Category: Sewing & Crafting

Quilting Challenge: June [and musings on “home”]

I have been thinking about home a lot lately, perhaps because I am on the cusp of a big driving trip across the country to Alberta where I grew up. So I feel certain that June’s 2012 Quilting Challenge square should be a house! I love that Mr. Owl looks like he’s perched on the roof top.

I have many places I call home. Alberta of big sky and my first 20 years is home. City: Edmonton, neighbourhood: Parkallen. Friends and family, school and lessons, choir and dancing, adventures on foot, bike, bus and car, flights of imagination in the backyard. It’s more the memories that are home because by now a lot of the people have moved and the landscape has changed a fair bit. It’s the capital “H” home of my mind and heart.

Toronto is my adult home, In fact I’ve been here for 14 years as of this week — maybe that’s why home is on my mind! I came for dance school and fell in love with the city. And with a boy, who I married. I discovered how strong and able and independent and brave I am in this big city. And to my continued surprise, I rarely manage a streetcar ride without seeing someone I know. it’s become the lowercase “h” home, but no less important in my list of homes.

Now Toronto’s Cabbagetown is home-home. A house-of-dreams (yes, you are correct, that’s an obscure Anne of Green Gables reference) and its century-home maintenance realities is the literal roof-over-the-head-home. Now I am maker and keeper of the first home my boys will remember, with their own set of smells and colours and sounds and favourite corners. Their own intangible roots are stretching from this very house and city into the world.

And Adam, that boy I fell in love with, he and our 2 boys are HOME. All caps. Full stop. They are my chosen home, my heart and my landing place, my still point.

My friend Shannon Litzenberger, a prairie girl from the prairiest of all provinces (Saskatchewan of course!) and a  powerhouse artist, arts advocate and policy junkie, is currently developing a dance project called HOMEbody. It’s a multi-faceted artistic musing on what home is, literally and figuratively.  Definitely worth checking out!

Night Owl Tastes the Early Worm

This morning I got up early to make a quick gift for a wee girl. It’s a soothy/pacifier/nuk-nuk/chooch/you-name-it holder, a key piece if you use these things so they don’t get lost or dirty. And it might as well be charming!

I’ve been trying this lately, the up-early-to-get-some-work-done bit that is, and sometimes it works with my sleeper-iner boys! The time is finite and my ears tense for waking sounds, but so far I’ve some fair success, as long as I don’t plan too big a task.

I tend towards the Night Owl side of things, always have. I revel in a quiet, still house and come alive creatively after 11 o’clock pm, loving the possibility in the hours that lie ahead and not being interrupted (except perhaps to nurse). But the danger is that I’ll easily work almost all night and that’s not great when those hours are meant for sleeping. And it isn’t particularly compatible with present, conscious mothering, so I’m trying to choose sleep when there’s sleep for the taking and not to get seduced by long stretches of quiet, velvety, night hours I could use to sew and sew and write and think!

One of the things I miss most from my before-kids days are the long chunks of undivided, dedicated time I could carve out for projects. I definitely couldn’t appreciate what a freedom that was. Sometimes, nay, often, keeping so many balls in the air is not the most effective or satisfying way to get things done. But I’d rather be juggling in order to still be creative and creating alongside my lovely boys than not. And I wouldn’t trade them, don’t mistake this for a complaint. Rather, their presence in my life has taught me to use my time way more efficiently. And to value quiet night hours like gold.

But I am an Owl in Robin’s clothing. The early worm tastes okay, it’ll definitely do. But there’s no doubt I’ll still succumb to the night now and then … hoot hoot!

I’m loving this easy soother strap design I’ve settled on and recently picked up some great ribbon so I can make a bunch for Etsy. Cute, non?

Rearview Fridays: Clothesline (an art book!)

I haven’t posted a Rearview Friday for, whoa, five weeks now! Oh dear. Well, there have been all sort of adventures and emergent situations and I decided it’d be okay to give ’em a rest for a while, just didn’t mean for it to be so many weeks. And I miss my Rearview Fridays! So without further ado, I offer up a project from 2006 that I made with my oft-collaborator Lindsay Zier-Vogel.

