  The lady at the post office loved them and was very friendly and smilingly charged me $1.95 each because they aren’t paper.
  
Oddly, the one I sent to Germany was only $1.75.
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Attention Span Issues

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We got another hole in the denim couch.  
 Again, a reminder:  
Denim wears out whether the ass is inside or outside of the pants.  
I patched the last hole with a denim square that I embroidered for the meandering stitched quilt:
But now I’ve used all those in the quilt plus I’m not very good at doing things twice – attention span issues – so this time I just darned the hole with embroidery thread.
I had a great time with it and may add some more stitches.  
I was inspired by this person, though her patching is much tidier than mine. 
I had to re-learn AGAIN, that just because I come up with an idea, doesn’t make it automatically happen.  I have to actually DO something. So inconvenient.  
So, I finally started stitching together the latest quilt.  It’s become my original Upstairs, Downstairs series quilt.  Do you ever do that?  Associate a project with whatever you’re listening to or watching while you work on it?  I do it every time.  
Long term projects can be confusing because I’ll listen to or watch so many things that this quilt might end up as the:
It’s that spice of life thing again.  A reoccurring theme in my life for sure.
I won’t be updating the blog as much as I’d like because my laptop died.  I have to go to work, upload my pictures, email them to myself, wait my turn for the desktop computer (I have two kids so it’s a long wait) and then I can get every computer related thing done that’s waiting for me to do.  
I’ll aim for once a week but no promises.
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Mail Art!

It’s a big pile of mail art!  Already on the way to somewhere else.
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Never Ending Story

There isn’t much to say about this one.   
I still don’t know what it will be.
I just like taking pictures of it.
That is all.  🙂
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Blue

Blue.  
That’s the color I picked to quilt this together.  It was my first instinct back when the idea of quilting it with meandering stitches occurred to me. But over time I really started doubting myself and considered about every other color I could think of.  Black like the roads?  White like clouds? The same fall colors I was already using?  Maybe just one of the colors I used?  Nothing seemed quite right.  I was really overthinking it and at an impasse.  Again.
Then I remembered my secret weapon:  I have the most awesome and imaginative friends in the world and I was planning to spend the weekend with them.  So I asked them over the weekend and blue was the second idea I heard.  
(The first being to sort of frame each square with stitches which is a really good idea but I had recently done that.)
Oh yeah, that was that first idea…I’m going for it.  
I didn’t start it until last night so I only got across the quilt two times but it’s a start.
I got enough done to abuse my macro setting privileges.  It’s my favorite way to take pictures stuff I make.
The blue thread really seems to blend in with the blue denim but pop out on the fall colored corduroy and that it was I was hoping for.  
I’m really excited to get further along now.  
Thank you to my friends!!!!!
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Pin Pin Pin

Pin, pin, pin.  I used every safety pin in the house and then had to change to t- pins and then had to run out to the store in a snow storm to get more pins.  But I think it was worth it. 
I put the pins closer together than I usually do but, look, it’s really flattened out, hasn’t it?  I’m very satisfied to see it less lumpy and bumpy.  It still has the weird turn-y bit at the bottom but that’s actually growing on me. 
Here’s the other side post pinning.  It’s not as flat as the top but I think that’s inevitable.  Well, maybe not inevitable for for everyone but it’s inevitable for me at this point in my quilting life.  The process of making a quilt sandwich – especially a large one – always leaves me with a messy bottom.  That did not sound right.  But you know what I mean.
There.  All pinned and folded up and ready for the weekend.  I get together with friends for the weekend every year at this time of year.  It is a fabulous time.  We hang out and eat and drink and talk and make stuff.  This is my take along project.  This and a bunch of mail art supplies so this may come back looking exactly like it looks right now.  
Now the decision to be made is what to quilt it with.  I’m bringing along all of my embroidery thread (Which seems to multiply all by itself) and even if I don’t get actual work done on this, I still hope to have at least made the decision about what color I’ll choose to sew it together with.   
 Wish me luck!
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Frustrated

So…I pulled this corduroy/denim quilt back out again, just chock full of confidence because the way to quilt it together popped into my head.  
I started it after a meandering country drive on a beautiful fall day. Then I spent way too much energy wondering how on earth to quilt it together because it has these denim patches that are already embroidered.
Then while thinking about something else completely (OK, nothing)
this thought just jumped in:  Quilt it in different colored meandering lines, duh.  Seemed so easy but …
 First I had to piece it.  I lined them all up, so tidy on one end.
So not tidy on the other.
So I picked a spot that seemed right and chopped it.
 I sewed the ends of some of the longer ends to the shorter ends and…
BOOM.  Even Steven.
Here’s where at all went wonky.  The corduroy has some stretch to it and I didn’t really deal with it very well.
 Look how crooked.  It all wonked off to one side.  Hmm.  Stretch fabric.

Also, I’m sure you noticed all along that it’s really wrinkly.  But corduroy doesn’t iron well.  I could have steamed it but that seemed like too much of a pain.  I don’t mind a little bit of wrinkle.  It can give it a little bit of a vintage feel. 

But…It’s really pretty dang bad.
    

This is the price I pay for laziness.  I hope it works out in the long run. 
   
I do like the colors.   But it’s kinda freaky how it matches my rug soooo well.
Here’s the back.  Now to decide what color thread to use to quilt it together.  Any ideas?  I’m between off white (clouds), black (streets) or blue (no reason) or something else completely.  I really would love some input.

All in all, I’m pretty frustrated with it at this point. 
I guess that having this inspiration leap into my head gave me the idea that everything would just fall into place. 
  
Not so much. 

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Small Project, Small Pictures

Here’s a small project that only gets small pictures.   
I wish I could have found the buttons that were in my imagination but I like these well enough.
 I could have found them, if I had gone to more than one store, I suppose.

 The next project will be bigger, I promise.

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With the Goal of Enabling Others in Mind

 I have to take a break from this and all other crafty project for a bit.  

There’s still a ton of sewing to do but my hand is sore.
Here’s an earlier version.  I feel like it should look more different now – I’ve done so much sewing on it.  I’m glad that I removed the stitches that went across the middle.  They made it look plaid.
So I’ll take a couple of days off and just stare at it.  Some of the time I love it, other times I’m frustrated with it.  Maybe I should have used fewer or more colors.  Maybe I should have had more of a color plan.
A pattern of darks and lights have emerged in a way that I don’t really love.  Also, I still have no clue as to what it is.  I mean, I know it’s a learning swatch but I feel like it should end up being a useful object.
 Oh well.  I still love the way the cloth ripples and I enjoy the path-i-ness of running stitch.  Also, it’s really fun to take macro pictures of.  
On an unrelated note, I was checking out one of my favorite blogs, The Brick House, and took part in one of my favorite library junky habits:  Putting the books I see in someone else’s pictures on hold at my library.  Especially design and art books.  I love them.  So, with the goal of enabling others in mind, here is a picture of a random pile of books in my living room – some ours, some the library’s – for you to enjoy.
Now, go place some holds!