Friday Favourites: The Social Tote by Carolyn Friedlander

The Social Tote from Carolyn Friedlander is an awesome project. End of story.

You know me and small projects. We get along as well as clothing and zippers and the neighbour that thankfully moved out this summer. But Carolyn gave me this pattern after seeing them in person at Market. They really are pretty cool. And handy. And not difficult to make at all.

What I really love about this pattern is the inspiration behind it and the rest of Carolyn's Slow Sewing Studio line. In her words:

The projects in this group give us an opportunity to slow down and to enjoy the process as much as the result. Not only a back-to-basics program, this is also a program to strengthen our skills and our relationships with each other.

These projects are things we can take with us and enjoy with others. We'll bring them to our guild meetings, on trips, or wherever our busy lives take us. They require no chargers, adapters, or electricity and will allow us to press pause on the realities of everyday life and enjoy what we are making.

It was that inspiration that pushed me to make this little tote. The pattern is a collaboration with Anna at Noodlehead. It is detailed and well written. As I'm not much of a pattern follower, when I do follow one it must make sense and move methodically through the steps. This one does. And if we ignore that I completely missed the fact I was supposed to interface all the fabric for the inside of the tote and the handles I followed the pattern exactly. There is a pin cushion in the pattern too, but I'm waiting for the pet store near me to have crushed walnut shells in stock again.

Already the tote has found a purpose in sorting and holding bits for my latest project, a baby quilt. I'm pretty sure another tote is on the agenda precisely for my ongoing hand sewing project. This is just what I need. And you too, I bet.

(In coincidental news, Carolyn reviewed my book this week. Totally unsolicited by me. And I think she captured it beautifully.)

Friday Favourites: Honesty

Go read this post. Mary is honest and I love that. She is also a wicked bundle of energy and such an inspiration.

And I love the message. Word hard, but let it go. Cut yourself some slack. And be honest above all - in your efforts and your results.

Friday Favourite: Le Tour

(image from The Guardian)

Confession: I still watch The Tour De France and I still love it.

Yes, I know about all the doping and the disgrace of many of the sports' stars. Yes, I know that nearly every rider plays that same game. But I can't help myself. I get sucked in by those helicopter images, the frenzy of the crowds on the mountain stages, the banter between Paul Sherwen and Phil Liggeett, Bobke, and sheer strain on the cyclists. Doping or not, those guys are still working their muscular butts off.

I can also remember what quilts I was working on every year during Le Tour. Which ones I basted while we watched, which ones were under debate as the mountain stages loomed. Talk about memory by association!


So, every year, come July, my Hubby and I settle in for 21 nights to watch Le Tour. It's usually hot out so we drink beer and chat throughout the 3 or so hours we watch. It is about the only TV we agree on. And in July we probably talk about life more than at any other point in the year, because we are sitting together. I love it all.

Friday Favourite: Easy Thread Sewing Needles

With a million threads to bury on that beast of a quilt I pulled out these needles. They were part of some swag in the Denyse Schmidt Improv class from QuiltCon and they originally come from Purl Soho. I put them aside after trying them for binding. (Not a good use there - it cut the thread sometimes and was thick for getting through the small edge of the binding.) But I find them absolutely perfect for burying threads.

I must admit, I never used to bury my threads. I just stitched once or twice where I started then cut flush. Frankly, I was lazy. But the finished look was nowhere near as neat. So now I spend the evening burying threads and am much happier with the finished results. I do tend to wait until I'm done all the quilting so it can add up to a fair amount of work, but I find it easier and it doesn't break with my machine quilting rhythm.

I do exactly the same technique as Amanda. And these easy thread needles are perfect for it. They save you trying to thread two threads into the eye of the needle, and having sit awkwardly in order to use your eye, at eye height, to thread what are likely to be short threads attached to a heavy quilt.

Oh, and in case you were wondering about the intensity of that quilting, here is my thread. Can you see it? That's 1000 meters of thread per spool! I used one whole spool and then some.