Sewing my Way to Disney World

Today I discovered that sewing quilt blocks is easier when the husband and children go out for the afternoon. I was able to stitch my way through five blocks before hitting the wall.

Also I got to check off my first quilt milestone as I completed 15 of the 36 blocks. Actually I've done more than that after today's work. My big fat goal chart really keeps me focused on what I am working for these weeks. Number one priority is to finish this school quilt. Going on Spring Break vacation to Disney World will be even more of a thrill if I have finished this huge project. Number two is to continue my focus at Weight Watchers. I've lost 14 pounds so far and I'd love to drop 5 more in the coming weeks. I've already lost 2 since setting that goal so hopefully I'll beat it, which will give me good momentum as I head toward a week of indulgent eating. Number three is just a fun goal, to sew some Disney things and continue working on my detailed plan of personalizing our trip. More blogging on that another day. Last goal is an extra one that the tax preparer suggested, getting my paperwork in order for my hobby business. Not a fun one obviously. It's last on my list but hopefully I'll get to it.
I cut a Disney shirt today and sewed it onto my old shirt. It isn't the fanciest shirt now, sort of torn looking; however, it means more to me that the oversized t shirt because I haven't been able to fit into it since before having Julia (who will be turning 3 on our vacation). Losing the pounds I was never able to shed after pregnancy is very meaningful to me and somehow, has merged into my reasons for celebrating at Disney World.
My new favorite shirt got a stain on it so I sewed some little buttons over it to make a Mickey. I'm intrigued with the concept of "hidden Mickeys," how the designers of attractions and restaurants, etc. at Disney World have incorporated hidden Mickeys all over the place, some more hidden than others. I look forward to noticing some while we walk around the parks. I also think it's a nice way to put the symbol around with enough vagueness to merge your own meaning onto it. For example the shirt above is meaningful to me because I have been too chubby to wear it for years. But it's got a huge Minnie on it so the image is so bold that my feelings for the shirt take a back seat. The shirt below is more subtle even though the buttons are front and center. I like the understated look and the shirt will still wear how it's supposed to, very thin and draping. The hidden Mickey means everything that our trip means so I like the shirt even more now, however goofy it might be to the average person.

Making a School Quilt

Sewing a school quilt, where you use artwork or photos from the students to sew quilt blocks, then join them together into a quilt, is a large undertaking. I've never done it before so I am enjoying the sewing adventure.

So glad I decided to go with the log cabin method of quilting, where you sew a strip (like a log) of fabric onto the main block (in this case the drawing), then turn it and add another strip to the side, and continue on like that until your block is the right size for your quilt.

In my case there were 33 student drawings to work from, a bit of an odd number for making a symmetrical quilt. I added three extra squares with just fabric, to bring the number to 36. That will be six by six in the blocks department. As for the exact measurements, that is somewhat in flux right now. I am working my blocks to be approximately 14 by 16. Later I will be adding borders around the whole quilt, and probably trimming my blocks for a perfect fit. Although I planned for a queen size, I am considering a full size or something in between if it works out that way during the phase of setting all these blocks side by side. I was thinking a queen was nice but now I wonder if most kids have full size beds.
The quilt will be donated to the school, then auctioned off at the fundraiser auction in the spring.
I am enjoying pulling each piece of artwork out of the folder as I go along. I've not peeked at them, so each one is a surprise. Then the subject matter helps me select the colors. I strive for contrast but there is no strict rule for picking colors.
This is a forgiving quilt form because the strips don't have to be measured. The sewing doesn't have to be straight. It actually seems to look better with some wiggles to it.

I do however, iron a lot. I press the seams I sew after every one or two strips are added.

A Quilting We Will Go

On this frigid, gusty day, I found a comfortable spot under the bright sewing lamps. I'm working along towards my goal of completing the school quilt before Spring Break in March.

This seagull is perhaps my favorite fellow so far, as I pull the children's drawings out of the case one at a time, to add the colorful fabric. The bird said he wanted gold and orange.