It’s a book called “Clothesline.” Lindsay proposed the idea to me, a wordless art book that she’d bind and I’d make little clothes for. Little? I love little! Making my own clothes? Correct. I love that too. I said yes.

I remember having a lot of fun sewing the tiny slip skirts, pants, shirts and dresses. figuring out the scale for the frames, deciding on colour and fussing with the tiny seams. And they all work — tie or clip or snap. Because that is how I roll.

The book looks charming on a shelf, zig-zagging along. I have to find a place for mine (hmmm, maybe the mantle …) Clothesline is bound accordion-style with ribbon seams and each page is a paper-clad frame for the clothing pieces.

Clothesline was displayed at Toronto’s Type Books in its basement gallery during one of Lindsay’s installations of her hand-bound book creations.

There are only three copies of Clothesline in existence! Though I discovered one more set of tiny clothes while cleaning out an old fabric box a few days ago (I must have made four sets), which is what inspired me to dig this beauty out to share here. So if anyone wants to commission one, and Zier-Vogel is in the mood to bind one more …

Pitching our Encampment Tents

My regular dance collaborator and dear friend Brittany Duggan invited me to join her in creating two tents for The Encampment by Thomas and Guinevere. I probably didn’t need one more thing to be involved in but oh, this has been so inspiring and intoxicating. And I have to share what we’ve come up with!

Unravelling Powdered Wig, detail shot (part of the William Powell tent). Modelled by Brittany Duggan, made by Susan Kendal. Tyvec, staples and scotch tape, 2012.

The Encampment (Toronto Version 2012) has been commissioned by City of Toronto for the War of 1812 Commemoration and Luminato, Toronto Festival of Arts and Creativity. It’s an art installation that will stand on the grounds of Toronto’s Fort York National Historic Site during Luminato from June 8-17. The Encampment will stay up at Fort York until June 24.

For The Encampment, 200 tents are being pitched to reflect the bicentennial of the War of 1812. Inside each one is an artistic interpretation of someone who lived and breathed during that period. It’s fascinating to walk around and see the care, curiosity and creativity rendered by the collaborating artists.

Our Anne Powell tent.

Brittany signed up to participate in The Encampment a while ago and has done an enormous amount of research on our two historic figures. That’s when she invited me to come along, brainstorm and create — um, that’s my favourite!

The historic people Brittany chose for us to interpret in our tents are:

Anne Powell (born in Montreal in 1787, died at sea in 1822)

William Dummer Powell (born in Boston in 1755, died in Toronto in 1834)

Our William Dummer Powell tent (with Brittany Duggan contemplating the work).

The Toronto Public Library’s Digital Archive has a beautiful drawing by William Dummer Powell showing proposed buildings at Caer Howell (the family house) from the 1830s. It’s location is listed “n. of Queen St. W., w. of University Ave.” If you know that area of Toronto try to stop and imagine it as bucolic as this, I am amazed at how different things looked 200 years ago! the image is in the public domain so I’ll include it here along with the link above, courtesy of the TPL:

The Final Felting

I’ve been working on a fun and inspiring costuming gig for the past few weeks. You can check out earlier parts of the project here and here. Above are the super charming Peacock Clips that will clip on the front of emerald bodysuit/tutu combos. They’ll be accompanied by the headbands below:

I am in love with the Peacock pieces. Who doesn’t love the rich and unexpected colour combos in a Peacock feather — and it works so well in felt.

Next, Goldfish! They are brooches that will sit at the turquoise hips of each wee dancer. And note the awesome cutting mat and Olfa rotary, dang I’m loving them!

Followed by little tuxedo-inspired bibs that go with top hats and gloves for a tap dance number. I wasn’t sure I liked my idea on this one and then in reality, it’s a contender for favourite, I think it’s totally charming! Could be great in cotton as a baby bib, hmmmm …

Here’s a work in progress shot of the pieces for the elegant grey and cream flowers for the Flower Waltz dance. They will sit against plum coloured suits:

And the finished products. My first “S-fold” flowers were very satisfying to make. I appreciated the fickle pickle’s tutorial. I ended up hand stitching my flowers rather than gluing them and used felt circles rather than buttons in the middle, but she unravelled the mystery for me and got me rolling — and that’s why I love crafty bloggers. Three cheers for sharing!

