Hari-kuyo: Festival of the Broken Needles Honored at IHAN ® Today

When we join needle to thread and begin stitching, in time, our skills improve and we create more masterful pieces.  Our skills are not improving on their own, it is the needle that works along side of us to join the thread to fibers...a co-creating of sorts.  Those fallen counterparts (the needles and pins) are "laid to rest" if you will....in a ceremony or festival honoring their work and it is called Hari-kuyo.  

Hearing about Hari-kuyo several years ago, I had a desire to have a Festival or Ceremony of my own.  Today was "that"  day and I did it the same way I do most everything in my life, I winged it.  If I were Native American I'm sure I would have been named "flies by seat of pants".

With my limited knowledge and understanding, I gathered the pins and needles from my sharps container and all that were collected from the IHAN® Needle Exchange Program.   A candle was lit and I began focusing my attention on gratitude for all those needles and their joining with me in my quest for improved needle art skills. 

 Reflecting on all that I've asked those needles to do and being grateful that not a one of them laughed at me or all my mistakes.   Taking time to think about the gifts that needle work has brought to my life and how being part of the needle arts community has changed me as a person....now those needles seem very sacred and treasured parts of my jouney.  Tossing them into the trash seems difficult if not impossible.  I will lay them to rest in the flower garden in  front of my home where I also have hung bird feeders as a memorial to my mother.  Birds will sing over the top of those broken needles...what a wonderful resting place.

This experience has been powerful for me and I'm so glad I participated in Hari-kuyo this year. 

Smiles of Gratitude,
Kelly

You can read more about Hari-kuyo from these sources or you can visit the "wise village elder" aka Google:
Stitchtress Stumbles
Audrey Yang at ISSUU

It's Snowing...just like when I was a Kid :)

The beautiful white snow feels like a return to my childhood when school was closed and we could barely open the front door because the snow had drifted to over 2 feet.   The memories of being a child include "real snow" where it would literally be over 24 inches and we dressed in multiple layers and used Wonder Bread plastic bags (the ones with the colorful dots on them) as lining over our 2 or 3 pair of socks to make it easier to slide on our boots.  We headed out to play and shovel show.  Mainly just play until we were somewhere around 11 and then snow brought with it the opportunity to make money by shoveling other people's sidewalks. 

School has been canceled today (we're up to 5 1/2 days of weather related absences this winter) and we have been enjoying it from the windows thus far. 

An ordinary passerby might think nothing of this cave at the end of our driveway....but to this Momma, that is the sign of two very hardworking and happy boys :)  The co-workers have tunneled through the big pile of accumulated snow and ice to make their own tunnel.  I loved the ice sickles that have formed on the roof of their cave.

Between going to Physical Therapy and keeping up with the snow and ice I haven't found much time to sew.  I've been using my embroidery machine to make labels for some quilts that are finished.

 This is one I made yesterday and then cut through the fabric while trimming the stabilizer.  You can guess there will be a duplicate in my near future.

I was given a bird feeder and a bird seed wreath for Christmas and I took them out front earlier this week and hung them in the trees.  Oh the birds that have visited...

 

The bird house was covered in seed when it was hung...they didn't last long that's for sure!  It is now a naked house...giggles.

Rick filled the bird fountain with seed so they would not have to fight for the seeds.   Snow and birds...a wee bit of stitching...that's what I've been up to this past week.

Three days from now it will be the Festival of  Broken Needles aka Hari-kuyo.  For the past 4 years I have wanted to acknowledge this Festival but my planning and execution skills were not aligned.  This year is different!!!  My understanding of Hari-kuyo is taking the time to show gratitude for old and broken needles.  Sort of a Thanksgiving for our stitching needles.  Very cool indeed and I plan on having a little ceremony here. 

I've saved all of my broken sewing and hand stitching needles in a medicine bottle for several years  and I also saved all the needles I received in the IHAN Needle Exchange Program a  few years back.  This will be the first time I will officially celebrated "Hari-kuyo" and  I was thinking of a funeral of sorts to lay those wonderful needles to rest.  I'll post more on the 8th.

Back to the snow....

