Louisa Enright's Blog

Turkey Tracks:  April 8, 2012

Rose’s New Purse

Rose told me months ago that she’d love to make a purse like mine.

My purse is made from the Bow Tucks pattern that is so popular with quilters.  I love it, and when I wear one out; I make a new one immediately.

Rose is a VERY busy woman.  She bakes bread and pizzas for TWO farmers’ markets–in her wood-fired oven.  She bakes pizzas to order for pick-up on Tuesday and Friday nights–and boy are they delicious!  She also bakes cakes to order and cakes and cookies for the farmers’ markets.  She has a big flock of chickens who give her eggs to sell.  She raises all kinds of greens and veggies to sell at the markets and in her seasonal farm shop, The Vegetable Shed.  She also makes and sells all kinds of yummy things–like the wood-fired roasted plum tomatoes she gave me last summer.  Or, pickles.  Rose is always already inventive with preserving food.

Rose really only has Monday free.  So, one Monday recently we went down to Alewives Quilt Shop in Damariscotta Mills, because Rose had never been to see the Alewives fish ladders or that lovely little settlement.  Alewives Quilt Shop is also lovely and one of my favorite places to shop for quilting supplies.  And, on the next Monday, we made her purse together.  I cut and ironed, and soon it was done!

Here it is.  These magentas, purples, and spring greens are favorites of Rose’s.  She uses them on her business card as well.

Here’s what the inside looks like:

  And, here’s Rose with her purse:

Here’s a web site for this purse pattern.

http://pursepatterns.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=153

There are, also now, web sites that claim they have the pattern for free.  My own feeling is that whoever designed this wonderful purse needs to get full value for that work.

NOTE:  The pattern we got for Rose had been updated.  In the new pattern, the front pocket is sewn on independently of the seams in the purse’s body.  I far prefer to anchor the bottom of the front pocket in the seam of the front’s upper and lower purse bodies–which is what my, older, pattern did.  You just center the pocket and insert its bottom into that seam and sew them together.  Then, you sew down the purse’s sides, anchoring the top of each side with some extra stitches.

Turkey Tracks:  February 9, 2012

Making Greeting Cards

Greeting cards have become REALLY expensive.

For a long time now, I’ve been making my own.  I sew on some, I glue things on some, I stamp some, and so forth.

Perhaps one of the easiest is to put a photo into a card.  Swarthmore, for instance, sells 40 photo greeting cards and envelopes with deckle edges, for $20.  That’s 50 cents a card.  (They’re for 4 by 6-inch photos.)  You can order these photo cards online from lots of places.  The last batch I got had modified the slot for the photo so that it’s like a little envelope into which you slide your photo.  Mine have not needed any additional sticking (with the enclosed stickers) to hold them into place without sliding.

Lately, I’ve been using photos of pieces of my quilts.  Here’s what a recent batch looks like:

I write, in pencil, the name of the quilt on the right-hand corner of each card.

I like them a lot!

Turkey Tracks:  February 3, 2012

Half-Square Triangle Patterns

After I posted about using scraps to make my BLUE TANGO quilt, made from half-square triangle blocks, it occurred to me that I could have highlighted a terrific book that titilates the imagination about half-square triangle possibilities.  It’s SPECTACULAR SCRAPS by Judy Hooworth and Margaret Rolfe.  BLUE TANGO is a simple light/dark arrangement.  You can see from this book cover that you can take half-square triangles to much more complicated places.  And, below, see an idea for a “rainy day” design project for children.

Here’s a page from the book that shows some of the many, many ways to arrange light/dark half-square triangles.  BLUE TANGO was the first pattern under No 5.

Rainy-day design project for children:

For a rainy-day project with children that helps them “see” design possibilities, have them cut out 3 to 4-inch squares, draw a diagonal line, color in one side, and make some of these designs.  Perhaps they will want to paste their design to a poster board as an art piece?

Turkey Tracks:  December 7, 2011

Ailey’s Pillow

Tami is learning to sew.

She bought a used machine up here in Maine two summers ago–from Marge at Mainely Sewing.  Marge carries Janome and will help you get a used machine or trade up for you.  Tami’s Janome is a sturdy, beginning machine which will carry her a long way before she’s ready to upgrade–if she keeps sewing more than household repair, etc.  We got her a darning foot for free-motion quilting and a walking foot at People, Places, and Quilts–an outstanding quilt store, in Summerville, South Carolina–on our “escape” day this trip.

