2012 and the End of Days.

Okay, so 2012 didn't end on the 21st of December like the Mayan Oreo calendar would have suggested.  31 December does bring an end of my creative year and ushers in a new beginning full of promise and things to come!

In the month of December Operation Dungeon Do Over has been successfully embraced and I have managed to weed through all the cardboard boxes of cotton fabrics!  The contents of which have been measured, labeled, folded, cut or otherwise started in the "process."   I do have an abudance of fabric left to be cut and put into their respective shoe boxes according to strip width, but the greater lengths have been appropriately assigned to their proper containers. 

Cleaning last night revealed several hidden caches of stashes.  Including a cache of cotton strippets and bits of stuff that were promptly sewn into a couple pet beds.  Another cache revealed a generous helping of fleece confetti which is destined to become even more pet beds!  The big surprise was a bin full of cotton fabric waiting to be organised into my new system. I consider this the perfect opportunity to test my new system.  I still have the colour bins to sort through and repurpose, but there is light at the end of a long, dark, fabric tunnel.

Plans for 2013
Tame/Train the Fleece beast.
Cut less than 12" strips to usable sizes per Bonnie Hunter Scrap User's System recommendations.
Continue to process fabric as it is discovered/comes in.
Continue to organise The Dungeon into a usable environment (keep studying Teresa Rawson's space).
Get over my thing about Triangles.
Learn to do applique!
Learn to paper piece!
Learn to free motion quilt!
Blog more!
MAKE MORE QUILTS!

Slowly, as my Dungeon is being molded into a place I want to work and be creative this will be a good learning experience and a chance to grow and develop into the quilter I want to become.  In the meantime this will be a long, slow path full of trials and errors, but in the end it will prove to be a wonderful journey and one for which I will be proud.

Peach Out, Apricots! 
Morg

Progress Report

Sorting 2.5" strips.  Oh my!

Wanted to let you know that I have been making outstanding progress.  I will load before/during/after pictures, I promise.  This is one BIG project.  It's hard to believe how much progress I've made in just a short time.

News on the Cottons:
I have now gotten the strips (cut according to the Bonnie Hunter Scrap User's System suggestion of: 1.5, 2, 2.5 and 3.5") into their own shoe boxes.  Each set of strips are divided into 12-14 different colours.  (A BIG thank you to Teresa Rawson from Fabric Therapy) Each set of strips goes on a different shelf making it easy to keep them all organised. 


FQ condos on top,  1/2 Yard Condos on the next shelf down. 
As you can see the fabrics are just moving in and getting settled.




A view of the condos.

Charms which are 5x5" squares are starting to create their own space as I manage to weed through the colour bins.  I am sure this selection will grow with time.   And will start asking for their own little colour coded condos.

Fat Quarters, Half Yards, Yards have all been set up with shoe boxes (I refer to them as "condos" similar in number/design as the strips.

Soon I will be processing scraps which I think I have determined to be anything smaller than 1.5 wide down to a postage stamp or so in size, and all the other odd shapes and bits and pieces that will not otherwise fit into my existing series of shoe boxes.  My friend does applique and I want to learn about it so this will be a fine opportunity to give these scraps a purpose other than filler for my pet bed.

Fabric that is about 1.5 yard 1 yard + 6" and larger are being measured, tagged, bagged and go in a bin.  These lengths usually end up as backing fabric so it's best to have them in big bins.  I am trying to keep the bins to a manageable number so I am dividing them up like this: 
Yellow/Orange/Red,
Blue/Green/Brown,
Purple/Pink/Violet,
White/Cream/Black,
Light/Med/Dark Brights (this one might get split if it gets too full! I LOVE colours!)
Batiks/Plaids

Report on Fleece:
Some of my fleece has been cut into fat quarters.  These are being folded and put into an "underbed storage" unit which is a long flat plastic container.  I don't know the actual dimensions, but I have three of these and I can get a LOT of FQ fleece in them.   Correction - these are going into sterilite containers that are like file boxes with slightly curved lids.  Not to be confused with the less expensive, much more easily obtained flat top file boxes also made by the brilliant minds at Sterilite.  :)

Other fleece has been processed into 9x11 inch pieces, others into 6" squares.  There are circles and wedgie shapes and of course an abundance of bits and pieces.  I will need to obtain a couple more boxes to accommodate the bulk of the fleece, but then we should be set.

Christmas was an excellent opportunity to spread the love and fleece and cheer.  I was able to make a delightful dent in the yardage in the fleece closet.  The blankets were wonderful and well received. 

Update on Batting:
Not much, yet.  Working on a good storage system and how best to manage the scraps from projects past.

