It adds up to Quilting

Yes.

It has been a while since I have blogged. Some of you may have thought that I quit sewing. au contraire. I was working on a project that is intended to be a surprise for my husband, who occasionally see my blog posts when they are cross-posted on Facebook; and, since the surprise is for him - I couldn't risk ruining it.

Most quilts have a story, a reason (a rationale, if you will) that the artist chose to create that quilt, with those fabrics, in those colours at that time. While I believe that "I wanted to" is reason enough to start ripping fabric, this quilt does have more of a story.



My husband teaches High School Math - brilliantly, I am told. A month or so ago, he was notified that he is receiving an award for his endeavors. One of his students was given the assignment (in AP English) to write an essay chronicling a person of influence in his life. He wrote about David. The English teacher submitted his name for the award, and a committee of august School Board members concurred. I should note that David, a retired Green Beret, who spent 2.5 years in Iraq post-retirement, and only finished college recently, while convalescing from injuries sustained in Iraq; has only been teaching for 3 years. This is his 1st year at this High School. Yes -- I am understandably proud of him!




When David told me about the award, I wanted to commemorate it, somehow. I remembered that he has a favorite saying, "We all use Math every day." He has this saying on a small sign in his classroom, (a bumper sticker, actually), but it is getting quite faded. I wanted him to have something more permanent, and bigger. So, with the combined help of my Elna embroidery machine, my Pfaffie, outfitted with 1/4in guide and walking foot, and the staff at Carthage's own, The Whistling Chicken [thanks, Diana!!!], I eventually produced this banner.

It not only features David's favorite saying, but I incorporated as many mathematical examples as I could. Featured in the piecework are: right angles, isosceles triangles, right triangles, rectangles representing 2:1, 2.5:1, 3:1, 3:2, 3:1.5 proportions, and squares. There are arcs in some of the stitching.

I'm giving it to him tonight, just before the Banquet. What do you think???





Fergus likes it.

Why sewists sometimes quilt.

Followers of my blog (at least those few of you who are not related to me by blood or marriage) do so mostly because you are fellow-sewists. Some of you may wonder why anyone who can fairly quickly sew up clothing - fashions - that can be worn out, shown off, embellished and enjoy publicly and privately might want to spend the considerable time (and money!) making a bed covering that will never see the topside of a red carpet. (okay, neither will any of my clothes, but the theoretical possibility exists!)
Truly, there are as many different reasons for quilting as there are quilters. Certainly the same is true for sewists. I can only offer you some of mine:
1) Creation/re-creation. There is something oddly satisfying about taking a lovely solid piece of fabric, hacking it into little bits, attaching it in differing ways to other hacked-up bits of fabric, and having, as a result, something completely different than any of the originals, but as equal or more, lovely than the originals.
2) Challenge. Saying that quilts are hacked-up bits of fabric, attached to different hacked-up bits of fabric hardly does justice to the plethora of innate talents and learned skills involved in creating something pleasing to the eye and touch.
3) Documentation/memories. Saving bits of the clothes you have made for yourself and your loved ones to later be sewn into quilts is a lovely way to keep those memories alive.
4) Expression. Few things say "I love you" more than tangible evidence of time and talent spent creating something warm, soft, cuddly and beautiful.
5) Personal satisfaction. There is an inestimable, and indecipherable "itch" in artists that causes them to be inspired to creation by seeing other lovely creations. As a flower or a sunset inspires painters, architecture inspires fashion designers, nature inspires architects, etc & etc, so quilters are inspired by each other. Towards this last, I offer the following image:



I received an advertisement for this quilt kit in an E-Mail, and immediately thought, " oo-oo-oo. I must make that!" Not: 'I must buy that' or 'I want to have that' but 'I must make that.' Yes, of course, I want to have it. But more than that, I want to make it. I want to hack up those pretty, pretty fabrics, and re-attach them in such pleasing ways, so that I can have both the pretty colors to look at, and the satisfaction of knowing that it is so, because I made it happen.
So, then: we are quilters, sewists, artists, creators, because we are hopeless narcissists?

Fine.
I can live with that.

Party (mix) Time!!!

I was recently reminded of the fact that, when I started this blog, I said that it wouldn't be only about sewing. It would also be about food, family, kitties, and anything about which I care to rant. A co-worker reminded me today that, in nearly 2 years, I have only posted 1 recipe. Actually, what she said was (mouth full of Party Mix that I brought to work), "Sarah, why haven't you posted this recipe on your blog?" Okay.

