Sewing projects – Dear Liza

Another Map Quilt?

Dear Liza,

You know I love maps, and I love quilts. So, over the years, I’ve made a few quilted maps. When you were little, I made this map of our old neighborhood in Salinas. There are a lot of people and places I love on that map!

And now, being slightly obsessed with France, I am planning a hexagonal shaped quilt. It’s an interesting idea, since the shape of that country is sort of hexagonal, and even is nicknamed “L’Hexagone” because of its six-sided outline.

A few years back I made a folding paper map of France, and it was hexagonal. I really liked it, but didn’t know what to do next. Now I’ve figured it out.

But first, I had to make a good sized hexagonal pattern from newspaper. I don’t want this quilt to be bed sized, but maybe lap-sized. It’s mostly an art project.

I got the length ratios from your Daddy David and the proper angles from Auntie Bridgett, and cut my newspaper pattern 92 cm across, about three feet.

I have chosen my color palette from a website called color palettes.net. This photograph was taken by Svitlana. They aren’t typical map colors, and I like that. Now I need to hunt for these colors in suitable fabrics so I can get started.

I will keep you posted as I go along.

Love,

Grandma Judy

Pulling the Crazy Together

Dear Liza,

Once all the blocks were sewn, the Crazy Quilt came together pretty quickly.

I moved some furniture so I had room to spread all 140 blocks out and make sure they looked good…. A nice balance of darks and lights over the whole area of the quilt. I look like Gulliver standing over the landscape!

I labeled each block as part of a grid (A1, A2, etc.) so my careful arrangement would not get mixed up.

Then, there was the very careful sewing of the rows together…about 150 seams, 6 inches long. It took about 4 hours, including some time for peeling the vegetables for dinner. Then ten long seams, and all was well.

I used random leftover fabrics for the backing of each square, which will never be seen when the quilt is finished.

I can’t believe I sewed the WHOLE thing!

Love,

Grandma Judy

How Much Crazy is Enough Crazy?

Dear Liza,

When I finished sewing curtains and walking in the sunshine the other day, I counted my pieced and embroidered crazy quilt blocks.

There are almost 100!!! When laid out in a 10 by 10 square (ish), they cover about a five foot by five foot area. I am so pleased!

I love how the colors, shapes and embroidery work together. I love the “aerial photograph of a fantasy world” look. I love the map-ish-ness of it. I want to get tiny and go for long walks on this quilt.

Cousin Kestrel has even been doing some embroidery when she comes by, and Auntie Katie, too.

Auntie Bridgett cut me a strong template from an old book cover (left from our friend Melody Bush’s book excavation art) so I can make sure the blocks are straight and even before sewing them together.

But is it enough? I still have enough fabric to make more blocks, and there is certainly no hurry to finish it. Hmmmmmmm….

I will take a break, think on it, and let you know soon.

Love,

Grandma Judy

A Banner for Auntie Beeswax

Dear Liza,

One of my recent sewing projects is a new decoration for Auntie Bridgett’s booth where she sells her Auntie Beeswax books, buttons, and artwork.

We chose fabrics in colors that Auntie Beeswax wears… orange, green, and blue. Some of these were fabrics I’d had for years. The orange cat print had been kitchen curtains in our house in Salinas, and I made the stripes out of scraps from other projects. We did buy a few new fabrics at Bolt, and added them to the collection.

Once we chose the fabrics, they needed to be cut into triangles, sewn, turned, and pressed to make nice sharp flags.

I love the way all the colors work together!

Next, all the flags needed to be sewn to a length of seam binding to make a long banner. This got tricky! The seam binding was so narrow, it took some careful maneuvering and pinning to get it put together.

But now it is done and ready for het next art fair, which is the Art Picnic on September 16th.

Love,

Grandma Judy

A New Cape for Kestrel

Dear Liza,

With grand daughters around, there are always going to be projects! Our latest one is a delightful cape for Kestrel. She and Auntie Katie picked up the fabric and trims a few weeks ago. We used a cape we already had as the pattern.

The pattern is very basic, just two different sized rectangles, so the cutting and hemming went pretty quickly.

Things got trickier when I needed to attach the hood to the cape. The fabric is so slippery! The pins kept sliding out. I said bad words.

Kestrel braided some fat yarn for the loop closure and we found the perfect button. Once those were on, she could wear the cape. But it wasn’t done yet!

We pulled a dozen silk flowers apart, laid the cape in the floor, and got down to work! It was crouchy, fiddley work, but we got about fifty petals sewn on. Mouse helped, of course….

Kestrel was going to wear the cape to her school dance, but due to a scheduling snafu, she will wear it at the local Burning Man event, called SOAK. I hope it survives the camping trip. But even if it doesn’t, it was sure fun to make. When you and I get together, I’m sure we will have some projects, as well.

Love,

Grandma Judy

Making a New Stufftie

Dear Liza,

One thing I love about spending time with Cousin Kestrel is that she is always thinking of new projects. These keep me on my toes as we work together to problem-solve.

All projects involve problem solving…. What fabric to choose? How big should it be? How will we connect the bits? What will we do next? These are the sort of teachable moments that I love to watch happen.

