You Can Call Me Gwen

Pedal to the Metal

 

 

Sewing machine pedal, that is.

I'm planning a trip to the west coast soon, and I'll be seeing a pile of relatives along the way. 

Some of them are little people I've never met, and some of them are little people I haven't seen for awhile.

I want them to know I love them.

And, of course, I want them to love me.

So I'll go bearing gifts.

This morning, I robbed this hunk of green polka-dotted fabric from my stash (I can't remember when or why it was purchased)...

 

 

 

...to make a sundress for a sweet little girl.

I wanted to use the size two from this pattern I used in my last sewing project...

 

 

 

...but I didn't have enough of any contrasting fabric to make it interesting the way I did the last one.

So, I dipped into the quilt scrap and "white remnants" stash in the sewing room closet and found some things to help me make this jumper interesting in a different way.

 

 

 

Can you see what I saw?

Cherries!

 

 

 

I don't know when it became the norm, but I really appreciate the switch away from doing machine applique with a tight zig-zag stitch, to doing it with the blanket stitch; it makes a much smoother completed project.

 

 

 

I let the leaf remain free; I just placed the end under the stem as I was stitching it.

 

 

 

 

(I don't know why...I just wanted it to be free.)

 

I lined the front bodice with white fabric, because I didn't want the green to show through on that side, but I lined the back bodice with the green fabric so the tie closure would be fun.

 

 

 

I top stitched the bodice in the green thread, hoping it would serve to diminish the stark contrast between the white bodice and green skirt.

I don't know if it helped, but I like it anyway.

When I finished sewing, the light was no longer perfect for photography, but here is the little dress front...

 

 

 

...and back.

 

 

 

Or should I say...

"Here is the first little bribe, front and back."

This one's for you, Lindsay.

 

 

Maybe it's because you left such a lovely thank you note on my studio guest book after you spent the weekend playing in there.

Or maybe it's because you were so excited to make a paper dogwood branch the evening you were here with Miss Mary Mack.

 

 

 

But, whatever the reason, when I discovered these paper roses, I immediately thought of you.

So read on and tell me if this makes you run for the scissors and glue.

You can cut these from any paper you like; other people use decorative paper, but I like to recycle my old magazines (as you Dear Readers know).

(I'm also thinking this would be a good way to make something beautiful from the summer electric bill.)

I pulled a few colorful pages from some of the magazines that are stacked up around this place.

 

 

 

I chose a variety of things because this was my first run with this project and I wanted to see how different colors and patterns would work.

I folded my pages in half...

 

 

 

...so I would get two-fers when I cut my circles.

At first, I carefully traced a circle onto the top magazine page...

 

 

 

...but, since it doesn't matter how perfect the circles are for this project, I quickly traded that in for just cutting the circles freehand.

 

  

 

Then I drew a spiral on the top circle only; magazine pages are light and I knew I could cut them all at once, as long as I held them firmly.

 

 

 

Once they were cut, I carefully separated them.

 

 

 

The spirals tend to tangle at the center.

Then I simply started rolling the spiral in on itself, starting at the outside edge and keeping the colored side of the paper to the inside.

 

 
 

 

After the whole spiral had been rolled in on itself, I simply set it down on the table and let it uncurl itself a bit.

It was so amazing to see how these came out!

The center of the spiral acts like a little base for the rest of the rose to stand on.

Here is the first one I finished:

 

 

 

So totally kewl!

I haven't glued any of mine to the 'base' yet, but the tutorial here suggests using a glue dot (though I will probably just spread a little white glue on mine - cheap cheap).

Each of the papers had it's own appeal.

 

 

 

It's going to be fun to experiment, because there weren't any that I did not like.

 

 

 

So, Lindsay, and you other creative Dear Readers (unless you've already done this and I'm just behind in school) go cut and roll.

I've got to cut and run.

There is a baby hedgehog out there waiting to be chosen, and Miss Helping Hands wants me to go through the adoption process with her.

