Aprons & Mini Quilts

I cut and pinned all the aprons that will go to the Aides in the Infant Nursery Center in town. Its always surprising how much prep work goes into Fabric Art projects.

Its not much to look at when its just pinned fabric, and it will take me several hours to do these double seams, then start back with the next seams to press, pin and sew again. Aprons are time consuming, and this is why I selected such a simple pattern. They cost upwards of $25 in stores, and if I had that kind of money, I might consider buying rather than sewing.

And then, I found my list of women in my therapy group who offered to take my practice pieces, so cut squares to make 2 more of the mini quilts. (one asked for pastels....so first these and maybe I will look through my stash again)

They go together so fast and I do plan to attempt the stipple free motion stitch on both of them. NO FEAR. The size I cut comes out to a 14" mini, and I just have to do it.

Trashed

I got my first doll when I was 16, and too old for dolls. It didn't matter because she was a Madame Alexander doll that was meant only to sit on the bed in front of the pillow as a room decoration. She wasn't for playing with or pretending or dressing and undressing. At 16, I was driving a car faster than was safe, cheerleading, skipping school and being cool. 

However, when I joined the Doll Quilt Swap, I could see that some of the swappers included a home made dolly with their quilts. I did want to at least try to include a dolly.

I found a pattern online called Angel Kitty that I thought looked easy.  

You can see in the picture below with the Angel Kitty at the bottom of the trash basket, that mine sort of blew out a paw. In fact, all my seams were exploding and the first ones were hand stitched, followed by machine stitching. I am not a doll-maker even with a pattern this easy.

The quilts I make and send for this swap will arrive on their own merit without distraction of the little Angel Kitties that might have made folks go..."aw". Or not. 

I would rather spend my time learning how to quilt more to my own satisfaction than ripping out felt wanna-be kats.  At this stage in my life, I am less interested in pleasing others or, in fact, fitting in. It may seem heartless and cold to drop the Angel Kitty into the trash like so unceremoniously, but done is done. 

A woman has to know her strengths and her limitations. She has to know what she takes pleasure in doing and not spend more time on a thing that is going no where.

I have aprons to sew, and that's as far away from quilting that I want to get. Tomorrow is a new day, and a good day for quilting. 

Am I Finished Shopping?

Last night, I ordered a DVD set online for the holiday gift going out to Granddaughter #2. She graduates this coming June.  It may seem early, however, it takes a week to ship things out, and with seven grandchildren, I do need to budget and think ahead.

Here is where I am with the first of the four aprons I want to make and finish next. I've made my own pattern for these utility aprons and this is why I am moving slowly on the first one. The aides need to have the bib to cover their shirts while holding babies, who spit up and can be snotty at time. I still want them to be cute, so selected fabric to make that happen.

I also finished the Doll Quilt for the Swap. Here is a sneak peek of it til the reveal on Saturday.

Its put together with more than a few wilder prints. Another thing I have seen people in the swap do is to include a handmade doll to go with it, so I've found a pattern and will work on that in the coming days. The quilt needs to be sent out before the end of the month. If I can make this little 'doll' then it will be an extra. If it gets to be too much work, the quilt goes on its own. 

My quilting work is meant to help center me, and when I am centered, that positive energy goes into my creations. I've stepped out of my comfort zone to create aprons and now this little doll, and it is an experiment to see how it works for me.

The other WIP (work in process) is the comfort quilt I am making.

Here is one block of 12. The group has certain standards they keep when making a quilt from start to finish. They get donations of fabric, quilting supplies, and unfinished quilts of various sizes. To keep their quilting standard, they have collected a number of patterns that they prefer to use. My guess is that they've had business meetings in the past to set these standards.

I want to make guy-quilts, so selected the green baseball fabric as my focus and then gathered the two stripes and dark blue for the rest of the pattern pieces. I can finish the top today with just two seams left and then cutting threads on the back and making sure the seams are sturdy.

Secret Santas

I am most excited this morning to receive the information for the secret-santa-soiree- We all had to fill out a questionnaire on ourselves. There are 38 bloggers who joined in and partners were selected randomly. Each of us linked up so one could go through the list of other bloggers to guess our Santa. The gift limit is $20, and we must ship out by December 5. This is the third swap I have joined this fall, and I learn so much about myself and the fabric arts. (The bloggers here do not have to be quilters)

Of course, it is a secret. 

And a good kind of secret, something fun. I feel like a kid again with this. Some people think its a bit early to do the holiday stuff, however, I am making a trip to the post office and shipping center to send off a lot of my holiday things. 

I finished the pointsetta mug rug and really hate how it turned out. 

I bought the green, and gray-red fabrics thinking they went together and then added another large print to the mix. Its just too busy, and I will finish the binding and put it in the thrift store donation bag. Someone will like it. Maybe if I had just made this in the two colors, it would have been better. Well, clearly, I learned something from it.

My Daughter-in-Law's Mother is recovering from breast cancer and chemo, so they are hosting a Pink Purse fundraiser for her. I am making a quick comfort quilt and am looking for a pattern online to make a matching tote bag. These projects do not need to go on my list to complete before Solstice. I've put together a pattern called "Brick by Brick" for the top using a variety of scraps.

And the above pic shows the material I bought for the back. There is enough fabric to make a border on the front to tie it in. These kinds of scrappy quilts are perfect for utility use, and its surprising to me how many non-quilters love this look.

Shipping out November

We had a power outage in Tehachapi a couple of nights ago and the small PO branch here is still without power to process packages and credit cards. Its giving me more time to finish and pack things. I'll go again in the morning.

