Posts categorized: News

2013 In Review

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2014 is here, and I’ve started taking stock of what sewing projects are coming up next. 2013 was certainly full of change for me, but that translated to what felt like a less productive sewing year.

I didn’t actually fulfill any of my sewing resolutions for 2013, but I wouldn’t call the year a total loss. One major theme: I don’t have a bunch of abandoned WIPs from the year like I have in the past; I either finished everything I started, or am still consistently working on it for the most part.

Quilt Finishes

I say 2013 “felt like a less productive year”, but I actually finished one more quilt than I did in 2012.

Sartorial and Costume Projects

My big win of the year was finally finishing a Tiramisu in December. I also made Butterick B5814 for Halloween, but don’t have photos or a post about it.

Crafty Things

There were a few quick projects I didn’t blog about (like very simple drawstring and Velcro bags for wrapping Christmas gifts, tote bags, and the like), but I did do a few here and there.

Samplers, Meetups, and Exchanges

The notable finish here was Swapped Stories, from the block swap I started in 2012.

I started two Saturday Samplers, but stopped after just a few blocks because of the move. All of the blocks I received are done, but they are packed away awaiting some rainy day.

Fails and Projects I Got Bored With or Ignored for Too Long

This list grew just a bit, because I didn’t complete a single project from it in 2013. I really do hope to focus on these in 2014.

2011: Miniatures Heart Nine-Patch—saw some cutting board action in 2013 (strips cut into pieces for 9-patches), but nothing more.
2011: Organic Spins—I made more progress in 2013, but it’s still not complete. I have everything I need, I just need to finish appliqueing and quilting.
2011: Drunkard’s Compass—needs a lot of work.
2012: Witches’ Bubble Brew—is fully pieced, but needs a lot of applique and then finishing.
2012: Double Wedding Ring—was not touched in 2013.
2012: The Steampunk Costume—is never going to be finished with the original plan, but I’d like to do something with all of it.
2012-13: Farmer’s wife / EPP Crosses—I did some EPP this year with a group in the spring and on my own as recently as Thanksgiving, but it has a long way to go and I only touch it every couple of months.
2012-13: Tiger Lily Saturday Sampler—all 12 blocks are complete, but I haven’t started piecing them together.

Wrapping Up

I have three quilts in progress that were started in late 2013 which are my main focus for early 2014 (two December babies, one January birthday). There are two more babies due to friends in the spring, so the first half of the year seems pretty full.

Aside from those planned quilts, I’m resolution-less this year. I want to see where the year takes me here in VT. I joined the local guild, but have only attended one meeting so far. I haven’t found a real quilt-shop home yet, nor any monthly groups. It’s an adventure I’m looking forward to.

I wish you the best of luck (or all the motivation) in 2014!

Make Do and Make Stitches

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When Carl and I first discussed buying a house two years ago, one of our major needs was a separate sewing space for me. The reason was half because I really wanted it, and half because he really wanted to be able to hide my ~~mess~~ creative endeavors behind a door when company came. Now, the problem with moving from a city where housing is some of the cheapest in the nation to a major college-inflated housing market is that finding (and affording) that extra space was hard—especially when we had to factor in an official office space for Carl, since he’s going to be working from home.

So, in a 900 square foot apartment, with just one official bedroom and one den that now serves as a guest room and office, where does the the sewing space fit?

In the walk-in closet!

Lucky for us, we both have mainly foldable clothes, and the remainder will fit in the hall closet. The closet is decently sized, so I don’t feel too cramped, and there’s enough storage that I only have one storage bin elsewhere.

The only thing missing is my sewing machine. It’s a long story, but in summary, I sent my machine to get cleaned and tuned up, but four weeks later, I’m still waiting for its return (and terribly unamused about the whole thing). I hope it is back by next week, so that Carl can pick it up when he goes back to Utica on business.

I can’t wait to get back to work on those WIPs!

My New(ish) Label System

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When I posted about “Disappearing Seven Wonders”, I mentioned that it had a new label and that I’d say more about them later that week. Three months later, now I am!

All ~~quilters~~ people who make quilts should label their quilts. When I say that, I don’t mean every quilt needs a label added to the quilt. Quilts should have the maker(s) name and date somewhere, even if it is just a signature and date in indelible ink on the fabric itself, tucked in a back corner. Many quilters say that they don’t label certain quilts, because this one is going to stay on their couch, but I think that is a cop out for when they are ready to move on to the next project. Some day, frankly, you die, and someone else will have the quilt. Why not claim your work and let them know you made it?