Life is always interesting.

The Circle of Life

 

(I'm going to give all of you creative Dear Readers some more time to come up with captions for my last post. I know you're all working on it. Meanwhile...)

Twenty-two years ago I was making many little sundresses from this pattern...

 

 

 

...for my own baby girl.

Tuesday, during the very long, tense tornado watch, I got out this pattern and made a little sundress for another Baby Girl.

This fabric, which I purchased to add a spot of color to the bridal shower food table,...

 

 

 

...was bought with this companion fabric so I could use it for Baby Girl's sundress.

 

 

 

It's a lot wilder, and in a different color scheme, than I'd normally choose, but Miss Helping Hands reassures me that "it's summery and it's really cute".

I do so love this pattern.

 

 

 

I love the pocket details.

 

 

 

And I love the back; especially when it's lined with a contrasting fabric.

 

 

 

Baby Girl generally wears a headband with a ribbon or some other fanciness on it, so I used some of the leftover fabric to make a matching flower.

 

 

 

 I'm going to sew a clip to the back of it so it can be attached to a headband.

Although the dress is a size 1/2, it still looks big in comparison to Baby Girl.

I'm anxious to see how it fits.

And if it does fit...

 

 
 

 

...look out.

I'll be putting the pedal to the metal on that Bernina. 

Your mission, should you decide to accept it...

 

...is to help me write the captions for these cards I told you about in my last post.

I managed to get nine of them made before the sewing bug bit and I went on to other things.

I know you are a creative bunch, so let me hear from you.

I'd like to send a couple of these out to one of you Dear Readers, as a little token of thanks just for being there; I talk to myself a lot, but it's much nicer to talk to you.

Just mention the picture number for which you are writing a caption, and we include your name in the drawing.

 

#1

 

 

 

#2

 

 

 

#3

 

 

 

#4

 

 

 

#5

 

 

 

#6

 

 

 

#7

 

 

 

#8

 

 

 

#9

 

 

 

Here's the little inchie to represent all the fun I had cutting and pasting.

It's one of my favorite images from the book because, yes, it was upside down there, just like it is here.

 

 

 

And, you know, a new perspective can be quite refreshing.

The Meanest Greeting Card in the Whole World

 

What's that you say?

Twenty days of May are gone and you haven't seen a single one of it's inchies?

You've quit reading this blog because there's nothing new to read?

You wonder if I got lost out on the mean streets?

Well, I'm right here.

And so are the twenty inchies.

I promise that they all had their pictures taken and I spent a long time writing many of their back stories.

Then I pushed the wrong button.

That really pushed my wrong button, and the mother board self-destructed.

I still don't feel like re-writing all those words.

 So let me just tell you about today.

Today I passed a lot of yard sales when I took my early morning walk on the mean streets.

So when I got home, I grabbed the Prince and a pocketfull of change and we went to visit some of them.

I was looking for books to cut up.

I picked up this book and thumbed through it looking for illustrations.

 

 

 

What I saw kind of scared me.

So I bought it.

I came home and cut out a lot of the pictures.

The Prince was rather alarmed at some of them.

 

 

 

I told him I thought they were perfect fodder for awesome greeting cards.

He said, "I hope you still think so about two a.m. tomorrow morning when you wake up screaming 'Please don't hurt me!'".

I said, "Don't I usually wake up screaming anyway?"

(And what's with that?)

I might as well have a reason.

Don't you think we could have some fun making cards from this stuff?

 

 

 

Maybe we could even use some of the words from the book.

 

 

  

Taken out of context, they are as bizarre as the illustrations.

 

 

 

 

We could make some apology cards.

 

 

 

Maybe we can make up our own words.

Perhaps something about a search for the perfect pair of shoes.

 

 

 

 

And when I say "we", Dear Reader, I mean you and me.

I think I'll use some of my watercolor paper to make some cards.

Then I'll glue these illustrations on the cards and let you write the text.

