What I Have Been Doing When I Have Not Been Blogging, Part 2

I embellished another Hope Stone. This is my June BJP. Hope Stones are given to Survivors at the American Cancer Society's Relay for Life. Survivors are encouraged to keep them as long as they need the extra hope and then to pass them on to another cancer survivor who needs some extra Hope. You can see some of the other Hope Stones I've embellished here.

Like the other Hope Stones, this is mounted on Lacy's Stiff Stuff and backed with UltraSuede. I used a peyote stitch bezel, not my usual method. Instead of lots of fringe, I made starburst sort of things around the outer edges. I'm sure there's a name for them. There are Swarovski crystals on the tips.

My May BJP was also a Hope Stone. I neglected to photograph it. It was given as a door prize to a Survivor at the 2013 Holland-Zeeland Relay for Life.

This is the fourth year I have served on the Planning Committee for our Relay. It's an important project for me because the American Cancer Society is the largest funder of cancer research other than the US government. I want my children, my grandsons, my nieces and nephews, and my great-nieces (and everyone elses!) to have a future without cancer.

I studied more German. Important question:

Wie viel kostet das?

What I Have Been Doing When I Have Not Been Blogging, Part 3

I rode a lion.

The Crackpot Quilters spent a day together making a quilt top for charity. No materials were purchased for this project. Next year we will baste the the quilt top, the batting and the backing together so it is ready for machine quilting.

My Other-in-Law and I attended a luncheon which featured author Zoe Ferraris as a speaker. I happened on one of her books last fall, and then I read the other two. I highly recommend them.

I studied German some more. And some more. And still more.

I ate ice cream three times in one week.

Any Resemblence To The Original Pattern

is completely coincidental and entirely unintended. Or something like that...



I've had this pattern in my stash for a few years. I liked the size--8" x 9"-- and the cross body strap. But there were no zippers, and I like to keep my valuable stuff secure. I mean, who wants her Chapstick falling out of her purse? I also prefer a more inconspicuous purse for traveling.

I used a black corded polyester. I stabilized the fabric with black French Fuse. I like this fabric, and I think it would make a nice pair of tailored slacks for those who wear polyester. At $3.97 per yard and 60 inches wide, it would be worth a try.

Here's the front of the purse. Instead of velcro, I used a loop and a covered button as a closure. If you look carefully, you can see that I have added a gusset around the sides to add more volume to the body of the purse.



Here's the front with the flap open. I put a zipper pocket on the inside of the flap. Instead of the pattern's one large pocket on the front, I put two flat pockets on the front. The pockets will hold phone and sunglasses, and the closed flap will keep them in place. I also added a key hook inside one pocket. You can see the zippered gusset at the top.



I put a zipper pocket on the back. This pocket will keep my coupons for 40% off at the fabric store right where I can find them.



And here's the lining. Originally I planned to use the outer fabric for the lining. But I wanted to put a zipper pocket inside, and I'd run out of black zippers. So I looked for a zipper I'd be unlikely to use for anything else. I found a 24" red zipper, and then I found some red print quilting cotton to match the zipper. I interfaced the lining with a crisp fusible. I also put the pocket intended for the front of the purse on the inside. It is a couple of inches wider than the purse and the top is elasticized.



As with most of these projects, the engineering was the most interesting part. I wanted no unfinished seams exposed. In order to attach the lining to the top gusset, I needed a brief consultation with Dr. Mathematics. So now I know quite a bit more about closed cylinders.

Second Sewing Of The New Year

My second sewing project of the new year was another tailored wool jacket. I finished it in January. The fabric is an olive green wool twill from the depths of the cedar chest. There are tiny bits of tan and rust in the twill. They're not visible from a distance, but they give the fabric some depth. I think this kind of very pronounced twill is called cavalry twill. I ignored the part of the pattern that said, "Not suitable for obvious diagonals."

