Creative Space

I was in the States for three and a half months this summer, and from about the third month on I began experiencing strong, recurring urges to create something with fabric. Alas, I had another month plus of transient, though delightful, living to endure before I would be reunited with my sewing machine, and so I just let myself enjoy the ideas swimming around in my head. I had found a plastic bag of denim scraps at a thrift store, already cut for a small quilt and costing under three dollars, so though they were a little heavy, I made sure to pack them in my carry-on. I knew this was a project that could go directly under my sewing machine needle when I arrived home. And so it did.

The laying-out stage is always a bit like putting together a puzzle

I ended up with this quilt top, along with the immense satisfaction received in just creating something. I wasn't yet sure what I would do with the quilt top, but it would make a nice picnic blanket sort of quilt when I could find some coordinating flannel to back it.

Soon to begin my month long intensive CELTA course, and knowing that all sewing would soon cease,  I hurried to sew this cashmere baby blanket for a dear friend's new baby boy.

And, some felted-wool potholders for Artist Son, who is living in a real apartment and cooking real meals for himself these days.

I also made a long longed-for ottoman/pouf/footstool  to use with my favorite reading chair. I used the basic pattern found on this site, though I modified it a bit. particularly by making it about 8 cm higher.

And then, CELTA. I lived in Amman during most of this month-long course and I had not a moment to sew during this time, let alone think of what I might want to sew. When I finished my course, I promptly got sick (no surprise given the stress and sleep deprivation) and then had "just life" to catch up on. I didn't do much sewing for Christmas, but I did manage to sew up about five of these denim-pocket purses for some sweet younger friends...

...a make-it-in-10-minutes gift card holder for Tayta...

...and I finally made a recycled linen dishcloth I was thinking about since a friend told me she had re-purposed linen in this way. This was a stocking gift for Tayta. My used clothing source marked their summer wear down to about $.75 per item in the early fall, so I stocked up on all the good linen I could find. I'm plotting pillow covers next.

While home for the holidays, Tayta spied my denim quilt top and shyly asked what I planned to do with it. It had crossed my mind earlier to give it to her, but I wasn't sure she'd like the colors, and that she might want the same style of denim picnic blanket I had made for her siblings. Turns out she didn't mind having something different, and she liked the colors, so my quilt top took on a purpose. Now to back it. We headed to the used clothes market and found five flannel shirts in somewhat coordinating colors. I showed Tayta my deconstruction procedure, so she did the hard part: cutting, and layout. I just sewed it up.

I taught her how to yarn-tie the quilt and she did that too. (I just noticed her reflection in the mirror. Lol!)

I bound the quilt with left-over flannel scraps. Nice to have that one finished and out the door!

This pillow had been percolating in my mind for a few months as I had seen something kind of similar on Pinterest. Oldest Daughter has turned into a Cat Lady (of the best kind) and adores her two cats, Winter and Autumn. And her birthday was coming up.

I drew up a paper pattern for the felted wool pieces, and then appliqued them onto the red felted wool backround. This was my first attempt at wool-on-wool applique and I found it so easy and rewarding. I look forward to doing more. 

As I finished this wool project and the wheels of my creative brain began imagining my next project, and then the one after that, I became overwhelmed with what an unorganized and unworkable jumble my sewing room had become. I had about twenty plastic tubs, drawers, and cupboards stuffed with fabric, which meant that I couldn't really see what I had, except for some wool stacked on a shelf. That visual encouragement kept me going, but the rest was a mess. It was a new year and time to take action.

I told Dear Husband of my desire to purge and organize and since he was very agreeable to at least the purging part, he set out to help me. What I really wanted was to get everything out of tubs, where I could see it and keep it organized. He got on the IKEA site and figured out the most efficient and inexpensive system that would work for my space.

I absolutely love it! With such a great design upgrade, I am now referring to this room as my studio rather than my sewing room. The green table on the left is a left-over first kitchen table, which Dear Husband transformed into a changing table when Oldest Daughter was born. The children grew, we moved house, and it became a plant table. We moved again and it became a sort of catch-all table but I couldn't bare to part with it. I actually moved it out last week, but Dear Husband said he would put a small work surface on it and I can use it for cutting fabric. It is just the right height.

Cashmere on the left, cottons and linens on the right.

I just began a cashmere scarf for a friend, and it was so easy and enjoyable to consider the colors I might use as they were all right in front of me. Sometimes I stand in front of this shelf just to admire the colors and textures. And all recycled fabric.

Cashmere Wedding Throw

(...who by now, three and a half months on, is New Bride. And I really need to think of a better blog name for my Daughter-In-Love as just "Bride" doesn't really work. )

I'll never be able to back-blog all the happy days of this past summer but some Happy Days are not to be missed. One of those was our first official celebration of Active Son's and New Brides wedding week: a small family and close friends bridal shower for New Bride, well, Bride to Be, depending on how you look at it.

