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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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I’m Not Done Monkeying Around

So, Matt flipped this over to the non oiled side for me.  It’s pretty light in color but after one coat of oil:
Oh yeah, it’s darker but so much more wood grain detail shows up.  I measured the thickness and it’s about 7.5 inches on one side and just under 7 inches on the other side.  Matt thinks that it will just be uneven on the top and we don’t have to worry about it being tippy because it’s so heavy.  I really hope he’s right. 

On to sewing stuff.  Here’s the progress I made on my quilt after I climbed down off of the dining room table (Notice, the quilt’s on the floor now).  I sewed the denim squares into the long strips of corduroy.  I really had an image of lots of squares sewn together when the design of this quilt popped into my head though (Not just the place where the fabric is different) so I decided to sew fake seams into the strips.  Here’s how I did it:
That’s right.  It’s another tutorial for a thing I’ve only done once.  What the hell, why not?  OK, here’s the wrong side of the corduroy fabric.
I folded the end over so that the right sides were together.  I only folded over about 5 or 6 inches of it.
Then I just sewed along the edge.
Halfway down*
Done.
Here is it on the right side and it totally looks like two squares sewn together.  Hardly worth a tutorial because it’s so simple.  I kept on going at uneven intervals to make it look patchier.  I did make a few real seams to add interest.  Those are the spots where I changed the direction of some of the squares because I like the way the corduroy looks going in different directionsI even cut a denim strip in half to try that interrupted path thing I mentioned in the last post and …meh…not that exciting.  Worth a try.
There it is.  I have more strips to do but ran out of steam. 
Close up.  I’m not done monkeying around with the strips.  I might shorten some and changes some widths and directions.  For me, that’s part of the fun of patchwork.
*This is where I hit a snag. What had I done?  Threaded the needle wrong?  I guess so.  It looks like only half of the thread went through the needle so one half got wound around the other half and made a mess.  Of course this had to happen while I was trying to get some ‘how to’ pictures.  Sheesh
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Scenic Route

 Almost every morning I take an hour or so to drink my coffee and look at my favorite blogs to get some inspiration and catch up with the virtual world.  I follow friends’ blogs about their lives and families, a scientific illustration blog, and way too many craft blogs.  And then there’s pinterest, which I just started using and am really enjoying. 
I had planned a day of working on my denim square quilt when I ran across a picture of pojagi.  Not really a quilt, though pieced like one, a pojagi is a Korean wrapping cloth.  I was suddenly struck with how ugly the curtain on the door to the garage was. It’s been there as long as we’ve owned the house and has always escaped my notice.  So scrapping everything else I had planned for that day,  I made a pile of old linen clothes that I had thrifted. 
Notice the aluminum square to the left of the pile.  I cut it up with scissors every now and then to sharpen the blades.  It worked for a short time and was helpful because my scissors are overdue for a sharpening.  But I digress – Check out those orange pants.
 They were at my local thrift shop and I had to have them.  They were 100% linen, Ralph Lauren and PINK.  I thought I could dye them brown but stupidly picked up the terra cotta dye (WHY?) and they went horribly orange and – even if I had grabbed brown – fatally splotchy.   Easy come, easy go.  I can always cut things up and make them into something else.
 So, I cut up several linen pieces (5 pairs pants, 1 red dress, 1 white shirt, 1 orange top) and ironed the bejeebers out of them.  I then cut them into smaller squares without giving it too much thought.  I wanted random sizes for a crazy quilt look.
Here’s my attempt at a tutorial of how to make a thing I’ve only made once:
 One of the cool things about pojagi‘s is that they have no wrong side.  I think this kind of seam is called  a flat felled seam but feel free to correct me.  I layered the square on top about 1/2 inch lower than the edge of the bottom square.
 I sewed the seam down at about 1/4 down from the edge of the top square.
 There is a whole lot of ironing involved with this process but linen is happy to be ironed.  I ironed the overlap from the bottom square into the seam allowance.
 Like so.
 Then I sewed along the ironed under edge and voila!  A completely enclosed seam.  For consistency’s sake, I call this the wrong side
 Here’s the right side.  Time to iron it again to give it a clean look.  I actually messed that up once or twice so I have some wrong side seams on my right side and vice versa but it’s a very forgiving process.  I made several panels and then sewed all those together using the same seam.  It was time consuming but I love the result:
Tada!  Curtain.  I rushed the end – it was dinner time – so the top is messy.  I should, and one day will, redo it but I’m just going to leave it for now.  It makes me happy.
 Here’s one of the other cool things about pojagi, because they are not quilted – they don’t have to be because the seams are totally enclosed – they are as sheer as the fabric used and look amazing with the light behind them.  Perfect for curtains in a place where privacy isn’t important.  I have the best view from inside my garage.  Since that view just isn’t observed by everyone, I plan on making another for the kitchen window that looks out to the yard.
I feel like the colors have a similar ’70’s vibe as the denim squares quilt will have when I get back on track with that.  I like being able to follow my nose and make things in an intuitive way. They tend to relate to each other without me even noticing right away.  I try to give myself a creating day every week or so so should get back to the other quilt soon…unless something else catches my eye…