Crayon-on-fabric tests

My first attempt at crayon on fabric, a couple weeks ago, didn't prove to be colorfast, so I'm going at it again. As I think I mentioned previously, Connie sent me directions for a vinegar wash to set the colors, and I used it this time. I didn't use it on my previous fabrics because, from all accounts, I didn't think I needed it. That was test 1. This is test 2.



Crayon on fabric test
Originally uploaded by Suzie Rozie.

Here's a pre-machine washing sample, made from a sketch Lauren did in church - I love them, so I've collected many of them. My representation, of course, isn't nearly as nice as his original sketch - he works with a standard black pencil - but then I'm just testing for colorfastness at this time. If I can get the colors to stick, I'll spend more time getting a more accurate representation of what he does.

My samples will all turn into something useful - potholders, place mats, pads to keep hot things from scorching the table ... so I can play for a while without feeling I'm wasting fabric or time.

Three weeks of odds and ends ...

At our last Martha Circle gathering, Carol brought a bag of scraps left over from cutting 9-1/2-inch squares for the military quilts. Thinking that others might like some of the scraps, I took only a small bunch. They're really neat scraps - 9-1/2 inches long (give or take an eighth inch) and most are about the same width - great for making strips and then cutting them into squares. So, last week, I put together four quilts and used up those scraps plus a number of squares I had pieced together before I got heavy into traveling last spring.


From Carol's scrap bag
Originally uploaded by Suzie Rozie.

When we met for Bethany's shower (Lydia Circle) last week, Carol mentioned that she had more scraps, so I asked for them. She brought them on Sunday, and they are wonderful. There were sufficient red, white, and blue scraps that I was able to strip piece a whole 36 x 45 quilt top with them. (There are still quite a few scraps in her bag, and I bet I can get another top from them.)

The work of piecing the strips together is peaceful, meditative-quality work, and it suits me just fine. I'm sure it doesn't suit everyone, and I'm always reminded of that when we meet together and we marvel at the diversity of strengths among us while each of us sits in the muddle of what we perceive as our own weaknesses.


Gold, red, and brown strips from Sue's scrap bag
Originally uploaded by Suzie Rozie.

As I was working through Carol's bag, I was rummaging through my own stash, which includes little packets here and there of scraps, so I pieced some together, combined them with the balance of the rather plain blocks I had put together before I quit in the spring, and got my sixth top completed this morning. That brings me current through June.

One of the thoughts I have when I'm putting these together is that there should be something of interest in them. Though there is definitely nothing special about most of these tops (including the last one), the strips of gold, red, and shades of brown catch your attention. It's my thought that if you were sitting in a wheel chair with this over your lap, the colorful stripes might get your attention and allow your mind to wander to another place. That could be a good thing - and it's my hope that it is.

While I was scrapping away, I threw together some scraps for some new potholders, too. They surely are nothing special except that it allowed me to throw away (toss forever!) a few permanently dingy ones that were sitting on my kitchen counter. I made two that were 9-inches, and those felt a little big, so I made two more - one 7 inches and one 6 inches, and they seem to be about the right size. They are quilted with three layers of (pieced together) cotton batting, and that seems about right. I bound the larger ones with a 3-inch piece of cross-grain fabric, folded in half. That's a good size to work with. I used a two-inch strip, folded in half, for the smaller ones. Two inches was just a tad too narrow.


Carryall bag for Lydia Circle
Originally uploaded by Suzie Rozie.

I will finish three Lydia Circle bags today, featuring sheer drapery fabric samples which were donated to the Lydia group, and that will finish up my scrapping and small projects for a while. I made the first bag (pictured) earlier this week, as a prototype, and I now have the other three ready to line and finish. These bags are large enough to hold a few magazines (or something of equivalent size) and the straps are long enough to slip over a shoulder. They don't have pockets, and the closure is a simple tie. Although they look fancy, they aren't, and they should be useful.

