Mom! Can You Fix These?

This was the question Not-So-Little PurpleBoots had for me when he brought a pair of cargo shorts to me with a split zipper that refused to behave for him. I probably could have replaced the zipper, but it's unlikely that they would've fit him again next year at the current rate of speed he seems to be growing. So, "Nope! Sorry Bud, they're not worth fixing."

So they sat and sat, I hated to toss them...my inner tree hugger winces a bit at the thought of tossing out perfectly good (and expensive) shorts. But without a working zipper what good are they really? Well, thanks to Google and according to this tutorial by Noodlehead I found out that I CAN make a purse out of them!

So that's exactly what happened today. Instead of heading to the boxing gym I headed to my sewing corner and knocked out this bit of cross-body-goodness in about 3 hours. Seems my avoidance skills are every bit as as powerful as my left hook! You'd think I would have cleaned up that giant mess of Kona Kandy off the cutting table, but geez, who's got time for cleaning when the zombies are coming! (This photo makes me think of #honestcraftroom on Instagram.)

I used the cargo pocket as the tutorial suggests for the flap, but pieced in the side pocket on the back panel as an extra little pocket. A gal needs all the pockets she can get, right?

When I was in Amherst the other week I picked up some Zombie fabric by Riley Blake. My pal Adrienne over at Chezzetcook Modern Quilts tempted me with hers and it just so happened that there was still some on the bolts at Mrs. Pugsley's Fabric Emporium. Not that Not-So-Little PurpleBoots will want this bag, but he really loves the Walking Dead series so it seemed logical that I used it for the lining. I placed the flap lining so that it could be read when the bag was open...the instructions on the fabric are invaluable to one's survival of a zombie apocalypse.

And would ya look at my bias binding? It pleases me to no end! Just in case you decide to give this bag a go I cut it at a 45° angle in 2.25" wide and pressed it in half. I then stitched it to the back with a quarter inch seam, pressed it, turned it, pressed it again and then topstitched it to the front, just like a quilt.

Clearly a pair of pants would have been better as there'd be a lot more fabric to work with...I had to piece bits together and improvise with the strap since there wasn't nearly enough fabric to make one...good thing these shorts came with a cloth belt! The Pfaff 4.2 QE  didn't flinch with all those layers, even sewed that heavy belt in place without so much as a hiccup; that machine is a workhorse! All that was left of the shorts was a small pile of scraps and a couple more pockets...and that my friends, seems like a more reasonable amount of trash.

How much fun is this? God, I love the internet! I might have to go for a root at the second hand store in search of more cargo pants. I have a hunch this might not be the last of these bags!

Uniting The Kona Nerds

One of the most exciting things about a project like this is watching it come together. The blocks are morphing into a whole...all the bits are becoming one. The idea is turning into reality.

All these blocks are random sizes, designs and colours. Believe it or not, making it work mathematically is easier than making it work visually.  Getting the layout right takes a lot of shuffling, and in this case it also needed a little input. My first layout looked like this:

At the time I was satisfied with the arrangement and I could easily see how it was going to fit together. When I layed the blocks out I was more concerned with the "fitting together" than the visual aesthetic of the layout. I asked my friend Lynne Tyler, over at The Patchery Menagerie, about a couple of things that had me scratching my head and she came back to me with more than I bargained for! Lots of really good pointers and constructive suggestions were in her email, I was so grateful.

It wasn't at all that she was telling me I had done something wrong, but she pointed out several areas that could be better. So, after chewing on her notes for a bit I took a big breath and started shuffling things around again. I tweaked my layout without compromising my entire initial design and landed here:

If you look at the photo you can see that I had already started to piece the blocks in the upper portion together when these changes were made. I moved a couple things but left the bulk of what had been sewn in place. You can also see that my measuring tape is laying on there...I was getting ready to build the top row and needed  a target height for it. The changes made in the position of some of the blocks really make this more visually appealing...and, the fish is no longer swimming off of the quilt. (Thank you Lynne! )

A couple gals have been wondering how I would go about building the flimsy and making it all fit is certainly a challenge. When I look at the blocks in a layout like this my minds eye breaks them down into what I can build into sections by adding in chunks, patchwork and pieces to get me to the target size. Sections become building blocks and then it's like tetris...you just fit them in.

This should give you an idea of how I see the building blocks in my minds eye
even though this photo was taken before I rearranged the blocks.

Some people would draw it out on graph paper and figure it all out beforehand. I am not that person. I tend to fly by the seat of my pants...just keep on adding on, cutting off...no planning, just measuring as I go and adjusting accordingly. Sometimes my calculations are better than others, but then again, I never was a great math student. This was the easiest way to find out how tall that top row of patchwork had to be to end up level with the top of the JUNGLE block after all the piecing below had been stitched into one big piece.

After a little trip to our LQS to get a nice stack of Kona Kandy to use for the "fitting in" I finished up the top section of the flimsy. While I am determined to use up a lot of scraps from my basket to make the fillers I do plan to use this particular range of colours for the bulk of the supporting patchwork and I didn't have enough to do the job. Besides...who doesn't love pulling a couple dozen bolts of Kona and making the cutting clerk a little cross eyed from time to time?