So that's what's up in the Dungeon.  Until next time...
Peach out, Apricots
heart, Morg

When the Going Gets Tough, the Tough Get Organised!

As with all things, the gears of inspiration need to be oiled.  My latest attempt at restimulating the seemingly frozen gears of my creative ebb and flow has been to pick up where I left off in organising my sewing room.  I recently felt the need to see who was doing what in the world and found this blog:  Fabric Therapy.  Do a search for "Stash Organizing" and you will see the most incredible series of tips on how to tame the Stash Beast. 

I had started my reorganising project earlier in the year with my entire basement in mind.  From the images here you can see that I have done an okay job in getting stuff organised.  I almost wish I had pictures from before I started.  My sewing dungeon was crazy horrible.  It looked like an episode of Hoarders.  Okay, not quite that bad, but it was pretty bad.  I did manage to force some order out of the chaos that is my fabric stash.  Most of it is safe from the creepy crawlies that share my subterranean space.  I did manage to get some space in the Studio organised as well.  The Lab, not so much, but it's a big job and I am still not quite positive what I want to do or how I wish to deal with it as it holds more than just paint and horses...there's more...so much more...  I shudder to think about how I want to deal with this space.

As luck would have it, finding the Fabric Therapy site inspired me to renew my efforts to get things organised.  This time I would focus specifically my Sewing Dungeon and eat that elephant first!

Presently I am working on the fat quarters/half yards.  So far I have gone through four boxes and redistributed these into thirty-two shoe boxes.  Sixteen for each size as the shelving space allows for twelve to sixteen boxes depending on the type of box.  This starting point has helped immensely in getting the fat quarters all in one place and neatly divided up.  The expandability of the system is great as my various yardage gets cut down/used up or I obtain more fabric (which I am still on a self-imposed fabric buying moratorium two years and counting).  The half yards will be sorted in much the same way as the Fat Quarters.  The plan is to do the single yards in much the same way using shoe boxes if possible or if I must, go to a deeper/larger box.  By doing this it will get the fabric where I can see it and when I am ready to create I don't exhaust myself hunting through box after box trying to find the fabric I am looking to use.  I will have it right at my finger tips.  More time to play and sew if I spend less time fiddling around with finding stuff.

Welcome to my Dungeon:



Southeast wall.  Non-cottons. And miscellaneous crap on my table.

South wall.  Cottons, mostly. And a lovely view of the shit I have on my table.

South wall, more cottons and more crap.

South wall, even more cottons and some more shit.

Not all my fabric is in neat yards or fat quarters, I have strips, strips and more strips.  For these I have implemented the Bonnie Hunter Scrap User's System organised these otherwise unruly bits of cotton into four different widths (see the blue lidded boxes on the middle shelves) which will be sorted into shoe boxes by size and colour.  Odd sized scraps will be dealt with when I get there (the maroon/purple lidded box on top).  One must first learn to crawl before one can run!  :)

Progress!  You can actually see where this is going!

 In addition to cottons, and non cottons, I have fleece.  All of it.  Seriously, I have a major fleece problem, scratch that HAD a major fleece problem.  I am slowly weeding through my fleece and getting it used up.  It takes time which I have precious little of these days, but I do have a wonderful working system based loosely on Bonnie Hunter's Scrap User's System.  This has proven to be quite effective in taming the fleece beast. 

Yard and yard plus lengths are hung on hangers in the Fleece Closet.  Anything less than a yard is started on The Process, with each stage using the remaining material from the previous cut.  It's a great way to get the most out of my fleece investment and at $9+ a yard, I'd better be getting my investment's worth!

Ponoe Pads

Buoys

6" squares

Mice/Wedgies

Tails/Fins

after all this the leftovers are pretty much confetti.  This confetti and the cotton I just can't bear to throw these slivers away even tho I can't use thems are going to become filler for pet beds.  I have some horrible polyesters in patterns that would make you seasick lurking in the Non Cotton Boxes and I just can't bare to throw it away, so they will be used for a good purpose.  Waste not, want not as I am often heard to say when it comes to my hobbies.

My hope is to have this Sewing Dungeon in working order by the end of the coming year, if I am lucky perhaps I can manage to get The Studio and The Lab organised as well. 

I just have to remember that in order to eat an elephant you must take one bite at a time.  CHOMP!

Peach Out Apricots!
heart, Morg

And now for something completely different...

Hmm.

Wow, I guess I have been absent for some time dear readers.  I have been doing some quilting, but not nearly enough these past months.  I will be posting pictures of quilts that have managed to be completed and some projects I have been working on.