Here is a little bird of some variety I do not know. He is a bit timid and wanted some warmer colors around him.
This sea going creature in comfortable with neutrals and shadows. He is probably about to dive down into the ocean out of sight.
Meanwhile, my own little creature busies herself in the sewing room. I thought I'd give her a box full of barbie dolls for entertainment. Soon she abandoned the dolls in favor of riding in the boat and looking out to sea.

Quilting May Fry Your Brain

Cold but sunny today.

Determined to get outside, we bundled up and took a walk.

We found a little park, sheltered from the wind by a row of evergreen trees. It's been a long while since Julia got to ride on a swing. She was very relaxed and happy to swing and look out over the bay. I was pacing myself, trying to keep some energy for later in the afternoon.

Because there would be a lot of sewing to do! I've got to keep to a schedule on my school quilt. It's a massive project. I've decided to save my decorative top stitching until later. It's not absolutely necessary for the quilt. I can add it in later, or even during the final quilting of the main elements of the quilt. So for now, my goal is to work through all the blocks.
Of course I begin with the drawing center piece. Next I add log by log of fabric strips, to build the log cabin style quilt block.
I try to let the illustration tell me what color strips come next, while also mixing in contrast and different scales of prints.

The goal is for the artwork to "pop."

Your eye should go to the artwork. The strips around should compliment, support and add a sense of emotion to the overall viewing experience.
The only thing is, it's tiring work. I can't go forever. Got to sew each strip, iron, cut and trim. It's straightforward work yet time consuming. Got to keep on schedule. So far, so good.

Home made Disneyana

Today I squeezed in a little tiny bit of sewing time. I didn't see any backpack that was the small size I wanted for walking all over Disney World. So instead I bought this small tote bag. I cut off the straps. To make new, super quick and easy straps, I cut strips of felt with pinking scissors. I cut them long, then held them over myself to the perfect length. Felt does not fray so you don't need to iron, fold or stitch it! I cut two strips, a white one (didn't even measure) and a red one, slightly thinner. I sewed them together with a simple straight stitch, then sewed them directly to the existing bag. No fuss at all. It doesn't have to be store-perfect because it's personal for me. The perfect small back pack for my essentials around the park.

Next I sewed a lanyard for my Disney pins. Apparently there are quite a number of people and employees who trade these cute pins for fun and interaction. I don't plan to become a super serious collector. But it sounds like a fun way to further personalize the experience of Disney World. Most of the lanyards they sell are made of nylon webbing, which isn't an appealing material to me. I sewed this one so simply, using the same method as I do all my simple key fobs (see tutorial on blog home page). The cotton fabric I used won't last forever with all those multiple tiny pin holes; but I don't mind. I have a few pins already from ebay.
Ellie's lanyard is Ariel fabric. She is already trading, with me for one of my pins. Seems like fun. If we get there and change our minds, no big loss. I only spent a few dollars for the used pins and the fabric.
No time for any other sewing today, I'm afraid, due to a lengthy dentist appointment. Glad to have that one by me! Let the count down to Disney continue!

Fun at the Mall

Today we drove out of our way (everything is out of our way but we drove extra far) to visit the Mall of New Hampshire in Manchester. It turned out to be a great way to spend the rainy, day-before-my-dentist-appointment-day.

Why go to the mall? Well it was dry and big and easy to do my speed walking before they opened. And of course, there is the play center! Guess who likes that part?

It's the greatest help to moms to have these large scale, soft touch play areas at some malls. It was fun and clean and surrounded by a safety wall and comfortable couches. I was able to keep an eye on Julia while reading my book with the other eye. The hours passed right by as the rain drops pattered overhead on the large sky light.

Of course, we visited the Disney Store!

As a lucky extra, it just so happened that the Boston Red Sox baseball staff was visiting the mall today. I got to meet the mascot, Wally.
We got to see the trophies. Julia got this incredible balloon sculpture. We got stickers and arm bands. All for free. Very nice to enjoy this. It was a promotion to advertise advance season ticket sales, but the attitude of everyone involved was completely complimentary and friendly.
Between the mall, pick up and drop off at kindergarten, and grocery shopping, that was my whole day. Over four hours of driving in the rain.

