Monthly Archive for March, 2011

PYSANKY

Published on March 29, 2011 in the workroom. 4 Comments Tags: pysanka, pysanky.

Last year we started a tradition of hosting Pysanky classes just before Easter. Pysanky is the beautiful art of traditional Ukrainian egg decorating.

Fittingly, we held our first class of the year on the first day of Spring. Our instructor, Andrei Gravelle, got us inspired with the historical background and imagery of pysanky eggs. The detail that can be achieved is truly incredible.

Pysanky is created by drawing with melted beeswax on the surface of the egg with a tool called a kistka. The egg is dipped in a colour bath (starting with the lightest colour) and the beeswax acts as a resist. More beeswax detailing is added after each colour bath, until you end with the darkest colour, often black. The layering of colour like this is fascinating to me and after doing my first egg I now have a much better understanding of the effects you can achieve. I love how the final layer of black creates such a bold finish to the designs.

I feel extremely lucky to have the opportunity to learn this craft and to create my own yearly pysanky tradition. I feel so strongly that these crafts need to be shared as much as possible. I especially love that this a such a great group/family craft that everyone can sit together and enjoy creating something really unique no matter what age you are.

SUNDAY PATCHWORK #5

Published on March 26, 2011 in patchwork. 3 Comments Tags: Liberty of London, mauvey, sunday patchwork, V&A Patchwork Pattern Maker.

Last Sunday, my patchwork was basically the opposite of improv. I’ve been wanting to make some progress on my ‘Mauvey Quilt’. This is a quilt design that was generated from the V&A Patchwork Pattern Maker last year when I uploaded a photo of one of my favourite Liberty of London prints, Mauvey.

I spent a couple weeks assigning colours & fabrics to the colour key, then cutting out squares for both the square pieces and the half square triangle components. Oh yes, this is going to be a Queen-sized quilt. So, that was a heck of a lot of cutting. The final square size is 4.25″. I’m working through the quilt in 36 square increments (6 squares x 6 squares). There are 24 sections. I have now completed 2 sections. Here is the first. This is the second section.

Piecing this pattern requires a lot of attention. I have everything marked out and I am constantly referring to the pattern at every stage, multiple times. This entire quilt is a precision moment.

Though slow going, I love working on it. I’m intrigued by the pixel-y look of it. It’s going to be so fun to watch the sections come together. Luckily I’m feeling very patient with this quilt.

SAMPLER QUILT 2

Published on March 25, 2011 in patchwork and the workroom. 12 Comments Tags: improv patchwork, quilt sampler 2.

Sampler Quilt 2 class finished two weeks ago. It was a glorious ten weeks putting together this beauty of a quilt top. I don’t think I’m the only one from the class suffering from a bit of withdrawal. Thursday nights just don’t feel the same.

Johanna designed this next Quilt Sampler version to be bigger and more challenging. I do feel like I underwent some quilt boot camp and learned so many valuable lessons that will make me a better quilter. Firstly, I never fully understood the value of finger pressing and careful ironing. The wonkiness in quilt blocks is often created afterwards when you are moving your iron back and forth over your fabric stretching the heck out of it. Secondly, the miracle of spray starch. Starching some of my wonky blocks made them MUCH less wonky. I imagine pre-starching fabrics before you sew with them would also be helpful. (FYI: you will see starch on our shop shelves in the next few weeks!)

Sampler quilts are tricky, since there are so may different elements going on. I found myself trying to choose very plain fabrics and somehow, I hardly put any mustard coloured fabrics into this quilt. I really wanted to, but it just didn’t seem right. My fellow students, on the other hand, chose brilliant, bold colours and fabrics that I am totally in awe of. Spend some time checking them out here. Also, check out Katherine’s quilt top that I didn’t get a chance to photograph myself. They are all wildly different!

I spent one long night working on the back of my quilt. I decided to use my improv techniques to make something on a larger scale that would fit across the back. I used scrap pieces from four different fabrics to create that pieced bar. I’ve started to pay more attention to my improv process since I know so many of you are interested in how I do it. Perhaps with a bit of nudging there will be an improv class on our schedule.

The quilt is now basted and ready for quilting. I am going to do my best to get going on this sooner than later. I’m thinking some simple machine quilting echoing the designs will do the trick.

