Y-Seams

The Y-seams have turned out to be no big deal. You just leave a 1/4" unstitched on the beginning and ending of every seam so that you can fit things together. Now that I've done 4 blocks, I told Debra I wish I were one of those designers who can call in an assistant to finish up the other blocks. Oh well, maybe next lifetime.


On the back you press all the seams so that they swirl in one direction. Then you smoosh (a technical term) all the bits where the seams come together in the center until you get a replica of the block. It all stays nice and flat. Pretty cool, huh?

One Sheet, One Pillowcase, Three Blouses and a Nightshirt

I came home from IQF with lots of energy for new projects. After my St. Therese piece, I also felt like doing some machine work.

I admire how DIY crafters use old linens and garments to make new things, which is also part of quilting's heritage. This piece started with the sheet. I love these big yellow roses, and the soft colors are nice.
It called to me at the thrift store where I got it for 50 cents because it had languished there so long. The two plaid blouses were XXL, so they yielded plenty of fabric. I must've picked them up when they had a $1.00 a bag sale because they're neither my size nor my style. One sleeve on each of the other two tops had already been used for doll clothes. When I pile things up in the sewing room I often discover combinations of fabrics that go well together. That's how these pieces found each other.
I used my diamond ruler (I think its 60 degrees, but don't quote me).
It's fun to play with the pattern possibilities.
How's this so far? Y-seams anyone?

Good Times

What a treat it was to get together with my pals Rian, Debra and Allie for the Long Beach Quilt Fest.
We had a lovely dinner and then a slumber party where we talked late into the night. I've met Allie in person a couple of times before, but this was my first time meeting Debra and Rian. I've known all these gals for several years now, and the ties we've forged through the 'net are substantial. Nevertheless, in real time and face-to-face we shared more about our creative and personal lives, and it was a pleasure for me to deepen our friendship.

In the morning we hit the show. It was fun to see the quilts with like-minded viewers. We admired and critiqued and took mental notes. We shopped, though I think I bought more than anyone. Having sworn off buying fabric for a long time, I bought fabrics I couldn't say no to. One discovery for me was the vintage Mexican-themed patterns and fabrics by Quarter Inch Publishing, so I dropped a few bucks at their booth.
The Quilt Festival was preceded for me by a round of visits to prospective colleges with my son Alex. In three days we visited four colleges in San Diego, then I put him on a plane back home.
After the show, Michael (who visited with family while I was at IQF) and I spent one night in Newport Beach. Here's a shot of the beach, already busy at 7:30 in the morning.
Fishermen were busy selling the catch of the day. We took a quick walk on the boardwalk, and then headed to the airport for the trip home. It was a great trip, and I wish it had lasted much much longer.

Little Flower (18 x 29)

Materials: tea towel, vintage handkerchief, vintage lace, cotton embroidery floss, silk ribbon, beads, buttons, pillow case, photo transfer.

Click on any of the photos for close-ups.








The back is a pillowcase my sister gave me. The idea to do this came to me as I was waking up one morning.


The hem is the sleeve for the hanger. Completed July 2008. There are process notes under the "St. Therese" labeled posts.

FOs/UFOs

I have made a new rule. If the fabric comes out of the scrap pile, what I do with it doesn't count as a new project. I felt like using red, black and white to make up some of these little postage stamp baskets. I don't think I'll make a ton of these, but I like their cheerfulness.

Yes, I have a lot of UFOs. I don't count them, but I'm working on quilting some of my finished tops. So far I've finished two:
This one was made a while ago out of some Christmas scraps. That's Louie in the foreground, checking things out.
This bright windmill quilt is larger, about 70 x 80, and is a gift for one of my nieces. I've got another quilt in a similar color scheme for her sister ready to be pin based.

The clothesline is a new addition. I like line-dried linens, especially sheets, and I really like making use of the warm weather instead of running the dryer. I haven't had a clothesline for many many years, but I bought this one at the hardware store and it had good directions on how to install the cement-lined hole in the ground that holds it up. When I'm not using the clothesline I can fold it up like an umbrella and put it in the garage.

Since I was in the yard I took some photos of my postage stamp garden.


There's a lot growing in my tiny space.I've been harvesting lettuce, strawberries and cilantro for weeks. See that stray California poppy trying to hide among the lettuce?


My first zucchini.
And the roses are particularly gorgeous.

The News from Here

I'm still working on my St. Therese piece. I didn't make the deadline to submit it to the tea towel show, but I underestimated the amount of time it would take to complete. It has taken many many hours of embellishment, but I think I'm getting close to the end.