I like collections, meta data, and history, so labels are my way of attaching that information to my quilts in a way simply writing my name and location can’t do. For a while, I was using print-at-home fabric and making custom labels, but now I’ve had a chance to see how those hold up. The labels on the quilts I gave my mom and sister in 2011 have faded drastically. Carl’s quilt has only been washed once, yet the label looks like this:

The grey didn’t bleed onto any of the other fabrics or even the color catchers, just the label.

So, I’ve decided to start ordering labels from Spoonflower on the Linen/Cotton canvas, a few at a time—however many will fit onto their 8″ swatch. In my obsession with the color scheme from Shakespearian Bars, I also designed a new brand identity. Eventually, I’ll redo the site, too. These labels use that new logo and design scheme. Some are small, for bags and crafts:

hedgehog-bag-full-shot — You can see both smaller sizes on these bags.

Each larger quilt one has a unique QR code. The whole label is about the same size as a business card. I know there are a lot of jokes about their usefulness (see Pictures of People Scanning QR Codes, for example), but they are a quick way to link to more information about something.

The code points to a page on this site showing photos, details, and links to posts about the quilt. They are a little tricky to scan once washed, which I anticipated, so they also include the link in text. The one for my recent Amish Sampler points to raevenfea.com/q013ac. You’ll see that same code listed as a tag for all blog posts about a specific quilt (although sometimes they won’t be coded until the quilt is finished and I know which label it will get).

I was originally planning on ordering a full FQ batch after the initial test order (since it’s cheaper per label), but I’m glad I didn’t. This latest order required a bit of a change from the first few:

Did you spot it? Yes, big news! We’re moving to (South) Burlington, VT! I got the job offer over a month ago, but I’m still in shock. Things have been super busy trying to sell our house, find an apartment, pack, and work out employment for Carl. Sewing has been a great brain vacation (and a way to pare down my sewing room packing), thus the spate of recent posts, but things will probably be quiet around here for the next few weeks until we’re settled in.

I better get back to packing! What is your take on labels for quilts and QR codes?

Wind-swept Wednesday

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Spoiler alert: the storms in our county last night didn’t do any major damage to our house, my partner just thinks he’s funny. Yesterday evening was rather fun, in a “I miss midwest thunderstorms and they appeared in NY” sort of way. We stopped to grab dinner last night, mid-errand running, and got stuck at the restaurant while crazy wind, rain, and hail swept through the area. It was beautiful outside until about five minutes after we walked in the building.

Carl hadn’t looked in my sewing room for a while (though knew it was a mess), but I’d left the door open when we left, so when we got home, he saw the mess it was and said “have you seen your sewing room? There’s major wind damage in there!” Ha ha ha. Funny, honey.

It looked like this:

sewing-room-wind-damage — Still does, mostly

At this point, I think I’ve posted more photos of my room being a total mess than clean. Probably because 70% of the time, it is a mess, although usually not this bad. In my defense, this is during that “it gets worse before it gets better” stage of reorganizing for the umpteenth time. Those piles of fabric in the foreground are organized scraps from my scrap bin, which was overflowing and is now quite well-contained.

Not as non sequitur as it seems, here’s what’s on my wall right now:

This is a hand-pieced block that my grandmother gave me two years ago (along with the fabric she bought for the quilt) in a bag of various sewing things. She had finally, after 20 years, admitted that she was never going to take up quilting and knew I was hooked. After she passed away last summer, one of my sisters and I also inherited some additional craft supplies (mostly she took the yarn and cross-stitch things while I stuck mostly to the remaining quilting stuff).

My grandmother’s house was always clean, and while she loved collecting, she never seemed to hold on to things that she didn’t have space or use for. This block is on my wall right now to remind me of that as I clean out my sewing space, destashing and tossing things that I don’t need. The hardest part was sorting through the two bags of things that came from her supplies… rulers that I never used because I prefer the brand I buy, quintessentially late-80s calico fabric, a printed cross-stitch/embroidery kit for a quilt top, and more.

But she didn’t give them to me for safe-keeping, she gave them to me to use. And in her honor, I sent most of it on to other people who will use them, keeping the things I do want to use like this block (but not the remaining fabric), a pair of minky quilt kits that will be great for her future great-grandchildren (whether mine, my sisters’, or our cousins’), a couple of cross-stitch kits, and crochet hooks—the latter two crafts she taught me growing up which I’m hopelessly inept at now but plan to find time to regain those skills.