But, first -- an explanation: I was recently diagnosed with Celiac Disease, necessitating an immediate and strict adherence to a gluten-free diet. Gluten is a protein found in wheat, rye and barley. That sounds simple enough. Don't eat anything made of wheat, rye or barley. But wait! Oats, while not a naturally-occurring source of gluten, is frequently cross-contaminated by wheat in the field, farm, and processing facility. There's more. Food manufacturers put wheat flour, wheat starch, hydrolyzed wheat protein in prepared foods that, if made at home, I should never do. So every label must be read at every shopping trip. (manufacturers frequently change formulas, or suppliers). Then there's malt. Malt is made of barley, and used to flavor many things from Ovaltine to Corn Flakes. [Need I tell you that dining out is a nightmare???]
I share this so that you will know that, henceforth, any recipe that appears on this blog can be assumed to be Gluten-free. Such is the case with my NEW AND IMPROVED Party Mix.

The Gluten-free imperative knocked me for a loop. I confess, I was seriously depressed for a while. I am now crawling my way back to some semblance of normalcy, and beginning to enjoy a smattering of this challenge. What follows is a personal triumph. It is an adaptation of Chex's original party mix - tweaked. It is undoubtedly the best Party Mix I have ever made!! Now, you can make it, too. Please note: when I specify a Brand-name food -- I am not kidding - it really makes a difference.

Sarahbelle's Party Hardy Mix

1/2 Cup Butter [NOT margarine!]
2 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce -- Lee & Perrins
2 scant tsp Seasoned salt -- Lawry's
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp Tabasco
4 Cups each Corn and Rice Chex cereal
1 Cup Gluten-free Pretzels
1 Cup Gluten-free Sesame sticks
1/2 Cup dry-roasted, unsalted peanuts
1/2 Cup dry-roasted, unsalted cashews

In a 9 X 13 in baking pan, scatter butter that is cut into chunks. Place pan in oven while it pre-heats to 350.
When butter is melted and just begins to brown, remove from oven and stir in all seasonings until dissolved and well-mixed. Add cereals, nuts and sticks in increments, tossing well to coat with butter mixture.
Bake for 15 min.
Remove from oven, reduce temp to 325, stir mix well, return to oven and bake for 15 more minutes.
Remove from oven, reduce temp to 300, stir mix well, return to oven and bake for 15 more minutes.
Remove from oven, reduce heat to 200, stir mix, and keep warm until ready to serve.

Seriously. best. mix. ever.

can't. stop. eating.

Men's wear

wow.

I knew it had been a while since I had blogged, but I didn't realize it had been this long!!!

mea culpa

I have, actually, been working on several projects, but none of them are bloggable, yet. One project is a quilt-of-the-month club project, and so, won't be done until next January, or so. Another is a surprise for someone who reads my blog, and I wish it to remain a surprise, so --- no blogging about it. Another project is a skirt that is still mostly in my head . . . . well, you can see how all of this diminished the appearance of my output.






I did, however, finish a shirt for my husband, David.




It's really nothing special - it's a simple men's sport shirt. Not custom tailored, no French cuffs, no real fitting to speak of. It has only 2 features that are at all noteworthy: his initials are monogrammed on the left front pocket (chic, non?); and the inside features NO RAW EDGES. Okay, I am pretty fond of that last point. It was constructed completely of flat-felled seams, even the armsceye, excepting the hem, which was overcast and double-stitched on my serger. Have I mentioned how much I love my Babylock, lately???

Weinachts Kleidung - Kapitel Zwei

I mentioned in previous posts that I had corduroy enough for overalls for Brody. Ta da!!


Brody, like his father, James loves all things with wheels, so naturally I embroidered a little car on them. Of course, when I say "I embroidered" I really mean that I engaged my Elna Embroidery machine (which I got for Christmas last year) to do it.





I had some leftovers of velour that I wanted to use, but there wasn't enough for leggings like his girls cousins (which is just as well, as I doubt his father would have encouraged his dressing to match girls), or a T-shirt as I had hoped, so I went scrounging in my stash. Voila! I found remnants of a wonderfully soft, super-fuzzy white sweatshirt fleece. I have no clue what was the original garment from whence this came. I haven't bought any sweatshirt fleece since we moved to Texas 16 years ago. I brought with me a considerable collection that I had purchased in Tacoma, WA, and have been using it on the rare occaisions that I feel the need to make something that warm in this hot, humid climate. So, I've had this piece for a while. It was just enough to get the body and sleeves of a shirt for Brody, and I cut the neck and sleeve bands and pocket out of the leftover velour.




