Art, Craft and Needlework, December, 2011

[Harriet]

December is a month that really highlights creativity. We may give some of our own handiwork as gifts, or choose to give others (either children or adults) creative supplies as gifts. ( ) We may be getting out our own or others' handiwork for our home décor this month. Here's what some of us have been creating lately:

bittersweet has been honing creative writing skills.
Harmony is hand-quilting a baby quilt for her grandchild.
Twins Mom is assessing her family scrapbooking.
Nancy has been making yarn puppets.
BookSaver sewed up a Boy Scout logo blanket for a friend.
Sunny came in to encourage.
Harriet is making a quilt sleeve and dd has been sketching.

How are your creative outlets enhancing your home and enjoyment this month?

[Harmony]

I've been sewing like crazy, every spare minute I have I'm in front of my quilt rack. This morning I finished the last foot of the border and took it out of the rack. Next is to remove the markings, then work on binding and label. I was just about to call them to see if they've picked a name (for my label) when they called that baby is here and to tell me the name.

I have picked out a bunch of patterns from a quilt book I brought home from library. I've looked at lots of quilt books, but this one was super helpful with lots of doable ideas, and I was going to copy some stuff (copyright says ok for personal use) but there's way too much so I'm going to try to find myself a copy. Hoping I can find a used one.

Editing: I found it online used, probably a soft cover (I'd really have liked a hard cover) but now I have it coming to me. There are a number of projects I'd like to try from this book for next year.

Editing again since noone has been here yet: I got the binding made and sewed on and pinned ready for the hand sewing on back side.

Last night I got the binding sewed. This afternoon I made a little patchwork label with one of the tigers in the corner and a border and lettered and sewed it on. Then I made the sleeve and sewed that on. I hung it on my broom handle at the fireplace and we got a couple good pictures. We will mess around with it later and I'll try to post one.

Even though I didn't do a lot of piecing on the top, this qilt turned out adorable (I think!) DH was quite impressed. And very pleased I put his name on the label since he helped with making the template and marking the whole top with me. He was very supportive of this project and complimentary. That was nice for a change. Tomorrow it goes in the mail, with a prayer that it doesn't get lost in the holiday rush of mailings. Baby was supposed to come home today, so this is just in time.

[Harriet]

What a great report, Harmony, both that you got so much done so quickly and well, AND that you and dh have shared memories of it. That's cool that you patchworked the label - labels with a little extra are fun. Oh, good you got it photographed before wrapping it up. They will probably receive it as they finally settle down from hospital hustle-bustle, so that will be perfect. Also your new book will arrive just when you are settling in for Christmas season reading.

labels - dd has been watching YouTube sketch artists. She was shocked today to see that I have a Micron 01 black pigment pen. (I use it for lettering labels.) She says this is the exact pen that one of the artists suggested using for outlining a finished drawing. She said, "Can I.." and I said, NOPE! But maybe she will find one in her stocking.

Creative gifts - Here's a link to what I am giving an 11-year=old great-niece (my late husband's family) : a Paper Bead making book with supplies Anybody ever done this craft before? I think dd33 and I did when she was a child, but I don't remember ever finishing a piece of jewelry.

[Harmony]

Wow that is the cutest idea. I've seen those beads but never knew anybody to make them.

I remembered to fill out a page in my quilt "diary" planning book of how I made the quilt complete with a photocopy of the label. It seemed light as a feather to me and I was shocked that it cost almost $7.50 to send. The line at the post office was all the way out to the lobby, so it was a little hard to let go of it into all that hustle-bustle.

[Nancy]

I could not find a wreath for the front of the house so I'm thinking I might put the ornaments on as we are not using 'em for the tree and making one so that's my craft project. Maybe grand kids can help!

[BookSaver]

Paper beads ~ As a teen, I made these from various types of paper, including magazine covers and wallpaper scraps. I seem to remember sealing them with clear nail polish.

Klutz kits are always very attractive and seem to be a good value. They're good about labeling the kits with appropriate ages.

Harmony ~ Great job on completing the quilt so quickly and sending it off already. Nice touch with the label!

Nancy ~ You and your grandkids sure have a lot of fun. They must love coming to your house.