When I get the whole top together I'll be sure to fill you in on all the fabulous artists who sent along all the different blocks... aren't they great?? Only another half a flimsy to go! I can't wait!  Oh, and I'll also sit down with the Kona colour chart and figure out just how many colours of the 303 are represented in this puppy. Any guesses?

As an aside...while I was getting the photos ready to write this post Not-So-Little PurpleBoots carved up his giant pumpkin...all by himself. This is the finest one yet, I guess his hand has the strength to carve steadily now and his eye knows where it's heading.

Clearly a small bit of his mother's creative spirit exists within the giant frame of that boy... the doctor pegged him at 5'10" this week. It's official: the 14 year old is taller than me, a whole inch taller than me.

Poop.

The couple chunks of Halloween fabric I picked up today at the LQS will have to soothe my "short" mothers soul. How do these kids grow up so damn fast??

Hello My Name Is...

Kona Nerd, of course!

I have been playing with ideas in my head for Project: Kona Nerds, Unite! fairly steadily for the last couple months. Lot's of blocks have come my way and I have to start figuring out how they're all going to play together.

I decided I wanted to make one final block as an anchor for this project,  so I set off on an epic journey of sketching and applique that landed me squarely in my happy place. I just love this block. This block is going to be the focal point on the front; not exactly a medallion, but a spot for the eye to land in a sea of busy words and colours so it had to be perfect.

It didn't come easy... getting the letters right was tricky. I was able to generate the print text up top by printing an enlarged copy of an actual label. But the cursive lettering...oh my...I am simply not computer savvy enough for this kind of work. I printed what was probably 5 or 6 versions of scripty fonts without hitting the mark in my minds eye. Of course, because I am my own worst enemy, this meant I had no choice but to draw the letters myself. All I can say is Thank God for erasers and take out pizza. A brain on fire moment cannot be interrupted with trivial things like feeding one's family or scrubbing pots.

It took a while to get them "just right" but as soon as I saw the shape emerge in my sketching I knew I had it. I also knew that machine applique was going to be a lesson in patience with all those nice curvy bits & pointy corners but I stayed the course, pivoted my little heart out and got it done. Voodoo Duck laments my current frequent use of fusible webbing, he says it robs him of his sense of job security. I managed to insist that he is more than a stitch recipe holder and that his pins were invaluable to the project to secure the tear away stabilizer behind the stitching area. Silly Duck, what would we ever do without pins?!?

There are lots of Kona colours being represented in the quilt now... I haven't counted, but there are 9 colours in this block alone! The fabulous peachy pink lettering packs quite a "punch", don't ya think?

On The Road in Amherst

Weeks have a tendency to fly by, eh? All my planning and plotting to get Project: Kona Nerds Unite! finished up in time for the Fiber Art Festival in Amherst last weekend failed but I was able to send along some of my other pieces instead to be part of our guilds fabulous display in the Amherst Town Hall. The festival came and went so fast and what a time it was!! I met lots of people, saw lots of fun things, did a little fabric shopping, hung out with my quilty peeps,  and really enjoyed myself. It was satisfying to see 5 pieces of my work hanging in our show, I hadn't participated in anything like this ever before. I forgot to take photos but not to worry...there are lots of them floating around. I was lucky enough to tag along with my friend Adrienne for the weekend and she got lots of photos so you can see and read about our fun at the festival on her blogpost over at Chezzetcook Modern Quilts. There are also tales of our weekend on the blogs of several guild mates, so hop on over to Maritime Modern Quilt Guild's Blog and have yourself a gander.

The only photo I took was this one and it's not the greatest shot...the sun wasn't cooperative that morning. Some visitors knew my work from this blog and guessed I was the blogger by my pigtails. Clearly I should've worn my purple boots and then they'd have known me for sure! 

Adventures of Voodoo Duck: Charity Sew In

It's not every day that Voodoo Duck leaves the confines of my sewing space but every once in a while I jam him in a Jack Daniels tin and take him someplace exciting.  Yesterday he was carted off to the Maritime Modern Quilt Guild's Sew-In, the one where we'd assemble the charity quilts that we've been working toward for months.

The guild collected 8.5" HST blocks from members all year. All the squares had a solid grey on one side and the other side had to be one of (I think) 6 colours. I took a bundle of 80 blocks home quite a long time ago and placed it on the proverbial back burner, you know...like you would when there's lots of time to do the job. Somehow the months flew by and left me only days, where does the time go anyway? So, Wednesday while the Robot was working away putting beautiful leaves across Ellies batik flimsy I jumped in and stitched up my bundle of blocks.

Ellies batik quilt being quilted with a design called Trillium.
It's a gorgeous pattern, but it's a very slow one to stitch out.
All the time it took the Robot to complete a row though gave me time
 to sew up the Charity flimsy...so no complaints here! 

There really is nothing quite like a deadline to suddenly kick your butt in gear! I had a real mish mash of blocks...prints & solids and not enough of any one to come up with any really exciting layouts. With the Robot limiting my time for head scratching, it quickly dawned on me that I could do some diagonal stripes of sorts and this is what I came up with...

