This Christmas my daughter gave me several yards of fabric from my favorite store in Santa Fe, NM. Due to the pandemic, she knew it would be awhile before I would get a chance to visit one of my favorite cities again. One of the things I love about Santa Fe is all the wonderful and colorful art . I am especially attracted to the baskets and the rugs. When I go shopping there the fabrics I bring home always reflect this. The questions was what was I going to make from these fabulous fabrics?
It is difficult to believe it has been such a long time since I have updates by blog. I am indeed still sewing and still in business though it is a bt slower with sales at the retail stores that carry my work. It was busy over the holidays and thankfully my sales were strong. Here in the deep of winter is when I work on personal projects and try new things to keep the creative juices flowing. These 4 photos are of a 14" coiled fabric wall hanging I made as a gift for my daughter.
No doubt if you were to ask any artist or independent small business, they would say that 2020 has been one of their most challenging years. I am certainly amongst those. My break even point for the last 6 years has been a two day local event, the North Quabbin Garlic and Arts Festival. A few weeks back I received an email from them asking me if I would be interested in participating as a vendor in a virtual event. Since there was no charge for this and I have a website, what do I have to lose?
It is difficult to know what to blog about now days. The CDC yesterday suggested that everyone start wearing face masks so I found a tutorial that showed how to make one. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AhGUBjK10DI.
On the second try, I used a much shorter piece of elastic (5 1/2" long) and did not sew the pleats in place until I dry fit it to my face using clips. I wanted a snug fit to my neck and along my ears. I made the center pleat first and clipped it. The outer edge now mesured approx. 5.5" at this point. I then eye balled the top and bottom pleats, pressed and clipped them in place and at this point the outer edge measured 3.5". I did another dry fit but it still was not a snug fit to my neck or on my face at the ears. On the final Adjustment, it was finally snug - final measurement at the edge - 3".
This time of year isn't just for celebrating and taking inventory...it is also the time of year that I "take stock". How did the year go not only financially but also creatively? A breathing space, if you will, since I am done sewing for the year. Also, a time to play.
On the order of playing, I had found this really fun fabric with rainbow colored butterflies that have a sheen about them. Earlier in the month I made a couple of small bowls using this fabric....time to have some fun and see what else I can come up with. On the far left are some heart themed balsam sachets. So colorful and so much fun.
The dust has finally settled from the North Quabbin Garlic and Arts Festival, my 6th year as a booth holder. It took place the last weekend in September. All the Gods were smilling on us....perfect weather with an added bonus for me, a small increase in sales over last year. What I like about this festival is not only the close proximity to my house (5 miles away) but also it has a very nice atmosphere and I not only get to see friends and neighbors but also get to meet a lot of nice people.
Some of the pre-festival socail media buzz alluded to lots of new booth holders. Once I got settled in I procured a program to see what names I did not recognize. The first one I wanted to check out was Fashiopurse since I too make the small cross body purses which were the subject of my last blog. This lady's purses are made from cork and not only were they subperbly made but the artisans, Jennia was a very nice and friendly person. I asked her where she was from...New Salem! She moved into my neighborhood last year and this was the very first show she has ever done. WOW! I got her phone # and told her I would be in touch.
A few weeks ago I started making these really cute cross body purses and they have proven to be very popular. Over the past 2 days I have made 3 of them. A 1/2 yd. of two coordinating fabrics are needed along with a zipper at least 9" long and a 8.5" X 10.5" piece of batting. A have made several on this little bags over the summer. This is the "Lazy Girl Designs Run Around Bag #111." by Joan Hawley, giving full credit to the pattern maker.
While we were on our trip to PA, I saw my friendMargaret was making square bowls. COOL!
She verbally explained to me how to do it. It is very difficult for me to take in instructions verbally. But I HOPED once I sat down at my machine I could figure it out.
The base of the bowl, what gives it it's structure, is peltex. Once you hit it with an iron, it fuses fabric to it. Since I did not want any raw edges, after I cut out the rectangle, I folded under all the edges and used hemmimg tape to keep it closed along all the edges and along the back where the it would be coming together. I then quilted it. WOW, VERY time consuming. First one I made was the from the navy tea time fabric. Perhaps there is a better way to cover the peltex. Second square basket I used the wine fabric. It was going to be a larger basket. This time I made a pillow for the peltex, slid it into the pillow and used the hemming take along the open edge, leaving a small opening to insert the beginning of the rope into. Once again, VERY time consuming. How am I going to make these in a timely manner so I can sell them?
As promised, I am going to attempt to write about Quilt Fest, which my husband Tim and I went to while we were on vacation in Lancaster County May 4- 11.
The only quilt shows I have even been to were unjuried ones put on my quilting guilds This was not the case with this show. This show was being managed by Mancuso, who puts on shows all over the country. It was at a verry large convention center in Lancaster. I had never been to a show of this scope before. I had prepared myself for the onslot of vendors but it was the exhibition I was interested in and it did not let me down.
Three years ago, my husband and I took a trip back to Lancaster County for the first time since we had met there in 1974. This part of Pennsylvania is a Mecca for fiber artists. It is known for it's glut of fabric stores with VERY competative prices. Because of this, I was looking forward to this year's trip with great anticipation. The idea was to find fabrics for the orphan fabrics in my stash so they can be converted into sellable items. The 2 weeks leading up to the trip was spent organizing my stash and pulling fabrics needing a mate or 2.
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This Christmas my daughter gave me several yards of fabric from my favorite store in Santa Fe, NM. Due to the pandemic, she knew it would be awhile before I would get a chance to visit one of my favorite cities again. One of the things I love about Santa Fe is all the wonderful and colorful art . I am especially attracted to the baskets and the rugs. When I go shopping there the fabrics I bring home always reflect this. The questions was what was I going to make from these fabulous fabrics?
It is difficult to believe it has been such a long time since I have updates by blog. I am indeed still sewing and still in business though it is a bt slower with sales at the retail stores that carry my work. It was busy over the holidays and thankfully my sales were strong. Here in the deep of winter is when I work on personal projects and try new things to keep the creative juices flowing. These 4 photos are of a 14" coiled fabric wall hanging I made as a gift for my daughter.
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It is difficult to know what to blog about now days. The CDC yesterday suggested that everyone start wearing face masks so I found a tutorial that showed how to make one. 
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A few weeks ago I started making these really cute cross body purses and they have proven to be very popular. Over the past 2 days I have made 3 of them. A 1/2 yd. of two coordinating fabrics are needed along with a zipper at least 9" long and a 8.5" X 10.5" piece of batting. A have made several on this little bags over the summer. This is the "Lazy Girl Designs Run Around Bag #111." by Joan Hawley, giving full credit to the pattern maker. 
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Three years ago, my husband and I took a trip back to Lancaster County for the first time since we had met there in 1974. This part of Pennsylvania is a Mecca for fiber artists. It is known for it's glut of fabric stores with VERY competative prices. Because of this, I was looking forward to this year's trip with great anticipation. The idea was to find fabrics for the orphan fabrics in my stash so they can be converted into sellable items. The 2 weeks leading up to the trip was spent organizing my stash and pulling fabrics needing a mate or 2.