Debra--Some Commission & Reclamation Work

Barbara wrote me about embroidering a blouse for her mother with some modern Mexican motifs.  Because they are intense designs with a lot of thread, I decided to stitch another one to test them. I've discovered that a market near my house may be a good spot to sell some merchandise to a large Hispanic population.  Toward that end, I am collecting ideas and supplies in brighter colors that might appeal.  They certainly appeal to me! 

The turquoise is going to be a set of patchwork pillows.  The red will be Barbara's mother's blouse.

Another idea I've had for awhile is to buy patchwork pillow shams, disassemble them and turn them into table runners.  I have a set of the blue and burgundy stars and a single of the blue and green star.  I'll quilt them on the longarm, bind them and offer them at the markets too.  Once they were disassembled, starched and ironed, they weren't half bad!

Finally some sewing news!  The organization business is keeping me pretty busy.  I guess the world is full of unorganized people!  :-)

Debra: Reclaimed Denim Skull Apron

I just finished sewing this custom apron for an artist in Canada.  She wanted a very reclaimed look and I am tickled I was able to pull it off for her.  I especially like the 2 waist pockets.  It's lined with a nice cotton that features circles with similar colors as the sugar skulls.

In other news, Geico called Friday with news that they are repairing my Corvette.  In the meantime I am driving a Nissan Murano.  If someone gave me one, I wouldn't refuse it; but it's not my vehicle of choice.  I'm a single woman not a soccer mom!  

Debra: Patched Drapes

The Patched Drapes for my Studio are Finished!  Big project.  Love the Shabby Chic look.  They are exactly what I wanted.  It's so liberating to make this space suit me.  

I thought these would eat up more fabric than they did.  What do I know?

Debra: January Block CQJP2015

Here's where I'll be all month.

My CQ supplies are still in boxes so it may take a bit of effort to get totally organized.

Debra: Christmas Dog Stockings

Some of the Christmas stockings I have been embroidering and sewing for the local Golden Retriever Rescue group.  Mindless little creative pieces! 

Debra: Lots of Machine Embroidery

I've accepted a few opportunities to sell my work locally.  Each shop or show seems to have a little bit of a different market so I am scrambling to embroider pieces that will suit the shop's style.  It's been a long while since I did any major machine embroidery work & I've missed it.

Right now I am concentrating on big 18" pillows with a single motif in the middle.  From a design perspective, it's pretty basic; but, most people like it.

I was able to stitch these motifs today.  Each one took an hour to stitch.

Personal projects are taking a back seat for a few weeks until I can get my inventory stitched.

Debra: My Crazy Life-Getting Started

I have started the hand embroidery on my very large crazy quilt called My Crazy Life. It's going to be a very loose memory quilt with embroidered motifs about my life and interests. All of the blocks are pieced & now it is time for the embroidery and embellishments.  At present I am keeping the hand embroidery very simple.

It's a busy quilt and I love it already.

Debra: Patchwork Pillow Covers

The blue crazy patch pillows (16") are finished. Here they are sitting on my living room couch with other handmade pillows. They will be flying off to IL this afternoon for a Mother's Day event at Karcher Art Studios.

I pieced and quilted all the backs of the pillows.  The binding was sewn on with the longarm in one continuous length.  I ironed the binding to the inside and topstitched it down.

This is a 4 pillow backing ready to return to the longarm.  Once on the frame I'll lay the pillow fronts on top and stitch the square that joins them as pillows.

Pillow fronts were sewn from miscellaneous blocks and some scrap crumb blocks.  Everything was straight line quilted.

Today is absolutely the last day to sew them.  If they are not delivered to UPS this afternoon, they won't arrive in time for the event.  I'm uncomfortable working this close to a deadline.  I originally thought I would pull some wallhangings from my portfolio but I was told the studio had very little wall space to use.  That bit of news sent me scurrying for a new idea.

In the end I'm glad I took the time to experiment with the technique I used for constructing the pillows. I'll be using it again on pillows I offer for sale. 

Debra: Vintage Linens and Raw Edge Yardage

I'm sewing raw edge yardage on my longarm; inserting some vintage linen pieces for interest. Might become living room pillows!

Debra: Machine Quilting

Nothing but straight lines for me for a few days!

I have a seriously large stack of quilts to get quilted.  

Debra: Conversations 2

Conversations 2

55 x 84 inches

Cotton, linen, polyester blends, reclaimed clothing, ribbons, trims

Machine stitched

In the end I liked this piece without any of the other colored adornments.  

A friend sent me 2 quilt tops that needed a border.  I remembered a bright pink dust ruffle I had that I could use for the border.  After I ripped the skirt from the foundation, I liked the pink edge left over.  That coupled with a linen drapery piece formed the background for my textured piece.  

It will be interesting to watch if the humid Houston air will drop those wrinkles out of the linen.  I starched that fabric prior to hanging but as you can see, that was an exercise in futility!  I'll say it adds to the textural look!

Debra: On the Verge of a New Project

Starting to think about a large CQ . . . .

Either turn this pile into a machine stitched CQ

OR, start the handwork on this huge CQ . . . .

I'm in the mood for "my colors".   I think the reason some of my UFOs (which I have been diligently finishing) are not appealing to me is because of the color(s).

Debra: Men's Shirt Quilt

After a frustrating day yesterday trying to stitch the Baptist Fan with templates, I felt I had to stitch something I could handle successfully.  I have a sneaky feeling when I finish this quilt I won't want to give it away.

I learned recently from a new quilting friend that the leftover sheeting on rolls is called "butt rolls".
I bought this butt roll from the thrift store probably 5 years ago and have been steadily working it down. Like my own butt rolls, it just never seems to budge!
It's great for foundation piecing.

Most of yesterday was spent trying to understand and stitch the Baptist Fan.  I did improve by the evening but I still have a ways to go.  It's getting presentable (if stitched on very busy fabric) but nothing near where it could be with more practice.

It would be nice if my free motion skills transferred as easily to ruler or template work as I wanted it to do; but, it doesn't.  Just because I can do one with some proficiency, doesn't mean the other comes easily.  New muscle memory, working with specific shapes, measuring-it all works into the equation.  It reminds me of trying to stitch CQ seams freehand vs. template drawn; lots of similarities.  And, probably good to know how to stitch both.