Quince and Quire

Mother Love

This bear needed clothes, a warm blanket and a pillow--or so I was told. You see, the seven-year-old has a best friend. The best friend just had a birthday. And this was my daughter's idea for the gift: a bear (which we bought) dressed in clothes, which we made. SImple!

Unless you, like me, are no good at patterns. How does one tailor to a furry, fat lady with a tail? 

I made a pattern from some existing doll clothes, which almost fit the bear. I kept the clothing shapes simple. And I ignored the tail, which meant no pants. 

 

A ruffle was required on the dress, naturally. 

 

My daughter, who wanted to sew much of this project herself, couldn't get the hang of moving the fabric along in time with the machine--so her job was to run the pedal (I am afraid for her future driving skills) while I stooped above her, guiding the fabric.

 

It was a good time to forget about my advanced degree, useless for this sort of motherly teaching moment. It was a good time to forget about health worries, school worries, house worries: it was a good time, in short, to shut down all the nonsense that typically exhausts me each day. 

 

It was a good time to be pleased with my daughter's generous heart and love of bright colors. 

 

And the dotty scraps we have left? They are just waiting to be made into coasters for our Moomintroll mugs. The successful completion of one skirt, one shirt, one dress, a pillow and a blanket: that was quite a good time for a coffee. 

Color week: green

It's color week at poppytalk. I don't usually follow along with group blog projects (I'm grumpy that way), but color! Okay. I can do that. 

Love in linen

I've talked about her before. You remember, perhaps, the rose petal beads, the summer dresses sewed in calico, the homemade root beer. Maybe you don't remember the paper collage valentines or famous hobo bread, but I do. You must remember the quince tree, and the quince jelly. And of course, all the ephemera of a century gone: bookmarks, postcards, needle books, brittle photographs. Having survived the depression and the wars, she saved everything.

She still does. But now my grandmother lives in a small apartment, and I have received many of her beautiful vintage things. She sent me a nice stack of linen handkerchiefs. Knowing that I would never use them for the original purpose, and knowing my grandmother wouldn't mind if I re-purposed them, I used one to sew a little gift for her. 

If it looks grandmotherly, well, it is, of course. A small sachet in rose-colored linen, filled with lavender, edged in ivory lace, backed in a tiny star-print cotton. I thought she might like a summery smell for her bureau. I am happy to have a small gift, from the heart, to send to her in two weeks. I'll be including some of the children's art in that package, and a collage valentine, too, just as she always sent to me.

Child's Christmas scarf

I was given one of those stacks of pre-cut fabrics: charm packs, they are called. This one is Moda's 12 Days of Christmas. I'll be honest that I was not super excited about this fabric.

But you know, once I started on this idea of a patchwork scarf, I had a lot of fun with it. I made a brick pattern with the squares by cutting a few of them in half to get rectangles that were 2 1/2 inches wide and 5 inches long. I sewed one narrow rectangle to one full-size square for each row, alternating my layout as I went (see the first photo). Then I backed it all with bright red polka dot flannel, added some bobble fringe, and called it a day. 

This is a quick project that makes a nice gift for kids--or adults! 

Autumn comfort

Our chilly, grey days make for somber light in which to photograph. They also make one turn to projects of comfort. I'd had a vintage quilt square, provenance unknown, rattling around in my sewing room for years. I finally turned it into--what else--a cushion cover, because I was obviously never going to make a set of matching blocks for a quilt. I used a medium-weight organic cotton canvas for the back. I do love the cheery colors and patterns.

Meanwhile there is a certain young man who will be turning three soon, and I have begun (rather late, yes) a small quilt for him. I finished cutting all the wee blocks yesterday, after hours and hours with the rotary cutter. (Now I know why I haven't tried a quilt before!) It may not be quite finished by the birthday, but I do plan to have it done no later than Christmas. I hope . . . 

Gifts, and a giveaway

A box arrived the other day. A big box. A big box from the amazing Adrie, and it was filled with surprises. Adrie, for those who don't know her, has a blog called Fields and Fire, where she writes about sustainable farming and baking, intentional homemaking, and sheep, among other things. I especially appreciate her menus, which give me much-needed inspiration for feeding my family. 

