Keeping it Together

A while back a few of us over at Maritime Modern decided to work together on a long coveted project: The Sew Together Bag, by Sew Demented. This bag has been all over Instagram and blogland for some time and we've all been wanting to tackle it. Together we felt we could overcome our fears, figure it out and have a bit of fun together while doing it...there's strength in numbers, right?

I picked out some scraps and fat quarters that were kicking around, some left over Essex linen, and that super cute yardage from the fall trip to Mrs. Pugsleys in Amherst that had those groovy pigs in sunglasses basking all over it. I diced up a bunch of wee squares and made the patchwork for the outside. I cut and fused all the interior bits, read the pattern thru a couple times just to be sure of the plan and put it all in a Jack Daniels tin, ready to go; the only thing that stood between me and the sew day with my peeps was a chunk of time and four zippers. It was when I went to get the zippers that my plan got derailed. That was the evening I got "the call". Things had gone to hell in a hand basket at home in Newfoundland and I left the next morning. The girls made their bags as planned and my Jack tin sat holding all those poor piggies captive, waiting for my return.

The day I came back I was absolutely numb and in need of a mindless, small sewing project...something to occupy my mind and keep me awake. Gander to Halifax has the worst flight schedule possible and a 5am flight translates to a 3am wake up call. Why I felt that this was the right day to tackle this bag is beyond me...clearly my mind was not functioning at all. But, despite my brains finest attempts to shut down entirely I managed to get the interior of the bag with all the zippered pockets sewn up that afternoon. 

Sometime later I tackled the final assembly with all the layers and binding. The sewing was not difficult, the pattern is well written, it's just that all those layers make a lot of bulk in the seams. Bulky seams as we all know are notoriously difficult to sew. Holy Mother of Skipped Stitches. Using a jig behind and in front of the needle to level the pressure foot helped immensely, and having the right needle on board was a given. I got the binding sewn on fairly well, but decided that hand stitching the bindings down would be just as quick in the long run, so that's what I did. That last binding that puts the long zipper in place was easy peasy...no real bulk to contend with.

 

I think when I make the next one I will plan to reduce the bulk: not use Essex Linen, choose thinner batting for the exterior and I might cut the fusible interfacing a bit smaller so that it won't catch in the seam allowances. That will help those pesky side seams sew up more easily. I might even get really crazy and not interface the side panels at all...who knows?!?

During the difficult time in Newfoundland I managed to escape for a few hours with my sister, both of us desperate for a bit of wide open space and some salt air. We drove out to Greenspond, one of Newfoundlands oldest inhabited fishing outports. Our father loved this place! I have no real reason for telling you all this except that I wanted to share the pictures...such a beautiful place to be on this earth. 

Is this not the cutest Post Office ever? 

Every storm requires an anchor.

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!

Meanwhile, in Newfoundland...

You didn't really think I was going to go all this time without giving you a recap & a lil quilt fix did ya?

While we vacationed in Newfoundland to visit my family we took a little side trip to spend a day on Fogo Island. This magical place has demanded a promise for further exploration in the future because one day was simply not enough. In our short time there I did however manage to scrounge up a few bits of noteworthy quilty goodness to share with you from that beautiful corner of the earth. *Fun Fact: Brimstone Head on Fogo Island is actually considered one of the 4 corners of the earth by members of the Flat Earth Society.

This wall of quilts made for simply marvelous eye candy on board the car ferry that travels the short distance to and from Fogo.... it's made of 8 panels that depict traditional Newfoundland culture, scenery and life. The tiny details were wonderful and I really enjoyed having the time to look closely at the work while we sailed to the Island. The makers of the quilts did a fine job...I have "a thing" for salt cod and that little detail  included on 2 of the panels made me squeal with delight!

And this vintage shamrock quilt found on a museum bed on Fogo made the one that is tattooed on the back of my neck tingle with possibilities. Clearly I've got to explore this idea a little more too...

A few days later we set out for a drive in search of some new scenery. I found this humble quilt on a bed of Random Passage fame. Random Passage was a mini series filmed in Newfoundland several years back. The village was constructed to historically replicate an early settlement of the late 1800's. The film set buildings are perched on the banks of a resettled outport, nothing of the actual original community exists to tell the story of this place or its people except for two root cellars. I'm looking forward to watching the series & reading the book upon which it was based now that I've been inside all the buildings.  It is open each year for tourists and is a rather neat place to visit if you're headed toward Trinity or Bonavista. The colours of this patchwork were interesting...I suppose fabric dyes would have been rather limited back then, this one was made of woolen cloth.

I couldn't possibly share with you even half of the the moments from this trip. We had a fantastic time and were all more-than-a-little sad to come home. Should you ever have an opportunity to visit this North Atlantic gem of a stone for Cod's sake, do it!

Time spent on this Rock is time well spent!