Calamity Kim

Beware a Walk in the Woods Quilted Bag

The other day as I was at the Thrift Shop collecting my $50 Shopping Spree that I had won (by guessing how many corks were in a jar- 67!) when I found two old quilts that were so pretty but in poor shape from washing and knew they would be great to repurpose into something else.

Needless to say I bought them and after cutting one up I could just see it as the background for an applique scene. I received a Charlie Harper Coloring book from a friend at Christmas and one of the bird images had been nagging at me so I used it for inspiration to make a happy bird couple and nest with leaves for one side of the bag.

I have about 12 knitted bags to get lined before a show next month and a few other things I should be doing but I just had to get this out of my head. Does that ever happen to you? An idea just won't go away until you have made it and gotten it out of your head?

 

Sometimes the only person I have to bounce ideas off is my poor husband and he looked at this and thought the green for the leaves was too bright. I just said wait and see and he said "whatever"and I went back to the sewing room and found a panel from a Fairy Tale series I had bought a while back on eBay that worked perfectly for the other side. I don't know why the witch has a cat and a parrot on her sholders but it's pretty old- and I love the little gingerbread guy peeking around by the boy- he apparently escaped the witches house and just can't resist giving us a grin!

 

I feel guilty sometimes because I have so much fabric that I could probably sew everyday for a few years and not use it all up! I get anxious though as I am putting something together because making all those design decisions is so tough. What lining to use? What kind of pockets? Does anyone care but me? Will the wrong button kill a potential sale?

I love to use embroidered linens for the pockets inside bags and this was pretty easy to just iron and stitch in.

The other pocket was easy too- I found this little embroidery the same day I found the quilts and it was that same springtime green.

I love to do needle turned applique. It's calm and quiet and I enjoy placing each stitch and praying it will be hidden and look good. My inner critic is learning to just go with the flow and not be so hard on me. Sometimes just picking the right button takes much longer than it should. I try not to agonize over it but in my head it just has to be right. (The little nest is also a lined pocket by the way- maybe for those bottle caps I can't help but find and keep for treasure when I go for walks) Is that crazy or just how it is when you have so many choices? If I just had 3 buttons instead of hundreds maybe the choice would be effortless, but after so many years of hoarding sewing supplies I just can't imagine only a few buttons.

Watching the show Hoarders has definitely changed my buying habits and I have promised myself to USE WHAT I HAVE! Not buy more- even though new fabrics come out and I might miss something- I really, really need to use it up before I am buried alive under a mountain of felted sweaters, fabric, batting and bins full of "someday I'll make this into..."

I have so much that I want to make and wish I could sleep less- but lately I have been burning the candle at both ends- working on some new projects and Guild stuff and tomorrow I am taking a workshop with Lyric Kinard and then attending her lecture on Art Quilts at the Friendship Knot Quilt Guild meeting Monday night- and another workshop with her on Tuesday! This month is so busy I can hardly keep up- the Destin Spin In is January 25-30th (up in the panhandle) and I am looking forward to several days spent spinning art yarn and talking fiber with my friends.

I will try to share as much as I can...I just can't keep up...anyone wanna be my secretary?

Have a happy day and keep warm...spring really is just around the corner...at least I hope it is.

xo,

calamity kim

Trusting a Machine

I decided to machine stitch most of the embellishment on this new bag because it will be utilitarian.
 Usually I add all kinds of surface "frosting" and this can get damaged if the bag is really used.
Thinking about getting some product ready for the Atomic Holiday Bazaar in Dec has made me work faster so there won't be as much handwork added to some things I make from now on.
The gnome village springtime table runner that I started is still under my needle and is indeed a slow cloth (as Jude would say). I am taking it with me to the Surface Design Playday this afternoon so maybe I can get a few more vegetable patches added today.
Forgive me for playing with Picnik and adding some vavavoom to these pictures.
 It is a photo enhancement site that works with Flickr to help you edit your pictures and sometimes I just can't resist ramping up the color.

