Art, Craft and Needlework, September 2018

A place for Artistry, Crafts and Needlework; Decorating and Holidays.
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Harriet
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Art, Craft and Needlework, September 2018

Postby Harriet » Sat Sep 01, 2018 10:42 am

Is it too early to begin thinking how creativity will fit into our holidays? At least one venerable holiday planning guide thinks it's not! :shock:

According to The Holiday Grand Plan, Sept 2 - 8 is the week to get thoughts together about it.

Along with plenty of other planning, it suggests we begin September by:
Developing our ideas for gifts and decorations
.....(questioning "How important is an elaborately decorated house, homemade gifts")
Ordering Christmas cards and address labels, if desired
.....(yes, the suggestion IS this far in advance)

By the NEXT week (yes, Sept 9 - 15) we should be prepared to:
Buy all supplies for homemade gifts. Package each project with directions and other information in zipper food storage bag and place in a basket or box in craft/sewing area.

So, if creativity does turn out to be important in your "ideal", will you consider this early start?

Does this start your mental processes whirling? Does it prompt any holiday ideas for you?

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Re: Art, Craft and Needlework, September 2018

Postby Nancy » Sat Sep 01, 2018 7:15 pm

I am crocheting some puppets for fun. The puppet is done except for eyes now.
Puppet is done it has eyes now!
I have warp to get wound on the loom.

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Re: Art, Craft and Needlework, September 2018

Postby Nancy » Fri Sep 07, 2018 1:11 pm

Watching knit and crochet now. H has the dog with as so I will be home today. Out if yarn so not knitting.
Last edited by Nancy on Tue Sep 18, 2018 6:07 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: Art, Craft and Needlework, September 2018

Postby Harriet » Fri Sep 14, 2018 11:06 pm

Looking at the 2 holiday plans already going on, I notice that the House and Holidays idea of first get office/paperwork space organized (smiling at myself) and then get sewing/creative space organized (also smiling) seems to be pointed at me. Those are very good first-things-firsts.

But I also notice that within its weekly plans there is no further time suggested for creativity or gift-making. This is a good plan for someone who needs to get their crafts area cleaned up, squared away and set aside, so that their time can go into other things for the remainder of the year. I'm not going to pretend my house wouldn't benefit, but for my happiness meter, that might not be tolerable.

So for anyone who hopes to start some handmade gifts or decor, HGP is the one to turn to for guidelines.
It is basically going to advise us to :
1) decide on projects, using plastic freezer bags to organize their supplies, and
2) work at least an hour a day on homemade items until about Nov 19 (U.S. Thanksgiving week).
3) Then quit, ready or not.

Starting this weekend, there are about 9 sane, HGP-approved weeks for making things, and then HGP would say not to pressure ourselves any further. Assuming someone actually scheduled an hour a day, this suggestion is about 8 eight-hour days of work on gifts and decor.

So if you are like me and need to consider what projects someone could reasonably expect to accomplish for handmade creations, this is a good guideline. It works out to what we could accomplish if we had 8 workdays to do it.

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Re: Art, Craft and Needlework, September 2018

Postby Nancy » Sat Sep 15, 2018 10:53 pm

I am to the last 8 rows of a dish cloth then it will be completed. Might do an orange one for fall decor lol!

Finished that dish cloth.

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Re: Art, Craft and Needlework, September 2018

Postby Nancy » Tue Sep 18, 2018 4:44 pm

I have a puppet done except for eyes eady for eyes in orange variegated yarn. I have another one started in yello w gold.
Last edited by Nancy on Tue Sep 18, 2018 6:14 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: Art, Craft and Needlework, September 2018

Postby Harriet » Tue Sep 18, 2018 5:32 pm

It must make you smile to stitch up a little puppet, Nancy! I love the idea of an orange dishcloth - cheerful.

I've decided on a priority in HGP plan of making a little quilt for decor, and I see that it needs to be of certain colors (antique/primitive/earthtones) to be pretty with the surroundings. I can see, now, why I never like "spring" colors there. They just don't blend. I want a sampler because of the fun, even though it takes longer.

Here is my math ( :? ) on my from-scratch sampler-quilt wall hanging, after going through several possibilities.

It needs to be about 2 feet high and 32 inches wide. If I made a variety of sizes of blocks to fit the space in a puzzle, I could make it the nearly perfect height and width. But there would be so many mini-decisions to make that it would slow me way down, and I'm trying to get it done for the holidays. So same-size blocks this time and maybe another year I'll make something in a variety for the space. 6-inch blocks are hard to fit. 4-inch blocks are generally harder to make at all. (smile)

So:
twelve 5-inch blocks with 1-inch sashing
equals 19 x 25
and a 5.5-inch border brings it up to
equal 24.5 x 30.5

Yay, very close. If I want to, I could "fudge" a little with slightly wider vertical sashing and border and get closer to perfect! :lol: (See, ya'll think I'm not THAT much of a perfectionist, but now that I've typed it I'm actually wondering.)

