How I Spent My Summer Vacation....and My First Quilt Progress

Yes, I am sewing a quilt.  That fact is a definite surprise to many of my dear sewing friends.  I have tremendous respect for quilters....all those small seams to sew precisely, all those small seams having to meet squarely at some point, all those choices to make regarding color, tone, scale of prints.  Years ago I thought that I would join the quilting world but (after buying more fabric first) I decided it really wasn't for me.  That has stayed true for the past decade.  But then the modern quilt movement began.  Just as I am cleaning out my home and working on a more streamlined, simpler style, the quilting world has a new branch doing the same.  I love the freshness of lots of white or solid color, more geometric designs and a relaxed, improvisational attitude.  This summer I decided to take the plunge and sew my first official quilt. (I don't count my charity rag quilts for the dog shelter...easy way to use up excess flannel and no judegment from grateful puppies)  
Here's the inspiration.  

Lucky the rescue dog needs a quilt if he's going to nap on the new couch.

We bought a new family room sofa last summer from JC Penney and decided no dogs on the couch, unlike the old rule for the 20 year old Ikea sofa.  But you know what?  We like having Lucky the rescue dog cuddle with us....Sam the basenji not being much of a long term cuddler in the evening.  So we amended the rule....you can snuggle on the couch on a towel...well, he doesn't always understand "towel" as you can see above.  For the last year there's been an old beach towel there and now I want a more stylish replacement.
Here's the plan: 

• Roughly beach towel size quilt
• Easy beginner design
• Fun graphic colors

Here's the backing fabric....the wonderful New York City print I found in Amish country in June.  

Here are the 1 1/4" strips for the front.  

The pattern is Pick Up Stix from the June/July 2011 issue of Quilter's Home Magazine   magazine article and was designed and sewn by Ali Winston of asquaredw blog.com

  
Why is this a good design for new quilters like me?  Well, you start by cutting out 10" squares of a solid background fabric, white in my case.  

Then you randomly add 1 1/4" strips by cutting diagonally and horizontally and stitch them into the square.  The most matching that has to occur is making a strip continue at the correct angle when you add a piece crossing over it.  

Back side of one of my less than perfect squares

Then you take an 8 1/2" square ruler and trim the whole block down to size to sew into the final number of vertical and horizontal rows you want.  
The goal is to make it look "deliberately spontaneous" just like the children's game of pick up sticks all piled on top of one another randomly.   

Here's a better explanation from a much more experienced quilter than I am...he used larger block sizes but same idea Paul's Block Party

I've sewn 35 squares so far and now will trim them and decide if I want to make it any bigger.  Boring at times since I had nothing to try on and get excited about along the way but as one quilting friend assured me, "You know it will fit when you're done."

Now for those promised vacation pictures.  Normally Mr. Lucky and I do not travel during the summer.  We have so many fun things to do here in the Baltimore area that we don"t like to leave and miss any of them.  But this year we took up the invitations from several Florida dogpark friends to visit them in their midwest home towns.  We put 13 1/2 year old Sam the basenji in the kennel since he's not a people friendly visitor, packed up Lucky and set out to drive 1900 miles in nine days.  What a fantastic trip!!

 We set the GPS west for Ohio.  Warm sunny day and thanks to the internet we made our first stop for a late breakfast at the Summit Diner outside of Pittsburgh.  Honey, I did pack my cholesterol medicine, didn't I? 
Continued westward well-fueled and got to Sandusky Point, Ohio in time to take the 4:30 ferry to Put-In- Bay, Ohio, on Small Bass Island in Lake Erie.

 No, we had never heard of this place either (apologies to my midwest USA readers who may be familiar.)  Put-In-Bay info
Terrific family vacation place, low key and relaxing and with great historical importance.  The third tallest US National Monument is on the island and honors both Admiral Perry's victory in the Lake Erie battle with the British but more importantly, the peace treaty of 1815 which resulted in the long-standing peace between the US, England and Canada.  Perry's Monument

Photo by NPS-Jon Wright

Town view from the top of the monument

Our wonderful hostess, June, provided us with convenient island transportation.  Since many visitors take an alternative passenger only high speed ferry, golf carts are readily available and perfect for traveling around a 2 mile by 4 mile island.  Here are the two lucky men in my life and a few more local pictures.

