Comforting cushions

My holiday gifting included some cushions. Again I used the Wilton easy Image transfer sheets along with simple photo editing in my Mac to print the images I wanted to use.

I made my Dad this cushion using a photo he took of Mom on their honeymoon over 59 years ago. They had travelled from PEI to Truro, NS and were staying in the cabin situated behind Mom in the photo. I simply love the look on Mom’s face as she sits reading....as Dad said, the photo should be titled, “ I got him!!”  My parents married young - Mom made Dad wait until she turned 18 while he was a mature 21 (!) and their running story was how Mom chased Dad till she caught him, and Dad chased Mom till he caught her! Of course we are all really glad neither one of them ran too hard, or too far.

I used this beautiful poppy fabric because Mom loved flowers, especially poppies, and her absolute favorite color was red! And I am pretty sure Mom bought me all the fabric I used for this. She was always doing that; feeding my fabric habit.

I made this cushion for my son, who like his grandfather, loves all things nautical. I found copyright free clip-art of these mariner’s compasses online and printed it, ironed it on white fabric, and then added a simple black border. My son actually hasn’t seen this yet as I will ship it to him with the shirts I altered for him. I am pretty sure he doesn’t read my blog so I am safe in sharing it here. Just a small, easy project that I think will look good in his new apartment. I have a second, larger cushion for him in the works and am hoping to make headway on that tomorrow. 

Snow dyed, then buffed and fluffed

In the end, I added three different shades of blue setacolor transparent paint, one at a time to the pieces I had scrunched on that piece of PVC pipe.These pieces are the ones pictured with the latest sock I am working on...notice the similar color way? Honestly, it is subconscious; I don’t realize I am choosing like colors for the different projects. I find it amusing.

I took a selection of the other snow dyed pieces and after wetting and manipulating the fabric, I did a bit of microwave over-dyeing. Microwave dyeing is a quick, easy way to get fairly strong colors. Over the years I have taught this method in dyeing workshops and organized sports team t-shirt dyeing sessions multiple times. My daughter and her friends have dyed t-shirts and socks as entertainment at her birthday parties. All it takes is 4 minutes in the microwave, a lot of rinsing and a hot water wash for almost instant gratification. Perfect for kids, and impatient people like me!

At this point the fabric is fairly saturated with dye so over dyeing achieves a crystal, uneven effect. Also, this is the first time I have used this brand of Procion MX dyes and I found the blue didn’t dissolve well in the solution. Consequently the dye sits on top of the fabric and looks grainy in some places.

However, I am wanting some fabrics to mimic the ocean and underwater areas, so I think these will fit the bill nicely. All in all, I am pleased with the results. Cut up into smaller pieces, they should work well.

Snowing shirts

I have been a sewer of clothing for many years and one of my biggest beefs over time has been how poorly made some clothing lines are. If I buy an item of clothing, I expect strong seams with a sensible seam allowance, buttonholes that do not unravel, top stitching that lasts, and buttons that stay on. I think some of my expectations rubbed off on my son.....I just finished altering 7 dress shirts for him and 4 more that were his for his Dad. The boy choses clothes well and I can’t say I am sorry to be done. I gotta say, Calvin Klein knows how to construct a shirt!

To give myself a bit of play time while doing that, and since we have had some substantial snow falls here, I tried some snow dyeing. I used the instructions for Procion MX dyes from Pro Chem. I have been dyeing fabric for years and I aim for strong, bright colors. I have to admit, I am not completely satisfied with the results of my efforts with this method. I did get some great, crystal effects and some interesting lines where I folded and pleated. But, my pieces are too pastel for me.

Various stages of process

Fabric manipulation, dye solution and dye powders

I did figure out a couple of things I could change to get the results I prefer: I will use a thicker layer of snow although I used more than the recommended; I will pour the blue dye first as I was hoping for more blue and green than yellow; I will use less water than they recommended for my dye mix; and I will try mixing the dye directly with the snow rather than making a dye solution. The one thing I did do was toss in a piece of fabric soaked in soda ash in the bottom of each dishpan to catch all that draining dye solution and those pieces gave me the intensity of color I was looking for.

A variety of the results

So, I am currently trying layering some Setacolor paints after completing some fabric manipulation. We will see how that goes.

I have been keeping busy, mainly with things I wanted kept secret. Now that I know my sister opened this gift yesterday, I can share. 

