Mini Quilt: Squares

Like most quilters, I cannot bear to part with fabric, no matter how small the scrap. So, instead of tossing out those scraps I cut them up into two-inch squares and place them in a big bin. I've done this for years and now have quite a collection.

BACKGROUND:

I found this fabric a while back and fell in love. (Can you relate?) I had no plans for it at the time, so it hung around for a while. I ultimately ended up making a pair of pants from it and cut the leftovers into squares. I decided to play with the squares a bit and see what happened. I have to say I was surprised. When the stripes all go the same way, I see more brown. Whey they are alternated, I see more pink.

TECHNIQUES:

Nothing too mysterious on this one. I started with the two-inch squares, turned every-other-one 90 degrees and sewed them together. I was going to do some quilting, but ultimately decided against it. I have a tendency to quilt my pieces to death, so leaving this one simple is a bit of a challenge for me (we'll see how long I last before I attack).

With friendship,

Care'

My Sister's Cuff

One of my favorite things to do is beadweaving. When my sister announced her engagement, I was dying to make her a cuff. I've been wanting to do a piece with pearls for a very long time, so I was excited when she told me to give it a go. My mom has a broach that belonged to my grandmother. It is gold with tiny ivory pearls throughout. I thought it would be perfect to incorporate that "something old" with "something new." Here are the pictures of my progress so far.

This is the broach from my grandmother. I added the big pearl in the middle. I also left the pin on the back so that Jen can remove it later, if desired. It is secured to the bracelet, but can be removed with a few snips.

You probably noticed above that the left and right side don't match. I got the right side done but then stopped and wondered if the left side looked better. What do you think?

Here is the left side - no extra pearls.

Here is the right side with the extra pearls. I am truly torn!

Here is a side view showing what both sides look like with the broach.

And here is the clasp. It is simple with three pearls that are hooked into three loops. Sorry for the first pic being so blurry!

So, which side do you prefer? The more simple side or the side with the extra pearls?

With friendship,

Care'

My Sister's Quilt

In the last month or so I've been working on a quilt for my sister. It will be a wedding gift . . most likely a LATE wedding gift. My sister really appreciates vintage items and loves anything handmade. If you can tie it to some sort of historical or family significance, even better.

When she approached me about making her a quilt I immediately remembered a dusty box stored in the top of my closet that had not been opened in several years. I inherited that box when our grandmother passed several years back. I had not opened it in years becausing doing so brought on a flood of tears. I knew that box contained a stack of hand-stitched blocks our grandmother had diligently worked on for years.

I mustered up the courage to open the box and I was delighted to find enough blocks to make at least three queen-sized quilts. I took pictures of the various blocks and send them to my sister. She selected the fans.

In total there are 125 fans, and it looks like I'll need most of them to make a queen-sized quilt. Due to wide size variations in the hand-piecing, I had to cut all of them down to 6.5 x 6.5 squares (they were originally scaled to be 7.5 x 7.5). It broke my heart to do so, but then I realized my grandmother would much rather see them cut and put to good use than sitting in a dusty old box hidden from view.

Here are the pictures of the original fans. They are all different - I have not found two that are exactly the same. I'll share more pictures as my work progresses.






With friendship,

Care'

Inspiration: Jill2Day

I have always had a love of fashion design and even had a period where I was designing children's clothing and selling them on ebay. I still dream of someday designing clothing for women. In particular, I would love to design clothing for plus-sized women since everything seems to be designed for the older generation. (Hey - hellooooooo . . . just because we're plus-sized doesn't mean we want to dress like grandma!)

Recently I've spent some time noodling on what I would design if I could sew a sleeve in properly, and I came across Jill2Day on Etsy (http://jill2day.etsy.com). I love her eye for color, how she designs so the clothing will be flattering, how she upcycles and, most of all, how her clothing reminds me of quilting. You simply must check out her shop. She even offers stacks of fabrics that you can then have designed in your own custom piece. How cool is that?

Jill, hon, you really got to write a book or tutorial or SOMETHING. I'm dying to buy one . . .

With friendship,

Care'

Quilt Journey

Over the years I have found myself trying new things - jewelry, silversmithing, soap making, lotion making, scrapbooking, clothing design . . . but I always seem to return to quilting. I remember watching my grandmothers quilt as a little girl. I recall both of them teaching me techniques - one taught me machine piecing and the other taught me hand quiliting & embroidery. In total, I've probably made well over 50-100 quilts, but my personal collection is quite small. I have a tendency to keep the smaller works for myself and give away the functional quilts as gifts.

