Some scraps are too precious...

The Spring 2014  issue features two projects by me!

 This April, I will be at the CreativFestival in Toronto. I have been asked to do a trunk show of projects that use fabric remnants and scraps. As we all know, scraps are the prize in the cereal box to those of us who are slightly to addicted to fabric. This is something unassuming about scraps and remnants. They weren't intentional. They weren't really an integral part of the calculation of  yardage. Some people even (gasp) throw them out.

I collect them from all over. I have raided the scrap bins of friends and dived into remnant bins at quilting shops. I know the secret thrill of finding a gem -- nay -- a treasure -- amongst what others considered wastage.

And now I get to share how to use them up with other people who likely have the same affinity for the fabric flotsam and jetsam of the creative fibre life.

Here's the problem: at the moment, I have few examples. My stock of finished projects were wrapped as Christmas presents, or donated for charity sales.

 So, I have been holed up in the sewing room, making some things to talk about in the CreativFestival's Needlework Nook.

I will be doing a presentation, and then we will be doing a little pincushion project.

Tilda turtle, a work in progress....

In order to get ready, I have been pawing through my scrap stash, particularly my very cherished stash of Tilda fabric scraps. I have been doing hexies and pentagons, which met up in a turtle pincushion, based on a design by Anni Downs, an Australian designer. 

I love turtles and I actually have about 150 of them in various figural forms. This little guy will be a treasured part of the collection.  

I also did a Tilda patchwork teacup, because, you know, that is just cute.

Next up, a patchwork hoop-la. It calls for 1.5 inch squares -- so that's challenging.

The scraps just keep on coming....

Look, it's a Tilda teacup!

Getting ready for my scrap-tacular trunk show!

The winter of our discontent...

Ice laden branches

We had a huge ice storm three days before Christmas. The ice weighed down the trees and then took out the power lines.
The power was out for nearly 30 hours (thank goodness for the gas fireplace). We cooked on the gas barbecue. The tea was awful. Just sayin'
It was a big surprise for this gal, who ALWAYS seems to be sewing at almost the 11th hour at Christmas.
Since there was no power for Bernie, I did some hand sewing. I played around with pentagons and hexagons. I made small, medium and large Tilda patchwork ball decorations. I used my clip Ott Light. I clipped it to the front of  my hoodie and worked away. The light was more than adequate to work with.
During the daylight hours, I was able to do more involved hand sewing  So far, my medium Tilda Winter Wonderland polar bear has legs attached. But, I had to set him aside to, you know, re-enact pioneer living by cooking outdoors in day light, and finding batteries, which we apparently hide all over the house...

Hockey on backyard rink

By Christmas Day, everything was back to normal. Although, many trees in our area did not fare well. We lost our backyard juniper tree. It was laden with ice -- it is estimated that 55 cm of frozen rain fell. The trees were coated in ice and the branches were so heavy they could not withstand the wind that followed. Many trees in our area lost branches and some cracked down the middle.
The juniper It isn't harming anything at the moment, so we will leave it for now and remove it in the spring. Right now, the birds don't care, they still perch in the split tree when they need a rest.
Miss B is bound for the UK to take up a teaching position, so I did some projects for her to remind her of home. She promises to find me some Tilda stuff and Cath Kidston off cuts. That is the only reason I am okay with all of this.
I hope everyone is having a good new year so far! I am hoping to be a better blogger in this new year. Honest.

Tea cup present for Vicky

Pink Penguin lunch bag for Miss B

Waffle weave cotton blanket with quilted bands. UK bound!

What has she been doing?

I made 30 of these mittens ornaments for the crafts sale at my mother's long term care residence. I found that tracing them out over Press and Seal made it easier to create an outline on the felt. Once you cut them out, the Press and Seal peels right off, and you have a clean line with no phantom ink on the felt. The pattern is from nanacompany.

I cut out, stitched, and stuffed a Tilda Winter Wonderland polar bear, but I have yet to stitch the legs on. Christmas preparations are taking precedence right now.

Some presents finished. I found the patterns on the Sew magazine (UK) website. The little dog is for my mom. I was at a loss as to what to get her. I think she will like this little guy. The patchwork teacups are both fiddly and time-consuming, but they make for a spectacular finish.

Patchwork pass pocket

My pool pass is not a hardy piece of plastic. It is a little business card, made of paper, and if it gets damp, it will become paper pulp.

 I was going to make a holder using fabric and vinyl. However, if vinyl gets damp, it is impossible to take the pass out. I have to take the pass out to get it initialized each time I take a class. Some time ago, Sandra, my partner in all fabric crimes, shared some cotton/linen scraps with me. I hoarded them away for months...literally months...before I found what I wanted to do with them.