And lastly, most sweetly, I leave you with a bowl of candy. Felt candies. But don’t them look delectable? I caught Rudi licking them, riiiiiight. They ended up being strung along ribbons and hung shoulder to shoulder and shoulder to hip on little dancers in royal blue. And then one pink and one blue candy each on barrettes in their hair. My teeth are aching from the sweetness.

Thanks to Kitty Ballistic for the joyful, colourful idea and for the tutorial. I see more of these in my decorating future …

Quilting Challenge: May

May is almost done, how is this possible?! For my 2012 Quilting Challenge, May’s contribution is a bit of a cheat, I’ve been quilting this shape for ages, but I need it in my arsenal of designs! It’s the heart of course, my go-to infant quilting shape. Herm. My May-heart is not photographing well, it’s camouflaged in the foliage. But it’s there, I assure you!

Since my dad’s heart has been struggling more than usual this month, and because a little boy named Ford would have been 3 years old this month but for his broken heart, the heart seemed like exactly the right choice for this month. I remember and love and carry them in my own heart. And I count my blessings …

Here’s January through May, the garland of quilting options is growing!

My Auntie Kath taught me how to cut out a pattern from paper and then sew around it, until then it seemed magic that she could sew perfect hearts into her work. Kath’s sewing remains magic to me (even if she’s revealed some secrets to me!) she’s meticulous and joyful about her work, utterly inspiring. I think of her often when I’m at my machine. My hearts are still not perfect, I probably work a little too fast and recklessly for that, but then, who’s heart is perfect?

Hometown, Heart and the Headstrong Baby

12 days ago my dad’s heart very nearly failed him. He lives across the country from me in my hometown of Edmonton and with this hard news came the clarity that I dearly wanted him to meet 8-month-old Gene. So Gene and I flew over the lakes and the prairies and I got to introduce my dad to his second grandchild. Happily, the docs were able to fit dad with a pacemaker/defibrillator and he’s back at home for now, heart ticking along.

In spite of it being an emergency trip filled with apprehension, it was so good to share my wee boy with my Edmonton family and friends. My own heart is overflowing with big sky and the big love of my amazing people there. Gene made some ridiculous strides in Edmonton, standing against things and cruising a bit, crawling for the first time and walking his little legs to get where he wants to go when you hold his hands. He is a ball of determination!

Edmonton was exploding with apple blossoms. I was lucky to catch those magic couple of days when the trees are full of their short-lived pink and white flowers:

I miss the wide Alberta sky. If you aren’t familiar with prairie skies, it’s hard to describe the amazing, shifting endless space. I don’t really miss it til I’m there and then I feel like I’m brimming with the aching familiarity of it.

I learned about chewbeads, silicone bead necklaces that are made to be chewed by babies yet look look like lovely, chunky jewellery, brilliant! My cousin was wearing hers so stylishly while her little guy held onto them with a vice grip, chewing and playing as we walked and caught up.

I went with the aforementioned cousin to the Duchess Bake Shop, a super fancy, high tea looking place, yet totally approachable and momma-with-baby friendly. We  ate and savoured and enjoyed our little boys, who are only 15 days apart in age. This made for an extra special, hilarious visit as we are both firmly in the midst of sleep deprivation, infant eczema, baby food and the glorious madness that is mothering an infant. The Duchess has a great ceiling, it mesmerized both me and Gene!

My cousin’s name is Tamsin, but we mostly call her Tam. And it happened to be her birthday! I opened my mom’s late 70s edition of The Joy of Cooking, found a delectable banana cake recipe and baked it up. Then I had a wave of brilliance and cut out the letters of her name in paper, sifted sugar over them and presto:

Lastly, my cousin adventures ended in a quilting shop. Oh dangerous deliciousness! She is a crafty fabric-a-holic also and we found some prints that simple could not be left behind. Here are my spoils:

And here I am, back in super-hot Toronto, somewhat jet-lagged. Back to my mothering of 2 and my sewing and my regular blogging. Happy week everyone!

