St. Johns Bizarre Street Fair, May 9, 2015

It may take me a year or so to update my "Updates" section on this website, but when there's something really good I do get around to it! For instance, the upcoming street fair held in St. Johns, Portland, OR at which I will have a booth... This will be the 9th year of the St. Johns Bizarre and the first that I have applied to participate. I couldn't be more thrilled to be a part of this. It's a great neighborhood with its own character (completely separate from the popularized Portland hyperboles, though may carry a few of its own) in a beautiful part of the area and I am honored to have been accepted as a vendor.

Any of you who follow my Instagram will have seen some pics lately of last-minute inventory additions I am making for this event. I'm bolstering my pot holders, pan handle cozies and coasters for starters.

Can you tell I've been much better about the process shots than finished product shots? Maybe that's something to take into account and try to work on the next couple of weeks? The optimist in me says to wait until after next Saturday in the hopes that there are fewer products to photograph... that could also be the procrastinator talking — she has a much louder voice.

So, short of a few more bindings on pot holders and a bunch of topstitching for the coasters I feel like I've done a decent job of reinforcing my standards. The next step was figuring out if I wanted to offer something more (I mean, I will be taking place mat sets and smaller quilts that were already made). I currently have only 2 table runners in inventory, one of which is decidedly winter/holiday themed, and at the last show I did with Cherie several people asked about runners. And I did start working on one, but as I got further along it felt more like a row for an improv quilt than a stand-alone table topper. That has happened before, so I think table runners just may not be my thing. Not that I won't try again some time!

My next thought was throw pillows. I've made a few, I have fun with them, but I only had one pair in stock. Time to change that!

It's almost down to the 11th hour and there's still a lot to do (do I have enough tags printed out for everything?? Where did I find that skinny ribbon I was using for tying on the tags? I need more of that! I keep forgetting to log into my PayPal app to update the products there...) but I am sure it will come together.

In addition I have some great people in my corner... Cherie has been invaluable and is loaning me several items for a successful booth, including the outdoor canopy (and there may just be a few options available from The Creative Bungalow). Jenny has agreed to come and hang out with me during the day helping at the booth. Then of course there's J who will hopefully be decompressing from a big event that he is hosting tomorrow and has agreed to take care of our pup while I'm off for 12 or so hours. I keep thinking it would be rad to have a booth dog, but dear Atlas just isn't that dog — not chill enough.

I hope to see many of you Portland locals wandering around the booths, food carts, craft tents, listening to the live music and (fingers crossed) enjoying a lovely sunshiny Saturday in May!

Selfish Sewing in Disguise

Pardon me while I shake off some of the dust that has gathered on these keys here... I didn't realize exactly how long it had been since my last blog post until going in and getting ready to write this one! I may be a bit rusty at this, but here goes:

Instead of the full onslaught of all of the projects and activities I've been working on over the last 2+ months I'll jump right on in to one in particular (that is still in progress - surprise, surprise!). Earlier this year Cherie and I did some pattern shopping for The Creative Bungalow at E.E. Schenck, a local quilting and craft distributor here in Portland. Often on these trips each of us will find a pattern that strikes us much more than the other, but for the most part we make a point of coming to a consensus on our purchases for the business.

On this particular trip we picked up a pattern by Madison Cottage Design, Citrus Punch.

We felt this would work really well with some of the fabrics we had been collecting, but still needed a few more to build out the kit properly.

And yet I was eager to give this a shot, so I decided to "pattern test" it using my own stash. Although I have many (MANY) fabrics with which to play I kept seeing my Kaffe Collective collection filling the spot. So I jumped right in.

An initial fabric pull.

These guys lend themselves so well to the mixing and matching that the pattern calls for. I did my best to go for decent contrast with the accent strips in these stage 1 blocks, then commenced with more slicing and dicing.

and mixing and matching...

At this point it's really just a matter of piecing all of the quarter-square triangle blocks and playing around on the design wall. Did you hear that? Playing around on the design wall!!

I've since gotten distracted by more pressing projects (another shock, I'm sure!) but this will remain on the design wall until I get all of the blocks complete and the final layout decided. I like to think I did a good thing making sure this pattern sews up well — which it absolutely does — before committing it to one of The Creative Bungalow kits. Good deed indeed!

Let the Games Begin, part 2

I left my last post about my UIOLI (Use It Or Lose It) stash challenge with an enticing "To be continued..." didn't I? So let's pick up where we left off. 

