SvedbergArt

Trusting or letting go.

2012-02-24T19:09:00.001-06:00

My steampunk cards in the PostmarkdArt trade are ready to mail. Addressed, stamped, signed, sealed, delivered...I'm yours. Whose am I?

I've been hesitant about sending out something that I spent so much time on. I spent hours on the cards but even more hours on my quest to find what I wanted for them. It was all fun of course, but if the recipient doesn't receive them, well, that would suck the joy right out of it.

So if it gets lost in the mail, that means someone else would have my little piece of art, right? Well, isn't that still nice, that someone else liked it enough to steal it? (I believe that's a Federal Offense!) Someone else wants to enjoy looking at it? I should be so honored. Or not?

Today I carefully covered them with removable painters tape. As I was taping them I felt foolish. It is suppose to be postmarked art after all, and what challenge is it if I cover it up? It's not exactly postmarked art if I send it in a box. Isn't that the same as covering it up? If I ordered a shirt from a website and when I receive it in the mail, does that mean it's postmarked shirt art?

If I just trust in the Universe, that the card will go where it's suppose to go and if where it goes isn't where I wanted it to go then what? I was mistaken? I was presumptuous to think what I want matters to the Universe? I was dumb enough to not understand where it really was suppose to go?

Or should I worry more because I'm going on and on worrying about something that hasn't even happened and may not happen?

OK. You're right. Tomorrow I will put them in a mail box. And I will let go.

2012-02-18T17:01:00.000-06:00

It's been a long time since I posted! But that doesn't mean I haven't been doing 'stuff'.
I have spent wayyyy too much time on my Steampunk postcards for PostmarkdArt.
Way too much time on something that could get lost in the mail.
I spent so much time driving around to get my 'parts' for the cards. Luckily for me Archivers had a nice selection of steam punk and some of them were actually gears! It looks like most of the other postcard traders also bought the same gears. I spent time at Home Depot, many thrift stores, JoAnns, Michaels, etc.
I wanted gears, things to take apart, cheap books that had medical 'stuff' in them. I wanted the type of medical books that have the clear plastic pages showing the different parts of the body. I found one that only had the whole body. But I still bought the book and ripped it apart.
So I gave up on that and decided to print my own. Thankfully in my old couponing days I got free samples of 3M transparency sheets because when I looked for them at the office supply stores they are $60 for the smallest box!
Then I was looking for a copyright-free heart. I spent way too much time searching the internet, and Dover Publishing. No luck. So these 6 hearts belong to some text lesson somewhere.
I printed the heart on the transparencies. I wanted a blood red fabric for the background. But then the transparency didn't show up.
So I also printed the heart on photopaper, cut it out exactly, cut out the center, and colored the white edges to match the heart. Putting that behind the transparency was perfect.
I arranged my assorted gear paraphanalia so that it would fit in the cut opening of each of the 6 postcards.
I glued, then handstitched every little gizmo down to the red fabric, backed by interfacing. I also cut apart the copper sheets I embossed and painted in my previous post. I glued down the photopaper hearts.
Each postcard will still have timtex (pel-tex) in it I had to cut the center out to accomodate the thickness the gears and 'stuff' were adding to the postcard. Since each of the 6 cards gears are different I had to cut out each one to match. I never do anything the easy way! I fused the red fabric with all the stuff on it to the tim-tex. For the written side of the card I fused light blue fabric.
Then taking the medical textbooks I added a page and tore out where the heart goes.
Now to assemble them!
Lining up wasn't as difficult as I thought it would be, but pounding the eyelets was. The plastic and metal form you use to pound the eyelets with wasn't fool-proof. Every one had to be checked and then hammered again to even it up. I think it said something about 'pound lightly'...are you kidding? I had to pound the crap out of it!
Then I trimmed them to 4 x 6" and I was relieved to be done!
Now on to van Gogh postcards:

The Crafters Devotional - 365 Days of Tips, Tricks and Techniques...

2012-01-29T11:17:00.002-06:00

...for unlocking your creative spirit.
By Barbara R Call.

This book is boosting my creative spirit. I've borrowed it from the library so I can't take each day to read one devotional, but I try to get through several each day and keep a notebook to jot down the ideas I start to think about.
I've always wanted to make those pop-up cards or books, and she suggests buying a childrens pop-up book and...redecorating it.
She shows you an easy way to draw a labyrinth, which types of tea dye which colors on muslin, how to make color paste paper, using bleach to alter your photographs, inspirational quotes, how to meditate, and on and on.
If someone were to read your journal in 100 years, what would you want to tell them?
What animal keeps occuring in your life? (Sharon, you're a fish!)

Fun book:
Name Your Link

Copper Sheet Molding

2012-01-19T21:47:00.001-06:00

2012-01-15T21:28:00.000-06:00

A little of this, a little of that.
A little laundry, a little lazing.
Not getting much done!

2012-01-05T22:05:00.000-06:00

. . .

Pillow for Syd

2012-01-02T22:00:00.000-06:00

This is one of those quick pillows that you make with 5 squares of fabric. Put your backing fabric right side up (first picture is back). And then you fold the other 4 pieces in half, either straight or on the bias (wrong sides together). This pillow has them folded on the bias.

Then you lay each folded fabric piece, one at a time, on one side of the backing, going around on all 4 sides. The first fabric will need 1/2 folded back so the 4th fabric can lay down and then put the 1st fabric back as it was, like a pinwheel. Pin and sew all the way around the square. Turn right side out and insert the pillow. Use or make 2 buttons to coordinate and then stitch the back button to the front button through the pillow, catching all 4 fabrics on the front, and cinch tight and knot.

Heike from Flensburg taught me how to do this!

Lots of fun!

Creativity

2011-12-31T16:45:00.001-06:00

The thing that boosts my creativity is laying in bed at night with a drawing pad and crayons (yes, as in crayola!) and just letting things roll out.

I mostly use crayons because it reflects my art...basic, simple.

Kindergarden level in my mind.
Because of the crayons I can convince myself that I’m going back to a mental state where I didn't care what it looked like in the end. It all looked like great art to me. No room for criticism.
And the delicious smell of crayons; like the smell of lumber, or fresh cut grass (After the gases of the lawn mower blow away!).
And journaling about ideas...you start writing notes on one idea as you go along and then a bunch more ideas start bubbling up.

Tis' bliss!

Quilling

2011-12-28T20:27:00.000-06:00

Yes, quilling. Not quilting.

I want to try a little bit of it so for Christmas I put some of the tools and a few kits on my Wish List.
This is my first attempt using the instructions that came with the tools.
They are tiny.
I also got a kit of beautiful flowers but mostly I want to do the snow flake kit.

