Sea Goddess Treasures

Melissa's Yoga Mat Spray - If you do Hot Bikram Yoga, you need this!

2015-05-22T11:06:00.001-04:00

I practice Bikram Hot Yoga and it's no secret you can sweat a lot in each 90 minute session. This can wreak havoc on your yoga mat.

I did some research about cleaning yoga mats. I had been rinsing mine off with a hose and hanging it in the sun to dry. There is a lot to be said for the sun. It is very purifying and better yet, it's free.

I went to a new studio (Bikram Yoga Danvers, MA) recently after moving north from my annual winter retreat in Florida where I frequent Bikram Yoga on the Island in Merritt Island, FL.

I noticed a bit of a change in my yoga mat and it could just be that I wasn't in the very strong Florida sun any longer which had a very cleansing effect on all that dried sweat.

I don't like to buy anything I don't already have so a scrounged around the house to see what I had that I could used for a cleansing yoga mat spray. I wanted to use some essential oils I had on hand and I had some tea tree oil which has a lot of antibacterial properties.

I know you can use witch hazel or vinegar instead of vodka. I decided to use vodka because I figured the alchohol in it will definitely kill the bacteria that causes that yucky old sweat smell. I recently researched some natural deodorant recipes that use vodka.

I love my yoga mat and don't want to buy a new one so I think I need something as high test as possible and that cheap old bottle of vodka was just gathering dust on a shelf. Maybe next time I make the spray I will try vinegar or witch hazel.

Melissa's Yoga Mat Spray

1 c. Spring water

1 c. vodka

40 drops tea tree oil

1 teaspoon lavender oil

1/2 teaspoon peppermint oil

1 Spray Bottle ( either reuse something you already have or buy one at the $1 store)

Put all the ingredients in the spray bottle and shake well.

I hang my mat on the cloths line in the sun with a pants hanger. You could use your shower rod in your bathroom too. I spray down the mat (both sides) and then hose down with my garden hose, let dry a few minutes and then give a light spray again. Let dry. The scent of the essential oils give your mat a nice clean fresh scent and you haven't used rough chemicals.

Happy Hot Yoga,

Melissa

Prayer Shawl Knit in Multitone Purple Frog Tree Chunky Alpaca by Melissa Abbott

2014-11-16T15:32:00.001-05:00

Prayer Shawl Knit in

Multitone Purple Frog Tree Chunky Alpaca

by Melissa Smith Abbott

While visiting Meredith, N.H. this summer, I happened up a wonderful knitting store there called "Pattern Works" and bought this wonderful little book with 15 different knit Prayer Shawls. The book called out to me and even though I wasn't planning on doing much knitting, I bought the book. Prayer Shawls are usually knit with love infused into every stitch. I had the idea that I would like to do one. The little book slips into your bag easily and I started carrying it around looking at it and eventually settled on a pattern I thought would be beautiful on page 4. The pattern is called "Southwest Color" and it is by Cynthia Guggemos.

The Shawl is so comfy, cozy, and soft!

It knit up into a perfect length for me!

This is the Cover of the Little Prayer Shawl
Pattern Book I bought at Pattern Works in Meredith, NH

I wanted to knit the shawl in something special, something very soft and comforting. During the later part of the summer a friend who knits quite a bit told me about a wonderful soft yarn called Frog Tree Chunky Alpaca. I looked online and later found some at Coveted Yarn in Gloucester, MA in a wonderful purple variegated color. The pattern calls for 5 skeins of medium weight yarn and a size 9 circular needle but since this was a larger chunkier yarn I used 6 skeins (really about 5 1/2) and I boosted the needle size up to a size 11 circular.

Label of the Frog Tree
Chunky Alpaca Yarn

Pattern Page #4 "Southwest Color"

out of the book

"Knit Prayer Shawls, 15 Wraps to Share"

View of the Pattern Up Close

What a great and beautiful Meditative Object. I made this as a gift to myself. I often knit things for friends and family but I decided that the next thing I knit will be for myself and boy, do I sure appreciate this Shawl. It is incredibly comfortable. The greatest gift to myself that I could make!

Prayer Shawl Knit in Multitone Purple Frog Tree Chunky Alpaca by Melissa Abbott. Begun in August 2014 and finished in November 2014 in Gloucester, MA

Happy Knitting,
Melissa Abbott
November 2014
Gloucester, MA

A Few of My Favorite Quilts from the 2014 Seaside Piecemakers Quilt Show in Melbourne, FL

2014-03-08T21:05:00.000-05:00

2014 Seaside Piecemakers Quilt Show in Melbourne, FL

Estelle Oyler's Little Blue Ribbon Quilt
"Strawberry Lemonade"
on the Top

Margie Engles Underwater World "Ocean Song"

"When Crotons Cut Loose" by Ellen Lindner

Close Up "Leaf Study" by Elizabeth King

Leaf Study

Close Up Chronicle X

Chronicle X by Arlene Herman

"Crazy for Galena, IL" by Cindy Dolaway

"Earth's Carpenter Star" by Sheila Bland and Charlene Tulino

"Surf Song" by Diane Whitson

"Sparkling Sea Glass" by Mona Collins

"Scrappy Trippin" by Suzy Pritchett

Close up of "Season's of the Meadow"

Close up of "Season's of the Meadow" by Susan Schering

"Luna" by Barbara Miro Soumar

"Highland in the Storms" by Sara E. Jones

"Ocean Song" by Margie Engel

"The Last Journey" by Vonda L. Frenes

"Etude" by Peggy Horsfield

Close Up of "Midnight Dance" by Peggy Hensel

"Midnight Dance" by Peggy Hensel

There were over 200 quilts at the March 2014 Seaside Peacemaker's Quilt Show at the Melbourne, FL. It was so hard to pick my favorites of the show but these are some of them!! So inspiring!