As with the gray jacket below, alterations were the major work of this project. There is not a single piece in this jacket that is made from the original pattern. That includes things such as the collar and the collar stand. I made two non-fitting changes to the pattern. First, I decided that the collar was too large for a short person so I decreased the depth of the collar. I did this by making a 1/4 inch fold lengthwise in the collar pattern. Then I straightened the cutting line from the neck edge to the collar point. If I had just cut off 1/4 inch from the outer edge of the collar, the collar point would have been farther from the lapel edge. The other thing I did was to change the way the undercollar was cut. The pattern called for it to be cut in one piece on the bias. To keep the bias direction the same at both collar points, I cut the under collar in two pieces, with a seam at the center back. I cut the interfacing for the undercollar the same way.

The front, undercollar and collar stand were interfaced with fusible Armo Weft. All the other pieced were underlined with French Fuse. The back stay is poly cotton. The shoulder pads are four layers of poly fleece and the sleeve heads are lamb's wool. As with the gray jacket, the roll line was not marked. So I had to make my own. It is taped with twill tape.

This pattern called for a sort of crescent moon-shaped collar stand that went from one roll line around the back to the other roll line. It does not show at all. The pattern called for the upper (inner) side (toward the body) to be interfaced. That did not make sense to me. The under (outer) collar stand is the part that holds up the collar and keeps it from collapsing onto the jacket back as the collar is folded back. So I interfaced the under (outer) part of the collar stand.

The pattern also called for the darts to be topstitched. Since I didn't want to emphasize them, I omitted the topstitching.

The jacket was lined with a poly charmeuse. The pattern and color look nice with the wool, but that stuff was nasty ugly frustrating not as nice to sew with as the wool. I've been spoiled by the wool.

Here is the pattern. It's from 1998.

Look at the tall, thin models. I do not look like that. But I think my photographer was kneeling down so the lower part of my body looks a little larger than it does when I look in the mirror. After all, my eyes are higher than the, er, lower part of my body.

Celebrating The New Year--January BJP

I felt like celebrating the new year so I chose some bright, sparkly beads. The piece started with a Miyuki Bead Soup mix called Metallic Gold Iris. There are about nine different kinds of beads in this mix. I added some other beads for texture, finish and color variety. In person, it looks somewhat more gold than the photo.

Technical Details:

The foundation is Lacy's Stiff Stuff painted with a mixture of yellow, brown and red Dye-na-Flow. Look at the edges. It turned out kind of orange after it dried, Not what I was expecting.

In addition to the bead soup mix, this piece contains 15/0s, 11/0s, 8/0s, Delicas, triangles, bugles and two larger round beads. Including the bead soup, there are at least 27 kinds of beads in this piece.

I used the backstitch and the stop stitch.

The piece is 2.5 inches by 3.5 inches.

I used gold Nymo thread.

What I Was Thinking:

I really enjoyed working on this piece. I liked the way the subtle differences in color and size made the pattern. I even liked the way the orange background looked against the beads. Because I enjoyed beading this so much, it really was a celebration journal. I was determined to finish this by January 31, and I did. Hurray for me!

Issues That Came Up:

Electronic disaster: Did you hear that loud crashing noise? It was the hard drive. Fortunately, a kindly younger relative had given Dr. Mathematics her old computer, which was significantly newer than mine. That one, too, had a crashed hard drive. But not to worry. While our Christmas chef and I went off to the butcher, Dr. Mathematics went to the computer store and bought a new hard drive. And then Dr. Mathematics went about playing with his new computer. When my computer crashed, I became the operator of the "new" computer. We were able to call in Dr. Electronico (amazingly similar to Dr. Mathematics but wears a different superhero costume) to recover all the important bits and pieces from the busted computer. This is a Linux/Ubuntu computer instead of Windows, and there's been a bit of a learning curve.

Electronic distraction: I have a new iPod Touch. I love that little device, but I spend way, way too much time playing with it instead of beading. Or reading. Or vacuuming. Honest to goodness, how can I spend so much time surfing around sewing sites and blogs? In my defense, there are many, many interesting and educational sewing sites. And don't get me started on Pattern Review. My goal for February is to go to it only once a day.

First Sewing of the New Year

This gray jacket is my first sewing project for 2013. It’s a tailored jacket with a shawl collar and sleeve vents, and it’s fully lined. The gray wool tweed fabric had been in the cedar chest for a while.

Here are the sleeve vents.