Let's see what all has been going on since my last post...
Hmm, I think I've managed to get three or four baby quilts completed before I finally got busted for stitching at work and pretty much forced to stop doing the one thing that keeps me sane at my job.  Another reason for my long absence and short trip to the funny farm.  I did manage to complete my EPIC first quilt, "The Zoo."  I will be documenting that whole odyssey in a series of posts in the coming year.  I am now working on a second Stig quilt, repairing a Double Wedding Ring, waiting for the details of an order to be completed and am currently working on christmas gifts.  This year they are fleece throws with braided edges.  I am starting to think I might have to take up crochet...stop me before I craft again!

2013 is going to be dedicated to continuing my quest to get my Sewing Dungeon organised.  The work that was completed earlier in the process is holding steady and is proving to make projects easier to start and finish.  This is a great reinforcement for the groundwork that has already been started. 

A few weeks ago I was out with my partner in quilted crime and we stopped by a new quilt shop in Sioux Falls.  At first I looked around at the expensive pattern/idea books, drooled over the many bolts of cotton, commented about the lovely selection of batiks, asked about jelly rolls, lollypops, cakes, charms and then I saw it...

THE LONG ARM QUILTING MACHINE!

I was drawn like a shy moth to an irresistable flame.  I stood and watched, mesmerised by the rhythmic staccato of the needle as it propelled itself across the cotton field with a "look ma, no hands" carefree motion.  I looked like one of the lobotomised patients in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest.  I couldn't look away.  Finally my friend wrested me from my haze and I was able to ask the machine's handler all manner of questions.  While do not recall the name of the machine, just that it was fully computerised and with very little interaction - only to change the bobbin and make sure it didn't experience any problems with the quilting process.  Seventeen five and it too could come to live at your house.  Holy crap!  I didn't spend that much on my first (only) mobile home or my car!  That's almost what I make a year!  After I recovered from the price tag shell shock I realised I was hooked.  This would be something I could do when I grew up.  Something I could do and enjoy and even potentially make some money at...hmmm.  The wheels in my head started to turn.

Since that day I have asked other people who operated Long Arm Quilting Machines and looked into various priced machines, read reviews and have started to look at what's out there.  While I like the idea of a computerised machine so I can still hand quilt while the Beast is knocking out a quilt, I may not be able to afford that much luxury.  No matter, I will teach myself machine quilting and will (ab)use any and all domestic machines at my disposal to this end.  I can MacGyver that which I need, done it before, will do it again (and again and again!). 

So many things to quilt, so little time.

Peach out, Apricots.

We be Stitchin'!

As part of my never (ever) ending quest to improve my abilities and quilting experience I am evaluating my stitching technique.  I never really gave it much thought until I started reading about stab stitching.  I like the sound of it and it sounds like fun, so I started to explore and see what all the fun was about and realised I already do a little bit of stab stitching.  I also rock, gather, pinch and pull.

It appears that my personal stitching style is a mash-up of several techniques.  I am not sure what to call it, Stab-Rock-Pinch-Pull or Rock'n Pull or Pinch'n Stab?   I dunno. 

I would like to learn to properly Stab Stitch, and perhaps I can work on my technique as the results are really quite nice, I could even improve my "understitches" that way.

What's in your sewing box? A visual guide to my portable sewing kit. (graphic intensive)

Like the crazy commercials from Capital One asking, "What's in you wallet?"  I am posing the question, "What's in your sewing box?"  Myself I keep only the essentials.  This is primarily because my sewing kit is a little butter cookie tin from the Dollar Tree.  Not a tremendous amount of extra stuff can go in there.  The contents are as follows, thimbles, thumbles, strawberry, finger guards, scissors, needle case, thread heaven, wax and a spool of thread for the project I am currently working on.

Meet my sewing box.

The various thimbles, thumbles and finger protectors shown here are a pared down pile of what had been in the box.  I have accumulated a small petting zoo of thimbles and thumbles in my quest to find the right tools for my trade.  These are but a few of my current working selection.

Thimbles, thumbles, finger and nail protectors.

My newest creation is a copper plate embedded into a tube of leather sewn to fit my middle finger.  Necessity being the mother of invention and all, I am pretty notorious for creating my own thimbles.  I will have to write a blog showing off my various creations.  This finger guard came into being from the constant wear and tear on my middle fingernail.  Chips, grooves, breaks...enough is enough.  I have been trying to work on something like this for a while.  I am always looking for a way to improve not only my stitch consistency but to maintain my fingernails.  This is the 3rd generation of the design.  Success at last.

Handmade nail protector.