So, put on your thinking caps, because I'll be back in a blink.

You believe that, don't you?

 

The Inchie Project 2011 - April

 

 

April went by.

And I think - though I could be wrong - that it went by faster than any month ever has.

Speed and content, however, are two entirely different things.

The month was jam-packed with blessings.

 

 

 

Just as they all are.

Inchie Roll Call

 

I'm finishing the roll call on April inchies; at last!

 

For some reason, the past three or four weeks of my life have been extremely full.

So when the Prince and I had a little time to curl up together and watch a Masterpiece Theatre presentation on the 17th...

 

 

 

...we really enjoyed it.

-------

The Monday following Easter I was a little late for work.

I was fretting about it, because I had simply mismanaged my morning and I felt I should have been more careful.

Until I pulled into the parking lot at work.

I pulled in alongside two geese and their seven goslings, who were taking a little stroll on the premises.

I stopped my car, rolled down the window, and got out my little camera.

They stopped as soon as I did, and I worried that I was frightening them.

Then I realized the adults were simply letting the kids refresh themselves in the little puddle of water left by recent rains...

 

 

 

...and I knew I'd arrived at work at precisely the right time.

By the time I had parked my car and walked across the parking lot, the little family was exploring the courtyard near the entrance.

 

 

 

The goose on the left appeared to be standing guard for mama and babies.

I knew for sure that he was when I had to pass nearby and he honked out his warning.

 

 

  

"I'm sorry, feathered friend, I've just got to get to the door."

I think I prefer to remember them...

 

 

 

...at the swimming pool.

------

I had a "first" with Baby Girl on the 26th.

It was our first time to keep just her little sweet self.

Little Man was being treated to his first theatre movie, and we were being treated to some one-on-one time with our favorite little girl.

I like to bathe the grandshoots when I have them; I love the smell of all those baby soaps and shampoos.

 

 

 

And who can resist a freshly bathed baby in a sweet little nightgown, playing with her chubby little toes?

 

 

 

"Not I", said the Little Red Hen.

-------

We ended up our April with a short visit from my Leetle Brudder, and the beginning of a week-long visit from my Beeg Brudder and his Bride. 

The first night they were in town, we met  for dinner at our standard Friday night spot with Beeg Seester and Bro.

Beeg Brudder slipped me a quilting magazine and said, "I think you'll be really interested in the contents of this magazine."

He had tucked this incredible woodcut inside:

 

 

 

 

Does the design look familiar?

He is a Dear Reader, and he took the design from the post about this papercut I had done (the pattern for which came from this wonderful blog):

 

 

 

Oh, I love to be loved!

My brudder has some mad skills; this is the same brudder who made our family bench.

 

 

 

...with our wedding date and the birthdates and birthstone colors of each family member.

 

 

 

(He sells these, by the way, should you be interested in having a treasure like this for your own family.)

(Hmmm. I don't know how he got my birth year wrong. I'm only 30...)

He brought the bench when he visited last Mother's Day, and the Hedgehog Love woodcut when he visited this Mother's Day.

 

 

 

I am trained now.

And I can't wait for next Mother's Day.

------

It was small thing, in the way of return, but I had them over for homemade pizza on the 30th.

The Prince (and most of the male shoots in the family) like to have their pizza made with meats, cheeses, and marinara sauce.

I like to make my own pizza with homemade pesto sauce and piles of fresh vegetables.

A little bit of cheese just to hold things in place and...oh-my-yummy-goodness!

 

 

 

What a way to end the month; delicious food shared with beloved people.

I like that.

An Interview With Annski - Tote Bag Tutorial

Hello, Dear Readers, and welcome to Gwen's first-ever interview with a guest blogger.

After Dear Reader Annski gave every member of our book club one of these awesome totes...

 

 

 

...made from recycled pet food bags in March, I've been thinking it might be nice to get the back-story on these little beauties and their maker.