Happy Quiltmaking,
Melissa Abbott

Bailey Island Hobo Project

2014-02-27T07:16:00.000-05:00

The Bailey Island Hobo Bag Patterns are from a company in Maine called Two Aunties in Maine. They have quite a few patterns that use up leftover fabric in an interesting way. I learned about them from seeing a finished bag posted on Facebook by a Florida Quilting Buddy from The Seaside Piecemakers Quilting Club in Melbourne, Florida. "Grammys Quilting Studio" Grammys Quilting Studio. The Quilting Club had had a member teacher class and this project was something they made. After seeing the bag online, I ordered the pattern from the AuntiesTwo Website I felt guided to try my hand at making one with leftover scraps. I decided to use a Blue/Black theme rather then a tropical looking bag. I am happy with how the colors worked but would be inspired to try something more colorful next time around. I did this project in December 2013 around the New Year.

This is a fun project, comfortable to carry and easy to make.
Got lots of leftover batting? How about 2 1/2" fabric strips? You can use that to make your bags. The bag is very lightweight and a dream to use. The large interior pockets make it so easy to find things too! I had thought I wouldn't want to use a shoulder bag but I was pleasantly surprised at how much I liked it. I was intrigued by Carol MacLeod of Aunties Two after viewing her website. She has all kinds of projects that are so beautiful, they are total fabric art. I must say I have become a fan and would make another bag again soon. I might try the larger bag version included in the pattern.

My finished Bag with Pattern in the Foreground

Sew all the Tubes Quilted Tubes Together

Add these roomy pockets for the Interior

MATERIALS LIST FROM PACKAGE

If you have made this project and have something to add to the review, please comment!

Happy Quilting,

Melissa Smith Abbott

February 2014

Paperless Piecing Star Quilt

2014-02-19T19:02:00.000-05:00

Template

Quilt Top: Before being Quilted

I made this quilt in the winter of 2013 after seeing it demonstrated at Eduquilters.org a group that meets in Satellite Beach, FL. They are a fantastic organization committed to projects like children's hunger, education kids in schools quilting, and donating quilts to homeless children and those less fortunate . Spearheaded by Margie Engel, who is a friendly force of nature and the dynamic Sheryl Milner together they hold a torch for educating the art of quilting. What a Blessing they are! I was welcomed into their group and this was one of the first projects I worked on there and it came out spectacularly. Being a novice quilter, it was gratifying to learn some techniques in a very positive way with a demonstration and then time to work on the project. I adore fabric and color.

You fold a pattern and stitch along the sides as a template

Stitching along fold

Lining up the fold of pattern with pieces of cloth

The Blocks!

An Idea I never ran with!

Stitching along fold line

Variations of what you can do with this Template!

Lining things Up!

Variations

Cutting out the block after stitching together the pieces that are sewed together along fold lines

You assemble 4 of these stitched patter pieces to create a star. Ingenious!

This is Sheryl Milner stitching along the fold

This is the Quilt after I had it quilted out and it looks fantastic. I had it professionally quilted at www.thequiltplace.com . The Quilt Place is a state of the Art Quilt Shop in Rockledge, FL run by a wonderful woman named Theresa. Not only do they have several long arm quilting machines constantly working, they have over 12,000 bolts of fantastic quilting material. I think they did a fantastic job!

These are the Quilts I made in the winter of 2013

I really loved making this series of quilts and it was a fantastic learning experience for me!

Template - Measures 6"x6"

Sheryl Milner's Instructions:

RST=Right Sides Together

The Numbered Side of the Pattern is the WRONG side of the block. This is the side all the sewing is done.

The back side of the pattern is blank, it is the RIGHT side of the Block. This is where the fabric will show.

1. Fold the line between #1 and #2. This will be your sewing line.

2. Lay fabric for #2 Right Side Up on the Table

3. Lay the fabric for #1 Right Side down on top of #2 (basically RST with fabric #1 on top)

4. Lay paper pattern with it folded back on fabric leaving 1/4" of fabric beyond the paper. Space #1 on paper will be lid back on fabric. Pin or hold in place and unfold the paper over so you can see the sewing line.

5. Sew on the Line. You can take a couple of stitches beyond the end of the line.

6. Turn over to the fabric side and finger press the seam.

7. Fold back the paper between #2 and #3

8. Trim off the excess fabric of #2 so only 1/4" shows beyond the fold line.

9. Lay Fabric #3 with RS (Right Side) up on table.

10. Lay your pattern on top of #3 RST matching the edge of the fabrics.

11. Unfold the paper so you can see the sewing line. Sew on line.

12. repeat, repeat, repeat until all pieces are sewn on.

13. Trim block to size leaving a 1/4" all around

14. Paper is removed after all the pieces are sewn together.

Happy Quilting,

Melissa

Seashell Strata Quilt - Using Stonehenge Fabric - Uses Jelly Roll 2.5 inchesx45inches - Fabric Strips

2013-04-30T19:02:00.001-04:00

Finished Quilt

Seashell Strata Quilt

Using

Stonehenge Fabric

Jelly Roll 2.5"x 45" 40 Fabric Strips

I gave this Quilt to Emily because she is expecting a baby
and I am hoping she will use the quilt as a
floor quilt this summer for the little one.
Emily loves the beach and likes things clean and simple. I thought she would like this and get a lot of use out it.

How I did it:

Quilt in Process

pinned on an old vinyl tablecloth design wall

The Top sewed together

Supplies:
128 2.5"x45" strips of 8 different fabrics
12.5 Square Ruler
Sewing Machine and Quilting Supplies

1. Make 4 stratas (strip Pieced unit). A strata is made by sewing lengthwise 9 different strips together. Sew each strip together by sewing in a different direction each time you add a strip, this will insure a Flat strata, not curved. Must measure 18" x 45"

2. With the 12.5 Square, lay it on the strata, as shown above, cut two squares out on a diagonal, centering each and you will get a diagonal square as shown (below)

3. Now separate the seam between strip 4 and 5, of the leftover inside pieces as shown (above), turn these pieces upside down and sew strips 1 and 9 together to form another 12.5 square. Square it off with ruler and cutter.