All about Isaac

2011-12-27T22:26:00.001-06:00

My favorite nephew Isaac has gotten into some bad habits lately.
He can't seem to get up before 3 pm.
It's apparent that he likes to sleep on his knuckles.

But when he did get up, he made Christmas Dinner!

Can you believe it?

He said he wanted to do it!

Well then, let's take out double the ingredients so he can make 2 meals for us!

So here he is, hard at work mixing Grandma's meatballs.

He also put together and baked the Scalloped Corn, and peeled and mashed the potatoes!
Below is my plate, a normal persons plate...except the meatballs and gravy were passed before the mashed potatoes, so my mashed potatoes are actually on top of the gravy.

But Isaac preferred his mashed potatoes, gravy, meatballs and scalloped corn to be mashed up in one big heap.

The green beans on the side were added to Isaac's plate by Eric AS he asked Isaac "Do you want green beans?"

Isaac custom made this beautiful train display box for his Grandpa.

It is so freakin' gorgeous!

Did I tell you I love my nephew?

He is such a fantastic kid and growing into a generous, thoughtful young man.

Christmas in the Cave

2011-12-13T08:37:00.001-06:00

Last night Cave Woman had their Christmas Potluck. It was such a lovely evening. Good food and lots of laughter. I need Sarah to give me the recipe for the India Rice she made...or whatever it was called, is was perfection.
I thought of showing the postcards I've received in my recent trades from Postmark'dArt but I forgot to bring them. And I remembered to throw my camera in my purse but forgot to take pictures!

Sharon had her cave perfectly decorated for Christmas, with the little tree in the corner and all her fantastic works of art hanging on the wall like it's a Cave Art Gallery.
Hey, that's kinda funny, her 'cave art', only not quite prehistoric. Yet.

Pet Pillow Projects Performance Progresses Prolifically

2011-12-05T20:47:00.000-06:00

Pet beds. Center black pillow is a kitten pillow with my machine quilting pattern Sunrise.

It drives me nuts when I turn a mole hill into a mountain.
When Edith Dalleska said she wanted pet pillows to raise money for animals she proposed that we ('we' being all those with in ear shot) sew two hunks of any fabric together, leaving one end open like a pillowcase, and as we're doing all our quilting, we're just throwing all our threads and little fabric scraps into them and when it's full, sew it shut and we have a pet pillow!
How easy is that?
Sharon Englund is making hers out of scraps of polar fleece and actually has a small (clean!) trash can that she puts the pillow 'case' in as if it was a trash liner. Then all her threads and scraps go in there and when it's full she sews hers shut and puts in a new 'liner' for the next pillow.
I already had lots of chunks of fabric that I used to practice machine quilting on. It wasn't a big deal to sew them together and do the same thing.
Then I started looking for scrap fabric to sew together so I could sandwich it to practice machine quilting on just so I could make it into a pet bed.
Then I started looking for old panels, cheaters, and left over blocks and kept going.
Where did my regular projects go?
I don't know.
Now I'm all of empty pet beds.

Green Egg and Ham

2011-12-04T14:20:00.001-06:00

We're getting eggs from a neighbor. All different colors.
Dr. Suess, eat your heart out.

Binding Quilts

2011-12-03T23:38:00.002-06:00

A woman generously donated a huge amount of quilting fabric,kits, notions and some UFO's that belonged to her deceased Mother.

Some little UFO's only had a little left to do so Doris and I took them home to finish up and then they can be sold at the MQ Small Quilt Auction next summer.

I added the binding to the little appliqued heart and the Christmas table runner.

All the items belonged to her Mother, Eleanor Eggan.

Christmas table runner, 44" long

Potential Postcard Problem Predicts Potentially Poor Postal Performance

2011-11-29T09:25:00.004-06:00

I tried taking a few more pictures to get the image without the shine of the flash. This lamp I used is fluorescent, producing the white background of the postcard as yellow-ish.

I experimented with not wrapping the binding around the edge of one card. The left one is folded over the edge. In the right postcard I cut the bells canvas slightly smaller than the written side, and used the "binding" to cover > 1/8" of the canvas piece and also be flat on > 1/8" the back of the written side (which is cardstock this time). You can almost see the ridge from the edge of the bells canvas.

I was going to test this card in the USPS by mailing it with an actual postcard stamp of .29 cents, but even in the picture you can see that to the right of the corner the postcard gets a little thick where there are several layers of fused fabric and a few layers of tulle. That little area is more than 1/16" thick and following postal regulations it wouldn't fly. IF I can find a hammer this morning, and IF I can pound it down to 1/16" I'll test putting a postcard stamp on it, drop it in the mailbox and see what happens. It's going to Maureen Egan in Massachusettes. If she ends up paying more I'm going to spend .44 cents mailing her an envelope with another .44 cent stamp in it to pay her back! A potential .88 cents loss to test saving .15 cents. The hardships of an artists life!

First-Class Mail® Postcards

Maximum size: 6 inches long by 4-1/4 inches high by .016 inch thick
$0.29
First-Class Mail® Large Postcards
Maximum size: 11-1/2 inches long by 6-1/8 inches high by 1/4 inch thick
$0.44

All the other cards are just a smidge less than 1/8" thick so I'll put .44 cents on them, but the reason they're not as thick as all my other cards is because of the cardstock I used for the written side. Normally it would be Timetex or Peltex inbetween and fabric on both sides, but the cardstock doesn't require more stiffener.

Two of the cards I used a vellum for the paper. This did not work as well. I used a thin line of glue around the edge of the postcard to hold the vellum in place while adding the fused binding. Then ironed the binding on. This ever so slightly shrank! The postcard is slightly bowed. It's going in the mail anyhow.

Off to the postoffice for stamps!

Jingle Bell Postcards

2011-11-28T09:27:00.000-06:00

I finished my cards for the Postmark'dArt trade. I'm not really happy with how they turned out because I had something totally different in mind when I started them. They have a layer of tulle over them, so the camera flash makes that shine in the picture.

They all have paper or cardstock on the written side. Except for one they all have fused fabric for binding.

If you want to trade fiber postcards you can inquire about it at http://www.postmarkdart.com/

Inside corners

2011-11-07T08:47:00.000-06:00

I'm doing another binding for someone. It has inside corners, how's it look?

Ho Ho Ho?

2011-11-05T09:36:00.000-05:00

My projects are coming along, slowly but surely.

I'm in another trade with Postmark'd Art...the deadline was last Monday! I don't totally feel terrible about being late since I haven't received all my cards from the others.

I may be tardy all the time but all my traders get a postcard no matter what.