 This little pass pocket has two sections, one for the pass and an larger one for tucking away a note book or some additional notices or other pool related paperwork. The pockets are made from Tilda fabric, also carefully put away until the perfect project came along. The ric rac and the little gnome label were just for fun.

The outside embellishment was inspired by the lovely work of  Elin Pellinkhof and Amy from the nanacompany. I had those little red glass buttons set aside to make cherries for .... something... I just didn't know what until I had the patchwork outside put together. Designing is like that sometimes. I am just glad I had put them aside, but kept them accessible. 

(The rallying cry of makers everywhere!)

I now have a wonderful little pass pocket that tucks securely into my swim bag. I makes me smile every time I get my pass initialed.

Yesterday, once more...

Back from the shop and back in the cabinet

Pardon this post. It has a "looking back" sort of feel that people in their middle years start to adopt with alarming frequency.
In August, Miss B said she wants to learn how to sew properly. Little bells rang and choirs of angels sang in the chambers of my soul.
"But, I really only like your old machine," said B. "It doesn't work well though, right?"
The bells stopped and the angels went on about their day.
The Singer 514 Stylist stopped working altogether nine years ago, right after I sewed some pillows when we moved into this house. The feed dogs stopped feeding and the foot pedal was hot enough to cause concern. Up to that point, I had only just started to teach Miss B the ways of the sewing machine.
My mom decided that I should get a new machine, and so, she gave me a new Brother mechanical (not computerized) machine. It came with quilters' package that included an extension table and a walking foot. I was in heaven. Miss B never really took to the new machine. It was too fast, too slick, and too hard to thread -- according to her. She is a lover of the classics.
The new machine was made of plastic -- almost entirely plastic -- and I ended up buying a special mat for it so that it wouldn't slip slide away on the kitchen table. I didn't have a cabinet or a sewing table, so the mat had to to suffice. Last year, it had a major tune up to replace a failing gear. Yep, after nine years of faithful service, a gear was gone. It came back from the shop in tip top shape.
I also had my dearly beloved Bernina 830 Record tuned up. It needed a new belt and some electrodes replaced in the foot pedal. It came back from the shop zippy, zingy and purring like a kitten.
But, my Singer Stylist 514 sat alone and broken in my Grandmother's 1930 cabinet. It was all very wrong, and it made me feel kind of sad.
This particular model has earned the ire and disdain of many sewing machine purists. As vintage machines go, it doesn't have the cache of a Featherweight or a 501, or even any given model of the slant needle variety. It just is kind of lack lustre -- oh, and they gears are made of a nylon-like substance which crumbles and dies over time.
On the plus side, it has six built-in stitches, and an internal belt system which made the stop and start more accurate than previous Singer models in the price range.

My parents, Clarence and Ruth, in 1996

In February 1977, I was about to turn 16, and my parents plotted and schemed to give me the present of my dreams: a new sewing machine.
By the winter of 1976, I had been sewing for nearly four years. I had started in my Aunt Rita's basement sewing room, and by the end of Grade 8's grim home economics sessions, I was making about 50 per cent of my clothing. I was using my Grandmother's back and gold 1920s Singer, which had been converted to electric from a treadle at some point in the 1930s.
That machine could cope with anything from silk to demin. But, you could not sew a zig zag. I had developed a fondness for zig zag stitching for finishing edges and top stitching. Threading black beauty was a good workout too, you had to perform a yoga move to change the bobbin. It was under the machine, which was in the cabinet. During one such maneuver, my right wrist touched the very warm metal lightbulb cover. I sustained a first degree burn and my father vowed to replace the lethal Singer.
They traded in my Grandmother's black beauty for the Singer Stylist 514. My dad cut a notch in the notions drawer to accommodate the thread spindles.
I came home from my part-time job at the pool one Saturday afternoon, and my parents told me to go downstairs and look at the sewing machine. I thought I was in trouble for leaving out my sewing pieces (some things never change), but they had the new machine all set up and ready to go. I could barely believe my eyes. It was the best present I had ever received.

Zigzagged edges!