4. Repeat this strata process 3 more times for a total of 12 blocks. Take the 12 blocks and arrange as desired

5. Take the extra pieces of sewn together state and sort them by the way the diagonal strips go together. Sew them together to make long lengthwise borders. Extra strips can be cut in half lengthwise to make the inside border of 1.25 inches and they arrange the diagonal pieced strips around the inner border for the outer border. This way you use up all your material to get the quilt top.

Note the 1.25 inch inner border
and the diagonal pieces outer borders

I had the quilt professionally quilted at The Quilt Place in Rockledge, FL. I also bought the fabric there too!I decided on a a sea shell motif quilting pattern and I used Stonehenge fabric for the Backing and Binding. I also used a variegated red, orange, and yellow thread for the Quilting. The Quilting came out wonderfully!

The effect is a strong beach motif on what looks like sand and stone. I imagined this being a quilt used on the floor for a baby and the idea is a day at the beach.

Quilt Top Measures 44" X 54" so its a good size
for a Babies floor quilt or for a small child's bed.

The Backing looks like Sand and

with the Shell and

Starfish Designs

it really feels like the beach! I used a darker brown

binding fabric to frame the whole thing and I think it came out well. I think if you wanted to make this a King Size Quilt, you could use 4 of these panels sewn together or 4 jelly rolls. The effect would look more balanced in a larger quilt. This was a good project for me to practice my skills and I also just fell in love with the Stonehenge Fabric and this was a design I had learned and wanted to try my hand at making on my own. I am happy with how it came out and I hope it gets years of love and use with the new baby.

Happy Quilting,

Melissa

Crazy Psychedelic Brown Bag Strata Quilt - Photos and Instructions

2013-04-18T14:26:00.002-04:00

I went to an event at Coastal Eduquilters
http://www.eduquilters.org
in Satellite Beach, Florida in January 2013 and they handed everyone a Brown Bag with 2.5 inch x 45 inch fabric strips in it. The action was to: "Make a Quilt". This is how we did it. I did not choose the fabric colors but the fabric was very high quality cotton quilting fabric and I would never have chosen such bright colors but I was game to try anything and after putting it together I liked it and I liked the process of it. I have made small quilts but I think in reality this was my first ever quilt where I got instruction and support, made with other quilters in a very positive and uplifting way. I loved it and the bug of quilting sort of bit me making this quilt.

Supplies:
128 2.5"x45" strips of 8 different fabrics
12.5 Square Ruler
Sewing Machine and Quilting Supplies

2. With the 12.5 Square, lay it on the strata, as shown above, cut two squares out on a diagonal, centering each and you will get a diagonal square as shown (below)

4. Repeat this strata process 3 more times for a total of 12 blocks. Take the 12 blocks and arrange as desired

5. Take the extra pieces of sewn together strata and sort them by the way the diagonal strips go together. Sew them together to make long lengthwise borders. Extra strips can be cut in half lengthwise to make the inside border of 1.25 inches and they arrange the diagonal pieced strips around the inner border for the outer border. This way you use up all your material to get

the quilt top.

This is me arranging the
12 squares on a design wall

Quilt top sewn together

The Quilt after it was professionally quilted in a
curlique pattern hanging on my cloths line

You can see the Quilting in the Day Light

Curlique

Close ups of the Quilting

Backing with solid Blue Binding

Close Up of Backing
I used a Red Quilting Thread

Above: Two other quilt tops being done by friends at the same time. I am showing this so you can see the fun and variation you can have designing this Strata Quilt. If you sew 4 of them together, you have a nice Queen/King Quilt. The size of these are 44 inches x 54 inches which is the size of a large baby quilt or a small child's quilt. Makes an interesting wall hanging as well.

My finished Crazy Brown Bag Quilt!

This project was a lot of fun. I was handed a bag of strips and this is what came out of it. I enjoyed just trying to make it work. In my wildest dreams I would never have picked out this fabric myself but it was fun using what was at hand to create something beautiful and interesting. This is the first time I had ever made something that I had professionally quilted. I had it quilted at "The Quilt Place" http://www.thequiltplace.com in Rockledge, Florida. This is a world class quilting store with floor to ceiling quilts, fabric, ideas, patterns, a classroom, and a quilt retreat facility nearby. I really enoyed making this so I thought I would document the process here. Someone told me they thought this was the ugliest quilt they had ever seen and I have to laugh because my experience of making it was such a joyful and positive thing that it just makes me happy.

Happy Quilting,

Melissa

Medaille D'Or Scissors Find at a Florida Yard Sale - Appear to be very High End Scissors, Anybody know more?

2013-04-15T15:03:00.003-04:00

I bought these scissors at a yard sale in Florida. The woman who was having the yard sale told me that she bought them in an estate sale recently nearby. I have tried and tried to find some information on this particular brand of French embroidery scissors and if anyone knows more, could you please email me.

From what I understand each one of these scissors were made by the widow of a famous French Scissors maker to commemorate his work and life. Apparently, only 200-250 of each pair were made. Each pair has a number on them. In the information I gleaned from a couple of websites (see below), these are pretty special scissors. They cut like a dream and are the best scissors I have ever had!

The larger Art Deco scissors are stamper 60 Medaille D'Or with a little crown above them and they are numbered 24. There is a stamp that says "tenna something" one side.... the smaller ones are stamped 76 inside the blades and have the crown and logo that says 69 Medaille D'Or on one side. The plain scissors are not stamped with anything but are in the leather case and I have to tell you, they cut incredibly so even tho they aren't stamped, it seems like the exact same workmanship. The rabbit scissors are stamped with a 3 but do not have the Medaille D'Or 69 Crown and stamp on them but are also in the Leather case stamped with the logo 69 Medaille D'Or and Crown logo.