I hadn’t made a tailored jacket for a while so I needed some reference materials. The Bishop Method book is from 1959. It’s the same book (but not the same copy) that my mother used when she took a tailoring course and made a gray suit for me in 1959 or 1960. There’s lots of valuable information in that book. The other books are newer, and they show methods for using fusible interfacing. That’s primarily what I used.

The fronts, including the undercollar, were interfaced with Armo Weft. All the other pieces were underlined with French Fuse. The chest reinforcement is French Fuse. The back stay is made of poly cotton. I made the shoulder pads from poly fleece, making my own pattern so they would fit this jacket. The sleeve heads are made of lambswool that must have come from my mother's stash. The lining is polyester.

The pattern is from 1989. Check out those shoulders!

One resource I did not have available was my favorite alterations book. Someone else checked it out of the library. The nerve! I’m third on the reserve list. As a result I was left on my own to make the many, many, many alterations. I made two muslins. Of course, I shortened the jacket and the sleeves. I lowered the back neck seam, adjusted the collar to match, narrowed the shoulders and the upper back, enlarged the biceps, and enlarged the waist and hips. By the time I was finished with all that and more, I had to draw a pattern for the lining.

And in keeping with the retro nature of this project, it was sewn entirely on my 1964 Singer. The Baby Lock was temporarily indisposed but has recovered by now.

This was a challenging, but very satisfying, project. I enjoyed re-learning lots of tailoring techniques.

Searching For The Light--December BJP

It's not what I intended to make.  2013 is the fourth year I've used these very dark blue iris beads for my BJP.  I enjoy working with them, and the dark sparkly beads are a celebration of the end of the year.

I started this on December 13.  And then December 14 happened.  As the unbelievable horror became apparent, my page changed.  Like many others during this time, I was searching for the light.

Technical Details:

The foundation is Lacy's Stiff Stuff painted with a mixture of black and azure blue Dye-na-Flow.

This piece contains 15/0s, 11/0s, 8/0s, hexes, triangles, cubes, drop beads, bugles and three Czech flowers.

I used the backstitch and the stop stitch.

The piece is 2.5 inches by 3.25 inches.

I used navy blue Nymo thread.

What I Was Thinking:

I spent a lot of time thinking about the tragic events of December 14.  I spent a lot of time thinking about what we as a society owe our children.  And by the end of the month I was glad to have found my own personal light as our family gathered for Christmas.  I know that others are still searching.

Issues That Came Up:

The issues did not have to do with beading.  This page was truly a journal of two weeks in December.

Abundance Reconsidered--November BJP

By November, I was craving blue.  After all the blue last year, I thought I would not do a blue page this year.  But by November, I realized that I couldn't let a year go by with no blue.  I love blue!  I love beading in blue!  I loved making this piece!

Technical Details:

The foundation is Lacy's Stiff Stuff painted with dilute azure blue Dye-na-Flow.

This piece uses a variety of larger beads, in addition to 15/0s, 11/0s, Delicas and bugles.

I used the backstitch and the stop stitch. 

The piece is 2.5 inches by 3.5 inches.

I used blue Nymo thread.

What I Was Thinking:

I was so glad to be working with blue again.  It was like taking a deep breath and saying, "Ahhhh."  November, the month of Thanksgiving Day, is a good time to consider the abundance we have and to recommit ourselves to helping those who do not.  So that's what I thought about.

Issues That Came Up: 

Originally I planned to use only a few of the larger beads.  But once I got started, I had too much fun.  The puzzle of fitting the all the differently shaped beads together was a satisfying challenge.  Very enjoyable, and the variety of large beads depicts abundance well.

Embracing The Pink--October BJP

I've written before about my mixed feelings about the pink month of October.  You can see my other October pieces here and here.  This year I decided to embrace the pink.


Technical Details:

The foundation is Lacy's Stiff Stuff painted a mixture of red and white Dye-na-Flow..

There is a large heart, several large round beads, bugles and sequins.  There are also 6/0s, 8/0s, 11/0s and 15/0sTwo kinds of larger beads, 6/0s, 8/0s, 11/0s, and 15/0s.

The backstitch and the stop stitch were used in this piece.

The size is 2.25 inches by 3 inches.

I used size A pink Nymo  thread.