BIB FRONT DRESS IN CORDUROY

Published on March 23, 2011 in stitchery. 18 Comments Tags: Amy Butler, B & J Fabrics, bib front, corduroy, Liverpool.

If this dress looks familiar, it’s because this is version #3 of this style! First made is summery pink/purple gingham, then in navy with gold linen and now with the softest purple/grey corduroy.

Let’s talk about this fabric first. I bought it a few years ago in New York at B & J Fabric. I love to treat myself to a nostalgic trip to B & J whenever I can. I used to have the luxury of wandering the aisles for hours after work every day, dreaming up new things to make. The wale on this corduroy is so fine, the fabric feels a bit like velvet. The colour mixes my two current favourites, grey and purple.

From my past versions, you know all about this pattern. It is based loosely on the Amy Butler Liverpool Shirtdress with some major adjustments.

I actually made this dress just before the holidays, it was my Christmas dress. It feels really cozy to wear, so it’s the perfect winter dress. AND apparently winter isn’t quite done with the snow we’re having today!

365 : 74

Published on March 17, 2011 in 365 and local. 6 Comments Tags: 365, Darrell Walsh, Solo Bace.

March 15, 2011 : Spring haircut by Darrell Walsh

Hello! This is my first official 365 post of the year. Yep, I’ve got 73 photos I need to post to catch up for the year. But in case you thought I had abandoned the project, I wanted you to know I’m still doing my daily photo. One thing I’m trying to do with my 365 this year is to share my favourite local places and people.

Haircut day is something I look forward to. I’ve been seeing Darrell for 15+ years and he’s the best. Since we’ve been together so long, I don’t really have to tell him what to do and I always leave happy. Haircut day is also the only time my hair gets dolled up and this time he made it full of cute curls. Now I just need some cute spring tops & dress to go with my new hair!

Darrell is at Solo Bace if you’re looking for a spring pick-me-up.

MY SCRAP BIN

Published on March 16, 2011 in scraps and textiles. 15 Comments Tags: scrap bin, scraps.

I’m trying to tackle my spring cleaning bit by bit. In this case, it’s keeping all my bits of fabric organized! A few months ago, I spent an entire night going through the mess of my scrap bin at home. I ironed, sorted everything by colour and then tied them up in bundles. Having an organized scrap bin has been the key to all the improv piecing I’ve been doing. I almost exclusively use scraps for my improv work. Now that my scraps are organized, I can grab the bundles of colours I want to work with and away I go!

My scraps are pieces I’ve collected from my clothing, quilting and other projects. Lucky for me, my scrap bin is also filled with scraps I’ve collected from many of YOU! If you’ve left behind a little bit of fabric at the workroom after a class that I didn’t have, I may have snatched it for my collection. Some of the smallest pieces are just two inches long and I have to say, I totally feel justified in keeping tiny pieces of very ‘rare’ or coveted fabrics.

Do you guys keep a scrap bin at home? Do you obsessively save every little bit?

The other part of my spring cleaning is my actual fabric stash. I’m partway through organizing, ironing and folding that. Once I’m done, I’ll take some photos to share with you. Fabric photography is one of my favourite things to do! (Can you tell?)

SUNDAY PATCHWORK #4

Published on March 14, 2011 in colour, patchwork and scraps. 2 Comments Tags: scraps, sunday patchwork.

I’ve been patchworking every Sunday, but for the last ten weeks have been focusing on my Quilt Sampler 2 homework. The class just finished last Thursday, so I’ll post up photos of our finished quilt tops this week.

Yesterday, I spent a few hours ironing and organizing my fabric stash at home. It’s gotten a bit messy and also spread out over the house, so I wanted to wrangle it into one location. It’s so fun to re-discover forgotten fabrics and make things all tidy. Handling all my fabrics, really got me inspired to work with some with new colour palettes.

I’ve really been in the mood for some improv patchwork, so last night I started by using some scraps of purple nani IRO double gauze and threw in other scraps of dark grape-y purple, navy and light blues. I wanted to keep it fairly simple, but kept adding more and more scraps. It’s hard to stop, once you get going! I built two separate, but similar blocks so that they would be the right size for me to make myself a travel hoop bag.

Tonight I’m going to baste the two blocks and start doing some simple hand quilting on them. I’ve been missing having a little hand work project, so this is going to be perfect!

