A brilliant idea, not mine

On the interwebs I read about myriad ways to keep your bobbins tidy, but was never satisfied.
Until this one.
Darling Hubby followed my instructions, bought a small length of clear hose at the hardware store and sliced it up so that the hose fit just inside a bobbin. Then he cut the ring open so I can slip it easily over a filled bobbin. Now I can see the thread color all the time, the thread doesn't unroll inconveniently, and I can keep my bobbins anywhere I please.
Nice. Thanks, Hubby and Interwebs.

Rayon thread FAIL

Some people love Rayon thread for embroidery. It can be a little glossier than polyester thread, but I can hardly tell the difference. It also definitely has an issue with aging, and people frequently recommend to test it by giving it a quick tug. "Fresh" rayon thread is supposed to have the tensile strength of polyester, older will break fast.
Recently I bought some rayon because that was the only type available at the store in the size and color I wanted.
When I started actually sewing, it was on a free-standing lace design. I sewed it on water-soluble stabilizer, and it looked pretty good, except during the sewing I kept getting thread warnings. It was a mess, and did not stitch out properly.
After I gave up, I checked the thread. It snapped like overcooked spaghetti.
Here are the pictures of the lace as it started soaking, and my little pile of wasted useless thread after I soaked the stabilizer out of it. Click on the pictures to see a closeup.
I'm going to polyester thread exclusively. Not worth my time and trouble to continue with the rayon. At least the store was very nice about taking it back.

Fabric covered box fun

Last weekend was a covered box class by one of our guild members, Kathrin. Great fun, and so easy to make.
My two boxes are sized for a pencil box and one a little smaller.
Here's an online tutorial if you're interested in something similar to what I learned today.
http://fortytworoads.blogspot.com/2009/04/no-sew-fabric-covered-boxes-tutorial.html
Here are some images from our day.

Transfixed by technology

True confessions time (no, nothing about Poohs in any form) - I am transfixed by technology, especially technology that manipulates fabric.
You would not believe how long I can sit and stare at my sewing machine as it stitches using the ruffler attachment. Stitch and fold, stitch and fold, stitch and fold.

Now I'm transfixed by the concept of "In-The-Hoop" projects.
I mean, how can you conceivably sew a zippered bag in an embroidery hoop???!?

But that's EXACTLY what I did today. I woke up early, cut my fabric and batting, had breakfast, did a computer jigsaw puzzle, then bopped up to my machine and tossed together this little bag.
Afterwards, I sat there staring at the fabric on the hoop, still transfixed by the project.

To make this project, you need to put fabric both on top of stabilizer that has been hooped, and on the bottom of the stabilizer. In these pictures, the single layer of fabric is the lining of the bag on the front side. The top side of the hoop contains the front outside, the zipper, the back outside, the bag back lining, and a pocket. Amazing.
For this pattern, the pieces were all simple rectangles, so I could stack and whack a few different colors, and make bags all day.
Fine, it's not as quick as Birgit's Damn Fast Bag, but it's quick. And accurate, and the bag comes out with a quilted front. Pretty neat.

Ingrid's quilt, stripped down

Remember those lovely fabric "scraps" from which I was generously allowed to cut strips? This is for an art quilt for my sister-in-law Ingrid.
Now I've got the strips cut from Birgit's scraps, and here's what they look like.
If you look at it just the right way, you'll see in the lower left corner a yellow blotch with a brownish spot in the middle.

When I noticed that corner, it occurred to me that the pile of scraps look rather like Winnie the Pooh. Only not your typical Winnie, but rather a Winnie-the-Pooh which had been rather badly slaughtered. I wonder if Ingrid would understand if I named the quilt "Winnie, formerly the Pooh."

Anyway, I cut the strips, then weighed one of the original pieces, which was about 1/3 meter. The third of a meter weighed about 52 grams. Extrapolating (remember your math?) I conclude that a meter of this fabric weighs about 150g.
So how much did I cut? 95 grams, or about 2/3 of a meter. That's just batiks, though, regular quilt fabric tends to weigh more.
Math, and quilting, and slaughtered stuffed animals all in one evening. Looks like I've reached my creative nirvana.

True art comes from the heart

A quote from German artist Caspar David Friedrich to enrich your day:

Die einzige wahre Quelle der Kunst ist unser Herz, die Sprache eines reinen kindlichen Gemütes.

Ein Gebilde, nicht aus diesem Borne entsprungen, kann nur Künstelei sein.

And once again, in my imperfect English

The only true source of art is our heart, the language of a pure child-like disposition.

A painting which does not takes its inspiration from the heart is only affectation.

New tool - graphic tablet

Embroidery software. Quite a challenge. Sure, it's easy to move a design from the computer to the computerized sewing machine, but doing more than that takes some serious learning.
What I want to do is make changes to existing diagrams, load clipart and convert to stitches, or modify photographs to convert them to stitches.
Enter the graphic tablet. That lets me use a pen to make adjustments, or to draw. This is the one I chose - the Wacom Bamboo Pen and Touch. Last night's efforts to actually use it to modify a design didn't work out so well, but at least I was able to do this last weekend:

I'm putting these painting of my daughter's up on our walls, but I didn't know which way was up. So, grab the tablet, scrawl some letters on them and send off the email. Got my answer quickly, and now I can hang the pics.
(Just in case you want to know, up is side C and side 2B.

7 Ways to love yourself

My doctor told me to enjoy myself more. How's that for a great doc? :)
Part of that includes improving the way I talk to myself inside my head.
Here's a good article with specific things to do.
http://www.pluginid.com/7-ways-to-love-yourself/http://www.pluginid.com/7-ways-to-love-yourself/

The list includes:

• Forgive yourself
• Stop comparing yourself to others
• Stop seeking approval
• Believe in yourself
• Practice silence
• Eat healthy and exercise
• Express yourself

Enjoy your weekend!

What is a raygun?

Auf Deutsch: Strahlenkanone

In Steampunk:


Dank Wikipedia:
Rayguns are a type of fictional directed-energy weapon. They have various alternate names: ray gun, death ray, beam gun, blaster, laser gun, phaser, etc. They are a well-known feature of science fiction; for such stories they typically have the general function of guns. According to the stories, when activated, a raygun emits a ray, typically visible, usually lethal if it hits a human target, often destructive if it hits mechanical objects, with properties and other effects unspecified or varying.