What I Was Thinking:

I decided it was time to come to terms with the relentless pinkness of October.  I decided to push my self through it.  And I did.  Pink is not my favorite color, under the best of circumstances.  But I did enjoy working on this piece.

Issues That Came Up:

As I worked, I wondered if all these different shades of pink would work together.  I think they did!

The Year Begins In September--September BJP

Why is it that the year starts in September, even for those of us who don't have anything directly to do with school?  Is it old habits?  Is it many years as a student and as an educator?  After a hot, dry summer, September seemed to be time for a fresh start with new energy.  Although the leaves began to show color, everyone was energized.


Technical Details:

The foundation is Lacy's Stiff Stuff painted with green Dye-na-Flow.

For this piece I used some stone (maybe they're stone) chips that had been looking at me for quite a while.  There are also 6/0s, 11/0s, 15/0s, Delicas, triangles, tiny cubes, and hexes.

The backstitch, the stop stitch, and couching were used in this piece.

The size is 2.25 inches by 3 inches.

I used size A olive C-lon  thread.

What I Was Thinking:

I'm a monochromaticist (I made up that word), but it's interesting to work with more than one color every once in a while.  The salmon-pink and green of the stone chips and of the metallic iris olive-pink size 6/0s was a satisfying combination.  Maybe I should re-think my career as a monochromaticist.

Issues That Came Up:

This piece was difficult to photograph.  It really is dark olive, with the salmon-pink highlights of the stone chips.  I tried to do some color adjustment on the computer, but the colors may look different on your monitor than they do on mine.

It's Not All Black And White--July BJP

It's not all black and white.  It's mostly gray.  And that's what this bead journal is about.


Technical Details:

The foundation is Lacy's Stiff Stuff painted with a mixture of black and white Dye-na-Flow..

Many of the larger beads came from some kind of  combination package of beads.  I have no idea where I got it.  The two rows above the larger beads and some of the vertical columns came from a bargain tube.  They look more gray in person than they do in the photo.  There are 11/0s, 15/0s, 6/0s,11/0 Delicas, 8/0 Delicas, triangles, short bugles, hexes, and nibblets..

Only the backstitch was used in this piece.

The size is 2.25 inches by 3 inches.

I used size B gray Nymo  thread.

What I Was Thinking:

At a meeting, a friend expressed a very strong opinion.  My thought was that the issue was not all black and white, but many colors of gray.  I didn't say anything.  I wondered if I should have.

Issues That Came Up:

I find gray a very interesting color to bead with.  It's soothing, and I can concentrate on the shapes.  This piece was particularly interesting as I tried to combine the larger gray beads and the bargain beads.

Taking Up Time And Space--June BJP

June was a busy month.  Lots of events and activities.  Sometimes it seemed as if I was just waiting until the one--just taking up time and space.  And that's what the beading looks like to me.  Not much design--just taking up time and space.

 Technical Details:

The foundation is Lacy's Stiff Stuff painted with a mixture of red, white and black Dye-na-flow.

There are lots of Delicas in this piece, many from this shopping trip.  There are some 23 mm twisted bugles, some shorter bugles, cubes, triangles, hexes, 11/0s, and 15/0s.

Only the backstitch was used in this piece.

The size is 2.25 inches by 3 inches.

I used size B rose Nymo thread.

What I Was Thinking:

Not that much.  Why, exactly, do I have so many amethyst beads?  And why do I keep using them?  They always seem to look better in the tubes and little baggies than they do in my beading.  Maybe I should use them when I have more time to concentrate on the design.

Issues That Came Up:

Because June was so busy, I had a hard time focusing on the beading on consecutive days.  I think the design suffered.  But the beading does tell the story...

So you know how they always say that the sharp ends on the bugle beads can cut through the thread?  Yoiks, it just happened!  Back to the repair shop!

What I've Been Doing When I've Not Been Posting

Sewing!

Two pairs of slacks, plus another nearly done
Two jackets (two different patterns)
Two vests (two different patterns)
Five blouses (three different patterns)
Three T-shirts (two 3/4 sleeved, one short sleeved)
One purse
One zip-front fleece jacket
One quarter-zip fleece pullover
Various Christmas ornaments

Lots of big messes in the sewing room

And many, many, many, many alterations on the patterns so the garments would fit, along with editorial and style changes so the garments would be what I wanted instead of just like the picture on the pattern envelope.

