Puget Sound Sewing & Craft

Christmas Presents: Still two months to go and already I'm behind!

2009-10-29T17:04:16-07:00

The joy of being crafty is that you can always make someone an amazing and personal present. The curse of being crafty is that you always feel compelled to make everyone an amazing and personal present. And sometimes, it feels like birthdays and holidays are just sneaking up on you and suddenly you can either be late or stay up all night. And Christmas time is both the best and the worst: I love Christmas, since I get to see everyone and hug them and see their faces light up, but on the other hand, it's not like a birthday, which are staggered through the year, but instead, it's everyone all at once!

I thought I had it down this time - I made my sweetie's mom a gift months ago, I took care of my dad during the summer, and I planned low-work gifts for my best friends. But I started to make a list of the people I need to make something for/shop for the other day, and I felt the waves of panic setting in. There are already over 20 people on this list, and I still owe some of them birthday/wedding presents from this year! While I would love to knit everyone something or make them all a quilt, there is just no way, seeing as I still need to work and sleep and watch Glee, that I can make them such labor intensive gifts. Even with two months left, I'm feeling really behind.

Fortunately for me, I work at the PacFab offices, and I've been in on the list of amazing quick gift ideas we are going to show at our upcoming Handmade Holiday Open House, and when I read it again, I found myself mentally checking off gift after gift. There's so much inspiration being planned for all of you, but I'm lucky enough to get to see it all first!

So if you are feeling a little pressured to get it all done in time, or you are just in the mood for a little inspiration, be sure not to miss this event - shows start at some stores next week, and for only $10, you get a ton of ideas, a fun seminar on making your quick gifts spectacular, a 20% off shopping discount, a coupon book good till the end of the year, two fun crafts to take home, and holiday themed snacks! I will be there hosting the "Homebaked" section - all kinds of kitchen-themed prezzies - so come hug me and tell me it's all going to be ok, I can get it all done and so can you.

Historic Beauties Shine at Houston Quilt Festival

2009-10-21T13:22:07-07:00

Detail from "Sunburst" by unknown quilter, circa 1850
(click on any photo in article to see a larger version)

This past weekend at the 35th Annual Houston International Quilt Festival was an overwhelming feast for the eyes, with eye-popping creations from all over the world. Whether you were interested in traditional piecing and quilting or avant garde surface design, there was definitely something - and more - for everyone.

For me, as much as I was inspired and moved by the handiwork of modern quilters, a special place in my heart will always remain for the historic quilts. During my childhood, the women of our church would meet weekly in the church basement to make quilts. These creations were meant to keep people warm in more ways than one - the proceeds from the annual "Gift and Goodie" sale provided much needed funds to keep the church heated during the winter. While often utilitarian in nature, and sometimes quite gaudy in design (remember, these were made solely from scraps and it was the 1970's!) each one symbolized a great deal of hard work and love for community by the local women.

The majority of quilts on display at the show (from the show's private collection) were from the latter 1800's. Nevertheless, I was amazed at how contemporary many of the pieced designs appeared. Seeing these historic interpretations of traditional pieced designs still in use today gave me a deep sense of continuity between ourselves in the modern day and our creative sewing ancestresses.

One of my favorites of all the historic exhibits was the Courtyard Steps quilt created in silk satin around 1890 by an unknown quiltmaker. This incredible piece not only featured gorgeous colors, but because the satin strips alternated between crosswise and lengthwise grains, the difference in light reflection created an illusion of color changes in the blocks for a multi-dimensional effect, as shown here in closer detail: View this photo

Of course the more typical cotton quilts were equally spectacular in their own way. I loved this star quilt for its particularly interesting mixture of fabrics, especially its cupid border print. Here is another detail shot of some of the fabrics used: View this photo

In addition to pieced tops, there were many applique and trapunto beauties to be seen as well. I particularly liked this "Chips and Whetstones with Oak Leaves" quilt made by an unknown quilter in York, PA sometime between 1860-1880. For a closer look at the border and part of a square: View this photo

I was also particularly enraptured by the many wonderful scraps of fabrics in this "tiny" Log Cabin quilt. The pieces were folded and hand-sewn onto a cotton foundation fabric, and backed with a plaid fabric by an unknown quilter circa 1875-1885. A detail shot is available here: View this photo

There were too many wonderful quilts to possibly even begin to show here, but I hope you've enjoyed a peek at some of these historic beauties. Be sure to visit the website for the Houston International Quilt Festival to see photos of the many incredible winning quilts and wearable art, as well as some of their special exhibits:

Quilt Festival At Home

--Katrina

Hat and Scarf Drive is on NOW!

2009-10-19T14:42:28-07:00

I just wanted to remind all of our wonderful readers that Pacific Fabrics is collecting Homemade Hats and Scarves for our homeless neighbors this October. This is our third year doing this drive, and with joblessness up and foreclosures continuing, need is greater than ever!

Your kind donations are distributed locally by the volunteers for Warm for Winter, who seek to eradicate homelessness and alleviate the suffering it causes by both helping the people who stuggle on the streets without shelter as well as increasing awareness of the growing problem of homelessness in our area.

