symbols and changes

My dad used to console me by saying "you can have a good job, a good apartment, and a good boyfriend, but not all three at once".  It' the kind of thing that's good to hear when you've got one out of three (there must be some hope) but maybe not so good when you think you've got all three.  For me, in the next two weeks, 2 out of 3 will be changing  completely. I'm planning on  holding on to the boyfriend, who is actually my fiancè,  til death do us part.  

I'm leaving my job as a sign artist (after 9 years!) on Thursday and I'll start training for my next job as a Nursing Assistant on Monday. Also, we've  gotta find a new place to live by June at the latest. We've really been gunning for May 1st in order to give ourselves some breathing room. We've found a place we like, we're just waiting to hear from the landlords, who could call at any second. It'll be a huge relief knowing where we'll be living!

In the meantime, this morning I realized I had better take the following picture or forever hold my rant. 

So I've been taking the bus a fair amount, due to my deep concern for the environment, to avoid paying parking fees,  because I love the walk,  as I just can't get enough time with the other kinds of folks who ride the bus, since I procrastinated taking care of essential car care thingies like inspections and floppy tires. Anyway! I've had a lot of time to stare these symbols, and part of my job as the store's sign artist was to try and come up with ways that a symbol or illustration could convey the intended message as quickly and cleanly as possible, maybe even to people for whom English was not an initial language. 

The first is clearly no smoking, and I think this is the internationally recognized symbol for that. That one makes total sense to me.  It took me quite a while to discern the middle symbol, finally seeing the cup of pop behind the  hotdog. If this symbol was in more than one color it would be much more readable.  I've gotta wonder how many people understand this symbol. 

On the right is my favorite, since it's so silly. That is an image of an old-time wooden radio, the kind I am young enough to have never seen in action. I've been wondering, lo these long months, if there are now actual records in museums, as well as these kinds of radios, how many people can possibly recognize this symbol? Even a boom box would be outdated, and difficult to convey.

These are the things I ponder as the subconscious part of my brain tries to contend with the huge upcoming changes which are all gonna turn out to be awesome.

More snow on the way?

Squiddy's expression really sums up how I feel about hearing that there will be MORE snow coming tomorrow. We've really had quite enough, so much so that we're not done with the last helping we got!

I took this picture a week and a half ago, and this bike is still seriously frozen in this snowbank. Frozen as in one would need an ice pick to get it out or maybe a ginormous hair dryer or 75 gallons of hot water, or 135 old geezers farting in it's general direction or . . .I know! How about a couple of actual spring days?!

Bias tape, binding and photo heavy.

I have a mental list of things I don't know how to do (sewing wise) that I think I should know how to do. It includes zippers, buttonholes, ruffles/pleating and elastic. I'm sure there is more but that is what comes immediately to mind.

However! Thanks to the patient efforts of my dear sweet mother, binding is no longer on that list. That little item was beginning to feel like a 10 page paper I hadn't written and  I am so glad to get it off of my list.

There are so many very good tutorials so what follows isn't really one. I took photos of the process so that I could remember how to do it next time without having to bother me' mam.

Started stitching in the middle, rather than a corner, with enough binding to overlap. This is the back side of the piece.  I forgot to fold the initial edge under so it looks more finished but for this test piece it looks just fine. 

 

I sewed almost to the edge of each corner, stopping at about 1/4 of an inch before and then starting on the next side.

Folding  the tape over like this means there'll be enough fabric to go to the other side and it will look mitered on this side. 

Then I flipped it over, and folded over the binding. It's possible I used pins, but unlikely. It was a little tricky at the corners, but nearly as scary/impossible as I had previously thought.

My mother is generally a woman of few thread colors. She knows what she likes and she sticks to it. So I was puzzled when she brought out the box of many colors and asked me 3 different times what color thread I wanted.  Once I was done however, I understood. Matching thread means that if your stitches are at all wobbly, it won't show.  Since this was a test, only a test, it's no big deal, but I'll be certain to all kinds of matchy-matchy next time.