It has been lots of fun!

Unfortunately, my sewing machine had to be rushed to the hospital for a consult with an orthopedic surgeon and a chiropractor.  The needle started to hit the walking foot.  Ouch!  I'm not sure whether the issue is with the walking foot or with the needle arm.  I hope that only an adjustment is needed instead of orthopedic surgery.

Meanwhile, the 1964 Singer is having a good time in the sewing room.

I Desperately Need A Beadazzler.

I desperately need a Bedazzler.

This is how the whole saga began.  My sewing group is doing a wardrobe challenge.  Members who choose to participate will try to make a coordinated wardrobe--slacks, tops, jackets, skirts that can be mixed and matched.

So we took a fabric store road trip on Thursday.  Now you'd think that if you went to a fabric store, you'd find fabric.  Well, you will, but around here quilting fabric dominates the fabric stores.  It's not as easy as you'd think to find good fashion (garment) fabric.

Our main stop was at Fabrications in Richland.  They have lovely designer fabric and super helpful clerks.  At the store my friends encouraged me to think outside my comfort zone--to think about a print!  To think beyond my usual fashion guru LLBean.

I purchased some very nice cotton/poly twill in olive brown.  Ok, so cotton/poly twill is not very unusual, but this was a beautiful quality.  I'll make slacks from it.

But what to wear with it?  My slacks tend to be black, navy and khaki.  I wear blue, yellow, green and purple shirts.  Mostly blue.  And all plain colored.  (No, it's not a dress code.  I'm just in a rut.)

Yellow looked great with the olive brown, but I was challenged to try a print.  I purchased a rayon knit with a sort of abstract print in olive brown, navy, tan, white and mauve.  Whoa!  Nothing else like that in my closet!  This fabric will be a t-shirt.

Since I might make a jacket as well, I decided to cruise through Kohl's, Penney's, and Yonker's today to check out what might look good.  Oops!  Wrong season for jackets.

But there were lots of t-shirts in prints.  And that brings us to the Beadazzler.  The t-shirts were Beadazzled!  Sparkle City!  Major bling!

You'd think that a person who has as many beads as I do would have Beadazzled clothing.  Nope.  That I'd sparkle.  Nope.  That I'd wear bling.  Nope.

LLBean is not Bedazzled and neither am I.

I need to get out of my wardrobe rut.  I need to be Bedazzled.  I desperately need a Beadazzler.  Anyone have one I can borrow?

Quilts for Twins

What would you do if you received an email message to members of your family that Niece was expecting identical twins?  

Of course, that same day, you'd email the female members of your family asking if they wanted to join in a group quilt for the twins.  Er, two group quilts.  

But being a sensitive person, you'd title your message, "Read Niece's Message First."  You'd want the good news to come from Niece, but you would be so excited that you'd want the plotting and scheming to begin right away.  So that is what I did.

Since we were all busy with Thanksgiving and Christmas preparations, we decided to delay active production until after the holidays.  By then we'd probably know the gender of the babies and we could choose fabric to suit them.  And at Christmas, three of the five of the family plotters and schemers would be able to shop for fabric together.

During our Christmas holiday together time, three of us picked out quilt fabric.  We chose a floral print in two colorways--yellow and orange.  These would be our focus fabrics.  Then we picked out some blue, red, yellow and white to go with it.  The green was added a bit later.  We laundered, pressed, and cut our fabric so each of our five participants would have plenty of fabric to choose from.  The fabric was then sent on to the participants.

Our only plan was to have two sampler quilts with 12 nine-inch blocks.  Each participant could choose her own blocks and colors, as long as the yellow focus fabric was in all the blocks for one quilt and the orange focus fabric was in all the blocks for the other quilt.  Many of us used Block Party by Marsha McCloskey as our reference book.  We've used it before, and it works well for group quilts.

I was the only experienced quilter with no real job so I volunteered to assemble and quilt the quilts.  The quilts were finished in late April, a couple of weeks after the girls were born.  

If you look at the quilts, you will see that some of us made the same block twice in different colorways, and others of us made entirely different blocks for each quilt.  That's one of the things that makes this sort of project fun.  These are the sixth and seventh quilts that various groups of family members have made for this generation.

