Art, Craft and Needlework, July 2020

[Nancy]

Good job Harriet.

I have been working on a granny square scrapagan have it bigger than 12" square now with 5 colors on it and I just added a 6th color.
Had to give my shoulder a break.

Also working up a new cone of cotton yarn white with blue speckles, my new batch of dish clothes.

[Harmony]

Harriet, you must be some kind of a sewing genius to get that together. Just for fun (not that I needed another one) I made one. The printed instructions are pretty useless, though the pattern pieces are spot on. When I gave up following those instructions after I'd pinned everything together upside down, wrong sizes together, etc. I came and looked at it again with your link. The video is dark and her camera goes off the fabric sometimes. But the step by step instructions under the video are great! Easy peasy once I got to those!

I need a last press and then the last seams on the channel to put my ear loops. Thought maybe i't be more comfortable than the pleated ones I made, but nope, still an annoying mask! But I like the way it looks better.

[Harriet]

Harmony, did you bind it or turn it? Much easier on my brain because his needed to be bound.

Masks bother my cheeks eventually, maybe around the mouth. Interestingly, my nose or chin are not bothered. (Maybe I'm a big talker and make friction!) My concern for comfort against such young tender cheeks was only the lining fabric. He'll never know, but I chose a fabric I'd used before for a baby quilt backing, specifically because it was the softest I had that wasn't thick. It was perfect. Unfortunately, the strips I had leftover from making the backing are too narrow for any larger mask pattern. So if I make one for anyone older, I'd have to piece it to use that soft lining, which defeats the purpose I guess.

Nancy, I love the word, "scrapagan"! I was watching a lady give an interview from her home and in the background I could see she had two granny square afghans. The difference in these from granny squares I know was that each granny square itself was much larger scale, so I guess they had been made from thicker yarn.

[Harmony]

Harriet, I turned mine. Sounded easier plus I was just putting elastic loops into the ends by the ears. I don't like the straps around the back of the head. Did that once with DH's dust mask I used...annoying - maybe if I was bald... My problem was making the cheek pieces attach to the front pieces. On the printout, she also didn't put how to position with the 1" overlap, and I had trouble figuring out which was the inside of the material and which was the back. I actually didn't know that the face piece with the center seam was actually the outside. Her online instructions (not the video) shows it all laid out in a row.

Turning it was simple with the pocket openings. I actually turned it inside out again tonight and clipped that curved middle seam which made it lay flatter. Everyone fits into a mask a bit differently. Shape of our faces are different. If I had a small button nose mine would fit better! I've been using 100% cotton material, leftovers from my quilting. I just make sure not to use one that's too thin. I think it's pretty soft.

[Nancy]

I knitted a few rows. Noticed they redid the yarn and moved the cotton yarn I use at the stire.
Dgd lik es it here better than the other granny's so I am thinking of some things we can do l think she wants to paint some crafts.
I hope she would like to paint signs bc I have stuff for that.

[BookSaver]

Friday and Saturday I had a mini sewing retreat with a small group of 8 other women.

Finished 3 masks for me, 3 different patterns.
(Eventually I will settle on 1 pattern but for now I'm still in the testing phase for long-term comfort.)

Finished potholders that I think were started last summer.

Cut out 4 different masks to sew for DH so he can start his testing phase.
Cut out pieces for 6 shopping bags which will be Christmas gifts.
Cut out about 30 fleece cat mats (didn't count, just cut the fabric I was given).

I love love love having access to raised large tables with cutting mats!

Ran out of time to do any more sewing because we were having too much fun chatting.

[Sunny]

BookSaver, it's good that you had a chance to get together with your sewing friends.

Back in May for Mother's Day dson#2 and ddil-Y sent me an art kit called "Diamond Painting" along with a clip on magnifying glass with a light ring around it. I have been working on that a little at a time. My picture is of a wooden cross set across an open bible book on a background of the American flag. I couldn't find a picture of it on A-river, but there are seven pages of kits pictured. My kit uses the resin drills (teeny tiny faceted beads). https://www.amazon.com/s?k=diamond+pain ... b_ss_i_4_7

I am enjoying reading about all the different projects here.

[Harmony]

Sunny, those kit pictures are beautiful. Is the process hard to do? How do you set the stones in the - is it material or canvas? Did you see the lighthouse one? They are all so pretty!

I'd been thinking of a paint by number kit like we used to do. Getting sort of tired of the jig saws. And the blasted victorian house cross stitch is still sitting there on my dining room table. I must finish that before I do anything else. How fast does the diamond kit progress and is it hard to see to work on it? Gosh so pretty and I've never seen anything like it.

[Sunny]

Harmony, it is not hard. The drills, or beads, are super tiny, like a 10 or 12 point diamond. The kit includes a little tray, an applicator, wax and the colored beads. The canvas I think is a cloth nylon that is coated with a sticky glue and is covered with a sheet of cellophane. Just pull up enough of the cellophane to work that one spot. The tip of the applicator is hollow. You pick up a tiny bit of the wax in the hollow end and touch the bead which sticks, then touch the bead onto the corresponding color on the canvas. The canvas has the picture printed on it with each little spot numbered or lettered to match the colors of the beads. The top of the beads are faceted and the bottoms are flat. I really liked some of the other pictures and might try another one, the lighthouse or the cottages. I definitely like using the lighted magnifying glass.

[Harriet]

Ddil brought me a present of a package of soft white ear loop (looping?) for masks. It is sealed but unmarked so I'm wondering if she got them through nursing channels and gave me part of an order/box. Anyway, thoughtful.

Sounds like you are having fun, Sunny.

BookSaver, when you decide on a pattern that you like best among those three or your dh's, let us know.