Puget Sound Sewing & Craft

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

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

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!

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