Days for Girls: Near and Far

For the fall issue of Stitch magazine, I wrote a story about Days for Girls, an organization that's working to break the cycle of poverty for women and girls by distributing reusable feminine hygiene pads and shields sewn by thousands of volunteers. I learned about the story from an Instagram photo that my neighbor Molly posted after she spent a retreat weekend sewing for the org. Once I had the chance to talk with Celeste, the founder of Days for Girls, I was hooked. So many of us take for granted access to feminine hygiene products, and Celeste learned that without those products girls miss up to a week of school a month (and often drop out because they're so far behind) and women miss work and can't make money to feed their families.

You can learn more about Days for Girls by visiting their web site, but I wanted to mention two upcoming events. The first is local: we're having a Days for Girls sew-in at Home Ec Workshop on Sunday, Oct. 6 from noon til 5.

If you're not local and would like to join in, you can participate in the first-ever Days for Girls Global Sew-a-Thon, to be held on October 11, the International Day of the Girl. During the Sew-a-Thon, Days for Girls chapters throughout the world will be sewing for 24 hours straight. Chapters and individuals will sit down at their sewing machines for one massive, global effort to sew and assemble kits and win back days for girls and women everywhere.

Learn more at http://www.daysforgirls.org/#!global-sew-a-thon/chqi, visit their event page at http://www.crowdrise.com/DaysforGirls. Also, check out the Days for Girls Facebook page. (And if you're interested in spreading the word on your blog, let me know and I'd be happy to share photos and copy.)

Two Fall Favorites: Quilt Shows and Leaf Peeping

I've never been to New Albin, Iowa, but got word of a quilt show in October you might want to add to your calendar. New Albin is on the Mississippi River, just south of the state line between Minnesota and Iowa. Driving along the river in the fall is always lovely. Our first year back in Iowa we took our girls and drove to Effigy Mounds to see the autumn color. At dinner that night, in the tiny town of Harper's Ferry, we waited our turn in a restaurant and noticed two women giving us the eye. One of them leaned over to the other and said, sotto voce, "Leaf peepers." The other nodded solemnly. "Leaf peepers" instantly become a McCray family favorite phrase. But I digress.

The photo I got about the New Albin quilt show features cow quilts, based on the book by Mel McFarland and Mary Lou Weideman book: Out of the Box with Easy Blocks. You may remember when Mel brought samples from the book to my parents' house, or when everyone was stitching them at our Lake Tahoe retreat.  The variety is endless (and often hilarious). Looks like the quilters of New Albin have caught cow-fever, but there will be other quilts, as well: this is the show's fifth year and in years past they've had as many as 200 quilts.

The show will be held int he New Albin Community Center on October 11 to 13 (Friday, 4 to 7pm; Saturday, 10 am. to 5 pm; and Sunday, 12 to 4 pm).

No, Pearl, No!

Pearl feigning nonchalance

When I was visiting my folks in Southern California, my mom and I happened upon a great shop in Laguna Hills: Sewing Party. They had some fantastic samples and their classroom was buzzing with activity. My mom was so inspired that she had my dad take her back the next day and she bought the Harlequin pillow pattern (which also includes this smaller, pin cushion version).

She asked me to clarify the instructions on the pin cushion portion of the pattern and so I ended up making one while we were at our cabin. (Pearl was convinced it was a dog toy and would snatch it whenever I looked away.) I made two using Vanessa Christensen's Simply Style and when I got home I made another with Carolyn Friedlander's Architextures fabrics. I've also marked the quarter-inch stopping points on two more sets of squares (the most fiddly part of the process) in preparation for sewing them. If you're in possession of any of those mini-charm packs (2.5" squares), they work perfectly for this project. Making something three-dimensional was really a revelation.

(If you'd like to try your hand at the Harlequin pin cushion and live in the area, I'll be teaching a class at Home Ec on Oct. 19. They'd make great holiday gifts, and wouldn't you feel so smug having a head start on those! )

Stitching Up a Storm

My vacation sewing seemed to inspire me to keep at it and since I've returned I've finished another Sorbetto top (my favorite yet), worked on the back for my recently finished quilt top, and stitched up a Sew and Stow bag from the latest Quilts and More, designed by none other than my friend Mel McFarland.

Quilt tops await backs at the top of the stairs

I've also started working an afternoon a week at Home Ec Workshop. As always with a new job, it's that combination of fun (Fabric! Yarn! Nice people!) and terror (Why is the cash register beeping? How much milk goes in a latte? How do I help someone pick up a dropped stitch?). I've gone in three times now and Codi and Anna have been infinitely patient.

I stitched the Sew and Stow bag as a shop sample—whipped it up after dinner one night, and it was a great excuse to combine three lovely fabrics. The instructions were super simple to follow and it seriously took less than two hours. I might make the tabs that keep it rolled up slightly longer—just an inch, really—when using fabric that's a little heavier than quilting cotton—I used Anna Maria Horner's lovely linen/cotton Ghost Wing for the body of the bag, Vanessa Christensen's Simply Style for the top exterior (and an orange solid you can't see to line the top). These would be great gifts, because they're not just tschotkes, but really useful. Yay, Mel!

