Category — Sewing

Of course, this may have been discovered on the left and right coasts long before it was by me in Minnesota, the latest innovation in my sewing life has been Laminated Cotton. (I would have called it Oilcloth, but oilcloth is heavier than the stuff I’ve been working with, and has its own category on Fabric.com)  And of course, what I’m making out of it is not really news, particularly to my friends and rellies (relatives) in Maine who’ve been bringing their own bags to the supermarket since about 1985.  I’m making tote bags.  Like this one.  Click the picture if you’d like to see it larger.  The point I’d like to make, though, is that all good ideas can be tinkered with, and sometimes the results are better.

Hip Waterproof Tote

I started with a pattern (The Mighty Tote, by Susan Fuquay, copyright 2008  American Quilt Retailer) that I got as part of a goodie bag at Bear Patch Quilting Co. in White Bear Lake, MN.  That’s also where I spied and bought the lovely laminated cotton you see in the photo.

Of course, after reading through the pattern, which makes a 12″ x 12″ x 12″ bag, (which won’t fit in my shopping bicycle’s baskets), I forged off on my own.   After a couple attempts at measuring standard brown grocery bags, making the thing taller,  adjusting the size of the piece to leave open for turning, etc., I now have some new dimensions.  I’ll probably publish these later after I’ve done the math for the cutting layout, etc.  I plan on doing this for our quilt retreat in March.  I’m debating whether or not to put a Peltex or cardboard, plastic mesh piece in to make the bottom firmer in the next iteration.  The bag is fully lined with the same laminated cotton (or in my case, one bag has a contrasting lining of a leafy pattern).

Why is laminated cotton so cool?  Why is it perfect for shopping bags for me?  Why does this pattern rock?  Because if the milk leaks or fruit gets mushed in the bag there are

• no stains

and

• no extra laundry

because I can just rinse these puppies out under the faucet, or wipe them out with a wet cloth!

All this, and I think they will be a great fashion accessory with the Mary Poppins bike this spring.  (Even though I’ve started to use them already.)  They can also be used as an impromptu cooler, if you throw in the ice or ice packs.  I can also see this as the hip new pool accessory among the swimmers I know for toting suits, fins, goggles, etc.

What are your thoughts regarding solid bottoms vs. bags that can be rolled up, dear readers?  I can see pros and cons to both arguments.

And now, for the moment you’ve all been waiting for…..  The Quilt Has Been Named!

Ruth Said "Let Us Quilt."

Our winner is Ingrid,  who will receive a $25.00 gift card and a custom Wonder Wallet, which was made with the LazyGirl Designs Wonder Wallet pattern, which I purchased on the WAQG bus trip back in November.  I hope Ingrid likes her Wonder Wallet as much as I like the one I’ve been using for more than a year.   I am especially impressed that Ingrid was able to briefly, but humorously, refer to Ruth B. McDowell and recognize the Boston lettuce.  It was important to refer to Ruth, since it is her Boston lettuce block I used in the quilt.

For her lovely poetry and ability to work in not only The Garden Song, but the fact that this was a long term UFO,  Polly also receives a prize… the 2010 Quilting Arts Calendar, which is in the mail on its way to her.  I hope she finds this inspirational as she goes through the next year.

Thanks so much to all who offered up names, good cheer, and support in this process.

If any of you are quilters, and have been on a bus trip that takes you to new stores where they sell cool stuff, you can probably relate to moments of weakness, insanity, or just optimism that brings you to purchase items, figuring you’ll make them into something for someone at some time.  I bought Amy Butler’s In Town Bags pattern
at Bear Patch Quilting in White Bear Lake, MN.  Then, at a later stop at Fat Quarter Quilting in Coon Rapids, MN, my friend E and I purchased some cool fabrics so I could make a bag for her (wicked smart) daughter J as a Christmas gift.  Then E and I got lost in All About Yarn, which was a couple doors down.  Yes, we optimistically purchased items there, too!

Here is one Smart Handbag from Amy Butler’s pattern.  Click on the image for a larger view.

The Snakes Bag for J

The lining and pockets of the Snakes Bag

As I started to cut out the pieces of J’s bag, I decided to make a second Smart Handbag for another smart chickadee in my life, my niece K.  My sister tells me that K and I not only share the family jock gene, we both share a love of a certain baseball team, and admire people who play catcher.  I figured this would be an appropriate use for the fabric I have been saving for years.

Perfect Accessory For a Member of Red Sox Nation

Lining for Sox Purse

Again, click on any of the photos for a larger view.  I’m hoping that these gifts are well received.  I sure had fun making them.  I might need a Smart Handbag of my own.

A Fashion Statement

Anyone who’s known me since 1992 has probably seen me wear a black fleece vest.  I actually lost the Chuck Roast vest two years ago (Boo hoo!), so I have branched out to other vests- even vests that are colored.  Since I had a lot of leftover strips of the batik fabrics from the choir stoles, I made myself a new vest with them, and only had to cut a few small pieces.  The stripes don’t line up, and that’s on PURPOSE.  Really.