Smiles,
Kelly

The Minimalists: Everything That Remains Book Tour Trailer

Dreary Saturday Outside Today

We've had snow and now rain...and boy is it slushy outside today.  No worries for me however...I'm inside :)

Doing what you ask?

Well...after I've sorted tons of paper on my kitchen table, I've arranged play dates for both co-workers and now I'm headed to the sewing sanctuary to make some quilt labels on my embroidery machine. 

Guess who flew back home this week....my Power Suit Piece (above) arrived back home safe and sound.  That is one well traveled bird I have to say.  So glad I participated because it challenged me to do things I would not have otherwise done.  I'd love to hear about some of your challenges that you've participated in....share away :)

Smiles,
Kelly

Pincushion Appeal Winner Announced

 We have a winner!!!

Pincushion Appeal

Congratulations goes out to Kathe!!!

I have sent Kathe an e-mail and I'm waiting to hear back from her.  

THANK YOU Cecile McPeak and Rachel Martin for supplying the book and fun kits :)

I have been fortunate enough to hear about so many wonderful pincushion collections since posting about this new book, Pincushion Appeal.  Someone needs to organize a pincushion swap for sure.  It just can't be me...I'm swamped...but I'd love to participate if you coordinate :)

Have a wonderful weekend!

Smiles,

Kelly

Good Sunday Mornin' to Ya :)

Enjoy...I did!

My mother absolutely loved babies and when I saw these videos, I knew her spirit was listening too. We have more beautiful snow here in OH.....thankfully I don't have to dress 4 babies in winter gear. Smiles, Kelly

Fleece Scarves Tutorial With or Without Embroidery by Karin

Hello there!  The other day, I realized that we had THREE birthdays coming up, all within the first 10 days of February.  I mentioned it to Kelly and she asked me what I was gonna do about it.  Well, since they were all in Virginia, and I'm in South Texas, I also had to factor in some shipping time....what to do, what to do?  I was gonna use up some fleece, that's what I was gonna do!  That would solve a couple of problems - easy, quick birthday presents, and use up some fabric, how could I go wrong with that??  So, I got busy and embroidered and  sewed up four scarves real quick.  I sent Kelly a picture of some of them, and she wanted to know how I made them.  So, here I am, sharing with her, and you, her dear readers.  So, grab some fleece, a ruler and thread, and let's go!

There are a couple different layouts for your design, and you'll have to figure out which you want before you begin.  If you have fleece that's wide enough to accommodate your design AND a backside, you can use that, but if you only have a narrow scrap of fleece, you'll want two lengths, so you can sew them together down the long sides.  For the pictures and  tutorial here, we're going to assume you have an unlimited supply of fleece (or at least sufficient).  (Everyone has a bunch of fleece in a tote bin in the corner of their guest room, right?  Oh...it's just me?)

For these scarves, I decided to use some of the  Wrapped Up in Winter designs from Embroidery Library.

They're just too cute, aren't they?  And sooo easily customized with simple color changes.

These designs are about 7 inches wide, so I cut my fleece at 18 inches wide, selvage to selvage 

(7x2 plus 4 (seam allowance and 1 inch on each side of the design)).

Remember, if your selected design isn't as wide as mine, you won't need to cut such wide fleece, and if you're doing another color fleece for the scarf back, you'll need TWO long pieces of fleece, but only wide enough for the seam allowance and design.

For this  tutorial, I'm going to assume you're working with one piece of fleece.  Find and mark your center.  I put a light chalk mark, but then I stuck a pin through it so I could see it better.  You'll want to make this mark at least 6 inches up from the short end of the scarf.  This'll allow room enough for you to add a name and a fringe later on.

Pick your colors - this was the hardest part for me - always is.

Hoop your fleece and stabilizer.  Now, you've got a couple options here.  You can use one piece of Floriani Cutaway, or a couple of pieces of Floriani Tearaway - totally your choice, and dependent upon how dense your design is.  There's no need to hoop the fleece (and if you try to do so, you'll probably get aggravated, not to mention, hoop burn on your fabric).....just hoop your stabilizer, then pin your fleece to the stabilizer.