Here’s her first project:  a pillow for Ailey’s first birthday:

People, Places, and Quilts sells terrific kits for pillows and books filled with “sayings.”  The kits come with buttons, needles, and embroidery thread as well–and they are so much fun to use, as you can see.  Tami bought a selection of 1930s fabrics last year–for the sides and back of the pillows–but she needed some help to actually get started on a project.

Also, to see more of this kind of project, look at the Carol Boyer entries under the craft project section of this blog.

Here’s the back–a nice little 1930s print:

Here’s Tami closing up the stuffed pillow–the final step:

It’s so cute, this pillow!  Ailey will have this gift long after her childhood toys have disappeared.

I’ll be making some more pillows as well for gifts or for our Coastal Quilters’ auction next November.  I LOVE many of the sayings that People, Places, and Quilts have put into their books.

And, here’s the birthday girl, Miss Ailey, on the day of her first birthday:

Turkey Tracks:  October 29, 2011

Road Trip to Fiddlehead Artisan Supply

Belfast, Maine

A few weeks back, a quilting friend and I decided to go see the new quilting/artisan supply store in Belfast, Maine.  It was the perfect day–pouring rain.  We looked forward to seeing the store, having a warm and cozy lunch at Chase’s Daily, and shopping in the Belfast Coop.  As predicted, we had a wonderful time.

Fiddlehead Artisan Supply is a terrific addition to our local quilting scene.  How many people have access,within 45 minutes, to so many good quilting stores:  Fiddlehead in Belfast, Nancy’s just outside Belfast, Quilt Divas in Rockland, Mainely Sewing in Nobleboro, and Alewives in Damariscotta  Mills.  Each of these stores is very different from each other.  We have nearly as many really fabulous yarn stores as well.  Truly, I live in an area rich with fiber arts materials.

Fiddlehead carries a unique variety of items.  Yes, there’s fabric–both quilting and decorator–but also other, electic goods, like fabric paints and unique ribbons.  There’s a nice book and pattern section as well.  And, they are selling consigned quilts.

When my sister visited this past summer, she thought our little towns were very European in nature.  I agree with her, and I think that’s part of why I like New England so much.  Here’s what the street scene looks like where Fiddlehead is located:

Here’s what you see when you go inside the door:

Here are some of the unique ribbons:

And, Fiddlehead has ALL 500 embroidery colors:

Makes you want to start a new project, doesn’t it?

Turkey Tracks:  August 29, 2011

Brown Paper Bag Book Project

One of our local artists, Robinsunne, came to speak to the Coastal Quilters a few years back–http://robinsunne.com.  She brought a book she had made using brown paper lunch bags.  I loved it on sight and knew that one day I would make one.

I’ve tried to show the grandchildren how to make one for two years running now, but they don ‘t quite get it yet.  There was nothing left to do but make one myself, which I did as a birthday card for my son Michael.  I found the project to be as much fun as I had imagined.  And, I will make more.  They do take a bit of time.

Here’s the outside of the brown paper lunch bag book–the buttons come from a quilt shop in Charleston, SC–People, Places, and Quilts.

First, you take 3 or 4 of the brown paper lunch bags and ALTERNATE having the top and the bottom on the left-hand side.  Put them in a pile, fold them in half, and sew down the middle of the crease.  It’s a good idea to have the OUTSIDE  bag–when you fold inside– with the opening to the left as that becomes your front cover.

Here’s how to use the open top of the bag:  stuff it with interesting objects, coupons, sayings written down, recipes etc.

Here’s what the bottom part of the bag looks like within the book–a flap is created on the page that can be folded back to reveal a surprise of some sort:

See..

Found objects can be “artfully” presented and tucked into one of the book’s pockets:

Sewing onto the paper–as with the buttons on the front–proved to be more difficult than I’d thought–because of the inner folds of the unfolded bag top.

Stamping is a nice way to decorate the bag.

So, try one yourself!

Turkey Tracks:  April 23, 2011

The T-Shirt Rug and Rags

On a very pretty and warm day last week or so, I switched out my winter clothes for spring/summer ones.  (I’ve been freezing practically every day since!)

In the process, I realized I had accumulated way too many stained t-shirts put aside for yard work or painting.  What to do with them?  I couldn’t bear to just throw them away, and I have a lot of rags already.  Or, so I thought.

I found myself wondering if I could weave strips of them into abraided  rug or placemat on the hand-looms.  But, I didn’t think I had enough for a rug, and I don’t need placemats right now…  Then, I remembered making Kelly’s rug out of potholder loops linked together.  So, I took the t-shirts to my sewing room and began cutting the thrunks, up to the arm pits, into strips with a rotary cutter, which slices right through the double layers.  I used a long ruler for stablity.  I cut the short sleeves off and realized I had a pretty nifty doubled rag of a nice size.  (I threw the long sleeves away once I realized they were too bulky to loop like the potholder loops.)  That left the armpits to the neck, which I slashed in half for two more rags.  (Cotton t-shirts make such nice soft rags.)  I divided the rag pile in half and put one-half in the laundry room and the other half in the kitchen bowl with the white washcloths I’ve been using.  (See earlier posts about NOT using so many paper products like paper towels.)