I used a pattern, aptly named “The Zip-Up Vest” by Favorite Things, a Canadian company from BC.  Visit their site here.  I made some modifications, doing the crazy piecing on foundations.  I added pockets, since I always need a place for keys/wallet, etc.

I expect I’ll be using this pattern a few more times, since it fits well, and I think I can make several variations with current stash items.  I just need a good supply of separating zippers, and I should be able to add some interest to my monotonous black pants/long sleeved shirt wardrobe staples.

Happy Choir Members Decked out in New Stoles

Look!  We finished the UUF Choir Stoles project.   You may remember a prototype from the blog many moons ago.  Here are Ellen, Kathy, Becky, and Gayle sporting our results.  We made two sets of 16 stoles, and they are reversible, so we have four options.  The two ladies on the left (Ellen, Kathy) are wearing stoles from the same set, and the ladies on the right (Becky, Gayle) are wearing stoles from the second set.  You can click on the picture for a larger view.

Even More Options for Wearing Stoles

In this photo (again, click it for a larger view), each woman has reversed her look, and Ellen and Kathy have decided to reverse them from front to back.  Can you tell they like these things?  If only you could hear them sing, too.

All in all, I think we used about 5 yards of each of the solid color fabrics, and at least 2.5 yards of the three batiks.  We used about 1 to 1.5 yards of each of the black and white fabrics, since we had more prints for those.  With about 9 or 10 yards of  plain white muslin for the foundations for piecing, this took a fair bit of fabric, but it was  a fun project.  We had two workdays in La Crosse at the Fellowship, and then Kathy and I each did some work at home to finish them off.

Special thanks to all who helped on this project.  I know I’d miss a name or two if I tried to list them.

This has been a real boost for me (using my skills for a great group of people), and a boost for the choir.  They look so great as a group, and I’ve heard they behave better when dressed up. *SMIRK*

A long time in the making

Here is my best example that you can think of a great quilt idea in 30 seconds that can take years to complete.   Click on the photo for a slightly larger image.

I got inspired by Ruth B. McDowell’s book Pieced Vegetables when it first came out, back when I lived in Colorado, more than seven years ago.  I created the lettuce in the lower left corner in Colorado, along with the freezer paper templates for the rest of this quilt.  I remember bringing the green and blue lettuces to a quilt guild meeting not long after I moved to the Midwest, in about 2003.  I completed the last lettuce (the red one) at our WAQG retreat in 2008.  Last night I finished the quilting.

This quilt contains some fabric that I personally hand dyed, in the few times I’ve done some dyeing, but most of the fabrics are commercial quilting fabrics, of a variety of ages.

I’m still trying to decide about the final title for this quilt. It needs to have some reference to Ruth McDowell, since I used her pattern for the lettuces, and perhaps it should reference Andy Warhol, for the coloring influence as well.  Any help out there, readership?  There’s a gift card in it for you, if you come up with the best name!

I’m so proud of myself for being ahead on something!  Saturday (rainy, cool outside) was a great day to work on some sewing.  (Maybe on Sunday I will have some time to work on one of my own projects… Hmmmmm)

Blocks for C

Here is the pair of blocks I made for C’s Friendship Circle quilt this year.  The blocks are 9 1/2 inches square.  This was from a pattern in a magazine from 2002.  I’m not sure what it was, but C’s pictures showed that this block has some real potential.  I actually cut out enough for a third, but didn’t sew it together.  I think I will just add the blocks to an envelope when I give this to C, in case she wants to incorporate the colors in another block she’s working on.  (How’s THAT for re-marketing one’s laziness?  I’m just offering C more OPTIONS!)

This year’s Friendship Circle project is making blocks for each host.  Here’s the one we made for J.  The rules were to have a circle in the 12 inch (finished) block of a certain size, and she gave us one piece of batik fabric with lots of colors in it.  She said to make something sunflower-esque.  I had fun doing this, but it did take a lot more time than I thought it would.

Sunflower Block for J

It was important to me to not just have hand dyes and batiks in the block- I’m not really sure why.  And I like that it looks like a face.  Here’s hoping J likes it, too!

Little piratey slippers headed to Maine

As my first cousin E is about to give birth to the first little cutie in the maternal family since my nephew P was born (a bit more than a decade ago), and I won’t be able to make it to her shower party, I’m about to put these little cuties in the mail.  E’s going to have  a boy, unless the ultrasound was deceiving, and he’ll have his first Halloween and International Talk Like a Pirate Day long before he can talk.  So he’ll have two great occasions to wear these in his first month.  I hope his mum likes them.

I made them from a pattern that I got at Rather Bee Quilting in Lake City, MN when we went to buy fabric for the choir stoles project.  That’s where I got the fleece lined fake suede I used for the soles.  The pirate fabric came to me in some sort of exchange with the  quilt guild, I think.

I’m hoping that E has a good delivery, and that little cutie to be named later is healthy and happy.  I’m sure he’ll have enough personality to justify these, if he’s anything like his mum.

