A Pfaff and a half comes home

I've really been cutting back on new sewing machines lately, simply no more space. But I had to make an exception this month. A really big exception.

Last year a friend got a Pfaff

industrial treadle machine. I was with her when she got it, and told her if she ever wanted to sell it, I'd be interested. A few weeks later, she told me it was mine. So, when I saw her at the Tennessee TOGA (Treadle On Gathering and Academy), I also got to bring home the Pfaff-and-a-half (my sister's description).

It's a monster. I haven't weighed the head, but it's probably in the neighborhood of 40 pounds. I should have put something in the picture to show the scale, it's bigger than it looks. And the bonnet (cover) is large enough to use as a baby bed.

The cabinet isn't too much bigger than a household treadle, but it is heavier and the drive wheel on the treadle is huge. It's in pretty good shape for an industrial, the table top needs a little work and there is paint worn off the front of the bed of the machine. The main problem is a small break in the treadle base, but it is patchable.

My biggest issue right now is where to put it. It's currently on the sunporch, but the humidity is getting to it and the cabinet top swelling a bit. So I need to get it inside (not that my house is any less humid).

I'm hoping to use this for free-motion quilting. The thought of all that space under the arm! About twice as much space as the Singer 15-30 I normally use for free-motion.

Oh, and the treadle is beautiful. Pfaff used an art deco styling for their treadle bases, very sleek and linear. Since I love art deco styling, it's perfect.

Another project, but I won't put this one off, I can't wait to try it out.

Where has the summer gone?

Not into the studio, that's for sure! Except for a few activities, my summer has flown by without touching a sewing machine or fabric. But now my mojo is back, I'm back at the machines and our quilt show is coming up rapidly, so I'll try to catch up over the next few days.

The quilt show is coming! It's amazing how a deadline can focus your mind. Our guild's show is mid-October and I have a ton to do to get ready. (link to High Cotton Quilt show in my blogs list for details).

Entry forms for our show were due last week, so I spent two hours Saturday morning sorting through quilts, measuring them, deciding what class they belonged in and filling out the forms. Then I drove to town, where we were having a work day for our boutique, turned in the forms and spent a couple more hours working on pillowcases to contribute to the boutique. I'm doing a simple cuffed pillowcase using some juvenile fabrics I found in my stash.

For the entries to the show, wow! I entered more than 20, because this is our first show and the entries were coming in slowly at first. Better too many than too few. A half dozen were my little art quilts. A few more fell in the small quilt category, both pieced and mixed piecing and applique. Several more went to the large quilt category and the final batch go to the group category, as they were made with blocks from Treadle On exchanges.

And four of them aren't finished yet! One has been a flimsy for ages, the other three were finished blocks. Since last week I've assembled the tops for two, a Boxy Stars started in class with Bonnie Hunter last year, and a bow tie top using Civil War repro fabrics. I'm in the process of putting borders on both of them now, so that just leaves one top to piece. The blocks shown are from the Boxy Stars. The combination of blue, pink and brown with black was inspired by the fabric in the top right corner of the brown block. I'll be using that fabric for binding.

I'll have more to share later, but for now, on to other stuff!

Finding time....

Time, time, time. Decisions, decisions. There are the gotta dos, work and essentials around the house – feeding the cats is not optional, then when you have time to be creative, what do you do?

For most of February my sewing time was tied up with making table covers and new window treatments for our restaurant. Not unpleasant (except for the part about using the floor to cut the vinyl), but not exciting either. But they look great now that they are finished and hanging!

Next it was finishing up some small art quilts. Each of these was an effort to work with a different technique, though I did all the free-motion work on my 1930s Singer 15-30 treadle.

The first was a lighthouse, done with fusible applique. I cut out each of the pieces for the water, sand and marsh separately and fitted them together like a puzzle, so there wouldn't be too much bulk. It worked pretty well, but next time I would draw all the pieces on the fusible's paper, then cut it apart, so they would fit better. After fusing, I layered with cotton batting and backing, then free-motion embroidered/quilted the palm trees, water, grasses and shading on the lighthouse, using various rayon variegated and solid threads. Then I free-motion quilted the sky background, and finally added beads and buttons, including the seagull, as embellishments.

Next was an experiment in thread sketching. I layered my fabric for quilting and sketched the palm trees, horizon and sand, and grasses, using a rayon thread. Then I used watercolor pencils to shade the beach, water and sky, and the palm trees. The pencils gave a nice, soft effect, maybe because they were soaking through into the batting. I decided I wanted the finished piece to be larger, so I stitched borders to the top of the piece, butted batting up against the existing batting and added a single piece of backing over the entire back. Then I free-motion quilted the border and added some waves to the water, securing the center of the piece and adding a

little more detail. Some tiny shells from one of the local shops finished it off.

