kcobweb | (no subject)

My friendslist seems to be erupting into spontaneous applause today just at the fact that it's September. Yay September. Let me join in - I'm thrilled that summer is over and fall is *almost* here. Woo.

galagan took the afternoon off yesterday, and we drove to Brattleboro, Vermont. (Why Brattleboro? The answer is mostly because we could.) It was a gorgeous day - and I even spotted a few stray branches on those Vermont trees starting to turn colors. Note that yesterday was still officially August, which seems Too Early for These Things. Not that I'm complaining. We drove into New Hampshire purely for Elena's benefit - it was her 21st state. Yes, you read that right. (Before the grand cross-country drive, she had been to *6* states though. That effort really pushed her into new territory. She has been to more states than she is months old - that would be 18, next week). Anyway, we wandered around downtown Brattleboro, which is very cute and quaint. Elena did not want to walk though. She's in a phase where she will only walk 10-20 feet before falling to her knees and whining.

Today's big accomplishment has lots o' back story. Several *years* ago, my mother got me a sewing machine for Christmas. As I recall, I was just getting over the flu and felt like crap, and we were celebrating Christmas early because

galagan and I were spending the actual day with his mother and family (his mother died in 2003 - so this would have been 2002). So - I wasn't in the mood that day, and while excited about the machine as a present, feeling too full-of-ick to do much about it. I was also in the middle of planning a wedding. (It's embarrassing now, how long ago this all was.) Then, I was going to set it up in our spare room, except then we acquired a roommate, who took over the not-so-spare-anymore room. And he moved out when we got a baby. *Then* we moved to LA and into a teeny tiny apartment. So, anyway - the upshot is that in all these years I've never set it up, because I never had anywhere to put it. Now, that day has finally come.

So! I set up the machine the other day in the far end of our dining room. Today I got out some scraps and figured out how to wind a bobbin, threaded the thing and voila! It sews!!! I've always always had trouble with sewing machines in the past - they don't thread right, or the tension is wrong, or I can't figure out some doohickey, and so I get all intimidated and figure that handsewing would just be easier anyway. So I was expecting trouble, and instead this went very smoothly. (I'm just waiting for the other shoe to drop.) Perhaps all my past troubles have actually taught me a thing or two, and so now I have actually accumulated the knowledge of how to do this. So yay me!!!

I have big plans - I've been wanting to do a denim quilt for years, and have collected roughly 8 million pairs of old jeans. I just bought some red bandana print flannel for the backing, and it's going to be a raggedy quilt, with the denim and red flannel alternating. Those of you who know quilting will understand what I mean, I think, and the rest of you will have to wait to see if there are pictures forthcoming.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

I really wanted to make a denim quilt at one point, just like the one you describe. Maybe we saw the same magazine article or something. I was going to do eight-pointed stars--but I've finally admitted to myself that sewing and I don't really mix.

I really like Brattleboro. We almost always seem to wind up there in late winter -- some brief cold day when we're stir-crazy and feel like being out of the house. So we meander up there, on little roads, and then we hit the used books stores and the music store and the Army-Navy and maybe have an early dinner and wend our way home. It's a good town for that sort of thing.

And go you with the sewing machine! We have one;

yaoobruni is quite good with it; it intimidates me a bunch. :-)

Make sure that the jeans you actually pick for the quilt aren't *too* worn, or you'll regret it down the line. I have two denim quilts, and my faaaaaavorite one, the one named "the nap quilt," over which there have been arguments over whose turn it is to use it? It's falling apart, because the denim patches that all came from one particular pair of jeans are all wearing out. I refuse to get rid of the quilt, but the patching is getting tedious.

Also, just a warning- sewing through layers of denim is difficult, and sewing machines don't like it much. Take it slow, have extra needles around, and consider getting the needles they make just for denim. You might still break a needle (or three) but your chances are better.

I will look for denim needles before I start - thanks for the tip!

Definitely denim needles, and also good heavy thread to go with them.

If you crossed the bridge into NH, you were about 5 minutes from my parents house. If you're ever up that way again, and feeling so inclined, I bet they'd love to see you. :)

Ooooh! Quilting! Go you!

I've been meaning to start a quilt for years, but somehow never feel like I have the time to carry it through. I saw a really neat art form that my aunt does on my trip that I'm itching to try though, because it's smaller- she makes wall-hangings with hooked wool- they sort of look like berber wool rugs, only in gorgeous colors, and since they're hooked by hand she can make any design she wants. (NOT like a latch-hook rug- the loops are tiny and you don't cut the ends of the yarn) I think it might satify my cravings for color, fibers, and design all at once, with the bonus that I can do them on my lap and put them out of reach quickly if the kids come after them. I'm excited! Now I just need to go and visit the yarn store :)

I have a book I once bought at a garage sale called The Complete Guide to Needlework, and it talks about hooked rugs versus knotted rugs - latch-hook would be the latter, and what you're talking about, the former.

satify my cravings for color, fibers, and design

This is why I like quilting (and crocheting and cross-stitch and and and....) - it's an artistic medium I feel comfortable playing in, and gives me a chance to play with colors and shapes and stuff. (The last week or so, I've started doing cross-stitch while watching Sesame Street with E - I'm right there if she needs me, but I don't have to pay that much attention to Elmo's World. And it's small, so easy to keep out of her reach.)

Now I just have to somehow carve some time out of my day... every time I sit down with a project Sarah wants my attention. Maybe I can be a character in one of her "pretends" who does crafts!

One of my favorite semi-posh restaurant meals ever was in Brattleboro. The place was called Max's (http://www.maxsrestaurant.com/maxs_restaurant.htm), and the meal was fabulous. I was staying at a bed and breakfast in the area, and the proprietor recommended it. Yum.