As the homeless are disproportionately male, masculine colors and large sizes are particularly needed, although there are plenty of homeless women and families out there, too. Hats and scarves may be knitted, crocheted, or sewn from fleece or wool - but the founder of Warm for Winter feels it's important that they are handmade - she explains that it's more than keeping their necks and heads warm, but also letting them know that someone spent time caring for them. I'll never forget my friend Angie, who works on homelessness fulltime here in Seattle, telling me that she came across some men who had just been given hats and scarves by Warm for Winter. She described the pride that they had in their new accessories, telling her, "Someone knitted these - just for us!"

Lovely Leah Rosen of our Northgate store donated a beautiful knitted scarf pattern that she personally designed for this drive - it's warm and wonderful. Just look for the Luxurious Curves Scarf on the Pacific Fabrics Projects Page.

Enjoy your stitching, knowing that you are making a difference for someone this winter.

- Anna-Beth

The "Original" Project Runway - 4-H Fashion Revue

2009-09-25T11:24:11-07:00

2006 Washington State 4-H Fashion Review champions show off their winning creations and their smiles

This Sunday, September 27, 5:00 pm is the annual State Championship for the Washington State 4-H Fashion Revue competition.

This incredible youth sewing event features youth aged 12 - 19 from all across the state. The contestants have already been through preliminary rounds of competition at both the county and state level and return again to Puyallup to determine who will be this year's Champions.

This is no easy feat for the contestants. First, they must make the outfits that they are wearing for the competition. Secondly, there is the competition itself - each participant interviews with judges who quiz them on their clothing construction, textile science and clothing care knowledge. The outfits the contestants have sewn are also evaluated for their construction quality and fit, as they appear when worn by the contestant. Finally - the fun part - the contestants must present themselves and their creations to the audience in a fashion show.

I have the honor of working with these young people as the contest superintendent. It is truly one of the joys of my life to have the opportunity to get to know these inspirational young sewing enthusiasts and watch them grow in poise, ability and confidence from year to year. I am very grateful to the many 4-H leaders, volunteers and parents who work together to make it possible for the kids to learn and love sewing. We must continue to support and encourage youth sewing in our communities to keep our industry vital and healthy.

I'd like to invite you to join us in cheering on these amazing young people who represent the future of sewing. The show will take place at 5pm, on the Education Stage downstairs in the Pavilion building at the Puyallup Fair. I promise you that it will be a wonderful show.

--Katrina

p.s. A HUGE thank-you to our sponsors who help to make youth sewing possible!
Pacific Fabrics
Quality Sewing and Vaccum
Bernina Dealers of Puget Sound
Oliso, Inc
Pierce County Clothing and Textile Advisors
Terry Abbott
Jerry and Mara Hanson
Jim and Dawnise Johnson
South Sound Women's Clinic
Washington State 4-H Fair Board

p.p.s. While you are at the Fair, be sure to visit the Quality Sewing booth in the Showplex for special deals on demo models and more! The Fair is a great place to get a good deal on a new machine.

A Season of Hope - A Very Special Exhibit

2009-09-19T21:05:22-07:00

There are many wonderful "stories" that are told through the exhibits at the Puyallup Fair.

One of the most incredible stories of this year's fair belongs to the "A Season of Hope" tree in the Trim a Christmas Tree contest. This tree is not only an amazing piece of handcrafted art - unlike many, if not all the other trees in the contest, this one's ornaments are all hand made - but also an incredibly inspiring story of hope. (Click on any photo for a larger image.)

"A Season of Hope" is the loving creation of local designer, craftswoman and friend Laura Mendoza. I interviewed Laura this week to find out more about her vision and the work involved in creating the tree.

What inspired you to make "A Season of Hope"?
I chose to do this tree because I'm a survivor and my friend is still fighting breast cancer. We are both younger than the average age of breast cancer survivors - I was 42 when diagnosed and she was 39. I wanted to bring additional awareness to breast cancer and how important are mammograms and early detection. That's what saved my life and prevented me from going through the hell of chemo. I was diagonosed by mammogram before the tumor reached Stage 1. Can't get any earlier detection than that.

How many ornaments are there, and are they all your workmanship?
There are about 170 ornaments. They are all made by me.

How long did it take you to make so many ornaments?
I probably spent about 175-200 hours making them. The cross-stitch one took about 4 hrs to make one, the fabric angel probably about an hour for one, the beaded angel took 45min for one. Those three styles took the longest. The rest were 15-30 minutes for each one.

Where did you learn how to make the ornaments?
I learned to make the beaded ornaments from my grandmother when I was a kid. I just used pink instead of "Christmas" colored beads. The cross-stitch design I found on the internet & made it into an ornament. The spool angels were from a BHG Christmas craft book I've had for years. I changed it by using pink ribbon fabric instead of Christmas fabric. The flower one I designed using clip art from Facebook's Pieces of Flair application. The ribbons wired to the tree I designed also. All the "gifts" under the tree have tags on them with the names of survivors I know. All the ornaments will be donated to Puget Sound Race for the Cure.

You mentioned the "gifts" - is there anything significant about the tree skirt itself?
The tree skirt is actually a fleece blanket I made. I chose a blanket for the tree skirt, as patients need blankets when going through chemo treatments.

Many thanks to Laura for sharing her wonderful creation and message of hope and courage with us.

--Katrina