Annski generously agreed to visit Gwen's studio for a Q and A session in mid-April (um...nearly a month ago!) and I finally get to share our conversation with you.

So, without further ado, here we go!

Gwen: I've been really impressed by both the artistry and skill of your sewing, Annski. (I'm not sure whether I really said that, but I meant to). Just how long have you been sewing? (I did really say that.)

Annski: Hmmmm. For about 50 years. My mom started teaching me when I was about four or five years old. We made Barbie clothes on her Singer featherweight.

Gwen: Zowie! That is amazing! Barbie clothes at age five?! Did you continue to sew all through your life?

Annski: No, not continually. I got my first machine when I was thirteen or fourteen; mostly just to show my teachers I could sew better than they were teaching. I started sewing some of my own clothes then.  Remember the skirts with multiple tiers we used to wear? I made some of those.

Gwen: I remember! And the peasant blouses...they've all made a comeback or two since then (though I don't know how this is possible since we're still so young). So, you made your own clothes?

Annski: I made some of my clothes at that time, but I didn't sew during my college years. I began doing a little sewing again when my son was young. I did some hand-smocking back in...83? Then my mother-in-law, who was a crafter, started giving me things to make and sell in gift shops. That put me in touch with Homespun Memories(etc)and I sewed collars and jumpers for them.

GwenGwen: I did that too! All those jumpers were sold at craft fairs...I wonder how many I made. My "jumper money" paid for my Bernina sewing machine. I've always been glad I did that.

Annski: Remember the watermelon collars?

Gwen: Yikes! I do remember! Although I can happily report that I never wore one, lol.

Annski: After the jumper/collar phase, I began making a line of coordinated accessories for a gift shop in Nichols Hills. There were all kinds of zipper bags and covers for things; including fabric phonebook covers! Guess there wouldn't be much call for those anymore.

Gwen: Aha! That's why the little zippered wallets you make look so professional. I was pretty well amazed at the one you gave to me. I'm still waiting for my matching phonebook cover..

Annski: Well, I pretty much gave up sewing when I discovered the computer.

Gwen: What do you mean?

Annski: I started making lists.

Gwen: Lists?

Annski: I'm an inventory freak. The first electronic list I made was an inventory of all our VHS tapes.

Gwen: Oh, I know a little bit about your inventory compulsion. Tell my Dear Readers about the fabric inventory you started keeping when you began sewing again recently.

Annski: I use a program for my iPad for that. I take a picture of each piece of fabric I buy and I make notes about the color, manufacturer, and where they were purchased, etc. That actually does keep me from repeating a purchase when I am collecting pieces for a quilt.

 Gwen: Let me interrupt. You don't just take a picture. You set up a "jig" so that all the photos are taken from the same distance and include the same amount of fabric! You texted me a picture of it and said, "I set up this jig to take photos of my fabric. I imagine it's along the same lines as the way you photograph your inchies." I laughed for a long time on that one! I don't even know what a jig is! My poor inchies each get set on the same piece of paper for photographing, but that's where any consistency ends! Annski, do the letters OCD mean anything to you?

Annski: Well, yes. But in a fun way. My inventory lists are important because my general thinking is: "If I don't have it in a catalog, it doesn't exist."

 Gwen: Lol! Okay, finish telling the Dear Readers about your fabric inventory.

Annski: Hmmm. When I first starting buying fat quarters (when I got hooked on quilting), I would enter the color by name...say, "light green" or "brown". But I quickly realized that there are so many shades and values to every color, that these words weren't going to be sufficient for my purposes. So I got out a color fan-deck, like the kind used in paint stores - and I began to assign each piece of fabric a color number, instead of a name. This way I know about the color value of the piece, rather than just that it's "brown" or "orange".

Gwen: Omigersh! You're kidding! Annski, do you have as much fun sewing as you do buying and keeping inventory of your supplies? It's hard to imagine...

