New Start

With my sewing machine out of town, I cleared off my sewing table and ironing board and set it up for fusing dog fur.  Not literally, but I am going to make a dog quilt.  Scroll down to last week to see the photo of Lady.  I dragged my feet a bit as it was a heavy week and my body was too tired to stand at the ironing board to do the work.  However, I spent the time thinking about the process and the materials needed.  I don't need to buy any fabric and that is always nice as I am a long way from the good quilt stores.  This is a stop-gap project and I will probably not finish it for awhile because I want to focus on the quilt that I am quilting...when my machine gets home from the repair shop.

I think I figured out how to do the bow.  Those tiny pieces look daunting to do in fabric so I decided to paint them.  I love to paint and have ordered a starter set of Textil paints from Marabu.  They are acrylic and reportedly bright and mixable.  The ad I saw says that they are slightly thinner that other acrylic fabric paint, go on fabric smoothly, and leave the fabric with a nice hand.  It sounds too good to be true, but it isn't expensive so I am giving it a try.  I got a starter kit with six basic colors.  I can do anything with that!  I might try to make the ribbon look shiny with a light coat of Mod Podge after the paint dries, but it will be awhile before I get to that.

Now to the dog:
1.  Turn the photo into black and white, then separate the photo into 5 black and white values (posterize in Photoshop).

2.  Draw lines around each value and label each value from 1 to 5, on mylar with a fine, black Sharpie.

3.  On a light box, trace the lines on freezer paper to put under a silicone ironing sheet to guide placement of fabric.

TIP:  I use a plexiglass sewing machine table extension for my light box.  The light is my Ott light, which opens out flat to lay under the table extension.

4.  Repeat step 3.  This copy will be cut to pieces on the lines as patterns for cutting fabric.

TIP:  Cut out one piece of the second freezer paper pattern at a time, using it to cut the fabric piece with fusible attached.  If you cut out all the pieces at once you will never find where anything belongs.

In the photo below you can see where I left out the ribbon.  I will do it separately.  The dark places (eyes and one piece of fur) have already been cut out so you see the dark floor through the holes.  I started with the eyes because they are critical and need to be exactly right.

Lady in outline

Next week I will show my progress in placing fabrics.  It looks daunting, but is really quite simple  I enjoy cutting out the pieces and seeing it all come together.  Each piece is cut 1/16 inch larger around the edges so it will lay under the next piece.  I am starting with the lightest value so I won't have dark edges showing through the white fabric.  I will progress to the next darker value and so on until I come to the black, which will go on last.  The final touch will be the bow, which I will make separately and attach all in one piece.

Sew some happy seams this week, or have fun fusing fabrics.

Down and Out

I was stitching away enjoying my time and an audiobook.  Frustration took over as my needle refused to pull the bobbin thread up.  Re-thread the machine.  Nope.  Change the needle.  Nope.  I probably messed up the timing trying to micro-stipple over heavily layered fabric.  I  called my wonderful repairman.  Would you believe that he and his wife sold their business, retired and moved to Vegas?  I had no clue.  The new people will take a look at my machine, then transport it to a town 40 miles north.  I can have it back in three weeks.  What?!!  Forget that.  Ed would have had it fixed by the next day.  I found a new shop, BabyLock dealer and repair person in a different town, but same distance for me.  Hopefully they can help me in a more timely manner.

So....what do I do now?  I have another birthday card to make in Photoshop and/or I can do the prep work for my next quilt.  I plan to do another collie.  I really enjoy doing dogs.  I also have a photo of a raccoon that would be fun to do.  If the machine needs more time in the repair shop I may even start cutting bits of fabric.

Lady

I packed up the machine and headed down the canyon.

Prognosis:  The timing is fine.  The needle slipped off center.  The repairman is also replacing the circuit board that controls the On/Off button, which has not been working well.  Full service too with a one year guarantee.  Two weeks.  Grrrrrr!  My "studio" looks undressed.

Well, I will use my time to prepare Lady for a new life in fabric.  She was a wonderful, sweet pet.  That ribbon is going to be pain to create.  I'll have to think about that.  Any ideas out there?