I was considering adding some warmer and lighter prints to the original group of deep earth-tone fabrics. After looking at a possible arrangement on the design wall I felt that I was missing something:

So I pulled a bunch of lighter oranges and more greens, dipping into my Kaffe Collective stacks. I think the instinct worked in my favor, if I do say so myself. 

I know the difference is subtle, but it's effective. That extra shot of a different value really made the whole thing look less monotonous to me. So I kept going with it:

That should end up being a good-sized throw! So far I've got the top 1/3 or so of the rows sewn together and thankfully had my trusty studio partner keeping me company for the chain-piecing.

And since this project is now well under way it allows me to start picking for the NEXT UIOLI project!! The neo-Nouveau print was the jumping off point for this one:

The strips are cut, with a few changes in selections, and I'm thinking I'll be replicating a quilt I made a few years ago for a friend's first child. One I've always meant to try again. Here's my chance!

Cool Cottons Online!

Today I am not speaking for Surrounded by Scraps or even The Creative Bungalow. Today's plug is for my absolute favorite LQS here in Portland, and yes I may be a bit biased (and in full disclosure, have been working here for nearly 4 years now). The great little shop in the SE Portland craftsman house, Cool Cottons, has launched an online store!

Can now be found on the World Wide Web...

Those of you who have had the opportunity to visit the shop here in Portland and have met Marie know what a unique place this is and what an amazing eye she has for finding the best of the best prints. After working at a couple of other local quilt shops for several years I told myself that the only fabric store I would work at in the future is the one store that never hires. So I figured I was out of the business (which honestly would have been fine with me at the time). But about 2-3 months after I left my previous job to concentrate on Surrounded by Scraps, that "never" turned around. Marie was looking for help just one day a week. It turned out to be a win-win. And continues to be.

So we're ready to start this new adventure and looking forward to "meeting" more of you quilters and sewists from far and wide. But keep in mind that even though the Cool Cottons fabrics are now available from your computer screens, to get the true Cool Cottons experience there's nothing like a visit to 2417 SE Hawthorne, Portland, OR!

Let the Games Begin!

And we're off. I have officially begun digging into the Use It or Lose It Stash Challenge (#useitorloseitstashchallenge) here at Surrounded by Scraps. And as any fabric addict will do, I began with the inspiration print that I was most hesitant to give up - a lovely little faerie fabric in warm earth tones from Hoffman (pictured at the bottom of the following photo). The only reason this particular fabric ended up on the chopping block in the first place is a combination of little factors: I purchased it easily over 7 years ago; although I have used it in several projects over the years, I have passed it by in recent years when looking for kid-friendly prints; the palette is terribly out of vogue (but among my favorites). I still think this fabric has some great potential and am not willing to let it go!

So using the sweet faeries as a jumping off point I started gathering some coordinating fabrics, 5 of which were also pulled from the UIOLI (Use It Or Lose It) pile. At the time I put this collection together, I still had no ideas of WHAT to do with them, just that something must be started and soon.

Thank goodness for Pinterest! I was able to spend part of an evening reviewing my Patchwork Inspiration board and was hit with an "Aha!" moment. I knew my plan for these as soon as I saw this awesome triangle quilt by CoraQuilts:

Click photo to see original link at Flickr.com

And then this quilt photo from the Fancy Tiger Crafts website:

I decided to dive in and start cutting triangles.

This was me trying to be conservative with the number of prints I use. I really tried dialing it back from my usual super-scrappy default. I can play with these on their own, right? Let's see how they look up on the design wall...

Enh, it's okay, but it's missing something. Too many prints? Can there really be such a thing?? Maybe too many prints that are all the same value. That must be it. And maybe I should throw in the alternate contrast blocks like Carla's use of the blue solids.

OR... maybe I just need to spice it up with some Kaffe and friends!!

...to be continued.

Trying Something New

It's no secret that I fell out of touch with the online community at some point last year. A few weeks ago I started noticing some great design graphics popping up on Karen - CapitolaQuilter's IG feed. She used a hashtag #qdad, which I tried in all my linguistic brain power to identify but eventually had to simply ask for the answer. "What does #qdad stand for??" The answer was embarrassingly straightforward, and one that many of you probably already know... Quilt Design A Day.

