Summertime

The summer sun shone round me
The folded valley lay
In a stream of sun and odor
The sultry summer day.

The tall trees stood in the sunlight
As still as still could be
But the deep grass sighed and rustled
And bowed and beckoned me.

The deep grass moved and whispered
And bowed and brushed my face.
It whispered in the sunshine:
“The winter comes apace.”

The Summer Sun Shone Round Me by Robert Louis Stevenson

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Summer is flying by in a fit of travel, work and creativity.  We were lucky as a family to travel to Iceland and Banff/Yoho National Park over the last couple of months.  Interspersed with travel I have been working at my day job harder then ever in my career (the ACA has resulted in more people being insured which is a good thing but with a real shortage of primary care doctors our ERs, indeed those across the country, have been overwhelmed).  I digress.  In any case, despite all this busyness I have found time to create though no time to blog or follow blogs.  I look forward to catching up with many of you  Included in the pictures above are some blocks I made for our July Bee Sewcial assignment by Karen (CapitolaQuilter: Bee Sewcial July – REFLECTION) .  They are intended to show REFLECTION and I think are inspired by my travels.  I am excited as well to share that two of my quilts have been accepted to the Modern Exhibit at the International Quilt Show in Houston and Quiltcon 2016.  This is my first foray into the Quilt Show world and I am both nervous and excited.

Happy summer!

Hillary

April Bee Sewcial Blocks and Other Makings

Boy oh Boy, April has been a productive month thus far!  Not only did I tackle and succeed (after some missteps) in making some challenging curved blocks for Diane (random thoughts…do or “di”: Me Bee-ing Sewcial) in our Bee Sewcial group, I made something with my new serger for the first time and as we speak I am in the process of dying some fabrics (a first for me and next time I need to remember to keep the gloves on the whole time.  Call me Ms. Blue Hands.), I started the month off finishing some gifts for a dear quilting friend and her gorgeous daughters.  I made a dress up using some linen, vintage lace and even used my serger to make finished edges.  I knit together a sweater from FrogTree Bamboo/Wool yarn in the Wallaby 10 ply pattern (Ravelry: Wallaby 10ply pattern by Georgie Hallam) and made up a sweatshirt using a washcloth and fabric scraps in a combined machine and hand appliquéd technique.  The book, Sew Adorable (Sew Adorable: Classic Clothes for Boys and Girls: Vanessa Mooncie: 9781861089311: Amazon.com: Books) from which the dress pattern came was the gift for Mama.  When I see people, I often see them in terms of colors and my friend is all about blues so I channeled the turquoise variety in her gifts.  They were very fun projects. 9L4A7506 IMG_1923 IMG_1952 IMG_1949 IMG_1954 9L4A7503 I am gratefully in the middle of some collaborations with artist friends.  One of my friends gave me a vinyl copy of one of her mixed media paintings to play with.  I combined pieces from it with some donated repurposed leather and made them into a folded clutch of my design with another topstitched Lonestar. IMG_1984 9L4A7581 IMG_1989 In the repurposing arena I also transformed a painted canvas left over from a Musical Chairs Painting Party into a simple clutch.  You guys, this was soooo easy and easily done on a traditional machine.  I think a tutorial may be coming up for a few of these techniques in the future. 9L4A7549 9L4A7550 9L4A7554 And of course, I had to work on my Bee Sewcial blocks for the month.  I was actually feeling a little cocky about the mission we were given.  Diane asked us to incorporate curves into our blocks with a fun color palate that asked for a sliver of black.  I have done so much curved piecing over the last year, I thought this would be an easy month but man it took me several attempts to get the blocks I wanted.  In the end, I think they will go well with the other pieces made by my stellar bedmates. (I came back to edit when I almost choked on my coffee reading my typo but had to keep the original for giggles.  I meant BEEMATES not BEDMATES. Yikes. Haha)IMG_1994 IMG_1945 9L4A7611 IMG_1993 Cheers, Hillary

Sew Mama Sew Giveaway Day – Leather and Vintage Hmong Remnant Handbag

Hi everyone! I’m excited today to give away a leather handbag I made earlier this year.  It is made out of leather repurposed from a coat donated by a friend and embellished with a vintage Hmong textile and a tribal tassel for the zipper pull.  The bag measures 12×7 inches and is lined.  I am happy to ship internationally.  To enter leave a comment describing a favorite handmade gift you have given to others.  For an extra chance to win leave a comment and follow me on Instagram (@entropyalwayswinsblog).  This contest is open until December 12th 5PM PST.

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You can find more amazing giveaways at Giveaway Day: Handmade Goods | Sew Mama Sew | Outstanding sewing, quilting, and needlework tutorials since 2005..

Good luck!

Hillary

Little Things

Although I love making quilts, there is a special place in my heart for projects I can complete in a day or two.  One feels so productive when one has a nice bag, block or cowl to show after a short period of time.  My days have been filled with such projects of late.

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I have been exploring paper piecing a bit more and am becoming increasingly intrigued. I found a free brassiere pattern and made the block above. It is asking for some underwear to go along with it so that is soon to come. Free pattern here: Paper Panache–Free Bra Paper-Pieced Quilt Pattern.

I have also been working with my scrap and recycled leather and putting together small bags.  I was the lucky recipient of a new delivery of suede clothing and leather scraps in amazing bright colors that have my creative wheels spinning.  I am so grateful to Stephanie Ruyle of Spontaneous Threads (Spontaneous Threads.) for sending them my way.  Crafty, blogging friends are the best!!

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IMG_0562Loving the 80s vibe this colorful suede brings.  There is much more in the works.  I also stitched together this more traditional pouch and yes, I am drowning in handmade bags. 😉

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To end, I had a nice surprise again yesterday when my crazy yoga pants/french knot project picture was picked as a weekly fave in Craft Magazine Online.  Who knew a quick project shot while I was waiting for the kids to dress for school would be so popular?  A good reminder to me of the beauty of the mundane, little moments of my life.

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Hillary