The brass Clover finger tip thimble has got to be, hands down, my favourite thimble of all the thimbles I have accumulated.  I have one from Dritz, but it doesn't have the same feel or fit as the Clover. This style is not only perfect for protection, but it makes it easy to push the needle through the quilting materials.  I did have to do a little adjustment in that I added a leather fitting to prevent rubbing and blistering of my finger when I wear this lovely thimble.  Due to the way the tines were bent it rubs on my ring finger and I cannot stand to have the edge of it rubbing on the tender skin of my medial joint.

Augmented thimble and finger protector.

This picture shows how the edge rubs against the velcro pad.  Funny thing about this pad, I created it from a velcro tie designed for taming cords.  A little trimming, a little shaping and viola!  It is always a perfect fit as it is completely adjustable.

How the finger protector works.

Meet my thumble.  It's actually a leather coin thimble that I removed the coin, the coin holder, turned inside out, reinforced the stitching and added a little cuff to fit more comfortably on my gigantic thumb.  I don't use this thing quite as much as I did when I first needed to make it.  Initially, when I began my quilting journey my thumb pad had not yet developed a callous.  Raw, sore, miserable, my thumb was in terrible shape, so I decided to scrap out a coin thimble and make my own thumble.  I still use it when I am power quilting, working leather or my callous peels off - which it does about once a year or whenever I go longer than about 10 days without quilting.  I am currently growing a new thumb callous as mine peeled off first part of January...no fun for me.

Leather thumble.

As you can see when I am all geared up I can quilt the world!  Since I started quilting I have noticed that my thumb has become HUGE compared to my under hand.  This picture makes my fingers look all short and pudgy, they are actually normal sized - except for my giant thumb.  LOL.


My Quiltin' Hand.  Look at the size of my thumb! 

 These are my thumb thimbles.  I discovered them at one of my favourite quilt shoppes, this one is in Hastings, Nebraska called the Plum Nelly.  It is a combination bead, fiber and quilt shop.  A fantastic place. 

Extra thumbles.

Meet my snippers.  I have no idea where these little scissors came from, I just know that they have been around for years.  I hope one day to have my maternal grandma's sewing scissors, but for now they are safe in my mum's type tray on proud display.

My trusty little random thread snippers.

Who could resist such a cute little tin?  I couldn't.  I put thin, adhesive magnets on both the bottom and top of the tin so my needles would stay in place.  I keep a stash of sharps (and dulls) as well as the random embroidery needle for those "you never know" occasions.   This little tin is great for stashing extra threads and pieces of things I do not want to lose (like my mind?).

Needle case (holds threads too).

Meet my fuzzy strawberry.  This poor thing has been through the wringer.  I am not sure how old it is, but I have had it for quite some time.  The tomato has long since been pressed into duty in other realms of my sewing life.  Mostly to hold my bigger needles and pins.  My faithful little strawberry holds my working needles, sharpens my tips and generally hangs around and keeps the other equipment company.

The under appreciated strawberry.

Thread Heaven is heavenly!  It's like a weird globule of rubberised silicone.  I use my little glob to lube up my thread and it pulls through like a dream.  Less tangle, less breakage, which is nice.  I used to use beeswax, but since I discovered this stuff, I haven't even picked up my waxcake.

Thread Heaven.

This is my Thimble tin.  I keep my extra thimbles, thumbles, spare thread, pins, and whatever else I do not want to see lost in my sewing kit.  I had to put a leather band around it to keep the lid from coming off.  :) 

Thimble and Thumble House.

And last but least, a spool of thread from my current quilting project.  The colours, thickness and type may vary, but there is always at least one spool in the tin.

The spool for my current project.



All in one box.

And that, dear readers is my sewing kit.

Peach Out Apricots!
Morg

Stitch Per Inch - a personal odyssey

My new goal for 2012 is to measure and record my spi (stitch per inch) for the quilts I complete this year.  The first quilt of the year (last of 2011) to be completed was an Amish inspired creation that was done entirely of cotton sheet fabric I got in Hawarden some years ago for other projects.  I will be featuring this quilt in a blog soon.

As I read more about stitches per inch it seems to be up in the air as to how it is figured.
A) stitches front and back divided by two to get the end figure. 
B) stitches on the front only.

I am going with B for my figures. 

Thanks for reading.
Morg

Blame it on Bonesteel

Yup, gonna lay blame right there on the floor at Georgia Bonesteel's feet.  Yesssiree, Bob!  I will also thank her for helping to define my style of quilting.

When I was first getting started in learning about quilting and developing my own technique for stitching these fabric sammiches together I looked at a lot of different styles and techniques.  To hoop or not to hoop?  Square hoops versus circular hoops.  Machine or hand quilting.  Which is best?  Which is worst?  What is right?  What is wrong?  The opinions on the subject were endless.  I even got caught up in the whole how many stitch per inch quest.  37,000spi (stitch per inch) are just too damn many.  I'm happy with my measly 8-9spi and on some pieces 10-12spi count thank you, very much.