One time life wasn't all peaches and cream. I don't know why I use that to refer to life not being good, because I don't like peaches or cream. I should say "One time life WAS all peaches and cream".

I was in a stressed out mood and all my postcards were mailed, but they were ugly.

Art always reflects what going on inside you.

These are 3 pieces of the puzzle. I have to make many more for my postcards.

Hell froze over

2011-10-29T10:31:00.001-05:00

The quilt sits like this in my sewing machine so that when I have time, I pick up right where I left off.

IF in the future I comment that my job can get monotonous I do not want you to remind me of what I am about to say: I can hardly stand waiting until everything at work is settled and working smoothly! I thought all would feel a bit more like getting into a routine after we FINALLY got internet and phone working Friday the 21st. (I guess it's been a while since I've said "Comcast Sucks!", so Comcast had to remind me).

Doris ran out of ink on her printer. And not that I monitor that, but I do need to pay attention to how many extras she has and at least order some when she's on the last one. But it's my fault that our shared printer is out of toner...that darn "you're almost out of toner" warning starts so early that I kind of get used to seeing it and therefore ignore it. Kind of like when a bill comes so early that you want to wait to pay it and after a while it just becomes a piece of furniture and you don't notice it anymore.
And I never take the cartridge out before it's actually empty...I'm using it until every last drop, or in this case, every last granual of powder is out. Of course, if intelligence reigned, I'd have ordered the new cartridge when the warning came on. But no such luck.
This is where I spill the beans on a well kept secret... "I went to Open School".

But the real crux of the matter, the nitty-gritty, the meat and potatoes of the situation is that there is no heat in the building that the office is in! The person who runs it doesn't want to turn it on and gives a different excuse for doing so any day you ask him. This said building is a religious institution, run by religious people, so in my heart there is a little extra twist of the knife associated with the casual deceit in excuses.

It's 60 degrees in the office and with the body heat of Doris and I and a space heater, after about 4 hours it's 63 degrees. Yahoo.
We both wear our coats the entire day. And at 60 degrees, if I'm typing or using the mouse I wear gloves!
Both Doris and I percolate a little hotter than most people and we both prefer a cool room. I would say that I'm getting a little education in how the cold people feel, but you know when it gets hot in there again I'll go right back to complaining and be void of sympathy.
There are laws in the State of Minnesota for a workplace that would reverse this situation, but they don't apply to religious institutions.
And that probably explains why there is no smoke detector or sprinkler system in my office.

If I get fired for this verbal observation made public to the 3 people that read my blog I'll have lots of time to finish that binding.

2011-10-22T22:21:00.000-05:00

Bought fabric for the binding on the quilt without bringing the quilt...
now I have to go buy more fabric for the binding.

Cave Women Quilting Group

2011-10-17T23:04:00.003-05:00

Ok, let's just drop the 'Cave' part and call us what we obviously are: WILD Women.
Tonight's meeting of "____Women" was absolutely hilarious!
Yesterday Wanda turned 60, today Teresa turned 59, and Saturday Edith turns 70.
It was time to celebrate. Or maybe this little morsel of life should be called "Par-Taaay"
Hey Teresa, this is the last year of your 50's for the rest of your life! You'll never be in your 50's again! Unless you start adding fractions...59 and 13/12ths.

Over half of them were gypsy's. Skirts, scarves, bead necklaces every where!
Scarves around their heads or scarves around their necks or scarves around their waists or scarves around their hips. Edith was wearing a Dolly Parton wig! And most of them ended up getting tattooed. (This is an inner city quilt group, it can get rough)
When Sharon (who was swishing her skirt and showing off her socks) was asked if she had her tie-dye underwear on and she wouldn't tell us, Wanda said that just proves that Sharon wasn't wearing any underwear because Sharon always shows off her underwear. I didn't bring up the "Betty" thing, but I'm sure Sharon dyed hers rainbow colored.

Now wait just one cotton-pickin' minute, just what kind of 'quilting group' is this?

We were told to bring 'fortunes' written on little pieces of paper.
First Peg passed around a box of fortune cookies and after those started getting opened and read all the fortunes had to have "in bed." added to the ends.
Then our individual fortunes were read and when they were written I don't think anybody had the ending "in bed" in mind. Some were written specifically for the birthday girls.

Teresa went to a fortune teller and asked what her future would be.
The fortune teller said she had bad news. Teresa would become a widow because her husband would soon die a horrible death.
Teresa looked shocked, thought for a moment and then asked the fortune teller:
"Will I be acquitted?"

Ok, so it's not actually a 'fortune', it's just a joke. Hopefully that won't actually happen or the person who brought the joke would feel horrible. Who ever they are.
And Show n Tell...if you could get a word in edge-wise you could have shown what you're working on.
Hard to believe there wasn't even wine served tonight. But they sure drank tea like there was no tomorrow!

Christmas Quilts

2011-10-16T11:32:00.000-05:00

This is a Christmas quilt for my cousins, Tom Ouradnik and his wife Ann.
Feels like eons ago that I asked my family to wrap their Christmas gifts in fabric and then I collected the fabrics and drew a name from those who participated and the winner was to get something I made from the fabric.
Even when we were doing it I was years behind on these gifts. We don't exchange gifts any more, but I still have more quilts to finish!
I'll probably be done with the machine quilting today and then start on the binding.
After I finished one, I would add all the leftover fabric to the fabric from the following year. I've made a few quilts, a pillow I think, some wall-hangings and a 25' Yo-Yo Garland which only goes around my Aunt Joans tree 2 and a half times!
Two of the quilts I hand quilted, but if Tom and Ann wanted a hand-quilted quilt, they would have to wait another 25 years for it! I machine quilted it on the Bernina in the picture. Nothing like spending most of your quilting time punching the quilt through the opening of the machine! I did that for 3 days at the MCQ quilt retreat at Camp Wapo.

My "Twin Cities on the Bias" piece is on the Textile Center Gallery Page!

2011-10-13T18:13:00.000-05:00

What a fun little thing! The MCQ "Twin Cities on the Bias" Challenge is still touring and is currently at the Textile Center hanging in the Library Gallery.
My piece is on the webpage where it announces the Library Gallery Exhibits.
Textile Center Gallery Page

As always a creative, relaxing beautiful time on the Quilt Retreat

2011-10-10T22:23:00.001-05:00

At a dead stop a mile from the Stillwater Lift Bridge

Perusing a magazine

Managing slippery conditions

Creativity flowing from the mind through the pen

Holding on for dear life

Busy Hands...

2011-10-10T22:00:00.000-05:00

The light is on, but nobody is home.

