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A Day Off: What Do I Do When I Can’t Sew?

| ellenanneeddy

Usually, Saturday is the day I prep the blog. Sometimes I’m a bit ahead. This week I was not. And last night my leg went out.

So when the ice and rain hit today, Don declared a studio day off. I spent the day working on photos of the new quilts I’ve just finished. And I decided to make meringues.

I’m a good cook, even if I’m a bit heavy in the butter, cream, and beef department. I’m pretty good most of the time. But every year or so, I have a state-of-the-art disaster: the chainsaw chicken massacre, where I tried to bake stewing hens. Or the time I made black and blue cornbread. I was making blue cornbread and the thermostat on the oven broke. Or Treebark in the snow. I had a jelly roll disintegrate while I was trying to roll it. There was no hope for it. I glued it together with raspberry jam, covered it in powdered sugar and called it treebark in the snow. People still ask me for that. I don’t think it can be reproduced/

I wasn’t very mobile, but I thought I could arrange things well enough that it wouldn’t matter. I prepped the meringue, put it in a pipping bag, started to pipe little stars and watched as incredibly sticky meringue oozed out of the top of the bag on to everything on the table. My cutting board. All the spoons and forks. The spice rack. Don’s computer. I had made meringue glue. Very effective.

So here are the quilts I made earlier this week before I glued everything in my kitchen to the piping bag.

It wasn’t a complete fail. Don liked the meringues enough to lick the beaters.

You can see it’s easier if I’m just allowed to quilt.

My leg is better today and the ice is gone, so I’m off to the studio. These quilts will be up on the site shortly.

Studio Rules for MEntal Hygiene

| ellenanneeddy

Sometimes quilts seem to just go off track.

I got seduced by this mockingbird in a threat display. The feathers were amazing. But it was way off what I usually do. I work with water most of the time. I don’t think in desert.

So I did my research. Looked up cactuses. Found pictures of owls living in cactus burrows, which really intrigued me.

I made lizards, owls, and cactus. When I got those up, my mockingbird didn’t fit in. It was a whole different energy. I left out of the desert owls and at some point, it drifted to the floor.

These owls made sense. And out of all those lizards, only one was right.

After I’ve finished a pile of quilts, I find all kinds of bits left over. I start a quilt by making a number of pieces I think will fit into the piece. But they change a lot as I work them out in the embroidery. And sometimes a piece just doesn’t fit into what I had in mind.

This is a familiar moment. I have embroideries I keep for years, waiting for the right piece. An embroidery that size is an investment of at least a week of stitching. But if it’s not right, it’s not right. I’ve been known to completely redraw and redo something that just was wrong. Or use leftover roses and butterflies with the same abandon as I would leftover mushrooms. I think the bird landed under the chair. That’s where I found it 6 months later, along with a set of lizards I hadn’t used on the desert quilt

There was this amazing orange piece of hand dye. It fit right in

And if I had those lizards around, I think I would be annoyed as well.

There are several studio rules I try to keep for good mental hygiene.

  • Put it up where you can see it.
  • Wait until you know you’re right.
  • Hold on to work even if you don’t know its purpose.
  • Trust yourself that your instincts are correct.
  • Remember that nothing is wasted. Not time, because it’s learning time. Not materials, because it will turn into something someday.
  • Remember that energy is renewable. If your energy fails, it’s nap time.
  • Remember that it will all be alright in the end. If it’s not alright, it’s not the end.

It’s ready to back and bind now. I’m so glad I waited for this piece to be right.

How Many Machines Do You Need?

| ellenanneeddy

Do I sew more than most people? Probably. I do sew every day, usually 5-6 hours of studio time. My machine that keeps track of that kind of thing says we’re at 22,275,775 stitches. It’s not the only machine I work with. It’s the only machine that counts stitches.

Years ago, when I started to sew, most people only had one sewing machine. The sewing machine stores used to insist on trading in machines so people would bond with your new one. It was fairly mean. Most of us bond with a machine almost for life. There’s a learning curve on almost all machines. So it’s a while before that machine and you are bonded.