Meanwhile I stopped in at 5 Heart Quilts, which is one of the fabric stores in town. Claudia's been in business for decades and in a small town, does what she can to stay afloat. 

Some time ago, I set up a webpage, and newsletter format for her, and did get an account set up on Facebook for her. I am not sure she uses either. However, I convinced her to send out another email for the month and suggest that readers stop into the shop to pickup a FREE pattern for easy, quick holiday gifts to make from their scraps.

I am working on my own Solstice gifts too. The teens are always the most difficult and so a few gifts, some money and then the Mug Rugs with cookies. Some of the adults will get mini quilts (mug rugs or small table toppers) for the season. Like most gift-bringers of the season, I keep a list, not of those who have been naughty or nice, but a list of who got what, when. Its better not to have folks open their mail-gift and groan---"not again! Not another table runner!"

Today, like many days, I look ahead at what I have to do. Lists help me look at what I have done, what I have accomplished, what was good, and right and enough. I want to give myself credit for simple accomplishments, and for all the growth and gains made doing this very behind the scenes support for people I love. 

Every mini quilt, every personal lap quilt is a study in comfort, in protection, and in family connection.

Quilt Guild Meeting

I went to the monthly meeting this morning with Jer's Night Sky in hand for the show and tell. It needs the last going-over to pull loose threads and then will ship out tomorrow.

Its been an interesting journey to work on that started by finding the free pattern online from Hoffman California Fabrics called "Punch Street", and converting the colors to the holiday scraps I had on hand. I found a black sky print with crescent moons for the background. 

Then I experimented with free motion patterns on each of the houses, not following any sort of system. I wish I had done an overall stipple, but don't feel confident with it.

The group of 100 women, more or less, applauded and some even commented to me after the meeting how beautiful it is.

Speaker Lolita Newman brought quilts she makes that focus on the Civil War. As her quilts were passed around, I admit to comparing what I do to hers. Guess its how we grow. She shared the origin of the Black Eye Peas, which is the name of this quilt. She embroidered the BEP's in the gold center blocks. This bean or pea was the only thing left in the fields for the Southern Slaves to eat after the Northern Army came through in the dead of winter. The Slaves thought themselves mighty lucky to be alive and to have food to eat. And this is how the tradition of eating them on New Year's Eve came to be.

Her blog is: http://stitchinbytheriver.blogspot.com

It made me realize that my quilts are all over the board in design and theme, and I think I am ok with this. 

I love that Lolita has taken it upon herself to look at the Civil War era and design quilts with specific blocks that legend says helped Slaves find freedom. There is power in seeing what needs to be done, and doing it in the moment. She shared that some folks dismiss the legend and say there never was an Underground Railroad.

Some say there never was a Holocaust, or never was the burning of millions of women accused of Witchcraft.

It made me wonder what 'some say' about me, or what I say about myself. All the way home I thought about the power of seeing what needs to be done and doing it no matter what is being said against that.

The Night Sky quilt was one such experience of doubt for me. If it was too advanced, so what? Its done and beautiful. If the free motion quilting was too putzy and should have been an overall stipple, so what? It was good practice. 

My day is going forward. In thinking about the people in the world over time who have been frightened, homeless, hungry, persecuted, and imprisoned, I can say that I am free, have a home, food to eat, and am safe.

It is a good day to quilt.

Saturday's Mail Deliveries

I had to wait to post this Pay-It-Forward until Rexie got her mail. Making her something was a challenge for me.

Rexie was one of the participants in a weekend seminar I advised in WI for many years. She is quite a talented artist and a very innovative teacher. So when she signed up on my Pay-It-Forward list this fall, I was very unsure what to make. Then in conversations, she mentioned she did not have a holiday stocking.  And I knew that making something traditional would be something she could make even better, so I searched for ideas online and discovered this one.

Felt stockings are more decorative than functional and so its not going to hold anything too heavy.  And now this year's list of PIF's is complete.

I received the mug rugs from the Fall Mug Rug Swap. My partner lives in Canada, and this is what she sent and I received with great appreciation.

The top one she calls "Reap What We Sew" and the lower one is called "Magic Boots". Both are very cute, very well done and very appreciated. I love the fabric choices, and would hope we get to chat more about the techniques we used. 

These two quilters teach me so much more about the fabric art in how they work. Although this art is done, like others, so much on one's own, those times we can share how we make our choices and do the work help much more than reading books or watching tutorials. 

For me, its such a soul-core activity and every step of it has a deeper meaning. I wonder, sometimes, if I had begun the work when I was younger if I would have looked at it in the same way. 

Now, everything has meaning for me from the choices of colors and fabric patterns all the way through the last stitch. It becomes an act where I can solve the hardest and the most simple of problems by seeing with new eyes. Its the cutting apart of something quite beautiful and seeing how it will re-combine to make yet another beautiful object.

It is an act of sharing, of love, of devotion. I don't think I was ready to be in this place 10 years ago. I was not ready to touch these fabrics or to have the where-with-all to take these risks.

Fear can hold us back in many ways. Where do those fears come from, I wonder? Are they messages that struck our souls that come way back in our childhood when some well-meaning adult told us that all trees had to be colored green, and sky colored blue and that we HAD to color in the lines? Are they messages that we got by looking in the mirror and realizing that our bodies did not look like those in the magazines?

Our culture, our religions, our families and social environment tell us that we must fit into certain standards to be 'right' with the world. Where are the people who tell us that what we do and who we are is enough?

I want to thank both Rexie and Kelly for their gifts of friendship and the quilting projects they swap with me. Thank you both for accepting what I create and send to you.