Camp Wapo, here I come!

2011-10-06T20:01:00.000-05:00

Tomorrow after work I'm leaving for Camp Wapo for a fantastic weekend with my fellow Contemporary Quilters. Hopefully when I come back I'll have new pictures of quilters hands.

Tonight was the first Minnesota Quilters meeting at the new location. Everyone's first reaction is how great the parking is, but hopefully they go home with more than that!

Finished another quilt binding for hire.

2011-09-05T11:26:00.000-05:00

This one is a huge quilt and took me quite a while.

And I'm very happy that I got my camera fixed, so now I can go back to being bezerk with picture taking.

The cool weather is here and has improved my mood.

Another binding done!

2011-08-27T23:07:00.000-05:00

I was hired to do another binding on a wallhanging.

And it's done! Hurray!

I would have gotten it done 2 days ago, but 2 days this week I came home from work and I didn't have enough mental energy to pet the cat!

I usually hand stitch that corner miter fold closed on both sides. I've noticed that you can really tell when I sew it down because the thread alters that nice fold line. So this one I didn't stitch the front, only the back.

Maybe I need to start collecting silk thread for stitching the miters.

Teach yourself Facebook in 10 minutes.

2011-08-24T20:07:00.001-05:00

I've been working on the Facebook Group and Page for Minnesota Quilters.
But what I want to know is how does a 200 page book teach you facebook in 10 minutes?
Guess I'll have to read really fast because it's not a picture book.

Tried Nancy Birgers binding technique

2011-08-24T20:05:00.000-05:00

I don't think this is exactly how it should look if I followed her instructions precisely...which I didn't.
First I prepped the binding with the colors the wrong way. It would have been an orange binding with a teal-ish piping.
So then I had to do alot of messing around, which included starting to sew it on and the piping part was too big. So I ripped that out.
I think in the end it's okay.
But I'm going to have to talk to Nancy Birger again.

And you know Nancy Birger hates to talk to anybody.

I taught Jenna her first driving lesson up at the farm.

2011-08-04T08:19:00.000-05:00

Jenna is so happy to drive in circles!

Everyone watching us drive around in circles

Quilt Binding Complete

2011-08-03T08:09:00.000-05:00

Another one binds the quilt,
Another one binds the quilt,
And another one bound and another one bound,
Another one binds the quilt!
Hey, I'm gonna bind you too! Another one binds the quilt!

Yeah, I know, I need more sleep...

Back in the sewing room again!

2011-08-01T22:03:00.001-05:00

mncontemporaryquilterS.net

The letter S for MCQ, approx 3" x 10", stitched embroidery floss and fiber by hand.

"And it's about time!"
Minnesota Contemporary Quilters needs a banner. Kathy Faust has designed a way for 26 of MCQ Members to each make a piece of that banner by creating a unique system that was inspired by the spectacular River Quilt made by the St Cloud Quilters (pictured farther down).
At the last MCQ meeting Kathy arranged to draw the names of the hopeful participants (so it would be fair) for each person to come up and pick out the letter they wanted, mine included the blue fabric.
S is for Svedberg. Of course!
Kathy wants to sew the individual pieces together side by side, so the sides of my piece are actually unsewn and only basted for my picture.
Easily undone with the pull of a thread.

The lighting in this picture is dreadful. The 16 Quilters each got a 'pattern' with the width of the piece, the marks for where the river must start on the left side and marks for where it would end on the right side; and the rest of the sheet was blank! Each quilter decided the height and where the river went within those boundaries.
The different styles of interpretation were fascinating, the level of skill was impressive, and the variety of technique covered almost everything out there! Each piece was numbered and had to go back in that order for the river to flow; and yet the cohesiveness was beautiful.
The only constant between them is the river, and even the river was interpreted with different techniques in each piece.
I'll update this post tomorrow with more credit towards the River Quilt.

Cute pattern, if you're into all that stitching!

2011-07-22T23:23:00.000-05:00

Free Tree Skirt Pattern from AQS

2011-07-13T22:59:00.002-05:00

Not enough time being creative lately.

Points of View

2011-06-27T08:47:00.002-05:00

Points of View 35.5 x 21.125"

I had a tough time deciding which way it should hang. Currently this is it, but I created the sleeve so I could attach another sleeve to any of the other sides. I'll have to get the tripod up to take the picture straight, this is the best I could do.

I don't know if "Points of View" should be the name. I'm also thinking of "One Point of View: Many Points of Perspective". People have so many different points of view on any one subject.

On the news this morning they showed yesterdays Minneapolis Gay Pride Parade, and the issue of gay marriage going forward in New York...that's a subject with a million different points of view!

If it only represented that one volatile subject, I would have made some of the buildings crumbling with decay.

And which side of the subject would the decayed buildings represent? Well that would depend on your personal point of view, wouldn't it?

Scraps with different points of view.

2011-06-26T12:53:00.000-05:00

I haven't been blogging because my computer monitor died. I got a new one yesterday so here's what I've been doing in the mean time.

I put together this piece with the leftover scraps from making "Buildings". While I was making the "Buildings" piece, continually rearranging them, I was thinking how a piece would be if the 1 point perspectives were all messed up. Really like the points of view on any given subject some agree, most don't agree, and until you've walked a mile in someone else's shoes...

I only put a few of the buildings from different 1 point perspectives close enough to touch the other, but in real life I believe most are over lapping.

Still there were more leftovers (lots and lots) so I ripped a couple long swaths of white fabric 5" wide and started applying all the leftovers to that.

By the end of tonight it's either going to be a border or a binding, but I don't know yet.

That and laundry and work to do yet...

"Buildings" hanging at Minnesota Quilters Annual Show

2011-06-17T08:46:00.003-05:00

It's done and hanging at the MQ show.

Never satisfied!

2011-06-07T23:05:00.000-05:00

I keep changing it, moving them around, then I need a new one, then I don't like the flow...

So after I'm all done making the buildings and pinning them to the wall, how the heck am I going to take it down from the design wall???

When your design covers the guide drawing...

2011-06-06T08:42:00.000-05:00

I pin ribbon on for floating guidelines when I get to the point where they're covered:

Floating guidelines. By going past the corner, I have freed the corner from having a pin that might interfere with adding design elements.

The ribbon going all around the design.

The lady had a little too much red bull!

2011-06-05T14:47:00.002-05:00

I've been replacing some screens on the house...and I have to agree, if I had known how easy it was, I would have done the entire house years ago! It literally takes 5 minutes and the screen is perfectly flat.

This old package of fiberglass screening with the scary looking lady had a Target price tag on it for $1.99! So how old is that?