___________________________________________________

Rabbit Sculptural Embroidery Scissors (far right)

I found a pair of these for sale on line for $138.00 at http://www.unoallavolta.com/default.asp

Historical Forgings

These rabbit embroidery scissors were all forged in the early to mid 1900's. Created from matrices no longer in existence, these carbon steel forgings were discovered in unfinished ("brute de forge") condition. Forgings back then were created by several rapid poundings rather than one big "whack" as they are today, resulting in scissors that are far more graceful and delicate. Each pair has been polished and sharpened to perfection in the "monte au moirŽ" tradition. Completed one at a time, the blades are plated with chrome, the handles with pure gold. Each pair of rabbit embroiders scissers comes in a hand-sewn leather pouch. Fewer than 250 of each exist. The Rabbit scissors were popularized around 1950 and measure 4" in length.

______________________________________________________

I also found a sewing blog where a woman talks about getting a pair of the rabbit scissors:
http://danitorres.typepad.com/peacockfeather/2005/12/lovely_scissors.html

Trapezoidal Art Deco Embroidery Scissors

Century-Old Historical Forgings

Forged in the late 1800s and early 1900s, these scissors can never be made again. Created from matrices no longer in existence, these carbon steel forgings were discovered in unfinished ("brute de forge") condition a decade ago by the widow of one of Nogent's finest scissor makers - an artisan who worked the craft of his father and grandfather for 76 years. Finished as a posthumous tribute to this master, each pair has been polished and sharpened to perfection in the "monte au moiré" tradition. Completed one at a time, the blades are plated with chrome, the handles with pure gold. Each pair bears the "69 Crown Medaille D'Or," a mark in continuous existence since 1693, denoting the highest quality in scissor craftsmanship. Protected by a hand-sewn cordovan leather case. Approximately 200 exist of each.

This particular pair doesn't have a number on them

but they cut and feel as fine as the other sets

Small Trapizoidal Art Deco Pair

Larger Trapizoidal Art Deco Pair with Case

Rabbit

The Number 3 on Rabbit Scissors

Rabbit Scissors with Case
I could tell this pair had been
used whereas the other
three pairs seemed like they
had never been touched.

Close up of Crown Stamp on Case

Medeille D'Or

FRANCE

I am doing this post, so if anyone knows more about these types of Scissors, could you let me know what you know. Mainly I am just curious. I am a seamstress and I also make quilts. These scissors came to a good home and are most appreciated.

Happy Sewing

Melissa Abbott

Butterfly Table Runner Photos to Match Place Mat Project

2013-04-05T09:31:00.001-04:00

I made three butterfly squares from a pattern in the book "Picture Piecing" by Cynthia English

I used leftover material from my Ocean Themed placemat project:

http://www.seagoddesstreasures.blogspot.com/2013/03/make-your-own-ocean-themed-place-mats.html

The Placemats I was looking to match

with the Butterfly Runner

This is a photo of the paperless Piecing Method used to make the butterflies
Details of method and Cynthia English books at: http://www.englanddesign.com

Basically I surrounded each butterfly with 1 inch strips of fabric and then sewed the background fabric around it using 2 inch strips around the edge and 4.5 inch strips between the butterflies. I sandwiched in a batting and backed with a pretty coordinating blue batik fabric. Then I stitched in the ditch around the butterfly squares to hold everything together.

I hope this project was inspiring to you!

Happy Quilting,

Melissa

Mermaid Puzzle Piece Art Quilt

2013-04-04T08:34:00.000-04:00

Finished Quilt

Draw a quick outline of image
from Google Images

Google Images of Mermaids

The first thing I did was research some images on Google of Mermaids. All I did was put the word mermaids in the Google search engine and then click the "images" button. A bunch of images will come up and you can scroll through and see which ones you like. I did a series of line drawings in my sketch book. Very simple, very quick. Then draw the image on Freezer paper. Cut out the image you drew on the Freezer Paper. Then press shiny side down onto fabric choices.

Cut out fabric and then adhere each image to Steam a Seam. The Steam A Seam is a two step process where you firstly adhere it to the cloth and cut out the shape and then iron down the shape on to a permanent backing with a hot iron. Basically you are taking a simple line drawing and breaking down the shapes in it into various pieces of cloth and then reassembling back into a "puzzle" to create the shapes in the quilt.

Take each piece of the Puzzle and put them together on a single piece of cloth, then Iron down so it permanently is adhered to the backing cloth. Some people use a stabilizer but I just used some white cotton backing cloth that was fairly stiff.

After I ironed on all my "Puzzle Pieces" to the backing cloth, the Mermaid looked like this. I added some circle motif at strategic design locations for added interest.

This is before I zigzagged around the

edges of the Puzzle Pieces

I added a backing and quilting layer sandwich before I Zig Zagged around the edges of all my Puzzle Pieces and then added some border too!!

Zig Zagging AWAY!!

This is the quilt finished with completed borders.

I then added some sparkle jewels with some E-6000 glue and a toothpick

I sewed on a couple of plastic rings on the backing of the quilt, to hang it on the wall. I know you can sew in a sleeve too.

Backing of quilt

Finished Quilt with Jewels

I hope you enjoyed my overview of making a Puzzle Quilt!!

Happy Quilting,

Melissa Abbott

Make Your Own Ocean Themed Place Mats - Full Instructions

2013-03-31T15:29:00.000-04:00

Make Your Own Ocean Themed Place Mats

To make these 6 mix and match style placemats with an oceanic theme, I picked out 1/2 yard of 6 different coordinating fabrics. You could make them all the same if you like but I decided to do some variations using some of the wonderful Batik fabric that is out there and coordinating it with some other cotton paisleys I liked. You will need about 2 yards of batting for this project. I used Dritz adhesive basting spray and coordinating thread for this project. You are quilting each piece as you go along so you want to make sure that your bobbin thread coordinates well with your backing fabric. I also make sure to have a good pair of sharp embroidery scissors to clip threads and I am using a very Sharp Microtex style quilting needle in the machine.

