Nothing since MAY???

Come on, ladies and gent, let's get posting. Granted, I'm one of the non-posters as well, so here's my update:

1) finished the knitting part of my mom's Christmas 2008 present; just have to figure out and attach the fringe.

2) started yet another baby blanket (knitting), but this one is in Badger red for a Badger baby in Wisconsin. :-)

3) crocheted LOTS of squares for the Girl Scout in Kirkland, and donated the rest of the yarn I had I didn't get to use (thanks to Glenn Peterson for that one!!)

4) haven't finished my step-sister's handwarmers yet, but I'll get there.

5) spending lots of time knitting and watching TV online in air conditioned places, like Panera Bread in Redmond or at Northgate. Bonus: they have an excellent new low-cal salad called the Chopped Cobb (chicken, egg, tomatoes, bacon, lettuce, some lovely cheese that starts with a g, and a very light herb vinaigrette). Full size = ~490 calories! (Though the frozen coffee drinks effectively negate the excellent cal count of said salad...)

6) seriously thinking of heading to Alaska to ride out this damn heat wave.

Meeting of the Minds

This marks our first real-time blog post: I am currently sitting at our monthly Seamsters meeting with Chico (the Javanese) and his human Sandy, Beth Z, Jackie, Kathy, Alice, Wes, Beth K, Liz, and Sarah. Knitting needles are clickety-clacking (Jackie, Sandy, Beth K, Sarah, Kathy, Jenny...hey, fiber's fiber!) and Wes is doing counted cross stitch.

Talked a wee bit about Northlake's autumn Art Show, how to make it live long & prosper, how to get wonderful artists/craftspeople involved (shameless plug alert: if you are an artist, have cool ideas, or want to volunteer, email at artshow@northlakeuu.org), etc.

Then a little show-n-tell: Sandy finished her quilt for Baby Gus, save for the binding; Beth brought her three notebook covers (two big 'uns & one little 'un); Jackie showed her "Einstein" knit coat, in progress; Kathy's knitting a big felted bag for her quilting retreat's auction; Beth is knitting a loverly hat for Steve, a.k.a. "Stumpy;" Sarah is knitting handwarmers; Sandy is knitting a beautiful linen stitch scarf (see earlier post & photo from Beth K); and Liz is busily painting on fabric. I'm alternately typing, taking photos, and knitting on a wool sock.

Demo time, demo time, time for demo time! Liz is demo-ing surface design! Pentel Fabric Fun pastel dye sticks (www.dickblick.com/products/pentel-fabric-fun). Very cool stuff. Liz's super-groovy tool? A triangular makeup sponge. Wow, stamps, pastels, watercolor pencils, thread...so many ways to embellish. Gonna score some of those dye sticks soon!

And now down to brass tacks: those of us who have sewn squares for the winter raffle quilt (a colorful raw-edge bullseye with black & white backgrounds) have brought them in. They've been quartered and thrown upon the design wall for scrutiny and re-arrangement by committee. Not as difficult a process as you might think...By Jove, I think we've finally got it.

News flash: this year's Mariners Stitch & Pitch will be Thursday, August 27th. Let's go, people!
www.mlb.com/sea/ticketing/stitchnpitch.jsp. Our rallying cry? "Yarrrrrrrrrrn!" (Think Jack Sparrow with Addi Turbos).

Well, some of our numbers have already departed (Liz, Beth K, Sarah). I think this post is winding down to a close. I'll throw photos on when I get home.

From the Vault - Langley, Oct. 04

Langley, Part Trois - Memoirs

Langley - We're Gonna Need a Montage!

Langley Retreat, Part Un

Woah...two months is a long time to go without a new post. Shameful! Bad blogger - no doughnut. Since we're so woefully behind, and since we've got a lot of pics, etc. to post, we'll break it into a few posts instead of one gigantor one.

A group of the Seamsters had a rockin' good time at the 8th annual retreat in Langley, WA on Whidbey Island. Happily ensconced in our quarters over the Quilting by the Sea quilt store, eight of us spent Friday, Saturday, and half of Sunday enjoying each others' company, sewing, knitting, shopping, eating and laughing. Some sleeping involved as well [and if we're being very honest, a wee bit o' snoring].

