Only two more days...

plus a few hours... then we leave to go to Houston.... that would be Thursday morning. There are six of us going in my little group.  We are all getting on a bus at 7am.  Of course we are leaving an hour before that to be able to get to where the bus will be picking us up... and of course getting up about an hour before that.  Hopefully we won't be too wound up on the bus ride back so we will be able to sleep for a while after a long hard day at the International Quilt Festival.  We are all very excited to be going.  I'm sure to have some neat pictures when I get back.  I have monogrammed 6 yellow backpacks for me and my quilting buddies.  I will have to get someone to take a picture of us.  The key here is to be hands free at the show.  No heavy purses and not having to hold onto something when you are looking at all the treasures they will have for sale there.

Today at quilting I showed a couple ladies how to make a block that I learned how to make last week.  I don't know the name, but it was a really neat trick to get it done, and all the ladies were impressed.  I'll maybe post a picture when I get a few more blocks done, as they look pretty neat when you lay them out together.  The other item that was discussed today was about the sweater stocking that I brought to show them.  I wanted their opinion about the bows.  I wanted to embellish the stockings, but not sure how.  I should have known to leave the bows off.  If I make something and I look at it and think it looks nice, usually it works.  Well these stockings looked good, but I was not sure about the bows.  They all thought the stocking was neat, and they all also agreed to ditch the bow.

Stockings from a sweater

Houston is just next week, and OAY starts in 13 days. I have been busy lately trying to finish up projects and add a few more additional items to my inventory that I will be taking to the Once a Year Holiday Market.  Stockings is an item category that was requested, so I have been trying to add a few more of those.  Although I have made some from other materials, I have made a few stockings from sweaters.  That sounds kind of strange, but if you look at a sweater with a creative eye, it is amazing what you could come up with.  These stockings pictured are all from one sweater.  The larger ones are all about 18" long.  The ribbing at the edge of the sweater is the finished edge at the top of the stockings. The two larger on the right are actually from the sleeves, which I left mostly intact.  I used a pattern for the two on the left, but kind of winged it when I got to the sleeves.  I'm still not sure about the bows... the stockings might be fine without any embellishment.  If I leave the bows, they can be taken off by whoever buys them.  I just don't want them to be a distraction.

It is pretty straight forward to use a pattern and get a stocking cut from the body of the sweater, but it took a little more innovation to get the stockings from the sleeves.  I may have to try to put a tutorial together.  It turned out to be pretty easy, but I had to tweak it a bit from where I started.  Second one always goes faster.

I went to the Goodwill store the other day looking for a couple sweaters for stockings, and if I picked sweaters with a pink tag, they were only $.99.  I went out of the store with an armful.  They filled two washer loads when I got home.  I didn't buy any to wear for myself, but there were some really nice sweaters.  If I don't sell the stockings I get made at this show, I will probably be bringing an armful of sweaters back to Goodwill after the show.  My picture does not really do these justice.  The green yarn has metallic gold through it and the knitted weave is pretty open, so the red felt I used to line these shows through. I figure I should be able to sell these for at least $15, so I could make $60 from one sweater that cost me $.99.  Yes, I have to add the cost of felt, but that adds a minimal amount.  They actually go together pretty quickly, so my time is also at a minimum.

I have a couple other sweater stockings done that are completely different and quite unique.  I am hopeful that sweater stockings will be a good addition to my offerings.

A blend of crafts & quilts

I'm going to start off today with a sewing tip.  It's not a technique, but rather something I use.  Several years ago when I joined my Monday quilting group at church, one of the ladies gave me a lanyard she had made and with it a pair of blunt nose scissors.  She told me that I need to keep my clipping scissors handy.  The blunt nose is a safety issue, but for clipping, these little scissors do the trick.  Now I read a post on another blog the other day that showed a way to have your scissors on a lanyard attached to your machine.  That would not work for me.  I put my scissors on when I first walk into my sewing room, and quite often have them on when I am getting ready for bed.  Once I have them on, I don't have to look for them, they are literally always at my finger tips.  They come in handy for various other things besides sewing as I go through my day.  If I am going to be at home all day, you will almost always find me with my scissors on.  If I cannot find them at the start of my day, I'm almost in a tizzy looking for them.

 

Last week I decided I needed to replace my lanyard because the one Lillie gave me was getting very worn.  I had her show me back a few years ago how to make the lanyard so I could make some for others.  I used 1/8" ribbon for the new lanyard, but I wanted to see if it would look OK to make it with a wider ribbon, so I did a couple inches using 1/4" ribbon and I think it would be just as nice.  The significance of using this woven ribbon lanyard, mine was 54" before I tied the knot, is there is some give when you are clipping your threads and you have to stretch  because it is behind your machine.  If there is an interest in how the lanyard is woven/created, I would be willing to post a tutorial if you leave a comment to let me know.

Given a choice between crafts and quilting I have to tell you that I would choose quilting, but that is not to say that being crafty with something that isn't quilted can also be very enjoyable.  I recently made reference to a craft show that I will be a part of in November.  It was maybe a month or two ago that I made the decision to be a part of this event.  I have not participated in a craft show in a very long time because they have not previously been very beneficial to my efforts.  I have been to this show, and it is not like a typical "craft" show, so with some resistance at first, I said yes.  It is a big commitment of my time, but I am going to give it a good run for my money.  I will make an effort to share some of that journey with you here.  Once you are juried in to this show, you are not limited to what you can create... the sky is the limit.

One of the items that I was asked if I could make was stockings.  They have not had anyone making stockings in a couple years.  I have made a few in years gone by, so I got out my patterns, and compared them to those I found on the web.  The first question I came up with was the direction of the pointing of the toe.  I posed that question back a few weeks ago, and the general consensus was most point to the right.  I have made a few more than in this picture, but right now they all point to the right.  The two on the right here are from scraps of Christmas fabric.  The two on the left is a fabric that I bought already pieced with gold embossed patterns.  The scrappy stocking was from Moda Bakeshop .

I found a couple Christmas craft books that I liked in a quilt shop when I was recently in Florida.  One of the books had patterns for making silk tie ornaments.  These were patchwork ornaments, so I was able to stay in the quilting arena.  I have a tendency to start with a pattern, but not read all the directions because I think I have it figured... sometimes I need to go back and read to find out why my item didn't turn out just like the one in the book.  The heart and star were pretty easy... there was not much distortion with the bias of the silk ties, but there were a couple others that do not hang real smooth.  I guess I should have used a fusible interfacing.  The heart in the book had the buttons like the one I did, but I chose beads for the star tips in place of buttons.

I used the paper piece pattern with some of the satin fabric I had in my stash.  I embellished the heart with some beads, but the star really didn't need anything extra... one of the fabrics had sequins on it already. My background is varied, so my stash is not just fabric.  I have lots of ribbon and beads, so many of the projects I will be working on will not require much shopping.  Now I am always looking when I go to JoAnn's or Hobby Lobby for new beads, ribbon, fabric, etc.  One of the problems with a "craft" show is most people are not willing to pay the price you would need to charge if you used top quality fabric and other components.  I have a lot of really nice fabric in my stash that I will use for various items, but if I were going to make napkins for example, that use maybe a 1/2 yard of fabric, at close to $10 a yard for quality fabric, that means you would have to charge a minimum of $5 to cover the fabric... with nothing for your time.  I have a Christmas napkin that is pretty simple.  I can see people balking at paying $5 a napkin.... so I have to be careful what I pay for fabric I have to buy so I know I can get my output back plus something for my time.