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Alone

When you're wired differently you see things from an uncommon perspective. It's why people like me are unable to join in groups and behave like others, and why we're often made to suffer because of it. The herd demands uniformity and obedience to their demands, and from their persepctive when you don't fit in or obey them, you have to be corrected and punished. The tragedy is that you're really no different from anyone in the herd, except that you don't need or want to be part of the herd. You're fine on your own. Your crime, if you want to call it that, is that through your independence you make the herd see that the herd isn't necessary. That is in their view unforgivable. I came to the realization that I've tolerated the herd's bullying for much of my life because I regarded myself as defective -- as missing something important that everyone else has. This need to herd, to be part of something bigger and (questionably) better than ...
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Recent posts

Again with the Dyeing

Since my attempt to actually coffee stain something failed, I'm going to try to stain the same bag with tea, since that seems to work better for me. Recycling tip: when your black tea bags expire, don't throw them away. Save them in a jaw and label it for tea-staining. I didn't leave the bag soaking in tea for long -- about an hour -- but the difference is remarkable. No more coffee staining for me. :)
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Panels to Tote

Once I put together and machine quilted both panels of my calendar project's September tote, it was time to make handles and assemble it. I sewed together more of the vintage fabric strips for the handles, and then sewed them and the panels into a tote. This is the first quilted project I've ever made entirely by machine. This also represents basically all the quilting I can do going forward, because hand quilting has become impossible for me. I need a lot more practice with quilting by machine (I might look into an online course, too, if they have one with captions), but I'm happy with what I was able to do, particularly under so much pressure at the moment as a family caregiver.
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Blocks to Panel

Once I had all the strips for my calendar project's September tote sewn into blocks, it was time to sew them into panels, batt and back them, and machine quilt the patchwork. Here's one panel, completely finished. The machine quilting was a bit hairy for me, probably because just before I started working on it I had to deal with yet another drama situation. Lesson learned: never try to machine quilt when you're distracted and upset. The backing (this pink fabric came from the thrifted bundle.) It's absolutely not perfect, but I learned a lot from doing it.
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Strips to Blocks

I began sewing together the strips I made from 10" squares from the vintage fabric basket, and I didn't follow a pattern. To keep my stress level manageable I want to stick to a simple improv of the rail fence patchwork scheme (here's a free tutorial for a rainbow version.) I thought four strips would make a square, but I actually needed five per block. This is roughly what one panel of my calendar project's September tote will look like. I am hoping to make this tote entirely by machine. I finished sewing together all eight blocks and switched them around until I liked the placement. Next up is sewing them together to make two panels, and then batting and backing them for the machine quilting.
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Oops

Since my daughter left a little of her cold brew coffee (which we don't drink) behind when she left, I decided it was the perfect time to try coffee staining. I soaked my muslin bag in the cold brew for about three hours. It came out looking dirty (I neglected to take a pic) so I tossed it in the washer with some things I laundered on cold/delicate with regular detergent. Here is the stained bag (right) next to an untreated bag. It shrank, and all the coffee staining came out in the wash, so that was a complete fail. I didn't care for how this sort of staining looked, so in a way it was a win for me.
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Squares to Strips

I took all the 10" vintage fabric squares out of my basket and sorted them into print types. Basically I have 29 geometric, butterfly, floral and other type prints. That's plenty for a tote, and perhaps enough for a small quilt as well. I decided not to get too ambitious, and cut all the squares into 2-1/2 strips. I then had to sort them according to their value, light to dark (didn't take a picture of that.) I randomly put together four strips out of all the piles, which I plan to sew together into blocks, and then turn the blocks into my September tote for my calendar project, and (possibly) a quilt top. Stay tuned to the blog to see how that goes. :)
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