Paying it Forward -- there's a giveaway!

December 19, 2011

Okay now, so this is clearly not a Christmas picture, at least not here in Utah in December! This is a photo I took several years ago when I was fortunate enough to be able to travel from Beijing, China to Lhasa, Tibet on a train and I saw this rainbow. The entire trip was extraordinary; this rainbow just a symbol of how remarkable every interaction and every place we stopped was along the way. Before I began sewing and quilting over this past year, I was drawing and working with colored pencils, trying to capture the intense colors that are depicted in the amazing religious and cultural art of the Tibetans. I'll share some of that in some of my future blogs. The colors and images are stunning--lots of vibrant colors used both in religious art and also to depict nature. I've started to think about using textiles (which the Tibetans also do), but through a modern quilting approach to capture some of the Tibetan images and colors which are still swirling around my head.

Tied to this project idea for me is also the idea of gratitude and generosity. The Tibetans have experienced (and continue to experience) oppression and occupation at the hands of the Chinese (although there are dissenting perspectives on the history of the relationship between these two lands), but the grace and persistence and generosity of the Tibetans I met was extraordinary. I had powerful interactions with men, women, and children there during the too short time I visited and the deep spirituality and presence of those people stay with me.

This leads me to my wanting to find more ways in my life in general to give more of myself to others to improve the condition of the world around me. Karen and I participated in a very modest way recently in a Christmas drive organized by an amazing young teenaged woman who works at a favorite cafe of ours. On her own she spearheaded a drive to get toys and items of need for children and their single moms who were re-starting their lives after difficult circumstances. Proving that one person can make a significant impact, this young woman inspired enough volunteers to contribute enough to support almost 100 families! In addition to the toys and other goods that we donated, I made Christmas stockings for the children and their mother, so that they would have something special of their own every year to pull out to remember that they are special. I have so enjoyed the personal gratification of designing and creating new things, but I am mindful of how fortunate I continue to be in my life, so I am committing this year to donate a good portion of what I sew to charity.

With this idea of paying it forward in mind, although perhaps in a slightly different way, I'm picking up on Janine at Rainbow Hare Quilt's 'pay it forward' post, and offering my very own goodie giveaway! First, I suggest that you check out Janine's fabulous blog. She's so creative and has been a wicked busy bunny sewing away in preparation for Christmas (sure, just make the rest of us look bad!). I participated in something like this last year through Facebook and I was floored by the amazing painting that a friend sent me. Nothing more special than a handmade goodie, especially when it comes unexpectedly sometime during the year!

So, here's the deal:

1. I will make a handmade goodie for the first Three people to comment (I'm trusting I have that many people who stop by occasionally to read my blog??!). I will happily send internationally.

2. The goodie will arrive sometime during 2012 (when you least expect it!!)

3. You've gotta pay to play . . . you must commit to send a handmade goodie to the first 3 people to respond to the blog post that you will post on your own blog

4. You must have your own blog (so that you can post your own pay it forward post!)

5. When you leave a comment, I'd welcome a suggestion of how we can add a twist to this pay it forward "game" that includes a pay it forward to the universe element . . . .

Tuesday Update

Finally! Finished my very first stocking! Clearly have to work on my photo techniques, but I didn't want to risk an outdoor shot given the post-snow mud and leaf debris (not to mention the inescapable muddy puppy paws that always follow when I come back inside!). All in all, I'm pretty excited with this! My very first machine quilting, which I shockingly managed to keep on the (fairly) straight and narrow (much easier on the front thanks to the diamonds than it was on the back which is just the red print fabric, but I used a ruler and the fading fabric pen to guide me).
I love this Kate Spain 12 days fabric, so I was happy to be able to use it for this project. I wanted to make a stocking for an older child, hopefully something a foster child can bring with him or her (I'm picturing a girl child with this fabric) as she makes her way in the world). This is for Purple Panda's Stockings for Kids drive for foster children in Central Virginia. When I lived in Southern California, I was overwhelmed at how many homeless young adults I met who had been in the foster system. Once they turn 18, they "age out," and it broke my heart that they didn't have a family support system to help them beyond age 18. I know it's just a Christmas stocking, but I like feeling like I can help a little bit.

I've realized that I haven't shown off my finished mug-ugly rug, so, without further ado, here it is!
Not quite as ugly as originally feared, but most definitely a learning experience! Again, first and foremost a lesson in taking on manageable projects and starting with easier patterns! I'm glad I started with a mug rug, however, as it was a fun size, allowed me to finish fairly quickly, and let me master all the things I need to figure out for my table runner.

Speaking of, the fire is really under the feet now for me to get cooking! I'm falling behind on the rest of the group, I fear! I'm participating in Susan's Modern Christmas Tablerunner Swap, and while I have a house and a tree pieced together, I still have two trees and two houses to go yet, as well as the construction and quilting. Yikes! Time to get the fingers moving! That's number one priority on today's to do list! I hope the secret partner likes it! I spent quite a time tracking down her preferences, and I think I've got her pegged, but it's as it's my first swap I'm a bit nervous. Okay, now back to the sewing machine!

And yes, there is a life beyond the sewing machine, but sometimes it's best to ignore it, and this is one of those weeks!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

Ta dah! And yes, clearly still more to do! What a battle I had all day with my tension! I think I must have ripped out twice as many stitches as I ended up quilting, but I think it's finally coming together. I was originally going to get all complicated (I know, shocking, for anyone who knows me), and do a fancy double hourglass design from Cluck Cluck Sew, but I quickly realized that my ambitions overreached my capacity. I was able to get a couple of the hourglasses done to my satisfaction, but I messed up on the cutting, so I could only get a few done. I therefore decided to just stick with the fabric I liked, but to keep with a simpler pattern that I could complete more successfully. I'm doing this for a foster child for Purple Panda's Stockings for Kids, so I definitely want the finished product to be something special! Now back to the salt mines to tackle all those thread ends, the binding top, and then sew the two quilted halves together! Hopefully I can eke out a little more time to make a few more stockings!