The advance party [Beth, Jackie, Sandy, Liz, Jenny] set out at 10 am on May Day - warm weather, blue skies, and no ferry delay. Huzzah! Adele couldn't make it - but hey, she did make it into the group photo and sent tomatoes & avocados with us to boot. Trina, Margaret, and Cyndy arrived Friday evening, apres-work. The early arrivers took a nice, leisurely stroll around Langley and accomplished a Very Important Mission at the Star Store: namely, Cocktail Shaker and Jigger Acquisition for the requisite Gin Gimlets. As it happens, only one taker on the gin gimlets, but hey, Always Be Prepared. We also popped into Knitty Purls to fondle skeins. Beth even modeled a darling hat and scarf for us. 

A little sewing, snacking, quite a bit of conversation, the evening comers arrived, and eventually most of us headed out for din-din at the Langley Cafe. Yum! After dinner we had a photo-op with the sculpture overlooking the water on the main drag. I think Mr. Sculpture is traumatized. At least he wasn't around to hear Margaret regale us with "99 Sex Facts You've Never Heard Before" from an old issue of Cosmo that was lying around [sidebar: the quilting loft has a delightfully random assortment of reading material, everything from a hardcover copy of Medical Humor to old Us & Cosmopolitan magazines to quilting magazines from the mid-nineties...women with mall bangs, mom jeans, and Little House on the Prairie crazy quilt vests - not a pretty picture. But makes for really fun reading!] Oooh, and I almost forgot: Beth borrowed Trina's iPhone to get a very special song: "Now You're a Man! A Manny-Man Man!" which has replaced "Smoke on the Water" as the most tenacious ear-worm ever.

Saturday the rain came in; however, rain tends to boost productivity, since one would rather stay in the "workroom" and work vs. gamboling in the sunshine. Langley is an awfully quaint place. Once there was a break in the heavy rain, a few of us braved the very slight drizzle to head to the Bayview farmers market. Very charming. Did a little noshing - veggie samosas, pancit, lumpia, and even a little naughty caramel/pecan bar. Acquired nice greens for the evening's Mexican potluck supper, as well as a few other choice items. Beth found a chicken coup she would probably sell her first-born for (sorry Ben). But she compromised and got a couple of broccoli starts. Seems like a raw deal (no pun intended). 

Trina's not a doctor, nor indeed a physical therapist, but she did make an armchair diagnosis of my sore foot (school auction injury...can I claim worker's comp?) and recommended I get athletic tape and tape the h-e-double hockey sticks out of it. Which I did, and danged if it isn't working like a charm. Thanks Dr. Trina!

Lots of wonderful projects worked on: the new raffle quilt, art quilts, several quilt tops, a table runner, a top secret project. I'll let the pictures do the talking. 

The quilt shop is not doing as well as could be hoped, and the current owner is looking for a buyer. She's going to try to keep it going, but it's a possibility that she'll need to close her doors. Which would be very sad - it's a wonderful little retreat space, and it was surprising to go back through the guest books and see just how many years we've been coming. In light of this fact, we took some archival photos of all our journal entries over the years which will be put on a separate post. 

All right, I've rambled on long enough. I encourage the other Seamsters to make their own posts! I'll put photos and the journal entries on separate posts. Peace out.

Little Lady Lucy's quilt

Here's the quilt for my little grand-daughter, Lucy. I'm very glad that I started it as soon as I did because it took me forever to finish the binding - apparently not my favorite activity plus I made it difficult for myself in several ways. I mailed it off today, a week after the birth. Perhaps the parents will snap a pic of the little lady herself, lounging amongst the foliage. The blue bits aren't as eye-popping in person.

I also made a sling - I didn't take a photo of that since it's a bit weird without a cherub inside to show what it is really for. I got the design from SlingMeMommy dot com and it was really quite speedy. The one thing I am glad that I did was to chose a fabric that was the same on both sides.

Cyndy

Felting, continued

Monday night Jenny, Alice and I joined three other felters at Space to Create in Ballard for two hours of wooly mayhem. StC's neighborhood features some cool looking shops & cafes on 70th a block east of 15th. One shop just sells umbrellas!

Folded bath towels topped with squares of bubble wrap indicated our individual work spaces on a long table. Several tubs of murky olive green mystery fluid were on the table top. We three Seamsters (a song title, perhaps?) were the only greenhorns there, since the other women had previously taken other felting workshops with our instructor, Leah. After Leah talked a bit about the process of felting and the materials we'd be using we began.