Annski: Yes, I do now. Because I like completion now. I used to have all kinds of stuff, but not many truly finished projects. I had all 329 colors of floss when I did cross stitch; even baby-barf yellow, lol. Then I bought a lot of the colors Fimo clay came in, and a lot of beads for jewelry-making. The first time around with quilting (in 1995), I bought all the fabric to make these big quilts and wound up only doing enough to make throw pillows. I did the same thing with yarn and afghans. I just wasn't much of a finisher.

Gwen: So, now you're back into sewing and guilting and you are quite the finisher! What changed?

Annski: Well, I started reading your blog. Then we became friends. And the first time we went to the quilt store together you said, "Now hurry up and get that project done, because we can't go to the quilt store again until it's finished". Your blog just inspired me to complete things.

Gwen: I sure talk big! But, apparently, you missed the blog post about my eight or ten unfinished quilts...

Annski: Lol!

Gwen: From quilts to totes made with pet food bags, is quite a stretch. Can you tell my Dear Readers what inspired these bags?

Annski: At Ikea they have bags in the store to use while shopping, and they're made from the same "fabric" as the pet food bags. So I started looking at all my pet food bags...

Gwen: And?

Annski: I saved thirty empty bags before I actually made any totes. I do love an inventory. After I had about thirty empty bags stockpiled though, I caught my husband sneaking the bags off to the trash. I figured I'd better get busy.

Gwen: You made thirty tote bags? Do you have any left?

Annski: I gave them all away. I had to save another bag to make one for myself!

Gwen: I'm sure glad you gave one to me, but I know exactly how that goes! Are you saving pet food bags again, or is it "been there, done that" for you?

Annski: I got used to mass production. I'll probably be compelled to save them while I'm waiting for a new idea.

Gwen: What's up next for you?

Annski: Quilting is gonna get big. I want to make an OKC Thunder spread for my son. I keep thinking about concentrating on one medium. I have an intense paper inventory. I plan to thin the herd, pick the best of the rest, and then learn to sew paper. I'd also like to get back to Zentangle. And I did knit and crochet a bit...

Gwen: It's nice to know I'm not the only one who wants to do everything, lol.  Back to the bags... You've been kind enough to post on your blog a step-by-step tutorial for making totes from recycled pet food bags. What level of sewing expertise is necessary to complete this project, and is there anything special we should know before starting?

 Annski: I would say beginner to intermediate. I used nylon filament thread to sew mine, for durablity and because I didn't have to be concerned about color that way. I had to adjust the tension settings on my machine for the thread, so that's something to be aware of. Otherwise, I think the tutorial will see you through.

Gwen: Well, I think this wraps up our interview. Thank you so very much for sharing a bit of your life and this great tutorial with us. And if you ever run out of things to inventory, I've got this closet in my studio...

 

 
  

...and I no longer know what's in there.

Emptiness and Fullness

 

 

I guess we usually think of emptiness as a negative thing.

But after years of calling the ironing pile Mount Neverest, I still feel celebratory every time I empty the basket.

 

 

 And I can't overcome the feeling that it should echo when I speak into it.

-------

On Easter, we celebrated another emptiness. 

 

 

 

And a beautiful emptiness it is!

We had a lovely Easter.

The goilies kept to tradition by hunting for hidden jelly beans inside the house on Easter morning.

 

 

 

It got fairly brutal near the end of the hunt, when both goils went for the same jelly bean and Miss Helping Hands knocked Miss Mary Mack's entire bowl of jelly beans to the floor.

Perhaps we will start leaving the jelly bean hunt to the next generation.

They were here for Sunday dinner on Easter, along with our married shoots and Me Darlin' Mither.

While we were at the dinner table, Miss Mary Mack entertained us all by telling us about her Easter morning in fluent Spanish.

It's exciting to have someone in the family who is bilingual.

And she's determined to teach her little niece and nephew to speak Spanish, too.

Here is Tia Maria y Mija celebrating Mija's very first Easter.

 

 
 

 

Muy linda!

