It’s in the Bag!

Posted on July 29, 2012 by 12months12quilts

I have been on a sewing bender these last few weeks, but am still frustrated by the lack of a system to keep me on track.  I finally realized that the right system has been staring me in the face.  My appointment book.  Now, I’m not like most people who go out and get a calendar and use that to keep track of dates, I actually use a regular notebook that I adapt.  I use my notebook to track my work hours, tax-deductible miles, daily schedule, check register and budget.  It’s all in there, and it works perfectly.  So, I went out and bought another notebook and created a Sewing Book.  In the first section are the five projects that in “In the Bag” (more on that later) along with a sewing journal, since I like to hand-write everything before it gets typed up.

Since I have so many projects in progress, I also needed a way to corral them and set up a manageable work plan.  That clicked when I was packing up to house-sit for the next two weeks.  I have this great tote bag that I have been dumping things in, and I decided to clean it out and pack a few projects to take with me.  Boom, instant work plan- It’s In the Bag!  I can fit five projects in The Bag and it will follow the old closet rule- to bring something in, you have to take something out.  Once a Bag project is finished, I can put a new project in.

Image

The Bag

So, what’s In The Bag?

  1. The 1930’s Hexagon Quilt.  I have made really good progress on this, and I am nearly 50% done.  Considering the amount of work that goes into each row (10-20 hours) that is saying a lot!  I am going to try and work on it at least once a week, and hope to be done by the end of the year.
  2. The Honeymoon Quilt.  This project is about 75% done!  I had hit quite a roadblock with this quilt in terms of the layout, but something just clicked about 3 months ago and I have been working on it every chance I get.  I spent about 3 hours on it today, and I think that the top will be done by September!

    Image

    The Honeymoon Quilt

  3. Red Riding Hood Quilt.  This is a new project.  I found the “Walk in the Woods” fabric set on eBay and bought two 5″ charm packs.  I was anxious to try out paper-piecing using squares ever since I saw the Rachel Lynde character do it on the BBC version of “Anne of Avonlea.”  This was a trial project, and it is turning out quite nicely.  Here are a couple of photos of the progress:
  4. The Creepy Kitten Quilt.  Yes, that is really what I am calling it.  Take a look at the first block in progress and tell me you’d name it something else:

    It is coming to get you!

  5. The 1930’s Log Cabin Quilt.  I have wanted to learn how to make this classic square, so I bought a kit from a quilter on eBay who pre-cuts everything.  Here is the first square that I made:

    My first attempt at a Log Cabin Block

    My goal is that at least one project that is “In The Bag” will change out each month.  The rule is that the quilt top must be completed to change out.

    In other news, I did complete a project that I have been working on for a very long time.  The first of the two Kol Shofar Quilts is done.  This one features the children and families from Kol Shofar and will be hung up in the hallway by our classrooms.   This was the first quilt that I have made that has a real binding, and I did it all by hand:

    It took forever, but I finally figured out how to make “invisible” stitches

    Here is the finished quilt:

    Here it is!

    Finally, I have a side project!  September 3rd is “Star Wars Day” at the San Francisco Giants, and I am making my very own Darth Vader Snuggie to ward off the chill of the stadium.  I found an easy pattern here, and here is the fabric:

    Darth Vader Fleece for the win!

    May the craft be with you (sorry, I had to!)

     

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Forced Sewing

Posted on January 14, 2012 by 12months12quilts

I’m almost halfway through my first month of sewing everyday and it has been a trial in ups and downs.  Some days, I am eager to get to my projects, but others I’m like a kid who doesn’t want to go to school.  The good news is that once I do start working, it can be just as hard to pull me away.

In order to facilitate sewing everyday, I have divided my projects into two categories- Couch Projects and Bed Projects.  The Couch Projects are the ones that require a lot of space and time.  The 1930’s Hexagon Flower Strips are a perfect example of a Couch Project.  The Bed Projects are smaller projects that I can work on for shorter amounts of time and don’t need as much space.  The prep work for the 1930’s Hexagon Flower Strips are an example of a Bed Project.  Prepping the fabric, sewing the flowers and pinning pieces are all perfect things to work on for my required 30 minutes right before bed, and it makes the Couch Projects easier.

I’ve looked at my calendar for the remainder of the month, and it looks as if I will be able to keep this up!