I guess the screen company had a demographic of a-little-bit-too-happy, one-armed, single, caucasian women with long red fingernails (and no wedding ring!). Of course, if she did have wedding ring on, we'd know she married a bum of a husband because, following traditional gender rolls, he should be doing the screens so that she doesn't break her fingernails. And if she were married, she probably wouldn't be wearing red lipstick and a pearl necklace...

And I had to use a file on my nails after I was done...so that's why they don't have her thumb in the picture, I'm sure she cracked that nail...

Still working on Buildings

2011-06-04T14:25:00.000-05:00

Buildings

2011-05-29T21:31:00.000-05:00

So sad, but I've had to force myself to work on this!

Put one in, take another one out.

I keep adjusting this way and that.

I will change the sky to a lighter blue and the earth to a darker green. When it's completed hardly any of the green earth will show; only the edge on the right and a sliver coming down between the buildings that's showing now.

I'm going to keep working on it tomorrow, hopefully all the 'buildings' will be up on the wall, and having it look like I want. Then in the evenings this week I'll start to assemble the piece. The hardest part will be taking it all down so I can fuse it. What I need is design wall that I can iron on!

I'm losing interest so I'm distracting myself...

2011-05-28T13:01:00.000-05:00

I removed all the buildings because it wasn't looking natural.

Seeing that it didn't look right has really made me lose interest in the piece.

I decided that I would add some approximate sky and earth, even tho' I don't know what I'll end up with in the end. There will be black or grey in the very center representing the street.

So in the mean time I've been taking some of the scraps and making beads and buttons. Most of these scraps already have fusible on them, but if not I use a little glue stick.

I wish I were more passionate about this project. Letting the intuitiveness direct me is a lot more fun than this. Now it's a just a chore I wish to be finished with by Monday night!

Quilter's Hands and one Knitters Foot!

2011-05-24T08:48:00.000-05:00

Only a couple Quilter's Hands pictures because my camera with the twisting screen appears to be broken.

"Trying it on for size"

MCQ Quilt Retreat

2011-05-21T11:37:00.001-05:00

In the Assembly hall, 31 busy quilters:

It looks like someone yelled "FREE FABRIC!" because if someone had yelled "FIRE!" the sewing machines would not have been left behind!

Heading to the Dining Hall:

Postmark'd Art - No Theme - Exchange

2011-05-20T21:46:00.001-05:00

At the Quilt Retreat I made my (belated) postcards for the No-Theme Trade I am in. They are made of table cloth plastic (comes on a roll at Joanns) and all sorts of sequins.

Picture with flash

I am sure I left a lot of sequins on the floor of the Assembly Hall at Wapo...by mistake of course!

Picture with out flash

And I just folded a piece in half, sewed 2 edges, "carefully dumped" some "chosen" sequins in, stitched across to sew them in and rinse and repeat to the top.

MCQ "Twin Cities on the Bias" Challenge

2011-05-15T20:25:00.000-05:00

Last week I really wanted to put up a slide show of the progression, but first blogger was down, then I couldn't get it to work. Are you only allowed so many 'slide shows' on blogger? Maybe I'll figure it out yet and be able to add it. I just got back from Camp Wapo today and I'm tired out from a weekend of sewing fun.

Mississippi River

2011-05-08T23:09:00.001-05:00

I went to the Stone Arch Bridge this evening to see the river. It's very loud and has a mist floating above the falls that's 3 or 4 stories tall.

2011-04-29T23:36:00.002-05:00

Working + no sewing = :-(

How come it's so hard to hem pants?

2011-04-17T21:59:00.000-05:00

I've been hemming quite a few pants lately...I think if I do about 50 more I might actually be good at it.
I don't know how long it takes you to hem one pair of pants, but it takes me hours!

Trunk...continued and ending.

2011-04-12T23:16:00.001-05:00

I had pretty much decided I wasn't going to work on this piece anymore because it wasn't directing me anywhere I liked. After posting the first picture below and seeing a womans long, vest sweater that's all I could see every time I looked at it! Blech! So I was done!

But I took it to Cave Women monday night and asked for their opinions. Some agreed to seeing the sweater; and some didn't agree, but instead saw female anatomy parts!

I had the inner and outer boarder the same dark fabric and they suggested painting the inner boarder lighter. So I did that with paint stiks. I think in this photo (with flash) the paint stik color looks pinkish, but it didn't look like that when I was doing it. So I'll wait and look at it in the daylight again tomorrow. If it still looks pink to me then I'll adjust it.

After that I'm not working on it any more because I'm not getting anything out of it.

Plus I have to work on my Twin Cities on the Bias challenge...

"Name Tag"

2011-04-09T20:38:00.002-05:00

I finally got around to making a name tag.

Ha ha...I only wrote "name tag" to keep Sharon Englund in the dark about a project Kathy Faust is making for Sharon to thank her for always hosting Cave Women in her cave.

We all put our names on this leaf shape.

Trunk

2011-04-09T11:14:00.001-05:00

This is an old project that I've been messing around with. Now that I've taken a picture all I see is a headless, legless woman wearing a grey sweater! I do not know I'm going to do to it next, but it's not done yet.

Binding I put on Theresa's Quilt

2011-04-03T09:31:00.001-05:00

I put binding on the 2nd of Theresa's quilts.

She made the quilt. And it really is a lot straighter than it looks, clinging to my design wall...my sewing room isn't big enough to set up a tripod so I can get up the ladder and straighten it out.

Ouradnik Quilt

2011-04-02T15:59:00.000-05:00

I haven't been posting because there's something wrong with my camera, but I've been sewing on this quilt top. It's all done, but too big for the design wall so the top is folded over and it's not ironed yet.
Now I have to get it basted so I can start quilting on it.

Starting...

2011-03-13T11:02:00.002-05:00

Sewing for hours every day....

2011-03-12T16:11:00.000-06:00

I've been digging out old projects. This one was suppose to be given to someone about 10 years ago!

Finished binding a quilt for Theresa!

2011-03-08T15:04:00.001-06:00

Theresa Halvorson and I are bartering my quilt binding services for her knitting socks services.

This is her quilt up on my design wall, it's almost too big for me to take a picture of!

And below shows the binding on the back.

2011-03-05T11:10:00.000-06:00

Debra Svedberg 2011 8.5 x 11

I'm not getting very inspired about the MCQ challenge called "Twin Cities on the Bias" yet, so I went to my sewing room to play. These are just messing with perspectives, fabric and a glue stick.