The ladies of our family hosted the shower at the home of our ever gracious and generous entire-Boise-summer hostess, with Oldest Daughter flying in just hours before the event. That's our hostess/friend pinching a berry from Tayta's awesome chocolate-berry trifle, and that is her punch bowl that we packed the trifle into.

And though not all the ladies of the family could attend this shower, the intention was to celebrate New Bride and her family, and the joining of our two families in marriage.

As I've had the great pleasure of getting to new New Bride's mother, I've gained sweet glimpses as to the loving and nurturing heritage that New Bride brings to our family. And I've gained a new friend--and prayer partner!

I prepared a couple special gifts for New Bride, with her and Active Son's colors in mind. Of course they would need some felted wool potholders for their first kitchen.

But the gift I really enjoyed creating for them was this recycled cashmere throw. The colors are a nod to the brighter palate of pinks and orange one might find in traditional Jordanian embroidery, with a little of the ubiquitous Jordanian aqua accent color thrown in, rounded out by the lighter earth tones of the arid land. And, magenta is New Bride's favorite color.

It is now gracing Active Son and New Bride's sofa in their Arizona apartment.

Baby Cashmere

I put the wool needle into my sewing machine for one last cashmere project before my sewing efforts become completely dedicated to sewing squares for Tayta's college quilt.

This baby blanket was made a for a sweet baby boy, welcomed into the world just two weeks ago.

Can you guess the baby's nationality from the colors I chose? Orange was the first color I chose, and the stitching was done in orange.

Here's a hint: Color inspiration from a favorite artist...

Church at Auvers

Vincent Van Gogh

Cafe'-Terrace-on-the-Place-Du-Forum

Vincent Van Gogh

Painter on the Road to Tarascon

Vincent Van Gough

Yes, this blanket was given to a beautiful Dutch newborn this afternoon, at his "coming out" party. Welcome to the world, little one!

Edit: When I asked my Dutch friend which Dutch artist she thought inspired my quilt, I was surprised when she replied, "Mondrain?"

But of course! 

Cashmere Chronicles

Somehow, I found time to felt, cut, and sew cashmere during the wedding-summer. Tayta called it cashmere therapy and said it was the reason why I didn't get stressed-out before the wedding. Maybe. If I worked diligently, I could finish a blanket in one week, depending on how much time I had to devote to it.

The first two blankets/throws were completed while we were in the States (the green grass backround is a giveaway). The first one was a gift to Oldest Daughter and Music Man when the returned to Boise in August for a visit. No, I wasn't able to finish it before the wedding!

I made this baby blanket soon after we returned to Jordan in September and sent it with my friend who was traveling to Boise for the birth of her granddaughter.

I finished this blanket/throw last week--another belated wedding present for a June wedding of dear friends. As you can see from the way we are dressed, now is when my friends can use it! (66"x 67")

I will be putting aside the cashmere for a little while so as to get to work on a scrap/recycled fabric quilt for Tayta's college dorm room next fall. 

Pulling Together Some Scraps~Cashmere Baby Blanket

Life is too busy right now for me to begin big projects, so I took on a few smaller endeavors last week. First, I re-organized all my wool, purging some of the pieces that have been hanging around on the fringes and will likely never make it into one of my projects. I am just about at full wool-storage capacity, so I needed to do this. Secondly, I pulled together some cashmere scraps to make my first baby blanket.

I had a lot of fun with this small project and I loved, loved working with cashmere as it is so luxuriously soft. I wish every baby could have a cashmere baby blanket! (37" x 33")

This blanket will go to a Syrian woman whom Tayta has befriended in the course of her work in the Za'taari refugee camp. She is expecting a little boy in about month.

Cashmere Throw #2

Left unattended, my creative interests can tend to complicate my life, so I am trying, trying to simplify. This year I decided that I would narrow my wool purchasing to cashmere for making blankets. Cashmere-hunting at Amman's used clothing market ups the challenge as it is harder to find. My average find on a Friday morning is about six or seven cashmere sweaters of varying quality and color. By December I had enough to entertain the thought of making a cashmere throw for my parents. It would be a little-bit-late Christmas present as I sent it back with Active Son when he returned to school a little over a week ago.

I followed the same procedure that I used for my first cashmere throw. This throw measures 74 by 72 inches and I used eight sweaters to make it--the colors co-ordinate with my parents' living room furnishings.

When I sent it too my mom, I joked with her that she and my dad would have to share it. She wrote back that they had worked out a schedule: she will have it Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, and my dad, Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday. They will share it as they curl up to watch Downton Abbey on Sunday!

I used some cashmere scraps to make these flax seed bags so that  the kids would have our version of a hot-water bottle to warm their cold sheets at night. These flax seed bags hold six cups of flax seed and take about four minutes to heat in the microwave. I've put the flax seed in cotton liners, which are then covered with the cashmere case.

I'm starting to use my huge stash of "other wool": this week I cut and laid out a lambswool blanket that I am making as a wedding gift for a dear friend's son and his new bride. I think blankets may be my thing for awhile. Simplify.