As a concept this is not new to me. But as an organized group with a Facebook page sharing themes and color palettes and inspiration posts I was completely oblivious. So I checked them out.

Image by Amy Gunson. Individual motifs by members of the FB group: Gillian Smith, Carolyn Canterman, Karen Foster and Allison M. Olander.

These quilters are doing some seriously cool things with design software!! The about page offers several software options depending on what machine one is using. At the time I first read the page I didn't have any design software activated on my computer. In November my tech-expert brother helped update my Mac OS to where we backed up the pertinent files, replaced my relatively old drive and ran the update. This made my already outdated Adobe Creative Suite 2 completely obsolete. It wiped out the old Parallels I was running (when it actually would run) for the sole purpose of using EQ7. It left me with options for new softwares I am not familiar with, or new versions of the previous softwares in formats I don't agree with (don't get me started on Adobe switching exclusively to Cloud-based subscriptions...). And then I remembered that Electric Quilt Co. finally released a Mac-friendly version of EQ7! I paid the transfer fee (about 1/8th of the cost of the new software) and downloaded the new version this morning. NO WINDOWS O.S. NECESSARY!!

Like almost any skill one learns, EQ7 is best when the gears are kept active, you keep pressing buttons whether or not you know what they do and basically continue to use as many features as you can. I have done none of these things. I find the tools I use most, become conversant with those and ignore all the rest. Anything I can't figure out in the program I can either find another program to accomplish the desired results or go back to my trusty paper and pencil. Today I decided to play with EQ7 for the first time in months using the daily inspiration photo and palette posted onto the FB page by Karen. I don't love my results, but I love that I gave it a try.

I also applied skills long-since gone rusty to something non-quilt related earlier today:

To be honest, this pair of rollerblades was the initial inspiration for the #UseItorLoseIt challenge... we're starting to straighten up the basement after months (years?) of it serving primarily as dumping ground and storage. Several weeks ago I saw these guys lying on the floor and thought, "I haven't used these in YEARS. I should go ahead and give them away (along with my unused tennis racket and lacrosse stick)." Then the thought crossed my mind that this would be a great way to exercise the dog since I HATE running and we steer away from off-leash parks. But first I have to get my sea-legs back, so to speak. A few spins around the patio and tripping up the bumpy driveway were very instructive. But the journey has begun... they get to stay here as long as I continue to work on using them. This might be a 2015 theme.

So here's to revisiting and sharpening old skills, applying to new endeavors. I think that's part of growing, right?

Use It or Lose It Stash Challenge

Since recovering from the hullabaloo of the late-December holidays (ours were actually very mellow, just the way I like it), I have been overtaken with a strong desire to ORGANIZE. Shocking, I know.

It might have been helped by the receipt of this perfect Christmas gift:

which helped me take this...

... and somehow get this:

You may be asking, "How does this relate to the post title? When is she going to talk about this challenge thing?" The thread sorting is where the studio clean-up started, but I'm not quite ready to explain the title. Gettin' there, I promise!

During the process of sorting and organizing my spools of thread I came up with almost as many comb-over spools as useable ones. If you can't picture what that means, take a look:

And I wonder — what compelled me to hold on to all of these guys? Laziness? False expectation of restocking? An uncanny pack-rat mentality that doesn't allow me to let go of anything that I could possibly get some sort of use out of at some time in the future? Yep, that last one sounds about right... so keep that logic in mind as I continue my recounting of my studio clean-up.

After successfully attacking the thread I decided to turn my attention to my overwhelming stacks of fabric. Perhaps somewhat inspired by the usual instagram New Years' resolutions and pledges about sewing from stash, revisiting UFOs and just starting the new year off right I tried to be brutal about culling the unused from my stash. The problem is, I'm not so good at brutal or at culling.

Near the beginning of the purge. Those fabrics on the floor are NOT to be purged, just moved from piles on top of the shelving units. 

I will be the first to admit that I have an obscene amount of quilting fabric. I blame the dangerous combination of being a genetic pack-rat/collector and working consistently at various quilt shops for the last 9 years. This means there was a LOT of fabric to sort through. I stretched myself to be ruthless.

Just the start of the Donation pile.

And while I managed to weed out an impressive number of those fabrics, there were several that gave me pause.