Then, on Friday between hairdoos I managed to get it quilted up and ready for binding. I quilted it with Apricot Moons design called City Windows, I really love the modern simplicity of this quilting pattern.

Saturday morning with all my gear and a duck in a tin I set off for the Sew In. Lot's of hands were on site to put the quilts together and it was a lot of fun to part of the energy in the room. I got a scrappy binding put on my quilt, pieced a back for another, and helped with some basting. The quilts are being donated to The Lodge That Gives in Halifax. This is a place close to the hospital where people can stay while they are having treatments for cancer when they don't live close enough for a daily commute. It's a very special place. My uncle stayed there when he was battling lung cancer. When we were brainstorming to come up with the recipient of this years quilts one of our guild mates suggested the Lodge as she herself stayed there while she was waging her own battle. I know that the folks who eventually rest under these quilts will feel the good wishes, healing energy and love that has been sewn into each of the 10 quilts that will be placed on the beds there.

I wish I had thought to take pictures of the quilts as we were building and finishing them but I didn't, I was too busy trying to keep Voodoo Duck in line. He was having a good time visiting some of our favourite bloggers...Adrienne, Linda, Lesley, Kathy and Jen...if you're looking for some quilty goodness check these gals out! Then pop on over to the Maritime Modern Quilt Guild's Blog to see lots of pictures of the charity quilts...I think four or five were complete by days end!

The Gravity Project: All Finished

At long last the time came to get this project completed. Nothing quite like an upcoming Maritime Modern Quilt Guild meeting with show & tell to fast track a project to the finish line. I bumped up The Enablers "Retro Girl Squared" in the line up so she would have a finish for show & tell and once it was done, I promptly loaded that giant flimsy full of Kona Kandy on the frame. I really tried to get Gravity done in time, and did manage to complete the quilting but the finish wasn't meant to be, I guess.

Retro Girl Squared, by The Enabler

The Robot stitching out Marmalade,
 designed by Lisa Farnsworth 

Floating Gravity...a contradiction in terms?

Things have kinda gone to hell in a hand basket at home in Newfoundland with regard to the health of my father and I made a rather quick decision to go home for a week. My flight left on the evening of our guild meeting and so all I had time for en route to the airport was the quick stop to swap For Ale with Linda. Knowing I wouldn't be there for show & tell made it easier to push aside Gravity's binding to make room for the shuffling and cramming of many rescheduled hairdoos. Once I got home and as things settled within and around me I set to work to complete the project once and for all.

(drum roll please.....)

I give you Gravity, in all it's glory...quilted and bound at last.

And, my father about a year ago, in his glory...happy, healthy and fishing, just the way I hope to one day see him again. 

Linking up with Busy Hands Quilts for my last post in the Gravity Quilt-A-Long! 

Thanks to Myra for hosting...it's been a fun first experience for me!

Swappin For Ale

This little project was released from Quilters Protection Services last week. It's been in the works for a couple months and was my mini quilt for the Maritime Modern Quilt Guild's summer swap. This whole swap thing was pretty fun. You had to fill out a questionnaire about your abilities, likes and dislikes and then the fabulous Amanda (the guilds swap momma) matched each of us up with an appropriate partner. I got teamed up with my pal Linda over at Scrapmaster! (No pressure there....sheesh!)

Now, our wee Linda hails from a little coastal community called Prospect not too far from me. I've been there plenty of times and I knew I just had to make her a treasure from her home town; her fathers fish store seemed like the perfect choice. I practically disregarded everything she wrote on her questionnaire and blazed a trail to my own idea of what she might like...have I ever mentioned I like to do things my way? Poor gal never stood a chance of getting something with Alison Glass fabrics in turquoise  and aqua once my brain caught fire!!  I had so much fun with this free pieced fish store and have been sitting on hot bricks for a whole month just waiting for the time to come to give it to her because I finished it up early.

I pulled fabrics that whimsically spoke to me according to a photo I found of it on her blog post, For Ale and set to work. I wasn't setting out to build an identical representation of the stage, I wanted it to be fun! A quick sketch, some slicing and stitching, more slicing, more stitching, some head scratching, a little ripping, some cutting off and some adding more on led me here....

And last week, even though I was on the way to the airport, I had to make a quick stop in to Patch where the meeting was being held to do our swap. I couldn't stay long enough to see all the gals swapping and we had to do ours before the meeting even started but I wouldn't have missed this for anything.

SHE LOVED IT!


I couldn't wait to see what she had come up with for me. I might as well admit here and now that my old buddy Jack Daniel had a hand in the filling out of my questionnaire. Poor Linda. I don't think she had much to go on but man-oh-man, somehow she nailed it! I just love my mini! She even put in some free pieced fishes on the back and you all know how much fun I had with those this winter! Linda is the free motion quilting queen in our little guild and she pebbled out her little heart. There are so many bits and pieces of me in there...wonky houses, lots of purple, free pieced letters and even some fabrics we traded at a workshop once! It's a treasure for sure...

It's perfect. And it's me.