November 22, 2011
Fall jacket
I made Isaac a fall jacket from Anna Maria Horner’s Handmade Beginnings book. I love how it turned out! I believe this was the 9 month size, he got some wear out of it this fall and will hopefully still be fitting it in the spring. The sleeves are certainly long enough. I lined it with flannel, which he really likes – this is the only jacket he doesn’t fuss about the hood being pulled over his ears!
I’m entering this in November’s Celebrate Color contest hosted by Stitched in Color.
November 21, 2011
Letterpress prints for sale
I’ve finished printing, trimming, signing and photographing the two prints I’ve been working on this fall. Both are made using handset wood and lead type from the fabulous collection at MCBA and printed on a Vandercook SP 20 letterpress.
Oh nuts was inspired by Isaac, my peanut. When he was teeny tiny, he would laugh when he heard words with the “sh” sound like pistachio and cashew. We would say one word at a time and he would wait quietly with an expectant grin for an “sh” word, and then he would giggle hysterically.
Oh nuts! 5×7 print available here.
I have loved Shel Silverstein poems for as long as I can remember. My grandma always had a collection of his books on her coffee table. Alphabalance meshes well with a stack of wood type.
Alphabalance 8×10 broadside available here.
October 28, 2011
Jay McCarroll Habitat Challenge
I finished the Jay McCarroll Habitat challenge (barely) in time for the October meeting of the Minneapolis Modern Quilt Guild. We got fat eights of the Habitat jewel colorway and the theme was “wonky”. The hexagon quilt in the new Block Party book was my inspiration. Rather than making blocks, though, I used a single piece of fabric for the front. I made and basted the “quilt sandwich”, positioned the hexagons, and quilted them in place. I am super, super happy with the finished product. It turned out exactly like I’d envisioned.
This quilt has the most negative space out of any I’ve made, by far. I love how it turned out and I hope to be making more soon. I have quite a bit of the Habitat fabric left, and some purple Kona fabric, so I’d like to make some placemats, napkins or mugrugs with the leftovers.
This is, I think, the 6th project I’ve quilted and bound since August. I’m getting much better and much, much quicker at binding – I finished hand-sewing the binding for this project in less than 6 hours. That’s a personal record 
September 30, 2011
Alphabalance
My latest letterpress project was a poem surrounded by a jumble of wood type. Making a jumble of wood type is a lot more work than the word “jumble” implies. First I picked out letters I liked and arranged them around the poem.
Then I started arranging the letters on the press bed. I used a chase (a very helpful suggestion from the studio monitor) which made things a little easier. But there are still approximately eleventy million little pieces of lead in there. And also some bits of modeling clay in areas where I couldn’t fit lead. The layout took a long time. A. Long. Time.
I pulled a lot of proofs to get the paper and chase aligned the way I wanted, and to make sure all the letters were printing more or less ok. I had to slide paper under a few letters and also add paper and clay between a couple letters that were wobbly.
The end result. Totally worth the time it took to put eleventy million pieces of lead into place.
September 28, 2011
Elephant
Another elephant from the retro mama pattern, this one is for Isaac. It’s stuffed with bamboo fiberfill, which I’m not sure I like for large projects. It worked really well for small knitted toys, but I’m afraid it might bunch up in a large, flat toy like this. Time will tell.
September 8, 2011
sock monkey quilt
I finished Isaac’s baby quilt while he was still a baby. I started it last summer and had everything done except the quilting, which I procrastinated on for a long time. I invested in a walking foot this year, did some practicing and finally got up the nerve to quilt this. It’s by far the largest item I’ve machine quilted. I quilted one block at a time and they’re all a little different. Some are much more intricate than others. One even has his name stitched in it. The quilting took a really, really long time but I’m pleased with it.
The fabric is Moda Funky Monkeys, which I’ve been admiring for years. The pattern is my own design.
August 27, 2011
Broadside
The project for Letterpress I was a 10×10 broadside – text with a corresponding illustration. I chose a quote from Kurt Vonnegut, one of my all-time favorite authors. I had the opportunity to see him speak at the University of Iowa many years ago and I feel fortunate to have been there. I remember sitting in the lecture hall listening to his stories and thinking, wow, this is amazing.
I’ve had a lot of opportunities that I’m really grateful for, I have an amazing happy baby, great family and friends. I often pause what I’m doing, whether it’s playing with Isaac, reading a good book, or taking a walk outside in the perfect weather we’ve been having lately and think “this is nice.” I resolve to do that even more often, because I don’t do it enough. I’m going to frame this broadside, because I am so proud of it, and hang it up where I’ll see it every day as a reminder.
You can see some of the process here – proofing the text, carving a linoleum block, proofing the block, and the final print. There is a whole stack of proofs and goofs that you don’t see here. This was a time consuming process, but the nature of setting text and pulling prints is almost meditative and gives you time to think “if this isn’t nice, I don’t know what is.”
Type: Stymie 24pt
Paper: Rives BFK
August 23, 2011
Pressure print
The very first night of Letterpress I class we made pressure prints. Mine is inspired by log cabin quilt blocks. I was immediately hooked on letterpress printing.
August 18, 2011
Quick change pants
Way back in March I made some quick change pants from Anna Maria Horner’s book Handmade Beginnings. The 3 month size, shown below, still fits Isaac (although barely).
He also has a pair of 6 month quick change pants which have fit him perfectly now. I need to make some more sizes for 9+ months.
The pants are super easy and super quick to make – they took me about 2 hours each. I really like the fact that they’re reversible, no exposed seam allowances anywhere (therefore no need to serge!), and you can adjust the cuffs as your kiddo grows. As an added bonus, not much fabric is needed for them so I was able to pull from my stash instead of buying new. I have at least 4 more fabric combos set aside for various sizes of pants. Just have to find time to actually cut + sew.
August 6, 2011
Oh nuts
Proof + layout for what will (hopefully) soon be a 5×7 letterpress print. Yay! I’m thinking brown for the “oh nuts” and an opaque turquoise for the small text. We’ll see what I end up with – my skills in color mixing need some improvement.
