Marsbarn Designs...

how projects grow, and become long term WIPs

I've restarted work on a long-in-process quilt.
It's an evolutional sort of project, nothing has been
clear, simple, or direct. 

This quilt has been such a slow moving project
that I think it's been in the background for as long as
Little e can remember. Sweet G looked at it and said,
"Oh, that again." But, I have to say that this weekend
I made more headway than I've ever managed before. 
... and then I thought.. oh, if I move this bit over there,
I could make it a much bigger quilt.  Or not.  Hmmm. 
That intersection between Getting It Done, and Getting
It Right is a hard one to get through. 

April into May. Projects finished, projects planned.

Here we are, at the end of April...
My big Gen Con order is done and gone. (Exhale.)
I've started working on a quilt which feels good.
This quilt is a legendary WIP, so that makes progress
feel twice as juicy. 

I'm starting a new project with Little e's class, another
quilt, but this one is driven by the kids and I am just
the fascilitator.   I'm toying with the idea of having
a potluck/work party of Mom's to come and help with
the assembly.

 We can see the end of the school year coming up on us
like a stateline on a road trip.  It's been a good year,
full of lessons and progress.  The quilting project with
Little e's class will be a teacher gift.  I'd like to do 
a similar project for Sweet G's block teacher, but I'm
not sure if it will happen or not.

Summer.  There's a thought for the brain to mull over.
Summer workshops, summer trips, summer plans.
So many possibilities.  

A gift for my elephant loving girl

For Little e's birthday, I made her a little messenger

with a decidedly Little e flair.

Sew much

I've been sewing like a mad woman this
past week.  24 dice bags have been completed,
13 more are almost finished, and an additional
9 need to be cut out.  I also made a messenger tote
for Little e's birthday.  And, yes, I can feel it all
in my arms and hands.  Hello, ice, my dearest Frienenemy.

Work is good; busy is good.  And seeing the growing piles
of finished bags is very good.  

This grand push of Getting It Done is part of my annual
Gen Con order.  The black and white reversible bags
will be decorated by artists and then sold at a charity
auction.  There is another big order waiting in the wings
so I want to have clear decks before I get buried. 

I haven't been able to start any of the quilt projects 
that have been lurking in my brain, but I do have a
school quilting project that might just quench my
my need to quilt.   

Building a robot face

 

 

The power of doing

For December Ladies Art, I set out my felt and some
other supplies for making a number of projects out of
the holiday Stitch magazine.  
 

It was a good morning with good women who were 
feeling a bit tired and in need of some inspiration.  

All of us had been working on projects in our own lives,
but there is something so energizing in choosing a new
project, a small something, a little treat for ourselves.
Better yet, a project that can be created in an hour or
two.

There is something about just Doing. Just diving in and
getting it done.  Not over thinking or over working, 
just inspiration, color, and play and suddenly we stand
straighter and stronger.

This garland Ms T made?  That's one of those projects.
A simple journey from "I want" to "Doing" to "Done"
with a detour into color and play along the way.

New messengers

I've also been working on a new shape and size of 
messenger bag.  This one is an oblong shape, and 
smaller than the large messenger I've made in the past.  
It's the perfect size for a book, a little lunch, a bottle 
of water, and an iPad.  

I had a lot of fun with the wool felt badges.  I made
a lion rampant, a raven, the dragon/serpent above, 
and even put a soot sprite on one.  

This is the same bag design that Sweet G gave as 
birthday gifts a couple of weeks ago.   

New knitting bags

It's that time of year again.  It's Holiday Market time.
I wanted make more of the knitting bags I made last
year.  

This year, I decided to finally dip into a collection of 
kimono samples I'd been given years ago.  The fabric
came in little bound collections, with each sheet about
measuring about 7" by 10". A client would flip through
the sheets until they found the fabric they wanted for
their new kimono.  Think carpet samples but with 
swank and beauty. 

The samples are small, so I used strips of the fabric
as embellishments on the bags.

To compensate for the softness of Shibori, I used a 
heavier cotton on the interior with a contrasting
band on top. Oh, there's a little pocket on the inside.

I'm really happy with them.  The fabrics were a lot of 
fun to play with. 

Fezzes, I make fezzes now.

 

Fezzes are cool, dontcha know. 

 

I got out the red wool that I fulled last winter, and 
set to making Sweet G a fez.  Once the first fez was
done, Little e needed one.  Then a friend of Miss G
needed one.  You see how this goes? 

 Oh yes, a girl and her fez are a lovely thing.

Download Fez

Birthday gifts

Sweetheart G has two friends with birthdays this month.

So she and I made messenger bags for her to give as gifts.

This new size of bag is one of the things I'm making for
the holiday market this year.

It's a nice size for carrying to the coffee shop with a 
hard cover book and a snack.  Oh, and an iPad just
happens to fit inside as well.

I'm loving working with wool.  It's just so tactile and yummy.  Both of the recipients loved their bags.