Sewing, sewing, sewing ...

(sorry, fuzzy)

My machine's been humming away.

A few weeks ago, I decided to put together a quilt for Levi's birthday. I've been collecting cowboy fabrics for a while so when I got going, it came together pretty fast.

I started with a center medallion of fancy cut cowboy patches with blue sashing and a braided rope fabric frame. Then the flying geese, which I love, and a plaid from my stash ... and it just kept growing from there. I'm hand quilting it now. That's a new skill for me, but since I got a free quilting frame that was being given away at my last guild meeting, I figured it was time to learn.

The Cowboy quilt was "unwrapped" over skype on Levi's birthday on Monday. A bit more quilting to do and it will be on the way to that sweet grandboy.

Next up. Rice bag play.

I am experimenting with rice bags for the next season of Make Welcome sewing. Tote bags. Wrist clutches. It's been fun and I'm learning as I go. You'll probably be seeing more rice bags in the months to come. Our Burmese students eat a lot of rice and they bring their rice bags to class. So far, we've upcycled them into pillows and a few tote bags. We've only used the burlap ones so far but today I played with the plastic fiber bags. Ironing is tricky.  Too hot and it melts. We'll see.

Tomorrow I get to go and talk to a local quilt group about Make Welcome. What a privilege!

Sewing with a friend

I have creative friends for whom I am very thankful.  They see things I don't see and create in ways that are inspiring and exciting.  I am encouraged by their vision for beauty and their dedication to developing their art and craft.

It is particularly fruitful when I am able to spend time with them creating.  I don't get to do it often enough. For two summers in a row, some of us worked together on quilts for the Sari Bari auctions.  But there was no auction this year, so no communal quilt making.  I'm missing that gathering together to make.

Fortunately, I did have a chance a couple of weeks ago to do some sewing with my friend, Carla.  Truly, this dear friend is one of my creative muses.  I learn so much from her.

We worked from the book, Happy Homemade: Sew Chic: 20 Simple Everyday Designs.  It's a lovely little book and the designs are, indeed, quite simple.  I had sewn one dress from the book and Carla and I worked on a tunic top.  We're trying it with some leftover sari fabric first to see how the pattern fits.  I think it's going to be lovely.

I'm also altering a lovely white linen dress and a pair of linen pants for her.  The pants will be shortened and then embellished with some of the crocheted doilies pictured above.  It is a challenge to me to figure out how to alter and make a beautiful, but unworn, dress fit well.  Hoping I can get it right with C's linen dress because it will be quite lovely on her. 

needle and thREAD #33

I'm doing a little happy dance because needle and thREAD is back!  I've missed it while Elizabeth's been otherwise occupied this summer. But for me, it hasn't just been the summer.  I just looked back to see when my last needle and thREAD post was and I'm shocked!  It was waaaaay back in January.  Really??? Where, oh where has 2014 gone???  Well, I know where it's gone ... new baby Levi, Make Welcome, wedding, travel, and many other good things that in the looking-back-upon at this moment seem to be a joy-filled, busy blur.

Anyway ...with all the comings and goings in the last couple of months, my studio has been fairly quiet. A quilt got finished back in May and a bit of pre and post-wedding stitching.  But, with all the travels, the machine has mostly sat quiet.  Now that I'm home, though (well, except for one more little jaunt to the beach next week), I've got lots of "to be finished" projects in piles, and plans for new projects lined up.  I'm itching to sew.

But let's back up, first.  Here's the pre-wedding stitching ...

-Kailie's wedding hairpiece

I felt honored when she asked me to make something and I wanted it to be extra-special.  I read a bunch of tutorials on organza flowers, tried several different type of organza, burned my finger on melted organza once or twice, and finally ended up with a flower I really liked.

The large flower on the left is layers of organza with candle curled edges.  The center of the flower is burlap from one of our rice bags, stamens (found in the Wilton section of the craft store.  Who knew?), and three antique buttons from my grandmother's button collection.

The flower on the top right is made from lace and seam trimmings from Kailie's mother's wedding dress.  There is a small beaded heart that was attached to the lace bag her mom carried and Karen gave us permission to cut it off and use it in Kailie's hairpiece.

The bottom right flower is made from scraps of lace and muslin that my mom used to make my wedding dress.  There is a bit of burlap ribbon and a scrap of lace edging (bottom right) from the corner of an antique hankie.

I so enjoyed making this for sweet Kailie and was delighted to see how lovely it looked on her that day.

-Clara's hairpiece and sash

Clara got an organza bow, too, with a bit of orange/coral ribbon and an antique button in the center to match her sash (which was the closest we could come in color to matching the lovely coral bridesmaid's dresses)

I also stitched that bit of lace to her sash, picking up a little lace design element in the bridesmaid's dresses.