Naturally, the shirt's pocket needed a little red car, too.




What do you think??? Fergus likes it!!

Weinachts Kleidung

A month or so ago I won a raffle bag at our local quilt club meeting (you may read our monthly newsletters, and get info regarding meetings at: http://panola-co.tamu.edu -- all are welcome) that contained 1-yd cuts of 5 coordinating fabrics. {and, may I just say: "Yippeeeee!!!!!} One of the fabrics, however, didn't look as good with the other 4 as they did with each other. When I pulled it out of the stack, and scrutinized it by itself, I immediately thought: little girl's dress!

Since I hadn't yet sewn clothes for Emma Rose, I decide to make an outfit for her. The print reminded me of the one's worn on the show Little House on the Prairie, so I set about making a dress in that style. I thought that a pinafore over it would just be the thing to finish off the look, and yet, I didn't stop there. It's cold in Pennsylvania where Emma Rose lives (see: http://varinascostume.blogspot.com/ for commentary), so I made a jumper out of corduroy, and added matching velour leggings. As a bonus - the velour is so wide that I had enough fabric to get Myra leggings, too. Also: the corduroy was on sale for such a great price, I bought enough to make Brody David overalls. I cut them out this morning, and am hoping (fingers crossed!) to get them finished and wrapped by Christmas.



Here is the whole outfit together. The dress is McCall's 4641, altered only by lining the bodice of self fabric. The jumper is Butterick 4009, altered only by lining the bodice of matching Ambience leftover from a skirt of mine. The leggings are from the Ottobre magazine issue #04/2004-2.

What do you think???

It doesn't fit -- how can this be?????

Sewing has always fascinated me, from the artistic aspect -- which buttons with which fabric? --- to the mathematical -- manipulating a plane, a 2-dimensional object, to fit a body, a 3-dimensional object -- what's not to love?? Sometimes it frustrates me, but that can be fascinating, too. This is one of those times.





Whilst attaching the facing of this blouse to the front panels, I was horrified (NOT too strong a word, considering the price of the fabric, and its local unavailability) to discover that the pieces didn't fit by several inches. How can this be??? They were cut at the same time, using the same pattern pieces. They were certainly the same size when I cut them out 6 weeks ago!



Two explanations, which are both applicable: 1) the facing piece must have shrunk somewhat when I steam-fused the interfacing to it, and, 2) the front panel must have stretched somewhat when I ironed it flat, post-application. [remember my virgin post of "pressing vs. ironing"]

Okay. Now what? I see 2 options, here:
1) Cut off the longer piece to fit the shorter one. I immediately reject this one, as it requires that I cut the entire hem by 3 inches, causing the blouse to land at a very unflattering spot on my prodigious, now completely useless, child-bearing hips. This could be, however, a great option for other projects.
2) Stretch to fit. This worked for me. Since the edge had a decided curve to it (read: bias), it stretched nicely without any risk of tearing. The interfacing I used was a weft-knit, and had some stretch to it, as well. This did, however, leave me with another conundrum: puckers on the larger piece - the one that shows. S * I * G * H There really is only one solution to this:

Lie. Lie, until your pants actually burst into flames. If the puckers' location is symmetrical, and not-unflattering, you may pretend that they are a design element. (" I meant to do that.")
Said with enough bravado, this method could fool Chanel herself. Add a note of incredulity to your voice, and a look of disdain to your countenance, and the questioner will regret having raised the question. Practice with me now: "This? Why ---- it's a design element!"




Well, there is another option. One that I attempted with mixed results: press the little buggers out.
The trick here is to relax the fibers as much as possible, manipulate their shape to the one desired, and fix that shape permanently. Saturating the fabric with water will relax the fibers nicely, and your iron will seal the deal. I keep a mister bottle full of distilled water nearby for just this purpose. Why distilled water, instead of tap? I want no risk of mineral deposits marring the finish of a fine fabric.

Here are the results. Not bad, eh? I retain the option of lying, as I have that 'look of disdain' down pretty well.

Now --- on to the collar!