I'm Retired!!! And I hope to get into the sewing room more often!

I have so many projects in my mind and will hopefully get to some of them even while getting my house ready to sell in the Spring.  The first room I packed up and downsized was the sewing room, so that will be a challenge.  But I have enough to keep me busy for a while.

I wanted to do a large piece of foiled fabric to possibly be made into a jacket. The piece is about 60x100. Click on pics to see larger.

I LOVE FOIL!!! Thank you Jane Dunnewold for introducing me to this a number of years ago.  She made a piece of fabric like this that I was lucky enough to purchase.  Ever since, I've wanted to make one myself.  The process is fascinating and sooooo exciting!

This piece was done with Wonder Under.  The foil is available in solid colors....getting the patterned results is the magic!  Thanks Jane.

Take a class with her....she is magic too!

I'm not positive what the fabric is...it may be a rayon blend.  It drapes beautifully and doesn't wrinkle much.  I really should start marking all my purchases.

The slight nap on this fabric also made for interesting results....can't wait to do more, and learn more.

LOVE this turquoise piece.

Jane Dunnewold Quilt

My arm is better and it's time to get back to the sewing room......more specifically I now feel like sewing again.  First things first though...The reality of retirement, downsizing and relocation is getting ever closer.  I have to find new homes for some of my favorite things.

So last night I put my fabulous Jane Dunnewold Quilt (1996) up on ebay.

This quilt was made for and pictured in her iconic book Complex Cloth.  

 Jane wrote a nice blurb about making this piece.

Take a look...
http://www.ebay.com/itm/-/371349882151?

Time Out.....

I'll be taking a time out for a couple (or few) months....I took a bad fall on January 16th and fractured my elbow and ruptured my tricep tendon.  So my right arm is in a brace for 3 more weeks and physical therapy fills my days. Damn.

Pillow #3

I have a funny need to make something....then change it a bit and make another....add another process and make another...and on and on until I find something uniquely mine.  I learned so many new processes over the years from myriad teachers....I need to put them into my work.  Time gets in the way and I lose interest fairly easily....but at least I'm making things that can be sold or gifted....so I endure.

I'm enjoying the pillows....even finding time during my busiest work time of the year....so I started pillow #3 the other day. 

The fabric is a linen from Miss Matatabi on etsy...also wanted to get more but not available.  It is a slightly heavier weight so worked nicely into a pillow.

 I screened some swirls with special foil glue and applied three different colors of foil.

 Silver, gold and bronze. The squares on the fabric provided a great background for the foiling.

Then I lightly quilted some straight lines both horizontal and vertical.

The back was left plain and the zipper installed. Again....love the ease of putting in the zipper.

Just received fabric for #4 from Miss Matatabi....couldn't resist...three of my favorite things....turquoise, crosses and metallics. Yum!

Pillow #2...different.

Since I don't have a lot of yard pieces of fabric I have to use what I have.  This piece of Japanese dobby fabric was from Miss Matatabi on etsy. I went back to get more and it was gone.

I didn't put the binding around the edge...mostly because I just forgot and sewed right sides together! I like it though. Love the turquoise. The front is layered with batting and a muslin and quilted.

I needed to embellish a bit so I sewed on some delica beads to resemble a few snow flakes falling on the trees.  They catch the light without being so large that you would feel them when leaning back on the pillow.

I especially like the way the back zipper is inserted....so easy and so nice looking when finished.

Very happy with this!  Excited to see what #3 will be.

Starting Early for Christmas 2015!

My New Year's resolution.....Start now and get some gifts completed that will use my stash. I got nothing done this past year in the "Homemade Christmas" category...very disappointing.  We'll see how I do this time.

I saw this pattern in Quilting Arts Gifts Holiday 2013-14 and decided to give a try.  I have many pillow  forms, and need to use them.  I'm really pleased with the outcome and will make many more with this pattern, maybe using different words, color combos or themes.  Who knows....

OOPS I did it again!!!

I should  have read my own posts and I would have seen that I needed to use a different browser...oh well.