Most Berninas last at least 15 years with care and feeding. It’s also true that not all machines do every task well. I’m a Bernina fan because of the stitch and the feet. But even within brands, there are differences between machines.

But for those of us who sew maniacally every day, that care and feeding is hard to keep up with. Most of my machines need servicing at least twice a year.

When I lived in Chicago, I sewed a lot at 3 AM. At 3 AM I’m delusional. I actually believe I can time a machine and fix the flywheel. This is the kind of behavior that ends up with you at the mechanics with your machine in pieces in a box.

So I would call my friend Elaine and borrow her machine. She wisely had two. She would politely thank me for waiting until 7 AM until I called.

At a certain point it became clear, one machine was not enough. Particularly when it takes a month to get your machine back from the shop.

At this point, I have some lovely older machines. They tend to be specialty machines that do one task or another particularly well. This 99 Singer is my favorite piecing machine. The stitch is unbeatable.

My three current machines are racing to see which can break down first. All three of my current machines are acting up. One of them is in pieces on my mechanic’s work table, waiting for the parts. My mechanic keeps pointing out I sew more than most people do.

I’ve decided three working machines is the proper number. One that is inevitably at the vet, one for working and one when the second machine joins the first machine in breaking down. That’s my theory and I’m sticking to it.

We bought a second hand 220 Bernina on Ebay. It arrived about a month ago and has run like a top ever since. If you don’t know Berninas, it’s a three/quarter head war-horse machine with moderate computerization. Everything else is waiting until my mechanic’s counter clears.

If you are wondering if you should have a second machine, if you need to sew once a week at least, you probably do. You may also want a machine that does other things than your full-time machine. Like a larger arm space, or a travel machine. But don’t let anyone tell you that you don’t need two. or three. Ask them if they want to be in a room with you when your one machine breaks down. Then, ask them how many screwdrivers they have. It’s simple math.

Astro Thread: Variagated Threads in Stippling

| ellenanneeddy

Just pinned in place

I’m on the home stretch with my guinea hens. My working title is What the Flock? But there’s a temptation to call it Coffee Hour. If you have a better idea, let me know.

One of the last things I do with a quilt is the stipple. I don’t mean just the pattern of stippling. I mean the filling in of the background with stitchery.

Stipple in process

It’s pretty mandatory. If you do the kind of stitching involved in embroidered applique, you need to connect the rest of the piece with some kind of stitching. So the last act is stippling the surface of the quilt.

This quilt has a split light source. We talked about that earlier in Splitting the Sky. It doesn’t have a lot of dramatic color change through the piece, nor does it need it. So I’ve decided on a stipple with Astro through.

I love Astro threads. Beautiful multi-colored threads that sing across the surface of a quilt in stippling. They shade a quilt top beautifully.

I also hate astro threads for shading an object. I get seduced every time. I look at the range of colors I have, decide that I could fit in an astro thread to add to the shading. Then I finish, turn it over and run for the stitch eraser.

Why does it work that way? Several reasons. It depends on just what color the threads are and how often the threads change color. Some astro threads come in a two color spread. That’s easier to handle for shading. It tends to blend the two shades. Shading requires that thread be at least within the range of the value (lightness and darkness). If it swings too far one way or the other, then the color range will shift farther than you’d like.

Most Astro threads are roygbv. They tend to go through a large chunk of the rainbow. That’s really pretty for stippling. But the colors end up in odd spots on your embroidery. And if there’s a color that doesn’t blend in within the mix, it’s painful.

I wanted a metallic thread for the background stipple on this piece. I decided between two metallic threads from Madiera

Madeira has two multicolor metallic lines. Supertwist Astro is a shiny flecked thread. FS Metallic has a black core and looks like beadwork. Both of those seemed like good stipple options for this quilt. Peacock, the black version is almost the same in both threads except that the Astro one has pink in it and the FS has red.

I also wanted to try a zigzag stipple. I like that a lot for some pieces. It’s a different texture.

I expected to like the zigzag more than the straight stitch. But the smoother shapes make something more like the dirt barnyard texture.

