Japanese Book Instructions

Some of you were asking about the directions in Japanese books, so I thought I would show you.  I don’t speak or read Japanese (although I’m thinking I’d like to), and I don’t have any trouble getting through the directions. 

As you can see, they are very detailed in their drawings and dimensions.  Usually the pattern starts off showing you the cuts that need to be made and then they walk you through each step. 

Sometimes, though not as often, there will be photos for most of the steps.

The most you need to worry about translating (for most of us) is from centimeters to inches.  You can do this two ways: 1) 2.54cm = 1in or go to Google and type into the search engine something like this: 23cm to in.  Google will then give you the correct inches to some ridiculous decimal point.  Usually, you will have to round off to a number your use to.  Sometimes I get a number like “11.456” and I just rounded it up to “11.5”.  This is where you need to let go a little and not worry so much about being “perfect”. 

I would say that you need to have at least a good, basic knowledge of sewing to know what the pictures are trying to tell you.  Get a few patterns in your native language under your belt first.  I do very well with these types of patters because I don’t like to read directions written out.  I’m much more visual, and so drawings of what I'm suppose to do are much more appealing.  But, don’t let anything distract you from trying these out.   Even if your new to sewing, if you like the look of a project in a Japanese book you find, give it a go.  If you can’t quite complete it yet, put it aside for awhile, and come back to it again later.

There are resources out there on the blogs now to help you decipher even more of these books – and I'm sure there are some willing bloggers that read Japanese that would be willing to help.   Here is a list of some blogs I found today that can help you out even more:

Understanding the Patterns in Japanese (pdf) – While this focuses on the clothing aspect of Japanese sewing, it has helpful translations for fabrics for crafting, too.

Japanese Sewing and Pattern Terms – Very helpful!  Shows you the symbol in Japanese and tell you the meaning in English.

How to Sew From Japanese Craft Books – This is a blog post series done by label-free on how to interpret and sew from these great books.  She is making a dress, but some of it should still apply to craft books.  She also mentioned a neat gadget, a seam tracer…I must have one!

Japanese Pattern Help (pdf) – My Little Mochi has a list here of characters and their translations.  She mentions that this mostly applies to stuffed animals, but she also includes lots of general sewing terms.

And, finally, here is a link to mk carroll with some useful links to more about crafting in Japanese.

I confess, there are times I wish I could read what it was saying.  But I really don’t need to know.  I like doing my own thing, and really love the books for inspiration more than anything.  And sometimes I like to have the finished dimensions of something.  As much as I try and take into account seam allowance, there’s always that project I underestimated on. 

I will be posting more photos of these books shown to my Flickr a little later.  You’ll be able to find out titles and ISBN numbers for these photos there.

Weekend :: Barn House Flea Market

On Saturday my mom and I attended the Barn House boy’s Flea Market.  Four times a year these guys host small “shows” at their farm in my area and they are WELL attended.  There were twenty (or so?) vendors and everything was set up beautifully!  I didn’t really get photos of the whole set up, but I’m sure you can see more at the Barn House blog.  I was lucky enough to meet a fellow blogger Joy (and her sister) and now look forward to her posts and seeing her in other “shows” around the area. 

I did finish the last of the Twilight series today – at first I was kind of thrown off by the direction of the book, but it is easily my second favorite of the series (Twilight being the first favorite, of course). 

It took me so long because I have been dealing with a sick little boy.  For three days last week we battled high fevers, Friday night we topped out at 104.9!  Today the rash appeared, confirming my suspicion (with other symptoms) that he has (had?) Roseola (or sixths disease).  Very, very hard on mom to see her little guy get his temperatures so high, but I'm glad it’s over and we’re starting to get back to ourselves again.  We were lucky in that the rash only lasted part of the day…better than when he had fifths disease and it lasted for 10 days!  So maybe I'll get some sleep tonight for the first time in a week.  And I'm crossing my fingers that we’re not so “mommy dependant” tomorrow and have a better attitude.  Otherwise he will be taking LOTS of naps.