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New Year, New Plan

Posted on January 2, 2012 by 12months12quilts

When I started this little project last year, I had the lofty goal of making 12 quilts in 12 months.  Well, I didn’t quite make it.  I completed two quilts (The Cat Quilt and The Baby Quilt) and have two quilt tops (The Kol Shofar Quilt #1 and The Storybook Quilt) so I wouldn’t call it a failure.

I’ve decided in the new year that I am going to have a different goal.  One of my pitfalls last year was creative ennui that would keep me from sewing for weeks on end.  This year my goal is to spend at least 30 minutes a day sewing.  I figure that if I can commit to that, I can complete at least twice as many projects.  It is going to be tricky, but I am going to try it out this month to see how it feels.

I’ve already spent much of 2012 sewing, working mainly on the 1930’s Hexagon Quilt.  One thing helping, is my awesome new sewing box.

OK, so it really is the collectors tin that my Chrismukkah present came in, but it works very well:

So, here’s to a new year and a new plan!

 

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Huzzah!

Posted on November 29, 2011 by 12months12quilts

It took about 10 hours of painful hand sewing, but the top of the Kol Shofar Family Quilt is DONE!!!  All I need to do now is pick out the backing fabric and get it together!

I also picked up the Disappearing 9-Patch again and have been working on it during rehearsal downtime.

I’m beginning to feel like the Tortoise- slow and steady will win the race.

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Long Time No See

Posted on November 25, 2011 by 12months12quilts

Yes yes, I know.  I have not posted in ages.  I’ve been going through fits and spurts of creativity and didn’t want to have the same updates of little to no news.  So I decided to wait until I was trucking along with some projects.  So here I am, trucking along!

I’ve spent the last few months focusing on two of the hexagon quilts, the Honeymoon Quilt and the 1930’s Flower Quilt.  The Honeymoon Quilt is almost done (photos are below) and the 1930’s Flower Quilt is about 30% done with 3 full rows of flowers and one in progress.

I re-started in earnest the Kol Shofar Quilt that was supposed to have been done two years ago- oops!  The idea was that we would have the congregants decorate quilt squares with fabric markers on our last day celebration before we left the building so it could be renovated.  We ended up with enough squares to make two quilts, so I took the ones that were kid and family oriented and set out to make a quilt for the religious school.  I had made some progress in the two and a half years since, but still had much more to do.  Since I am off work until Monday, I decided to pick it back up and try and finish it before the winter break.

Here is the layout:

I made great progress today, especially because I had help:

I’m going to spend more time on it tomorrow and hope to have the top completed.  If I stay on track, I could have it ready to hang by our next session of religious school!

Here are photos of the Honeymoon Quilt:

First Flower

Second Flower With Path

Joined Together

Triad

Getting Bigger!

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Adventures in Honeymooning- Part 3

Posted on June 20, 2011 by 12months12quilts

Sunday, June 19- We had a relaxing afternoon on the beach (only to be chased off by a couple having sex in the pool behind us, and the arrival of the “woo” girls).

      

When we got back to the condo, we found that that Zihuatanejo was under a hurricane watch, that quickly turned into a warning.  We had planned to go to a new restaurant a couple blocks away, but realized that we needed to get prepped for the weather to turn.  So the plan was to got to Commercial Mexicana for supplies, then take a taxi to the restaurant.

It started to drizzle as we got to CM, but was pouring by the time we left.  We still decided to go to the restaurant, but weren’t quite sure where it was.  Our taxi driver ruled, and went the extra mile to find it for us.  When we arrived at Candela only to find that it was an open air restaurant.  I tried to explain to the driver that we wanted to go back to our condo, but he misunderstood my rudimentary spanish, and thought I was worried about getting wet while walking to the restaurant.  I am very glad he did!  He popped out of the taxi and came back with a waiter carrying a large, patio umbrella.  Needless to say both the driver and the waiter got big tips!  The staff set up a table in the very small interior of the restaurant, and we proceeded to have a lovely meal in a beautiful place!

This picture does not do the restaurant justice. It is simply beautiful.

Dinner was great, and the weather had cleared by the time we were done, so we walked home with our vital supplies to see what Beatriz had in store for us.