I love Japan and it's lovely people unabashedly. Do you see the cushions on the chairs in the photo above? They demonstrate one of the bajillion reasons I am so fond. Someone in the neighborhood of that train stop made those cushions. The cushions are completely unmolested - there's no gum on them, no rips, no nothing! Also, the cushions are still there without having been locked down in some way. I think this is the ultimate in neighborliness of which I think there can never be enough.

 I have been feeling especially powerless to help the folks affected. Thus, I am asking you to consider donating to 2011 Japan Earthquake/Tsunami Victims  via my friend Aya and her sister Emilie who have family in Tokyo. They've found a fund that will help directly and are hoping to raise $4k by Friday. Thank you for being neighborly along with me.

here's hoping

in progress veggie bag, originally uploaded by moxiegrumby.

that these bits end up being something I like. Lately i've been in a bit of a slump as my experiments haven't turned out as well as I'd like. This fabric is so fun and vibrant, so much so that it's hard to think anything could go badly!

long awaited!

Alright, alright, maybe it's only been awaited since I placed the order last week, nonetheless, my new camera arrived last night.  I'm so excited, it's got functions aplenty plus it is a very bright pink.


It will also allow me to take pictures even after the sun has gone down, and at this time of the year, that will be hugely helpful. Any scheme to feel like I'm beating this never ending winter is one I am on like lines are on graph paper.

This means I am much more likely to post pictures of things I'm working on. There's an idea floating around the crafty blogging world of posting the process of your own projects, rather than just the perfect finished product. I'm all for that, partly because my stuff is rarely perfect, and a lot of times what I'm aiming for isn't quite what happens in the end, and it will be good to have a better record of that kind of thing.

Thus! Here are some pictures I took last night of a raw edge applique small project I started.  I've been using interfacing for this kind of applique, as interfacing had been on my list of things to no longer be afraid of, like zippers and binding. I'm working up to those.

The extreme closeups show where I'm having some trouble with machine. I'm told that maybe the bobbin is defective, but I'm not sure. I was too excited to see how this would look to stop and take it all out and start over. I will though, because I really like how this looks. I'm also excited to see this in other pattern and color combinations.

The pattern and the project before I've tacked it all down. I know this is a little dark.

My stitches have gone all kinds of wonky. On the plus side my camera  has a macro function that makes me very happy!

There was indeed a time when we didn't have snow.

My entries to the Fair last summer - they both got honorable mentions. I'd long wanted to get some sort of ribbon at the Fair, and I was so incredibly happy to get these last summer.

Both of my parents entered items into the Fair's judging along with me. My mother entered some seedless blackberry jam. This is a picture of the actual judging of her very jam. She won a fist prize blue ribbon! Unfortunately, my dad's honey was deemed to watery. We didn't know that could even happen. However he has vowed to try again this summer, should summer time ever come again. 

Birdhouse Mini Quilt

I discovered a Mini Quilt swap on Flickr, and on a whim, decided to join in. This is the quilt I made. In the next day or two I'll find out who to send this one too and then I'll get someone else's in the mail. It's an idea that's full of win to my mind.

I used freezer paper to piece together the bird house, and treated it like a giant coaster in order to avoid binding, as I have yet to really figure out how exactly to do binding. I just need to get together with my sewing mentor (aka Mom) and practice a bunch. Or maybe I'll start making round mini quilts!

Design Style

There is a design style that I adore, in the way of people remembering their favorite childhood stuffed animal. I connect it with the highlights magazines that were and are ever present at the Pediatrician's office, and the TV show Bewitched, and the Fifties in general. 

Today I have links to two artists the embody this style to me, one I'd very much like to emulate someday when I grow up to be a cloth designer.

This is a lovely entry about Tammis Keefe whose simple lines and colors evoke such sweet whimsy.

The second is a designer from Japan, shinzi katoh. He's also someone who uses simple lines and a limited color palette to evoke friendliness with a heavy dusting of kyoot.