Now that Brice is on the mend, and Twilight books are read, I am anxious to get back to sewing.  First on the agenda is to load a quilt on the longarm.  I just have to decide how to quilt this one…

 
There are a few more photos from Saturday on my Flickr.

Recent Additions

I went to the Japanese bookstore last week and picked up a few new books.  I put a few of the photos here and there’s a few more on Flickr.  ISBN numbers are over there, too.

HOLY SH…

Umm, you get the idea.  5pm, July 15th…I just realized what today is.  Obviously it’s not a big deal like it is for most women.  But I guess I should remember it better since it’s only the second time it’s come around.  Two down and many, many more to go. 

My little one has been running a temp of 101.4 since last night (higher sometimes today).  And with husbands work hours, not really open for celebration at this point.  At least we got a family outing to the zoo yesterday – Brice’s first one!  That is a darn good anniversary for me.  I still think this is the stupidest photo – but it makes me laugh every time.  It’s almost like I'm saying “Ha-ha – I've got you now!”  More of my favorite photos from the wedding in Vegas and reception back home over here.

A Letter

Dear Sewing Machine,

I’ve neglected you terribly these past few weeks.  Please forgive me.  I promise, just one more book to go.

Yours,

The Sometimes Crafter

Hourglass Quilt Pattern

So after talking with a few of you with questions on making the hourglass quilt, I decided to write up a pattern and I’m tossing it in the shop.  (Tomorrow, Etsy seems to be down for maintenance right now.)  I’m sure many of you could figure this out on your own, without the pattern (It’s not hard, I promise!) but I know how it is when you just want a pattern in front of you.  So I’m going back to my hourglass block tutorial to post a little more information to help you in the future.  The question I'm most commonly asked is what was the size of my block.  My original squares were 6-1/2” and after I was all done, I squared them up to 5-1/2”.  I’ll add this and some other info to that post for future reference.

In the mean time, let me tell you a little bit about my pattern.  The first four pages of this pattern are all about creating the lap quilt like you’ve seen in my posts.  I have diagrams drawn showing how to assemble the blocks (much like my photo tutorial in the side bar) and I have cutting diagrams for the white fabric and your fat quarters.  I give you all the information on how much white fabric, fat quarters, binding and backing fabric you need. 

Additionally, there is all the info you need for creating a crib, twin, full, queen and king size hourglass quilt…as well as a computer drawn picture showing you a visual of what it will look like when completed.  Like the diagram above.  I give you all the fabric requirements and tell you how many squares to cut of your fabric as well as how many hourglass blocks you’ll be creating.  I also have diagrams for how to cut and piece your backings for each of the sizes. 

Finally, I’ve included a bonus pattern for a large hourglass, king size quilt.  Because really, I can’t imagine piecing all of those tiny little squares for a king size quilt!  If some brave soul wants to try it, I'll give you the pattern for free!  This picture here is what the completed quilt will look like. 

So, between finishing New Moon (Loved it!) and starting Eclipse, this is what I've been working on.  As I said above, I will give you some basic info on my lap quilt in the Fast Hourglass Block tutorial, so you really don’t need this pattern for that, but just incase, this will be in the shop for you, too.

And I just HAD to share…I created myself some new business cards today.  I’m loving them – now I just need to place my order.  The back will have all of my information on it, white the front will be just an identifier.  Photos have been ordered and I'm excited for them to arrive so I can begin to sell my prints.  It’s shaping up to be an exciting month!

String ‘Em Up!

This is a non-craft-related posting to update all of you Twilight readers out there.  I finished Twilight this afternoon.  Seriously one of the best books I've read in a long time.  Maybe ever.  Never have I been so drawn into a book.  You really feel every emotion that Bella feels.  I was anxious all day.  I would stop and ask myself why, and realize it was because I was still thinking in book mode.  I still had all of Bella’s feelings as my own.  So strange!  I love books like that! 