My Sorbetto top is made of...the fabric name is escaping me, but I've admired it for some time. Anyone remember? The bias tape was made from a Kaffe shot cotton fat quarter: all of it actually only required a 10"square of fabric. I used this great method from Collette: took me awhile to get it the first time, but once I did it works like a charm.

Finally, I had some very exciting news this week related to my "real" job...writing. Can't share it for awhile, but you'll definitely be hearing about it later this year. 

Back to Reality

Pearl the Squirrel inspecting the perfectly still lake

Just returned from vacation (sniff, sniff)—nearly two weeks at our family cabin. Though it was much cooler than usual and we weren’t able to swim or even be out on the lake much, it proved perfect for sewing.

I hauled along my trusty Featherweight and finished up my Fabric Fusion quilt that I started after a workshop with Bill Kerr of ModernQuilt Studio. It was a lot of little pieces. But I really wanted to give Bill’s (and Week’s) concept of mixing Jo Morton and Anna Maria Horner fabrics a try. The “fabric smackdown” we did in the workshop was where this started and this Brandon Mabley fabric was my initial inspiration.

These oranges and greens and reds and pinks aren’t “my” colors, either, and that provided an additional challenge. But I’m quite pleased with the end result. I used something like 38 or 39 fabrics in the quilt—including a tiny scrap of this madras plaid in the center, which I found in my mother’s sewing room, a leftover from a summer top she made me when I was in elementary school! I purchased about ten new fabrics, but the rest were from my stash and some of them were truly just scraps: the Amy Butler fabric was from my first Birdie Sling and the orange batik (top right) was from my very first quilt.

I love the crispness the white sashing provides. A highly satisfying project!

We did manage to kayak across the lake on two occasions for blueberries. That, also, was highly satisfying. Two pies and two batches of blueberry pancakes made mornings and evenings quite pleasant. 

The swimming dock, too chilly for a swim until the last day

Driftwood in a quiet bay

A wobbly panorama from my kayak on our last, finally warm and sunny, day

Who me? Sew clothing?

The fabric from my kettle cloth shift

I took home ec in school and learned the basics of sewing. I remember well the blue floral kettle cloth I used to stitch a shift in 8th grade. My mom still had a scrap left and I snapped it up. It's amazing how a piece of fabric can bring back memories (even if junior high memories aren't always the best, I did enjoy making and wearing this dress).

My mom was a fabulous sewer, and a very patient one, at that. She took couture classes at our local community college in the evenings and sewed complete, wool suits for herself. I, on the other hand, was impatient and didn't understand why things needed to be "just so." When it turned out that I'm not the same size and shape as most patterns, I took it very personally (as in, there was something wrong with me). The idea of meticulously manipulating a pattern so it would fit was too nitpicky for my personality, and so I quit sewing garments. Though I sewed simple outfits for my girls when they were little and easy to fit, it wasn't until I discovered quilting that my passion for sewing was rekindled.

Sorbetto "muslin" from 2002 Alexander Henry fabric

Still, the desire to make clothing was lurking. Probably getting to know Jenny Gordy and see the hundreds of Wiksten tanks and Tovas on Flickr and at Quilt Market had a little something to do with it. So when Home Ec offered a class on making the Colette Sorbetto top, I jumped. I used a fabric that had 2003 on the selvedge and stitched a tank. It was fast and fun, but didn't quite fit—there was gaping at the armholes. My online searches (because there's an amazing amount of information out there about this top—I'm guessing it's been made thousands of times) revealed that to fix it I needed to do a full bust adjustment (FBA). It sounded terrifying.

After weeks of noodling around online, I realized that Creativebug offered a FBA class with Liesl Gibson, of Oliver & S. The instruction was clear and accurate and I loved being able to stop and start it as I worked through the process. I managed not only to complete the FBA, but I hacked the sleeve I found here, adding an extra inch to make it fit better. I added a couple mother of pearl buttons from a secondhand shop and voila! Just like the old days, I hung my shirt up so it was the first thing I saw in the morning. I remember the thrill of doing that as a kid. I still felt it.

Sorbetto from Amy Butler voile

Then I used that pattern to make a second top out of some Amy Butler Cameo voile. I've now got fabric for a third top...and I'm excited to know that I can use those skills to sew other things, as well.  So excited to have overcome my junior high impatience ...finally! Just goes to show, it's never too late.

Belated Blogging

Guess it's time to catch up! I have been busy with this and that, including a bit of traveling and a bit of sewing. It seems to have taken a toll on blogging. So here are some highlights.

I was super-fortunate to have both daughters home for my birthday. But did I get a photo of us all together? No. I feel quite sad about that, as it's a rare event for us all to be in the same spot at the same time. But suffice it to say we had a wonderful long weekend that among other things, included lots of good food (like this lovely birthday cake from Deluxe, our neighborhood bakery.)