A few weeks ago, when Harold came home from San Diego, Kes said that we should make a new stufftie to keep him company. We dug through the big fabric box and she chose the remnants of the same fabric I had used years ago to make placemats for your mommy! It was very pretty, but there wasn’t a lot left.

Kestrel cut pattern pieces out of newspaper, trying to make them big enough to allow for the seam allowance. She pinned and cut and quickly got the hang of running my old Pfaff sewing machine.

Once we started hand-sewing the parts together, it became clear that our new friend’s head wasn’t big enough! There wasn’t enough fabric…. Or was there? Some clever piecing allowed us to make a head of proper proportion, and was barely noticeable on the back of his head.

By sewing and stuffing each section of the stufftie separately and hand-sewing the sections together, we created a delightfully floppy friend. Kes said the fabric pattern looked like a teacup, so we named him Chashka, which is the Russian word for teacup. Kes chose some weird, wonderful spiral buttons for his eyes, which she will attach later on.

Thursday afternoons sure are fun around here!

Love,

Grandma Judy

Using What We Have

Dear Liza,

I love making presents for folks. Usually, the only trick is to start early enough to finish on time. This year, though, there may be supply chain issues, as well. That exact color of yarn, that color of thread, might not be available. So I am taking a page from my Mother’s philosophy: Use what you have.

I started this scarf for Yen, the nice lady who cuts my hair, the day of my last haircut. It is now finished, just in time for my next haircut. I only know one knitting stitch and had bought the yarn a few years ago from BackStory Books and Yarn down on Hawthorne. The project went quickly.

I used to make gifts for folks because I didn’t have a lot of spending money, and I really enjoyed it. I like being creative, using the skills I have and learning new ones.

For Auntie Katie’s wedding years ago, the late, great Barbara Binder Kadden and I stayed up all night to make the huppa. The time spent problem solving with Barbara, I now see, was a gift. She passed away a few years ago, much too soon.

And if you need a gift that is not like anything on the planet, the best way to get it is to make it yourself! I created this odd dude for Cousin Kyle years ago.

I am currently up to my eyeballs in a new creation, which I hope to show you tomorrow!

Love,

Grandma Judy

Stepping Away from the Map…. For Now

Dear Liza,

A little over a week ago, I pulled out an old project to work on. It is a map of Portland done in appliqué and embroidery. I have been adding and adding, trying to recreate the intricacy I see in my head, on the fabric.

Oregon Poet William Stanford was once asked, “How do you know when to stop editing?” He replied, “When it stops feeling creative.”

And that’s where I am, for now, with my map. In the last ten days I have added dozens of buildings, streets, and trees. I have gotten braver and freer with embroidery. I even think I know what I want to do with the river.

The West Hills, Downtown and the Willamette River

But it has stopped feeling creative. I feel like I am adding in desperation, thinking this next tree will make the difference. And it just isn’t. So I will set it aside again for a while and come back to it later, with fresh eyes.

Mouse likes to be right in the middle of the creative process!

That ‘later’ may be next week or next year. But it will be waiting for me.

Love,

Grandma Judy

Back to Map Making

Dear Liza,

A year and a half ago, I started a sewing project to celebrate and explore my new city. I love maps, and sewing them is a way to enjoy the process of city-building.

I got the basic sections laid out … the west hills, downtown, the Willamette River, and the east side, where we live.

I started by laying in the main parks, Laurelhurst ( and the smaller Lone Fir Cemetery) in the east, and Washington Park in the west hills. I didn’t forget the North and South Park blocks downtown. The dozens of trees in Washington Park took days to pin and sew!

I decided that I didn’t want to make a block -for-block exact map, but I did lay in some main streets so it would make more sense. Then I laid in the warehouse district on the east bank.

The Willamette River divides Portland east and west, and so far I have put in the Hawthorne and the Morrison Bridges. They require a level of precision that gives me the shakes, but I like the way they are turning out.

It was at this point, about a year ago, that I ran out of ideas. I couldn’t figure out what to put in next. So I folded up the map and set it aside.

And this week, after months of painting, baking, and writing, I figured it out. The map came back out and I started putting in the Laurelhurst and Sunnyside neighborhoods, where we live. I used a blanket stitch to show the rows of Victorian houses, and added dozens more trees.

And today, while listening to the Impeachment hearings, I put in most of the buildings downtown. There will be more streets downtown, and more embroidered details as they are needed.

I’m sure there will come a time when I run out of ideas again, and will pack the map away for a while. But for now, I’m sure having fun with it!

Love,

Grandma Judy

Cats at Christmas

Dear Liza,

You know our cat, Mouse, is part of our family. She is 9 years old already, older than you! She enjoys many of the same things we do.
Snuggling….

Listening to stories….

Decorating for Christmas,

and getting to know the neighbors.

Sometimes she is even part of the decor.

So of course she gets Christmas presents.

I have sewn cat toys for our Mouse and Auntie Katie’s cat, Pixel. Pixel is 15, and a real old lady cat, but she likes toys, too.

It doesn’t take much! Some felt leftover from other projects, part of an old shredded sheet for stuffing, and some cat nip from the grocery store. A little bit goes a long way! And since cats are not very critical, this is a low-stress art project.

I like being able to celebrate Christmas with all my loved ones, even the furry ones!

Love,

Grandma Judy