Finally, my puzzle. In January I signed up for the challenge at Three Creative Studios, and the first challenge, for Jan. and Feb., was to create a quilt inspired by the word puzzle. I came up with the idea, but with my other deadlines, didn't get it finished in time for the challenge. I started with a scene I had photographed on Tybee Island, modified the picture, including drawing the puzzle piece outlines, and printed it on fabric. My first thought was to make the puzzle as a layered quilt, and stitch all the edges with decorative stitching, but it made for a very messy look. So I printed a second picture and fused this one to stiff interfacing, and used applique scissors to cut apart the pieces.

I found the fabric for the table in my stash, layered it and free-motion quilted following the fabric's pattern to suggest wood grain. Then I attached the puzzle pieces by free-motion stitching, following the lines of the grasses, building, shading of the palm tree.

And now it's on to other projects, I've layered and started quilting a Disappearing Nine-Patch I started last year, and am busy working on publicity for our guild's first quilt show, the High Cotton Quilt Show, which is coming up in October. I've set up a blog and Facebook page for the show, and designed the logo for the show this weekend.

What happened to February?

I can't believe it's been a month since my last post. It seems February flew by, and between weather stuff and job stuff, I haven't gotten around to posting. Of course, there's the problem that I haven't had much new quilty stuff to post about, too.

Most of my sewing time for the past few weeks has been devoted to making table covers and new window treatments for our restaurant. 18 vinyl table covers and 12 window treatments, to be exact. I'm down to the last two window treatments, then will be able to sew what I want for a while. I'll post pictures once they are hanging, right now they just look like a pile of colorful fabric.

I have snuck in a little bit of other sewing. The quilt that wouldn't be finished is done except for a label. After I got the binding on, I decided I really, really didn't like the quilting, done in tan, on the black borders, so picked that out and did a slightly different motif, in black. Much, much better.

I'd also signed up for a challenge project, through Creative Studios, with the theme of "puzzle." I got my idea all worked out, and started on it, but had some problems with making it do what I wanted. I missed the deadline, but will still post once I've worked the wrinkles out.

For now, here's what the big Feb. 12 snow in south Georgia looked like, and I'm getting back to work.

Playing with new techniques and toys

I haven't spent as much time in the studio as I'd like, but I have been having fun trying out some new techniques and materials.

A couple of weeks ago I got some Derwent Inktense watercolor pencils. These things are so cool. You can sketch dry for a colored pencil look, brush with water after drawing to soften and intensify the lines or start with a wet surface for a real watercolor look. This weekend I took a thread sketch (last post) and colored it in with the pencils, wetting the fabric first. I love the effect. I still have a few finishing touches to put on, some tiny seashells, I think (if I can find them) then decide how to bind or finish it.

Another piece I am working on is fused applique, with detailing quilted in. I cut out the fused pieces like a puzzle, so I wouldn't have too thick a layer to quilt through, so for the most part it is quilting pretty well. I did some very small background quilting for the sky, which doesn't really show in the photo. Still a bit more to do here, but I'm pleased with the progress.

I've done all the thread sketching and quilting on both of these on my Singer 15-30 treadle. It's my favorite for free-motion quilting.

On the traditional side, I'm still working on the red and black quilt from the Treadle On Boat Shuttle Exchange. I got the binding on a couple of weeks ago (with help from Rascal, previous post) and while hand-sewing it, decided I really wasn't happy with the tan quilting on the black borders. So now I'm picking out the borders. I'm beginning to think this quilt will never be finished.

Lots of other stuff going on, of course. Our guild, Staying in Stitches, is holding its first quilt show this fall. As part of the publicity committee, I've set up a blog (on my list of blogs) to post details of the show as they are worked out, and I'll be sending notices to all the quilting magazines.

And for the next week or two I'll be on hiatus from quilting. I'm making new table covers and window treatments for our restaurant. They are the final step in redecorating the dining room, so getting them done is top priority.

Little pleasures add up

It's been a good few days here. First, it warmed back up to normal, which makes life so much more pleasant and means I can get back into my sewing studio! Project Runway started back up and the judges agreed with me for the first winner, maybe that's a good sign.

I finally signed up for Facebook and was thrilled to get in touch with my best friend from seventh and eighth grade, as well as other friends I've lost touch with.

I've been negotiating a peace treaty among my various cats. Two live inside and three in sunrooms/screened carports and one of the inside cats, Pepper, does not like to share his territory. We've made some progress and I've had Pixel and Rascal in the house for a few hours each day. Both are very curious about my sewing and Rascal decided yesterday to help me quilt.

