Tag: sewing

Kawandi Nearing Completion in Nova Scotia- guest blog

Colleen’s Kawandi (definition below) she is working on now, lots of hand stitching, nearing completion.

Also Photos below of two quilts Colleen completed in Fall 2021

Colleen writes from Nova Scotia –

The bright colours help when things can get a bit grey and dreary – a nice escape.

Handstitched Kawandi by Colleen

The Kawandi are all hand sewn from bits and pieces so it’s relaxing. I took a Zoom class Sujata Shah to learn how they’re made. Margaret Fabrizio is the kawandi maker who inspired me most. She is in her early 90s now and does amazing work. She used to be a world class harpsichord player (played Carnegie Hall) and I believe a professor in California among other things. She is on YouTube and has very colourful stories to tell including one about her friendship with MFK Fisher.” Colleen

Kawandi is a style of quilt created by the Siddi people of India, traditionally sewn by hand with scraps and are improvisational and frequently made of saris snd used clothing.”

Recent Quilt stitched by Colleen
Fall 2021 Quilt stitched by Colleen

If you’ve been following the blog, Colleen made me a quilted mug rug in 2011 and here’s the blog post

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Birthday T-Shirt Quilt a Hit!

Happy Birthday Mark

Thanks to FedEx, the Pittsburgh themed T-shirt quilt arrived this afternoon. Right in time to celebrate my son Mark’s birthday on the 26th. Happy Birthday Mark.

I knew you’d love it! I was excited when you FaceTimed me as you opened it up. And of course your second call, showing me how Henry the Airedale was sniffing the quilt, looking for grandma.

My granddaughter Maura took the photo of her Dad with his birthday gift. Thanks for sending it Maura.

I took the shirts Mark gave to me and added a few so it was a row longer, scouting a thrift-shop, the closet here in my home, and ebay for the vintage Gateway Clipper T-shirt, where Mark worked when he was in high school.

Henry getting a scent from the new quilt.
Airedale approved.

I learned how to back the shirts with interfacing so they were flat and stable when they were sewed together. Thanks to Lisa S of Storm Sew for her tutorial and for her professional long-arm quilting services. Lisa can create a t-shirt quilt from start to finish, or complete your own sewing efforts like she did for mine. The quilting pattern was called Broken Glass. As soon as I finished handstitching the binding, I boxed it and drove to the main FedEx shipping center. He received it less than 24 hours later.

It looks gray in the light but it’s actually black flannel 108” wide backing with gold stitching
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Outgrown Sleeper Transformed

Here’s a January 2019 photo. Grandson Charlie visiting at my house. He’s wearing a fleece footed sleeper that was a cozy favorite. Doesn’t take long for kids to outgrow their clothes, though. 

In December 2020 my daughter sent the kitty footed sleeper to me with a request- could I make something special from it?

So I made doll pajamas, with the sleeve cuffs being the pants ankle cuffs now.

After I sewed the pjs, there was a lot of the sleeper leftover  but I couldn’t see anything in my mind to make from it. The scraps hung around for 3 weeks. Then I got an idea. 
Yesterday I created Zippy the snake with the remainder. Stuffed a couple of knee socks with fiberfill and put them into the column I created to look like a snake. Now the snake can lose his skin with zero mess.

On to the post office tomorrow to get these mailed to Charlie. I’m hoping he likes the transformation. 


 You can see the foot of the sleeper is the face of the snake.
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I’m in Pittsburgh but Photographed by Friend in Australia, Guest Blog

Friday night McWalker Yarns hosts a Sip and Stitch Zoom meeting. A great way to connect during the Pandemic.   While we were knitting and chatting, we started talking Halloween.  One of our participants lives in Australia, so our evening meeting is her morning coffee time.  Gayle was saying it will already be Halloween for her at next Friday Night’s Sip and Stitch Zoom meeting. I thought, wait I will don the mask that is on my dining room table.  I sewed this costume for my son Mark in the early 80s.

So here I am sporting the ET mask and Gayle in Australia photographed me and sent it.  With her gracious permission I am sharing her photo of me.

I “met” Gayle through the Woolswap program she runs, as well as many other knitters around the world, sharing fiber, creativity and inspiration with one another.

 

It’s me. You can see my knitted shawl peeking.

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Month of May Stitched in Memory- Guest Blog

These photos are from May 1987, taken in Kentucky.  Sent by my good friend Joanne. We were so much younger then, we’re older than that now……

And a tribute to Phyllis George who passed May 14th.

