Done and Deglittered

 Finally got out of my comfy recliner last night (when the temps were finally below 90F but there was still daylight) and took "Done!" photos of the Sugar Skull quilt that will be donated to Sleep in Heavenly Peace.

70" x 90"

Garlands

I did it! I made garlands as planned!! When I finally sandwiched, quilted, and trimmed all the strips and scraps, I had 367 strips (7.25"x1.5") to make into chains.

Doggy Bag

Last month around this time something internal switched itself off, and I've spent the last 4 weeks drifting through a depression. I could get the bare minimum done that any given day required, but for the most part I acted as a lap for Zoe and read Dick Francis novels, starting with his first and chain reading the days away.

Last weekend it became apparent that I was going to have to get my rear in gear and get some sewing done. The annual Competition for Sweet Adelines Region 10 is coming up this Saturday, and I wanted to make a couple of things for my chorus Secret Sister. I mainly wanted to make a personalized Cabana Mesh Tote bag for her, and I knew it would take several days.

I started with this, a hastily photographed signature on a sign-up sheet at one of our rehearsals. My i-for-idiot flip-phone doesn't do close-up photography well.

Glitterati ii

I was this close to having a quilt done today. How close, you ask? This close:

Two-inch binding strips cut and ready to be sewn together.

But today is Dreadful Tuesday, and another project took its rightful place at the head of the line.

Some Semblance of Self

I'm going to take a page out of Lane's book blog and insert anything political, that I feel I must get off my chest, at the bottom of my entry under a line of asterisks. I am also giving a hugely grateful "Thank you!" to Nann and Caroline for their comments of support and virtual hugs. Those, along with reading some of my favorite bloggers (The Bloggess in particular) and having Real Time conversations with friends (of both persuasions), have helped me work out and through my feelings and get back to a semblance of my normal, bubbly-but-sarcastic self. I'm singing again, ready to perform for The Great Unwashed in our upcoming Holiday gigs.

On a completely surprising note, in the midst of my utter depression I had a dream about making a colorful quilt from a panel of this fabric I have on hand. There was hope yet, and I clung to it!!

Glitterati

"Glitter is the herpes of the craft world." John Heffron

There's another expression along the lines of 'If you want to find a Sweet Adeline, just follow the trail of glitter and sequins.'

These days, that trail will lead you straight to my dining room.

In Stitches

. . . but ain't nobody here laffin'.

I attached bunny's second arm last night. I generally will follow a pattern to the letter the first time I use it. This pattern instructed the arms be assembled by folding down the top edge, sewing the pieces together all around the perimeter (excluding the top), stuffing the turned arm, sewing the top closed, then hand-sewing it to the body.

Even before making the arms I was thinking "there's GOT to be a better way!" I knew darn well that it was going to be awkward sewing a stuffed something onto another stuffed something, even with the appropriate tool (see curved needle on bunny's hand).

Somebunny new

Hi there!

January's banner

As a final flourish to a year-long project, it ended right on schedule. I finished this before my regular departure time, and was very happy to have it on her banner on the first day of this new year.

line 1: (Brl = Braille) / line 2: Lit- / line 3: (er)acy / line 4: Mon(th)

1st Week of Winter

When Christmas is over, the general mindset seems to be that Winter should be nearly over too. But here we are, in the first week of Winter and the last week of the calendar year 2023.

Today I sold the Singer 329 Fashion Mate to a sweet young lady who was very excited to have her.

That just leaves the Atlas listed on Craigslist. I'm going to keep working through my vintage machines in 2024, but giving myself only one month each in 2023 turned out to be unreasonably limiting. Next up will be my Featherweight and its hinky plug. I hope that's all that's wrong with it! If I remember correctly, the bakelite had crumbled enough that the internal wires in the plug head had touched and caused quite a commotion when I plugged it in. Once I pull her out, I'll see how good my memory of that event really is!

I Made A Thing

"... the point is not to make something perfect, but is actually to just make a thing." Wil Wheaton 

(I'm a complete-ist, and this is as far along his journey as I've gotten. It's interesting reading blogs from decades ago, knowing what's coming in the universal timeline.)

So, I made a thing, and I was chuffed. Thing One picked out the fabrics as a gift to his bestie, Jesse.

I sent this to him in an email, saying:

December banner

Got the last stitch in my mother's walker banner before 2:30 this afternoon.

Still Trash Talkin' after all

A reminder of a Christmas-themed gift basket to be raffled off at the chorus's show this Saturday (YIKES!!!!), and the near-empty state of said basket, got me back in the Trash Bags saddle for one last push. From the fabrics un-/dis-covered in the Christmas POUT drawer, I made 4 more bags:

Oh Christmas POUT, Oh Christmas POUT...

The chorus had its tech rehearsal last night (for our December 2nd show) and we're sorted for all the Christmas gigs in the next 3 to 4 weeks, so I feel as though I'm on the countdown toward finishing the holiday season. As a result, I was quite relaxed during my day "off" today. That's the funny reality about performers/performing: by the 2nd week in December, we're done! It takes two more weeks for the rest of the world to catch up with the fact that Christmas is "over".

After accomplishing the two tasks I had promised myself I'd do (clean the litter boxes, catch up on Mom's finances/bills), for my reward I spent most of the afternoon planning Mom's December banner. It didn't take long to go from an idea of four 4" blocks and a series of 2" blocks as borders, to the idea of three 5" blocks with snowflake fabric (for the first day of Winter) separating and bordering them.

Fabric pull:

Christmas, Kwanzaa, Hanukkah

No more trash talk

I sewed down the upper edge of the last of the trash bags this morning. I think I made a total of 39 this time around (and I keep telling myself that 39 is as legitimate a number as 40, and I don't HAVE to make one more to even things out!)

It's impossible to iron them once the plastic lining is sewn in, but I've found that stacking and squashing them does a great job of pressing out wrinkles. These are them.

The last push of 17 is front and center (these were from the piles of paired fabrics mentioned in my previous post). The other, now-completed bags featured in that post are circled in green, weighed down under various containers, bits, and bobs.

Talkin' Trash

I've been immersed in a ... new? continuing? ... project these past several days: making car trash bags (although I use them elsewhere too). The bags in their various stages are stashed have taken over all areas of my studio, as well as the dining room.

These 4 are done:

November banner

I just put in the final stitches, then sat down for lunch and blogging.

A variety of regular threads and quilting threads was used to make the labels. Not overly thrilled with the gold sections of the variegated "November" thread, but I'll take that as a lesson and move on. (The 'month of...' is a Thoreau quote.)

Right around the corner

Thirty days hath September,

April, June, and November.

All the rest have thirty-one,

except for February which hath twenty-eight,

except in Leap Year when it hath twenty-nine....

 

Yeah, that little ditty devolves rapidly after the 3rd line. You can find many versions of the last two lines should you tiptoe through the interwebs.

All this is a lame intro to the fact that I put thread to fabric today to get Mom's November banner underway.

October banner

The last stitch went in this afternoon and it's ready to go to my mom tomorrow.

I "pigma'd" the stems of the apples. There was a LOT of pen work on this one!

Progress

Just a quick progress report to give my eyes somewhere else to focus for a bit. All the paper-pieced blocks are finished. Last night I traced all the titles onto their respective fabrics, and this is what I've accomplished so far this morning while a cool fall breeze (finally!) wafts through the house.

It had been my intent to pen The 57 Bus on the 'wrong' side of the gray fabric, but when I saw how the pen skipped over the white markings, I realized that would help create the rough chalk texture of the original book jacket.  

Back to Lawn Boy now.