Art, Craft and Needlework, July, 2012

A place for Artistry, Crafts and Needlework; Decorating and Holidays.
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Harriet
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Art, Craft and Needlework, July, 2012

Postby Harriet » Sun Jul 01, 2012 7:38 pm

Establishing goals is all right if you don't let them deprive you of interesting detours. ~Doug Larson


How are you detouring these days? What interesting artistic adventures are you dreaming of? What vision will you put needles, paintbrush, camera or sewing machine to this month?

BookSaver created a custom costume for her local community theatre.
She found fun projects online and shared them.
Harmony has finished the seashore quilt and it's lovely.
In other important news, she found a new fabric shop.
Nancy is learning to make a new kind of flower edging in acrylic yarn.
She finished a cranberry prayer shawl and is working on a yellow one.
Sunny has fabric washed and ready for her summer quiltmaking.
Harriet tried to help with dye-bleeding struggles!

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Harmony
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Re: Art, Craft and Needlework, July, 2012

Postby Harmony » Sun Jul 01, 2012 11:51 pm

Oh, Harriet, you made my quilt sound just right, without all the problems I now have with it! Thanks!

Well, batting is poly/cotton blend, I don't remember 90 cotton 10 poly. I do remember it is fairfield. I'm not concerned about fading of the back. The back is white and the binding is a light tan.

What's the problem with drying in a dryer, anyway? I just asked about that because the lady in that other thread laid hers out to dry. I'm thinking a med. coolness and maybe just to damp then lay out to dry the last bit? It's eventually going to pucker up a bit anyway. These are kids quilts. I know they're going to be dried in the dryer. I just want it to look nice when I give it.

My front load washer does not have a spin only cycle. One of the things I don't like about it. It does have a rinse / spin cycle which runs about 18 minutes. I know I have to support it a lot. Pile it all up and carry it in a basket.

Tonight I gathered up ALL my bright fabrics that I'll be using in the next couple quilts. I washed each seperately by hand in kitchen sink. 2 washes hot water 2 rinses cold. I have 3 blues from the beach quilt... 1 bled a little, 1 not at all, 1 bled quite a bit. By the 2nd rinse everything was clear. I hope I hope. I put like colors into the rinse / spin cycle. Man that was a lot of work. One material was bright red and bright white together and that appeared to be ok from the start, so the prewash on that one worked. A black one with colored bicycles all over also appeared not to bleed at all. I'm still thinking on the quilt.

Is creativity supposed to be this much work?

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Harmony
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Re: Art, Craft and Needlework, July, 2012

Postby Harmony » Thu Jul 05, 2012 11:51 pm

I've been sewing on new top. Really easy pattern, just nice size squares with strip around them and sashing between blocks and between rows. Still, I seem to have troubles coming out with just the right sizes...this easy and a row of 4 blocks is 1/2 inch smaller than supposed to be. I guess I'll never be an accomplished piecer.

Can you believe the powder blue I'm using between the blocks has a couple spots of black grease on it? I came to one spot and washed that piece in straight liquid soap and it did come out after a bit of scrubbing. I've run across this before, I'm told it comes from the manufacturing process, and somehow I missed seeing it when I prewashed and ironed. I wonder why it didn't come out with the prewash?

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Re: Art, Craft and Needlework, July, 2012

Postby Nancy » Fri Jul 06, 2012 10:43 am

I finished the lemon yellow prayer shawl yesterday and got the floral edging on it loving the way that this project turned out! :mrgreen: Yea for success!

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Harmony
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Re: Art, Craft and Needlework, July, 2012

Postby Harmony » Sat Jul 07, 2012 12:12 am

Unhappy discovery...the quilt shop right down the street here has vacated their spot. They didn't leave a forwarding number or address on their door, like stores do when they just move. I'm afraid they went out of business. I went there looking for synthropol. J-A does not sell it. I went to another location where I know there was a shop, it is no longer there either. I had coupon I wanted to use at JA so all through the town on the way there I kept my eyes open..nope, no shop anywhere. Sad. I know a couple months ago a shop in the west part of our county went out of business too.