In the years to come, the 514 and I would sew my suits for my corporate job, my sisters' bridesmaids dresses, the curtains and bed linens for our new baby, a Christening gown, curtains for our house, costumes for two kids' Halloween joy, Christmas presents and any number of repairs. We were a team.
When I was clearing out my mother's papers after she went to live in long-term care, I found the bill for the machine. It was $282.15 with the taxes, and factoring in the $50 trade-in for the black beauty. My father was making just a bit over that weekly. I plugged those numbers into an inflation calculator. Today, that would be $1,053.97
It was not a cheap machine, and it is mostly metal. The faceplate is plastic, as are the stitch dial controls. To make it stitch in reverse, you push in the large metal button in the middle to the stitch dial. The stitch wheel was replaced 20 years ago -- actually, after I finished making the last button hole on the last of my sister's fifth and final bridesmaid's dress...
After Miss B said she wanted to start sewing, I decided to have the 514 repaired, and I took it to the repair shop on the very day I was buying the new Arrow Gidget table for the Bernina. There, on the shelf of the shop, was a fully restored Singer 514 Stylist. The price? $250 --  in 2013. I had my answer: it was still worth it.
The gears were indeed crumbling, and the foot pedal had to be entirely replaced. After a full wash and lube, the machine was back in working order.
Yesterday, I put the machine back in Grandmother's cabinet, and just for the heck of it, reread the owners' manual.
Today, I zigzagged the edges of some remnants I found at the CreativFestival this past weekend. It is still the magical experience it was back on that Saturday afternoon in 1977, when two hard working people helped me continue my creative journey.
My parents were like that, though there was a lot of stuff that made their lives difficult, they did whatever they could reasonably to do for their kids. The money they seemed to conjure from nowhere went to help us find our bliss and develop valuable skills. For me, music lessons, an electric typewriter, and a new sewing machine; for my sister, swim club, travel and tuition for hairdressing school.
To this day, those investments in our skills and interests are still part of our lives, and have in no small way, helped us earn a living. In turn, we have become the same kind of parents to our kids they were to us.
The purists can say what they like about the Singer Stylist 514. True, it does not have the Bernina's purring finesse, nor is is portable and light like the Brother, but I know its grumbling roar and the solid advance of the fabric under the needle. I hope Miss B learns to love spending time with the 514.
It has been priceless and cherished for so many years in our home. Restored and ready, it is about to sail into this century, zigzagging all the way.
There is something wonderful about that.

The Ornament issue of A Needle Pulling Thread

The Ornament issue of A Needle Pulling Thread is out right now. I designed these little hoop ornaments for the magazine.I am so pleased with these little guys, and the way they are presented in the magazine is so cool.

I give the editors some really rough drawings, and they turn out some lovely line art. In the final version, my kooky doodles are something that people could actually follow and make.Truly, it makes me so happy and proud of myself.

And, I am grateful for the chance to share my ideas. 

In addition, I was asked to create a couple of ornaments to showcase Stitch-N-Steam,  a new interfacing that creates texture in fabrics. I did a little bird with puffy wings and a ruffled hanging heart. This stuff is really fun to play with, and I have done another project for next summer's issue using it.

More on that another time.

Floating through life in a salt water pool

For the past couple of months, I have been struggling through the process of trying to find out why I sometimes ache all over. Many things were neglected during scans, x-rays and examinations, not the least of which was my blog. But, I am back.
Turns out I have arthritis everywhere. This comes as quite a comfort, really. I was starting to think it was all in my head, and fingers, and toes, and elbows and knees.... well, you get the picture.
In addition to medication and a serious attempt to lose tonnage, I am also doing salt water Aquafit. This is a 45-minute work out in a 91 degree therapy pool. So far, I am a fan. It is a great workout, and miracle of miracles, nothing hurts at all as I exercise. Sadly, 45 minutes flies by, I have to get out of the pool.
To keep myself away from the kitchen and the snacks that lurk there, I am spending a lot of time in my sewing room.
Recently, I rehabilitated another dress form, found at Value Village for less than $10. This one is going to be used to hang up my sewing scissors, seam ripper and retractable tape measure.
In its former life, the dress form was dressed in leopard print velvet and red sequins. The effect was regrettable. I could see something better.
I stripped the hideous fabric velvet fabric off the form and replaced it with some linen. I stamped an image on the front and then made a skirt from some green linen leaves. I used some tea dyed crocheted lace from an old pillow case to make the over skirt. The felt roses were just plain fun to do. I cut out a wavy circle of felt and then cut out a wavy spiral patten through to the centre of the circle. Then, I rolled up the spiral, starting at the centre, and secured the rolls using small dots of hot glue. This process proved kind of addictive, and before I knew it, I had made more than 15 roses! I used some pearls and a little charm to further embellish my notions holder.
The neckline sports not only a felt rose, but also some tiny millinery flowers and a crystal heart.
I was kind of sad when I finished this form, but I have many things to get ready for the upcoming CreativFestival in three weeks' time in Toronto. More on that later.
In the meantime, have a wonderful, creative week!