Ready Yourself for Sewing

Here are components of a good creative mind ready for sewing.

1.  A messy desk.  Make sure you have lots of types of creative materials, like watercolors, that have nothing to do with sewing on your desk and in the way.  And lots of wires too.  The ones in view here are for recharging gadgets. 

2.  A crude plan.  (apologies for the photo facing the wrong direction), when you start out even a simple pencil sketch or in this case a marker sketch can get you on your way.  This is a sketch of week #2 of the Tetris quilt along.  You can see week #1 here.  And I should give myself a few bonus points, because this sketch is at least cut out and glued into my sewing journal.  Less chances of being lost that way, right?

3.  A floor that is clean enough to put fabric on.  I know.  I hear you asking me why I'm not using my design wall for exactly this use.  I'll get to why next.  But, first let's focus on the floor.  If you are going to put fabric on it, be sure it's free of dog hair and stuff.  Mine turned out to be kinda hairy and it took a few shakes of the fabric to return the hairy stuff back to the floor. 

4.  A design wall that's full to the brim.  Hence the reason I had to layout my above pieces on the floor.  A cluttered design wall is just as good as a cluttered desk.  Gives your brain no room to process and forces you right into sewing action since there is no 'holding zone' for something else in progress.  And I still hold that the only way these triangles are coming down is either sew or press them.  Seriously.

5.  Get reaquainted with your sewing machine.  Remember this lovely?  It's been too long.  So long, that I was sewing and the stitches stopped working and I couldn't figure out what was wrong.... turned out to be an empty bobbin.  Wow, this summer is powerful anti-sewing stuff.  The bobbin.  Now, how do you wind one of those things?  Ha, silly me!

Yes, I'm being sarcastic as heck, but what fun to dive back into some sewing time after a way to long break.  I'm sure it'll be smooth sailing from here.

Prism Progress

I'm getting closer to having all the pieces cut out and in place for Patchwork Prisms.  Only six days left to finish... dun dun dun...

Here's hoping I can muster enough energy to reach the finish line.  And that sewing triangles is 'easy.'  What are you hoping to finish soon?

WIP {Starting Prism and Veggies!}

As promised, here is a better look at the rainbow all put together.  And that's Katie there under the quilt.  I just couldn't resist a photo with her cute little fluffy tail there and wee little bum!  Next steps with this one include basting, quilting, and binding.  You can read more about this one in yesterday's post.

This Week's Work in Progress (WiP) Stats:

Last WiP Wednesday Total: 8
New Projects: 1 (the hand sewing ribbons)

Finished Projects: 0

Total WiP's: 9

With the rainbow blocks off the design wall I didn't leave the space empty for long.  The triangles for my very own Patchwork Prism jumped right up on the wall. 

I am still fussing around with placement and loving it!  I'm also happy that this is going to be a nice and big quilt!  I'm following the quilt along found at Sweet Diesel Designs if you are interested. 

This little stitchy was started in a power outage and really came together all on it's own.  Is it done yet, should it be an art quilt mini, a pillow?  I'm not sure yet. 

But I have the piece right in my workspace so that it can tell me what it wants next.  It's one of those go-with-the-flow kind of projects and I'm excited to see where it takes me. 

And for the sake of sharing all sorts of progress, I wanted to share that my garden is growing!!  I'm smitten that a lot of these plants are coming up from seeds I have sown.  Makes it extra special. 

In the bottom of the photo you can see green bean plants and peppermint.  That's the pea trellis toward the back. 

And I couldn't resist a sunny photo of the rock pathway.  I have such a sweet spot for rocks and the Mister really hit a home run when he put this garden together for me.  I love that I can bounce through the garden and fuss over a plant or pull a weed without worrying about where my footing is. 

In this one, you can see a bell pepper plant and tiny butternut squash in the lower left.  The tall plant about midway up on the left is a rouge peony that's going to be moved.  On the right, you can see a tomato plant and the tiny leave line to the left of the tomatoes is arugula.  I'll be sharing this over at Outdoor Wednesday with A Southern Daydreamer too!

I'm looking forward to more work on both the sewing and gardening fronts!  They both have a way of calming me and making me smile!! 

Wishing you a lovely day!