After a few lovely days, we left the island and headed further west.  Lunch with my aunt, uncle, cousin and his wife in Adrian, Michigan then onward to stop for a day and night in South Bend, Indiana.  We toured the Notre Dame campus, (yes, saw "touchdown Jesus in person  view from Notre Dame stadium ) and enjoyed the very interesting Studebaker Museum.  I'm not a car person but I enjoyed the historic perspective and design process of this now defunct line of American cars and Mr. Lucky was totally enthralled.  Women and their sewing machines, guys and their cars, I guess.
After South Bend we headed to our western most destination and another Florida winter friend, this time from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on Lake Michigan.  Lucky loved seeing his dogpark pal, Riley, and we fell in love with Milwaukee.  Our friend, Ginny, took us to the terrific Irish Festival downtown.  I was amazed at the size of their festival grounds and the huge number of music venues within....then I realized why their festivals are so popular.  Since Milwaukee is a town founded by brewers, their liquor laws are far more lenient than any we have in Maryland.  Once inside the festival grounds you could purchase wine or beer and drink it anywhere....definitely not how things work at our Baltimore ethnic festivals.  

I sat and watched the building's "wings" move from this....

On Saturday Ginny and Mr. Lucky played golf and I explored more of downtown Milwaukee.  I loved the public parks and beaches lining the lakeside for miles, the downtown riverwalk with its tour boats and rising bridges, the fresh food at Milwaukee Public Market and the stunningly beautiful and dramatic Milwaukee Art Museum. It was designed by Santiago Calatrava who has designed soaring bridges and railway stations around the world.

....to this, and back, in under 10 minutes.

But now the fabricholics reading this will understand what happened next.  It wasn't intentional, I promise. When I drove back to the house that afternoon, I took a little drive further into the small village main street where our friend lives, Elm Grove. I didn't get one block into town before I saw this sign....

Bigsby's Sewing Center, Elm Grove WI

Yes, a fabric store not a mile from her home.  And a lovely fabric store, with Japanese quilting fabrics, wool flet and wool rovings and a terrific independent pattern selection. Bigsby Tour on YouTube Did I tell you that I loved the Milwaukee area?  Since I always want to support a terrific independent fabric store like this one, I just had to buy a piece....and since this trip was dogpark inspired, I bought another piece for the new quilt.

Thanks for sticking through the vacation pics.  Who knew that sewing could crop up even on a trip like this.  Hope your summers were adventurous 
and your sewing is teaching you new tricks as well. 

Morning explorations

Four legged friends enjoying each other's company once again.

Two legged friends doing the same.

LBD....Little Burgundy Dress

There's been sewing going on in my house and it's about time that I put it down into this record.  I've been avoiding blogging, heaven knows why, but I do like having this diary-like record of my days, weeks and life so it's time to catch up.

Simplicity 2364 as a dress

First up, my LBD....better known as my Little Burgundy Dress.  I've been in love with the Simplicity 2364 top for more than a year now and decided to try it out in a dress.  I love it!  I used burgundy stretch lace (maybe from Jomar) and burgundy slinky...really nice stuff with the rayon in it for great weight and drape.  I've adjusted my photo to better show the contrast.  I had enough fabric so I made a top in the same fabric which will head to Florida with me in November.  Basically I added 20 inches to the top hem area.  Now I have plans for another version in navy.

The rest of August's sewing was productive and  filled with a lot of repeats.  When it's hot and humid or I have other more challenging things on my mind, it's not wise to start a new complicated sewing project.  The pattern adjustments I make need a clear head and August wasn't the right month for that.  But sewing something fun and easy is a great distraction and break from other tasks.  So here' s look at what else got made up last month.

McCalls 6201 dress

Vogue 7823 in Fabric Mart linen

Five Pamela's Patterns Magic Pencil Skirts...skirt pattern

One self-drafted silk chiffon poncho

I also enjoy a thoroughly distracting, fun book when I have other more distasteful tasks in my life and here's one that fit the bill.  Loved it, loved it.

USA Today's #1 Hot Fiction Pick for the summer, The Chaperone is a captivating novel about the woman who chaperoned an irreverent Louise Brooks to New York City in 1922 and the summer that would change them both.

Only a few years before becoming a famous silent-film star and an icon of her generation, a fifteen-year-old Louise Brooks leaves Wichita, Kansas, to study with the prestigious Denishawn School of Dancing in New York. Much to her annoyance, she is accompanied by a thirty-six-year-old chaperone, who is neither mother nor friend. Cora Carlisle, a complicated but traditional woman with her own reasons for making the trip, has no idea what she’s in for. Young Louise, already stunningly beautiful and sporting her famous black bob with blunt bangs, is known for her arrogance and her lack of respect for convention. Ultimately, the five weeks they spend together will transform their lives forever.
For Cora, the city holds the promise of discovery that might answer the question at the core of her being, and even as she does her best to watch over Louise in this strange and bustling place she embarks on a mission of her own. And while what she finds isn’t what she anticipated, she is liberated in a way she could not have imagined. Over the course of Cora’s relationship with Louise, her eyes are opened to the promise of the twentieth century and a new understanding of the possibilities for being fully alive.
Drawing on the rich history of the 1920s,’30s, and beyond--from the orphan trains to Prohibition, flappers, and the onset of the Great Depression to the burgeoning movement for equal rights and new opportunities for women--Laura Moriarty’s The Chaperone illustrates how rapidly everything, from fashion and hemlines to values and attitudes, was changing at this time and what a vast difference it all made for Louise Brooks, Cora Carlisle, and others like them.

