Sewing a memory

A few years ago, my oldest sister, Patsy, died after having open heart surgery. I still remember the phone call and my reaction. I also remember that the day before, she and I had laughed together on the phone. We didn't always get along, but we are sisters and that's just that. She was in the process of becoming single at the time, but she started a project for her soon to be ex (STBX). She was making a quilt-as-you-go beer bandanna quilt. Some time after the funeral, her STBX asked me if I would finish it. I agreed. He wrapped up her old sewing machine in what I think he might have thought was a trash quilt and mailed that to me along with the quilt squares she had finished for the bandanna quilt. Here's a post showing the "Patsy quilt" which was sent to her grandson as a gift.
Back to the bandanna quilt. I've worked on it off and on for three years and this week, decided it was time to finish it. The blocks that Patsy quilted were all done by hand with perfectly spaced stitching. She was an amazing embroiderer and could sew like a dream. I always seem to be chasing her talent! The blocks I completed, I started out doing all by hand, but did do some work by machine. I completed the sashing and connecting the rows this week. Tonight, I was working on the last of the hand sewing on the back. Unfortunately, the back is composed of several types of muslin and is not the most beautiful work on the planet, but that's the way it goes.
Later this week, I will machine stitch the binding and then at least pin it for the hand sewing on the other side. My hands aren't as eager to do hand sewing as they used to be. The STBX apparently has some health issues right now. I wrote to my niece (his daughter) for their address so I could send the quilt to him and she said this was a really good time for him to have a boost.
Overall, I think I'm doing this for Patsy more than anything else. I've hesitated to finish it. It's like the completion of my acceptance of her death, I think. But you know what? She wanted it done and so I am doing it. I think Michael (STBX) will like it.
I will post pictures soon.
The lesson to learn is that no matter what the motivation for a project's beginning, it deserves to be completed.

Life is a bit complicated right now, and yet, I find that I need to try and sew a little something every day. I'm almost done with the bee potholders and am really liking the way they're turning out. I'll have pictures of the finished products soon. The tops are made, the sandwiches of top, batting, Insulbrite, and back are made. Now it's time to complete the machine quilting around the bees themselves and make and apply the bias binding. I've made the decision to use the gold bandana and the bee fabric for the binding. I'll make fabric with non bias strips and then cut the bias strips and make the binding from that.

One of the ways I help myself fall asleep is to complete sewing projects in my head or create new ones as I ease off into the realm of sleep. I have so many specialty fabrics in my stash that I am vacillating between Christmas stockings, tote/grocery bags, placemats, and other small kitchen accessories. I have a couple patterns for tops I want to cut out for myself. I also have fabric I'd like to make pants with. For now, though, time is an issue, so I'll work on designing those items as I drowse and nod in bed.

Though it's not specifically project oriented, I am finding that sewing still helps me keep myself centered and brings me back to a place of my own when there is chaos all around me. I can focus and simply be. That, again, is the zen of sewing, and I hope it rings true for you as well. Sewing is our friend. Our very good friend.

Sewing almost every day

Life is a bit complicated right now, and yet, I find that I need to try and sew a little something every day. I'm almost done with the bee potholders and am really liking the way they're turning out. I'll have pictures of the finished products soon. The tops are made, the sandwiches of top, batting, Insulbrite, and back are made. Now it's time to complete the machine quilting around the bees themselves and make and apply the bias binding. I've made the decision to use the gold bandana and the bee fabric for the binding. I'll make fabric with non bias strips and then cut the bias strips and make the binding from that.

One of the ways I help myself fall asleep is to complete sewing projects in my head or create new ones as I ease off into the realm of sleep. I have so many specialty fabrics in my stash that I am vacillating between Christmas stockings, tote/grocery bags, placemats, and other small kitchen accessories. I have a couple patterns for tops I want to cut out for myself. I also have fabric I'd like to make pants with. For now, though, time is an issue, so I'll work on designing those items as I drowse and nod in bed.

Though it's not specifically project oriented, I am finding that sewing still helps me keep myself centered and brings me back to a place of my own when there is chaos all around me. I can focus and simply be. That, again, is the zen of sewing, and I hope it rings true for you as well. Sewing is our friend. Our very good friend.

Bee Potholders 2 - How a project progresses

Trial and error - that's how it works, especially when you're either working with no pattern or creating your own. The potholders continue. I consulted the drawing and used a water soluble pen to draw antennae, eyes, and legs for my big bee. I tried a couple different decorative stitches on the Bernina and came up with one that suited the design, stitching the legs per the picture. I created half circles on top of the black piece of the bee to serve as eyes. And then, I did the satin stitch around the whole body.

Looking at the picture above, it looks eh. the legs are not the same length and seem to have a cattywampus placement. That alone wouldn't be a problem, but the antennae aren't quite right either. Check it out in comparison of the drawing.

I didn't stitch the wings on, but did want to see how they looked, so placed them on, trimmed them down to fit so the legs would show, and then stood back and reminded myself this was my prototype and that I get to keep this one. Argh. Sometimes things don't go perfectly the first time! The position of the legs looks even worse with the wings, but there you go. This is how a project progresses. For the next three bees, I'll follow the drawing a little closer when drawing the legs and antennae. I hope that I won't have to cut down the wings any more than just a smidgen; they should be bigger than shown on the piece above.