The first project was felting soap, which is a pretty cool item, since you exfoliate as you clean! After wrapping our soap with wool roving we dipped our hands in the mystery fluid (actually, melted soap & water which had an eerie, slithery feel) & began the felting process by very gently rotating the soap as if we were handling a baby bird. Eventually you increase pressure as the felting has begun. After we each finished three bars we moved on to felting rocks, then to making a felt box. These two projects called for a different type of roving, and it took much longer. Felting soap is quicker since the felting process is being happening from inside and outside simultaneously. We used our bubble wrap as washboards for added friction on the rocks & boxes. Here are pictures of our work! Jenny's begun using one of her soaps already so it's not in the soap shot.

Leah said we should all go out and spread the gospel -- maybe teach friends to felt, too. If we have the interest we can do a little workshop.

Two Little Birds

Okay, I'll try not to do back-to-back posts as a rule, but since this was a completely different topic I thought I'd let it have its own post.

Last weekend I got a hankerin' to do a project I saw on one of the many blogs I have been interested in: http://annamariahorner.blogspot.com/. She demo'd one of her projects on Martha Stewart's television show: 

http://www.marthastewart.com/portal/site/mslo/menuitem.3a0656639de62ad593598e10d373a0a0/?vgnextoid=f501d3358fe36110VgnVCM1000003d370a0aRCRD&vgnextfmt=default

Basically, you take a pre-fab ready-to-paint canvas and stretch it with fabric you like, then prime it with Mod Podge or an acrylic painting medium and let it dry. Then you take an image for a silhouette, either paint the silhouette itself in opaque acrylic paint or (as I've done) paint the background in acrylic and let the silhouette be the negative space. It was really fun. Next time I'll stretch the fabric even tighter, but other than the occasional pucker, it was a really fun, easy project. I imagine it'd be really fun to do with kids. 

The Play!

Woo hoo! A Sextet o' Seamsters (Beth K, Sandy, Adele, Kathy, Jackie, and I) met up last Wednesday at the 74th Street Ale House in Greenwood for a bite & sup avant-play. All I know is, that burger with grilled onions & peppers was The Bomb. We yakked, ate, and drank, and realized with a start we should probably scoot over to the Taproot Theatre tout de suite. I mooched a ride off Beth and her Aussie-speaking GPS gizmo, and let me tell you, there isn't exactly a cornucopia of parking available in the Greenwood 'hood. So Beth was a scofflaw and parked in the Bartell Drugs parking lot right by the theatre. Beth, I hope you were able to enjoy the show despite your guilt pangs. We met Margaret at the theatre (so I guess that made us a Septet o' Seamsters) and Jackie, Adele, Kathy, & Sandy just made it by the start of the play. 

Speaking of the play, Gee's Bend, it was wonderful. Plus we got to stay for Q & A with the cast and a member of the Pac NW African American Quilters: http://www.pnwaaq.com/. I'll let the other Seamsters who attended make a post or comment on this one, but here is a link to a P-I article about Gee's Bend [don't get me started about the impending demise of the P-I]  http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/theater/397941_fanfare30.html. 

Anyone want to make another field trip to Seattle? Several Gee's Bend quilts are currently hanging in the Greg Kucera Gallery through March, and I'd really love to see them in person:  http://www.gregkucera.com/geesbend.htm. All I can say is, wow. 

I still wish I had more of those wonderful Gee's Bend quilt postage stamps...

my very own blog...

...which is, of course, linked to this one. :-) Not much to do with sewing or needlework of any kind--it's about my writing, or it will be soon--but there will likely be notes of some sort about projects on which I'm working. And probly pictures. And other completely random things that have NOTHING to do with writing. :-)

Can't wait for our next work day!!!

http://www.sg-1crazedwritingnotes.blogspot.com/

Hi, Seamsters!

I found an article in a quilting magazine that said felting can be done with woven wool as well as knits. I bought some used wool items to try. I'm most excited about coat weight wools. I have green and black. If you find other colors cheap, I'd love some. I think these will go as craft fair items. Also have grey tweeds, camel, and red in lighter weight. The article showed a quilt with bears and Christmas trees appliqued on. Quite cute. Other ideas to use these for?