Then it was home and a bit of "thank-you" sewing.  Three of Kailie's bridesmaids had been major helps to me in preparing the rehearsal dinner and I used some of the scraps from M and K's quilt to make wristlet zipper pouches for them.  

Since making the pouches, the machine's been idle.  But not for long ...

While traveling is not conducive to much machine sewing, it's great for reading.  Long, international flight, airport layovers, etc.  My kindle has been put to good use this summer.

I'm continuing to make my way through all of Dorothy Sayers' mysteries.  I'm currently in Strong Poison which is #6 in the Lord Peter Wimsey series.  I don't think I will ever tire of these books.

A Loving Life: In a World of Broken Relationships by Paul Miller was recommended by a friend, so it's another book that made its way onto my kindle.  Miller uses the story of Ruth to delve into what it means to live a life of love and he does a good job of capturing the essence of what it means to persevere in authentic, covenant love.  Here are a couple of passages to give you a flavor of the book:

"Hesed [steadfast love] is one-way love.  Love without an exit strategy.  When you bind yourself with hesed love, you bind yourself to the object of your love, no matter what the response is."

"Love doesn't go though the day with a measuring stick, testy over the unevenness of life.  Our undying, never-stopping love, reflects the Father's undying love for us in Christ Jesus." 

"Instinctively, we like neat categories of saint or sinner.  But like many of us Naomi is ambiguous. Accepting ambiguity is immensely helpful in the work of love, because when we encounter the strange mixture of good and bad in another person, we tend to lock onto the evil and miss the good.  We don't like ambiguity.  We prefer the clarity of judging."

"A lament put us in the openly dependent position, where our brokenness reflects the brokenness of the world ... holding it in, not giving voice to the lament, can be a way of putting a good face on it.  But to not lament puts God at arm's length and has the potential of splitting us.  We appear okay, but we are really brokenhearted." 

Notes from a Blue Bike and The Hundred Foot Journey were quick airplane reads.

Finally, I finished Wanderlust: A History of Walking by Rebecca Solnit.  I must say that I found this book quite interesting in the beginning, but the last few chapters were a plod. Like a walk that's left you feeling fatigued, I was just ready to get to the end and be done.  Glad I read it, but glad to be done.

Lots of books in the queue as I work my way toward this year's goodreads goal of 50 books.  I'm almost at halfway.  Next week at the beach will put me over, I'm sure!

Funds raised! And more ...

Friends,
I was going to tell you more about the fund raiser that we launched over at Rally.org but with delight instead, I'll just tell you that our goal has already been exceeded!  I am so grateful to those who gave to underwrite the cost of sewing machine ownership for our Make Welcome students.

The sewing machine ownership/sponsorship program works like this: each class that a student attends reduces the cost of her machine by $5.  When she has attended enough classes so that the cost has gotten down to $20, the student will then pay that amount and we go and purchase and deliver her machine to her at home.  The surprising thing is that each of the three women who have purchased machines have been so eager to get their machines, that they have paid amounts ranging from $50 to $65 dollars, some of which was earned through their sales of items at the ARTwalk.  Yesterday, I had the pleasure of purchasing two more machines and today we delivered them!  I'll show you some pictures tomorrow because I am heading to bed very soon.  It was a full and wonderful day and I am happily tired.

The morning was spent sewing with my niece. Annsley made a shoulder bag while I worked on her prom dress. I've learned a lot about sewing on satin and I've tackled a redesign of a pattern in order to create what Annsley envisioned.  It's been a fun challenge.  All that's left is the sash and hemming ... and it will all be done in plenty of time for her early May prom.

Then the afternoon was full of seeing evidence of progress and joy in the lives of some of our refugee friends:

-the N family from Nepal (fruitful friends of my sister) have purchased a lovely home with an amazing back yard which I expect will become a bountiful garden.  Their tiny apartment terrace are a was so productive.  I can't wait to see what they do in their new large, sunny, flat yard.

-little Ruth, from Burma, is learning so many new English words.  We read books and played hide and seek during a short, impromptu visit.

-SA and Th, two of our Make Welcome students who now have their new machines.  It was so much fun to visit them in their apartments when we delivered the machines, to meet the rest of SA's children that I hadn't met yet, eat her homemade samosas, and witness the joy that both students expressed upon receiving their hard earned machines!

Home in the evening for a simple field peas and sauteed kale supper with Coty, a little sewing, a little basketball, and now, rest.  I go to bed with a happy, thankful heart.

Pictures tomorrow!

In the interim ...

since I last wrote, spring has come and gone.  And come again.  And gone again.  The daffodils have bloomed in full force, faces to the sun, waving in warm breezes, and then bowed low under the weight of heavy, cold rain.