Mardi Gras Challenge

2011-03-04T10:13:00.003-06:00

Mardi Gras Postcard, Debra Svedberg 2011 ( < 4 x 6 )

At MCQ we have a monthly mini challenge and for February the theme was Mardi Gras.
I don't celebrate Mardi Gras so I tried focusing on the religious aspect of it, preparing for Lent and so on.
I didn't get anywhere with that either so I decided to go with beads...which has nothing religious to do with Mardi Gras as far as I know, and I didn't research why beads came about for Mardi Gras.
I think of it as being along the same lines as Easter's mascot being a bunny.
That's typical for me, starting out with one idea and it never ends up that way.
At the last Cave Women, where there was wine, chocolate and an enormous amount of silliness, a joke got huge laughs:
The Husband Bunnie says to the Wife Bunnie:
"This won't take long, did it?"

Well...maybe you had to be there?

Serendipity Quilts

2011-02-14T16:14:00.003-06:00

Serendipity Quilts

2011-02-14T10:43:00.000-06:00

I was reading Susan Carlsons book Serendipity Quilts and decided to try out her first exercise.
Just playin'.

Doodles

2011-02-12T09:26:00.000-06:00

It looks so much more vibrant in real life. Why can't a camera take true colors?

Strips and Curves?

2011-02-11T14:16:00.000-06:00

Here's my 'strata'. It's longer than my design wall so it's not flat up against the wall, it bubbles out in about 8 places.
Now I'm too chicken to start cutting. I've been practicing machine quilting on scraps in the mean time.

Sewing my way to happiness...

2011-01-27T19:53:00.000-06:00

Sometimes it's hard to believe how good it makes me feel to sit down and just start sewing.

It seems like eons ago when I decided to do one of those Strips and Curves because everyone I knew had done one. Since then the author has written more books and I haven't even started sewing the strips together.
Last week I took down the box from a shelf up next to the ceiling. There were many 1-1/2" strips already cut, and all the fabric was there. And when I say 'all the fabric' I mean that all this beautiful fabric has been in this box, unseen, for years...and not in my stash! In knowing my anal self, I'm sure at one point I had decided which colors to use and which not and separated them into piles...but I couldn't tell which was which now.

So I'm going to use all of them and add more. If 20 different fabrics is good, isn't 50 fabrics better? (How about 10,000?)

Mostly I do not buy fabric anymore, so it's not like my stash has changed much since I started this project; but I went through my entire stash again because I have a different view on colors/hues/etc from 5-8 years ago. Dang, I have a different view on colors since 5 days ago. It's constantly changing.

One good thing is that I still love the fabrics for this project. Beautiful colors. Do you ever take out an old unfinished project and say "What was I thinking? This is just U.G.L.Y!" But we change. We always change. For me the change is many contributors...changing styles in the fabric industry, new knowledge of more advanced techniques, my own emotions, again, my emotions...that's actually the No. 1 contributor.

I wonder how much beautiful fabric I have that I haven't seen in years because it is packaged together for a project in a box, forgotten on a shelf...

amazon

2011-01-11T12:32:00.001-06:00

If you use firefox you may not be able to see the links to amazon, please open up your browser in Explorer.

WTH?

2010-12-28T17:07:00.000-06:00

Uh, how many Chinese people are missing their fingers?

StabAlizers?

eagleroadHOSE.com?

Peeking...

2010-12-28T17:03:00.000-06:00

One thing at a time Sweet Jesus

2010-12-11T11:59:00.003-06:00

Every one knows I have enough felted wool to cover the entire exterior of my house. There's so much of it, it's not even stored at home, because there's no space.
And what good is that? Absolutely no good.
I don't make anything out of it because I'd have to go some place else, dig through storage containers, and then when I dug out what I wanted, I'd have to put it all back so it's neat and space-saving. How's that for dumping a bucket of ice cold water on your creativity?

I went to Sharon Englunds house to felt her wool for her (touching wet slimy wool gives her the heebie-geebies) and one creamy sweater over felted. It's so dense you can't see daylight through it. That won't work for the projects she's making, so she gave it to me.

Great. Another felted wool sweater...I need that like I need another over-due bill in the mail. Right?

Of course, I take it.

So what do I do? I actually make something of it, aaaaaaand I finish it! Can you believe it? I can't!

Just sitting there looking at the sweater I thought the hem on the sweater would make a really great hem on mittens. After figuring out a badly-planned pattern tracing around my hand I really got into it! I needle-felted the green lines on the tops of the mittens.
I knew I wanted some leather for the palm, because wool is really slippery to hang on to anything. But all my leather is at the wool storage...

So I do end up digging through my leather...but only one container...they're so crammed with leather that they are dern heavy. I didn't want to lift the other container so I decided to make do with what was in the top container. And I did dig through the top box of felted wool and brought home another sweater, but we'll see if I actually get to that one.

So it's evident that I might get something made from the wool if I only have a limited amount infront of me...too much of it overwhelms me.

But I did make something, and it's all Sharons fault.

Thank you Sharon!

What is it?

2010-12-07T11:00:00.003-06:00

How to make money doing other peoples UFO's!

2010-12-04T11:38:00.000-06:00

As if I didn't have enough UFO's of my own, a couple years ago I had to buy somebody elses UFO at the Textile Centers Garage sale a couple years back.

Recently during a temporary lull in creativity I made an attempt at 'just doing anything' to keep me in the sewing room...just picking something up that's already there and look it over and see what I damage I can do.

There was a 2-gallon ziploc bag full of somebody elses UFO that kept staring me down, so I had to take it out and look it over.

When I bought it I hadn't really looked in it, but could see through the bag that there were finished blocks and some packets of pieces that looked like a monthly block challenge. Now when I opened it there were 9 finished blocks and those packets were the monthly blocks, but just the scraps from these original 9 blocks.

I opened up all those packets thinking I'd do something with the scraps and that's where I struck it rich! There was TWENTY smackaroos folded in the instructions for one of the blocks! Twenty bucks, twenty big ones, twenty dead presidents, twenty clams, twenty beans. Finding it made me feel like a millionaire!

And then what to do with the blocks, which of course now I had to do, since it already rewarded me with the bacon.

I've always been wanting to make door-hangers. A piece of quilted art that covers a typical interior door. So these blocks will be my 'victim'. One of the blocks had a color range I didn't like with the others and then I had to make 2 blocks to get the length I wanted.

Although I always express my desire to keep things simple, I never can when I create...I always have to make it complicated. So I want a two-sided door hanger...if that comes to fruition you'll hear more about that later.

Isaac is now 16 years old! Can you believe it?

