The Glory of Lauren

I know the title of this post is a little self aggrandizing, but I think all my fellow Stixers know by now that you just can't keep me (or my highly inflated ego) down. So, I'm going to roll with it.

But, getting to the point of this post...about two months ago, a little before Thanksgiving, I suppose, when I was visiting my parents in Volcano, my mom suggested I learn how to do something new - expand my horizons in the quilting world. I approached this suggestions with equal parts excitement and trepidation. Excitement because I was going to learn something new, I was going to get to work on a more complicated project and really show off my quilting skills. The trepidation came from the fear that I would suck at it. I'm sure you all know how Joyce Moser is by now though. There was no way I was going to get around learning foundation piecing now that she had set her mind to teaching me.

In the interest of saving my sanity, I quickly agreed to give it a try and asked what she had in mind.  Immediately she whipped out a book - her Bible on paper piecing - and showed me a small wall hanging project that she thought would be perfect to get me started on to see if I liked this new technique. Well, I was horrified. It was the ugliest thing I had ever seen. How could my mother think that I would want to make that?? As I looked over the photo (done in navy, brown, brick red, and weird plaids) I felt a little sick to my stomach, but tried to quell the feeling and pretend enthusiasm for mom's sake at least. I think my disgust must have shown on my face though because she quickly assured me that she thought it was hideous as well and that I would definitely be using better colors. Attempting to look past the horrific conglomeration of fabrics, I soon noticed that the pattern itself was actually quite beautiful and, if done correctly, could be quite stunning.

And so, during that trip home, Mom and I went on a mission to collect fabrics for my new project. We chose to match the colors to my home and went with reds, grays, and a beautiful black, white, and red floral background. Once we had all the requisite fabrics, we returned home and Mom showed me how to get started. I couldn't believe the simplicity of paper foundation piecing. Here I had been for months watching Mom post beautiful pictures of her foundation piecing on the Stix site, thinking to myself, "Wow, Mom is so talented and amazing. I could never do anything like that!" and yet, it was the simplest thing in the world!

I returned to Portland the next day and got to work. Every weekend I would work on one of the pieces of my star and soon I had them all done. When I returned home to Volcano over Christmas, all the pieces were ready to assemble. Little did I know however, that I was just now getting to the hard part. You see, as Mom pointed out in her post on her Unusual Lone Star, the difficult part of the foundation piecing process is "setting in" your background fabrics to make the whole. Even with Mom's helpful tips, it took me an entire day and seemingly endless ripping to get it together to my satisfaction. But together it is and now it is all ready for me to quilt. Yes, that's right, fellow Stixers. I will now be testing my free motion quilting skills and will quilt this puppy myself. :) So wish me luck and I will keep you updated on the final component of my project!

One Pair of Dickies = Cool Book Bag

When Vera arrived last week for her "sewing day with Auntie" she was carrying a market tote I made for her last year. It was STUFFED to the brim and BURSTING at the seams! I reminded her that the quilted totes I make are designed and constructed for lighter use, for example, a handful of groceries (NOT a 12-pack of sodas) or a day's excursion (a couple of paperbacks or an e-reader, lunch, sunglasses, and a light jacket). My point was the market tote is NOT intended to be used like a canvas duffel bag or backpack and it is definitely NOT a book bag to be used for a half dozen text books. Vera explained to me that the latter is exactly what she needs.

So, I decided I'd make her a book bag sturdy enough to carry a day's worth of Latin text books. Rather than driving to Sac to buy denim, I decided to "buy local" from one of the several thrift stores in Jackson. My first stop was Hospice. I walked directly to the men's clothing section, spotted the denim jeans (only about a dozen or so) and scanned them looked for the largest pair I could find. Bingo! There was only one pair of jeans large enough. They were brand new Dickies in a size 42" (if you decide to make a denim book bag/tote...go for the big ones). Perfect! It was a sign!!! Did I mention...they were only $3.50!

I went home and immediately began the project of designing the perfect book bag. I cut up the jeans and assembled the bag, using the back pockets on the exterior of the tote, found some red nylon strapping for handles, and leftover red/navy plaid flannel in my stash for lining. I made it as large as I could without seaming the panels, although my next denim book bag will be a patchwork of various denims (cut from discarded jeans, of course)! I love the results and I know Vera will use this tote until it is threadbare, which may take a lifetime, as I've triple stitched and reinforced the entire bag.

Here's a pic of my "upcycled" book bag...

P.S. This was my first day back in the studio and it felt great! Temp outside warmed to around 52 degrees and I got it up to around 75-80 degrees inside within an hour. Toasty! 