The grandshoots posed for pictures with their bunnies.

 

 

 

 

But my favorite photos are the ones we tried to take of the two of them. 

After a few minutes, Little Man, who'd lost a shoe in the ordeal, had had enough.

I captured a shot of his escape; with Baby Girl falling off her perch on his lap and all eyes focused on Dada.

 

 
 

 

 I love the real stuff.

And kids always let you know...

 

 

 

 

...when they've had enough.

Produce Sticker Collection

 

 

It's been awhile since I updated you on my growing produce sticker collection.

And since I've been thoroughly enjoying the sweet, sweet oranges we've had lately...

 

 

 

... and I've been eating so many salads that I actually got to add a new bell pepper sticker to the collection...

 

 

 

...I thought it might be time to post this.

There are little bits of art where you least expect them.

Good Times

 

Have some fun along the way.

Because sometimes the way is long.

I took Me Darlin' Mither to an appointment on April 7th, for which she needed  $50.

Because I was a little late coming from work to pick her up, I told her she could just borrow the two twenties I had with me, add the ten she had with her, and we would stop at the bank after the appointment to get her money.

We were well on our way home after the appointment when she realized she'd forgotten to stop and make her payment.

I told her I was just sure they would understand if she called and explained, and I offered to write a check and send it off to them (Mither is legally blind and can no longer write checks).

I also told her I was just too tired to stop at the bank, and I would catch up with her later about paying me back.

She said, "I don't want to be completely without cash, but why don't I at least give you these two twenties. Then I'll just owe you the ten."

Pause.

"Um. Slick, Mom. You're going to pay me back for the check I'm writing for you with the cash I just loaned to you? And they talk about people taking advantage of the elderly!"

Me Darlin' Mither was horrified at her mistake.

 

 

 

 

But we laughed for a long time.

From Screech to Exquisite

 

Bittersweet.

Some things in life are just that.

When we went to see Miss Helping Hands play in the last concert of her school career, the experience definitely qualified as bittersweet.

For twelve years, from the screechy notes when she first picked it up in the fourth grade, to the powerful performance of Tchaikovsky's 1812 overture in the final concert of her senior year at university, Miss Helping Hands has been playing her violin in school orchestras; and we've been in the audience marveling.

 

 

 

 

Now it's over.

 

 

 

 

And twelve roses, for twelve years of beautiful music, only begins to represent our gratitude.

We Play Games

 

We play games.

We play lots of games.

We play games nearly every time two or more members of the family are together.

Miss Helping Hands and I play Big Boggle.

The game is not available in stores anymore and somehow, over the years, our two sets of Big Boggle letter cubes have gotten all mixed up and we've had to play with a compromised set.

Compromise is not a good thing in this case, so I scouted around on Ebay and found a used-but-complete game for sale (at a GREAT price!).

It arrived in April 4th's mail.

 

 

 

I just know this means I will win more games against Miss Helping Hand.

I just know it.

-------

The Prince was out of town for several days at the end of the month, and the male shoots were ever-so-kind and conscious of the fact that it was probably the first time ever for me to be all alone in The Big House.

Smirkins came over for the evening on the 28th, and we set up the card table on the porch, played several games of Sequence, and enjoyed the fine weather and each other's company.

 

 

 

 

Because I'd nearly cancelled our plans earlier in the day - when I was briefly overcome  by all the things I had on my to-do list - we got to discussing some of the things that were on my list.

Actually, he asked me to tell him what it was I had to get done.

And then he said, "Let me help you. I'm here, Mom, and what do I have to do? Let's get something crossed off the list."

He helped me wrap some gifts.

He cut down a cardboard box, so we could use it to mail those gifts.

And after we'd wrapped, taped and addressed the package, he said " I'm going to go put this in your car so it will be there when you're ready to go to the post office".

Here is some advice, Dear Readers:

If you're still young, have kids.

And if you have kids, have nice kids.

It's pretty wonderful.