The way I cut the fabric with a rotary cutter, and clear quilting ruler on a mat was this:

Backing Fabric: 6 panels 15"X 21" iron 1/2 inch fold all around each of the background panels

Focal Center Fabric: 6 panels 7" x 13"

Small Frame Strips: 12 strips that are 1"x 15" ironed 1/4 inch up on one side of each strip and 12 strips that are 1"x 8" ironed up 1/4 inch up on one side of each strip

Outer Border Strips: 12 strips that are 3" x 13" and 12 strips that are 3" x 18.5". On each of the 3" x 18.5" strips iron up one side 1/4"

Batting: 6 panels that are 13" x 19"

My Assembly Line

Iron up the edges of each backing 1/2 inch

Spray Your Backing
with
Dritz Adhesive Basting Spray
(I didn't use much)

Center the Focal Center Piece. I measure approximately 3.5 inches on each side and eyeball it so it looks centered.

Spray a little Adhesive Basting Spray to hold center focal piece in place. I just lift up the edges and give a small spritz

Iron the 1" side strips over 1/4 inch and do the shorter side strips first.
Position them with Pins as shown above

Sew a straight stitch 1/4 inch in along the edge of the focal fabric. If you sew over pins, sew slowing over them so as not to break a needle.

Once you have sewed the side strip to the focal fabric, lay the 3"x13" outer border fabric next to the 1" inch sewn folded strip. it will fit right between that and the 1/2 inch ironed up border of the backing fabric. Trim to fit snugly.

Fold the inner strip over

and pin as shown above on both the right and left sides of the placemat.

Now position the longer 3" X 18.5 outer border fabric as shown above with the 1/4 inch folded and ironed section facing towards the focal fabric on each side

close up of folded edge next to focal fabric

position the 1" strip so that the rough edge is against the fold and the folder edge will be folded over the focal fabric. This is opposite of what you did on the right and left shorter sides of the focal fabric.

Fold over edges onto focal fabric and sew down beginning at the folder outer edge seam of the outer border

pin down borders

Sew on Folded over seam as shown
above and then continue
on to 1" border strip

To finish fold over 1/2 inch ironed fold on right and left shorter sides 1st and pin as shown above and below

After pinning the sides, fold down the longer top

Corners will look like this. There may be better ways of finishing off these corners but it works well enough for me this way.

After you have pinned all around the placemat, carefully stitch a straight stitch all the way around, snip off all the loose ends and you are done! Congrats!

The back of the placemat will look like this and be just as pretty as the front. You can use this side at your table as well!!

Finished Placemats. You might want to do additional free motion quilting in the centers and that is something I am considering doing but you can use these just like this for your table and you are good to go!

My finished 6 placemats! They came out really beautifully and I want to make more and even try some other themes and colors.

Happy Sewing,

Melissa

Appliqué Canvas Bag Project

2013-03-15T15:56:00.000-04:00

What a day today making this Applique Canvas Bag! I had some leftover fused fabric from an Art Quilt Project so pulled together this Sunflower or Blackeyed Susan Flower still life as an inspiration for the bag. I had bought the bag during a recent quilting project with Eduquilters www.eduquilters.edu .

We were tasked with decorating them with any sort of quilting or ideas we could muster up. I originally bought one of the bags but didn't think I would have time to pull together the project but I was inspired when I saw some of the other women's projects and decided to give it a go and do a still life inspired theme of sunflower, daisies, or just plain fantasy flowers!!

I managed to decorate the flip side with a couple of floating flowers and my last name too!! WOW, I was on a roll wasn't I?

This is a detail. I ironed on Steam-A-Seam and cut out shapes for the design. It is a lot of fun to cut out shapes and design the idea. When the fabric has the steam-a-seam applied it makes it tacky so you can pick it up and move it around. When you get you design the way you like it, you iron it on.

After I ironed on my design. I zigzagged around the edges in a free form way giving an added structure and design element to the piece. I really love the look of the batik fabric when doing this!!

This is the "other side" of the bag and I was happy I was able to put my name on the bag too. Just like LLBean only better. This really makes your canvas bag completely original and beautiful. I am excited by doing this and I look forward to trying this project again with a a bag I make from scratch! There are so many ideas and motifs one could use. I am thinking Mermaids or Matisse, I don't know which but the possibilities are endless!

This is the Steam-A-Seam Product I used to make this Applique. It is a fantastic product as your fabric sticks while you are sewing it on afterwards. You can choose to do this without the sewing if you like as well and the look is great but I felt I wanted to strengthen the design with the zig zag sewing.

Happy Quilting! I love You ALL!!Melissa

A Dream Came True - The Story of Visiting Nantucket, finding a Basket Teacher there and eventually making a Nantucket Basket Purse

2013-03-11T04:21:00.001-04:00

Finished Nantucket Purse

Beginning of Nantucket Basket Purse
Putting the Staves on the Mold

I learned how to make Nantucket Baskets on the Island of Nantucket off the Massachusetts Coast one fall day in 2004. My husband's construction company had business remodeling a private home and the Nantucket Whaling Museum in both 2004 and 2005. His company rented a home there for the workers and on the weekends they went home so we traveled to Nantucket either by small plane or ferry. We went to Nantucket quite a few times both on week days and week ends over a two year period.

I loved spending time on Nantucket Island. I loved the cobblestone streets, the architecture, the onion globe lights, and the history and traditions of the island. I loved the Fall and the Christmas season there and we even attended their Christmas Walk one year and saw a charming play in the local church.

After spending some times on Nantucket and imbibing the culture and flavors of the island. I became intrigued with the Nantucket Baskets in the local shops. I had actually seen them often over the years and I had always been mesmerized by them. They were actually a popular preppy style item during the 1960's and women of a certain gold charm bracelet, Lilly Pulitzer dress style always seemed to have one on their arm. During this trip, I saw baskets in the shops and read that originally they had been made commercially on the Nantucket Lightships which were anchored off shore and used as Lighthouses on the Nantucket Shoals since the 1880's. The older baskets had perhaps originated from some designs or even been been copied from Native American baskets from the whaling days and even before that time on the Island. In the 1940's a talented basket maker named Jose Reis popularized the covered purse style. His original purses which sold for around $15 a the time are very collectible and valuable nowadays.