So I watched the movie this evening.  It was …a lot of bad words that I wont say here.  Seriously terrible.  I knew it wouldn’t be as good as the book, and I expected it to be bad because of everything I had heard, but it was seriously worse than what I prepared myself for.  Terrible.  Why even bother making it if you aren't even going to grasp the emotions behind it all?  That is really the whole essence of the book – the emotions.  The book itself is so close to a screen play…so why did they feel the need to change and leave out so much?  Can someone go fire that director and hire a woman that has actually read the book?  Or maybe we can get the Harry Potter director – he seems to do a rather decent job on those movies.  I never find myself saying “That’s not how it was in the book!”  What must people who didn’t read the book think?  It must REALLY be terrible to them.  …this coming from the girl that pretty much likes all movies.  You know I have bad taste in movies when Dumb & Dumber is my second favorite movie!  Ever!  I think that’s really saying something when I thought this was a bad movie.

I’m starting New Moon tonight.  I don’t know if I can bring myself to watch the movie when it’s released.  I was so terribly disappointed, more so than I thought I would be with the Twilight movie.  Now I feel like I have to go re-read Twilight just so I can get back the feeling of the book.  Stupid directors.

Back to regular crafting posts soon. Maybe by the next post I'll have new crafting photos for you, instead of boring flowers. 

Darn Those Good Books!

I haven’t touched my sewing machine in a over a week…and I have a feeling it’s going to be a bit longer.  I finally started reading Twilight tonight.  I’m half way through.  In just a few hours.  I can’t put it down!  I had to MAKE myself.  I was all prepared to not really like this book.  I’m not going to be able to stop until I have them all read.  I was only a few chapters in and already anxious to finish and watch the movie.  I’m sure I'll have it finished tomorrow. 

I wanted to make sure I mentioned a few recognitions that came my way this week.  Please click over to their blogs to read more about them and the “awards”.  First up is Julia of Jules Searching For Contentment who sent “Honest Scrap” my way.  I’m suppose to tell you 10 honest things about myself…but I think I just did that a little while ago and i’m so terrible at coming up with things like that.  But please go visit Julia’s blog – she and her twin have been creating like crazy for their local farmer’s markets.

The next recognition to come my way was the “Friends” award from Christina of A Little Bird Told Me…  It is exactly what I strive for on this blog – “These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in self-aggrandizement”.  Many of you I talk to at length outside of just comments and it is such a great community that all of us have created via blogs.

In the spirit of friendship and sharing, I’d like to send you away with a few new blogs to check out, that I've recently found myself!  I find a lot of my blogs via your comments.  Not only do I read all of them, but I visit all of your blogs, too! 

1. Erin Compton Design – She has been so busy creating lately!  I just love the little apron she came up with this week.
2. She Can’t Decide – She is great at finding stuff!  I love seeing what she comes across.  She has a very clean and neat blog, with lovely photos and vivid colors. 
3. Darling Day – A brand spankin’ new blog!  It’s a blog after my own heart – I am so glad she decided to join all of us in blogging.  I know she will quickly become a favorite for many of you.
4. Sew This Is My Live – A name that I frequently see on emails in my inbox, Cristin just finished the most adorable green quilt!  …and she really does have the cutest dog in the world!  You must visit if for no other reason than to see Hazel.
5. Kindred Crafters – These girls share their love of crafting over the distance via their blog.  I love reading what each of them does and how they have come to share with each other through the blog.

And then, because I've had lots of emails about photography lately, I thought I could share a few photography blogs that I have come across recently that are very inspirational.  One of the best things you can do to “learn” photography is to observe others and take LOTS of pictures.  So here’s some sites to get you started:

1. Anna Kuperberg’s Photo Blog
2. Orange County Photographer
3. The Image Is Found
4. Two Moments

Okay, off you go!  And I’ll be checking back in soon!