The quilts were delivered in early June to the adorable babies and their tired, but amazing, parents.  One great-aunt got to hold them both at the same time.

What Are You Going To Do With All Those Beads?

  All these Delicas and bugles?

 All these hanks of beads?

 And these 20 tubes of 11/0s, 10/0s, 9/0s, and cubes that were at first too shy to allow their photo to be on this blog?

That's what she asked me.  I didn't ask her, but I did wonder what she was going to do with those two sets of 1950s salt and pepper shakers.

What we're both doing is increasing our net worth.

This is the way I figure it:  Say, for example, that the beads were priced at $100.  But at the 70% off sale, I only paid $30.  I've increased my net worth by $70.

Early this morning I had a one hundred dollar bill.  Now I have $100 worth of beads and a fifty dollar bill and a twenty dollar bill.

Early this morning I had $100.  Now I have $170 worth of extremely valuable stuff (money and beads).  I've increased my net worth by $70.

Had I been thinking more clearly, I might have relieved Dr. Mathematics of all his cash before he had a chance to peek into the going-out-of-business bead store.  One quick look, and he decamped to the public library across the street.  With more cash, I might have increased my net worth even more.

If the phone is busy when you call, don't worry.  I'll be talking to NPR about economic theory.

Many Suns--May BJP

For me, the Bead Journal Project really is a journal.  But what exactly is a journal?  What is the purpose of a journal?  What is the function of a journal?  How does writing (beading) a journal affect the writer (beader)?

A few weeks ago I attended an artists' event at the church where some of my beaded dolls are exhibited.  I shared two years of my bead journals with those who came by my table.  I explained that each piece represented something happening in my life during that time or something that I wanted to think about more deeply. 

But sometimes, the beads just take over.  And that's what happened this month.  At the end of April, I decided that I wanted to do a yellow page for May.  I have no idea why.  I was just in a yellow mood.*   So here is my yellow page.

 Technical Details:

The foundation is Lacy's Stiff Stuff painted with yellow Memories Mist spray.

There are 21 different kinds of beads in this piece.  Two kinds of larger beads, 6/0s, 8/0s, 11/0s, 15/0s, bugles, and cubes.

Only the backstitch was used in this piece.

The size is 2.25 inches by 3 inches.

I used size A yellow C-lon  thread.

What I Was Thinking:

When the beads take over, I'm not doing much thinking.  The beads are in charge.  But behind the scenes, I wondered about journaling.  What is the relationship between the writing (beading) and thinking?  How does what one writes (beads) influence what one thinks?   Should the purpose of a journal be to get whatever is in one's mind down on paper (in beads)?  To understand one's feelings?  Or can writing (beading) a journal be a way to change the writer's (beader's) mindset, mood, opinion?  And how are all these things combined?

What do you think?

I had no idea what the name of this piece would be until it was finished.  It looks to me like many suns.  I like that image.  I think the beads wanted many suns.

Issues That Came Up:

I mentioned in the description of my April piece that I've been using size 11 John James Sharps as my standard needle.  I do find this needle harder to thread, especially with the C-lon thread.  That's easy the first time I put a piece of C-lon through the needle.  But if the needle comes unthreaded a couple of times, it gets harder and harder to get that thread through the tiny hole.  It's as if the thread starts to unwind.  GRRR!  I had to resort to a needle with a larger hole a couple of times so I could tie off the thread.  Maybe I should use Thread Heaven when I use C-lon thread.


*Yellow mood:  Think sunshine, not chicken-hearted.

Always Growing And Changing--April BJP

Another month when what I thought I was going to bead changed during the process...

March seemed to be an extremely busy, somewhat stressful month. Ok, I admit I volunteered for all the time-sensitive obligations. All were fun and/or worthwhile, but I did not have enough time to think carefully or ponder deeply. I decided that my April BJP would be something soothing and calm. Maybe even bland. Well, maybe not bland.

Knowing that being near nature can improve one's physical and mental health, I decided that a green piece with some glass leaf beads would be just the thing for a calm, soothing page. What I neglected to take into account was that my green beads and leaves would begin to grow and change on their own.