Below you can see the pin I placed for centering.  Let me warn you - I just bought a new Babylock, and one of the advanced features is that automatic targeting system, using stickers that look like baby snowmen.  I used one of them on the first scarf I did...follow my advice, not my lead, and DON'T.  Do NOT use those stickers.  Those babies are just tooooooo sticky, and a lot of the fleece's pile was removed when I removed the sticker.  Surprise!  (Same reason I don't recommend Adhesive Stabilizer for this fabric.)  So, I used a pin for centering all the rest.  Move your needle over to the pin, but don't start sewing yet!!!!  Just move your design so the center of it is roughly where your pin is.

Remove your hoop, but don't take your fabric out of it...just pin a layer of Floriani Water Soluble Topping  over your design area.  This will help lay the fuzzy pile down and float your stitches on top of it, giving a nice, even fill that will appear nice and dense.  Why didn't we lay down the topping before centering the design?  Because we would have laid that topping down right over top of that centering pin, and we all know what happens when needle strikes pin, right?

Here's the Floriani Water Soluble Topping added...

Now, this next part is totally optional, but since it adds stability, you'll lessen the chance of wrap-arounds and  pull-aways.  Wrap-around is where the bobbin thread wraps to the front of the stitching, and pull-away is where your stitching areas separate from one another, leaving your fabric peeking through (trust me, neither is ever a good look).  A good rule of thumb is one sheet of stabilizer for every 8,000 stitches.  So what I've done here is taken one of my scraps of tearaway and tucked it under the hoop....it's not attached to anything, it's just laid down on the bed between the hoop and  the throat plate.  Obviously, you'll want to make sure your design is going to stitch in the same area as your floating stabilizer...So, this design is about 18,000 stitches, and I've got 3 layers of tearaway, which will hold about 24,000 stitches - I'm good to go.

Load up your first color and press START.  Let 'er rip!

When your stitching is all complete, remove the hoop from the machine, remove all the stabilizer and topping and  trim any long jump stitches.

Now it's time to turn your embroidered fleece fabric into a scarf!  Fold it in half, lengthwise (or put your two pieces right sides together), and pin.  If you're going to make a fringe, be sure to start and  stop your seam accordingly...see where I double-pinned?  That's approximately where my fringe is going to start.

Because fleece is stretchy, be sure to use a long zig-zag stitch.  You know what'll happen if you don't? You'll have wavy seams and broken stitches.  Trust me on that.

Oh yeah, a walking foot will make it much easier and  neater to sew.

When your seam is sewn, turn your tube right side out and roll that seam around to the center back (if you're using 2 separate pieces of fleece, just make sure your side seams are lined up nicely on each side).

Run a line of zig-zag across the scarf, just past the start/stop point, leaving the fringe end open.

Trim the selvage off each short end and fringe as desired.  Just be careful and don't make your fringes so skinny that they pull off.  And don't cut all the way through the line of stitching (I probably didn't have to tell you that, but I'm sure McDonald's didn't think it had to tell people its coffee was hot, either).  Since it's not woven, fleece won't ravel, but I prefer the look of the pinked edges.  Feel free to use straight scissors if you wish.

And that's how she did it.  These sew up quick and easy and nice they're so light, they were easy (and inexpensive) to ship.  I'm told the kids loved 'em, and my hubby is thrilled that fabric went OUT the door instead of in  (sshhhhhhh, don't tell him I bought about 5 yards of something pretty when we were in Austin the other day.....)!  Win-win-win!

Thanks for letting me crash your blog, Kelly.  Let me know if you have any questions!

THANK YOU Karin....another wonderful tutorial!  I love the scarves and I know the kids do too.  Big hugs to you and Driver :)

Kelly

Pincushion Appeal Book REVIEW and GIVEAWAY

Pincushion Appeal by Cecile McPeak and Rachel Martin

The first time I laid eyes on this book it was mine...I just knew it.  Then I saw who wrote it and I knew why I loved it so much.  Cecile and Rachel from Just Another Button Company wrote this fun book!!

I do my very best not to "collect" too many things because the more you own, the more it owns you...right?  Salt and Pepper shakers are one of my weaknesses and the other is pincushions.  I love to give and receive them as they are so much fun.  Cecile and Rachel will tickle your pin cushion fancy with all the patterns they have in their new book, Pincushion Appeal.

