Day: February 15, 2016

Another Useful Idea

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Even though my sewing machines have cutting blades on the left hand side I don’t use them because as a right handed person I want to reach for my scissors, instead. 

I’ve found this simple way to keep a small pair of scissors nearby on each sewing machine (I have 4, but three are on my sewing tables). 

Plastic hooks with removable tape on a clear spot on the side of the machine does the trick – once I got used to not having to hunt for scissors when I’m sewing I no longer have to think about it – they’re always right at hand!

A “Good Thing”

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Living is about improvisation. One of life’s small frustrations is finding the end of a roll of tape. I think I came across this idea on Pinterest – using the little plastic tabs on the end of the plastic bread bags (among other places) to mark the tape end. It’s a “Good Thing” as Martha Steward would say.

I use many different kinds of tape in my sewing room – double sided tape for positioning the machine embroidery hoops, masking tape to mark alignment positions on my sewing machines and to mark front/back of fabric, to identify rows of blocks for quilting, to convert cutting rulers to templates, duct tape when something needs a more secure temporary join.

Life got a whole lot easier when I started using those little pieces of plastic instead of throwing them out!

My Sock Drawer

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I’ve been knitting socks for myself and others since 2003. So far I’ve probably knit about 350 pairs of socks – of which I have 42 pairs in my sock drawer, including the latest pair I finished last night.

Socks drying after being washed

I started knitting socks for myself because I have always found the seam across the toes of ready made socks uncomfortable. I’d read about “self-patterning” yarn and when I came across some I thought I’d give sock knitting a try. 

The great thing about knitting with variegated yarn is that a pattern emerges and I keep knitting to see how the sock will unfold (the first sock is always an adventure, the second sock is boring, but hey, it doesn’t take a huge time investment before a new sock adventure begins!).

Within a couple of months I had half a dozen pairs of socks; within a year I’d got rid of all my store-bought socks and I just kept knitting.

I produce about 26 pairs a year on average, some years a few more. I always have socks on the go. I find the act of knitting very relaxing. I’ve never knit the same pattern twice so each new pair of socks is a new exploration. Making something interesting from leftover yarn is the most enjoyable – I really never know how they’re going to turn out!

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So as long as my hands will allow I’ll have socks on the go.

Quintessential Toronto

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My nephew and his gang and I attended the TSO (Toronto Symphony Orchestra) Saturday afternoon a week ago. We took the subway from the northern-most end to Dundas Street and back – the best part of our adventure as far as Charlie (age 4) was concerned. The concert (The Science Of The Symphony – a one-hour program for kids) was well put together and the two older boys enjoyed the music.

As we were leaving Roy Thompson Hall I turned back and captured the CN tower framed by two tall buildings with RTH in the foreground.

How more Toronto than that can you get?

Hand-me-down Socks

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“These socks are very needed in this Arctic cold weather!!! Thanks again !! ”

 
Poonam stopped by for a visit during the Christmas holidays. The weather was cold so I pulled two pair of socks from my sock drawer and gave them to her. Her feet are a bit smaller than mine so I selected two of the smaller pair.

This was the first pair of socks I knit – in 2003! Because I have so many pairs of socks they don’t get worn heavily so these were still good as new. 

Glad they’re appreciated and doing their job.

Charm Quilt

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One of the things I’ve been teaching in the quilting class is how to deconstruct a quilt design. To this end I’ve shared images of quilts with the gals and helped them break down their construction.

One of the quilts I shared was a photo of a quilt made from “charms” (5″ blocks) bordered in two neutral shades. I’ve had 4 charm packs in my stash for some time and I thought this would be a good way to use them. 

I selected the most interesting blocks from 3 of the charm packs (the rest I put into a scrap pile and a use later pile). I auditioned the chosen blocks, sorted them into rows, then bordered half with the darker fabric, the remaining I bordered with the lighter.

What caught my attention with this quilt was the contrasting sashing linking the blocks vertically.

I used some leftover charms for the back keeping the motif intact in the inserted stripe. I thought about backing the quilt with the darker border fabric, but I happened across this batik and thought it would bring a bit of life to the quilt.

I think I will bind the quilt with the darker grey. I still have to think about the quilting motif and whether to include the block borders in the embroidery or not.

Jellyroll Quilt – Finished

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I actually finished the quilt before I went to Toronto to visit my sister’s kids and grand-kids 10 days ago. I was happy with the border and how the mitre worked so well; with the splashes of colour; with the quilting design and how well it filled the block…. I was pleased with the second side and how it used the leftover bits and I had enough border fabric leftover to add a stripe to the back.

The only thing I might have done differently was to use a lighter thread for the border. I chose a dark variegated thread to blend into the border but I could have used a little contrast.

The quilting shows best on the second side:

The class meets again tomorrow – our focus will be on embroidering in the hoop – how to hoop, how to center the block, how to precise position the design, how to embed thread ends within the quilt. And we’ll discuss various ways of binding a quilt.

I will try arranging another get together in a month to show off the finished quilts. 

Socks

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I may have been quiet for the last three weeks but I’ve been knitting and sewing away each day!

Finished this pair of socks from leftover bits of yarn. I find I enjoy turning those bits of yarn into something that’s even more interesting than some of the variegated patterned yarns.

I like this pair so well that they’ve gone in my sock drawer instead of the give-away pile.

Of course I started a next pair straight away.