On July 4th we took our annual trek to the Hanson's Grove Antique Sale in Solon. I just couldn't resist this feed sack quilt. My birthday money must have been burning a hole in my pocket, because it cost just $10 more than the sum total I'd received.

I hemmed and hawed about whether to get it and wasn't sure I should, but about an hour after I handed over the money and was still fretting a little, a woman told me she'd been standing behind me, ready to pounce on the quilt if I'd decided against it. That made me feel a bit better.

Here are some more photos of the day. We got there early and compared to last year, it was much cooler. A lovely way to start Independence Day.

Wiksten's Jenny Gordy: A Stitch magazine profile

 I just got an email saying that the Fall issue of Stitch is coming off the press soon, and it reminded me that I hadn't mentioned the profile I wrote for Stitch with Style, the special issue of Stitch that came out in May.

I'd heard that Jenny Gordy of Wiksten fame had moved to Iowa City and pitched a profile to Amber Eden, Stitch's fantastic and very enthusiastic editor. Though I turned the profile in last fall, Amber thought it would be great for Stitch with Style, which focuses on sewing clothing and accessories, so it wasn't in print til this May. But the great thing about that is that since the interview Jenny and I have gotten to be friends, which is a lovely outcome! (She was part of my Quilt Market posse in Portland.) So many of my profiles are written from phone interviews, rather than face-to-face talks, and I rarely get to follow up in person.

A quick bit about Jenny: she started by sewing a line of clothing herself—yup, designing clothing and then stitching an average of ten pieces of each style. As you can imagine, it wasn't easy, but she did it quite successfully for several years. Though she still sews and sells occasional pieces, she's turned her focus to creating a line of patterns to accompany her Tova and Tank tops. (We called them "nearly iconic" in the Stitch story, but at Quilt Market I realized we could have omitted the "nearly." It seemed that in everyone's booth there was a Wiksten tank stitched up in their latest fabric line.) Not only do I admire Jenny's determination in making her business work, but I've learned that she's got a great sense of humor.

At any rate, there are lots of great things in the issue. I, for one, intend to use Jenn Mason's "A Shirt that Fits...Finally!" article to make adjustments to my Sorbetto top. I am feeling kind of excited about sewing clothing...just need to find a little time to do so. So if you haven't yet checked out Stitch with Style, now's the time!

Double-cross Quilt

My 8 small cross blocks

I'll hold off on sharing my shirt, because it needs some size adjustment (just learned the acronym FBA—full bust adjustment—which is what apparently I need to do to take in the excess under the arms while still making it fit across my chest).

Erick "squaring up" my blocks—a relative term for this quilt

But I'm happy to share the finished quilt top I made for my class with Erick Wolfmeyer at Home Ec. I was having one of those days when my brain just wasn't firing on all cylinders and Erick helped me out—cutting and ripping.

Emily and her scrap quilt—she's wearing a skirt stitched from one of the quilt fabrics

We all arrived in class with our 8 small crosses (and a few of us had 9 and had to decide which one to omit). Then it was time to decide on fabrics for the big crosses and how to arrange the 8 small ones. All of this required a lot of shifting and standing back and squinting. But each of us (save one person who had to leave early) finished our tops. It was a great lesson in color and in loosening up, as the quilt's so wonky. I love how differently they all turned out! And once again Erick was terrific—and even stayed late so we could go home with finished tops.

Maureen and her butterscotch and blue quilt

Lisa and her neutrals—she's going to make 4 more for a queen-sized quilt

I still feel a little like I've made a quilt for a clown (baby), but Erick said it reminded him of the alebrijes I have all over my house, and that made me feel that perhaps I have a consistent (highly colorful) aesthetic.

My finished top

It Never Rains but It Pours

That old saying certainly applies to Iowa City weather just now. I don't think I've ever seen the roses as beautiful as they are this year and it suddenly dawned on me that it's because the climate is mimicking Portland's (aka The City of Roses) to a tee—cool temps, cloudy skies, and plenty of moisture. This rose was climbing up a trellis at a friend's home.

But the phrase also applies to my current forays into sewing. I'm still working to finish a many-pieced quilt, but couldn't resist taking a pair of Home Ec classes. On Saturday I attended the first session of a quilt class taught by Erick Wolfmeyer, about whom I've had the opportunity to write a couple of times (here's one of them). He taught a pattern by a designer whom I was unfamiliar with, but whose work I'm loving—Pam Rocco.

Erick's got a terrific color sense and having him help sort through our fabrics was fantastic. I somehow had far more fabric than anyone else...now how could that be possible?

Here's a shot of each of our first blocks—one person's working in neutrals, one in all prints, one in batiks. Guess what? I'm working in brights. At one point I said I felt like I was making a quilt for a clown. We'll see how it shakes out. Session two is next Saturday.

On Thursday I took a class in which we made the Colette Sorbetto top. It's a free, downloadable pattern, but it's been so long since I made any clothing (especially any that fit, save the bias skirt I made at Home Ec), that I wanted help with that aspect of things. I'll post more on that next time, but suffice it to say, I'm loving it. Forget cooking, gardening, exercising, and working...Can I please just sew all the time?