Joanne, Phyllis, Ruth

Ruth – you and I reconnected as Army wives in Fort Knox, KY in 1986 after we both moved there from Germany, where we first met.  You taught me the art of smocking and we spent a lot of time together stitching beautiful outfits for our little girls.  Then we decided to make it a “cottage industry” and created our business Handsmocked in Kentucky.  We took special orders and sold our work in the  Kentucky Arts Council In Louisville … where we attracted the attention of Phyllis George (then wife of the Governor of Kentucky!) .

We had such fun and dreams with our little business, and then all of a sudden we were invited to Phyllis George’s home as a vendor for her Kentucky Derby celebration which featured Kentucky based artists!  What an adventure ….
33 years later I still have a lot of memories and a wardrobe of smocked dresses to hand down to some special little girl.  
My memory of Phyllis George was a gracious, giving woman who cared deeply about Kentucky artisans.   (And she wrote us a check for a handsmocked dress for her daughter.)

Joanne was able to go into her boxes of photos which are all labeled and put her hands on these photos.

Joanne in front of mansion
Ruth in front of mansion
Our shared booth- Joanne
In the booth- Ruth

Joanne even put her hands on our little brochure.  Her sister did the artwork.

Our daughters Laura and Anna at a tea party, sporting our smocking. This photo is in Germany where both girls were born.

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Colleen’s Day in Nova Scotia -Guest Blog

Colleen sent a few photos of what she is doing at her home in Nova Scotia. Our friend Joanne in Florida thought it would be interesting to see what people are doing as they  “shelter in place.”  if you’ve followed this blog for six years you might remember Colleen’s cookbook collection post.  Thanks Colleen what a colorful and beautiful quilt.

What are you doing today?  Send photos.

 

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Colleen and Her Love of Colorful Quilting

This is a collaborative guest post by two wonderfully creative women who have been friends since forever.

Colleen and Joanne hail from Nova Scotia.  Joanne, living in Florida, collected the photos and good information about Colleen and her love of colorful quilting.

Get to know Colleen and her colorful quilts-

Fabric Stash
A pretty bundle of fabric to quilt
Colleen shops for colorful quilt fabric

 

Colleen says “I have a huge stash of fabric that I like to look at for inspiration.  Some I have had for many years and almost everything was purchased in the US.  I order online occasionally but it gets expensive with taxes, customs and shipping and delivery to Canada can take a long time – so much for instant gratification!  Currently Florida is my “go to” shopping locale because I’m there at least once a year.  Found a great quilt shop in St. Augustine” http://www.beesquiltshop.com 

Here is Colleen, looking to the sun.

Colleen’s cookbook shelves were featured on the blog about five years ago
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1984 Quilt Started With a National Geographic Map

We lived in Clarion PA in 1981 and I created this State Capitals Quilt for my 5 year old son Mark ( he’ll turn 43 next month). Bicentennial baby. My grandmother actually knit a red white and blue Afghan to match.  Anyway, Mark  learned all the capitals of the states at an early age thanks to my dad. It’s fun to hear a two year old say “Sacramento.”

I’ve seen the quilt in grandson Michael’s and also in Jack’s room but today it was hanging over the banister  here in Ohio so thought I’d post it.

I used a National Geographic map as the template for the states, machine  appliquéing them onto the squares in the order they entered the union. Delaware and Maryland  State the First square. I embroidered the capital on each. Texas and Alaska are on a different Scale so they’d fit onto the their square. I wish I knew how many miles to the inch  The last square I embroidered a bit of the Nation’s Capital.

Then my Aunt Rhea and my cousin Beth (both whom have passed)  took it to their church quilting group in Illinois and the group hand quilted it, completing in 1984. We were living in Germany that year. I can’t remember having it there but must have been reunited with it in 1986 when we moved stateside to Kentucky.

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I Learned to Sew in the ‘60s with Simplicity Patterns

Saw this Simplicity Patterns display at the local JoAnn store.

Immediate recognition of “the look” and then some nostalgia surfaces.

I took Home Economics at Morris Plains Borough School in the mid 60’s.

Mrs. Phelan was our teacher.
I remember one project being given a B instead of an A because I didn’t take care of all the loose ends of thread inside my blue and red polka dot dress.

Mortifying. I think of her when I weave in loose ends of yarn or tie knots in threads and trim them oh, so neatly.

We made an apron, a skirt, a blouse, shorts, a dress and the other half year we cooked and baked. I graduated to Vogue Patterns eventually but I think all of my early basic efforts were Simplicity.

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