I was having fun stitching on this yesterday until I got to the red section on the right.
I marked the design using a stencil and a white chalk pencil and as I began to free-motion quilt it made large, awful stitches on the front and loops on the back.
 I have just about had it with this machine!
I pulled out most of the stitches and will get the rest when I calm down.
I then came in here and researched some Singer machines-
Here are the two I am looking at:

The Singer 7469Q Confidence Quilter:

Product Information

• 98 built-in stitches

• Drop & Sew™ bobbin system - exclusive 

• LED display with push-button stitch selection

• Hand-look quilt stitch

• 7 styles of automatic precisely balanced one-step buttonholes

• Programmable needle up/down

• Automatic tension

• Drop-feed

• Twin needle touch selector

• Mirror image touch selector

• StayBright™ long-lasting LED light

The Singer 7470 Confidence machine:

•  173 built-in stitches 
• Drop & Sew™ bobbin system - exclusive
• LCD with push-button stitch selection
• Block-style alphabet & numbers 
• 6 styles of automatic precisely balanced one-step buttonholes - exclusive underplate system
• Hand Look Quilt Stitch 
• Programmable needle up/down
• Automatic tension 
• Drop-feed Twin needle touch selector
• Mirror image touch selector
• StayBright™ long-lasting LED light

 It isn't going to be an easy decision but I am leaning toward the machine with more stitches- it's about 399. and the 7469 is on sale this week for 299.
 I am going to go to a few shops around town and see what the other companies offer before I buy anything.
My first machine was a Singer and it lasted me almost 20 years- since then I have had Brother machines and they just don't work right!
The newest Project Runway model I purchased last year does some nice stitches but it can't do the free motion that I want- the feed dogs do drop but the stitches are a mess and sometimes the thread gets out of place going from the spool to the next spot and that messes it up! I expect it to stay threaded properly and not do that!
Very frustrating!
If I could afford the Bernina with stitch regulator, I'd get it in a heartbeat!
Anyway- let me know, please, what kind of machine you have and why it works for you- I need to get a new one sometime next week, so help a sistah out.
OK, enough whining- I'm going to go hang out with the girls for a while and have some fun!
Have a happy day,
xo,
calamity kim

Are you in a Color Mood?

"Art is not what you see, but what you make others see" ~ Degas.

Saturday, May 29th, 2009

The heat shimmers up from the earth.
I can see it.
I could feel it if I dared walk outside.
But, I am held captive by my newest project taking shape on the cutting table.

I keep hearing the words from that commercial- "what's in your wallet?" except it's: "what's on your worktable?".
I have mixed emotions when I am picking out fabrics to sew together.
 Do you?
Do you grab and audition or just use your instincts?
Do you over think it?
 How do you choose just the right colors to invoke a certain mood?
Like painting a picture with fabric images and colors as you work out a design that you think might sell.
I am just beginning to buy solid colors and I am never very confident in their use. They seem to stop the movement of my eye and I am not used to that.
 Yesterday, I went to Alma Sue's Quilt Shop to get a replacement thimble (they are translucent rubber and fit wonderfully) and found some Amy Butler solids and had to get the banana.
It's right there on the left side above the skull/knit fabric.
 I have been drawn to wine/garnet and lime/chartreuse lately and I don't know why.
Perhaps my color sense changes with the seasons and I am subconsciously seeking shade in a deep, dark corner of the jungle.
 Maybe I'm growing up? Does your color palette age?
 I wasn't ready for red until I turned 40.
Now at close to 50 the wheel has spun to the next deepest hue. or is it tone ?
Shade?
Color Mood?
Usually it's blue with a touch of melancholy.
The heat ripples like the curls on a slab of lasagna.
Making me reach for green and blue to cool it off.
 Instinct, I guess, drives my choices today.
Setting the fabric stage for a vision of a sorceress about to seek the future in her crystal ball with rich textures of silk and satin. Thank you Mr Waterhouse.
This is when I daydream- then focus sharply on a fabric- it's a little uncomfortable. It doesn't always flow.
I have a vision- will it work?
 Can I make you see what I am feeling?
 It will be a big bag- like a tote bag for carrying large things like picnic quilts and knitting projects.

My eye catches the colors and movement and I imagine the faces in my sewing room watch me puzzle it out.
They whisper to themselves as I hurry, but try to slow down, to enjoy the process of creation.
Always questioning; is this right?
 Will it work?
Do the fabrics dance or are they dead and flat?
Am I seeing it clearly today?
 Are you?
Getting this side of a future bag ready to embellish with embroidery and yoyo's and buttons is just the first step towards making something new.
Will someone fall in love with it?
Will they feel happy to hold it?
 To carry their stuff around in it?
 Will it help define who they are to those around them?
Maybe they just like the colors...
Will I ever find out why the chicken crossed the road?
It was probably to lie in the shade.
 or is that lay?
 have a happy day,
xo,
 ;)
calamity kim

alice in woodland wonderland

alice in woodland wonderland, originally uploaded by calamity kim.