And I finished it April 30!

Technical Details:

The foundation is Lacy's Stiff Stuff painted with a dilute mixture of yellow and green Dye-na-Flow.

There are several large pressed glass leaves, a few large cylindrical beads, 6/0s, 8/0s, 11/0s, 15/0s, Delicas, and triangles.

The size is 2.25 inches by 3 inches.

The stitches used are the backstitch and the stop stitch.

The thread is both Nymo B and C-lon A in gray.

What I Was Thinking:

Very early on in the beading, it became clear that what I had envisioned was not going to happen. This piece grew and changed. I wanted to be soothed, but instead I was challenged by something growing. This is a journal piece so did this mean that I no longer needed to be soothed? That I was ready to be challenged?

Issues That Came Up:

While I was working on it, I did not find this piece lovely--and that bothered me. If I'd had more time, I might have ripped everything out and started all over. Not until I had stitched the very last beads did I decide that this page worked.

Most recently I've been using John James size 11 sharp needles instead of my usual size 10 short beading needles. The size 11 sharps are stiffer than the size 10 short beading needles. They seem to work better with the Lacy's Stiff Stuff and other firm foundations than the bendier beading needles. But the sharps have a much smaller hole and are harder to thread, especially with the C-lon thread.

Robin commented that my March BJP shouted unity. Maybe what I meant is that I wanted to make a piece that looked unified. I describe myself as a monochromaticist. (I invented that word. It means that I work in one color at a time.) I feel I have to go beyond the color of the beads to make the piece look unified and complete. It holds together. Everything belongs. There are no extraneous elements. Do I achieve this? Maybe sometimes.

My May piece is finished, too. I'll post it in a day or two.

My Sister Has Taken Up Quilting--March BJP

My sister has taken up quilting. So she called me with some questions. We talked about how to use a rotary cutter without cutting off your finger. That was lesson number one. We talked about seam allowances, color choices, starching the fabric, and which blocks are more difficult for beginners. And we talked about ripping out. If that wasn't lesson number two, it should have been.

We had several conversations about color schemes. Her color choices are bolder than mine. She has always liked red. In fact, one of my earliest memories is making Christmas cookies with my mother and my sister. The cookies were decorated with red and green sugar. I can remember my sister insisting that the red cookies were hers and our mother saying that the green cookies were mine. Green then became my favorite color because red was her favorite color.

My sister and I don't live near each other. She lives where there are hurricanes and I live where there's lake effect snow. We don't see each other often, and we very seldom talk on the phone.

But during her first adventures in quilting this winter, we had lots of telephone conversations. One day, she called me three times. I loved it! Now it's my turn to make some calls.

March is her birthday month so I decided to honor her with my March BJP. I chose red for her because I have such a strong memory of her red Christmas cookies.

Technical Details:
The Foundation is Lacy's Stiff Stuff painted with red Dye-na-Flow.

There is a red heart, 6/0s, 8/0s, 11/0s, 15/0s, hexes, twists, triangles, cubes, bugles, and Delicas.

The size is 2.25 inches by 3 inches.

The stitches used were the backstitch, the picot stitch, and the stop stitch. There are also ruffles and branched fringe.

I used C-lon size A thread in red.

What I Was Thinking:

I was thinking about my sister and remembering our times growing up. And I was also thinking about our mother. They were all good thoughts. I also thought about my favorite color. Beginning with the Christmas cookie baking, my favorite color was green. Of course it was. There could be no doubt. But sometime after the age of, er, middle, I was able to change my mind. My favorite color is blue. If only there had been blue sugar for cookies in the 1940s, I would have known all along.

Issues That Came Up:

Once I started putting the ruffles and branched fringe in, I found myself thinking more and more about how to work toward balance and unity in this piece. I'm not sure I succeeded, but it was an interesting exercise in how much to improvise and how much to plan. There's a minimal amount of planning in this piece.

If you want to see the birthday card I made for my sister, look at the post below.

My Sister's Birthday

It was my sister's birthday this week. It was a big birthday with a zero so I decided to make her a special card. I had a peculiar feeling that she would like this quilt block in these colors. And she did.



The mini block is foundation pieced and mounted in a tri-fold card with a square opening.