Survey Says…

 

Thank you so much for all of your input!  I think these two photos were the most mentioned.  I liked them, too.  I held off on my order so that I could place this all at once, so I'm excited to get ordering and see what comes back to me in the mail. 

Via the random number generator, the winner is commenter #2 – Cathy!  Cathy said she liked my portraits – but I don’t think she wants a photo of Brice hanging on her walls, so we’ll have to see what she chooses. 

Of course another unanimous favorite were the photos of my quilts.  I like those, too.  I want to take my quilts on little adventures for photo shoots.  I like staging a photo – sometimes I think that’s the best part. Staging and then seeing how it translated onto “film”.  So after this order to inspect for quality (I think I'm going to order from a couple different places…?) I’ll slowly start to add stuff to the shop.  As with any new adventure, comes fear and trepidation.  Since it’s a craft shop, I’ve leaned more towards selling the craft photography.  I envisioned a spot to buy photos to hang in your crafting spaces.  Now, the next decision is do I use a different Etsy shop for said photography adventure…

If I seem to be a little absent this week, don’t worry.  I am going to try and get a bunch of stuff crossed off my list.  But you know me, I probably will still put in a word here and there.  But I thought I'd give you a little advanced warning, just in case. 

Sunday Stash Debriefing

It’s been awhile since I've done a Sunday Stash, so I thought I'd share some recent acquisitions.  They are taking up space on the table, so it’s time to clear it off and store these away.  But not too far away – I have plans for a lot of it. 

Wouldn’t this Anna Marie Horner print make a great top?  And the apples would be perfect for kitchen items…like say an apron.

Some more pink for the stash.  I have plans for a couple small quilts for the shop.  I had a lot of fun doing the improvised pink quilt a few weeks back, that I bought some pinks recently to make more. 

These cute little fat 8’s would be great for a little mini quilt – I haven’t decided on a mini quilt yet…but it will come to me.  And some more pink…

Adding more Wee Play to the stash.  Another charm pack – I think I should have enough for a quilt by now.  I also got a charm pack of the Christmas fabric I like by Lyndhurst Studio.  I want to do a quilt for myself with it.  I’m thinking I’ll just do a simple quilt, sashing between the squares.  I like the unconventional, retro colors of this Christmas set.

This is fabric for a new diaper bag.  The posies specifically with the Anna Marie print for the interior pockets and such.  And then I thought I might make a bag or two out of the Country Fair cheater print, too.  Eventually.

And this cute little stack of prints from Andover is going to be a quilt.  I love the western theme, yet bright colors.  Again, simple squares (18” maybe?) with sashing between and a simple quilting along the diagonal…?  At least that’s what I picture in my head at the moment.  So lots to add to the already long list.  I’m working on the color pencil portfolio pattern today…and by working on it I mean doing everything but working on it.  The computer is great at distracting me when I'm procrastinating.  But I have the first page done!  Starting a paper was always the hardest, after that it’s downhill.

Binding Tutorial Part 1 :: Making Your Binding

As promised, here is the first in a series on how I go about making, attaching and finishing my binding.  In this first installment I will be walking you through how I make my binding.  Remember: there is no right or wrong way, sometimes just easier and smarter.  Always do what works for you.  And here we go…

Directions

1.  Cut enough strips of fabric, 2-1/2” wide, to go all the way around your quilt.  To figure out how much you need to go around your quilt, measure the top and one side, add together and multiply by 2.  This is the perimeter of your quilt.  Then add 15” to be on the safe side for turning corners and finishing.

**Edited**  I cut my strips on the straight grain.  Personally, I don’t see a reason to cut on the bias unless I'm going to be binding a curved edge.

2.  Starting with your first strip, wrong side of fabric facing up, fold the bottom corner of one strip up at an angle (as pictured) and lightly press.  You only need to do this on one end of your strip of fabric.  Repeat for all but one of your strips, working with the same end, pressing in the same direction, each time.