I'm also working on a new one-block wonder that will probably make about 4 wall quilts, one of which will be donated for quilt auction or craft fair. I have a new book that shows how to make the floating cubes, if you're interested.

here i am, at long last...

...as promised. :-) I'm having trouble viewing the pictures, though; might have something to do with the permissions on the work computer. I have not given up the cause...

My mom's shawl is coming along, except for when I'm using my fingers to Facebook or blog...and for the rest of tonight. Too sleepy to knit; don't wanna have to unknit and knit again...again. :-P

So all of the rest of you blog lurkers, come on over and at least say HI!!!!

Love,
SG-1 (aka Sarah Grant)

I'm About to Lose Control and I Think I Like It

I'm. So. Excited!

After years of idle daydreams along the lines of "wow, it would be so cool to be a textile designer," the time has arrived! Yes, you, too can become a Loni Rossi, Amy Butler, or Kaffe Fasset. How, you might ask? Well, check this website out: http://www.spoonflower.com. 

One can create a design and upload it to spoonflower, who will then print it on Moda quilting-weight fabric. Gentlewomen, start your desktops!

I'm really quite a-twitter about this. Seeing as how the last creative outlet was finishing a large bulletin board to promote our school auction in April [actually kinda cute: the auction theme is "Hollywood Glamour," so I painted the wooden frame black, upholstered the entire cork area in red velveteen, and added gold cord trim all around the perimeter, then pinned up a variety of black & white photos of stars of yesteryear--Louise Brooks, Gary Cooper, Jimmy Stewart, Lena Horne, etc.], and the project before that was my fancy-pants bamboo patterned socks on which I had to go and drop one infernal stitch and can't quite figure out how to fix it, yes, other than these two enterprises [well, three if you include crafting run-on sentences], I'm overdue for some creative juice-spewing. 

Not to mention the fact that I can actually see a distant glimmer of light at the end of the pulmonary tunnel for the first time in about two weeks...viva amoxycillin and cheratussin with codeine!

I am really loving the egalitarian opportunities that exist now that didn't exist even 5 - 10 years ago. I mean, would we have thought ten years ago it would be possible to create one's own fabric or create a beautiful, hardcover book unless independently wealthy? [Another plug: http://www.blurb.com/]

And on a completely unrelated note, we--the Seamsters, that is--now own a practically new, never-been-used overhead projector. Huzzah! Odds bodkins! Heavens to Murgatroyd! So now we can tackle the super-double-secret eyes-only project which shall be revealed later. Suffice it to say, we need an overhead projector and mylar. Say no more.

Up Up With Felting, Part Deux

Ahoy Seamsters,

I forgot to mention that Jen, the ECC-W has tentatively arranged a felting class with Leah at Space to Create on Monday, March 2nd, 7 - 10 pm. The class would be $28 which includes a generous amount of supplies. There are four of us committed to going, but she needs a minimum of six to make a go of it. So if any of you are interested, please let me know.

In any case, you should take a peek at Leah Adams' etsy site: http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5156243. I heard a rumor from the ECC-W that the felted soap may be in the offing...I'm so excited!

Seamster Work Par-Tay

Today was one of our periodic Saturday Seamster work parties. "Work" party sounds so Shawshank Redemption-y, like we're out on a chain gang somewhere [stitching in the ditch?] instead of sitting on our keisters eating peanut M & Ms and yakking while we sew. We gathered at ten-ish with various bags, bins, and cases of equipment, a sack lunch, and nibbly things to share. We worked on our own individual projects (quilts, a quilted bag, knitting, hand-coloring on fabric, etc.) and also on communal projects (pinwheel blocks for baby quilts, for example). 

Plus, Kathy--a.k.a. Shop Steward--gave us a mini-lesson on a design technique for art quilts by Katie Pasquini Masopust. Very cool: you take an old cardboard slide frame with the slide removed, or create two els from a piece of mat board or tag board. Then take an image and slide the frame or els around until you find a pleasing composition (good light/dark play, interesting lines, etc.) and then trace it on mylar with a teeny Micron pen. Then you can either photocopy or put it on an overhead projector and start playing with color & composition for your very own fabulous art quilt. I believe we are going to utilize this technique for a very special, top-secret, eyes-only project. We would tell you, but then we'd have to kill you. Needless to say, it shall undoubtedly turn up in a later post. And on a different note, I wonder if anyone gets Katie Pasquini Masopust's name right on the first try?