A Good Day

It's now the 16th and I'm still trying to muster courage to go work in the studio. Temps are gradually rising and I'm beginning to warm (pun intended) to the idea. However, I was spared the guilt of hovering in the nice warm house today as Vera Allen arrived mid-morning and spent the whole darn day with me! And did we have fun?! There are a couple of you who don't know Vera...well, she has been a family friend...more than a friend, more like an adopted daughter...since she was in junior high and she's now 28 years old in her final year at Berkeley studying Latin. Yes, Latin! 

Vera brought an old Singer sewing machine with her that she claims I gave her over ten years ago. Hmmmmm...must have belonged to my Mom as I've never owned a Singer. I'll take credit for the gift, but I'm beginning to question Vera's memory (or, could it be mine???). We spent an hour cleaning it and identifying feet and other attachments (they'd been co-mingled with accessories from two other machines. It runs like a charm, although it's noisy. Vera also brought her stash (one bankers box of some "unusual" fabrics) and scraps of flannel that she'd bought when she was into making shoes bags (who makes shoe bags?). Reluctantly, she agreed to let me cut up the shoe bags/flannel; I added a bit of flannel from my stash and got her started on a small, donation rag quilt. Vera approached the project as she approaches life...with enthusiasm, confidence, and hard work! By about 9 p.m. she was finished with the stitching and ready to clip. I sent her hope with a pair of pointy scissors and would not be surprised if the quilt were finished tomorrow and ready to donate. There was talk of taking the machine to school with her and making more donation/gift rag quilts. I think she's ready to step it up and make a big-girl quilt.

A New Year!

It's already January 10th and I'm just now getting around to writing my monthend (December) blog and wishing you a happy and productive New Year! Of course, I intend to cheat and back date this to January 1...don't you just love technology? Well, I didn't expect much (in the way of quilting) in December and I managed to exceed my expectations. I did longarm one quilt, but wouldn't have done that if it weren't for Lauren forcing me out of the house and down to the studio to quilt her friend Torrie's graduation/Christmas quilt. I'd been uninspired, disspirited, and in a "creative funk" much of November and that didn't change in December. Torrie's quilt turned out well (still waiting for a picture), but it was an effort. That was it for me for 2012. I've not been back to the studio since mid-December and not taken a single stitch in over a month! However, that's about to change...

I bought a journal last week (the sort with empty pages...40 to be exact) and am going to attack the first page this afternoon. I've gathered most of my art supplies (colored pencils, pastels, watercolors, snippets of fabric, etc.) and plan to just play a little each day. I have a plan for my first page (that blank white page is so scary...yikes!); it will be colored with a wash of my favorite watercolors and then the words JUST DO IT! will be written in some crazy font that I create. Maybe a style that mimics graffiti (I've ordered a book on graffiti, but there's a 3-month wait...I guess other people like it too). Each day that I play in my journal, I'll start by reading those words. In fact, I think I'll add the words JUST PLAY and BE FREE to it. It's been a long time since I  felt the freedom to be free and play around with art supplies, including fabric. I always seem to feel that I've got to create a masterpiece and when that doesn't happen, I'm ashamed and disappointed. I'm going to approach this journal with a new attitude. It will be my playground. For my eyes only. No critiquing and no criticizing. A place to have fun and experiment. Success will not be determined by the quality of my creative doodlings, but instead by the growth I see in myself from page 1 to page 40...my goal is to loosen up and just do it! 

I also plan to begin a fabric journal. I'm going to go back through the dog-eared pages of my 10+ years of Quilting Arts and Cloth, Paper, Scissors magazines and try a few new techniques. Several new techniques! When I've created a nice stack of mini-quilts, I'll bind them together to complete my fabric journal. Just talking about this rekindles my enthusiasm. I can't wait! Right now I'm feeling like I could complete several fabric journals this year. Once I've worked my way through the magazines articles, I'll start on my collection of books. I've got four large shelves of quilting and art books...rather than over-ambitiously planning to quilt/draw/paint my way through all of them, I'll begin with my favorites. Maybe Jean Wells' latest book would be a good start.

Then there's workshops...I just received an email yesterday about two workshops offered this year in Sutter Creek. Another Patt Blair weekend painting animals on fabric and a Lura Schmidt Smith workshop on painting portraits on fabric. Wow! I wasted no time...told Verne that's all I want for my birthday and we mailed the checks today! I can hardly contain my enthusisam!!! 

It's January. Cold, wet, and wintery. The studio has got to be in the 40's...but, I'm going to JUST DO IT and not let a little cold weather be a deterrent any longer...my muse is back and we're not going to waste another day!