Art, Craft and Needlework, September 2014

[BookSaver]

Saturday afternoon after my sewing group meeting, we had a small group bring sewing machines and sergers, and we sewed cotton shorts and shirts for children in Haiti to wear to school. They are not allowed to go to school until they have a "uniform" in the school colors. We worked in teams as assembly lines, and I worked on the team making shorts with elastic waist. Easy peasy.

I have started gathering projects to take to sewing retreat next month. This is our annual retreat where we stay for a few nights at a camping lodge.

[Nancy]

I finished the tote I have been crocheting on so now back to my pink prayer shawl knitting.

[FelineFriend]

Booksaver, What a wonderful ministry and project to do for the children of Haiti! Your retreat sounds great, too! (Wish I could go!)

Nancy, What color is your tote and is it for a girl or a woman? I made a small Granny squares tote or purse, for a little girl once and gave it to her for a "just because" gift. I believe the pattern's on-line at Bernat.com or something where they use kitchen crochet 100% knitted worsted cotton yarns.

I'll try to complete the red edging on DGS-5.5's Christmas afghan today, so I can begin crocheting DGS-3.5's Christmas afghan. His will be in many shades and hues of blues with forest green and a bright apple green. Almost neon in color. DH took 2 loose skeins of it and rolled it into 2 large balls for me! He's so nice! I figure since he's laying on the sofa watching TV, I might as well put him to work! It helps me cut down on my time of doing things like that, so I can get other crochet done.

I'll BBL to report on the edging. Hoping to be able to report its completion!

[Nancy]

The tote is sage green and fall colors for an adult.

[Harriet]

BookSaver, that project sounded so much more practical to me than the dresses (although all the dresses projects were wonderful, I'm sure) that I looked it up on the net. Not a lot about it, except that your area/region there seems to be in the news for it, so kudos to you and your greater community there for seeing the need. I saw the mention of the buttonholes being necessary for some shirts. Was your group trying to do buttonholes?

Dcousin went to a library sale on the last day and for one group of purchases brought me back a grocery bag of quilting books, all that were left. I'll have to go through them some time. It was thoughtful, although both our houses could do with some decluttering, not more books, really.

For good or for ill, most all my quilting studio has been moved back into the smallest bedroom in our home - the one dd occupied while my ddad was still alive. It was in this space during the years when I made the "houses" quilt for WonderBoy, and some other projects I probably told about here. The temperature is seldom ideal in the outdoor room (air conditioning is a fixed unit but heater just freestanding). But everything was kept in pristine condition otherwise (zero dust generated in that self-contained space, almost zero sunlight getting in), and I did enjoy creating my green-eyed-boy's "toys" quilt there. It's a trade-off to have brought it all back "into the thick of things" but HRH wants me to have it all at hand whenever I feel creative this winter.

[FelineFriend]

Hi, I think your tote colors sound great, to me, Nancy.

Harriet, Who is WonderBoy? A son or DGS? Good luck on your quilting space.

I went to Crochet Pattern Central, to look for teapot cozies. Under "Cozies," I found one called "Crochet Teapot Cozy/Warmer." The design's by Clare Sullivan. It's a very easy-to-crochet teapot cozy. The tutorial said their teapot's length is 8" and the top to bottom is 6". However, when you crochet your beginning chain, they said to hold it up to your teapot bottom, up high (since it's crocheted by height) to custom-fit your cozy to your own teapot. They say to chain the # of chains you need, SC in 2nd chain from the hook, until the end, chain 2, turn, SC in back loop to end. Continue until the ribbing fits around 1/2 of the teapot, as you crochet 2 panels. There is also a drawstring for the top. They said you can chain a drawstring to fit under the handle for a snugger fit, too. The ribbing's vertical, stretches very well, and you leave a space, when you sew the 2 pieces together, for the spout and handle- like DUH! Don't we always do that? The pattern calls for several colors and crocheting stripes. However, the example is in rose pink solid. I thought it'd be nice in a pretty variegated color, too, or a bi-color. My kitchen colors are cobalt accents, but I also have a forest green sofa in the great room, which can be seen from the kitchen and dining room. And the seat cushions to our dining room pub stools are off-white and an off-white cozy would be pretty refreshing-looking, but would get dirty easier. I'm trying to decide if I want to stripe the cozy in royal blue and off-white or use darker colors striped all around. I have a bin of yarn underneath the dining room bay window, which I am working from, but the lid's on. It's out of the way and I could open it up, and crochet stripes as I go, or put the skeins in a tote, from the bin. I'd love a multicolor stripes cozy, but then again, I keep thinking about weaving in all those loose ends. I want to simplify and also, I got to thinking how a tea cozy would make a nice Christmas gift for friends, too. I have 3 teapots; 2 are straight sides and 1 is curves. If I make this for a gift, I can use my teapots as examples to fit the cozy for all 3 teapots and then, since its size would be "universal", I wouldn't need to "worry" about a cozy not fitting a friend's teapot. I have 1 dfriend in mind. She has a white kitchen, with pale grey walls, and a darker clay color wall. If I made her a white one or off-white, it'd be so pretty in her kitchen. I'm also making her Christmas (round stripes) potholders/extra 1 hot pad. If I did the cozy, it would eliminate my previous idea of crocheting her a hanging dishtowel. It's a lot of work to do those and then you need to "fuss" with finding the perfect button and sewing it on. The cozy would be fun for me to do, it's a great idea, as she's extremely health conscious, and stays away from coffee, at last check. Oh, I'm so GLAD I found this pattern tonight!

