Borders for The Fabric You Ran Out Of: A Cautionary Tale

Sue Mackinen's been hexing. And she doesn't seem to be able to stop. We tried to take a picture with her and her quilt top, but she refused to stop giggling. So this was the best we could do on that.

But the sad part is she ran out of that great burgundy background. She thought she'd bought enough. Maybe the project grew as she got going. The colors are so great they gleam.  But there isn't enough and there isn't going to be more.
So she brought it in and we started looking with her.

We used a ruby beholder when we were picking out fabric. If you look through the beholder, you can see how light and dark the colors are in comparison. It really helps.

We tried prints. We tried to match it. Neither worked. 
Then we found a burgundy about 5 shades lighter. It didn't quite match. But it did blend.

So we brought out the secret weapon fabric, LIME GREEN.
A single hexie row of lime will separate the colors that really don't match and come close enough that people will think you tried and failed. It's actually a complementary color to the burgundies, so it's got a extra visual punch to it.

Sue's thrilled. We can't wait to see her quilt. But there are some lessons to be learned here.

• You never know when a project is going to grow, get out of hand, or when something will be messed up. Buy extra fabric. A lot. It may not be there when you get back.

• If you cannot match a  fabric, border it with a contrasting or blending fabric.

• If the fabrics don't blend as well as you like, separate them with something completely different. 

• Don't giggle so much when you get your picture taken. or you can traditionally hold your quilt up so no one can see you. And after all, we love you. But we really want to see your quilt.

• If you want someone to help pick out the fabric to match what you don't have any more, we're right here. Come in and we'll do our best.
  
  

Ellen Anne Eddy is Teaching at Threadbenders!

Three Point Landing, Ellen Anne Eddy

Ellen Anne Eddy will be teaching her beginning free motion class, Stitch Vocabulary, on Thursday June 19, from 4-7. Come join her and open up a new world of free motion stitching  for yourself.

Learn  

• Machine Doodling 
• Faux zigzag
• Zigzag garnet stitch, 
• Straight garnet stitch,
• Zigzag stitch  for 
• Outline
• Shading
• Smoothing
• StipplingSignature
• Machine care

In three hours you can  learn all the moves Ellen does. 
All you need to bring is a sewing machine that stitches straight and zigzag and a darning foot.

$25 Class fee

$7 kit fee

You'll find Ellen's work at

ellenanneeddy.wordpress.com

ellenanneeddy.com

or at Facebook under Ellen Anne Eddy Thread Magic Studio.

See you there!

The Precious Piece: Saving Scraps without Drowning in Them

From The Thrifty Quilter

Quilters save things. It's part of what we do. We have collections of string, seeds from 3 years ago, children's shoes, recipes all tucked away against the day when we need them. It's unique to each of us. My mother had a catch of olives. At one point I think she had 4 varieties and 15 cans or bottles. Just in case.

And we save fabric. Why? Because it's precious. 
Not every piece. but the ones that are really are. Either they're a memory of a favorite dress or a child's costume or something else glowingly special. Or because as a print it is special. We all know the feeling. There's fabric that will work for a project and then there's fabric that is utterly fabulous just for who and what it is.

So we save it for a while. Then we make something of it. And we love it. And we tuck the scraps away somewhere so we can use them somewhere else. In a quilt or in a pot holder, or in an evening bag. Just somewhere. 

This is all lovely until you're drowning in scraps and the horder photo van has just pulled up to your house.
As with all moments of truth, we have several questions to ask. We need to play the game,

Keep It or Toss it. 

It actually doesn't make a difference as to where you set your rules. Just set one.  You'll find any system that lets you throw something out starts relieving the pressure.

Do you have to throw it out?

Heavens no. Make someone happy. What you want to toss is a treasure for someone.
Sell it

• Ugly fabric exchanges
• Sell bags of scraps at either a guild booth or online

Give it

• A friend who uses those sizes, colors,  fabrics
• A kid's club
• The school as art supplies
• The woman's shelter
• Your church
• The birds ( they like very small scraps for nests. I was shocked to find out they like poly fleece in shreds.)

I would argue if it's irredeemably filthy or smells really bad you already know the answer.

I would also argue that if it's precious as a memory, you get to keep it as long as you want. But I would ask myself, would a photo do that as well?

Less really is more here. If you can't find anything because there's just too much, there needs to be less. Keep the things that give you joy and let the rest just fall to the side.

Orange Juice and Sunshine: New Fabrics

If lime is the new neutral, orange is the new pink. At least that's the thinking about fresh colors.

No matter how you feel about fashion and hot colors, they sneak into your work. Mostly because they look so cool together with the other colors of the day.

Orange comes and goes as a fashion color. It was in the 70s, anathama in the 80s, very bland in the early 90s and back big time after 2000. Say what you will about orange, no one is neutral about it. A lot of people are nervous about using orange.

But it always has a kick. It's visual orange juice.
We just got in the coolest line of orange pieces.

Of course any time we have one color, it needs to have some other colors  to dance with. The greens and the yellow are perfect.