I picked up a copy of the Nantucket Mirror and Inquirer, the local newspaper that had been in business since 1821. I read the newspaper and it hung around on the table for a couple of days. I couldn't help but notice a 2 col and 2 inch ad on the back page. I looked at it over and over again. It was an advertisement for Nantucket Basket Making lessons from a man named Peter Finch. I rang him and made an appointment to have a lesson to make a basket. Since I didn't have a car I walked a ways to his grey shingle house with a clamshell driveway outside of town on Pollywog Lane. That is where I got my first mold, a 6 inch berry basket. I visited his home a few times for several lessons and even visited him once I had learned making them to show him my baskets. He told me I would never want to give away my first basket and I still have it, a 6" berry basket with a handle.

Last August 2012, I was visiting a friend on the "Cape". In Massachusetts lingo that means Cape Cod. I stayed a couple of days and caught up with her. Her mother had been a Pine Needle Basket Maker and I consigned a couple of my Pine Needle Baskets

to the Black Whale Gallery in Hyannis ( blog post link http://gloucesterwomanbaskets.blogspot.com/2012/08/trip-to-black-whale-gallery-hyannis-ma.html ) and when it was time to leave I put the coordinates into my GPS for a place called D.E.L.S. in Middleborough, MA, famous for making Nantucket Basket molds. I was keen to acquire a purse mold and after an amazingly complicated ride through the back roads of southern Massachusetts, I found the place, spent about three hours there and left with an 8" Nantucket Basket Mold and a few other supplies. I was psyched and on my way to making a Purse.

I tried to weave as tightly as possible over the wooden Mold I bought at D.E.L.S. It sure was hard getting it off the Mold. There must be a trick to it but I just pulled and pulled and it came off, what a relief.

D.E.L.S. - Makes Nantucket Purse Moldshttp://www.delsnantuckets.com

Shaping the Rims

After I got the body off the mold I had to shape the rims. I had bought pre shaped rims from D.E.L.S. but they still needed to be soaked in a bit of warm water and then shaped to the exact size of the basket. I glued them and let them sit for a day or so to dry. Then I glued and nailed them to the rims. I looked everywhere around the house for clamps to use. As you can see from the photos, I had quite a collection.

In the above photo, I am gluing on the rims and beginning the purse top or cover. You have to remember that these baskets were state of the art in the times before plastic bags. Apparently, the tradition on Nantucket Island was that everyone had their own basket and often it would have their name carved in whale bone with scrimshaw which is a technique where designs and writing are scratched into the bone and blackened with India ink. The names on the baskets were so as to identify the baskets at church suppers. Whale bone was something they had a lot of and they used it for findings on the baskets. The early settlers of Nantucket Island learned about Whaling from the Wampanoag Indians there. They would fish for whales just offshore as the whales passed by Nantucket Island fairly closely at that time. It is also thought that the tradition of the baskets also came from the Indians on the Island who originally weaved them from pine needles. Later, when the whalers went to the far east they brought back cane and rattan to use and it replaced the pine needles. There is still a tradition of making pine needle purses similar to the Nantucket Baskets in Mattapoisett, Massachusetts (see my blog on them:http://gloucesterwomanbaskets.blogspot.com/2012/06/i-have-always-loved-pine-trees.html .

Eventually with the incorporation of more modern materials in the baskets, such as rattan, cane, and various woods, a very sturdy and practical basket was designed. The original molds for some Nantucket baskets were often woven over old boom and mast pieces from whaling vessels. The older molds are highly prized by the local Nantucket basket makers to this day.

Pictured: The Purse Top Mold with Basket Body Finished just before I lashed the rim with some small cane.

I really liked the lashing part, like sewing. Something very satisfying about doing it because it made it really sturdy and strong and gave the basket a certain integrity.

I did not have instructions on how to make the top part of the Purse. There is a little cut off mold for it and I was told it was hard to do. I am pretty much a novice Nantucket basket maker but was very interested in trying to do it. With a wing and a prayer I started it and it wasn't too bad. It was fairly straight forward until I got to the rim part and there was a little bit of pushing and pulling the cane to get it to lay right as I molded the top rims onto the edge or lip of the basket and got it to match up exactly with the bottom.

Weaving the Purse Top. You can see my purse bottom finished in the rear and the lashing done on it.

This is the Finished Basket. I used Bone Findings and a Bone Shell for a decoration on the top. I want to learn Scrimshaw so I can make my own nameplate for the interior and thats one of my next projects. I connected the top and bottom of the basket with leather lashed with cane and sewn into the basket as hinges. I just tried to copy some photos I had seen. I thought it came out pretty well for a novice.

I have used this basket for over 6 months now as my purse. Everywhere I go, people comment on it and tell me I could sell them and that it is beautiful. To tell you the truth, I just couldn't sell this basket as it is my own personal basket. So far it is the only Nantucket Purse that I have made. I have aspirations to make another one soon using cherry wood and a Bone Whale Carving I have procured.

I lined the interior with some

fabric that is velcroed

to the basket so it can

be changed or removed

for cleaning. I used a pretty purple paisley with a nice sheen to it and it is very pretty. I thought about lining it with leather and I can always do that if the other wears out.

I remember as a little girl always wanting to make baskets. I have always been entranced by them for some reason. The whole project of making one is interesting because you get to pick and choose natural materials from nature and the world around you. This practice is actually very meditative and has a spirituality to it that is somehow translated into the baskets themselves. I always had a dream to make a Nantucket Basket and this is a small chronicle of my process. People ask me, how long did it take you to make it? My answer is that it took me a lifetime to make it and only eight years from when I first took Nantucket Basket lessons from Peter Finch on the Island of Nantucket in 2004. It took me 8 years to find D.E.L.S. and buy the mold. However long it took, it was worth it. I feel like it has all my energy and happiness in the basket and there is something so satisfying making something with your own hands. Truly an experience of an Art Form in the highest and best possible way!

