Lynn Carson Harris

The Series Continues

Sometimes I feel like these little quilts design themselves.  They certainly have a way of telling me what to do, or more often what NOT to do.
I have a hard time cutting into large pieces of fabric when I make quilts. I love to use my scraps.  Last September I cut a large pile of two and a half inch strips from my collection of 1930's reproduction fabrics.  I have been moving them from place to place in my sewing room and decided it was time to start something from them.  The May/June challenge for the Doll Quilt Challenge group was the exquisite block. Yeah, I had to do it.  I wanted to try something a little different from the others I have made.  I used the print fabrics for the foundation squares and a solid for the triangles.  I was hoping I would get a baby quilt out of this. 
So, P and I worked on cutting squares off the strips. As I cut three or four squares from each strip P collected them and made a pile on the floor.  When finished, I asked her to put the pile next to the sewing machine so they would be ready when we had time to sew them. 
Well, a day or so later I sat at the machine with some strips of the purple fabric to cut into triangles as I sewed.  Worked until each square had the two triangles sewn to them. I pressed them, trimmed them and laid them out.  It was a small quilt.  Just enough for a doll quilt.  I guess those squares were just a bit to small to try and make a baby quilt.  I didn't want to cut more. I was ready to sew them together.

When pressing the finished top I noticed a pile of squares on P's ironing board!
"P,  why are these  squares of fabric over here?"
"Those are mine."

So, that explains the small quilt. Moving on.

I found the PERFECT thread for quilting in my thread drawer. I found this beautiful hand dyed perle cotton by Melody Johnson. I bought it years ago when she spoke at our local quilt guild.

I tried hand quilting in the centers of the squares but the thread was not visible.  Then I tried machine quilting. That just made the whole thing look muddy.  I picked that out too.  That thread needed to be on the solid fabric. I just couldn't make that work.  I ended up quilting in the ditch. I like the clear look of the fabric that way.  I am, however, eager to use that thread on something now.

Here it is. The scrap quilt not made from scraps. 18.5 x 22.5 inches.

You can find this quilt in the shop.

Don't Fence Me In

The middle school time was spent growing fast and working out that pecking order. Sometimes they felt like all the other girls were against them,  like they were always getting picked on.  It was a difficult time for them.   Each seems to be comfortable with her place now and they are moving on.
They are big girls now.  Big enough to run loose with the older girls. They are ready for the move to high school. 

Yeah, they have more freedom.  They can go wherever they want but they have a curfew.  They must be in bed by dark. 

They are feeling more relaxed.

They are more daring like the older girls.

They try new things and different personalities just like the high school girls.

They make new friends.

Soon they will be picking up bad habits from the older girls. They will be crossing the driveway and digging in the gardens. I just know it.  I have seen it all before.

Yellow in July

Just a quick break from  sewing and knitting to share pictures of the cone flowers blooming in our native prairie area that we burned in April.

Marking Fabric for Embroidery

I thought I would share my easy, peasy, low tech method for marking my embroidery designs on fabric.
I use freezer paper for a lot of things in my sewing room, such as, marking designs for embroidery.  First, I draw or trace out a design in pencil.   Once I have the design finalized I trace it onto the dull side of a piece of freezer paper.  I go over the design with an ultra fine point sharpie pen so that it is very dark.

Next, I place the shiny side of the freezer paper on the fabric and press until the freezer paper adheres to the fabric.  Then, I hold or tape the fabric up to a window and draw over the design with a fine point pencil. A mechanical pencil with a 0.5 mm lead works well. The freezer paper acts as a stiffener for the fabric and the fabric doesn't wiggle while you draw the design.

This method works great for small designs. My mother always said one should "make hay while the sun shines." With this method that is very true. I make sure I have my fabric marked before the sun goes down if I want to stitch in the evening.  Also, the design ends up reversed with this method.  If this matters you should trace onto the freezer paper with the original pattern reversed.

Here is the finished cat from this drawing.

Making Progress

I have made a couple of things for P to wear when preschool starts and progressed a little in my sewing room tidying at the same time.  P. had been admiring these pink fabrics in my sewing room ever since they arrived in the mail back in the winter, so, I made her a reversible apron/smock. 

I also turned these size 18 women's thrift shop capri pants into a pair of pants for P.   

Please forgive the uncooperative model.  I started these a week or two ago but was frustrated with the way they fit.  I trimmed the legs down but they still did not look right.  This morning I took the front waist band off and reworked the elastic in the back and the band in the front.  I hemmed them and they fit much better still a little baggy looking but we are going with it.   
The fabric was stretchy and I wish I had remembered my walking foot before I had finished them.
I also finished knitting B's slippers but I'll wait until I knit my new slippers and then felt  both at the same time.