And in that spirit, I cleaned out my scrap bin, throwing out unusable ones, organizing the rest. I culled my stash, selling books, patterns, and fabric at a recent guild meeting.

Now I just need to put everything back together again. And then finish up some projects, because half-finished projects aren’t of much use either! I think she’d be happy with that.

2012 In Review

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Considering that we’re a day away from March, it is probably a bit late for a review of last year. But, since I found this in my drafts and find it helpful to refer back to, I’m publishing it now to motivate me to do even more in 2013.

Quilt Finishes

I had a goal of finishing 10 quilts in 2012. I didn’t make it, but I’m happy with the ones I did finish.

1812 Quilt Challenge Quilt
Tula Does Up the Walls in Pah-ree
Tula Leftovers
Ruffled Baby Quilt
Cyclist
Impressions Baby Quilt
4 Cuddle Quilts from 1 Jelly Roll (I’m counting these as one, but if you count them individually, that is 10 for the year!)

Sartorial and Costume Projects

I finished some things to be worn. Not all for me.

A Wrap Skirt for Thomas Knauer
A Tunic/Dress for me
An 1812 Ensemble which I still haven’t photographed or blogged about

Crafty Things

I made quite a few small projects. Here’re some of my favorites.

Samplers, Meetups, and Exchanges

I participated in some swaps and samplers that will go on into 2013, as well as a monthly EPP sit-and-stitch.

Fails and Projects I Got Bored With or Ignored For Too Long

These are my guilty secrets. The projects that I started and then just stopped for some reason or other (generally to work on something else). These are my goals for 2013.

2011: Miniatures Heart Nine-Patch—I haven’t touched for two years.
2011: Organic Spins—I made some progress, but I want to finish it by this September. I have everything I need, I just need to finish appliqueing and quilting.
2011: Drunkard’s Compass—needs a lot of work.
2012: Witches’ Bubble Brew—is partially pieced, but needs a lot of applique.
2012: Double Wedding Ring—is not going to be a DWR, but I do want to finish something with the rings that are complete and the remaining fabric.
2012: The Steampunk Costume—is never going to be finished with the original plan, but I’d like to do something with all of it.

A Resolution

I wish I could say I am going to focus on finishing up those fails and boring projects instead of starting new projects in 2013, but that would be a huge lie, knowing myself.

I just shipped off a quilt started and finished this year, and have another brand new top completed. I also started a new sampler, a new SYWTQ group project, and have already failed at completing a Tiramisu during the sew-along.

However, I do resolve to finish at least one quilt top before starting anything new after quilting the aforementioned top. And I resolve to finish Organic Spins before my guild’s show in September.

There. It’s in writing. Now to start doing it.

Treating Myself to a Retreat

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First, the grand total of my recent completed projects, Valentine Mug Rugs made of mystery-fiber pinkish fabric and a charm pack of Bliss that I honestly don’t remember buying (I have a charm pack purchasing problem):

valentines-mug-rug — Forgive the shadows, I’ve been binding at work over lunch, and get some really interesting light in my cube.

Actually, there are eight of them in various stages of being bound (I proved with this project that I cannot bind by machine with any proficiency at all. At. All.), all with slightly different blocks on the left.

Have I mentioned Urban Threads yet? I can’t get enough of their embroidery designs. That’s where the “Make Things” crest came from in the above project.

Hint: if you ever want to get me a present, a gift card to there would be splendid.

I’ve also been quilting the Amish bars quilt I posted about a month ago. (No new peeks until I finish it, sorry.)

We solved the electrical woes I mentioned in my last post, but I haven’t managed to put my sewing room back in order after I moved it all around so I could use the other outlet. I did get the giant box of trash out and new shelves built, though: baby steps.

This weekend, though, I’m going to a small quilting retreat hosted by a semi-LQS at a semi-local B&B.

I still haven’t packed, so I’m not sure what I’m going to be working on. Definitely the Amish quilt. I’ll also be piecing the top for a project that I can’t show you until it’s delivered (March?).

I’m thinking about taking my Miniatures Nine Patch pieces, which haven’t seen any work time since I posted this back in Feb. 2011.

And maybe my 2012 Saturday Sampler blocks (December’s still isn’t complete, but I also have all the other fabric for the top now). Is it gauche to take a sampler from another LQS to the retreat?

Then there is the EPP-project carrying bag that I started in November, but stopped once I got to the lining part and never went back to.

I have a star block that needs finishing by Monday—maybe I’ll take it, or finish it up before I leave. I have some swap blocks that need making before the beginning of March, so perhaps those.