Happy Basket Making,

Melissa Abbott

The Story of Making American Girl Doll Wardrobes for Very Special Girls in my Life, Madison and Alana - Given on Christmas 2012

2013-03-05T15:20:00.000-05:00

Pattern I used for Doll Clothing

I hadn't made any American Girl Doll Clothing since my daughter was young and I had the idea to make some for some very special children in my life, Madison Age 4 and Alana Age 1+. They are a little young for American Girl but they both received American Girl dolls already and I just had the idea to make the clothing to get used for when they are ready to play with them. I bought this pattern about a year ago and started making doubles of each piece of clothing for the two girls. I have to tell you that making the clothing small is almost as complicated as making larger child size pieces. It took me 6 months of on and off sewing to pull together the wardrobes for each girls doll. They were ready for Christmas 2012 so I decided they were nice enough to give as presents. I also knit 2 little purple ponchos for each girl's doll too and they came out really cute.

Here is a photo of Madison with her
American Girl Wardrobe at Christmas.
I had given her the American doll the previous year
but she still wasn't playing with it yet but was dressing a smaller doll all the same.

I had found
a small wardrobe
in a used furniture store and put
a bar in it to hang the clothing.

I then bought doll hangers and some black Mary Jane Shoes on Ebay. I also bought some American Doll plastic purses, barettes, and combs at a place I visited in New Hampshire last Fall. I had some miniature books to add to the doll closet collection too! It was fun making and collecting everything I needed for the Wardrobe.

This is a photo of Madison last summer
with her brother JJ, Mom, Emily, and Dad Jim
on our boat in Gloucester

A Little Fleece Jacket

Dress I made for Madison to wear which matches the
American Girl Doll Dress below

This is the American Doll Dress I made Madison for her Doll. I had also previously made her a dress
like this in this same material for her to wear.
I wish I had a photo of them wearing the dresses together but I don't yet.

This is supposed to be a Bride Outfit

Interior of Painted Wardrobe
with Hangers and Doll Clothing

You can see the books, plastic purse with comb and shoes
This photo was taken while I wrapped them.

Knitted Purple Poncho
Hard to see but they came out really cute.
I knit two of these for each girl's Doll

Little Jean Shorts

Bathing Suit with Wrap Skirt

Little Skirt, Blouse Hat and Shoes on Hanger

Some little Miniature Books I found, I sent them each
2 little books with the Clothing

This was the Box of Doll Clothing that was sent to Alana in Hawaii where she lives now. Maybe when she gets a little older I will make her a Doll Closet of her own but for right now I found a pretty Box for the American Doll clothing to stay in till she is ready to play with it.

this is the box closed before I wrapped it
and sent it to Alana for Christmas 2012

Alana got to visit us in Oct for her Birthday. She flew all the way from Hawaii with her parents Haley and Brian. While they were here Alana even ate Lobster and had a 1st Birthday Cake.

Alana playing with our kid's kitchen we have in our hall.
All the kids love it so much!

Pretty Alana

Alana blowing out the only candle we had for her Cake! It was Chocolate!

It was so much fun and a real privilege to be able to make
American Doll Clothing for each of them. This is the story of how I did it and what it looked like when I did.

Love, Melissa

Dij Pacharos Snippets Quilt Class - Art Gallery of Viera, Florida

2013-03-04T08:37:00.002-05:00

Dij Pacarro on righ in flowered shirt working with
two of her fiber arts
students of the Snippet Projects

Dij Pacarro is a Fiber Artist who teaches some wonderful classes at the in Melbourne, Florida. I was introduced to her at a Seaside Quilt Guild Meeting I had been a guest at and loved her immediately. She is an accomplished Art Quilter and shows her work and teaches at an amazing Artist Cooperative Art Gallery of Viera. The Snippets class was a chance to learn to Create a beautiful, floral art piece in the impressionist tradition using fused snippets of fabric in place of paint strokes. No sewing machine was required.

This was the start of my creation!

Each student received a package of Steam a Seam which is a double stick fusible web that bonds permanently when ironed.

Quilters use it to create beautiful collages with fabric. You can quilt over it when done.

We chose some fabrics adhered the Steam a Seam and started creating! It was so much fun and Dij had great tips and ideas for how to cut out various shapes.

This is me with my finished Sunflower Creation!

Other Snippets Students hard at
work on their Collages

Dij on left giving advice, my project in foreground

Finished!

Needs something more!

Love the Flowers

Done!

The Workroom for Classes at The Art Gallery of Viera

To register or contact Dij Pacarro at
quilterdij@earthlink.net or 321-806-5550

Future Classes with Dij 2013:
Design Your Own Art Quilt - April 6th, 9:30 - 12:-30 ($30 plus optional kit)
Free Motion Machine Quilting - May 4th, 9:30 - 12:00 ($25 plus optional kit)
A Day at the Beach Fabric Collage - June 1st, 9:30 - 12:00 ($25 plus optional kit)

Art Gallery of Viera
in The Avenues
2261 Town Center Avenue, Suite 111 Viera, FL 32940 321-504-4343 www.artgalleryofviera.com

Pumpkin Hat for a Child

2012-09-18T16:18:00.002-04:00

Free Pattern: http://randomstitches.files.wordpress.com/2008/12/baby-berry-hat2.pdf

I first made this child's hat last year for an infant. This year I made it a little larger for a toddler by adding an additional 9 stitches. Perfect Fall Motif and Halloween style hat. You cast this on three needles and knit it in a stockinette stitch, no ribbing! Creates a nice little roll. I found the Free Pattern on Raverlry.com and it seemed like one of the easier patterns, as there are soooo many of these floating around the net!

Fall is the perfect time for knitting! Make one of these today for your little one.

Back to School Clothing made for Madison and JJ

2012-09-16T08:48:00.001-04:00

2012-04-26T09:38:00.001-04:00

http://averylucasart.com/home.html

My daughter Avery Lucas with her recent sculpture "Envelop"

Making a Rudraksha Mala - Bead Board, Tools, & Rudrakshas - Fall 2010

2010-10-09T07:39:00.000-04:00

My dog Captain came by to say a mantra too!

