Art, Craft and Needlework, July, 2024

[Harriet]

Amazing that it is the HalfWay Point of the Year, 2024!

Does that focus your creativity more toward the gift-giving and decor part of year's end?

Or is it more the weather change that encourages you to find inside creativity to beat the heat?

Whatever makes creativity blossom for you, let us know!

[Nancy]

I am SO excited I got 60 min. skiens of yarn in tons of colors for fun yarn projects.
Deciding is the best part! LOL!

I got some market bags and drew around some butterfly wood shapes to paint for designs only I used a gold sharpie
for fun projects and will be thinking what to put in these bags as rewards for fun to do a craft time after I write.
Some with yarn some to draw and or paint and sew later on this week and hoping one a week for a treat.

Some bags are black and others are white.

[Nancy]

I made a bag, hemmed a pocket & put it on my vest.
Hemmed the top of a attempt at up cycling a vest from a tee shirt not perfect but
I did learn some stuff.

[bittersweet]

dHarriet was asking about the cat pads I make for work. They're quite a simple project - two layers of receiving blanket with a layer of quilt batt in between. I sew round the edges, flip them "inside out" so the blanket is on the outside. Then I finish sewing up the gap where the inside out happened, and that's it .. all done. I use baby receiving blankets, since they're very inexpensive to purchase second hand at the thrift stores. I used to buy them from online consignment stores even cheaper.. sometimes 5/$1.00.. and currently have about 6 totes full of them! I won't need to buy anymore for a while! They take almost as much time to cut out as they do to sew up. To fit the kennels at work, I make them about 16" X 20"

I also crochet cat blankets for a local cat rescue (Little Cats Lost). They specialize in feral cat colony management, socializing feral kittens, and rehoming the kittens, and regular social cats that have come into their care. Since all the cats need to go to the vet for checkups, vaccinations, microchipping, medical care for wounds or ongoing conditions, the vast majority are taken in cat carriers (the ferals are kept in the trap they're caught in - they only get spay/neuter surgery, possible medical care, vaccinations, microchipping, and then they're released back into their colony). In order to make the carriers more comfortable, I make little crocheted blankets (about 15"x18") to put in the bottom of the carrier. They're made out regular worsted yarn, sometimes two strands at a time to make them extra thick, and they wash and dry very easily, and last a long time. They tend to get given away on a regular basis since the rescues occasionally trade cats, or one is full and one has some room, or someone admires the blankets, and find themselves with half a dozen as a gift. Most of the rescues around here all work very closely together.

For Christmas gifts, I spent part of May/June making two sets each of four dishcloths and two potholders for my daunt and dbrother in England. They're made out of crafting cotton, and last almost forever.

Between the cat pads and the crocheted blankets, I've probably made several hundred over the last decade or more.

[Nancy]

Yesterday I tweaked a bag I made ripped out a seam
turned it inside out and mitered the corners cut excess fabric off.
Turned right side out and pressed and closed that seam up again.
I like this way batter than what they showed on the yt vid.

I want to cut an old towel up for a vest pattern next.
I have one of the print ones that will work.

Started a knit shawl project twice lol!

[Harriet]

I like bags that have that way of making a corner that is more "boxed", Nancy. The bag seems to hold things better, too - the space inside is more helpful. It might even stand up, depending on the fabric stiffness. Glad to hear about your excitement!

bittersweet and Nancy, you two are using both yarn and cloth well. I seldom work with yarn the way I used to, but dd25 has several crochet or knitting projects going all the time. As I gathered items for her, I found two unopened sets of simple wooden knitting needles, a great stash of dark colored yarn and an ongoing project in a tote that I almost missed.

bittersweet, good for you, using your stitching to help the shelter and generally to help animals in need. I figured it had to do with the day-to-day of seeing needs while you worked.

Potholders - this is on my mind again, too, because of the leftover cotton batting from the large quilt I made for the June wedding. There's plenty of it, so potholders could be all scraps. It might take 3 layers to make a potholder, but 2 could almost do it. The larger hot pad I made dstepdil for Christmas, though, was a little too fancy I think - she can't bring herself to use it! Maybe some that are more for UTILITY would be better this Christmas, and in dark fabric. She worries she's going to burn the light sunflower fabric. I guess I would, too.

I still haven't used the 2 new ideas I came upon for quicker finishing of potholders and hot pads. Now when I search here, I can't find those mentions I know I posted of the YouTubes about them. But this is basically what they did:

Idea for a quicker rounded-corner potholder:
Cut same front and back fabric - say, 9-inch squares. Cut 3/4-inch-smaller batting pieces. Cut one design-fabric 3/4-inch smaller than that. Round all the corners to the same shape. Applique the design-fabric onto front, centered. Stitch layers together so as to turn inside out, using about a 3/8-inch seam. After turning, top-stitch right along the applique edge. It will have the traditional look of a bound finish.

Edit! Found the one above! "No Binding Potholder" youtube
(pay attention to her video, not my short paragraph! I missed the (easy) step of turning the edges of the designed fabric!)

Idea for a quicker patchwork potholder:
Make a patchwork front but leave the middle of one patchwork seam partially open a few inches, right in the design. Cut a same-size back and cut batting the same, or smaller if you like less bulk. Stitch layers so as to turn inside-out, without worrying about an edge opening. When you turn, use the patchwork opening to turn through, and as you top-stitch some quilting stitching through the potholder, just sew that closed at the same time.

July 25th - Rudolph Day - is coming up, a Thursday. Maybe I should binge-sew some potholders.

[Nancy]

CI / Paint was in stock yea!
Got the multi surface paint for the side table tops I wanted.
They were out a couple of weeks ago when I looked.
So I'm painting those today last one is drying now outside in the deck it is better doing this in the shade even for the drying part.
First two are back inside now. Yea for progress!

Knitting is going more smoothly today.
Tues. knit half doz. rows.

No sewing so far today I"ll try that tomorrow.
Thanks for your input Harriet.

[Nancy]

I have been looking off and on today for my colored dyed fiber to card and spin on the drop spindle.
Finally found it after dinner so I carded up a bit blended it and spun that on the drop spindle. yea!
So happy about that.

[Nancy]

Took a break from writing so much this week.

Knit 6 rows on a project.

Carded blended and spun up some fiber tonight not a lot but was happy to make even a bit of progress.
I have quite a bit of fleece here on hand for the tour de fleece fun this month.
Mended a shirt.

I have knit some more on Thurs.

[Harriet]

Yay, I found at least one of those easier youtube tutorials, the traditional-looking rounded-corner one.

She calls it the "No Binding Potholder". Looks for all the world as though it's been bound perfectly. I've gotta try that. When sewing all the layers together, I guess it would help to use the color thread of the front and back fabrics so stitching wouldn't show at edges.