Monday, June 20-  It has pretty much been raining all day.  The pool looks ready to overflow and frogs are all over the place.  I’ve been taking video periodically, and you can find them here on my YouTube page.  Beatriz was officially classified a hurricane at 8pm PST, but it is now to the north of us.  We are getting all the lovely “fingers” of the storm.  Our only fear is that our flight tomorrow will be affected.  If we aren’t able to get out of Zihuatanejo tomorrow, we will be here until Friday.  Normally that wouldn’t be such a bad thing, but we have Club 33 reservations on Thursday and DO NOT want to miss that!

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Adventures in Honeymooning- Part 2

Posted on June 20, 2011 by 12months12quilts

I had planned to write this later in the day, but as the generator has already kicked on once, I figured that it was better to write sooner rather than later!

Saturday, June 18th- Finally woke up feeling good!  I was starving, but as I hadn’t had any real food in several days, I had to take it easy.  We went back into town to get peanut butter and gatorade so that I could slowly move back to real food.  By the time we hit town, I was ravenous, so we went to La Sirena Gorda for fish tacos.  I could barely eat half of one, but it certainly helped me feel better!

After town, I needed a rest, but felt up to going back into town for dinner at another of my favorites- Cafe Chuleto.  My love for Cafe Chuleto deserves it’s own blog, but I won’t go into that now.  Read the linked article and you will understand a little why this place has a special place in my heart.  We strolled down the Embarcadero towards the restaurant only to find that it was closed.  For a moment I was heartbroken, then we peeked inside and saw that there is still furniture inside.  I’m pretty sure that it is just closed for the summer.  So instead we went back up the walk to Elvira.  We were the first diners to arrive and were alone for a bit (very nice!) but then a very drunk American dude came in and loudly demanded a White Russian.  Oh boy.  He had a local with him who was trying to keep him unobnoxious (good luck!) but he just kept going and going until he chased his friend off.  The bartender actually served him, which was a little shock (we found out why later).  Over the course of our dinner, el borracho assailed the bartender with stories of being 1. a Navy SEAL, 2.an Air Force Captain and 3. a Hell’s Angel.  We also come to find out that he has been kicked out of his hotel and is looking for a place to stay.  His other favorite quote- “You’re gonna want a guy like me on your side when the war comes.”  He was really hot on predicting the next world war.  At one point he realized that his White Russian was really just milk with ice (smart bartender! ) and stood over the guy as he poured him a new one.  It was about then that we realized we needed to leave, soon.  When we asked for the check we found out that el borracho had picked up the tab and quickly exited to the 3rd prediction of the next world war.

Part 3- coming soon, as long as the weather will let me!

 

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Adventures in Honeymooning- Part 1

Posted on June 20, 2011 by 12months12quilts

The weeks leading up to my honeymoon were crazy.  I mean truly crazy.  Both my jobs had programs with fast deadlines, we were planning the Synagogue wedding party and trying to get ready to leave for a 10 day trip.  Needless to day, when things were super crazy, I spent time fantasizing about days spent on the beach just listening to the waves and feeling the breeze off the ocean.  I had each outfit planned for dinner, and was packed two weeks before leaving.  This was a trip that I needed.  What you are about to read is what has actually happened on my honeymoon.  Those of you who know me personally will understand that this is really just par for the course in my life.  For those of you who don’t know me personally, I have had more than one person ask me “why does all the weird s–t happen to you?”  It’s true.  I am a weird s–t magnet.  Let’s take you to day one:

June 14th, 3:45am.  We are up after a very short night of sleep (or lack thereof) at the SFO Travelodge.  We sleepily get ready and make our way to the airport on the shuttle.  All is well and we arrive in LAX a little early.  The only bummer- since we are switching airlines, we have to go through security again.  Sigh.  Once we are finally on our plane to Mexico, we begin to get excited.  This is what we have been waiting for, our first real vacation in almost 3 years.

We get to Mexico, breeze through immigration and are on our way to the condo.  That’s when the fun starts.  We get to the Residencias Villa Del Sol (if you click through, the 3 bedroom condo featured is ours), and the office has no idea that we were coming.  They get Isabel (the woman in charge of the office) on the phone.  She tells me that my dad never told her we were coming (not true) but that they can make the place ready for us.  At least the condo wasn’t already rented!