So I started my "Use it or Lose it" pile. I kept coming across fabrics that I could't justify keeping in my stash at this point, but for a number of reasons I couldn't just toss away either. Whether for sentimental reasons, practical reasons or just because I really LIKE the print (but have had it for too many years without actually USING it) they got set aside. 

I'm not a New Year's Resolution person. I don't get behind public pledges, especially ones that depend on a change of habits that have been with me for 40 or so years. But I feel like I came up with a friendly little personal challenge that is approachable and might even be fun. And the best part... NO PRESSURE. 

So here are the self-imposed rules:

EITHER come up with a project (or projects) and begin said project(s) with any number of the "Use it or Lose it" fabrics within the first 3 months of the year OR add them to the purge pile. No harm, no foul. They are all fabrics I haven't been using for years, ones that I considered tossing in the purge pile on Monday but couldn't bring myself to do so without giving them one last fighting chance, so this way they either get a new life or continue on the path for which they are destined. No pressure, right? So meet my eclectic mix of "Use it or Lose it":

I welcome input. However, if you think one of these fabrics is ugly, don't even bother telling me - I probably already know. (Actually, feel free to tell me. I'm okay with it.) And if any of you is inspired to give this challenge a try on your own, let me know! I've got an Instagram hashtag going, #useitorloseitstashchallenge. A mouthful I know. Please post potential challenge fabrics of your own and we can exchange project ideas, crazy comments or maybe even end up doing an ugly-fabric swap! The world is our oyster... at least for the next 3 months.

And I have to say that I did make quite a bit of progress during that one day of studio clean-up. Granted there might be a couple more days in store to really do it well, but for now I cannot complain.

Still an obscene amount of fabric, but a much neater, better curated group of them. Oh and off to the right is my collection of novelty fabrics and (not shown) my Kaffe and Friends collection, which takes up 3+ cubbies all on its own. And NONE of the Kaffe Collective gets purged. EVER. Used, yes, but never purged. Just so we're clear.

So here's to a Fresh New Year and the fun adventures that it brings! Who's with me?

Recalibrating and Celebrating

Well, apparently it's been so long since I've blogged that my hosting site has changed its interface yet again. Yes, I did get notices about it over the past month or two, but it was in one ear and out the other sadly. So here I am giving this a spin!

And what better way to kick things off than promoting a fun, do.Good sort of event! This week Rachel Hauser of Stitched in Color has launched the annual Celebrate do.Good Stitches event on her blog. It is her way of recognizing the incredible work done by 240+ stitchers and quilters, all of which ultimately gets donated to various charitable causes. Though organizing this large a group and the efforts it supports is no small feat, therefore Rachel herself deserves an enormous debt of gratitude.

I've been participating in this bee for just about 3 1/2 years I believe. In fact, this year when I decided to take a break from the online bees, swaps and other group commitments I've been enjoying over the last several years this bee is the one I chose to continue with. Because it's different. One really does feel as though we are doing good. That said, the time constraints that I had expected to be an issue during the year did come into play as I had feared. As the host for the Bliss Circle of the group it is my responsibility to facilitate group discussions, keep a schedule of quilters up to date, stay on top of blocks being sent within the circle and other various little administrative duties in addition to being one of the circle's 4-5 quilters. Admittedly I fell behind a bit during the year, both on my administrative duties and the quilting. I currently have at least 3 finished quilt tops (and most of the blocks collected for another quilt) that need to be quilted and sent off to our selected charity - Wrap Them in Love. In fact, I only finished ONE quilt so far this year for the group. Poor showing, if I do say so myself. But it's one I am quite happy about!

Oh, and might I just point out that that backing is the epitome of using what you have! The batik that makes up the majority of the backing is one that I've had in my stash for upwards of 7 years, picked up for a project way back when. I cannot even remember whether I ended up using it for the intended project or what quilt that even was. All of these factors together means it is time to use it or lose it! And since I can't seem to purge very well (or at all!) use it I did!

Now it's time to go visit that link above for the Celebrate do.Good Stitches post on Rachel's blog and vote for your favorite quilt from the pool. Each of the 24 circles selected a single quilt finished during 2014 to represent their circle and the voting is open to the public now through Monday Dec. 15. She has also posted a couple of more entries related to the celebration, including individual recipients of gift prizes and an open pool for all of the group's quilters to submit their finished projects from the year. Take a look and share your thoughts! But most of all just take a few moments to enjoy the hard work done by all of these Stitchers and Quilters and Celebrate the year!