Art, Craft and Needlework, February, 2012

[Harriet]

When we're designing or planning a new project to paint, weave, scrap, knit, sculpt, crochet, sew or write, what fun we have to look forward to!

There's also so much satisfaction to be found in going back to an UnFinished Object and completing it to enjoy.

When we can balance our creativity with keeping up with our work (so that there's no guilt, no worry that we "should" be doing something else) we can have the best of both worlds - a calm, well-ordered home AND the chance to create things of beauty to place within it! That's a double blessing to strive for!

Welcome, and please let us know about the project you have at hand, compliments received, struggles to balance work and play, and your creative direction!

Harmony is finishing the border of a quilt for her oldest grandson and will soon start to quilt it
SuzLew is working on 2 quilts, one for each of her two daughters, and adding to her grandson's
BookSaver is planning to make fabric star ornaments, and is arranging activities for her sewing group
Nancy just donated a new yarn puppet to her library and is making a crib sheet
Sunny's granddaughter finished a beautiful wall hanging (Photos!)
Sunny bought a magnifying lens for her sewing machine to help as she makes a quilt
Lynlee gave her granddaughter a doll wrap and sheet of flannelette
sherinjoy encouraged!
Harriet encouraged!

[Nancy]

I have started another puppet.

[Nancy]

I am making another puppet.

[BookSaver]

I was able to sew for an hour last night on little tote bags for preschoolers. Hoping to get back to the machine tomorrow sometime.

[Harmony]

My last border is on. Nice and bright. I am pleased that the borders tied it all together and didn't make it look like a too-small quilt enlarged with borders.

Nancy, your puppets seem to get done very quickly.

I'm a little weary of machine sewing right now. I'm happy to be moving off to a different kind of sewing.

[Nancy]

Yes puppet are quick projects!
I have that crib top sheet hemmed yea for progress!

[Harmony]

Took time to go over quilt top and redo anything I could redo, so a few spots look better now. After a really good pressing it is all laying flat. I gave the backing another good press next and taped it to the floor, layered the batting and the top and pinned it together, crawling around very gingerly. Yikes, that's hard work doing it all on the floor like that, but it's all tight and flat now. Had to go out and buy another 80 pins.

On to the marking. I'm not sure just how I'll be doing that yet.

[Nancy]

I hemmed two baby doll blankets today dgd took one home with her.

[Harmony]

I marked the quilt top, just 2 of the borders. Everything else is going to be outline quilted, except for the bigger squares which I marked a star in (used a cookie cutter for the shape). Got it put into the rack today after several false starts. I'd put one side together backward and screw holes didn't line up for side rails so I had to redo. I had to extend the side rails. Yikes this thing is big. I've never quilted one this big. It's going to take a while.

Well I'm back to report how my sewing went this evening. The quilt looked so nice in the rack, so flat and straight, and I got ready and sat down, popped the knot and went to take 1 stitch and --snAP-- went the front rail which was holding a roll of the quilt. It didn't break where the 2 screws put 2 smaller rails together, rather from the beginning of a finger joint in a jagged place a couple inches long.

DH says he will construct new ones for me, I requested a single piece of long wood for long size, and a single piece of shorter wood for shorter size instead of putting them together. He said he'll make them in pairs as he's pretty sure the other one will go sometime also. Remember, this is the rack he rebuilt for me last year when all the pieces broke ... these 2 rails were the only thing left not replaced.

[Nancy]

I did some sketching in my sketch book yesterday.