And now back to the sewing machine to get cranking on the tablerunner! I was out of the gates early on the tablerunner, but fell behind while trying to track down the natural linen. With most of the swappers now nearing the finish line with their tablerunners, I'm feeling the fire at my feet, especially given the quilting that lies ahead! I wanted to get the stocking taken care of so that I could get back to the tablerunner, so that's what I'm turning back to tomorrow!

back from the void

October 31--Happy Halloween!

My apologies to my faithful throng of followers. I know that the thousands of you out there have just been waiting with baited breath for my next dispatch from the Wasatch Front! It's been a rough ten days or so out here, so thanks for holding on (er, that is presuming you are still out there? Anyone? . . . the sound of crickets chirping . . . . ).

So, lots on the crafty front. First, given the holiday, here is our household's proudest collective accomplishment: Miss Zoey and Miss Sophie's superhero superpup costumes! It required me to get another toy, er, bit of sewing technology: the handy-dandy walking foot so that I could wrassle less painfully with my fake satin material. As an aside, can I say how much I love that my sewing machine has parts called "feed dogs?" All I can say to that is "woof." Not surprisingly, the girls seem to kind of love their costumes. I think they've had their superhero dog-selves waiting to come out all along. Don't you agree? Zoey is the brown border collie/choc. lab mix in the cape and Sophie is the black lab/blue tick hound mix in the girlie girl wonder woman skirt. They had superhero wrist bands to match, but those were not apparently dog approved, as they were ripped off within seconds (although you can still see them in the photos which were one of the first shots taken). Next year I might do bloomers for Sophie, as I don't think a girl should be running around with her skirt flying up around her ears!




Next, I finally finished my mug-ugly rug. Ta dah! After three goes of it, I finally mastered the binding. I was so ready just to have the $%&#@ project finished (please excuse the potty mouth!) when my dear sweetie intervened, seam ripper at the ready. I wasn't sure whether I was appreciative or not at the time! But now that I redid it for the fourth and final time, it looks just dandy, and I have FINALLY figured out how to do a binding (which is a good thing since I'll have to do that for the tablerunner which is rushing up fast and furious!)! Not the most beauteous thing in the world, but for my very first machine quilted anything, let alone my first mug rug, I feel pretty good about it. Now to figure out what do to with it! Debating between a mouse pad for my ever wily too-fast Mac mouse or for my sewing machine pedal which keeps skedaddling away from me on the slippery hard plastic mat I put on top of my carpet in my office (kind of weird option, I know).

Third, I made a work basket for all my mobile crafty tasks. I inevitably end up taking my various knitting, embroidery, and other sundry crafty things for when I'm watching TV or for car rides and such. Rather than just letting it explode and propagate as it's been doing, I thought I'd create a craft bag in a basket to try to contain my chaos. I found a clearance basket at Smith's Marketplace for $1.50 and took some fabric, and shazam!

Also, lest my Christmas tablerunner swap folks think I'm falling down on the job (which I may be, given that some are already finished--yikes!), I finally think I've figured out the paper piecing technique and redid my first tree, which now looks like something made in elementary school. I've now done two of my three trees, and one of my three trees. I also finally conquered the pre-Halloween lines at the various fabric stores and finally got my linen fabric for the centerpiece of my tablerunner. My partner does not, I don't think, like a lot of white, for various reasons, on her tablerunner, so I'm hoping a natural linen will do the job. So hard to guess someone's preferences when she is so far away and someone I've never met!

So, hoping to make lots of headway on this runner this week now that I have this fabric. I also spent what seemed like FOREVER and laundered ALL of the fabric I was going to potentially use for the tablerunner. There are a lot of dark reds and greens and I was terrified they were going to run. I have a bunch of individual mesh laundry bags, but it still took a long time to sort the laundry by color, send it all through the washer and dryer, cut all the fribbly edges off (my new word for that thread debris), and then iron the big pile. So now, back to the start and ready to dig back in!

And currently on the work pile--other than keeping on with the tablerunner? I've finally broken the seal on the stocking for Purple Panda's great stocking drive for kids, and am hoping to finish it up by tomorrow. If I can get in the groove, I'm hoping to do a few. In my family, every one had his or her own special stocking (not handmade, but special nonetheless), and it feels important to me to make these foster children something special for them to have all for themselves. There are some great giveaways associated with this stocking drive, which you can check out on Purple Panda's site, but for me the best gift is doing something for a child without a permanent home or family.

Also on the list, I've signed up for Pamela at French Knot's two-day sewing retreat in November in Utah. I was totally bummed I couldn't do the Sewing Summit (count me in next year!), so I just had to take advantage of this opportunity to get together with some crafty folk and whittle down my Christmas list (it doesn't help that in my household my significant other is also a sewer, so secret projects may sometimes be jeopardized by innocent walkbys and offers of help!).




And so, for anyone still actually reading any of this, on non-crafty news, I actually broke free from the bubble that is my neighborhood last week. My sweetie and I drove what is known as the Alpine Loop. It's only open another few weeks (until it snows). It goes up to about 8,000 feet or so and winds through the mountains. It was totally beautiful: changing leaves, amazing stone outcroppings, beautiful aspen groves. It was one of those very clearly needed mental health days! Amazing to think this is only a 45 minute drive away!

Okay, so now ending the world's longest blog entry!