We got settled in and made our way down the beach to my favorite La Ropa restaurant- La Perla.  We had a lovely dinner and shot of mezcal to finish off the night.  So far so good.

Wednesday, June 15th- The day started off well with a lovely breakfast at The Tides Hotel (the Residencias are connected to the hotel, so we can use all of their facilities, including the private beach) and a trip to town to get some food for the condo.  Finally, we hit the beach for lunch.  After lunch, I went back to the condo for a shower and nap, then got up to get ready for dinner.  While we were figuring out what to do for dinner, I started to not feel well.  I won’t gross you out, so I will just say that it soon became evident that I was not well.  At first we thought it may have been the fountain soda that I had in town.  The water may not have been filtered and that could have made me sick.  I made my way to bed to hopefully sleep off whatever had happened to my body.

Thursday, June 16th- When Jamie woke up, he told me that he had gotten sick shortly after I went to bed.  Now we knew it wasn’t the soda.  We started to think about what we had eaten and realized that it was lunch that had done us in.  Jamie had part of my sandwich and that was the culprit.  It’s hard to believe that a luxury hotel would serve bad mayo, but that’s what happened folks!  We spent the day in bed, really sick.  Sigh.

Friday, June 17th- Jamie was better on Friday, but I was still pretty much laid out.  I still had the lingering sickness paired with nausea from acid reflux (couldn’t take the meds) and from the anti-biotic I took.  I did manage to eat two small cups of rice and felt somewhat human by the end of the day.  Still, not a fun way to spend your honeymoon!

Part 2 will continue the saga

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Did You Dance?

Posted on May 18, 2011 by 12months12quilts

Yesterday was a very long day, but it also gave me a big gift- the nudge I needed to get back into my sewing box!  I participated in a training for Jewish Educators who work with teens, and our Jewish teaching was just what the doctor ordered.

The first part of it talked about intentionality and purpose when working with teens, which was great, but it was a one-two punch in the second part that really hit home.  The educator shared a list of “Six Questions You Should Ask Yourself Daily” composed by Rav Nachman of Braslav:

  1. Did you say the Shema?
  2. Did you study Torah?
  3. Did you give Tzedakah?
  4. Did you spend time with a friend?
  5. Did you spend time alone?
  6. Did you dance?

We were asked to select which of the things we were lacking in our lives the most and join a group to talk about it.  Question six was the one that I felt I needed to focus more attention on, but I recognized that for me it was not “did you dance?” but rather “did you sew?”  I was joined in my group by a Director of Education from the Peninsula who also happened to be a quilter.  We spent a few minutes chatting about our shared love of quilting and I shared with her my current creative roadblock.  She assured me that it was all part of the ebb and flow of the creative process, and just hearing that was the support that I needed to clear my mind and just do it.

When I got home many hours later, the last thing I wanted to do was sit down and sew.  I was mentally, physically and emotionally exhausted from a really long day.  It was one of those days where the PJs come on at 4pm.  I let myself zone out for a couple of hours, then decided that enough was enough, and dragged out my sewing basket and made a hexagon flower.  So Melissa, I hope you get a chance to read this so I can say thank you for getting me back on track!

I’m going to put the list of questions up in my living room, and over my sewing desk so that I can check in with myself everyday and ask- Did you dance?

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Creative Ennui

Posted on May 11, 2011 by 12months12quilts

I’ve been in a state of creative ennui for last month and have done zero quilting.  I think the combination of the wedding craft craziness and getting costumes together for Wizard of Oz has tapped my resources for the time being.

I did begin work on a simple dress with fabric that I got from Jo-Ann’s.  Every year they sell pre-smocked material (here is a sample of the material designed for kids) that make it easy to make a cute summer dress.  I bought a really nice black and white, floral material and have the base of the dress done.  I just need to finish the straps and boom, in 2 hours time I have a great dress to wear in Mexico for our Honeymoon.

As for quilting, the only thing I have done is to cut and group some fabric.  I just don’t have the motivation right now to work on projects.  I’m going to make some time on Saturday to work on a project and I’m hoping that will get me back into the swing of things.

On a positive note, I have spent a lot of time developing curriculum around the sewing class that I want to teach.  I need to contact the rec department to see if I can get my class on the schedule for the fall.

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