Simple squares and strips become a woven-look wonder. And they feel like the orange juice and sunshine waiting for you on a perfect summer day.

Do you have a color you never use? See what happens when you stretch a little and work start with a color outside your palette. You'll never know until you try.

Party Hats: Stars in your Crown

Wanda came in with the cutest birthday crown this week. Her grandson was turning one and her daughter requested it. It was button cute. She'd even found a plane fabric for the front. You know that birthday crown is going to be part of every kid's birthday until it's an active embarrassment. It wouldn't surprise me if it got used at family events (birthday breakfast) well after that. 

 She sensibly used a button and loop closure that means it can be worn later when the birthday boy is larger. Wanda didn't make just a birthday crown. She made a birthday tradition. It may last until the kid can vote. Surely until he can ride a bike.

It made me think about the kind of family tradition that gets built up by the things sewers are willing to make for someone's special day. If you've done it for one kid, you must do it for them all. And because it's fabric, it has a chance of lasting through one party day into another years later. A trip through the wash can handle all but the very worst spill messes. Although, I do recommend printed fabric the color of cake and Pepsi.

felt party hats

So I went looking for some of the fabulous home made party hats and banners that are out there. 

Soft Baby Crown by Charlebebe

I rapidly landed in the cute zone. But cute is mostly what kids like. Here were some of the great birthday hats out there.

What Birthday is this? from the Mustard Seed Family

A herd of Dinosaurs found on Flickr

Monster Hats on Gabba Friends

Some of these are paper, but the translation to fabric is simply a matter of stabilizer. Use a stiff enough stabilizer and your fabric acts like paper.

Want to know how? Come in and talk to Wanda. She'll walk you through it.

The unstated glory of all of this is what every sewer's kid knows. They know either Grand mom or Mommy can make it. And because she loves me, she will. It leads to some late nights in craft land. And to family traditions that last forever.

Challenging Ourselves: The Michiana Modern Quilt Guild

Last night we had the Michiana Modern Quilt Guild meeting at Threadbenders. We always love it when these ladies come in. They have some much energy and creativity.

They had done a challenge for the group. They'd picked a group of fabrics to work with and then went for it.

Diane's Quilt

Of course the quilts were awesome! 

Wanda's Quilt

It was a contest, and we did vote for several winners.

Linda's Quilt

But the real prize was what happens when you stretch yourself with your art.  I think there was at least one "I don't want to use that " fabric for everyone who made a quilt. But they did it. And the quilts were great.

Kim's Quilt

After we step over that border, there are so many things we can do we haven't thought of before. It's the best prize you can win. And it's something only you can give to yourself.

Joan's Quilt

Part of what is so cool about the Modern Quilt movement is the clean lines and unexpected design choices. And these ladies had excelled at that.

Peg's Quilt

The Michiana Modern Quilt Guild is taking a break for the summer. They'll be back in fall with new programs, new quilts, new ideas, all astonishments.

Why Dye?: Some Thoughts about Dyeing Wool

Sue Makinen's Wool Applique

Since Sue Makinen has joined us at Threadbenders, we've gone a bit applique mad. It's around the bend a bit, but didn't we all want to travel?

Our Vintage Wools

That being said, we started to talk about wool. And wool is truly wonderful to work with. It needles beautifully, you can do astonishing applique with it, and it feels wonderful to work with. 

We have a great collection of vintage wool pieces that are amazing for applique. And we have Sue as our guide, mentor and inspiration.

Peg's Wool Block

Then Peg started to work on this block with hand dyed wool.It's beautiful. No doubt about it. 

But why dye? Why would you make that kind of mess?

Personally I get asked that all the time and the answer is easy. I'm just that messy.

Three Sheep Studio

But dyeing gets you fabric you just can't get any way except by dyeing. Unless you know someone else who can dye it and will share.

Why would we dye?
Several reasons:

From The Cotton Patch

• You can get colors you just don't find anywhere else.There probably isn't much vintage orange, lime green, purple plum, and bright pink wool anywhere. I can't work without those. Can you?

  

  Page by Leslie Main Johnson 

•  You can get ranges of colors. It's nice to have one brown. It's fabulous to have 3 or 4.
• You can have it in quantities that are useful for your work
• A vintage piece of fabric is only as big as it is.I know that sounds obvious, but when you want it for a background and it's in three inch pieces, it is a heartbreak. If you're dyeing your own, it can be in useful sizes.

  

  From The Wool Garden

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• You can get variations in fabric color that are really gorgeous for floral applique especially. Mottled colors are very beautiful in all kinds of flowers, and echo the real shades from a garden.

• You can have fabric that shifts colors. Imagine vines made out of fabric with several greens in them. Are you there?

Finally we have a collection of people in our store doing applique who might really want it.

So we're thinking about it. I dyed up some tiny samples just to get a sense of the process, and we're considering dyeing wool for the store. Are you interested?
Let us know what you think!

And look for Sue's wool applique class coming soon.