Next, I'll finish two knitted baby sweaters - for a total of four, and then I'll think about where I want to go from there. I think I'd like to make a baby / toddler hoodie, but I want to make it all on circulars, with a minimum of seams. I think I'll need to analyze a pattern that looks plausible and see if I can convert it to circulars. I think Elizabeth Zimmerman has a prototype hoodie in one of her books. Maybe I can find it, and that would give me a head start. I'm not fond of buttons on knits I make, but maybe I can figure out why I don't like them and fix whatever the problem is.

On with the show. Needlework is my life these days. As boring as it sounds, I'm content for a while, and that definitely is a good thing!

Regrouping for the summer

Last week was a really low key week, and I think this week is going to be another one as I catch up with things around the house. There are numerous small projects, like mending, that I put off in favor of larger, more fun projects like quilting. The small projects create a certain amount of physical and mental clutter that eventually buries me.

Yesterday, I mended two little slips of dresses that are really handy for summer when it's too hot to wear much of anything, and I remodeled a third (Clio) that I had purchased from a thrift store last year. All three had been sitting on top of my sewing desk for a year. How nice to have those done and out of my sight.

Among the to-do things I did last week was get out the sewing manual for my Kenmore machine to remind myself of some of the things it can do. I have looked for a year for a switch to lower the feed dogs so I could so some free-style sewing with it. I had finally come to the conclusion that I would have to set the feed dogs to zero, take off the foot, and just make the best of it if I wanted to use this machine for embroidery. I was hoping I wouldn't have to go the extra step to tape over the feed dogs - tape tends to leave a sticky residue, and that causes all kinds of other problems. Low and behold, the manual told me that there was a feed-dog switch on the almost-underside back of the free-arm. Sure enough, it was there. I had to tilt the machine toward me and lean over it to find it. I would have never found it without the manual!

It's not that I will do much free-style embroidery or sewing on the Kenmore; it's just that I have this urge to make that inexpensive little Kenmore perform like my expensive Bernina.

I suppose what partly drives that urge is a comment from a friend of ours who said she couldn't quilt because she didn't have an expensive machine like my Bernina. Poppycock, I said to myself! And poppycock it turns out to be. I do as much or more sewing on the Kenmore as I do on the Bernina. The Kenmore has a beautiful little stitch.

The other part of my determination to make the Kenmore perform like the Bernina, of course, is the difference in cost. Although I love the Bernina, the price I paid for it, more than eight years after I purchased it, still makes me cringe.

(My friend, by the way, gave me a couple dozen nearly full spools of thread when she decided to give up sewing. I think sewing just wasn't her thing any longer, although in the days she was sewing, she proved to be a really fine seamstress. She is a very talented woman, dabbling in all types of artistic endeavors, from oils to textiles! We have two of her oils hung on our walls, and I proudly point them out when we have guests. )


Crayola Crayon test for crayon quilt
Originally uploaded by Suzie Rozie.

Having a low key week and handling only small tasks has its rewards. In preparation for making the Plaid Cats crayon quilt, I dug out some pre-stamped pillow-cases I had purchased for Mom a number of years ago, colored them with crayons, and then free-motion embroidered them (using the Bernina). Connie sent me the recipe for a vinegar bath before I wash them, and I'll eventually get around to doing that. The work isn't exactly polished, but it's a start.


Bethany's bag - front
Originally uploaded by Suzie Rozie.

After making the baby quilt for Bethany's shower the week before we went to Colorado, the need for a matching bag was nagging me, especially since I had some squares left over, so I made the bag last week. The front quilt square is a pocket. I put another square, on point, on the back just as decoration. I was pleased with that. The entire bag is made using the Kenmore, plus the serger.


Karen's purse
Originally uploaded by Suzie Rozie.

And then there's Karen's bag, on my to-do list since my visit to Judy this spring. Like all the things on my to-do list, I had a fear that it would stay there forever. I was so pleased to start and finish it last week and pleased with the way it turned out. The picture isn't good (taken in the mirror in our dark entry-way, colors washed out by the flash), so I'll describe it a little. The bag is fully lined with muslin, has one inside zipper pocket for small things, a drawstring closure to keep things from falling out, an outside patch pocket to slip things in, a large flap to cover all the openings when the bag is worn, and an adjustable strap with a belt-buckle closure. I found the belt, which was just the perfect size, hanging in the garage, where it's been for years, and Lauren took the buckle off for me the morning I finished the strap. The purse was made entirely on the Kenmore and the serger.