I often do a sample like this, if I’m not sure. It solves the question before I stitch in. But I like the FS straight stitch best. The Supertwist is shinier, but it has an unfortunate pink in it.

So I’m partway through the stipple in the peacock FS thread. You’ll get to see it when it’s done. It’s a pretty big barnyard, but it’s shiny.

New Web site, New quilts

| ellenanneeddy

This last 6 months have been quiet chaos. My health issues are at a status quo. They know what’s wrong but it’s not quite bad enough to fix. If they don’t want to slice and dice me, I’m not going to bring up the topic.

But it has left me in a limbo that I’ve been floating through. I’m quilting every day, but I’ve been hesitant to pursue show options with that all hanging. I’ve finally decided it will hang as long as it hangs and tomorrow is promised to no one. It’s time to get up and VanGogh

I also found myself needing to change web hosts. It got pretty crazy. At one point I found my lost phone in the cheese drawer of the refrigerator. This was an unholy mess, but we got through it.

The new web site is at www.ellenanneeddy.art. Please visit it. You’ll find 20 quilts I hadn’t published yet. And here’s the good part. To pay for the web page debacle we’ve put fabric and quilts on sale for the month of July. They’re 25% off, but if you need something and the price won’t work, Etsy is set up so you can make an offer. The Etsy shop is here.

Etsy Shop

Here are some of the fabulous new quilts, large and small

Like to have some new handdye, or an amazing new quilt on the wall? This is the time.

Don Has A New Book!

| ellenanneeddy

I’m delighted to introduce you to Don’s 5th book in his According To His Purpose series, The Substance of Things Hoped For.

I maintain that art is life and life is an art. It’s true this week for sure. Forgive me for not having an art blog for you this week. A plumbing incident and an uncooperative leg have pulled me out of the studio for most of the week. The leg is slowly healing. The plumbing is easier to fix but much more likely to be moldy. But on the upside, Don’s book is available on Amazon in Kindle form, soon to be in paper print.

Don came to writing later than most At 57 he began his series that enlivens the Galesburg of the 20s. His viewpoint reflects his faith, but also creates an alternative historic view. He pulls things out of Galesburg’s past, but offers his characters ways to change how their lives in the real world worked out. He offers a knowledge of Galesburg, IL, a gentle world, and a Christian perspective. He also writes a good romance,

Why do we write? I would maintain it’s how we retell our stories. When we retell our stories, we can put things right, make things make sense, hope for something better, and plant the seeds of that. I believe Don is doing that as well. He’s having way too much fun to stop. I am so proud for him!

The Substance of Things Hoped For is a walk through a Galesburg that never quite existed, but should have.

You’ll find it for sale at Amazon. You’ll find more information on his Series, According to His Purpose on Amazon

Applique Rescue: Hacks on Fixing Appliques

| ellenanneeddy

I work a lot with embroidered appliques. These are embroidered separate pieces I can apply to the surface of my piece. Because they’re separate, they don’t distort the piece as much, and they can be moved endlessly until you stitch them down.

I discovered several working hacks for applique rescue doing this. A 2-foot lily pad takes up way too much space to have as a double layer. It’s just too bulky, and I wanted to stitch frogs to the lily pads which would have made a very dense surface.. I’d heard about cutting out behind appliques, but I hadn’t tried it before. It worked quite well. I was able to stitch down my frogs without an extra layer of felt, stabilizer, embroidery, and hand dye. I was worried about the integrity of the piece, but once it was stitched and trimmed, it was quite stable.

This works if you’re sure of what you have designed. What if you stitch it down and change your mind? Artists call this pentimenti. The artist chooses something and changes their mind. On a painting, it would be a layer underneath with different images. On fiber art, it’s a series of small holes where you ripped something out.

This was a week of set backs. I’ve been working on finishing the purple heron. When I get towards the end, I sometimes make decisions I regret.

This happened with my purple heron this week. I was working with some larger lily pads than I usually do, and I put them in first before the heron. In between the heron and the lily pads were the butterflies. When I finally got the heron stitched in, the butterfly was way too close and personal.

