Introducing Gracie

 We didn't have pets when I was growing up. But as an adult I have discovered that I am definitely better off with animals in my life. This was brought home to me with some force in recent days. When our sweet Luna passed away a little over two years ago I was determined to try to live without a dog. 

 Living with a dog has been a real adjustment for Hubby as he wasn't raised with pets either. He would be content to live without any animals in his life. However, he has come to realize that I actually need the companionship a dog provides. I'm alone a lot due to his work schedule and the fact that my multiple chemical sensitivities (MCS) keeps me pretty much home-bound. So I have been on the hunt for a new companion. It has not been without it's ups and downs, let me tell you. If I go into a shelter (because I do not need a pure breed) I will be ill for at least another day afterward. I was prepared for that prospect if there was a good reason to suffer in that way. I filled out applications online for nearly all the shelters and foster organizations in our immediate area. Sometimes I received a response in a timely manner and other times not. There were a couple of potential adoptees that fit my criteria - Chihuahua mixes for the most part. But they seemed to get adopted out to others before I could arrange to see them in person. 

Finally, a local organization with volunteers who foster dogs and cats listed a black and tan "Chi-weenie" on Petfinder.com. She was cute (sometimes the photos of the dogs online aren't the best; you can tell folks have had a hard time getting them to be still) but I was a little nervous about the Dachshund aspect of her anatomy. Turns out she's well proportioned after all. 

She's young, about a year old, and came with the name Gracie. We see no need to try to change that. 😊 And so far she looks to be a very good fit for our household. She's also a good fit on my lap.

 The trick may be to convince her that she can't spend all day there!

September Stitching

 The first week of September Kathryn (k3n.clothtales) gave us the opportunity to do some needle weaving for our stitch journals. My first attempt didn't work out. I think I used the wrong threads for the fabric base I'd created. With the right combination of threads and fabric I enjoy needle weaving. I used variegated threads for both the warp and weft in this case.

The second week of September Kathryn invited us to do a representation of home. Many stitchers depicted the homes they currently live in or their dream home. I couldn't bring myself to do that. Instead, I made a collage of the elements that make a house a home for me.

 The third week of September we explored texture. Kathryn was inspired by lichen and taught us a fair amount about it. I chose to begin with some tangled threads I'd saved from pre-washing new yardage. They led to other orange elements. I also included bits of a white polyester (possibly organza) I'd put through an embellisher some years back. 

A detail shot

Oddly enough, after I created that monochromatic piece the following week the assignment was to work with a monochromatic palette. Somehow I ended up using the same colors!

 Kathryn has been making "wonky Wednesday" videos in addition to the stitch journal videos. They are hand piecing projects (or have been so far). That week she shared information about the Gee's Bend quilters and the blocks they call Housetops or Pig Pen blocks. I found this a fun way to use up some of my skinniest scraps. There might even be a few more of these in my future. 😁

The postcard prompt from Kool Kooky Kreatures for September was Autumn Hygge. I wasn't feeling particularly creative when I had the time to work on the postcard so I went with something very familiar and simple.

What's more cozy and comforting than a quilt?

Stars for Pat

 My sister-in-law enjoyed sewing and was an avid hand quilter. Sadly, she developed macular degeneration and now can no longer see to sew. She asked me if I would be willing to make a version of a quilt I'd made a few years ago out of fabrics she'd accumulated and saved. Of course I said yes. 

This is the quilt she referenced:

And this is the one I made out of her fabrics:

About 65" square

 They were some lovely colors and prints to work with but they turned out to be highly toxic to my system. They'd been pre-washed in one of those laundry detergents that chemically bonds to the fibers. Even though I re-washed every piece they let off toxic fumes with handling and especially under the iron. It was a struggle, but I was happy to be able to assemble this quilt for Pat. I only hope her vision will last long enough for her to truly enjoy the fruits of my labors.

Scrap Happy in September

The 15th of each month has been designated as Scrap Happy Day by Kate in Australia and Gun in Sweden. We are invited to share something we've made from scrap materials or something we've repurposed. There have been some pretty ingenious transformations among the regular participants. My scrap material tends to be fabric, and I most often turn them into quilts of one sort or another.

Over time I have developed a system for cutting patches and strips from leftover fabrics. I begin with the blocks that require the largest patches or the highest number of patches and work my way down to 1.5" squares. I let these patches accumulate until I feel the urge to do something with them. That's when blocks get made that tend to end up in the Parts Department. Eventually those blocks are used to make a quilt top.

Recently I noticed that my basket of 2" wide strips was pretty full. About that same time I had a series of headaches to deal with. One way I cope with them is to do some mindless sewing, whether by hand or by machine. Last month it was machine piecing I turned to. Without much thought I selected 2" strips from that basket and sewed them together, end to end, until I had pieced strips 12.5" long. Eight of those strips were then sewn together to create 12" (finished) blocks, I call these my Lego blocks. 

Sometimes when I make these blocks I only do a couple and then set them aside. This time I just kept making blocks until my basket was nearly empty. Before long I had a whole quilt top's worth of blocks. Well, a skinny quilt top. So I pieced together some 3.5" wide scraps for side borders and found a length of fabric to sash them. Another couple of strips added to the top and bottom gave me a flimsy about 61" x 82."

I will have to purchase backing fabric for this (and batting of course) but the whole top has been constructed solely from scraps. 😊

If you'd like motivation for using up your scrap materials, fabric or otherwise, leave a comment on Kate or Gun's blogs from the list below. And be inspired by what you see in the other blogs!

Kate, Gun, Eva, Lynda,
Birthe, Turid, Tracy, Jan, 
Moira, Sandra, Chris, Alys,
Claire, Jean, Dawn, Gwen,
Sunny, Kjerstin, Sue L, Vera, 
 Ann, Dawn 2, Carol, Preeti,
Nóilin, Viv, Karrin, Alissa,
Lynn, Tierney, Hannah, Maggie

August Stitching

 For week 32 in the stitch journal project spearheaded by Kathryn of k3n clothtales we took inspiration from an exhibit of Judith E. Martin's work. One piece of Judith's that I found particularly inspiring was a long, long scroll of fabric couched down with embroidery floss. You can see pictures of it here. My sample piece is only 5" wide and 6.5" long. 

This is the front...

And this is the back of my piece.

The following week we observed the nature of cloth in the making of a fabric collage. I only used various cotton cloths whereas others included silks and linens and other materials. I did include a strip of handmade paper on mine: the pink in the upper right hand corner.

 

 

 We used the mola's of Panama as inspiration for week 34. The women of Panama do needle-turn reverse applique in their work. Some of it is amazingly intricate, made of many layers of different colors of cloth. My sample was only made of three layers and I left the edges raw. (It's meant to be a snake in case you were wondering.)

 

 

 

 The last week of August we used our orts - leftover pieces of thread long enough to be useful. I made rectangles of satin stitched embroidery floss out of my longer pieces and French knots with the shorter bits. In the end I had some room left over so I made cross stitches with a few strands of perle cotton too.

 

 

Kooky's postcard prompt (KoolKookyKreatures) for August was "Harvest Home." I chose to celebrate the fact that honey bees harvest pollen and store it in their home with some couched yarn and tiny bee charms.

 

 

 

 

 And now we're in September. The postcard prompt is "Autumn Hygge." I'm not sure at this point how I will approach this one but it will be fun to ponder!