Back to work...

Clouds at Sunset

The low sun in the morning and evening is great for photography.  The colors are often more vibrant. We have noticed that the barn is a very vibrant red on some evenings. 
Last night, on our after dinner walk I noticed the clouds.
Light on dark.

Dark on light.

Dark and light.

What have you noticed in your neighborhood lately?

Go With the Flow Socks

I think I may have started a few too many projects and I am now on a mission to finish some of them off.  Let's see what I can get done in the next few days. 
First off the production line is the next, pair nine, in the Two Make a Pair project. A. knit hers lickety split as she was driving to her new home. I, however, only worked on my sock a few minutes here and there until I had to sit at the car shop waiting for my car to be serviced.  While there, I finally made enough progress that I was encouraged to finish without much more delay. 

The pattern, Go With the Flow Socks by Evelyn Clark, can be found in the Spring 2005 issue of Interweave Knits or Favorite Socks by Interweave Press.
We used Wildfoote Luxury Sock Yarn by Brown sheep.  We followed the pattern as printed except worked the first 10 rows P2, K4 instead of following the chart in the book.

I have learned that it is very difficult to photograph your own feet from the side. I have done it a few times but I have to take soooooo many photos. I just hold the camera out and click. There is no way to see what will be in the picture.  I take a bunch of shots and then look at them on the computer and go back out to try again.  So, I sort of put M. in charge of this photo shoot.  When the evening light was right we went out and he had me stand on some old fence boards beside the pumpkin patch. I didn't argue because at that point P. was the only other person around and I don't think her photo would have turned out any better than one I would take. I am lucky I did not break a bone.  The next sock photo may be a photo taken by me looking straight down at my feet.  We shall see.  M also took photos here, here, and here.
P. wanted in on the action so he also took this photo.
Sometimes I wonder what the neighbors think when we are out with the camera.
We just "go with the flow..."

Blueberry Farm - Blueberry Pie

We made our first trip to the local U-Pick blueberry farm.  It is close enough that M ran and met us there. (He has just passed 200 miles for the summer and is hoping to make it to 500 before school starts.) 
We hung our buckets from our belts and started picking.

P was like Little Sal. Kuplink, kuplank, kuplunk. Her recommended method of picking was to  "eat the big ones and put the little ones in the pail."  She did a lot of picking but must have found mostly BIG berries

I like to go early in the morning and listen to the birds while I pick.  I get in my own little pretend world that I am a pioneer woman working to feed my family.  I ignore that the bushes are in straight trimmed rows and the ground below my feet has been mowed.  When I hear the calls of "Only pick the BLUE ones," and "wow, look how big these berries are," and "how many berries have you picked?" coming across the field , I am jolted back to reality.  The spell is broken and I know it is time to go.

Morning's haul: 15 pounds.

For lunch we all had peanut butter and blueberry sandwiches. Ahhh, only a short time each year can you have THAT for lunch!

We will freeze most of them for pies this winter.

Miner's Blueberry Pie Filling
3 cups fresh or frozen blueberries (I use 4 cups for a 10 inch pie)
1/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup flour
1/2 tsp cinnamon

Mix dry ingredients. Add to blueberries and mix gently.
Pour into pie pan with crust. Add top crust.
Bake at 400 degrees for 40-50 minutes.

Embroidery on Linen

Linen is my favorite fabric for embroidery. I have worked with both of these linen fabrics before, but sewing on them on the same day made me notice how different these two fabrics are.

The white is more coarse. It is more difficult to get tiny details to look nice. I still need to put the flower in that little guy's hat. The other is like stitching through butter.  I wish I knew how they were described in the industry.  This would help me when I want to order more linen.  I bought both fabrics from a costume maker for reenactors about 7 years ago.  Does anyone have a great source for nice linen fabric they would like to share?

I tried this little elf in a different stitch on the white and it was easier to get the finer details.

These embroideries are for an embroidery on linen swap on flickr.

Coming up with the designs was great fun. These designs are from a couple of 100 year old  books in my children's book collection. They are sized up  for easier stitching.   

Watching the Pumpkins Grow

It might sound weird but I find pumpkin plants fascinating.  I am enjoying having them a little closer to the house this year. They are right behind the barn instead of down in the field.  I see them each time I go tend the chickens or to the vegetable garden.
They burst out of the ground so fast that some of them still held their seed hulls.

They grow and grow and then start flowering. They start off looking like little gnomes.

The stamens look like cheetos.

Then they curl.

They are good at making curls.

They just keep growing.

And they make pumpkins. 

Keep us in mind in October. We planted 94 hills of pumpkin plants!