Sorry I chatted so long! (I get excited and then can't be quiet.)

[BookSaver]

Harriet, this particular project for Haitian children is being organized by a teenage girl and her Catholic church. The girl started it as a 4H project a couple years ago and she did the "pillowcase dresses" first. Her church allowed her to go to Haiti to deliver the dresses, and that's when she learned about the extent of the poverty there and the need for school uniforms. Her church is partnered with a priest in Haiti who serves 25 parishes, each with its own school.

The girl gave a wonderful presentation to us Saturday before we started sewing. She said that she was adopted from Ukraine at 8 years old, and she was not allowed to go to school before she came to the USA. That's another reason she's doing this project, since she understands what it is like to be a child who desperately wants to go to school but is prevented.

(BTW in the photos she showed of girls wearing the dresses, all of them had a Tshirt under the dress for modesty, in spite of the hot weather.)

The shirt and shorts are from a KwikSew pajama pattern approved by the priest in charge of the schools in Haiti, which she chose for how simple they are to cut and sew. The skirt is just a very simple front & back with elastic waist. All use woven cotton solid fabrics in the school colors chosen by the Haitian priest. We were doing navy blue or kelly green shorts, and white shirts.

Yes, the shirts have buttons. Our group is lucky that one woman loves to do buttonholes because her machine does them very easily. She offered to take all the finished shirts to do the buttonholes and buttons at her house.

Our sewing group community service coordinator is going to continue to hold sew-ins for this project. I'm glad that I was able to go to the one Saturday because I'm not sure how many more I can attend. I may ask for some of the kits to do here at home. However, I'm also still making bags for local preschoolers, and it's hard to find the time to do more sewing.

[BookSaver]

Nancy ~ Sage green and fall colors sound very pretty for a tote.

FelineFriend ~ I usually try to make a brief mention about needlework in PWYC or the Christmas thread, and then post the details about the projects in this thread. That's my mind trying to organize where I would be most likely to look for the info if I need to find it several months later. I don't think we really have a strict rule about it, though.

Harriet ~ It's good that your quilting studio will be close and handy when bad weather hits. The other space can be more of a summer retreat -- although there's nothing to say you couldn't leave a comfy chair out there all winter to use it as a hideaway when your schedule gets too crazy.

[FelineFriend]

I finished the red edging on DGS-5.5's Christmas afghan! It's folded neatly at rest inside my hope chest. I'll wash it in December to make it soft and fresh for him, before I wrap it. Or maybe I'll put tissue around it and have it in a very large bag of crocheted gifts, so it's easier for him to open and less paper mess for Dson/Ddil to deal with. They cannot burn trash in the city up there, like we can out in the county.

Next, I need to decide between these projects, which to do:

1- there is a royal blue teapot cozy I want to make myself as a "reward" for getting the DGS afghan done.
2- also, if my teapot cozy turns out, I want to make a light grey one or off-white one for BFF to match her kitchen colors.
3- I need to finish 1 pr. of origami potholders for a very dear pen friend. I'm on potholder #2 right now.
4- I'm nearing the end on 1 round striped potholder, need to make the mate and a hot pad to match, would round out the gift, making it even better.
5- I have another pr. of origami potholders to make for a close friend, in red/white candy cane colors. She's moved into her condo, about 1.5 years ago, after leaving Louisiana. She's in Virginia now. She bought herself a red toaster, red mixer (I believe she said) and went to Targeat (French pronunciation!) and bought red/white checkered dishtowels and dishcloths. The origami red/white potholders will match everything so cute, but whatever I crochet and mail to her, for the kitchen, she saves for "show" and doesn't use them because she says my work's too beautiful. She DOES however, wear a hat I crocheted her.
6- or DGS-3.5's Christmas afghan. If I did the cozy for me, I can "test" it before making it for another for a gift. Also, the cozy and potholders would go quickly. I'd finish them quicker than if I do a large kid afghan, which would give me a good sense of accomplishment sooner. If I got all the potholders done, prior to doing the afghan, I'd have 3 friends' Christmas gifts all taken care of. I could even address their mailers, wrap the potholders in tissue paper, and add them to the mailer, to store in the hope chest until time to ship at the end of November. OR I could alternate between DGS-3.5's afghan AND the potholders, until I get potholders done. JUST DO IT, FF!

[FelineFriend]

I got out my Autumn rubber stamps to decorate envelopes with and possibly will make some Happy Autumn cards for a very selected few. ♥

Then, I found a Ziploc container of my childhood photos in my desk drawer, where I craft in the bunny room. A few weeks ago, I noticed how I've only got about 4 - 5 pages on my childhood scrapbook to do before I'm finished. I only started it in 2005! :lol:

I might be getting a little stamping and scrapbooking in this weekend.

Also, I spied my beads in the main office AND there are tons of beads and tools inside my large fishing tackle box, for beading. Let's see.... The Seattle Seahawks come on, playing a game on Sunday. Do you think I can get my beaded necklace done in time? I hope so! I have 2 sweater sets, 2 turtlenecks, 1 cardigan, 1 necklace, bracelets AND a hat in their colors! I need to get ready for "game day".