I was in the sewing room most of the day...

another project that has been floating around in my mind for a while...

love to see it being born.

Love to work out the design details...

Used a little bit of Jay McCarroll's line for Free Spirit... Woodland Wonderland...

just had to share it...

what did you do today?

anything fun? new? exciting? same old same old? share it if you wannna...

I should go make dinner...maybe just a salad, it was so hot today!
here comes summer!
xo,
calamity kim

Happy Earth Day! Did you Do something wonderful for the world today?

I didn't get to plant any trees but I  finished the bag for my friend Carol and delivered it to her today and she was quite pleased with it! So it made her world a little brighter!
I am so glad and relieved!
 It's tough to make something for someone and have all the doubts and worries over will they like it or not!
 I know what I like and that's all I'm really sure about!
I used some vintage embroidered linens for the inside pockets and a combination of Heather Ross's Mendocino mermaids and some money fabric.
That way she'll always have the illusion of cash in her bag!
I used a lot of batiks and even some linen that I had rusted in this one.
I am crossing things of my "to do" list and it feels really good!
 
Hope you had a great day-

xo,
love & stitches,
calamity kim

Enchanted Yoyo Garden Quilted Handbag

I think that is might be one of my favorite things to do.

Surface design, yoyo embellishment, mixed media collage- no matter what you choose to name it, this sewing down of yoyo's and buttons to create an image of a fantastical garden full of flowers and blossoms makes me feel happy.

I go by my senses, using what "feels" right.

Auditioning different colors, sizes, textures until it all works together to sing a lovely melody that is played as your eyes wander over it, caressing each new and delightful surprise waiting there.

I have an idea for the "by the sea" bag that is going to work out just fine.

For now, I am ready to finish this bag with it's side and bottom panels, strap and lining with pockets.

The allergies are somewhat better but the Benadryl is kicking me to the curb- I may need a nap soon...

happy stitching,
xo,
calamity kim

Yoyo's at the Opera and Lunch with Cricket

I love to make yoyo's. I love to embroider and embellish with perle cotton and shell buttons and glass beads. Making a silk purse from a sow's ear.I saw a bag like this in a Japanese Craft book and thought it would be wonderful to make my own version.
I can never just let something be simple.
It has to be covered with embellishments like "Barnacles Being Born on the Bottom of Benjamin's Boat!"
This was started last Monday night as I watched the Season Premiere of Heroes.I am listing it in Etsy. If you love it you better jump on it fast! (its sold!)I wanted to make this so bad and now... The thrill is over. I had a deep burning desire to make it and now, poof! It's gone. On to the next project! Or maybe back, to finish WIP's (works in progress) or mail some stuff. It takes me forever to get stuff wrapped and weighed and mailed. The phone rings, the dog needs, the laundry buzzes, the days fly by and still my list of WIP's are unfinished. Whatever, blah, blah, blah. right? If you had this bag, you would surely attract some attention. Maybe even from a guy like Gerard...ya never know...
Let me see pictures, you say.

You can click on the picture and view them large in Flickr (see all sizes). It looks pretty cool, if I do say so myself.  Woke up this morning to a very soggy day. It must have rained all night. We need it, but I sure would like to get in some bike riding. I have been reading this wonderful book called Lye In Wait written by Cricket McRae. It is so fun! It's about a woman who makes soap and finds her handyman dead on the studio floor and then she tries to solve the mystery.
Do you ever read a book and then realize that you have made new friends and you don't want to finish it because you will miss them?
Maybe that's just another sign of my impending insanity.
I love the Author's name.
Cricket McRae.
She sounds like someone who might be cute, smart and funny. At lunch with her,  you'd chuckle over your shrimp cocktails and snort your sweet tea till the waiter rolled his eyes and cleared his throat.
I can only imagine.
I'll give you a complete review once I have finished it, but for now, let's just say that I recommend it as a great: "get away some place quiet and curl up with this wonderful mystery full of crafting and vintage collecting stuff book."

Cricket will thank you!