Lots of socializing in between the clickety-clack of machines and needles and the cutting of various fabrics. Plus the day ended up really sunny, we got tix for the 2/25 Taproot Theatre production of Gee's Bend, and last but certainly not least, we satisfied--okay, I satisfied--a lingering curiosity of about 28 years by determining there is still a Kitty Wampus listed in the greater Seattle area, courtesy Sandy's iPhone. All in all a very good day.

Finished project

Here 'tis, the pulpit piece as finished as it's gonna get I figger.

Some photos of stuff I made

CHEMO CAP
I got this from a kit. I made it mainly just to learn the feather and fan pattern, which makes the pretty scalloped edge. It's made of very soft lightweight cotton, so it will be perfect for its intended use. Thankfully, I don't anyone personally right now who needs a chemo cap, so I'll just donate it to Overlake hospital. (They collect and distribute them there).


STRIPED SOY WOOL HAT
I heart the soy wool yarn. It's soft and has a really nice texture. It comes in solids and different self-striping colorways. I want to knit them all. This one is called geranium. Just one ball makes a warm, attractive yet unfussy, hat. Me likey!

LINEN STITCH SCARF

Last summer I went to the Mariner's Stitch and Pitch night with Jackie, Jenny and Sandy, and 'twas there I scored the materials for this lovely scarf. The happy memories are one (1.) good reason to love this scarf. The other reasons are 2. soft! 3. warm! 4. pretty! It took a very long time to knit because it is made of fine merino sock yarn. We're talking about 456,974,374,364 gazillion little stitches here.

Was it worth it? Yes indeed it was.

STRIPEY SOCKS

These are the second pair of socks I've made. I gave the first ones to my Ma because she loves the colors (turquoises and browns). Now Ma and I have cute feet when we go hiking together!

PINWHEEL BABY QUILT

Here is Sara's friend Jazmine with her baby daughter Isaya. This was Sara's very first quilting project. I showed her what to do, and she took off running. We whipped it out in a 3 day marathon before she returned to school for winter quarter. My Ma got sucked in by the third day, and we had some wonderful 3 generation chick bonding time in my upstairs sewing room.

We made the whole thing from scraps. The little mommy was delighted with it! I think Baby Isaya likes it, too.

The play's the thing

Any of you who've seen the amazing quilts created by the Gee's Bend (AL.) collective -- stupendous colors, very modern-looking -- might feel the urge to see Taproot Theater's play about three key periods in Gee's Bend's history. Thinking about going to the February 18th production, when several of the women from the collective will be present after the play.

Turns out it's quilt mania in the local art scene right now. Greg Kucera Gallery in Pioneer Square is showing 10 Gee's Bend quilts (imagine -- up close and personal!) and the Bellevue Art Museum is showing "American Quilt Classics, 1800-1890 The Bresler Collection" through May 31.

If you'd like to make a night of it on the 18th, get in touch with me asap & I'll check on ticket availability. If the 18th is not available, after Wednesday performances there will be women from the Pacific Northwest African American Quilters available for post-play discussions. A few of their quilts will be on display & auction through the run of the play. - Jackie

Hello everybody, I have very much enjoyed reading the blog posts thus far. Last night I finished the merino linen stitch scarf from the kit I bought at the Mariner's game. It was a real time suck, but is shore is purty. Have to run now, will post a pic later. Jenny, I congratulate you on your stellar gussetage. Jackie, your chalice is gorgeous. Sandy, that sweater is will be yum yum on your man. Hugs all around.

I have no new projects finished and I forgot to take pictures of the table runners. Oh well . . . I have finally finished knitting the pieces to Glenn's sweater (the one I started in 2000) so now I just have to figure out how to put it together. I figure if I have too much trouble Miss Beth will come to my rescue. The yarn is just as yummy as when I bought it.

But speaking of felting, since I'm having trouble getting into creative quilting mode, I bought yarn to make a specialized, felted, custom bag for storing my Denise needles. This special bag will help me not lose the second set of needles. It's the "Carry Bag for your Denise Kit, courtesy of Cat Bordhi." You can download the pattern for free from Cat's site http://www.catbordhi.com/free_patterns.html. I'm making mine out of Marine.