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Re: Art, Craft and Needlework, September 2018

Postby Nancy » Thu Sep 20, 2018 11:11 am

Harriet yes puppets make me smile.
Way to go on fabric project.
I have a yellow one ready for mouth. & eyes.
Sewed a seam last night on Jean blanket for the dog.

Puppets in this batch are all complete. Yea!
Last edited by Nancy on Sun Sep 23, 2018 12:40 am, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: Art, Craft and Needlework, September 2018

Postby BookSaver » Sat Sep 22, 2018 10:58 pm

from Harriet in PWYC:
An evening of sorting fabrics.
HRH came down and said,
"I see fabric. That's a good sign."
YES!! Yes, it is. :D

1) Yesterday afternoon I helped DSis with a project that involved some waiting time. I took along my knitting loom and a skein of yarn to start knitting a hat. My 6yo great-niece was interested in the loom so I wound the yarn on all the pegs and let her use the tool to pull the bottom loop up and over the top loop. We did that for a couple of rows and then she was ready to go eat her snack. I have an extra large skein of gray yarn that I'm hoping will be enough for 3 hats to donate to the library's mittens & hats tree. Almost all of the hats that arrive at the library are bright colors, so I like to make some in neutral colors.

2) Today while I was at work, the animal shelter cat volunteer I've helped in the past stopped by the library and gave me 2 big bags of fleece. I will take the yards of fabric to sewing group day camp Friday & Saturday to cut into little cat mats. I may or may not sew them right away. I may or may not try to get a group together at the library sometime this winter to sew them. The cat volunteer said they don't need them for several months because they still have lots from the last batch I did. Someone donated this fleece, though, and she didn't want it sitting around her house. My priority is to cut the yards of fleece into the small size mats so they'll be ready to sew whenever I want.

There is usually a lot of competition for the raised cutting tables at the sewing day camps, meaning a lot of waiting time with several people taking turns for the cutting mats. We have plenty of tables available in the room but not everyone owns a mat so we usually run short. Therefore, I'm going to take my own cutting mat and set up a separate table that I can reserve for both days. I need to remember to take a new blade with me, too, because I don't remember if I changed it when I cut all the fleece for cats last time.

3) I ordered a handle with suction cups to attach to my 6"x24" ruler to make it easier to hold in place while I'm cutting the fleece cat mats. Unfortunately, it is backordered until Monday and might not arrive in time for this camp Friday & Saturday. I decided to order it anyway as I am assuming that the cat mats will continue to be an ongoing project. Plus, I had a gift card. ;) I hope the handle gadget works as well as the multiple reviews say it does. If not, I have a package of little grippy circles to attach to the bottom of the ruler that are supposed to stop it from sliding out of place.

4) If I get all of the fleece cat mats cut and my back still feels ok, then I will move on to cut a bunch of nylon netting into strips that I can crochet into dish scrubbies. The nylon net is slippery enough to be a challenge to cut into the strips, so I want to take advantage of the raised table for that as well.

5) For actual sewing at camp if I feel like doing it, I still have several baby sleep sacks to put together that I cut out months ago. Even if I'd had time to sew them over the summer, I had no desire to work with heavy fabric when it was so blazing hot. Also, other members of the group had sewn so many last winter and spring that the organization we were doing them for asked us to stop because they had enough and didn't have room to store any more. Nevertheless, the ones I have cut out are taking up a lot of room in my project pile. I could count them as a decluttering project if I could finish sewing them and deliver them by the end of October.

6) Before diving into the baby sleepers, though, I should do a sample of an idea for coworker Christmas gifts. I saw a free online pattern for a bag that looks quick and easy but might be deceptive. I should find the pattern again to try to find test fabric in my stash.

7) Of course, while I'm pulling those things together to pack for Friday, I know I'll run into a bunch of other Works In Progress. Must not get sidetracked!!

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Re: Art, Craft and Needlework, September 2018

Postby Nancy » Thu Sep 27, 2018 6:53 pm

I finished up an orange dish cloth and have started a tan one. Not sure if I will do up the hot pads or not, depending on how much time and yarn I have. I would like to send a box of things I have made to my sis for her bday and to pass out to cousins kids at Christmas. She can crochet so may not need the hot pads. She does the square dish cloths.


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