One day early in my quilting explorations I picked up a book at a flea market, Lap Quilting With Georgia Bonesteel and I was hooked.  I loved the hoopless approach to piecing, and the elegant, yet free flow of the stitches.  The look of Ms. Bonesteel's work left an impression on me that I enjoy to this day.

Through much exploration and many started and failed projects as well as one very large project I am perpetually striving to finish (a whole 'nother blog entry on that one!)  I finally settled into my own style.  Now as I have mentioned before I do so love the whole dorky handmade look of hand stitched quilts, so I focused on that look for my fabric arts. 

Through trial and error - many, many errors mind you - I have come to the conclusion that I prefer to machine piece and hand quilt.   Which is just fine.  I will continue to play with the whole machine quilting idea and keep trying to improve my techniques.  But for now that cotton log will lay in a box until I get back in the mood to start wasting thread and time on it.  Good thing it is just a crappy quickly pieced nothing I will eventually give to the dog.  Otherwise I'd be embarrassed to admit I made it.  He will love it.

For now I hand quilt and for each quilt I adjust my stitches to match the look of the quilt, big and bold for some of the baby/crib size, smaller and finer or the wall hangings, the quilt itself seems to help me decide what it wants for stitch size.  Artists will understand this concept, trust me.

Well, it is time to pin another quilt and show off my latest completion.  

Peach Out Apricots!
Morg

Denim, Taffeta, Organza! OH MY!

Since I am not currently featuring a cotton hug I've created I thought I'd talk about one of my favourite fabric sources.

This magical place of which I speak is, of course<drum roll>

InWeave in Hawarden, IA. 

http://www.inweavefabric.com/

When you first rock up on the place you might be inclined to think , "What kind of dump is this?" The outside of the building a bit long in the tooth and looks a little shabby, but don't let the appearance fool you, once inside be prepared to be amazed and hold tight to your wallets, you are going to want to spend a lot of money!

Rug makers, upholsterers, quilters, house hold soft furnishing DIYers, you have come to the right place. Whatever you are looking for you will find, pretty much guaranteed. With so many fabrics to choose it will be hard to decide which project you want to work on first.

Myself, I go straight to the big room to the left and start mentally orgasming over all the bolts of quilting cotton. I've found some delicious hand dyes from Pakistan as well as many other wonderful patterns and colours. In the next room over (toward the stairs) are where the rolls of denim live. As do some of the funky cotton panels I've used in previous quilts. Granted it has been a few years since I have financially bruised myself in this Mecca of Fabric, but I suspect the stash is still there.

Up the stairs you will probably still find yourself in the Fabric by the Pound room. Suddenly surrounded by upholstery odds and ends, end of the roll or end of the run cottons, denim, corduroy samples, stuff and stuff and more stuff. I have, myself, found all kinds of groovy stuff that I have turned to fun soft furnishings as well as the makings of car quilts.

Back downstairs on the main floor, on the other side of the room from the Temple of Quilting Cottons you may well find yourself in the presence of the fleece bin. Be sure to tether off before descending. I have had to be rescued a few times. ;)

Beyond the fleece den of iniquity you should find shelves of miscellaneous fabrics like swimsuit material, rip stop and other goodies you might not otherwise be expecting.

Be prepared to be pleasantly pleased with the courteous staff, the great prices and the unbelievable selection of fabric and materials available to us mere mortals. If you should survive your foray into the interior of the InWeave Warehouse you are sure to want to come back again and again.

Find out more about InWeave at: http://www.inweavefabric.com/pages/about-in-weave-22.html

Peach Out Apricots,
Morg

Quilts Show and Tell

In this blogs I am presenting many of the quilts I have done over the years.

Unfortunately I did not see the point of keeping good records of my work, but I am making an effort to do better.  The order of entries will be chaotic at best as I am putting the blog pages up as I find/finish quilts and some may never be featured as they are no longer or it is not possible to get images of them.

I'm not sure how many quilts/comforters I've done, I think the number is in the 20s or so.

Believe it or not I am still working on my very first quilt: "The Zoo."  This epic quilt and the story behind it will be featured as soon as it is completed.   After nearly seven years of diligent work I am down to two environments and the binding...  It is truly an epic quilt as you will see.

The featured list keeps growing as I recover images and complete quilts.  Please keep reading my blog and hopefully enjoying my many explorations in fabric.

Peach Out, Apricots.
Morg