So, Adrie was just, you know, cleaning out her sewing room and happened to amass a pile of fabulous crafting treasures, and she decided to send them on to me! Wow! Those little vintage spools of thread, seen with thimbles so that you get a sense of their size, were just a few of the many she sent. Adrie also sent a lovely handful of wool, unprocessed, and it smells so good and clean and sheepy. Yarn, too, and fabric--lots of fabric!

That's a close-up of some iridescent green silk that she sent. Isn't it gorgeous? I decided right away that I needed to make something with it. 

I made a scarf, using the green silk from Adrie and adding dupioni silk from my stash in shades of cobalt and soft jade. I am very pleased with how it turned out and I have plans to make at least one more.

But for now, I'd like to send this to someone, to pass on the lovely feeling of getting a surprise in the mail. I bet this scarf would look great on you! Or your sister! Or a friend! Please leave a comment so that I can enter your name in a giveaway! Go ahead, right now! You have until next Tuesday, the 16th, at the end of the day. 

And don't forget to enter Pat's giveaway for a beautiful professionally-printed calendar! And go see this amazing art by Jackie! So many talented people in this world . . . 

And thank you, Adrie, for your generous heart and thoughtful actions. 

Beauty endures

Winter can be hard for my daughter. She loves many things about it--ice skating, pomegranates, clementines, snowmen--but she doesn't like to be cold. And she seems to feel the cold in a very intense way. No surprise, given that we had a nasty week when temperatures were stuck near zero. This week we are up in the 20s, but with a stout wind coming across the fields.

And of course we are all finding the shades of taupe, steel, mink, wheat, heath, iron, and rust just a tad gloomy: no matter what names we try to imagine, it comes down to a lot of grey and brown.

When I found myself in town with a spare hour all by my lonesome, I made a stop at an antique store that I haven't been able to visit since my son was born. And there, amongst all the linen hankies and disintegrating doilies, I found a quilt.

It's not a perfect quilt. It, too, shows signs of age, with a softly fading bloom and some wear around the edges. But the feed sack florals and the Dresden plate pattern, common in the 1930s, seemed to suit my daughter's taste perfectly. I've been wanting to find something special like this for her. And while I hope, some day, to make a quilt for her myself, I decided it was silly to pass up this lovely quilt. We are in the midst of Major Life Changes (more on that another day) and a soft, comforting quilt in cheerful colors seemed like just the thing for my girl. 

After a long and leisurely conversation with the proprietor of the store, I walked out with a nicely discounted quilt! (It's always worth discussing prices, in a friendly way, when one finds a treasure.) And I'm so glad I went ahead and made this "impractical" purchase: oh, my daughter is so much warmer at night, now that she has a total of five blankets--cotton, wool, down, fleece--(I told you she doesn't like to be cold) on her bed. She loves the colors of this quilt, and muses on each of the flowers and petals, telling me which pattern is her favorite each day.

Isn't it nice to know that someone, years ago, made this quilt with love, and now, years later, we are still enjoying the hours of her careful labor, appreciating the colors and patterns that she created? Beauty always endures, doesn't it?

Giveaway: Upcycled beauty from FeltSewGood

What are a few of our favorite things here at Quince & Quire? 

Let's see: deep, intense colors; soft natural fibers; delicate, intricate patterns; folkloric motifs; handmade excellence; beauty and utility working in harmony.

In short: the work of Cheryl Patterson of FeltSewGood. 

Cheryl is a talented sewist and craftswoman from Indiana. I happened upon her shop about one year ago, when I purchased the ochre heart ornament pictured above. (You can see that since then, my heart ornament collection has grown by two!) I was so taken with the quality of Cheryl's work that I ordered one of her handbags, a merino wool aubergine "Jasper" shoulder bag. I was thrilled with it as well: beautifully styled, carefully lined, expertly sewn. Best of all, each lovely item was made from thrifted, upcycled wool sweaters. 

Cheryl spoke with me a little bit about her work and her shop, FeltSewGood. 

Can you tell us a little bit about yourself?

I live in central Indiana with my husband and three Burmese cats. Of course I love sewing, and almost any kind of crafting, but also cooking and gardening. And I love scouting for antiques, and flea market and thrift shop treasures, which fits right in with making my FeltSewGood items from upcycled wool. 

Your sewing skills are impeccable. How did you learn?