I spent last week at my parents' house. My mom has been sick, but she's doing much better. Here she is with one of her cats, Baby.
My sister called me last night to say that mom has gained 5 lbs since she left the hospital 10 days ago, so she's doing much better.

Here are her other two cats, Junior and Bella. Junior is about 18 or 19 years old and Bella is about a year old. As you can see, my parents have color coordinated cats. They're all black and white "tuxedo" cats. Junior is actually named for another black and white cat, Buster, that they had many years ago.


While I was at my parents' house I helped mom to clean out some drawers and closets, and of course I came away with lots of goodies, including these Vera napkins and place mats. I really love her designs. They have held up well, I think, and the graphics are very fresh.
I have also finished knitting this vest from odd balls leftover from other projects and culled from thrift stores, including Knit Picks Wool of the Andes, Germantown worsted, and Lamb's Pride yarns. The pattern , "Dineh," is from a very nice book by Cheryl Oberle called Folk Vests.

My primary goal right now is to finish St. Therese. Then I'll be surveying my quilting UFOs. I have the urge to piece right now. I'm ready to set aside the embroidery for awhile.

Embellishment Sponge

St. Therese is starting to feel like an embellishment sponge. No matter how much I add, I feel like she needs more. I've added two kinds of vintage handmade lace, ribbon embroidery, buttons, and now beads. I'm going to add seam embellishment to the spaces on the sides between the inner row of lace and the border.
I had put buttons around the central image, but the transfer is not wanting to lie flat, so I took them off and I'm going to try flattening it and anchoring it down with strategically placed beads.
I think the image also looks less cluttered .
In the hankie part I've made silk ribbon flowers over the flowers printed on the hankie.
These same silk ribbon flowers are also now "growing" in the tea towel portion of the piece.

Since I've joined the hankie and the tea towel together and since I've done the ribbon embroidery there's no more ironing allowed on this piece. So I'm embellishing very carefully so as not to wrinkle anything. But she's still asking for more: more flowers, more beads, more embroidery.

Roxie

I bought a new bike to get around without the car a bit more. (Gas was $4.55 here today.) It's a Schwinn Roxie, it has seven gears and an hand break. It's like the bike I had as a girl, it's very retro and cool, if a bit of an old lady bike.
I test-drove Roxie with Michael, his son Arjuna, and Arjuna's girlfriend Alyssa, who came for Memorial Day weekend. We cruised on the pasture and farm land that borders my neighborhood.
Here's a pretty view of an inlet of Humboldt Bay.
The landscape is dotted with the occasional old house, ancient barn and windswept trees.
There's a working dairy right next to my neighborhood, and cattle are also grazed nearby.

The bike is pretty fun though Alyssa (who commutes by bike in San Francisco) said riding Roxie is like driving a sofa. Today I rode to Michael's house and only had to walk up two of the steeper hills. Two old folks on bikes passed me on the first one.

St. Therese

Thank you for all your encouragement on this piece. Judy S. asked about the transfer. There are two kinds of transfer sheets that are readily available at fabric stores. One kind is specially treated white or light colored fabric that you run through your printer. When you peel off the backing you have an image printed directly on plain fabric that feels and drapes like regular fabric.

The medium I used here is the other kind of transfer. You run the sheet through your printer and you get an iron-on transfer (you have to remember to reverse the image before you print because the transfer is a mirror image of your original). I like these transfers because you can apply them to any fabric, and I like the effect of combining them with different prints. These transfers, however, add what is essentially a layer of plastic to your fabric, so they are stiff and don't drape. Embroidering over this transfer requires a bit of special handling. Because the needle leaves tiny holes, I probably can't rip anything out without marring the image. I also can't use a hoop, which would probably leave a crease.
I'm embroidering over some of the original images on both the hankie and the dishtowel. I've added iron-on interfacing to stabilize the towel, and I'm embroidering the hankie through a piece of white cotton because the hankie is very thin. When I'm done with this, I will add embellishments, including silk ribbon embroidery, which I'll add over the white flowers in the hankie.
I'm almost done with this part of the embroidery. Here are a few pictures of the parts of the dishtowel that I've embroidered.
These close-ups are a bit deceiving. When you stand in front of the dishtowel, the embroidery is barely perceptible.
I'm hoping that the viewer will be drawn to this piece by the embellishments, and that the embroidered prints of both textiles will be noticed after closer examination.