2010-12-02T13:03:00.000-06:00

I made this quilt for Isaacs 16th birthday. Orange is one of his favorite colors, so that's the front, and the green/blue is the back. I thought the dark would be the top, but now that I see a photograph, I turned them upside down. I guess there's some psychological thing going on if I want the top to be light and the bottom to be dark as if earth and sky, and it's not good to have those two mixed up! And something needs to be done with my terrible photography skills.
It's almost 60" wide and 80-something" long.

Sexy Dish Towels

2010-11-26T10:15:00.000-06:00

I finished the dish towels for Roxie's graduation present. She graduated last year, but on my part, a gift being a year late isn't actually that bad! My average is much worse. Sublime Stitching has really funny embroidery transfers that put the fun back into those sweet dishtowels our grandmothers made for us.

The middle one is suppose to say "Reform School Girl", but since Roxie is Catholic, I had to change that!

I still love listening to audio books while I create, so I know that the Rockabilly Angel took 6.5 hours, because I started it at the beginning of the book and finished the towel at the end of the book. I guess I'm a slow embroiderer!

Straight as a laser line...

2010-11-23T21:50:00.003-06:00

Some years ago I got this laser level (for free after rebate!) and I've used it for quilting ever since. I use it to line up anything that's longer than my rulers. It's not only handy, but has a really entertaining attribute: it can drive the cat bananas! (Of course I make sure she can never see into the laser.)
The angle of the laser line swings so it can 'fine tuned' point down immediately, or adjusted to shoot across the room. The gizmo even has a hole, so I can use a strong pin to attach it to my design wall.
If I were to get a new one, I'd want one of those that shoots two lasers, at exactly 90º apart, like this: Black & Decker BDL400S Bullseye Crosshair 90-Degree Auto Leveling Interior Line Laser Then I'd really be square!
Now if someone could just teach me how to get that date off my pictures...

November Snow

2010-11-14T09:52:00.000-06:00

The snow is very wet thus heavy. These three cable/phone lines are hanging so low, the bottom one is touching the fence.

The north west parts of the Cities got a foot of snow! It was heavy, wet snow, and broke branches off trees and pulled down power lines. And I've been sewing!

Heikes finished quilt!

2010-10-30T12:01:00.001-05:00

Blocks made by various Stillwater Quilters, Quilt top assembled by Heike, Machine Quilted by Lynn Kammpi, Binding machine sewn to the front by me and Hand sewn to the back by Heike.

Barb and Heike holding up the quilt Heike finished. Barb won these blocks in the block drawing at the Stillwater Quilters Retreat at Wapo and gave them to Heike. Heike finished it at the MCQ Quilters Retreat at Wapo so she could take home a finished quilt. Any other Stillwater Quilters get theirs done this quickly? Hmmm?

Quilters Hands

2010-10-28T13:57:00.000-05:00

Quilters Hands

Ironing

Machine Quilting

Pop Drinking

Machine Stitching

Hand Sewing Binding

Writing

Enjoying the feel of textiles

Machine Sewing

Hand Sewing

Ironing

Texting and Eating Popcorn

Ironing

Rotary Cutting

Machine Sewing

and Spritzing

Quilters Hands

2010-10-27T22:40:00.001-05:00

Another Quilt Retreat and more busy hands...
  Sharing pencils
    Rotary Cutting
      Touchy-feely
         Leaning
           Holding the Camera
             Preparing fabric
               Coffee Break
                 Machine Quilting
                   Machine Quilting
                     Cutting Fabric
                       Stretching Wool
                        Machine Sewing
                           Machine Sewing
                             Scraps
                               Thinking...

Camp Wapo

2010-10-17T00:23:00.000-05:00

The Crossfire Building

Foyer

Entry into Assembly Hall that we use as sewing space.

Sewing tables all around the edges by the windows and two tables in the middle for communal cutting tables.

And communal ironing boards

Sewing space at night. OooOOOoOOOo!

A kitchen for our private use. Coffee maker, micro, sink, dishwasher, fridge and freezer

Our bedrooms have 4 bunkbed sets like this, except one of them has a bigger bottom bunk.
I think I took these the last day...when we didn't make our beds!

Dining Hall

Quilters take a drive...

2010-10-08T21:43:00.001-05:00

I just can't get over how amazingly beautiful this fall has been. Imagine your love for colors bursting from all the trees against the completely blue sky. It makes me silent with awe.
Sharon took Heike and I for a drive out to the cottage with many stops along the way, and it was breath-taking. Absolute perfection.

Minnesota Autumn
Photo by Debra Svedberg

Textile Center Authors Lunch - Claudia Clark Myers

2010-10-07T23:17:00.000-05:00

Heike and I went to the monthly Author Lecture and October was Claudia Clark Myers. It interests me to hear of the path it takes to go from a Quilter to an Author.

Claudia Clark Myers talked about the way she uses color to really make her quilts zing. Her piecing technique is easy, her book comes with the patterns.

Heike's Quilt

2010-10-06T21:25:00.000-05:00

Barb Collins gave Heike the blocks that she won in the drawing at the Stillwater group quilt retreat. How sweet is that? Heike was so excited, she's already sewn the top and today we delivered it to Lynn to do the long arm quilting.

Heike is hoping to get it back in time for our next Quilt Retreat so she can sew the binding on. Then she'll go home with a finished quilt! I bet nobody else at the quilt retreats have finished their winning blocks that fast!

Quilters Hands

2010-10-03T14:42:00.001-05:00

Lining up, stitching, stitching, iron, iron, sort, position, machine quilt, decisions, decisions, decisions, lining up, machine quilting, stitching, sorting, cutting, stitching, knitting, cutting, machine quilting, unsewing seams, sewing on binding with an attitude, cutting, stitching, ironing, winding bobbins, ripping out, eating, cutting, winding bobbins, piecing sashing.

Comcast sucks!

2010-09-21T00:44:00.001-05:00

These Comcast employees working on my neighbors cable were smoking the whole time they were working. Even up on the ladders. They even left a cigarette butt and cable wire in my driveway! They were laughing about some "f***in' Time Warner Party" they were going to.

A real class act.

The Great Minnesota Get Together

2010-09-04T11:26:00.000-05:00

I got to go to the State Fair twice. Once on a hot day with Mom and then last night with my cousin Louise to see A Prairie Home Companion with Garrison Keillor, which was magical, humorous and 100% delightful. A beautiful blue sky, dusk to twilight to night, search lights dancing in the sky, the Big Dipper above the stage, the beautiful voices of singers, the ironic Minnesota humor, the chill in the air that had many Minnesotans bundled up, and the sound of mitten clappers mixed in the applause.

Etsy account of my Quilt Buddy...

2010-08-23T11:01:00.001-05:00

Sharons Etsy Shop for her beautiful pillowcases!

