Some Finishes

 

Greetings!

This month, I have mostly shoveled, cleared ice ( we had a lot of ice storms), and walked my dog wearing cleats.  My husband has been away for the last 4-5 weeks and missed the work.  He's home now.

Lucky is recovering from an ear infection and the vet lectured me that he had gained weight (a whole 1.5 lb--but he is a little dog).  I said to the vet, "What am I supposed to do in this ice?  We went from walking 2-3 miles a day to 2-3 blocks!"  We will both lose some weight when the weather warms up.

So while my husband was away, I was on "a quilt retreat for 1".  The house stayed orderly, the meals I made were easy, and I sewed through most of the day and even in the evening.

Finishes for this year include:

A lap quilt for us:

Pajama Rama Ding Dong finished:

2 baby quilts:

2 small pieces, table runner for Karen 

and  hexie piece for my round table.

Happily, I've also been making some tops to use up some orphan blocks.  More on those later!

Have a safe and happy sewing day!

Recebt Trends and Fast Fashion

 

Hello and how are you today?

Today I'm continuing my thoughts on our textile world.

My one friend said, "covid changed everything."  And in many ways it did.  I've already mentioned on this blog that our guild has closed the guild library.  Members were just not referring to quilt books anymore.  They had learned to scour the internet for free patterns or pdf purchases.  Martingale Publishers closed in 2023.  Quiltmania magazine closed last year.

The other trend is that I think quilters are often balking not only at the price of fabricd but what is referred to as "fast fashion".

"Fast Fashion" refers to the trend of wearing fadish clothes a few times and then discarding the pieces.  This has created a devasting environmental impact.  Some of the clothing dumps can actually be seen from outer space:

Many sewists (not just quilting) are concentrating on upcycling as much fabric as they can.  These even a jargon such as "Thrift Flip" for finished pieces of garments or quilts.  

For a few years now, I've watched the trend to use fabric that can be found at thrift stores or fabric deadstock stores (deadstock reminds me of the old fabric outlets of my youth it refers to fabric that manufacturers have leftover or overproduced).

Consideration of the environment is certainly a big aspect of these choices.  The other (of course) is money.  Linda and I had a long history of sewing together.  I continued to sew, she gave me her leftover fabric about 20 years ago when she stopped.  I recently told her the price of a yard of fabric these days and she just about fell off her chair.

The trend to going to thrift stores or charity shops and purchasing cotton or linen men's shirts is popular not only with the younger generation but people in my own age range.  Even middle aged professionals--like Cathy from Catbird Quilts--are famous for upcycling.  Cathy is a working pharmacist and well known for her quilts with upcycled men's shirts.

Apparently one can harvest about 1.5 to 2 yards of fabric from a dismantled man's shirt.  In many ways this isn't a new trend (flannel shirts were big years ago) but it's interesting to how many sewists are practicing this now.

Another trend?  Repairing one's clothing.  Yes mending is back and it there are tons of tutorial that feature patching, darning, and mending clothing.

I'm not sure what is in store for the textile industry.  The Craft Industry Alliance reported in 2024 that there are 30 million active sewists in the United States and 9-11 million of them are quilters.  You can read the latest report on our industry here.  

Where do you think we are headed? 

Have a safe and happy day!

Joann's Closings

Hello and how are you today?

***

Well it's official.  Joann's is closing 500 stores in the USA

Liquidation companies are vying to buy the company and I think it won't be too long until the "going out of business" sales.  

It's hard to know REALLY why it went out of business.  In court, the company cited "an unexpected ramp down" as well as severe and unexpected inventory shortages.

Early 20th century dry goods store in my valley (Macungie, PA)

 Joann's opened in 1943 in Cleveland Ohio and the name "Joann" wasn't actually used for the business until 1963.

The only thing I often bought at the store was batting, especially when they had their sales.  I have enough fabric at home.  

Still, there are many areas in this country that relied on Joann's as their main source of fabric.  I remember about 20 years ago, Walmart closed their fabric departments.  The online quilting group I belonged to had lots of midwest and southern quilters, many were panicked because that was their main source of cloth.

Will the closing of Joann's impact you?

Tomorrow I'll delve into other trends I see these days.

Have a safe and happy day!

Happy Valentine's Day!

 

Happy Valentine's Day!

It's a quiet day for us.  Hubby is away on business and Lucky has been ill with an ear infection.  But he wishes you a Happy Valentine's Day too!

Have a safe and happy weekend!

Eagles

 

Greetings from Eagles Land!

The game was exciting and wonderful that Philly won the Super Bowl!  Saquon Barkley graduated from my high school.  Another young man, Jahan Dotson is also from our valley!

It was a great game (unless you were a KC fan).  

So today I'm posting an eagle coverlet:

I wish I had a better photo and will eventually replace this one.  Pennsylvania is known for these textiles with four eagles.  

Wishing you a safe and happy day!

Teddies

 

Hello and how are you today?

We are tired of ice here in the Northeast 😕

Luckily today is National Teddy Day so I don't have to do so much thinking about the post!

I'm actually grateful that I looked at these photos.  I think I will pull out the little girl piece (below) and finish her arm.  She would make a nice wall hanging.

Have a great day!

Bubble Gum Day

 

Hello and Happy Bubble Gum Day!

Honestly, I don't really know who determines these days of the year but some of them are fun and bring back memories.  My brother and I often bought the one cent piece of bazooka and then read the comic inside.  But when we had more cash, we got the gum that had baseball cards in them.  We didn't have that kind of cash often.

But bubble gum is often referenced in vintage quilts.  In the 1920s, pink became a hot color to use in quilts.  When "bubble gum pink" was introduced it was a hot color and used frequently in quilts.

It's very difficult to get colors right on digital cameras but I did a comparison for you.

Yes bubble gum pink:

Below2 quilts no not bubble gum pink:

Below--YES bubble gum pink!

I don't really enjoy gum except when baseball season begins and I'm on edge because of the game.  

And speaking of baseball...most teams report for Spring Training next week (my Phillies report Wednesday the 12th).

Have a safe and happy day!