by Sherri Sylvester | Mar 15, 2016
My husband and I differ in the amount of closet space we need. Here’s a quick run-down.
Every time I purge my “half” of the closet and get rid of clothing, it results in my husband appropriating the extra space for himself. I am starting to wonder if leaving piles of decoy clothing around would be helpful in case I ever need more space!
The thing that I don’t understand is that a disproportionate amount of those clothes are graphic tees, sports t-shirts, jerseys or free tees from things like wing eating challenges. Things he’s not ever going to give up, but also does not really wear. Ack! They sit there, taking up space – and more importantly, being messy – since other wearable tees are mixed in with them. Not that I’m a perfectionist or anything – but I love me a tidy closet!
Thankfully, I was able to convince him we were able to compromise and he let me chop some of them up into a t-shirt quilt. #ifyoucantbeatthem #jointhem We managed to pare the pile down by 20 tees. That’s 14″ less clothing piled on our shelves (I know, because I just measured a stack.) Makes me feel even better about this project. But, of course, it’s been almost 2 years since I took these photos and we’ve accumulated a full closet again. Turns out I should have made him king-sized quilt instead of only a twin!
If you might possibly have the same shared-closet predicament in your family dynamics *ahem-yes?* I would recommend that this is definitely the way to go! It’s been our go-to downstairs basement blanket ever since it was finished. I think maybe it was my first ever “real” quilt finish. At least, it is the first-quilt I am most proud of. The photoshoot was fun too. There’s a great park in Oakville by the waterfront that has these amazing life-size moose and wolf statues. #verymanly for our manly t-shirt quilt!
I think I started this project almost 4 years ago now. I found a nice t-shirt quilt tutorial on Goose Tracks Quilts. It is simple, without drawings or photos, and well written. Right down to a link to finding your fabric yardage. The design is a straight-forward and beginner friendly t-shirt quilt with same-sized blocks and simple sashing. Appealing to my sense of symmetry and order! I pieced a few of the blocks together to include the front and back of the tee together. And added in some important patches on the back.
The hardest part about this quilt was quilting it on my old budget basic machine. My non-quilty self decided to use a heavy blanket for the batting and my husband wanted to back it in baby-wale corduroy “that reminded him of a Scottish tartan”. Add the weight of the tee’s, and the interfacing you need to keep them from stretching. It’s a wonder my arms didnt’ fall off! Right – and then after that I pieced the t-shirt leftovers together for binding… *oof* #novicequilter!
In the end, the heaviness is so nice to cozy up under, And I’m glad we got to keep some fun memory t-shirts mixed in with the crazy graphic tee’s. His U2 concert tees, designs he made for work and shirts we designed and inkjet ironed-on. Oh, and one of the five epic basketball jersey we naively decided to double-layer applique lettering on for a basketball tournament (What was I thinking? Well, we were dating… Moving on!) Now these memories are preserved as a quilt we use almost everyday. I should probably add a label.
I wanna know! What has been your favorite quilt project?
Disclaimer: My inadvertent throwing Matt under the bus has been fully approved by the spouse in question. 🙂
by Sherri Sylvester | Feb 1, 2016
Meet Teddy! This very important bear has been through a lot. Up until the moment my daughter decided he was hers, Teddy’s life was pretty standard. He sat and watched life go by and was dusted every so often. While a bit boring perhaps, it was safe.
Then my daughter took over. Now he definitely shows all the love he’s been given in the past eight years! He has patchy fur, threadbare paws and worn ears. Somewhere in him there is a hole that keeps losing those clear weighted “bean things”, but for the life of me I cannot find it. We finally hit a tipping point right before the holidays and had to put him under to fix some major structural damage.
One (very early) morning, while I was (very much) asleep, my daughter showed up beside my bed and said “Mom, look!” Bleary eyed, I looked at her holding Teddy’s body in one hand and his head in the other. Yikes! What a way to wake up!
Needless to say, I made it a priority to fix the problem before she came home from school that day. It was a surprisingly time consuming process, mostly because his head is made so it can turn. I even had to unpick his shoulder seam, harder than I thought with 8 year old fur! More than a little hand sewing and some button thread later, Teddy was back, good as new.
Some things are so important that you should drop everything and take care of them. Even when it feels like your seams are coming un-sewn and your head is falling off! If you keep your priorities straight it will all work out in the end.
by Sherri Sylvester | Dec 24, 2015
Merry Christmas from our family to yours! May you have many happy memories going forward from this year. And may you find many spare moments to sew something fun during the holidays!
by Sherri Sylvester | Dec 17, 2015
I am so pleased to feature another Maker today, my mom! I grew up crafting, and sewing was a natural extension of that. I am so grateful that my mom taught me how to sew, it has been such an amazing part of my life. The freedom to create and turn fabric into something usable is my favorite!
Recently my mom opened up an Etsy shop – Out of the Sewing Box – and even more recently she showed me the dolls she is making. Each one unique with a hand-painted face and handmade clothes. I thought it would be fun to show them to you – as a change from what I’m doing all of the time. I definitely am afraid to tackle these as a project – give me a bag or clothing pattern any day! Aren’t they great?!
Thanks so much for supporting my mom! It means the world to me. Your favorites and likes are so valued and appreciated. Please visit her at Out of the Sewing Box on Etsy or check out her Facebook page. (Thank you, Thank you, Thank you!)