3.  Open out a creased end of one of your strips and place perpendicular, right sides of fabric together, onto the end of a second strip of fabric that hasn’t been folded and pressed.  The point of the crease should match up with the corner of the fabric below it and the side and top edge of top strip should match the edges of the strip below.

4.  Pin in place with two pins towards the ends of your piece.  Sew on crease, backstitching at each end.

5.  Trim your piece to a 1/4” seam allowance.  Press open your seams.  Normally I don’t like to press seams open, but this will create less bulk for later when hand stitching down.

6.  Fold your binding in half along the length and press as you go. 

These last two steps are something new to me.  It made the job of sewing my binding onto the quilt SO much easier.  I read about this tip years ago in one of my quilting magazine and I can’t believe it’s taken me this long to give it a go.

7.  Roll your binding up.  I made it so my center had a very small opening. 

8.  Using a needle and thread, I threaded the roll of binding on to the thread and tied it.  Then I slipped it around my neck.  Now I'm ready to sew on my binding.

The next installment will follow when I bind my next quilt, as I stopped taking photos here.  Since then I decided I’d like to redo my binding tutorials and break them down into smaller posts.  I feel this will be less overwhelming to a beginner.  Baby steps sometimes make things easier to tackle.  Until next time!

Never Doing What I Should

I have four patterns I am at some stage of working on at this point.  Am I working on any of those?  No.  I’m working on a new pattern.  For a quilt I’m going to be making shortly.  This one is easy for me though, it’s all diagrams in Illustrator.  For some reason when I do patterns this way it goes much faster.  I think the idea of having to do all the step-by-step photos for my patterns, having them turn out well, and then going back and doing the directions for them, makes me a procrastinator.  Honestly, I don’t know why.  I enjoy writing them once I start. 

It was a long day with no crafting involved.  It’s always a hard day when I don’t get crafting in.  And when I’m not feeling 100%, it’s always hard to get to the machine.  Sort of a “catch 22”.  So tonight I will craft on my computer.  (That’s the dog toy he’s laying with.)

So something I’ve thought of doing for years, and seriously thought of doing since I’ve gotten an Etsy shop, is to sell my photographs.  Before blogging I use to do landscape photography.  And I was pretty decent at it if I do say so myself.  My husband has been a huge encouragement since we met, but even before then I had sold some of my prints.  I still go see them at the office where they hang, and I cringe, thinking I could do such better edits now.  Back then I didn’t edit photos, it was mostly SOOC (straight out of camera)…and really, I still do a lot of that on my Flickr.  I just generally don’t have the time to edit photos.  If it can’t turn out right the first time, then I can’t be bothered to edit it.  Or something like that. (Local cemetery, June 2009)

But I keep getting “kicks in the butt” from friends to list my work.  But what do I list?  Just because I like it doesn’t mean others will.  Hmm, this sounds like déjà vu on a conversation I had with a friend recently…who’s shop is doing amazing.  So I should take my own advice and just go for it.  (Grand Canyon – South Rim, September 2007)

So tonight, I’m going to place an order with a company that I've been eyeing for a few years and see what the quality of their prints are.  See how my computer monitor translates to paper.  In the meantime, I would love your help.  Skip on over to my Flickr and take a peek, then come back here and tell me what you like and what you think would make great wall art.  On Monday I'll choose one of you to win the print of your choice – 4x6, 5x7 or 8x10 – your pick.  If I don’t have that many comments, I'll just assume that it is still time to hold off on the photos – so give me all of your encouragement.

Strawberry Day

It was another “sick” day.  I did manage to leave the house twice today, but it was hard.  I can’t do this every month…feeling so sick I want to do nothing buy lay around.  But I’ll just have to deal for the moment.  At least I'm losing weight!  Got to see the positive side of things sometimes.  Unfortunately no crafting was done today.  Orders were filled and projects were thought of.  I was able to get some fabric yesterday (but those in the photo aren’t mine) at an incredible sales price, to make myself a new diaper bag.  I realized I have the pattern for that about half finished, so maybe I can finish it up sometime soon for the shop.  But you know how I am about getting those done.  Is it wrong to be a stay-at-home-mom and want a nanny? 