This quilt is a top I pieced ages ago that Jo liked and took home with her to finish. Life got busy so when I purchased my longarm, I brought it back home with me to quilt. No doubt Jo knew it was being finished but she was too kind to enquire. Anyway, now it is done and I believe it will have a home on her brass bed, a suitable place for it.

Even though the day was sunny and I didn’t use my flash, the quilt still looks washed out in this photo.....

I quilted very simple lines and shapes in the trees and houses and also quilted some swirling wind motifs in the sky area.

Quilting this ribbon design made for quick work on the centre.

I used Wilton Easy Image T-Shirt Transfers to transfer the photos of my Mom.

I also made my sister a large bag. She and Mom used to run their errands together and I know going it alone without Mom is tough. This way, she can still take Mom along with her.

Mom’s loves were many, but she especially loved gardens. She always had a vegie garden, even if it was only tomatoes as it was this summer. She loved plants and flowers and I remember thinking when I bought it that I would use this whimsical fabric to make something for her. This wasn’t exactly what I had in mind, but I think both pieces are perfect backgrounds for the great photos Joanne took of Mom holding tulips she had bought for her.

Same bag, other side.

I used the simple photo editing on my Mac and Wilton easy image transfer sheets to transfer the photos. The sheets are available at Michaels and Wal-mart used to carry them though I am not sure if they still do. The directions are easy to follow and although you can use any iron with the steam turned off, I feel I have gotten the best results using my “vintage” heavy iron without any steam holes for the transferring. I have several of these old irons which are perfect for use when using transfer sheets, transfer paints and heat setting fabric dyes and paints. 

Cabbage Roses

I really planned on trying out a pantograph pattern with this quilt. But, somehow by the time I got it all loaded and ready to quilt, I was seeing my big cabbage roses scattered all over. Without even thinking about it, I started lightly sketching my designs in with chalk. And it appears I found a place to use those cotton candy bobbins!

This is a card trick top that I pieced eons ago. For many years there was a very successful Quilt Fair each year in Moncton that was organized by the local YWCA. It was billed as the biggest Quilt Fair east of Montreal and attracted many, both quilters and non-quilters. Numerous dignitaries came to buy quilts for gifts of state, to find quilts for their tourist shops, to decorate their clients homes. As well as displaying finished quilts, there was also a venue for craft items and tops. When my children were small, I used to piece tops for sale and this is one I kept. And now it is proving to be a useful part of my longarm training.

Snowless and liking it!

Sleep doesn’t come easy to me of late so I try to be productive if and when I am wandering round the house in the wee hours. Binding this quilt was one of those middle of the night projects.

The borders are balanced yet different because I cut up one screen printed panel for all four sides. I made the binding by cutting strips of 3 different fabrics (all of which are in the top), cutting each strip end with a 45 degree angle and then sewing the strips together randomly. I think it adds just a little more than a solid binding would have and ties it all together nicely.

Today I had the presence of mind to take a photo of it outdoors while the sun was shining. I would like to note the complete lack of snow on my deck and the green grass peeking through below! Each year I convince myself this will be the year snow will bypass us completely and each year I am so completely disappointed when it does snow. Once I have my annual hissy fit because I do not live under palm trees - and we all know that is where I should live! - I do embrace winter and snow shoe with the best of them. But, I could live without the snow and the snow shoes. 

Backing made with one screen printed panel bordered with a solid black.

Play and learn

This is my latest piece just off the longarm. I am learning as I go and this was no exception. I had a lot of fun with it because it is in essence an edge to edge freeform design with a bunch of circles and pebbles and echoing added to keep me practicing. By the time I got to the last of it, I had figured a number of things out - all good in my books.

Once again I used Glide marigold thread in the top and bobbin - a choice made easy by having extra bobbins wound from the last quilt. I assume I will eventually be able to better gauge the number I need for a project, but I guess that would also require me knowing what I was going to do before I started. Anyway, my way of solving the problem is to order more bobbins tomorrow. And maybe find a small table runner that would could be quilted with those 3 leftover bobbins of cotton candy pink....lol 

This photo looks a little wonky because the quilt is still on the frame and draped over the rollers. 

I happen to have a fair stock of fabric choices at hand and still, I went for these pigs.....hard to explain but most of my choices are intuitive. I get into trouble when I start ignoring that inner voice so I have learned to stick with what feels right to me. 

Hmmmm....now what next?