Sew some happy seams this week.  I wish you a week of no mechanical problems.

My Studio

Have you ever spent time reading about and looking at photos of the beautiful quilting studios that some people have in their homes?  I look at them and drool, but living in a 700 sq ft cabin doesn't leave much room for an exotic studio.  I saw a cabinet on FB that looks like a fabulous solution, but I don't even have room for that!  You can see what they have at "Original ScrapBox."  My "studio" is a bedroom.  The closet is reserved for my husband's clothes.  I keep a twin bed in my studio because I need a guest bed now and then.  I have one domestic sewing machine - that's all I need.

Essentials of my "Studio."

The table under the window (right) is multi-purposed;
*It is a padded ironing table.
*It can be used to store items needed for quilting - as it is now.
*I can strip off the padding and use it for pinning a quilt in preparation for quilting.

Under the ironing table are six, large, plasic stacking drawers.  That is where my sewing supplies are kept right beside the sewing machine.

I can set up a card table if I need to design, trace or do some drawing.  It makes a place to fiddle and fuss while sitting down.  It is fills the room temporarily, but it works.

You can't see the design wall on the wall to the right of the sewing machine (in the photo) and parallel to it.  I have to reach over the machine to attach stuff to it.  Sometimes I need a little stool to reach the high parts, but I have a design wall and love it.  The fourth wall is my husband's closet.

So...where is my stash?  See below:

My stash shed behind the house.

   Yes, it is a little inconvenient, but I have just as much fun as the next person when I go out there and fondle fabric.

A portion of my stash.

It needs tidying up a bit, but that will  have to wait for warmer weather.  It was 5º out this morning.  I couldn't get far enough away to get a photo of all of it, but you can get the idea.

The point of this post is that you don't need much space to make quilts that are loved, warm and appreciated.  A spacious studio is nice, but not critical.  It does help to try to stay organized.

Sew some happy seams this week.  I wish you space if you really need it.

Motivation

Summer was like a feather, softly  floating down that briefly brushed my cheek before it was blown away.  I haven't sewed a stitch in three months.  What happened?  A busy summer filled with a lot of very physical yard work, a lot of visitors, sewing room used for guests, and some medical issues (DH - not me).

I am noticing what is jabbing me to get motivated again:
1.  DH is feeling better.
2.  Yard work is done so I am not so exhausted.
3.  I am back to my regular exercise routine.
4.  I downloaded an audiobook and am eager to listen to it.
5.  I bought a spool of thread that I need for quilting.
6.  Snow is predicted this week.
7.  I am getting tired of my genealogy research project.
8.  Most of all I am goal-driven and have no UFOs...and do not intend to start collecting now.

The sewing machine is calling louder every day...maybe tomorrow.

*******************

Two days later:  I DID IT!  I finally got out of the "do the chores" mentality and reconnected with my sewing machine.  I haven't forgotten how to quilt.  I sat down to the most tedious motifs and finished them all.

Problem:  Thread kept breaking.

Why:  There is one intersection of too many seams that is lumpy because this is paper pieced and I couldn't get the seam allowance adequately flattened at an early stage.  I am micro-stippling some very small pieces that are stitched together - black on black.  Urrrrgh!

The red circle is the nasty area of heavy seam allowance that defies the needle.

Trying to solve the problem:
Change the needle.  No help.
Change from the old thread to the new spool I bought last week.  No help.
Be careful.

Solution:  Be careful and gently work around the spot.  The presser foot sometimes gets too high over the bump so the needle can't connect with the bobbin thread.  I don't see that there is much else that can be done at this point.  It really isn't noticeable, but judges might ding me for it.  Oh well!

If you look closely you will see the stitches in the black seams.  I sewed the quilt together with medium gray thread.  If those stitches remain noticeable I will run a permanent black pen over them and they will magically disappear.  In other places a little glue shows, but it will disappear when I soak the finished quilt.

I am eagerly looking forward to tomorrow when I can do some quilting that is more fun than micro-stippling.

Sew some happy seams this week.  I wish you lots of motivation and no stitching problems