And now I rest, only hours to go before the morning arrives and I proceed to the dentist office to repair my tooth. Bye bye old broken filling. Hello new modern inlays. I hope it goes smoothly. If I survive it without incident, I will be SO happy tomorrow afternoon, when all is said and done.

Busy Winter Day at Home

We have only just begun to enjoy our weekends at home as a family. Until now, one or more of us have had to escape the house in seek of separation from the others, due primarily to the trials of servicing young children. Only recently can all four of us be at home in relative peace. Only now has our youngest child, Julia, crossed over into logic, understanding and cooperation necessary for a unified household. We approach her third birthday with great hope that next year will be a smooth one.

The kids have abandoned my sled hill in the backyard, in favor of the driveway. We previously thought it was too dangerous to sled there. Now Tom and the girls swear to me it is perfectly safe, due to the high ridge of snow along the sides that acts as a wall to keep them from crashing into the trees. I'm not totally convinced but I tried it once or twice.
Then I came back in to sew. I watched out the window as Tom built the kids an igloo by digging a space in the snow bank.
Quilting is going well. This second square came out better than the first. I've decided to repeat the general color pattern somewhat, building outward with the four themes: Blue for ocean water and sky, green for seaweed and plant life, orange for sea creatures, neutrals for sand and earth.
Then the real fun begins. Now I am using the kids' drawing squares. It's fun to pick up on any lines or colors or themes in the pictures as I make my fabric and stitching selections.
Perhaps I quilted too much today because now when I look at any of the picture frames on our walls, I can't see them as pictures. Now they look like quilts. In fact I am starting to see quilt lines everywhere I look.

I took a detour to sew something for our Disney World trip. Well first I had to dig out my old Minnie Mouse hat from the closet. See, the thing is, when you get to Disney, you (or at least I) get into the vibe there. You start to want to share the theme on your person. Next thing you know, you are buying ice cream bars shaped like Mickey, eating pancakes shaped like Mickey, buying jewelry and clothing and water bottles that say Mickey. Very expensive. This time around, I am trying to prepare for experiencing the full Mickey. I want to be decked out in Mickey gear without buying it all there.
I bought a kids tee shirt at the Disney store, on sale for 5 dollars. It has 7 pictures of Minnie. I cut it up. When you sew cotton-knit material, you need to back it with stabilizing material. Usually I use interfacing but I have this package of "steam-a-seam" so I figured I'd use some of it. Once this is on the back, the knit fabric becomes more sturdy and easier to sew.
Today I put one of them on some red and white fabric and turned it into a pouch. This will be my wallet while on the trip (and maybe before then too since I am so excited).
It's not that I'm cheap. I mean come on, we're spending thousands of dollars to go to this place and find hope in a fantasy. I just want more for my money. This thing was virtually free, not counting my effort. It's original and cute. I like it better for having made it myself. I'm sure we will still spend plenty at the World. But why not use the money for things that we can only get there? Like ... oh my don't get me started. I have a thousand ideas already of wishes to buy, everything from candy to turkey legs to collector pins to jewelry. I wish I could have a "carte blanche" trip to Disney. Can you imagine? I think I could spend 100,000 dollars there.

It has crossed my mind to consider whether it is ironic that this past year I have come to admire home crafts such as sewing (often as a choice over consumerism), yet here I go to Disney World, one of the most consumeristic places on the planet. How can that be so meaningful to my life? Have I really become more "green" this year or do I wish to go back to packing my car full of disposable goods every week from Wal-Mart?

What does Disney mean to me?