This is on the floor of my meditation room ~~

I have been making malas for over 18 years and it is a wonderful meditative practice which lets me say one mantra at a time. I started doing this at a famous meditation ashram in NY. where I trained for several years. I sell these malas for those who are interested, on Amazon.com.
http://www.amazon.com/Rudraksha-Prayer-Wrist-Bracelet-5mm/dp/B000NCOG50/ref=sr_1_14?ie=UTF8&qid=1286624034&sr=8-14

This is an example of me making a sterling silver wrist mala with 5-6mm nepalese rudrakshas. I am using pearl accents. Each bead is meticulously matched and wired wrapped using the same tools I have used to make thousands of malas. Each bead have 2 Om Namah Shivayas said (internally) as the link on each side is made. This is done with a high degree of focus and awareness. A wonderful practice :)

Dyelot Stimulus Package Winterberry & Colinette Mohair Meditation Shawl

2010-10-09T07:14:00.001-04:00

This was an extremely enjoyable project to knit because of the gorgeous textures and variations. It was knit over the latter part of the Summer of 2010 mostly on weekends while spending time on our boat "The Blue Pearl" in Gloucester Harbor. I used Dyelot Stimulus Package Winterberry yarn purchased at Coveted Yarn www.covetdyarn.com in Gloucester Massachusetts. I used the free pattern that came with the yarn (also available at www.dyelotyarn.com ) but boosted the width and length of the shawl by adding a skein of Heather Colored Collinette Mohair which is a beautiful yarn from Wales, UK. This was a very meditative and introspective project. Although a simple pattern, the interest of the yarn was striking to put together and easy to pick up and put down between swims and activites on the water. I knit part of it on a trip to The Isle of Shoals in New Hampshire which is a lovely set of islands off the NH and Maine coast. The islands are wild and desolate. Every stitch has the awareness of mantra remembered and vibrated during knitting. A very lovely shawl for early morning meditation. Very protective and warm. Inspiring :)

Heather Atwood from The Gloucester Times

2010-08-22T19:11:00.003-04:00

http://blogs.gloucestertimes.com/foodforthought/2010/08/22/anadama-bread-from-the-three-melissas-a-culinary-treasury-of-cape-ann/#more-1500

Check out this link. Heather Atwood from the Gloucester Times writes an excellent weekly column called "Food for Thought" and I was thrilled when she featured me today!

Melissa Smith Abbott Interview Part I

2010-08-17T19:25:00.001-04:00

Part 1 Video Interview of myself talking about The Legacy of Three Melissas, a book I recently published about history, commentary, and recipes of Cape Ann Massachusetts. The interview is done for a very popular local Gloucester blog called "GoodMorningGloucester" my life on the dock by Capt Joey Ciametaro. Part 2 will be posted tomorrow night.

The book is available at www.anadamabreadbook.com

Book Signing at Cape Ann at Cape Ann Museum

2010-08-12T06:54:00.000-04:00

The Book Signing on Saturday made the Gloucester Daily Times this morning with this little "blurb"

Author talks about local inns, food

The Cape Ann Museum presents a book signing with Gloucester's Melissa Smith Abbott, author of "The Legacy of the Three Melissas" on Saturday, Aug. 14, from 11 a.m. to noon in the special exhibition gallery featuring the show "Ars Longa, Vita Brevis: Rockport Artists in the 1930s." The book signing is free to the public.

Years ago, the author's family on her father's side ran the Anadama Bread Bakery, Blacksmith Shop Restaurant, The Cable House Bed & Breakfast, The Faraday Inn, all in Rockport, and The Easterly Inn in Gloucester. Her grandmother, Melissa Collins Smith, along with her husband William P.C. Smith, ran food businesses on Cape Ann for 70 years. The Blacksmith Shop Restaurant was a favorite haunt of Rockport artists during the 1930s. Abbott has put together her family's collection of menus, recipes, photos, artwork, cookbooks, historic documents, and memorabilia in her new book. The museum is located at 27 Pleasant St. in Gloucester. For information, call 978-283-0455 or visit www.capeannmuseum.org.

For more information about the book: www.anadamabreadbook.com

The Legacy of Three Melissas www.anadamabreadbook.com

2010-08-06T06:17:00.000-04:00

Announcing the release of my cookbook which I have been busy with for the last few months! Over 300 New England Historic Recipes with history and commentary on Cape Ann Massachusetts. It is available on my website www.anadamabreadbook.com and locally on Cape Ann at The Bookstore, Toad Hall, Harbor Loop Gifts, and Cape Ann Museum. There will be a public book signing at 11AM, Sat. Aug. 14th at The Cape Ann Museum, Pleasant St., Gloucester, MA 01930

The book includes a chapter on the history of Anadama Bread which my family baked commercially from the 1930's to the 1970's on Cape Ann and distributed the bread regionally, throughout New England during that time.

There are also recipes for such favorites as Joe Froggers (a rum and molasses cookie taken to sea by sailors), Easterly Inn Popovers, Jordan Marsh Blueberry Muffins, New England style Clambakes, Clam Fritters, Chowders, Melissa's Garlic Dressing, and many more regional favorites with interesting commentary and history.

Mini Lowfat Blueberry Cheesecakes

2010-03-06T13:34:00.000-05:00

8 Cinnamon Graham Crackers

2 Tbsp good oil like Grapeseed Oil

8 oz fat free cream cheese

2 egg whites or 1/2 c. eggbeaters

1/4 c. fat free soup cream

1/3 c. sugar

1 Tbsp. vanilla extract

1/4 teasp scant - almond extract (just a drop)

Blueberrys

Muffin Tin lined with paper Muffin Liners

Preheat over to 375 degrees.

Grind in a food processor the graham crackers until completely crushed. Then add Grapeseed Oil until blended well. Place Tbsp of graham cracker mixture into each paper lined muffin cup and press down with the spoon. Combine everything else except the blueberries in the food processor until creamy smooth. Pour over crushed graham crackers. Decorate the top of each mini cheese cake with blueberries. bake at 375 degrees for 15-20 minutes. Chill before serving. Delightful and lowfat.