At least it's not snowing.  I expect those of you who have just received another several inches of snow are more than ready to see it melt away for good.  I know I would be.

Thankfully, Saturday was a gorgeous day, as warm and slightly windy as a mid-March day should be.  It was perfect for the ARTwalk in our town and the first sales booth experience for our women's sewing group, Make Welcome. We gathered our embellished towels, rice bag totes, fabric flower hair clips, and headbands; dug out and ironed bright orange sari fabric to cover our table; hastily printed pictures and made a sign for our table; and got it all organized in time for Saturday morning.

Julia and I took turns at the table and enjoyed a day of meeting people and telling them about Make Welcome.  We did pretty well selling, too.  It's exciting to see this venture begin to bear the fruit of some income returning to the women.  In addition, the day at the ARTwalk gave us some exposure and contacts with people who are interested both in volunteering and further purchases!

Today it's chilly and wet.  My in-laws, who have been here for Coty's birthday, are heading down the road. I have a messy sewing room and plenty of projects in the queue.  As soon as we say our good-byes, I'm making tea and settling myself in for a day at the machine.

Snow day, sew day

The snow started again this morning, coming down in great big fluffy flakes.  So pretty.  I put black oil sunflower seeds in the feeder and on the windowsill, in hopes of luring the chickadees close and beginning the process of getting them to eventually feed out of my hand.  Mary inspired me.

The chickadees came right away, and also tufted titmice, dark-eyed juncos, cardinals, and the little chipping sparrow.  I put seeds on the windowsill (just behind my little space heater) and in the days to come, I'll put my hand out the window with seeds in it.  We'll see how long it takes!

It was the perfect morning to sit by the window, reading and watching the birds.

Then I shifted to the studio and my trusty old Singer ...

I have a couple of major projects, but I've been away from them - and from my machine - for awhile, so I needed something to sew as a bit of a warm up.

This is a piece of muslin which one of the women in our Make Welcome class sewed.  The very first class, I gave them each a piece of this cloth and showed them how to use the straight stitch and vary the stitch length.  Then we moved on to the zig zag and other stitch options on the machine.  Each of the women made a little sampler like this one and I've had them on my studio shelf, just waiting for an idea.

I made the first one into a zipper pouch with lining from a sari I have stashed.  How would you like to open a little pouch and find this bright bird inside?!

 And here's what that sampler above became - a shoulder bag, with sari sides, back, strap, and lining.  It has an antique button with elastic closure and one pocket on the inside.

These "First Stitches" bags will be for sale (somewhere, sometime - we're still working on those details) but if you're interested in either one, you could leave me a comment.  All proceeds will go toward the work of Make Welcome.

By the afternoon, our snow storm was over.  Coty dug out the driveway and I poked around the yard a bit, anticipating this year's garden chores.  There are many.

Then we went for a walk in the neighborhood.  So many snow people on lawns (today was great snow building, snow ball snow), so many people out walking or shoveling snow.  Everyone was cheerful.  Who wouldn't be?  It was 45 degrees, the snow was beautiful, and the skies were Carolina blue again. 

Our Make Welcome Christmas party ... LOTS of pictures!

The Make Welcome women came to my house yesterday for our last sewing class of the year and a Christmas party.

 I rearranged furniture in my studio to make room to set up five (!!!) sewing machines,

baked sugar cookies and mixed up icing for cookie decorating.

And then they came!  The room was a beehive of activity - sewing tote bags, diaper changing pads, and making fabric flowers.

Lots of helping happened ...

Sang finished her first project - a pieced diaper changing pad.  (sorry the color's not so great in this picture).

San Aye finished her pieced changing pad, too.  And then we discovered that this sweet lady that I've really come to love, who has such a struggle with the machine at times ...



...does exquisite hand embroidery!  I wish you could really see the detail of these fine stitches.  She gave these pillowcases that she embroidered to Julia and me.  What was a gift we will both treasure!  And I can't wait for her to teach the rest of us how to do these unique herringbone stitches.  So much we can all learn from each other.

Meanwhile in the big room, Julia and Jenny were keeping the kids busy and happy ...

making cotton ball sheep...

decorating cookies 

(Everytime I asked Cadie to show me her cookie, 

she held it right up in front of her face!)

Luke had a great time entertaining baby David Thang, who has grown sooooo much!

Ruth, who just turned 2,  is a little artist.

 Finally, we all gathered around the table.  The women decorated some cookies, too.  We drank tea and coffee and talked and laughed ...

 and Julia shared some special Christmas traditions 

and we read verses about the birth of Jesus in Burmese.

Sure do love these ladies.  

I won't see most of them again til February, and I will miss them

but I'm excited to be heading to NY at the beginning of the year for ... 

Grandbaby #2!