1. Prosperity.

My family has been hit by the recession, faced job loss, cut back our budget repeatedly, worried about financial choices. To me, right now, Disney World is a symbol of prosperity. I am putting my foot down and spending money (perhaps unwisely) in the name of determination. We will find jobs this year. We will move towards the cities if need be. We will raise our budget again to include a reasonable variety of technological goodies (new tv for example). These are big goals that I hope to achieve in 2010. Going to Disney is a promise that we will find a way to make that reality fit. Although it might sound risky, this sort of plan has worked for me in years passed. You lift yourself up towards your goal and that action alone serves as a step to get there. Home crafts and going green and cutting back are still important to me but they can also give you a feeling of poverty sometimes. I think green and wealth should be friends. Mickey is rich and for a week, I will feel money is no object. I will be wowed by American ingenuity. I will feel wonder at the sight of over-the-top displays of fireworks, roller coasters, and food. It's like coming out of the Depression and taking a cruise into the boom years. Let's have fun, darn it!

I don't know what Disney's carbon footprint is. It's hard to let go of feeling really, really good in the name of righteousness. There is no way for me to fully justify my support of the excess. Maybe it's like when you're on a diet for weeks and weeks and then all of the sudden you stuff a Cinnabon roll into your mouth. You feel really good. You have some amount of regret. But then you continue back towards the proper direction. I think Disney and other American mega-corporations will improve their choices and methods over time. I'm probably not going to boycott them along the way. If I could determine that nobody would ever eat animals ever again, I would. But then I order a grilled chicken salad. I try to take steps towards vegetarianism but along the way, I am imperfect. Someday our morals and actions might be perfectly aligned.

2. Family unity.

The other reason I chose to force my family on a giant and unplanned Disney vacation is to break our suffering with a pop of fresh air. We've been at each other for years. Not to blame it all on my beloved Julia, but having a baby is hard on everybody else in the family. The chores, the crying, the physical demands, the unequal share of time, effort and emotion directed at that baby takes a toll on every other person. We argue too much as a matter of habit. The kids yell at the parents. We parents are divided in endless servitude as we split up, one to each child. We've been going and going, with no trips, no escape. We've just got to bring it to a halt and start over. Disney World is the one place on earth I can think of where this topic will be put at priority one. Where else are we guaranteed to have happiness together, with each other, simultaneously, for a week.

We are on the verge of a new era. The era of "kids" instead of babies and toddlers. We are almost there. Our kids have started to play together. Julia has a vocabulary and comprehension now, that allows her to keep in time with the rest of us. She no longer yells for no reason to try and slow our fast paced morning conversations. She is almost in tune with our family song. This year we will see her begin a preschool program at Montessori that rivals some kindergarten programs. She will come into her own, as much as possible for her age. She will probably finish the diaper years. She will learn to swim (almost there already).

I see a crossroads here.

There is an opportunity for our family to reinvent our goals and our way of relating to each other. To me, Disney World is the perfect place for this to begin. It is a world of fantasy, where anything is possible. Disney makes imagination a core value. Dream it, wish it, do it. Share thrilling experiences together as a bonding exercise. Forget your stress. Celebrate a birthday (Julia will turn three during our time at the parks). Imagine a new order.

This past week I noticed how personal this trip is to our family. I am so excited that I couldn't help tell almost everyone I saw. I realized on some level this might come across as bragging, vain or removed from the interaction with the people to whom I was speaking. I didn't mean it that way but realizing this made me understand that the only people who could share in my enthusiasm would be my own family because they are going. This is a trip that will be a part of us. To some extent I did get to share with other moms who have gone, most of them multiple times. I like it when I find another person who loves Disney World, or land as the case may be.

We made a countdown calendar to cross off the days to the trip. I have a goals chart. Motivation and exuberance have returned to my soul where before, only despair and strain were left. Who can achieve big goals with despair and strain to work with? You need exuberance if you want to get anything done in this world.

See you soon, Mickey!

Beginning the Quilt for Berwick Academy

I am going to sew a quilt for the school. Each class donates one item to the school auction, which raises money for school activities and supplies. The fourth grade class made drawings of their studies of the ocean. My assignment is to make the drawings into a quilt. This is an exciting sewing challenge for me because I've never made a quilt before. I feel a pressure and inspiration to succeed on behalf of the kids.