And speaking of the serger, I learned something new and useful about it yesterday. I changed my threads from black to white so I could put an overlock stitch on the bottom of the thrift store Clio dress before I shortened it, and when I change threads, I need to re-do and test the tensions again.

Sergers are nothing like sewing machines. Even if the instructions were well written, I would be confused, but the instructions for this serger (Singer) are not exactly well written. I generally use the two loopers and one of the needles (usually the left one). The instruction I use is No. 7. How to sew three-thread standard overlock, flatlock and wrapped edge overlock. This instruction has 6 steps to it, and I generally stop at Step 4 because that seems to get me a serger-looking stitch. I never could figure out what Steps 5 and 6 were. Yesterday, in a rare moment of clarity, I stumbled on the fact that Step 4 tells you how to do a three-thread standard overlock, Step 5 tells you how to do a flatlock, and Step 6 tells you how to do a wrapped edge overlock. The only difference is the setting for the tension discs, and each setting produces a unique stitch.

As the former manager of a technical documentation department, I mourned the fact that the Singer tech writers didn't have our standards. Numbered steps mean sequential tasks. Steps 4, 5, and 6 are not sequential. They are mutually exclusive instructions and each should have been listed as a unique, not sequential, procedure under the subtitle How to sew a three-thread ... Aargh! (As an aside, the Singer writers don't use the 2 commas-in-a-series-of-three rule, either. In my opinion, that's always a mistake.)

I am hooked on the serger for finishing seams and securing raw edges. For years, I used a sewing machine zig-zag or overlock-type stitch, but there's no comparison. The sewing machine tends to provide a less polished, bulkier finish than the serger. Now that I've unlocked more serger overlock secrets, I'm sure I'll use it even more!

A family vacation in Pagosa Springs

Village Pointe, Pagosa
Originally uploaded by Suzie Rozie.

Pagosa Springs, Colorado, has been a family favorite of ours since we discovered it in 1990 - 18 years ago. We had visitors that year from the Netherlands, the family of our foreign exchange student, Mathieu, and we treated them to a tour of the western part of the United States. We used time shares where we could, and one of the places available to us was Pagosa Springs. We were hooked right away, and we purchased a time share there.

Since then, we've traveled there various times with our children, my parents, and my brother and his family, and we've always come away wanting more.

Because of work and other life events, we haven't been there for a few years, and we were long overdue for this trip.

This year, we traveled with our oldest granddaughter, now grown and married, and her husband - wonderful travel buddies, we've discovered - and we met my brother, Steve, and his wife, Connie, there, for another fully satisfying week.

We had two units together that, combined, were large enough to sleep eight - complete with two kitchens, two living rooms, and two baths. It was just enough space for our three families, giving us ample private and community space to enjoy.

Wyndam Pagosa, formerly known as Fairfield Pagosa, has activities for everyone, more than one can take in within the space of one week.

Here's a sample of our schedule for the week:

Sunday

We checked in, drove through town so we could refresh our memories of all we've enjoyed in the past, grocery shopped, and fixed supper.

Monday


Boy in snow at Wolf Creek
Originally uploaded by Suzie Rozie.

We drove up to Wolf Creek pass, stopping on the way up to enjoy Treasure Falls and the snow that's nearly always in the basin near Wolf Creek, and then stopping at the overlook high above the valley on the way back.

Steve and I made pizza dough according to a recipe Steve found on http://www.culinarycafe.com/Pizza/Basic_Pizza_Crust.html. Steve brought all the ingredients, including parchment paper, pizza pans, and a baking stone. It was fun watching the yeast proof. We let the completed dough set in the refrigerator overnight, giving it really great yeast-bread taste when we put it all together the next night.