I did make it to the strawberry fields for about an hour tonight.  It’s the end of the commercial season and my grandpa’s friend let’s friends and family come pick.  So we got some super ripe, super sweet strawberries.  I’m going to make a strawberry pie tomorrow and then the rest will become jam.  Brice loved them.  After I picked one and had him eat it, he was in love.  He kept picking them and eating them.  I had to watch him so he didn’t have too many.  He was a mess!  But it was so precious!  There were so many sweet photos of him tonight, but you’ll have to head over to Flickr to see more.

It’s Going Swell

Well, I listed my two recent quilts for sale in the shop – Orange Sherbet and Far Far Away.  I always wonder how long they will sit there.  Seems like quilts aren’t a hot ticket item this time of year.  But one can always hope.  We met for block night on Friday, so I’m working on the tutorial to post for that.  I have some adjustments to do for size…test the piece again…photos… 

There’s also the binding tutorials to work on.  I’m debating now on if I should post those all at once, or just do them as I get to them.  Right now I have the “how to make binding” part photographed. 

I’m working on a “commissioned” quilt right now.  My payment is homemade carne asada dinners.  My mouth is watering just thinking of those dinners right now.

It’s coming along.  It’s a disappearing 9-patch.  I pieced my 9-patches, and then cut them apart again to re-sew.  I’m to the re-sew part.  Then sashing, and borders, and quilting, and binding…  I think I'll finish this one this week.  That’s my goal.  So if you see nothing but Swell in my posts this week, you know why.

Here’s the Lecien fabric I was telling you about.  I love the shabby chic, cottage feel to them.  I think I mentioned I have an idea for a pattern already.  I’m going to think on it a little more to make sure that’s what I want to do.  I will work on that after the Swell quilt.

Enjoying the Sun

We finally got summer back, after what seems like a month of rain.  Brice, my mom and I have been enjoying our local area.  Friday we went to Stevenson along the gorge.  It was a beautiful day!  But why I forgot that it’s windy out there, and decided to wear a dress, is beyond me.

We walked around town visiting shops and peeking in windows.  Here’s mom dreaming of a quilt shop in this building.  We stopped for lunch and then headed back home again.  A short trip, but still pleasant to take.

We found a quilt shop – isn’t this the most adorable sign?  The fabric wasn’t exactly to our taste, so unfortunately we walked out with nothing.  Yes, nothing.  I know, hard to believe.

Saturday we headed north to visit a couple quilt shops.  It’s the Western Washington Shop Hop this weekend, so I was thinking it was probably a bad idea to go, but the shops we visited weren’t bad at all.  The first shop we stopped at, Paisley Duck Quilting and Design, had a selection of fabrics I normally wouldn’t be attracted to, but I just loved the way she grouped her fabrics – like this grouping of purple fabric!  It made me want to buy fabric totally out of character for me.  I did walk out with a layer cake and charm pack, with quilts to make already in mind. 

We visited three other shops that afternoon, where I walked away with some Lecien to make a sweet little quilt.  I’m excited to work with the fabric and already have an idea of what I want to do.  Just what I need…another thing added to my “To Do” list.

We traveled pretty far, heading to Clatskanie, OR.  It’s beautiful out that way.  I stopped at a viewpoint and took a few photos of the bridge we crossed over the Columbia River on, with Mt. St. Helen’s in the background (which you can’t see because it was so hazy).  Today i’m looking forward to relaxing outside and some BBQ salmon for dinner.  I have June’s block tutorial to write up sometime today…but maybe that can wait until tomorrow.  It’s so hard to sew inside when the sun is finally back!