I seem to be on a historic novel kick this summer but have been disappointed by the few others that I have read.  This one was well-written, interesting and rewarding to read.  I had not seen the good reviews on this one, found it at the library by accident and it was a delicious diversion for the last weeks of summer.

Next post, how I spent my summer vacation....and how my first quilt is progressing.  Until then, it's good to be back in the blog world and back to some more "serious" sewing now that fall is in the air.

Are You a Snoop?

Image Source: Kathleen Jennings, Illustrator

I am a snoop.  Yes, I am a snoop shopper and proud of it.  This past week I just spent the most marvelous day snoop shopping with a gracious, patient, encouraging sewing friend.  You see, I've signed up for the Susan Khalje Little Black Dress class on Craftsy (that 4th of July sale suckered me in, how about you?) and I wanted to consider different dress styles.  Now, I have no current place in mind to wear a casually sophisticated dress but I'm giving myself the winter to work on this project.  This isn't mother of the bride or some dressy society affair garment that I have planned nor a dress to go dancing in.  No, I want something that I could wear to a high school reunion (never mind that I've been twice and am done with them) or an anniversary dinner and theater night with Mr. Lucky.   
So rather than just look through pattern books and online pattern offerings, how about going out and trying on dresses of every shape in a few really good stores.  What can I learn from this experience?

1.First thing I learned is take a friend and have her make you try things on, no matter what your opinion is of the dress on the hanger.  Hey, I know this theme, being a dedicated "What Not to Wear" viewer and it was hard for me to do.  You're not there to spend the money but to discover silhouettes, colors, dress details that you are going to translate into making your couture dress.  I haven't been buying RTW, except maybe separates, for well over a decade.  Yes, I too am plenty self-conscious about the loss of my girlish figure....actually I'm more self-conscious about the flabbiness of my skin and body since I never did have a "girlish figure."  But this was a fun day just exploring possibilities.

2.  Forget those self-critical examinations of particular body parts and try the darn dress on.  I was so very surprised that the first one I tried with a waist line and full pleats looked fun and girly on me.  I never would have picked it up on my own.  

3.  Notice the dress details that you can translate into your own final pattern.  In high end RTW the princess seams are broken up into smaller darts that become accent opportunities and can create all sorts of illusions.  Very instructive to see these on my body.  I noticed that there were very few facings, that most dresses, even stable knit ones, were lined to the edge of the neck and/or armhole.  Sometimes they were pick stitched to keep the lining from rolling outward.  The few unlined dresses had small bias facings that were also commonly pick stitched to stay flat inside the garment.

4.  Fabrics were most generally flat, not light reflecting.  That made a huge difference in minimizing the size of my body and instead accenting the shape and silhouette.  Makes me regret selling and donating a lot of wool crepe over recent years.  But I still have some and also some wonderful stable double knits in my collection.  A few of the dresses were stretch wovens and those had nice lightweight stretch linings, just what I do for my stretch woven pencil skirts and stretch woven summer sheath dresses.

5.  Remember, you are probably not buying anything and even if you are, don't buy it on your first visit....these stores will hold that dress for a day or so.  Almost every single dress I tried on would have needed some alteration done so don't expect the dress to fit perfectly....and don't forget to learn something from the ones you like the ones you don't. I thought I would need more of an empire waist to be flattering on my shape.  Ain't necessarily so.  Sometimes a high waist, but not empire, was absolutely the most flattering.  

I took cell phone pictures, mostly to jog my memory, of my favorites so I can look at more the details online later.  I will also admit that one of these dresses looked so fabulous on me (a total surprise based on its hanger appal) that I looked seriously at the price tag.  Yikes, not in my league at full price.  But I will definitely watch this one carefully since it would be an investment piece....but guess what,  I still would have to do a shoulder upper chest petite alteration.  Oh, I am glad that I can sew.