Tuesday

Lauren, Stephanie, Scott and I took a juggling class, and then Steve, Connie, Lauren and I took a Wildflower Cards class where we colored wildflower cards with watercolor pencils and then worked the colors with a wet brush. Both activities were lots of fun.

Lauren shredded nearly two pounds of mozzarella cheese, chopped some onion, and browned some Jimmy Dean sausage (our favorite with pizza), and then Steve and I assembled the rest of the toppings and baked two pizzas for us. For the sauce, Steve used plain tomato paste covered with pesto. Yummmm! I don't know that I've ever had a pizza as good as these were. I'm going to try the recipe at home and see if I can come up with some method to make smaller ones and freeze some because there's only two of us here.

In the evening, Stephanie, Scott, Lauren, and I went to a little root beer float social sponsored by the resort - that was another yummm!!!

Wednesday

Connie and Steve drove to Durango for the day, and Stephanie and Lauren took a water color (real water color) class in the morning - both coming back with a really nice painting that would look good on any wall!

In the afternoon, Scott, Stephanie, Lauren, and I drove down to Chimney Rock and took the guided tour of the ruins. Actually, I took only half of the tour because I was afraid the second half would be too high on the mountain on paths that were too narrow - and when it was over, Stephanie, Scott, and Lauren all agreed that I had made the right decision. The history of that area is absolutely fascinating.

That evening, Stephanie and Scott made tacos for us, with all the trimmings. I can't remember the last time we had tacos, and the minute I bit into my first one, I knew it had been way too long. Another ymmmm!

Thursday

Thursday was a rainy day, a perfect day to play games nearly all day instead of just part of a day. Connie took time out to go to a Tee Shirt Art class, and she came back with a really neat t-shirt she hand painted as a gift for her nephew.

The rain gently backed off late afternoon, giving us some blue patches of sky, and after a supper of Johnsonville Brats (another yummmm!) we took off for the weekly Thursday Rodeo at the fair grounds. This was only the second rodeo the group had put on for this season, so the announcer and support crew were a little loose in their presentation; but they'll pick up as the summer goes on. We've enjoyed going in the past. I don't remember, though, the event where the little kids ride sheep. That was a lot of fun to watch. (I posted a picture or two on Flickr.)

Friday

Steve had caught a cold just before the trip started, and Connie was catching it - and they both were due to be back to work on Monday, so they left a day earlier than they had planned so they could get home and rest a bit.


Preparing to river raft at Pagosa
Originally uploaded by Suzie Rozie.

Stephanie, Scott, and Lauren took a three-hour 9:00 rafting trip, and after I took them over to the activity center to catch their ride, I cleaned up our units a bit and then went down to the Edelweiss Needlework Chalet in Pagosa. Whatta store!!! They have all kinds of needlework, from knitting and crocheting, quilting, embroidery ... I ended up purchasing two crayon quilt designs from them, created by Black Cat Creations . I also purchased an inexpensive Brazilian embroidery design by Ed Mar.

That evening, we went down to the Pagosa Town Square gazebo and enjoyed some excellent (and free) music presented by the Belleville Outfit . We stopped at Subway and took our supper with us. The group was scheduled to entertain us for an hour, and ended up giving us a great time for 1-3/4 hours. They are sooooooo good! They are a young group and we don't think they've been together long. We bought their first CD, and they've improved since then (tons!) and we're sure they will continue to improve. If they don't make it big, we will be totally surprised. They are good, they love their audiences, and their audiences love them right back! If we ever have a chance to hear them again, we will jump at it.

Saturday

After we took the bikes back early on Saturday morning, we took a drive in the mountains high above Pagosa. It's a drive we always enjoy. Later in the day, we got our things ready to leave for home on Sunday, and we ended the day with frozen pizza and some games.

While we were in Pagosa, we played a little tennis, rode bikes, and did a little fishing. We could have done more of each, and we could have taken some wonderful hikes and many other things, but a week is just too short to get in all that the area offers. Next year..... Yep, next year we will do better! (Sure - we'll just have to keep going back and going back!)