PATCHWORK PALETTES : ICELAND

Published on March 8, 2011 in colour, patchwork and scraps. 14 Comments Tags: iceland, mrsmcporkchop, patchwork, patchwork palettes.

I am so excited about this block! This is the second Patchwork Palettes block that I’ve done with Amanda. The concept of our project is that we draw colour inspiration from one of our Pinterest photos. The two of us each create a patchwork block that interprets the palette. One photo, two completely different blocks!

This time it was my turn to choose and I HAD to choose this incredible photo of Iceland. These colours are so ME. I loved looking through my scrap bin for these icy blues, smoky greys, bits of pink and black. You may recognize some scraps from my last Happy Homemade top. It was a ‘happy’ coincidence that I was working on both projects at the same time. That big gingham in aqua and white was a perfect fit for this.

This block is loosely based on a log cabin pattern with lots of scrappy strips and bits mixed in. Some things that I love about this block : where I’ve pieced the same fabric to itself, the repetition of fabrics throughout the block and the tiny scrap of persimmon plaid fabric near the top right corner.

Amanda also did an improv block this time and I absolutely love it! Take a look at her bold fabric choices and teeny tiny bits of piecing and stripes. So good. Also, my favourite detail is her little diagonal pieces.

This project is so good for me. These small blocks are incredibly satisfying to make and I’m learning all kinds of wonderful ways of improv piecing fabrics together. It is an inspiring way to sew. Plus, testing out colour palettes is so much fun.

I can’t wait to start on our next block. We’re off to choose our next photos!!

INTRO TO CROSS STITCH

Published on March 7, 2011 in japanese dress/craft, needlework, reading, the workroom and tools. 6 Comments Tags: Cosmo, embroidery floss, Intro to Cross Stitch, johanna masko, Kazuko Aoki, lecien.

I’ve finally finished and framed my Intro to Cross Stitch sampler! I had finished up the alphabet part of the sampler during the class, but was determined to frame it in a hoop and wanted to do a round border around it. Lucky for me, Johanna accepted my special request and designed this sweet leafy round border.

Since this border is round and the pattern is actually quite random, it took a little bit longer for me to stitch. The rectangular border that Johanna also designed for the class is a much easier border to stitch since it is repetitive. I hardly ever like to take the easy route, especially when it comes to aesthetics. To be honest, I miscounted when I was more than halfway done and had to take out quite a few stitches. The end result is totally worth it. I am so proud of how my sampler turned out. It’s now hanging on the wall at the workroom, so if you’re in the shop you can see it in person.

Cross stitch appears to be a fairly easy form of needle work. The reality is that there are always mistakes to avoid and tricks to learn that make any new craft so much better from the very start. Tricks and tips are Johanna’s specialty! I don’t know how she does it, but man! are we lucky to learn from her. (psst! have you seen her new class?!) What I didn’t realize about cross stitch was that it requires some strategic thinking to keep your work tidy on the back side. I found myself feeling like I was playing a game of Tetris, as I was pre-planning my ‘moves’ (aka stitches) with my needle. I totally enjoyed this aspect of cross stitching.

Also! I really had a chance to get a feel for the new Cosmo embroidery floss we got in. I love it!! Firstly, we have 443 colours, so the possibilities are endless. Secondly, the cotton floss is so silky and totally doesn’t tangle. The other thing I’ve recently started using are needle threaders. They make all the threading in hand quilting and needle work SO much easier. Clover makes a floss embroidery threader and it is now a permanent part of my sewing kit.

I have big cross stitch plans now that I know what I’m doing. I’m envisioning making linen napkins, coin purses and wall hangings with cute cross stitch motifs. Here are a few things on my cross stitch project list:

Farm Folk Stitchettes by Wee Wonderfuls

Some of the incredible border patterns in the DMC Library Cross Stitch booklets

Cute Kiwi from Frosted Pumpkin Stitchery‘s Fruit of the Month Club

Wildflower Garden Cross Stitch book by Kazuko Aoki (anything from this book)

Master Collection : A-Z Cross Stitch by Kazuko Aoki (anything from this book, too!)

Cosmo floss colours used in this project : 226, 225, 2224, 224, 2223, 223, 2222, 436