 Anyway...I made this bag with a piece of cloth that was used as a dropcloth on my table during one of the classes I had taken in the last few years.  I would do practice stamping and discharge and dyeing on it and usually loved these pieces more than the ones I was working on.  So I made many of them.

And decided it was time to cut one up and make a bag for myself for a trip.  It has an iron-on fleece on each piece...outside and lining....and is then quilted.  So it has nice weight and body.

I also decided to make a small companion piece, and added an iron-on crystal and stud transfer of a pair of sunglasses....inspired by my trip.

I wasn't willing to cut into more special fabric for the inside, so I pulled out some old favorite polka dots in bright colors. 

As a side note....it's amazing (and wonderful) that I now feel an urge to sew more since getting a clean bill of health....been a tough year.  Feeling grateful and blessed.

Marcia

New Bag!

I can't seem to get pictures to load.  I'll try again tomorrow.

LOVE the color...

The last of my finishes last week is this very colorful piece that hung on my design wall for a couple years, I think, in various degrees of done.  I just enjoyed looking at the explosion of colors when I entered the room....so never hurried to complete.

 

This is mostly Brandon Mably and some Kaffe Fassett fabrics.

The quilting was done by Designing Quilts....always a beautiful job.

I couldn't bear to put anything but matching fabric on the back...but had to piece it.

I have a lot of strips and squares left...I see a jacket in someone's future.

Marcia

 The next quilt I completed was made with a tumbler kit from The Quilt Shop of Danbury.  LOVE these colors.

 And since I loved the quilting pattern on the previous quilt so much I repeated it on this one.  Eileen from Designing Quilts does a really nice job on the quilting.

 If my beach has a silent auction again this year I'm thinking this would be a perfect donation...my quilts have been a proven moneymaker in the past.

 These colors and patterns just make my heart sing...

Today I start on three new tote bags....I need to have some gifts ready for giving this summer.

Marcia

 Last year I sent three pieces to be quilted by Designing Quilts....beautiful job as usual...and then they sat for the past year.  I machine sew all my bindings so it's a fairly fast process....just didn't feel like doing any sewing.

So last week I decided it was time...and I finished them all in a couple days.  This is the first, made with fabric from Moda.  Nothing fancy about the design...just love the fabrics and the quilting is so much fun.

These days I am MUCH less hung-up on points and more into the fact that I have a finished piece, made with love, that someone can now wrap-up in and enjoy
.

Marcia

Let's try that again...

I switched browsers and that seemed to do the trick.

 

So this is the diaper bag for my  niece's baby...they don't want to know the sex ahead of time....and she likes pale blues and greens....

I've made this bag many times, but I added outside pockets on this one.

 

 
I hope it holds up to all the demands of diaperbagdom.... :)

This will be my sister's first grandchild....so excited for her too!  And we got word last week that my brother Jim and his wife Pat will also be grandparents for the first time this year...yea!!!!  That makes all 5 of us grandparents....about time!!!!

Marcia

I'm Back !!!

My desire to sew has returned....after 6 months of dealing with some medical issues (I'm feeling great!), I decided to get back into my sewing room and create....and I completed three things in two days.

The first is a diaper bag for my niece's baby, due in June.  She requested the colors and I used a favorite pattern but altered it a bit to add more pockets.  I included a Disney Bear.  My daughter illustrated the little book attached to the bear, and she designed the clothing.  My son-in-law illustrated the larger book. Makes for a very special gift.

I can't seem to upload pics to this blog....something may have changed in the year since I've posted.  I'll figure it out and post them next time.  Does anyone know why this is happening?

My Latest Quilt

This quilt was made with 3 layer cakes of fabric.  Some, or maybe all, are from Amy Butler.

I just love the colors.  This combo would make great large pillows for the Cottage.

The wonderful quilting was done by Eileen Keane at Designing Quilts.  Thanks Eileen.

Pics of dots quilt

Don't know if this will work but I'll try....here's the baby quilt from my last post in April :)...all finished.

There's something about dots for me...