The girls talk most Monday evenings on Skype with my parents. (They live super far from us in Texas.) Lots of weeks my mom will show her latest creation to the girls and they will think up names for it together. So cute, and hilarious when you hear some of the names the girls come up with! My mom has puppets, some clothing items and even a book on How to Run a Blacklight Puppet Show for sale.
Another reason these dolls came up, is that my mom made each of the girls one of these 31 inch dolls for Christmas a few years ago. One of them is the doll my youngest is photographed with in the recent reversible pinafore tutorial. My girls have loved playing with them. They’ve acquired a huge wardrobe, because the dolls fit into store-bought baby clothes, even the little ones my daughters wore when they were babies. Crazy how big they have gotten!
I’m so fortunate to have a crafty family that loves to talk about whatever we happen to be making at the time! It’s especially exciting around Christmas, when we get to see what fun projects we’ve been working on. I happen to know what my mom has made for each of us (including the girls!) and they are going to make for some amazing Instagram photos on Christmas day. I can’t wait!
I hope you are having a wonderful Holiday season. And wish you more hours in the day to finish your last-minute sewing projects – especially if you tend to procrastinate like I do!
What’s up with you? How are your holiday projects coming along?
by Sherri Sylvester | Oct 26, 2015
I just realized that I have a real job.
This may not seem like a revelation to you, but for me it’s life changing! Being home all day with out a “proper employer” has wreaked havoc on my brain. It’s been almost two years since I left my part-time, one day a week job. And about 8 years since my last full-time workplace. I fell prey to the notion that money matters most, and you are only worth the amount you can make.
Let’s start at the beginning… I’ve been working at home since my oldest was born. Graphic design projects here and there, , blogging and being a mom. For some reason, this has never been enough to make me feel like my “job” mattered. I’ve had countless discussions with my husband about this topic. Usually ending in tears. It has been a really big struggle for me. I’m a do-er, figuring if I try hard enough I’ll “prove” it’s a real thing. Trouble is, I was trying to prove it to everyone around me when I didn’t believe it myself.
But that all changed this past weekend.
I recently spent 3 days at BlissDom, a social media conference. I was by myself, with my own hotel room – and it felt very weird and amazing all at the same time. In the process of meeting tons of amazing new people (scary for me as an introvert!) and enjoying amazing evening parties, I learned about social media, writing and how to take better care of this blog. I also learned that I was not alone. It was really, really life-changing meeting lots of other people with the same “real job” as me!
Bloggers “get” bloggers.
Just like electricians get electricians and quilters get quilters. (And all of their acronyms!) It was so nice to be able to talk about things that matter to what I do everyday. There are jokes that only we get. Information that only we know how to use. It made me feel connected, like my work really matters. We went on excursions that began with an explanation of which hashtags we should use when posting our photos. We hash-tagged things to win prizes and to keep track of the weekend. (#BlissDomCA) I learned that Twitter is better than email. And that the Blue Mountain Conference Centre chefs make amazing pasta!
It was also really helpful that lots (dare I say most) of the other people at the conference had kids. The struggle to take good care of your home and kids, plus running a business is so real! Being a mom (or dad) full-time has a bad rep – though I am happy to see many more people talking about it in a more positive light. I am hopeful that the next generation will have a more realistic, positive view of staying home to take care of your family.
Moving forward…
I don’t want to just to tell you about my Blissdom experience, but also to hope that it helps any of you that feel the way I did. I’m hopeful you don’t, of course! But if you do, please know that you have an amazing job doing whatever it is you do! You are amazing. Put your heart into your work, but don’t forget to take time for yourself. The kids/dishes/cleaning can wait… (though I’m still working on that one!) Everyone around you will be better off for it and you will come back with renewed energy. Find people around you that do what you do – talk to them, go out for coffee! Talk about things that only you both “get”.
What do you think… What is your real job? What do you do to take care of yourself?
P.S. I’m not fixed yet. I’m writing this as a reminder to myself as well. I know when I publish this that I will have no more excuses and that helps too. Let’s work on it together! You with me?! #workinprogress
by Sherri Sylvester | Sep 15, 2015
Looking though some of my photos today, I stumbled on these I took of my youngest in May. She had decided it was important to sew some clothes for the tiny teddy bear we picked up at the grocery store. I couldn’t resist posting them today. (While I’m getting over my head-cold-turned-chest-cold, argh!)
That afternoon in May was the day I decided she needed a sewing machine. Her attention to detail and dedication to hand sewing everything was so fun to see. Who knew a 4 year old could sit still for so long with fabric and a needle and thread! She seems to know how a flat piece of fabric will fit on a 3-dimensional object. And, while I “drafted” the skirt and serged the raw edges to make her life simpler, the sewing was all her. And she loves it!
Hand sewing has always seemed “the slow way” to me, because of that I have always shown my kids how to use a machine, since that’s what I would do! Turns out, maybe they are showing me that the slow way is better. I did relax and enjoy doing some visible mending on my jeans recently. I’m learning (slowly) as my kids grow up and are more self sufficient, that faster is not always better – and to take it easy when you can, not to stress about the little things so much.
I do have to stress, though – that I am NOT good at not stressing. That lesson is going to take me a long, long time! We ended up making a “dress” for teddy as well, a bit later on. And the task was met with the same dedication. Now, even though she has her own machine, she will still ask me if she can hand sew some things, a good reminder for me to let go and slow down!
What do you think? Do you enjoy hand sewing, or machine sewing better?
P.S. I would highly recommend seeing the Imagination Movers in concert if you are able. They were really well put together and so personable. (Not sponsored, we just love them!)