Sewing ~ I completed my UFO challenge project for last night's meeting. As described in a previous thread, my grab bag contained 2 pieces of fabric, a peach color shiny cotton/poly blend 16"x48" (scant) and an eyelet cotton printed with red/blue/green floral stripe 16"x33".

I ended up cutting them apart and piecing an apron based on a 1940s booklet for making aprons from handkerchiefs, which I found online at http://tipnut.com/tea-aprons/. I based my pattern on #3.

The center square is both fabrics cut 16". I used the other half of the printed eyelet for the side triangles. The bottom ruffle and waistband are the peach. By cutting the ruffle pieces side-by-side 8"x16", I could cut 3 longer strips (2.5"x33") for the waistband and ties. Those dimensions turned out a good size for my plus size.

The original illustrations in the booklet appear to be using small standard-size embroidered or printed handkerchiefs. Obviously those measurements would only fit a girl or a very slim 1940s woman.

I think my version turned out ok, although the fabrics I had to work with are rather stiff even after prewashing. Hopefully they will soften with wear.

The woman who picked up my UFO (boy print cotton with a bright blue background) added red corduroy to it to make a cute vest and pants combo.

I had picked up my UFO fabric from the freebie table in the first place, so in the end this project only cost me part of a spool of white thread. I used all of both fabrics except a 1" strip of the eyelet selvedge.

[Harriet]

Sounds like such a cute apron, BookSaver. Also nice to think the fabric you gave has a new life. Yes, almost all patterns/instructions for aprons of the past were in denial about true women's dimensions. I can say this with authority because I have seen the photos of my female ancestors - some in aprons - and they did not stay the size they were as teens!

Harmony, do you have visions of quilts from your new book in your head these days?

Right! Now that jogs my memory. It was magazines we made those beads out of, about 20 years ago when that craft first came through, lol. I remember it didn't make much difference what the magazine page showed because after rolling you were just going to get an impression of the general colors.

Dd13 tells me not to think of the gift as "just a book" because it does include finishing glaze, seed beads, etc. She says it still has a toy "feel" to it.

It is gift wrapping time here, so there is some creativity in that. I wrapped the 6 children's gifts (that will travel) according to size, blue-green-red-blue-green-red, so that I can make a tower-to-go out of them if I want, using wide ribbon. I'll need to consider whether there will be room in the vehicles to carry them that way. Whenever possible I like to get a gift into a box and wrap rather than bag it. So far, so good with some really oddly-shaped items!

Gift wrapping is the only time I get a little mini bit into card-making, because I like to add stickers, etc., to folded cardstock for bigger, more interesting gift tags.

[Harmony]

I make tags out of pieces of Christmas cards. Often there is some little thing that can be cut out with a bit of the card around, and it makes a good tag. There are little square images on the backs often that make good tags too. DH, however, bought a box of those self-stick rolled labels last year on an after Christmas sale, and I will use them up on the children's gifts.

My book hasn't arrived yet. Yesterday I dropped the library books in the drop box, except for the one I forgot so that still has to go. I did a quick peek through one and copied one of the star quilts. I am thinking about making the DGSs on my side of family quilts for next Christmas. There are 5 of them. All twin size (bunk beds) except for oldest who is in double platform bed.

It seems like the right time. Oldest is 12 and finally no longer having bedwetting problems; other family's dog now sleeps in the living room instead of on the bottom bunk...and if I wait, the 12 yr old won't have that many years to enjoy. Do you think I can get 5 done in a year? The book I bought is called quilts for children and has lots of ideas, right for the age and easy enough for me to do.

I have themes picked out: beach, airplanes (windmill block propeller & kites) guitar/music, patriotic flags, and a chess one. Too ambitious? Maybe!

[Nancy]

I started a knitting project last night but the gauge is wrong so will have to start it again. sigh

[Harmony]

I've been remembering a purse my dear Aunt made, the aunt who lived on the dairy farm out in the country in PA. She took a quaker oat container and cut it down shorter, sewed a shiny blue material to the top with a ruffled drawstring and handles at the very top. Then she rolled magazines into little skinny sausages about 6" tall and covered with some sort of shiny stuff (like Harriet's beads?) and affixed all around the container below the top material. I remember thinking how cute it was. I must have been 6 or 8 years old and still remember it.