Our town is just sad. So many empty storefronts. So many businesses gone. We are not doing well.

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Re: Art, Craft and Needlework, July, 2012

Postby BookSaver » Sat Jul 07, 2012 12:44 am

Oh Harmony, it's so sad to hear of another fabric store going out of business. I keep reminding my sewing group how lucky we are to have several actual fabric stores within an hour's drive. Yes, people talk about the "good deals" they can find on the internet, but it is so important to be able to feel the fabric quality and see the colors in different lights, not just a photo.

I went to an independent machine & fabric store today to talk to the owner about the program she's giving at our meeting Tuesday. I'm so excited about this meeting. She is bringing at least 20 bolts of brand new fabric straight off the delivery truck so we will be able to buy the first cuts. New Christmas cotton prints! New Hoffman hand-dyed batiks! :D She's going to demo some quick & easy projects, too.

She's going to give each of us a free copy of the pattern for her new original wall hanging design. I saw 2 of her samples today. The design is totally dependent on finding the "right" couple of fabrics, but her samples are beautiful.

I went prepared to buy some fabric today, because she sells garment fabrics as well as quilting supplies, but she already had most of the new bolts packed away to bring to our meeting so I decided to wait until Tuesday. I did buy a bias tape maker in the biggest size I've ever seen, which I think will greatly speed up the process of making bag handles and apron straps. Unfortunately, I forgot to buy a new seam ripper; all of mine are dull from so much use! :| :lol:

Oh just remembered I found a note on an old grocery list that said "4-sided place mat." Don't remember where I saw the idea, maybe on a sewing show on public tv, but I'm sure the basic instructions are out on the internet somewhere. I think they're meant for holiday decorating? Must go search ...

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Nancy
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Re: Art, Craft and Needlework, July, 2012

Postby Nancy » Sun Jul 08, 2012 11:15 am

I got caught up in a kntting project trying to knit up one of those floppy stocking caps that drape to the nape of ones neck. Did my journaling with some sketches of projects I've thought of next. Saw a fun apron theme show "Sewing with Nancy" on PBS yesterday! Don't usually watch that one but just happened to catch it channel surfing. [Got some hat inspiration from previously viewed movie costuming.]

Rewarded my self with a few rows of knitting after doing some chores this morning!


I have a shawl in progress in this blog post. The green striped one.
http://speedflyer.blogspot.com/search/label/Crochet
[url]...http://s44.photobucket.com/albums/f4/12 ... /Knitting/[/url]

I'm on pinterest these are fun but not my pics very inspiring!
http://pinterest.com/nancysnews/

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Re: Art, Craft and Needlework, July, 2012

Postby Nancy » Mon Jul 16, 2012 10:16 am

I am enjoying crochet work on a triangle shaped shawl with odds and ends of yarns this month's project!

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Harmony
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Re: Art, Craft and Needlework, July, 2012

Postby Harmony » Fri Jul 20, 2012 1:05 pm

Nancy, one of your picture links wouldn't come up for me..but it was a couple days ago and I forget which one.

I had a big rectangle piece of the main front fabric print that I will probably never use again for anyone anywhere so I pieced big strips around it and top and bottom to make the back to the quilt. Then I wasted hours and hours and hours figuring out how to center that onto the back of the quilt sandwich.

I've tried the best I could then started assembling. I just need to put more pins in now. I left the backing bigger than the front so I'd have something for the rack rails, so I couldn't just measure in from the edges... wow piecing on the back sure adds a lot of time.

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Re: Art, Craft and Needlework, July, 2012

Postby Harriet » Fri Jul 20, 2012 10:36 pm

Love your pinterest pages on humor and chickens, especially chickens, Nancy! The photo of the two black chickens looks so much like our two black ones it's amazing. Great coop ideas - wow, what a use for a chest of drawers!

Sounds like you did great with a pieced back, Harmony. I've wondered, too, how those are ever easily "lined up". But they add interest!

Seam rippers are vital, for sure, BookSaver!!! If I were ready to sew a pieced block and knew I had no seam ripper, I'd be worried! :lol:


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