Due to my experience with the sewing machine, and my willingness to do things for free (smirk), organize untrained volunteers, and my desire to puff myself up as president of the coolest quilt guild in Southeast Minnesota, I found myself at a meeting with my UUF friends talking about making choir stoles.  B, our tireless  choir director, had come up with a pattern, and II and KS, who accompanied me to the quilt retreat, had plenty of ideas.   We met, we drew sketches, we touched various fabrics for the correct hand, etc, and decided we needed prototypes, to test the theory that we could make high quality choir stoles with a group of enthusiastic, but not necessarily experienced, members of the Fellowship.

Since our choir members wear black and white when performing, we came to the conclusion that it would be cool to have black and white stoles, but it would also be very cool to have colorful ones, too.  Of course, that immediately doubles the quantity of sewing, unless we make them reversible, which makes the sewing more complicated.

More brainstorming ensued, and KS and I each agreed to make a prototype stole using the basic pattern B had, and that we’d meet again in a month, and hatch the final plans for a group sewing event.  I went home, trying to figure out when I’d fit this prototype in. Yesterday was my opportunity- DH’s book club was meeting at our house. When DH’s book club comes to our house, it is customary for me to be out of the living room,  so it was a perfect time for me to fire up the Bernina and the Rowenta, and start working.

Here’s a view of the result:

Prototype Choir Stole, front view

And the view from the back

These are made of 100% cotton fabric.  The pieces of black and white prints are sewed onto a muslin foundation,  and trimmed to the edges.  It’s basically like foundation paper piecing without designated sewing lines.

After sewing, flipping, ironing, and sewing additional strips onto the foundation at random angles,  I made a second layer of solid muslin to sew around the edges, and then turn right side out, so all of the edges are finished.

The strips of patterned fabric were cut about 3 inches wide, and the strips varied from 6 to 9 inches long, depending on the width of the foundation at various points.  I’d guess the piece at the point in the back is a bit longer than 9 inches.

From adjusting and cutting the paper pattern pieces to taking the photos took me about 2 hrs and 20 minutes, including cutting the strips of the print fabrics, so, if we were to do this with a group of volunteers,  dividing the jobs (cutting strips of print fabrics, sewing, trimming, and pressing, I think we could make the 16 stoles we want in about 5 hours with a group of 6 to 12 people.  Especially if someone else provided food and bev… and we had cool music to work to…..

(My Brain Flips to Volunteer Project Mode)

We’d have two cutting stations with rulers and rotary cutters,  one or two ironing boards, probably 4 to 6 sewing machines, and we’d be right there.

Before everyone showed up, I’d need to figure out how to explain each of the major sewing tasks (shoulder seams,  flip and press sewing to the foundation, then sandwich and sew around edge for finishing), the major cutting tasks ( Rotary Cutter 101, strip dimensions), the major pressing tasks (pressing shoulder seams open,  pressing seams open on strip piecing, pressing the turned stoles), and the hand finishing tasks (whipstitching vs. blindstitching).  OK… that’s not so bad.

Then we’d need equipment lists- what we need in total, what I’ll be bringing from my treasure trove of stuff. That’s a list for later.

Furniture setup at the UUF- big tables for sewing, ironing boards, cutting stations, power strips. Check.

Potential rough spots:  willing volunteers with old unworkable sewing machine that hasn’t been out of its case since grandpa was a pup……  How do I tactfully explain that while I can teach them how to sew these choir stoles, I can’t do sewing machine repair, and I’m not willing to be responsible for making their machines work on the day of the event……

OK. Have all sewing volunteers call for the pre-event interview:

(Scenario 1)

ME:  So, you want to help us with the choir stoles project.  That’s great!  Do you have a sewing machine you’ll be bringing?

VOLUNTEER:  Well, my friend has her grandmother’s old machine… I think I can borrow that.

ME:  Have you used that machine before?

VOLUNTEER: No, but she knows where it is in her mom’s garage.

ME:  Have you done much sewing before?

VOLUNTEER:  Not since 5th grade.

ME:  Why don’t you come without the sewing machine.  We’ll need help picking out fabric combinations, and cutting the pieces out.  And you know how to use an iron, right?

VOLUNTEER: I think so.

ME: Great!  There will be plenty of things you can help us with.  This is going to be really fun.

(Scenario 2)

ME: So, you want to help us with the choir stoles project.  That’s great!  Do you have a sewing machine you’ll be bringing?

VOLUNTEER: Yes. I haven’t used it much since I made my daughter’s wedding dress.  It’s not a new machine, though.

ME: (inwardly jumping up and down with excitement):  May I ask a semi-serious question?

VOLUNTEER: OK…. I mean, I’m not a great seamstress…

ME:  Don’t worry.  If you can make a wedding dress, you’re overqualified for this project, and we’ll be lucky and estatic to have you.  When was the last time you had this machine out of the case?

VOLUNTEER:  Oh, a few years ago.

ME:  Do you have time to take it out and make sure it threads well, and the tension is OK before the group event?

VOLUNTEER:  Sure.  I can do that tomorrow.  And if it doesn’t, I’ve got plenty of time to take it to Sew & Vac for a cleaning before we get together anyway.

ME:  You’re my hero.  This is going to be really fun.

And I mean it.  This is going to be really fun!