Removing an applique is a drastic thing to do. It’s been stitched down with a free-motion zigzag stitch that is quite dense. I’ve done it with a mustache trimmer. I also love my surgical scalpels. That’s what I used here. You can cut through the stitch on the backside. I have a layer of protective felt and stabilizer between that and the front.

But be prepared for holes. I hoped the needle holes would shrink when I steamed the piece. Not enough.

Here’s another rescue. A roll of tape can remove a lot of excess thread after ripping out.

Not to worry about the holes. I got out some left-over spirals and placed them in a design where the hole was. What hole? After that, I replaced my butterfly in a better spot.

Here it is fixed. I need to stipple in the water next.

,Does it happen to me? Of course, it does. Rather regularly. But it isn’t what goes wrong with a piece of art that defines it. It’s what you do after to fix it.

Medical Update

| ellenanneeddy

Normally I don’t talk much about my health. I have the usual amount of 70-something booboos, which I consider boring, and I’m sure most of you do too.

This is more serious and it’s got me spun a bit. I have an ascending aortic aneurysm that has started to widen. I’m going to be having heart surgery as soon as we have all the testing done.

I have insurance but there’s a significant amount of preparatory work that is not covered. I find myself with a three thousand dollar gap that I have to find to have the surgery.

Etsy has a new program where the buyer can make an offer for an item and the seller sets a lowest price. I’m not doing this with the quilts at the Peoria Art Guild. I have an arrangement with them we have to hold to. And I’m not doing this with quilts under $500. But I’m arranging the other quilts so that you can offer me as much as 40% off the quilt.

If you want to pay a little more, you can ask for any discount up to 40%. If you really want something and want to offer less than that, call me. I am a motivated seller at this point.

My friends, my students and my fans have always been so kind to me. If you can help, or if you’ve been waiting for a best price, this would be a great time to buy a quilt. Thanks!

The quilts are listed at www.etsy.com/shop/EllenAnneEddy

Bobbin Work and Computerized Stitches

| ellenanneeddy

I had someone call and ask for this. So Cathy, this is for you. But it’s also information for other people who might want it.

Bobbin work is stitching done upside down with thick thread in the bobbin. It sounds hard. It’s not.

How thick? Usually, I use thread that’s either 5-8 weight for bobbin work. Pearl cotton comes in a million colors in those weights. There are thick metallic threads as well: YLI’s Candelight, Superior’s Razzle Dazzle, and Madeira’s Glamor are all 8 # threads and are beautiful in bobbin work.

I do my bobbin work free motion, because I can draw with it. It builds up images quickly because the thread fills in faster being thick. If you would like more information about free motion bobbin work, look at Bobbin Work Stitch Vocabulary for a short tutorial.

Here’s some basic information on Bobbin Work from the Stitch Vocabulary Book

Thread Magic Stitch Vocabulary Book Page 17

Settings for decorative stitching

But what if you want to use all those cool decorative stitches on your machine? You can do that! It’s not that hard, but there are differences.

Leave your feed dogs up!

Use an applique foot that gives you some room for the thicker stitching.

Pick stitches that have no zigzag in them. Zigzag stitches are more likely to jam. Instead, stitches formed from straight stitch will work much better.

Try them out. Different size stitches may look very different. I’ve prepped some pieces of plain muslin with a backing of Decor Bond to stabilize them. I’m working from the back.

This works for most machines. I wrap the end of the thread around my bobbin, twist the thread around the winding pin and hold the thread in my hand. That way I can wind bobbins from threads in odd put-ups and reels. And I don’t need to rethread my top thread.

Stitching

Turn your piece on to the back.

Take your first stitch holding on to both top and bobbin thread so it doesn’t jam.

Go slowly until you know how your stitch will work.

If it jams, cut the bobbin thread at the end of the stitching and then you can pull the piece away from the machine safely

I recommend making a little booklet of your practice sheets. You can do that by sewing them together and binding the edge with bias binding.

Hope this helps!