Englund Cottage on Lake Minnetonka

2010-08-12T09:50:00.000-05:00

On Monday all of MCQ was invited to spend the day at the Englunds Cottage. The only pictures I took were in the morning of us early attenders. I didn't have my camera out later, while we ate from a huge baked potato buffet, sat on the deck overlooking the lake, played with soy wax batik and painted fabrics. It was such a fun day!

Quilters Hands

2010-08-12T09:44:00.000-05:00

Switching tracks...

2010-08-06T09:56:00.000-05:00

I think I'm getting back into a good groove. Which groove it is, I don't know; but change is always good when change means things get better, right?
Things have been wishy-washy for a little too long now.

Long Time No See...

2010-08-01T21:40:00.000-05:00

I haven't been in the sewing room for over a month now...feels strange to not have blogged all this time either. It's been a weird summer full of ebbs and flows. But I did just finish a hilarious book "Holiday Inn" by Kevin Kling, a Minneapolis author. This book had me laughing outloud in the middle of the night in a quiet house. Even the Intro is funny.

Inspiration!

2010-06-19T12:08:00.004-05:00

art + quilt by Lyric Kinard

I am totally loving this book! It's full of joyful-kick-in-the-pants-inspiration, full of different avenues to start up creativity.
It's actually hard to read through because I get so many ideas after reading only a few pages...I have to stop and go try something!
If you click on the cover picture for the Amazon link, then click on "See inside", you can read some of the book.

More Quilters Hands...

2010-06-16T17:10:00.001-05:00

I found the pictures of Quilters Hands that I took in previous years.

2010-05-31T20:26:00.002-05:00

Robbi Joy Eklow sure has a great sense of humor, I'm really enjoying this book.
One of my favorite quotes so far:
" I bet most quilters, even if they are more careful about what they buy, have many more books than finished quilts. I no longer feel guilty about that. If I collected murder mysteries, would I feel bad about not going out and killing a few people every time I got a new book? Of course not."

Quilters Hands

2010-05-25T22:32:00.004-05:00

Quilters Hands:

Stitching,

Sewing,

Pinning,

Ironing,

Folding,

Quilting,

Beading,

Drawing,

Painting,

Folding,

Embroidering.

List 50 ways you are creative...

2010-05-18T10:55:00.002-05:00

Creativity isn't just "art", creativity is in everything you do every day. The way you do your hair, arrange your furniture, prepare a meal are all your own creativity. I started out listing 25, but that was too easy; so I upped it to 50 to make it harder...but it wasn't.

50 ways I am creative:
1. Sewing
2. Quilting
3. Drawing
4. Painting
5. Laughing
6. Playing games - like my new addiction to Scrabble on my iPod
7. Organizing my shelves
8. Baking goodies - I haven't done this in a while, but I want to bake something for the Retreat this weekend.
9. Embellishing a quilt
10. Deciding what to wear
11. Putting up my hair
12. Putting on make-up, when I actually do that.
13. Putting on jewelry...when I actually do that too.
14. Appreciating the view out of the window
15. Planning things to do with my Niece and Nephew
16. Reading a book
17. Journaling
18. BLOGGING (of course!)
19. Photography
20. Weaving
21. Organizing on my iPod
22. Sorting coupons
23. Painting my fingernails
24. Day dreaming!
25. Planning a quilt, whether it comes to life or not.
26. Listening to an audio book
27. Sewing the binding on someones quilt
28. Watching the snow fall.
29. Listening to the rain.
30. Meeting up with friends
31. Singing
32. Playing with the cat
33. Organizing my sewing room
34. Even the way I make my bed!
35. And House Cleaning!
36. Laundry
37. Meditating
38. Creating solitude
39. Any time I ask a question
40. Walking through a museum
41. Doing a jigsaw puzzle
42. Treasure Hunting at Thrift Stores
43. Felting wool in the washer
44. Eating chocolate (a creative way to keep me from killing people for sure!)
45. Attending lectures
46. Seeing a play
47. Witnessing the lives of others
48. Instant messaging with family/friends all over the world.
49. Genealogy
50. Family Reunions
51. Retreats and Outings with my Quilt buddies
52. Telling friends a funny story...
53. Learning a language

That was way too easy. What's on your list?

"Creativity is inventing, experimenting, growing, taking risks, breaking rules, making mistakes and having fun."
~ Mary Lou Cook

"Creativity can solve almost any problem. The creative act, the defeat of habit by originality, overcomes everything."
~ George Lewis

Amazon link

2010-05-17T17:51:00.001-05:00

Apparently some are having a hard time seeing my Amazon.com link at the top of the right column.
So I'm adding this link to Joyces book, but once you go there, you can search for whatever you want.
Let me know if it works.
Thanks

Spiral Eye Needles

2010-05-16T14:47:00.001-05:00

In my links list in the right column I've added a link to Spiral Eye Needles website.
Pam Turner, the Spiral Eye Needle inventor is a Minnesotan.

My Fabric "Bank"

2010-05-13T12:54:00.003-05:00

Anyone remember "Banks"?

For those that don't know, years ago "Banks" was a warehouse store, that sold items that they bought from insurance claims from retail stores. Sometimes it was because of fire, and everything they had was smokey. But most the time it was 3 floors of fantastic treasure hunting at a small fraction of the retail price.

Everything was brand new; high-falutin' Italian shoes, Calvin Klein jeans, clothes up the wazoo, everything for the kitchen and bedding...you name it, at some point in time they had it. It was always worth it to read their electric sign outside, declaring the next sale they would have, such as "$2,000,000 Ski Equipment, TUESDAY 9 AM". And when shopping the days before a sale, that section would be closed off but many people would come to peek and see if it's worth standing in line to get in.

One day it was a fabric shop that went out of business!

Even as a teenager I was bit by the fabric bug... Bolts and bolts of beautiful cotton calico's in dark cerulean, dark scarlet, burgundy, midnight blue, olive and fern! These were not kelly green with white mini polka dots! They all coordinated beautifully. I only had so much money with me so I couldn't buy it all. OMG, I had to whittle down from at least 20 bolts that I absolutely loved. Which to choose? I wanted all of them.

So...you can imagine the clerks eye-rolling when I told her I wanted 1/4 yard of each one!

Blive færdig, Finito, Acabar, Sluta, Finish!

2010-05-08T19:44:00.001-05:00

The rest of the Elephant Pantyliners (baby burp clothes).
Finished!
The protective travelling case for the Melange a trois.
Finished!
The rest of the Bird Seed Bags.
Finished!
Make Mothers Day card.
Finished!
I don't have the camera, so I'll take pictures tomorrow.