cloth.paper.string

to market

The scene today was typical.  The pre-grocery shopping gathering up of recipes for the week, ingredient lists, jars for filling, egg cartons and milk jugs for returning, canvas bags for carrying.

The grocery shopping was a bit atypical though.  I was alone.  There was no bribery, no peeling of floppy toddlers off the floor, no talking with the little one about each and every thing going into the cart.  It was efficient.

So was the rest of the day.  I had it to myself with very few obligations.  This is rare.  So much so that I can't remember the last time I had eight daylight hours in a row to myself, for myself.  I sat in the sun and finished reading a book.  I sewed.  I roasted eggplant and made baba ganoush.  I listened to Liz Gilbert, to Ira Glass.  I listened to the birds.  I walked by the lake.  I puttered about catching up on not doing anything in particular.  I can't think of a better way to have started the long weekend.

The bag is my newly sewn market bag.  The inspiration came from the burda style charlie bag.  The pinstriped canvas and green linen from this fabric shopping adventure.  I like it so much that my sewing today was the piecing of another -- this time a greyish denim lined with yellow and white baby seersucker.  Photos of that one soon.

Quick reminder - the gocco swap sign up deadline is Tuesday!  It's shaping up to be another good one... 

puzzling piecework

I've always been drawn to logic games.  When I saw the puzzle ball in Joelle's patchwork book I knew I would make it someday.  When the idea of gathering together and sending Grace a package of goodies for her babe was tossed around the virtual neighborhood, I knew the day had come.

And so, I cut and pieced and stuffed and pinned.  And then I puzzled.  But not about the piecing together of the wedges of the ball.  It was the stitches that held them together that completely eluded me.  Since I tend to make it up as I go if I can't decipher the instructions (or don't want to follow them), I ended up stitching an asterisk of sorts where the pieces joined.  It's a bit wonky, but it works.  And I'm thinking that sweet Fiona won't mind a little wonk in her puzzle ball.  More to puzzle over, right?

speck of yellow

I thought I had purchased fusible interfacing, but no amount of ironing will get it to stick. So I'm sandwiching it in, and hoping for the best. I'm going with the slightly corded nantucket red...

rekindled

During my lengthy break over the holidays I changed things up in the craft room.  Rearranging and purging immediately rekindled excitement about projects that had been set aside and made room for new inspiration.  

A twin-sized version of the stacked coin quilt from this book was started last summer when Rowan moved into her own bed.  I felt an intense need to make her something to sleep with since she would no longer sleep with me.  The making to ease the transition for me; and the resulting blanket, to mark her milestone.  The fabrics are vintage, new and repurposed from some of her cotton dresses.  I pieced the coins and lost momentum as she and I settled into our new sleeping routine.  Since rediscovering the project last week, I'm determined to finish it before the snow melts.  I still love the fabrics and the idea of her nestled beneath a mama-made quilt. 

Another sewing project I'd like to tackle is the all day tote from this book.  The lining will be another repurposed skirt - this one a chocolate floral print cotton.  For the outside, I can't decide between the steel blue and slightly corded nantucket red.  The blue is soft and drab in all the right ways, and the reddish orange lively and warm in every way my environment is currently not.  I'm torn.  Any thoughts?

made

The holiday gift making kept me up into the wee hours recently.  We decided to go handmade for our family and friends and created a bundle of goodies in which all members of the household participated in the making.  I'll share more on the collaboration once the last of the gifts are given next week.

For my daugther, I knitted a hat.  One I've made before, and one I'll make again; though sooner than I had anticipated.  I made a mistake in the measuring, or she grew considerably, so the hat is a wee bit small.  This one will be donated for an upcoming silent auction, and another will be cast on. 

I also sewed a dress from this Japanese craft book.  Pinstriped denim, elephant pocket, vintage button and orange trim.  I'm pleased with how it came out and too that it's such a hit:  the pachyderm dress is in heavy rotation.

The handmade holidays rounded out a pretty good year of sewing, printing and knitting for me.  These are the finished and photographed.

For 2009, I'm aiming to use more of what I have; make more of what I think about creating; finish more of what I start; and clean up as I go.  And too, to photograph all of it. 

Wishing you all a happy, healthy and abundant new year!

inside and out : reminders

Inside, I reaquaint myself with my sewing machine.  Stiching up newborn hats for Mama to Mama's Caps to Cap-Haitien project.  A reminder that simple and small acts can, and do, make a difference.   And too, contributing to the project reminds me of the importance of the connection between mamas all over. 

The cotton jersey I had on hand isn't exactly a color that I associate with newborns, but the caps are made from the remnants of t-shirts I repurposed into pants for my babe when she was wee.  Connecting the sewing I've done for my child to sewing I'm doing for someone else's child has far greater importance to me than getting the colors just right.

Outside, I reconnect to the fresh air.  Ignoring the head cold that has kept us all sniffling at home for the last four days, we ventured out.  A short brisk hike along the Superior Hiking Trail.  A reminder of the healing qualities of being outside.

rabbit rabbit

They say it takes a village.  In the case of the little one's Halloween costume, what they say is true.  Inspiration, patterns and materials for the rabbit came from all around this creative blogging community.  The lazy days skirt from Oliver + S.  The wee jacket from Bend-the-Rules. The bunny hat from the Purl Bee.  The bunny tail is a bit of still-to-be-spun wool from Good Yarn Karma.  Thank you, thank you Liesl, Amy, Molly and Donyale!

The much anticipated first 'real' Halloween was a hit.  Some bit of the costume was worn from five-thirty this morning on. Yes, five-thirty this morning.  And yes, I left the sewing machine after midnight...

We made like rabbits, picking carrots from the community garden and hopping always and everywhere.  We 'played' trick or treat, visiting a few of our favorite neighbors.  And we ate more sweets than we should have. 

Happy halloween, friends.

making jams

Jam for eating.  Of the five gallons picked this morning, almost half were mashed and boiled and stirred, following my favorite not-too-sweet recipe. 

And jams for wearing.  Amy Butler's lounge pants made up from sheets that we slept on for years and years.  I hated cutting the fabric as it solidified the fact that the sheets had indeed been washed and with a handful of screws.  Don't ask. 

But, I love wearing the pants.  They're the kind that make you want to stay home all day, eating bread and jam.

giving good weight

My neighbor asked a few weeks back if I would make her a weighted bookmark to help her coordinate reading while nursing her newborn. Somehow this project ended up spending more time in my head than it needed to.  A bit of linen, a handful of tiny green lentils and one of the fancy stitches on my machine was all it took in the end.
Draped across the book, the weight holds the pages open so that you have relatively hands-free reading.  These would be great gifts to stitch up for all of your bookgroup or other bookish friends, don't you think? 

little bits

We recently gifted a certain babe-on-the-way with a bundle of handmade:  the simplest of quilts; a onesie freezer paper-stenciled with Olive, the Boston terrier; and a pair of Melissa's baby shoes screen printed with the image she created for the mid-winter gocco swap.

As for gocco, another swap is in the works.  I promise there will be more to come in the next few weeks...