I can't imagine a down day or being frustrated when looking at this heavenly mushroom including

 "embellished wonderments" (my term for Just Another Button Company's products).  Pincushions are my anti-depressants...LOL.  I just love them :)

Not only are you going to have a chance to win this great new book....but your prize will also include the fabric kit and a tiny packet of extra embellishments.  I can not guarantee you'll have the same anti-depressant effects I receive....but I bet you'll be dancing at your mail box if you are the winner.

A few notes about this giveaway....you must be an IHAN ® blog follower to win, you must leave a comment on this blog post (before 1/31/14) and you will be asked to pay the shipping associated with this prize (shipping from 43551 zip code).   See the Rafflecopter below to enter.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Best of luck to all of you in the giveaway....if you like Pincusions or know someone who does..I know you'll enjoy this book immensely.

Smiles,
Kelly 

Headed Home

Another retreat that flew by like it was 3 hours instead of days.  My annual pilgrimage to be with my PA girlfriends and I had an amazing trip.  It started with the concern I could not drive the 7 hours with my ankle, but surprisingly enough, I made it just fine and didn't have to drive with my leg on the dashboard the entire trip :)

I set my sewing goals very low and raised my connecting time quite high and that was the perfect combination for me this year.

Here is a little peak at what my eyes beheld:

The Historic Wheatly Barn is adorned with a beautiful quilt block.

Downtown Wellsboro

The Fanaslau Barn Quilt in all its glory.

Kim always works on something beautiful and fun.  I love her basket quilt and if you look very closely....

there is a chicken too :)

The beds are all adorned with amazing quilts as well...talk about heaven...yes...I'm in heaven here and have to leave today....booo hoooo.

If I don't get on the road I'm going to have Mr. McSteamy blowing smoke and the co-workers looking like orphans....gotta run.  

Joyfilled Smiles of Wonderful Gratitude,

Kelly

Where in the World is....

Patsy Thompson.....is she in Ohio, North Carolina, Texas, California???

I guess it depends on which day of the week it is!  Yep, Patsy does travel quite a bit so when I met up with a group of gals for a machine embroidery lesson yesterday, I was tickled to see Patsy in the flesh. 

Patsy came to demonstrate her way of hooping projects or should I say....not hooping projects when she is creating her quilts.  There is a free download on her website, HERE, that is a guide for aligning your project no matter the orientation in the hoop. 

Patsy is a non-traditional machine embroiderer and has made many of her own patterns.  She also encourages people to mix and match various designs and think about using them in different orientations to get different effects.

These are just some of the fantastic tips Patsy shared:

• Stitch out an outline on a piece of stabilizer or muslin to test out the size you desire for your project

• Keep that inventory of stitched out shapes so you can refer to them for a variety of projects.

• Test stitch and move that piece under a piece of muslin to visually check how close or distant you like the design on your borders or blocks.

• Take notes on your stitch outs to save time when stitching in future projects.

I know there was so much more but honestly I was not taking notes.  I can say one thing for sure and that is that Patsy loves...or should I say, LOVES her Babylock Embroidery Machines!  LOL  I should tease because I too love mine and they are the most intuitive and user friendly machines I've ever had the pleasure of using.  Brother machines are also very user friendly and made by the same people so I'm told.

Here is one of Patsy's you tube videos where she shares more about machine embroidery:

If you blink, you might miss Patsy....she is on the move.  Next week she'll be at the Road to California Quilters Conference  along with several other wonderful teachers I know including: Sarah Vedeler, Julie Herman,  Lady Eleanor Burns, Edyta Sitar, and Cheryl Phillips.  There are a ton more teachers I just don't know all of them....yet :)  Plenty of friends are going as well so I hope everyone in Southern California actually knows how blessed they are to have so many womderful and inspiring people gathering for some quilting fun.

I'm on my way to PA today for my annual winter retreat with my girlfriends there.  I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend and stay tuned for a tutorial from none other than my dear friend and machine embroidery expert (in my mind)  Karin :)

Smiles,
Kelly