Sunday we went to see "Avatar." Wow! That is one of the most visually stunning movies I have seen in a long time. It really sets the standard for what can be done with CGI, and the blending of live action and CGI was absolutely seamless. The story was a little predictable, but well told and certainly thought provoking.

Of course the most important good thing is that I got back into the sewing studio. Thursday and Friday evenings I finished the free motion work on a small piece, Tybee Fireworks III and spent most of my time cutting up scraps into squares and strips. My bins about about overflowing and there are still lots of scraps.

Saturday I got goodies in the mail, three new art quilt books ("Quilting Arts," "More Altered Photo Artistry," and "Thread Work Unraveled") and a set of watercolor pencils. I read a bit and tried out the pencils, of course, but spent most of the day organizing my main sewing space. One large trashbag later, I can see my counters, but the adjoining room, officially the dining room, still looks like a fabric store exploded.

In one of my breaks from organizing I tried some thread sketching. It's lighter than thread painting, just as pencil sketching is more open than painting. My first effort was a simple palm tree with ocean background. Rather than use a hoop I layered it with batting and a backing, treating it more as free motion quilting. I haven't decided if I'm going to leave it as is or do more experimenting, maybe fill in a bit with colored pencils or???

Back to the sewing! Lots to do today!

A look back and forward

Happy New Year! I know it's a little late, but thanks to this mini-Ice Age I haven't been able to get in my studio for more than a week, so no new sewing to report. So I've been thinking about what I accomplished in 2009 and what I hope to do in 2010.

In 2009
I completed eight quilts that were lap size or larger. Four were given away, four were to keep. The four to keep were all UFOs (started in 2008 or earlier) and they were: Red & White, 2001 Treadle On Block Exchange (TOBE); Road To Tybee, my version of Bonnie Hunter's Old Tobacco Road; Captain's Courtyard, 2008 Treadle On Birthday TOBE, designed by Dick Wightman of Treadle On; and Sudoku, based on the number puzzle.

I finished two more quilt tops and have one of them quilted and am working on the binding. I also hosted a block exchange with the Treadle On list.

I completed five original small quilts. Angel of the Garden; Tybee Fireworks I and II, Palm and Hundreds of Turtles.

I entered one art show, with Angel of the Garden, which won first place. I donated Tybee Fireworks II to the Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative and it sold at the Houston Show.

I took one class, Bonnie Hunter's Boxy Stars. The blocks for the quilt are finished, just waiting to be assembled. I had planned on another class, Twisted Bargello, but had a conflict.

I did pretty well at not buying fabric "just because" except for my trips to North Carolina and Tennessee, when I splurged on some beautiful, bargain fabric.

I also made it a point not to look for more sewing machines, but a few of them found me anyway. I filled in a couple of gaps in my collection with a beautiful 1950s aluminum Singer 201K. I have converted it to handcrank and it is a wonderful machine. I also bought a Singer 12 treadle with beautiful Ottoman Carnation decals. Other additions include two treadles a friend gave me.

I did not do much with the bags and fabric postcards I make for sale, just continued to sell the inventory I had made in 2008, which is almost gone now.

What's ahead for 2010?
On the QuiltArt list last week people were talking about themes for the year. I chose the word "dance." A few years ago the song "I Hope You Dance," really struck me, with the lines about dancing whenever you have the chance. I'm very content at home with my BF, my cats, my sewing and art and my books. So I have to push myself to get out and do things, even when I know I will enjoy them once I get there. So my goal for the year is to push myself, go to guild activities (even when I don't feel like making the drive), take the classes, try the new techniques, don't save "good" stuff for later, but use it now.

A few specific goals.
Continue to work to improve my skills, from free-motion quilting to precision in piecing. Try new techniques. I am especially interested in drawing/painting on fabric, thread painting and photos on fabric.

Spend more time on original quilts and art quilts, and reduce the amount of time spent on others' designs.

Continue to work on completing the traditional quilts in progress, and participate in Treadle On block exchanges.

Participate in guild's charity projects and donate at least one piece to another non-profit effort.

Enter guild's fall show and Georgia National Fair. Enter at least one additional show during the year.

Develop a new inventory of items for sale, concentrating on original designs which are more fun and sell better. Explore using etsy to sell some things. Enter one juried arts and fine crafts show.

Continue to be thoughtful about fabric purchases and try to use more than I buy.

There are only a couple of sewing machines on my "wish" list, so my main priority is going to be working on those I have and using them, and clearing out some extras to make room for an industrial treadle I may be buying from a friend.

I'm excited about the possibilities for my quilts and art this year, just wish it would warm up so I can get back to the studio. Until then, I've been cutting up cotton shirts to be used in some future projects. More fabric to use up, oh, no!!