As a bonus, the drawings are already on a high quality material. They are about 9 inches square, or so. There are 33 drawings. Once I saw the drawings (to appear more in later blog posts), I noticed the ocean theme and repeating color tones. Blue water, green sea grass, orange crabs and sea stars... Very beautiful and complimentary colors they have designed. This really made my job easier because the fabrics almost selected themselves based on those colors.

I enjoyed a shopping trip to collect some fabrics. I also can add a few gems from my own stash. Here are some of the fabrics after coming out of the wash and dry. I don't know if all quilters pre-wash their material but it seems like a good idea to me.

I stopped at two fabric/quilting stores to ask several questions of the experts. They suggested I use this brand for the batting layer between the fabrics. I chose Queen size for two reasons: (1) I like big blankets, and (2) there is room for error or alteration if I want to trim it. The blanket looked quite large when I took a look at it. I've decided to make 36 squares/blocks, about 14 by 16 inches each. That will leave me some space for borders later.
I'm working with two main sources of inspiration/guidance for the quilting: Material Obsession, and Intuitive Design and Color. Although I bought a new ruler to make perfectly even strips, I soon figured out my style is more organic, such as described in the Intuitive book (by Jean Wells). So - I just went wild cutting about half of my fabric collection into strips.
I notice now the colors on the front of this book are very similar to the colors I am using for this quilt. Total coincidence because I chose the colors completely based on the children's drawings.
Here are some of my strips. I've decided to think of them as gardens. I've got a green garden, which represents seaweed and sea grass. I've got an orange garden, to represent crabs, sea stars, lobsters, ocean life. I've got blue for the water and sky elements. And then I've got a neutrals category with cream, which will be an anchor to my overall design.
Here is block one. You may be wondering where is the kid's artwork! I have 33 of them but I have 36 squares needed to make my quilt symmetrical. I've decided to make the three non-artwork blocks first, to get my feet wet in the process before "risking" any artwork.
This block isn't finished because it is going to get some fun top stitching and I need to alter the orientation of it. I made it a horizontal 16 by 14 instead of a vertical one. I can fix that. The cream fabric is going to serve as sashing, although I suppose this is an unorthodox method for making it. I definitely like the way the lines are not straight. I want the whole quilt to be symmetrical overall, yet wavy like ocean water in the details.

How exciting is this!!!! I can't wait to begin working with the drawings in the center for inspiration. I think I will scan them first as "insurance" in case anything goes wrong. Then I'd be able to print out a new one if needed. Having said that (and hopefully not to jinx myself), this is going really well so far. Knock on wood.

Plan a Memory

Yep: still snowy here.

These few days I have turned to the details of Disney. Over 20 hours of research has resulted in flight and hotel bookings that I feel are above average in quality for below average pricing. I keep in mind what I want to feel like while on vacation. There is a particular glow to a good vacation. Experiencing that is long overdue for my family.
So, I persevere through the dark days of winter and the dark basement. My imagination is far from here, off in a distant, sunny land of childhood luxuries. I can already hear in my mind, my little child saying "Wow!" in her very special, airy voice. And I will say it too.

Snowy mid-winter day in NH

Snowy again today, making for interesting driving conditions. My vehicle has optional 4 wheel drive. To activate it, I must reach down and push a button, then wait for it to lock in. So, as I pass multiple car accidents and drivers stuck in the snow off the side of the highway, I make a plan and calculate how many seconds I would have to switch to 4wd in an emergency situation.

Of course in my own neighborhood, it's 4wd all the time. It's just that on the highway, the truck won't go too fast in 4wd. I have to choose based on my speed, which during "winter driving conditions" is supposed to be 45 mph. Anyway I was happy to survive the day without incident.

Always a sigh of relief to arrive home.

Today's simple sewing: this fun key chain. It's so easy to sew and fun to hold. I use one for my own keys so it's nice to be able to get a new one whenever I feel bored with my old one.
Not much else to blog about today.