My maternal Grandmother was a sewing teacher, so I started early asking for a needle and thread to try to hand sew doll clothes. We didn't live in the same city as my grandparents, and I didn't get to spend a lot of time sewing with her, but I always liked that we had that in common. I have taken a few sewing classes over the years and I'm of the age when we took sewing in "Home Education" in the 8th grade!

Has there been anyone in your life who served as an inspiration or mentor in your craft?

My Grandmother.

Your items are made from reclaimed felted wool. What do you enjoy most about working with upcycled materials?

I love the challenge of finding the materials and then coming up with just the right use for each sweater or item of clothing. Since I work with mostly found "as is" items, I don't have much control over the color, texture or how much an item shrinks when "felted," but to me that's the fun part!

I am delighted to tell you that Cheryl has kindly offered a heart ornament, pictured above, as a giveaway. It is crafted from red and green felted wool, with hand-embroidered designs and a vintage button. Just leave a comment at the end of this post by 11pm EST Friday, December 11th. I'll choose the winner at random. If you'd like, tell us in your comment how you re-use or upcycle materials in your crafting. Thanks, Cheryl!

*

In addition, I hope you will all consider contributing a handmade ornament of your own to a very special project that Nicole, of the lovely blog GardenMama, has started. Please visit her new site, The Wellness Tree, to read about and support a remarkable woman who is battling breast cancer. 

Two Japanese quilt blocks

It was time for another color & pattern study in the form of a Japanese quilt block. This time I chose an indigo print and paired it with more of the Belgian grey linen. As you can see, the outer edges of the block are unfinished (because I am not yet sure what I will do with this block), and so the proportions don't look quite right. And, as you can see, some of the strips got wonky. That would be the linen, which is loosely woven and has a lot of movement, rebelling against being paired with the tightly-woven indigo cotton. Note to self: don't combine these two fabrics ever again. The finished block size is nine inches square.

Oh, but it's hard to resist linen, with its elegant presence and soft hand.

As part of my color & pattern study, I tried a similar block pieced from paper. I used scraps of fancy Roma and Moriki papers to make a six inch square block. I really like the blues and browns together.

My block pattern came from the Briscoe book, Japanese Quilt Blocks to Mix and Match. The pattern I made this time is called yosegi kawari nikuzushi, or simple pairs variation. If you'd like to see the first quilt block I made, go to this post.

Next week I'll have some fun paper experiments to share with you, some holiday craft ideas, and a book or two as well. I hope you have a great weekend!

Meditation on color

  

I'm trying to understand my schizophrenic design life. 

On the one hand, there is my obsession with earthen hues, crumbling homes, ochre ground, and fading light. Hence, homemade walnut ink and wreaths made with wilted flowers. You'll see more of that side of my aesthetic in posts later this week. 

On the other hand, there is my rainbow obsession, as with the bean bags pictured above. I really think it is becoming a problem: any project for a child (or a school, which is where these bean bags are headed) seems to end up as a rainbow. 

I guess this aesthetic dichotomy not such a bad thing, just a bit odd. Maybe I can find a middle ground between the two. But what would it look like? 

In the meantime, here are some nice variations on bean bags, which is what this post is also about! 

• Scrap buster bean bags at Sew Mama Sew.
• Fun felt cut-out bean bags at Whimsy Love.
• Bean bags with plastic pellets so they can go in the wash, at Karlee Fuchs.

Felted pumpkins and wee tutorial

We made felted pumpkins yesterday. These are very easy and great for young kids because they can do the entire project by themselves. You see my daughter chose non-traditional colors for her pumpkin embellishments (on the right). I will show you a few photos of how we did it, but I'm sure you all can figure it out. There are also many nice tutorials about different felted pumpkin projects; I'll add a few links at the end of this post.

  

Choose some wool roving. Wad it up into a ball. Then wet felt it, either by hand in a basin of warm, soapy water or in your washing machine. We felted ours in the machine, on a 25-minute cycle with warm water and a tablespoon of liquid detergent. 

 

Let your felted orbs air dry (or toss them in the dryer, but be prepared for more felting and/or shrinkage) and assemble your other supplies. You'll need an embroidery needle, one or two colors of floss, and a scrap of green felt for each pumpkin.