WIP {Bottled Rainbows & I'm Not Crazy}

I am getting back into my sewing groove coming off the fresh inspiration from the quilt show (which I will finally dish about tomorrow).  And I started to realize that I have a lot of ideas and quilts in my head.  So, I grabbed my trusty chalk board and began to make a list.  I think I have enough projects here to take me through the summer!  Wow!

This Week's Work in Progress (WiP) Stats:

Last WiP Wednesday Total: 1
New Projects: 7 (I'm glad I'm finally getting all these ideas in one place!)

Finished Projects: 0

Total WiP's: 8

Let's look in on a few, shall we?

The Bottled Rainbows pattern is coming along nicely.  Here you can see I was working up the turquoise block.  I just love that big orange in the bottom left!  You can also see Sammy stuck her nose in the photo.

I have also been hard at work making up the last 6 blocks to start filling in with scraps.  I have light orange, red, and yellow ready to go with the batting attached.

Here is light pink, pink, and a purple... the last three.  The blocks are together, I just have to sew the batting on and they will also be ready for scrappy wonderfulness!

I still have one of my sewing assistants with me regularly.  This is Sammy (aren't Katie and Sam looking so similar anymore?).  I had to show you the icky ball that Sammy insists on playing with -- good thing it doesn't smell.  The Mister grabbed it out of our lake... Sam just loves the thing.  So, I am typically sewing a little, throw the ball, iron a little, throw the ball... you get the picture.  Keeps me laughing!

I have also started designing and cutting triangles for my very own Patchwork Prism.  I'm doing my best to follow the quilt along found at Sweet Diesel Designs. 

The pattern (which is free!) caught my eye right away.  And I admit that I haven't had my fill of rainbow-y projects yet, so this is appealing on lots of levels.  And have you seen the prizes involved?  Ya. A sewing machine. Count me in!  Here's a sneaky of what direction I'm headed. 

I also wanted to share a new little fella that's keeping me company on my desk.  There was a vendor at the quilt show with lots of Japanese things, and I fell hard for this guy.  I think he's meant as a pincushion, but I haven't been able to stick him with a pin yet.  But, I grin so darn big when I see him!  I think he needs a name too, don't you agree?

I'm not sure I told you yet, but I joined Studio Art Quilt Associate (or SAQA).  Have you heard of them?  Well, they are a great group for artists that want to play with different types of art quilting.  Art quilting isn't traditional and in fact I love it because pretty much anything goes!  I'm sure I'll be talking about art quilting more and more moving forward.

So, anyway, SAQA had a call for entry on their site called "I'm Not Crazy" for the topic of mental illnesses (common ones like anxiety or depression, or less common ones, like schizophrenia or multiple personality disorder).  One of the questions they wanted the art work to explore was "How does the world look through the eyes of someone experiencing a panic attack or depression or other mental disorder?"

This really resonated with me; I'll explain why another time.  It resonated so much that I stayed up late to cut up the zillions of little confetti bits needed to cover the 4x4 foot area.  Below is a sneaky peak of it.  And yes, Sammy showed her approval by laying right on top of the basted start.  Argg!  I am in the process of quilting and embellishing this one and look forward to sharing more very soon ... especially since this one is due by May 31st.

And that's what's going on recently in my cozy little sewing room.  Lots of inspiration and my ever faithful pup getting in the mix.  I can't wait to take a peak at what you are up to this week!

Creative Tuesday: Valentine

Oh how I adore Creative Tuesdays!  Although, I think I have to admit something to you...

I haven't felt very good about this week's theme since I first read it.  However, you would have never known that by looking at the results of this week's Mr. Toast's Creative Tuesday's assignment! 

The theme that scared me so deeply was Valentine.  I'm not that mushy... the mister and I don't really celebrate Valentines Day... we don't hold hands in public a lot... it's just not us. 


That said.... 

Ta da! It's like a Prism Heart Zentangle (read about what a zentangle is here.)

I admit I went into it with such a bad attitude.  Bad artist.  Silly girl.  Sometimes I have to remind myself that it's ok if I don't see the finished idea in my head.  It's ok to just pick up a pen and pad and start making lines.  Then make a few more.  Then a few more.  I surprised myself with what began to appear once I pushed through my fears of not liking the results.

And I'm satisfied!  I feel free and creative again.  I *heart* Mr. Toast for metaphorically twisting my arm into these challenges each week.  I am better for giving them my all.

I hope you will consider joining in this or the next assignment and check out other artists in the community here.