In short, I really need to Make Things, and I have a lot of things partially made. And then I need to Blog Things, but that will hopefully come after said making.

February 26: Here’s a shot of all eight mug rugs before I packed them up. I did end up figuring out how to sew binding via machine on four of them, with the help of Steam-a-Seam basting. Not perfect, but I was out of time! The blocks all finished at 4″ (the rugs themselves were 5″×9.5″).

Including the binding and a charm on the back of each, I used all but four of the charms in the pack (with very nominal cutting waste of some).

Housekeeping

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Happy 2013!

ornaments — 4/5ths of my annual ornament collection, starting from when we first had a tree together. I always buy them post-Christmas, on clearance, so this year’s isn’t on the tree. They each have a year worked into the painting, 2008—

Whew. The holidays are over. We’re back in NY and back to work. I have all sorts of plans for posts to catch up on what I made for the holidays, but can’t convince myself to work on them—my mind is all a-clutter with things I need to do both online and offline and seems unwilling to dedicate the brainwaves for writing.

In fact, I think this blog is going to be pretty quiet for the month of January. I have a lot I want to accomplish (and in some cases need to), but I don’t think it leaves any time for blogging about it all.

On the sewing front, one project I’m starting on Monday is the 30 Minutes a Day Tiramisu Sew-Along.

Also on Monday is the start of a new Sew You Want to Quilt session. We’re focusing on Amish Quilting styles this go-around. I have a color scheme I’m excited about, but I don’t know anything more about what we’re making. If you’re in the Utica area and are interested in joining a group of quilters of all abilities (it’s how I got started!), it’s a class offered by the Viking Gallery inside of the JoAnn in New Hartford Shopping Center. We meet bi-weekly (more or less) on Mondays at 5.

With the exception of these two projects and one more (a baby quilt done by March), I want to focus on finishing up existing projects in the early part of the year. I have a few different quilt projects in various states of completion—at least two of which I haven’t touched in over a year. Add in a couple of smaller projects that are half-completed, and my project zen is totally out-of-whack. I need to do some new year cleaning.

Finally, once I get back on track with some of my sewing, I want to do some housekeeping on the blog—decisions about how often to post, whether to have a schedule, etc. But, I probably won’t get to that until February.

So, the too-long; didn’t-read bit of it is: this month is about working, not blogging, although I’ll try to keep you updated on my two new projects. Stay tuned for February when I get back into the swing of things.

Christmas Vacation

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Last year, I kept posting right through vacation, detailing all of the homemade Christmas presents I made. This year, I’m giving myself a present: a break! We’re leaving on Saturday to go to Missouri for a week to visit family and friends, and will be back in NY for New Year’s. Once we roll into 2013, I hope to have some tutorials and posts about presents and projects for you.

Until then, best wishes for wonderful holidays, whichever ones you may celebrate (I’m a bit late for Hanukkah, so belated wishes there), and may 2013 bring you joy and happiness.

family-photo — We should put decent lighting and a tree skirt on our wish list for next year…

christmas-moof — We should put decent lighting and a tree skirt on our wish list for next year…

Already A Bit Less of a Mess

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At least from this angle (although I still need to build my new sewing machine desk, but don’t know what to do with the old one until I can get rid of it)…

One of the major problems with the old setup was that I didn’t have any good organization for my works in progress—they’d get tucked away into boxes and what was out of sight was out of mind. Also, while I liked the idea of beautifully organized fabric in little cubbies, in practice, the shape of those cubbies just doesn’t work for me. So now, the old fabric shelves are going to be used for WIPs so they are in sight and easy to access (you can see my sticky note labels on them in the foreground). Meanwhile the old bookcase that had bins for some WIPs, supplies, books, and some fabric is now going to be all fabric, books, and supplies, as will the second one once I build it.

Just don’t look at the other half of the room…

All of that needs to be sorted, filtered, and put in a new home on the bookshelves (or in the trash, as is the case of the giant box on the right). I plan on tackling all that organization after I finish up this time-sensitive project this week (since at least I have a nice workspace again):

Also, is this a good time to mention that since I’ve only gotten as far as partially finishing the divided skirt and that half of a corset pinned to the dress form that I may not complete the Steampunk costume in time for my sister to model it at Christmas? Well, that’s what it looks like. But, maybe some organization will get me interested in working on it again.

Foto Freitag

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It’s the end of September, but our roses are still in bloom. Pretty cool. They need a bit of a trim, though.