Connecting the loops like potholder loops made too bulky a knot.  So, I opened the loops, slit the ends, and looped the lengths together like I would while making a rag rug.  Since I wasn’t sure I would have enough materials for a braided rug, I decided to knit the strips on big needles (13s).  If you knit constantly, you get a garter stitch, which has interesting texture.  Here’s the start:

Here’s the finished rug:

It’s stretchy and endearingly rough looking and very sturdy.  It will work fine near doors for muddy, wet shoes/boots coming into the house.   It only took me a few nights to make it while watching movies.

Here it is in use–the mud/garden shoes came from Tara Derr Webb when she moved from Reston to California over…10 years???…ago.  I release and feed the chickens first thing in the morning, so I need a pair of mud shoes or winter boots very near the back door:

Now, here’s the fun part.   I’ve been looking for ways to cut down on paper towel use, and dripping out bacon strips was one of our last uses for paper towels.  I took two of the short sleeves this morning, put them on a plate, and used those.  Afterwards, I just threw them in the laundry.  I usually wash kitchen towels, etc., separately any way, so I think this use of the sleeve rags will work just fine!

Turkey Tracks:  April 18, 2011

Notebook Covers and Fabric Boxes

 NOTEBOOK  COVERS

On Friday, April 8th, Barb Melchiskey of Coastal Quilters organized a workshop with Carol Boyer, who came to us from New York with Marty Bowne, the founder of Quilting By the Lake, to make notebook covers using our overflowing button collections.   Eight participants started at 9 a.m. and quit about 3 p.m.  Some of us went home (me) and sewed even more as the projects were so much fun.  (The workshop enrolled 10 participants, but two could not come last minute.)  You might recall the blog entry I made last year during Carol’s visit.  We learned to stamp and paint on fabric, and Carol brought some of the many dolls she also makes to show at the Saturday meeting. 

 Here’s a picture of Carol with the first prototype cover she made:

Here’s a picture of completed notebooks as Carol and Barb refined the method Carol taught, which used bias tape to edge the covers. 

Here’s a picture of a Carol Boyer cover in process:

Here’s a picture of the possible variety with these book covers—from plain to decorated—that I did. 

The fabric and buttons on the “Bloom” cover–and the idea for single blooms–came from People, Places, and Quilts in Summerville, SC.  Here’s their number:   1-843-871-8872.  They sell kits with the fabric, buttons, and a colorful array of embroidery floss.  Their focus is pillows, and they sell books with the most adorable “sayings” one could embroider on a pillow and then decorate with buttons.  Carol Boyer taught us to use buttons as both single blossoms and to make multiple button “petals.”  And, she taught us to use embroidery thread–the whole six strands–in some of the creative ways you see above. 

I beaded the central leaf in the reddish cover fairly heavily–yet the effect is still fairly subtle.  - And the navy cover is of a Japanese indigo fabric, so I’m playing off the idea of Sachiko. 

FABRIC BOXES

On Saturday, April 9^th, Coastal Quilters hosted Cheri Raymond, who taught us how to make fabric boxes. 

I’m afraid I did not do a good job of taking pictures of the amazing color combinations of boxes being made all around me as I was obsessed with making my own box.  But, here is one Beth Guisely made (green box) that I bought at our auction last year.  And, the one I made (pink pigs) at the meeting, so you can see what we did:

I glued the silk cord into the box top on the pink pig box and attached the cord on the inside of Beth’s box.  I experimented with beading the top of Beth’s box, and that worked out well.  (The boxes are gifts for two of my granddaughters.

And, here are the elegant insides of Cheri’s design:

It turned out that Pat Vitalo has been making fabric boxes for some time.  Here’s a picture of Pat’s very clever boxes:

The large open one folds up and is held together by its top.  I think it’s intended to be a sewing kit…

Anyway, you can see the Coastal Quilters had an intensive sewing weekend!

aha!  Here’s the missing post on KJ’s purse–and the bamboo silk scarf.  Will post it and delete the newer post.  It was lurking in “drafts” which I don’t seem to be able to find…  Thought you could only have one at a time

Turkey Tracks:  February 2, 2011

Bamboo Silk Scarf and KJ’s Purse

I’ve finished two projects in the past few days.