Want to see my favorite contenders?  Here they are:

Kate Spade in the middle and on the right, Kay Unger on the left

Great extended shoulder look, can't recall the designer

A favorite designer of mine, even before this shopping trip: Lafayette 148

I don't have a specific dress pattern in mind yet for Susan's online class but this trip opened up several more possibilities for me.  I will share one more funny story about the day.  I certainly didn't overdress for this little excursion....after all it is August in the northeast USA and slow and hot days are the norm.  So I packed one of my knit dresses and a pair of comfy but attractive but very inexpensive sandals to wear....so inexpensive that I bought two pairs a few summers ago.  As I dressed that morning I pulled the sandals out of my suitcase and you guessed it....I have two left feet! Too, too funny.  So I had to wear my little black leather flats from the previous day, felt frumpy but sales people were delightful, the day was fun and I recommend that sewists take the time to do this every so often.  There are sewing lessons in these stores, I promise.

Kay Unger dress: good color, good neckline, a little dumpy otherwise....but at least left and right shoes:-)

Hot Weather, Hot Dress, New Top

I'm calling this my "Hot, Hot, Hot Dress," not because I'm so very hot and spicy (more like medium hot and saucy) but because this is our very hot summer here in the US.  I cut this dress out after the June 29 storm when we lost power for four days.  My sewing room was hot, hot, hot as well since it's the top floor of our 60 year old house.  But I admit that no Internet or electronic entertainment meant that I got a lot of cutting out of projects done even if I couldn't sew right away.

Simplicity 3678, view C, with narrowed sleeves

The fabric is an ITY knit from Fabric.com.  For once I didn't let this one age too long. 

Droopy rayon knit failure

 I did try this scoop neck view C in a wearable muslin as a top first.  I did a "cheater's" full bust adjustment by adding an inch in width at center front which was simply eased into extra gathering, and 3/4 in extra length on the front bodice piece which I also eased when sewing it to the back pattern piece.  But the wearable muslin was unwearable.  I stitched it up from some of the rayon knit fabric that Fabric Mart had last summer and it drooped and grew the moment I tried it on.  Shucks, I love the colors in the remaining fabrics in my collection.  I think they might work as more closely fitted knit tops, perhaps as my favorite Jalie knit top.  But the full bottom was too heavy and kept pulling this top downward.  Ah well, that's why we make a sample mock up, right?

What do you do when you have a sewing disappointment?  Pull out a guaranteed success and get back in the saddle.

Simplicity 2364

This is another version of an OOP pattern that I have made several times before, as a top and as some dresses.  I like the scoop neck of view C on the pattern and already have a few more in the works.  Once again, I love a TNT pattern and the options it gives me to expand my wardrobe quickly and easily.
Speaking of TNT, here's another of that Simplicity 2364 where I've combined some stretch lace and slinky from my collection.  Next time I'm going to try a knee length dress.

Speaking of the hot weather, much of the US has been suffering from heat and drought conditions this summer.  That was also the theme behind this thoroughly enjoyable Australian mini-series, Rain Shadow, that we rented from Netflix last month.  The beautiful Rachel Ward is a farming vet who hires a new city vet as an assistant....after 6 others have left her employment in the last year or so.  The six episodes are excellent character studies of the locals, the struggles of farming in an era of climate change and we thoroughly enjoyed this one.  How nice that Netflix, like blogging, lets us better understand the interests and challenges of people around the world.

Living Room Pillows

 My sewing room makeover almost two weeks ago did not keep me from doing some actual sewing along the way.  One of the things I like about blogging is that it does challenge me to keep good records so these next few posts will catch up with completed sewing projects from the previous month.

I've had on my home improvement list to add some more throw pillows to our living room sofa here in Baltimore.  This first one is a 12" by 16" accent pillow from some "free fabric."  Robb and Stuckey was an upscale home furnishing store in FL until they went bankrupt after the financial meltdown.  There's some new version but what I always enjoyed was picking up remnants that they generously donated to our Ft. Myers sewing guild.  This is a woven faux leather with a fusible backing already applied.  I bet it wouldn't be too bad to sew on an industrial machine but it gave my Viking 770 a little workout.  

I used a large leather needle which punctured the fabric and backing but the machine had a little power surge (the light would dim) all the way around the pillow.  

It was a bear to turn inside out as well.  I couldn't pin it shut to hand stitch the final seam so I used these binder clips.  

I sat outside on our deck and used what I think was a leather needle (although not marked that way) to sew that bottom seam.  But sort of cute on either the chair or sofa.  

Next I used some extra fabric from this chair and made a toss pillow with some brown tweedy cotton velvet for piping, a sample piece from Fabric Mart that I've been saving.  The pillow form is a down and feather 16" by 20" form from Fabric.com.  They have great feather pillow prices.

Again, I'm pleased with some more color and texture on this plain microfiber sectional and have a few more pillows in mind for the future.  As always, home dec sewing isn't my favorite but there is a lot of bang for the buck.