More Felt: pinwheeling, flapping, waltzing

I am buried in the costuming job that I mentioned last post. I’m having so much fun! Miles of thread have been wound and stitched and the cuteness continues to reveal itself. Here are some of the finished pieces so far.

Felt pinwheels, one for each shoulder against a red tutu, how cute will that be?!
The Pizzicato Polka dancers get geometric headbands with their pinwheel brooches. This headband is one of my new favourite things to make, so easy. So hip! I kind of want an adult sized one.
Little Flapper headbands — they’ll have black pearl necklaces tied in a knot and big felt flowers at their hip too. My teeth hurt from thinking about the cuteness!
Petal headbands for wee flower-waltz dancers.
Felt crowns for the Aquarium dance — they go with a turquoise bodysuit and tutu, then a palm-sized goldfish will pin on the hip. I think turquoise and orange is one of my favourite colour combos ever! Almost finished, just gotta hand stitch the bottoms closed. Better get back to it …

Adventures in Felt Costuming

I’m working myself silly on a fantastic costuming gig for Movement Lab dance studio in Toronto. I’ve known the director Ann-Marie Williams through the dance community for years, our paths crossed as students and professionals dancing and administrating our favourite art form! So when she asked me to do all the decorating pieces for the basic tutus and bodysuits she had for her show I jumped at the opportunity.

No frilly, nauseating princessy-ness here, no ma’am! All the pieces are being made from felt, glorious felt! Wherever possible, the pieces (like the gold fish above) will be attached to a brooch pin or a barrette or a headband so that they can also be used afterward, separate from the costume.

I’m off to a good start and will have some finished pieces to share next week. Now back to the machine with me!

Aflutter Over the New Quilt

I finally finished the bird-patterned quilt I’ve been planning and working on over the past few months. This was the project that kept getting bumped aside for other more pressing matters and crafts. But its time has come! I present the Birdie Quilt and Burping Pad Combo.

I plan to carry this set on my Etsy store when I’m up and running in the summer, so the next step is to make some more sets. I am so happy with how this design came out. I like the big, chunky blocks and have always been attracted to baby stuff made with strong colours and a pattern that’s not so common.

Unfortunately in my photos you can’t really see the leaves sewn into the black blocks on the quilt, but they’re there! I am slowly increasing my photographic skills because of this blog, but the black fabric stole the light and I couldn’t find it. Will experiment more, am open to suggestions …

On the simple, flannel side of the burp pad and the blocked side of the quilt I used green thread so that the quilted leaf design would stand out. It’s fun to quilt this pattern free-hand on the machine, reminds me of painting or sculpting. Probably my favourite of the process!

The busy side of both pieces is stitched with white thread. The leaf quilting almost needs to be felt to be seen amidst the birds and foliage. I hope the detailing invites fingers to touch and baby cheeks to rest peacefully.

I’ve been reading and thinking about pricing and perceived value. Burping pads, my speciality, are just not that cost effective. The ones I make are relatively labour intensive but there’s a limit to what people will pay for such things and it’s not a lot more than a super fancy latte! I see a lot of sewers undervaluing their work on Etsy, burping pads for as low as $2.50 with a median of about $8 per pad, which I find totally ridiculous and frustrating. I think it may be one of the great failings of such a platform, that value gets diluted with uneducated or timid artisans not really understanding how to value their work. Because mass-produced brand names versions often go for close to $20 per pad! Anyways, I’m slowly working on the math to find the sweet spots for pricing my work.

The idea to pair a pad with a quilt is something I’m going to try since consumers seem to be willing to pay more for a quilt; perhaps the overall square footage of the item persuades them?! And I like the idea of these 2 items together, perfect for a new baby gift. My slow advance on cottage industry continues …

PS: I wrote this entry with a sleeping 8-month-old draped across my arm and lap. My wrists have been performing acts contortion in order to type! Insane perhaps, but I find that getting my blog post ready the night before is more enjoyable and practical for the most part. It’s just too hard to get a long chunk of time at the computer amidst the littles and isn’t fair to them. And I really am enjoying blogging, it’s helping me keep on some kind of task creatively I am surprised by how much I enjoy the act of writing and sharing here. Over and out.