The Haul

Last year I set up an RSS feed from Craigslist to route any postings with the word "fabric" (minus a lot of words for furniture) to my google homepage. Every couple of days since then, I've gotten a posting from someone who is selling or giving away fabric in my area. Really, it's not been much use. Most of the things that people are electing to get rid of... well, I agree with their choice. Also there has been a very persistent and annoying ad for a Conair fabric steamer and someone just determined to find an individual willing to come pick up a sturdy cardboard tube from their home in the boonies.

Well, last Friday my day finally came, and all of those days of deleting feed articles were Worth It. The advertisement was for an interior design shop that was going out of business, and it said that they had a few upholstery sample books to give away. I had heard of people getting free upholstery samples for sewing projects, so I called them to check it out. I ended up in a room that was clearly under construction, looking at piles and piles and piles of sample books filling most surfaces. Here is what I ended up taking, all of it free, and I don't think anyone who had seen the room before I came in would have known that I took anything:

That's 30 books of fabric samples, most of it linen or linen/cotton blends. I have disassembled about 2/3rds of the books so far, including one that yielded these beauties:

Now don't get the wrong idea... these are clearly the cream of the crop, and I have been exposed in recent days to some pretty heinous fabric designs. Stuff that would make your eyeballs bleed. Stuff that belongs in a craigslist ad. All in all, though, I feel pretty lucky. :)

Sydney's art "portfolio"

I used mr. monkeysuit's Traveling Artshow pattern as the base for this project.  I basically just adjusted the instructions to fit my notebook and pens and leave out the activity books and such, since my niece doesn't really use those.  I also changed the tie wrap to a snap closure, because I don't think she can tie knots yet and I didn't want to frustrate her.  I was extremely gratified to see her pick up the gift multiple times while I was visiting and say "oh, my Thing.  I need this..." and then go sit down and draw something (including a beauuutiful picture for me...)

Next time I make something like this, I will modify the pattern so that the space for the pens is flat when you close the book.  Mr. monkeysuit's pattern doesn't include that because the pens end up folded into the middle so that part doesn't show on the outside. 

Tutorial used:

mr. monkeysuit's traveling art show pattern






Review:
Very easy to follow, quick, with no tricky steps.  I modified the pattern to remove some features and change from a tie wrap to a snap.  I would make the project again.  :)

Quilt for my sister

I've got another Christmas present to show... My sister and I started this quilt in 2000, so it took me ten years to finish it, but I did. I guess it is sort of my first quilt.

My sister originally picked out the fabrics for this quilt, but the blocks have been sitting at my parent's house for 10 years so it was certainly a surprise present. :)

Modern Quilt Guild

I'm looking for people interested in starting a San Jose/Bay Area based branch of the Modern Quilt Guild.

Drop me an email if you are interested, post a comment, or head over here.

Christmas crafting!

Well, Christmas has passed, all the presents have been opened, (I am in loooove with my new iron, btw...) and now I can write about what I made without spoiling any surprises.



I made a library bag for my niece, who is only a year and a half and already loves library books, respects their specialness, and doesn't mix them with her regular books. I used some novelty fabrics that I had already cut into squares for a project that I started 10 years ago... I don't even remember what it was going to be.

I haven't made a quilted bag before so I sort of made it up as I went along. I knew that I wanted to hide the seams as easily as possible so I actually quilted the top layer to the middle layer, and then lined the bag with what would have been the bottom layer of the quilt sandwich. The flap I made separately and quilted normally. Binding that was quite a pain... I know now to avoid rounding the corners of my quilts.

I also made a shoulder bag for my sister, with embroidery on the flap and lining made from an old jacket of hers that had gotten too small. It also has a little embroidery on the strap, specially designed for me by a dear friend, with my sister's initials hidden in the swirls.




Tutorial used:
mmmcrafts' the basic messenger bag





Review: All the steps are pretty easy and it goes together in about 4 hours (I think I sew slowly, though). The tutorial contains all the information that you need and it is easy to follow. I like the shape of the bag a lot. It turns out ok when made with canvas/denim weight material, but I think that it looks the best if you use very heavy material or add interfacing. I made two with pockets and one without pockets. In the future, if I put on pockets, I will probably modify the design to add a zip to each pocket and make them more useful.
At some point I would like to make a little ad-on to the tutorial for making differently sized bags and to streamline the instructions for people who have made it before. (The tutorial has some great explanatory pictures, but it's not easy to glance at the instructions and identify the next step.)
All in all it is a great tutorial and I will definitely be making the bag again. I already have another request in my queue.

Sewing clothing

Sewing clothing is not something I am skilled at, but I so want to be! I try patterns and usually end up getting frustrated (like when the sleeve is too big for the arm hole, or when it doesn't fit in the bust and I can't figure out how to fix it...) It's something that I should work on and get good at, but it's just so much easier to sew a bunch of squares together and make a quilt.

Someday I want to be as good as this girl.

Confession

I collect fabric. I pretend that I'm going to make something out of it, but... well... the facts speak for themselves. This is most of the fabrics I have purchased in the last six months:



See this little stack on the far left? That's the pile of fabrics of which I have used even the tiniest scrap. See these other three piles on the right? These are just for looking at. And touching.

I really enjoy prewashing fabric. I put it in the washer, and when it is done I lovingly clip off all of the stray threads, then I dry it, then I take it out and use ironing and folding as an excuse to pet it. Prewashing is when the fabrics and I get to know each other.

I even have fabrics that I haven't prewashed yet because I'm saving the experience. I keep my Eva in the original bag and just take them out to look at. Really, though, can you blame me? It's ridiculously pretty.