I'm laughing as I type this because it is really kind of funny the first time you try something and it turns out a little wonky. I'm sharing it with you to show you that you will make "mistakes" along the way and you need to not let them bother you. It's never a waste; it's always a lesson. And I'll end up with a pretty groovy potholder to use in my kitchen. What I won't do with this one is use the bee fabric for binding since I know for sure I'm keeping it. I'll use black bias binding, which will work just as fine. For an item I want to sell, I prefer to use handmade bias binding that matches the design a little better.

Hopefully, the next post will show you the one above completed and one that is a little more like the drawing. I do love the colors and like the choice of bee fabric for wings.

Bee Potholders 1 - How a project happens

I'm back home and after some family health issues, have decided it's time to sew, and that means it is time to post.
People often ask me - "How do you come up with stuff?" Honestly, there is no rhyme or reason to it, but hey, here's a shot at explaining it. What I'm not going to do is go over every instruction for these potholders. You can see the general "how to" for potholders here. I've made them many times and the process is the same.

For many holidays and birthdays, when my younger son was asked what he wanted as a gift, he would respond, "a jar of bees." One birthday recently, I decided to do just that and made him a jar of bees pillow.

I  have leftover bee fabric and it has been speaking to me. So I went looking for bee pictures and found this one:

 

Now I have bee fabric and a drawing of a bee. Hmm, what to do? Potholders! I traced the basic bee parts from the drawing onto Wonder Under and cut the body of the bee out of a golden bandanna and the top and head out of black, but couldn't decide what to do with the wings. I fused the body to an 8" potholder blank that I cut out of recycled denim. Then I used a tight zig-zag/satin stitch on my machine to make the stripes on the bottom of the bee.

It looks kind of plain, but there's a lot of work to be done. I decided right about at this point to use the bee fabric for the wings and then use a satin stitch to give the illusion of veins per the drawing.

I have not yet stitched the wings down as I want to do them last. I'm still thinking on it, but I think my next step is to draw the legs, eyes, and antennae with a water soluble pen or pencil and get them stitched onto the denim. I'll use a water soluble backing when I do the embroidery (I do not have an embroidery machine, so will be creative with the Bernina I do have) for stability. The back of the potholders will be the bee fabric. I don't have enough of it to do the binding, so am thinking of doing a striped length of fabric with the black and bee fabric and cut my bias binding from that.

As projects go, this one is fairly easy. It will be time consuming because of the legs on the bee and the fact that I'm making four of them, but I need a machine project that will take some time. I'm not sure if I will sell these or keep them, but there you go. I looked at a pillow made from interesting fabric and decided it was time to use the remnant. I gathered other fabrics, including the junk jeans, that I already had, hit the internet for a drawing to use for my Wonder Under pattern, and there you go. You could do something like this on jeans or anything you wanted.

Start with something in your stash that speaks to you and just do it. More to come as the design progresses. Hope you have fun with your sewing!

Custom Fabric Covered Light Switch Plate Covers/Plates

I decided a while back to make some light switch covers. Then as I got further into them, it seemed like a good thing to share with others. This is my first set:

It was not my best work, but I got the process down after a few more. Here are some other examples of covers I made:

Regardless of the size of the cover or the shape of the switch itself, you can cover it with fabric using ModPodge or a water/glue mixture and a little imagination. I used an Exacto knife, but you can use scissors or whatever you have for cutting. The basic back instructions look like this:

Want to make some of your own? Comprehensive step-by-step, photographed instructions can be found here. (Updated March 24, 2013.) Now go gather up some small pieces of fabric, some new or old light switch covers, and get started. Way easy.

A couple of notes:

• I painted the screws for each cover to match the fabric. I picked up just a basic set of paints, stuck the screws in a Styrofoam ball to hold them steady, and then painted the heads.
• For light switches with the round fader, cut a circle a little bit larger than the circle itself and turn the fabric under on the back, using the same glue/ModPodge process.
• You do need to let these dry for a day or so before using them.
• They're great for selling on line or at craft shows too using trendy fabrics, holiday fabrics, hand dyed fabrics - the list is endless.

I'm sure there are other ways to do these, but it's the best way I could figure out and now you've got the instructions too.

No Sewing for a bit!

I am in Phoenix for a bit, visiting my sister. She is having surgery on her eyelid tomorrow and I'm here in case she needs help. I'm sure she'll be fine and it'll go very smoothly. But I only have hand sewing with me, and that's difficult to work on because my right hand is not as keen on fine movements as it once was. I'll take the sewing with me to the surgeon's office and possibly work on it some; I can't not sew! I'm making a doll quilt/wall hanging that is a Cathedral Window design - muslin for the windowpanes and M&M fabric for the windows. It will provide a calm familiarity when I thread the needle and slip stitch the muslin frames and colorful M&Ms into the design. I'm working with a muslin that is heavier than I like. I mail ordered it. Let that be a lesson - you need to know what kind of muslin you want if you order online or you need to purchase it in person so you can touch it and know the feel.

I'll be out of touch until about June 30. I may take a trip to a local fabric store, but I really don't need any. I have more fabric than I could ever use. I'm sure I'll find something sewing-related to do while I'm out here, even if it's merely designing in my head or buying a pair of light denim jeans at a yard sale for my dark/light pillow projects.