  

Thread your needle with floss to make the "ribs" of the pumpkin. Knot the thread, and starting at what will be the bottom of the pumpkin, draw the needle all the way through the felted orb. Wrap the thread around the pumpkin and draw it back up again through the bottom of the pumpkin, continuing in this way to make as many ribs as you want. You can scoot the thread a bit to space the ribs as you like. Knot the thread at the bottom of the pumpkin when you are done.

 

Cut your felt scrap into a rectangle. Starting from one of the shorter sides, roll it up. Thread your needle with green floss, knot the floss, and take a stitch through your rolled up felt, hiding the knot behind the outer flap of the felt. Then just wrap the floss around the felt to make a funny stem. Knot it at the bottom.

Attach the stem by taking small, shallow stitches around the circumference of the stem into the top of the pumpkin. You can pull the final stitch all the way through the bottom of the pumpkin, and knot it. 

FInished!

Here are links to other felted pumpkin projects:

• A nice photo tutorial for a needle felted pumpkinon flickr.
• One made out of felt, written up in Italian (you can figure it out through the photos).
• Pumpkin bowls (and crocheted acorns!) at Resurrection Fern.
• Knitted and felted pumpkin pattern.

Outdoor Art Day: felting

At our Outdoor Art Day on Wednesday, we turned this . . . 

. . . into these!

 I'll be back in the next day or two to show you how. 

Japanese quilt block

After all the rainbows and exuberance in the things I've been making for children, I thought I'd show you the other side of my design aesthetic, in the form of a quilt block using a Japanese pattern. I know, it's really plain. And it's still in process, so you just have to enjoy the loose threads. (And just enjoy the helter skelter view my wabi sabi chairs, too--antiques from a church in Iowa.) 

Belgian grey linen, unbleached cotton muslin: perfect. Too subtle? Maybe. But for me the restraint of the colors and precision of the pattern combine to make exactly what I had hoped for. Now I just need to make a few more . . . 

 

The pattern comes from Japanese Quilt Blocks to Mix and Match, by Susan Briscoe. This book is an incredible resource for designs and technique. The author presents patchwork blocks, sashiko blocks, applique blocks. She discusses traditional fabrics, color combinations, and ways to combine the blocks. The entire production is clear and impeccable. The clean, graphic quality of the designs are immensely appealing to me. (Check out author Susan Briscoe's blog here).

Linen Wool Cotton, newly published in English, has been getting a lot of exposure on various craft blogs. I mention it now because it was the inspiration for the grey and ivory fabrics I chose. Akiko Mano, who grew up in a family of clothing manufacturers, appreciates the subtlety of texture, weave and color that appear in apparently-plain fabrics. This entire books is filled with projects in shades of white, ecru, ivory, grey, dove: you get the idea. She brings a little spark to her sewing with embroidery, often using red thread. I'm not sure red thread would be a good idea for my patchwork block, though. I'm happy with the colors as they are.

Then again, I do have a nice selection of patterned Japanese fabrics on hand. Maybe for the next block . . .  

Daily dose of pattern

While the colors of my home tend to be shades of ochre, green and grey, my closet tells a brighter story. 

Needlepoint: the next obsession?

I just got this book, Folk Art Needlepoint, published by Potter Craft, at my local independent bookstore and I am enjoying it a great deal. Each needlepoint project is based on an object from the American Folk Art Museum, and while many of the projects have obvious sources--a rug, for instance, or a tapestry--sometimes the source of inspiration is surprising: a weathervane, a chest of drawers, a clock. Everything about the book--from the lovely photographs of the art, to the detailed full-color charts, to the history of the folk art featured--is presented with grace and care. And for beginners like me, there is a nice section on stitching, working from a chart, and selecting materials. 

Some of the projects do not appeal to me, in the sense that I would be unlikely to use the final object (i.e., the checkerboard door brick), and sometimes I do not like that the needlepoint projects have a brighter palette than the art objects upon which they are based. For me, much of the charm of the original folk art featured comes from the colors, which are often muted and earthy. Some of the needlepoint projects look too clean and bright--an odd thing to say, I know, but I think it's significant; creating something that feels both authentic and fresh is not an easy balance. I suppose one could tinker with the suggested palette to more closely resemble the folk art.

I haven't made anything from the book yet: I am not even going to consider needlepoint until winter, when I will have time in front of the fire in the evenings. For now, the book is simply a source of inspiration and visual pleasure.