In the last few months I've had to stay away from my newer hobbies due to severe tendonitis in my wrists. During that time I've been quilting again. Ahhh . . .how I've missed it. Unlike my newer passions where I am wholly focused on what I'm doing, quilting gives me the opportunity to let my mind wander. During one of these wanderings I remembered that, several years back, I was going to do a new quilt every week. I think I did six weeks before life got in the way. Perhaps its time to revive that mission.

In the meatime, I thought I would share those works, and start talking more about what I'm working on between the stuffed animals (made another donation this week, by the way - 50 toys!) And, I'll share some of my top inspirations along the way.

So, welcome to my quilt journey. It will be a slow, relaxing trip.

With friendship,

Care'

More Plushies for Childrens

A few months ago my mom and I got together for an overnight sewing party. We used the time to create more critters for Children's Hospital. I made more Nemes, Nums and Worms (I tend to like repetitive stuff . . . guess that's the quilter in me), but Mom is a "one and done" sewer, so she made a variety. That could explain why she LOVES LOVES LOVES to make clothing, but the thought makes me want to run screaming for the hills.

Seriously. You would think with my mad skills I could sew a simple top that has no sleeves, zippers or crazy darts, but alas, I cannot. I did give it the ole college try that night. The shirt is now part of my scrap pile and will most likely make an appearance in future plushies. :)

Now, I can sew simple crop pants . . . .

Anywho . . .here are the pics. I actually have more cut up and ready to sew, but I ran out of my CPISA and FTC labels. Hopefully I'll get those soon so I can finish this batch.

Nemes, Nums, Worms

Mom's Critters

With friendship,

Care'

Observations of a Craft Show

In the past two months I've done three craft shows (which is why it has been so long since my last post - I am TIRED). Two shows were at the same venue (it's a monthly show) and the other was a one-day annual show. After sitting out in the heat for a sum total of six days, setting up and tearing down for twelve times and driving back and forth endless miles, I made a few observations.

1. It's good to have a sense of humor. This pays off especially well when no one will stop by your booth - even if you are giving away free stuff.

2. There will always be someone there selling the same stuff as you, but for some reason their stuff appears to be selling better. Who knows for sure if it really is. Maybe they paid those people to stop in the booth? I may try this technique at my next show . . .

3. People will pay $5.00 for a grease-laden corney dog that will make you sick, but won't spend $5.00 on that item they ooohed and ahhhed over in your booth for ten minutes.

4. Most of the people at the show are just there to look around/be seen/see who they see/get out of the house/because they are bored/fill in the blank. If by chance you do get someone to stop in, they probably won't buy. Heck, I gave away free samples this past weekend and those didn't even move. I mean, why would you not take a free sample of soap? Do you not bathe? (See item #1 for how to deal with this).

5. Whatever you make, their mother/father/sister/brother/son/daughter/cousin/dog make the same thing and make it better/cheaper/faster/cuter/bigger/smaller. My all time favorite variation of this is the person that acts like they don't like your stuff, but then you see them take pictures, make a quick sketch or even ask about your process. I had a few soapers grill me this past weekend. Of course, their technique was FAR superior to mine. Whatever. I make no apologies for doing something I love.

6. All vendors will chat with each other and talk about how terrible their sales are that day. The customers just aren't buying. Maybe it's the weather/economy/date/etc.

7. All vendors will chat with each other and talk about how great their sales are that day. The customers are in a buying frenzy! Maybe it's the weather/economy/date/etc.

8. Don't believe any sales figures the other vendors quote. Evaluate your own success. That may be $10 over your booth fee or $1000 over your booth fee. Only you know what makes sense for your business.

9. Any booth you are in will be too small/big/hot/cold/flat/crooked/bright/dark.

10. Any assigned space you are in will be too close or too far from the entrance/exit/food/bathrooms.

11. There will always be another vendor selling similar items as yours for a lesser price. All the "how do they do it so cheaply" thoughts will only make you crazy.

12. There will always be another vendor selling similar items as yours for a higher price. All the "how do they get that price" thoughts will only make you crazy.

13. People don't like you to yell out "come to my booth and look at my stuff." They just walk on by.

14. People like you to yell out "come to my booth and look at my stuff." They will pass you if you don't invite them in.

So, what have I learned from this? Just have a good attitude, keep creating and show pride if your product.

Happy craft show season.

Care'