You might remember an earlier blog on 3 different yarns I had bought.  Here’s the finished scarf from the bamboo/silk yarn:

The pattern was daunting for me, but it came out nicely, don’t you think?  I had to keep track of different stitches and use a cable holder for all 30-something rows of the pattern.  But, about halfway along, it became much easier as I “got” it.  Nevertheless, such intricacy is slow.  I have new-found respect for people who knit those Aran sweaters with all those different patterns and cables.  The scarf is VERY long–enough to double so that the wearer can thread the ends through the middle loop–something Mainers do a lot–and still have generous tails falling down the front.

It’s going to a dear friend who has been so generous with her spirit, her knowledge, her time, and her love.

Karen’s Purse

So, Karen Johnson, the Community School student who graduated last year and who is now the intern at The C-School (GO KAREN!), has admired my versions of this purse off and on for as long as I’ve known her.  I’ve made about six or seven purses from this “Bow-Tie” purse pattern, and I think I myself ha’ve had two versions while I’ve known Karen.  (Bow Tucks Tote, #PS008, Penny Sturges)

Anyway, Karen’s birthday was Christmas week, so we went to Marge’s Maine-ly Quilting store in Nobleboro, and Karen picked out fabrics for her purse.  Karen, you might recall, made a quilt last year with me.  So, it was pretty amazing to see how much confidence she had in picking out her fabrics for her purse.  And, mercy me!!, is it cute or what?  I’m letting her choose the fabric for my next project for sure.

Karen loves pink, so that was the starting point for the bag.  She chose a soft black for the bottom, so it would not show dirt.  (This bag is washablel, however.)  And, she chose the stripe for contrast.

Inside, is a bright, lime green, which looks way too muted here.  And, you can’t see it well, but the stripes match perfectly on BOTH sides!  John made the hard bottom, and I covered it with fuzzy fleece and fabric and glued it to the back of the board John made.

These fabrics did not come all together; Karen hunted all over the store to put them together.

Here’s the end detail, with the small ties “gathering” up excess fabric under the “bow-tie tuck” of the purse’s name.

And, here’s the purse pocket detail up close.  Karen chose a different big closure button, but I began to see tiny white antique buttons for the pocket stripes–from a collection I inherited from my great aunt Margaret. (People used to cut the buttons off worn-out clothing before using it in other ways.)  There are 20 small buttons and, with the large button, 21 buttons total.  Karen is 20 and will be 21 next year, and I hope she will still be using her purse then.  All these buttons have been handled many times by many hands, so each touching sends along its own energy to Karen.

Here is Karen’s bag, ready to be delivered to her this Friday (Feb. 4th.) when we will have a visit.  Below, Karen’s purse is sitting alongside my bag and is atop the scarf, wrapped and ready to be mailed.

Karen was to have helped me cut out the bag (no sewing, I promise!) and do the ironing while I sewed, but she has been so busy with her work (at a local nursing home where she is getting training to be a Personal Care Assistant) and with her new internship responsibilities at The C-School, and as I am leaving Feb. 18th for 10 days or so (quilting in Williamsburg with my quilting friends, attending the Mid-Atlantic Quilt Show, and visiting with family), I just went ahead and made the bag.  We will do another one down the road, I’m sure.

Turkey Tracks:  December 15, 2010

Rosie’s Gift

Our monthly quilt meeting was Saturday, December 11th.  We have a potluck and Christmas party during our December meeting. 

I have, for some years now, volunteered to bring the December door prize.  I collect items for the Christmas door prize all year long.   And, people give me items to put into the box over the year as well.

Last February I made my annual trip to Virginia to be with my old quilting friends in Williamsburg.  We’ve been making this trip together for about 15 years now.  We spend a week in a timeshare that Rose Pilkerton organizes.  We catch up, quilt night and day, take turns cooking, and attend the Mid-Atlantic Quilting Show.  The week is full of sharing:   laughter, jokes, movies watched while quilting, and the work of quilting projects.  These friends help you ”unsew” if you need to, sew on bindings, and lend you whatever you need.    

Rose Pilkerton gave me this treasure of a notebook holder she had made for the Coastal Quilters’ December door prize:

Here’s the inside:

She also gave me one for myself that used a red fabric featuring old sewing machines.  AND, a key chain made from the same fabric.  I carry them both everywhere, and I think of her everytime I use either of her gifts. 

Rose’s generosity-and Rose herself–are metaphors for what I love in my quilting friends, of what I aspire to be.

The Maine quilter who won the December gift box loved Rose’s contribution.

And I love Rose!