Apologies. So, it's been awhile, I know. Things in my life are FINALLY starting to get back to ops norm. The carpets are torn up and the beautiful wood floor is in. It looks like a completely different house! Also, Lauren is moved in and just about settled.
...which, in related news, I've corrupted her and she's going to start sewing!! I'm starting a quilting apocalypse; it's like the zombie apocalypse we keep hearing about, only instead of turning people into zombies, I'm turning them into quilters! Bahahaahah-oh. Sorry. Got carried away. But yes, she bought her first bit of fabric and I'm going to teach her something super quick and easy to do to get her interested. I don't think quilting will be the thing for her, but I think crafty sewing will...like potholders, makeup bags etc. That kind of stuff. Yay for her!!! :D
Anyway. So since everything has been in a state of flux at home, I haven't been working on anything requiring my machine. This whole month I have sewn once. ONCE! Talk about torture!! I'm happy to have one of my best friends here, but the renovation and moving process had forced me to shove my machine into a lonely and crowded corner in the side room, and not being able to sew has, to be completely honest, sucked voraciously. I'm super behind on projects and they keep piling on...what I need is a retreat! Hm...
-----------------
In the mean time, I've been working on little hand sewing ventures and just cruising the internet longing to be sewing instead. *insert melodramatic sigh here* Okay, maybe I'm speaking a liiiiittle (only a little...) hyperbolically. I've been buried under yo-yos! Mom had a neat idea for the shop to use as a decoration (not as a sample or project) and volunteered me to make the "we'll start with 70 and see how it looks" yo-yos, since among us I'm the one that doesn't mind doing the repetitious handwork.
That being said, I'm turning my focus to yo-yo makers. I have changed my feeling on them. I've decided that I'm taking the Alton Brown approach to this sewing gadget: Brown (from Good Eats on the Food Network) talks about how unitask gadgets in the kitchen are really next to useless unless it's for a food that you make several times a week, and encourages people to seek out multitasking items instead. Yo-yo makers are unitaskers. Realistically, they ONLY make yo-yos, and only the one size it's designed to make. If you do tons of projects using yo-yos in some form or another, and you make them all the same size and you need to be consistent at that size, then they're great! But how many of us really do that? Let's be honest with ourselves. Aside from the handful of yo-yos we may use to embellish a piece or the extremely rare occasion we think it might be cool to do a quilt made entirely of yo-yos, they just aren't a major player in most people's work. So. That thing just sits there for however many months (or years) until we make something with yo-yos and them remember what a pain in the rear it is and quit.
I admit that if I only have a couple yo-yos to do, then yes, I will use a yo-yo maker because I do have a couple. It goes relatively quickly and it's really really fool-proof. But I have to say, I prefer doing the whole process by hand. I find that I go slower using the yo-yo makers, because of having to move the needle all the way up and down through the holes in the plastic, meaning I can't load my needle with 10-15+ stitches at once. Seriously, the time I take tracing my circle/heart/oval/flower out is more than made up for with the speed I can do that single gathering stitch without using that damned plastic disk. Not to mention, I can do whatever size or shape I want using my own template, which can also be used as an applique temple in other projects, without sacrificing consistency.
That's just my humble opinion. If you're all for yo-yo makers, then all the power to you! They are a neat tool...I just used a popcorn tin lid instead!
I'm just about out of computer time here at the moment, but I have more to say about things I've learned since I haven't been sewing much...tips and hints and a very begrudging tip of my hat to Fons and Porter.
Whoot, whoot!!!
ReplyDeleteLet's have a quilting party! :) and I wanna learn all the things you teach Lauren. #thirstingforknowledge
I know you tried to send me a yoyo tutorial, but I think I'm too visual and want to watch you make one at some point :)
And like you, I'm feeling quilting deprived. Will have to see what my situation is like after all the bills are paid :)