A Quilted Vase From Swimming Pool Scraps

One of the most overlooked joys of making a quilt is the scrap pile. When the quilt is done, and you (or rather, I), have tidied up the hurricane zone, I often wind up with a scrap pile that's at least as intriguing as the actual quilt.

The leftovers relate to each other in unexpected ways. Because of the relationship - shape, size, color, intention? - they can quickly be turned into something new. (And we all know that working quickly is the most psychotherapeutic form of quilting.)

Like, when I was auditioning embellishments for my big swimming pool quilt (shown last week), deeply pondering the sublime question: Yes, Diving Boards & Umbrellas? No? A lot? A few? I freehand cut a bunch of vaguely umbrella-shaped pieces, in different solid and print fabrics, and tried different quantities and arrangements. I wound up using only a few.

When the quilt was over, the colorful pile of pseudo-umbrellas demanded immediate attention.

So I churned out the following, starting with a 16" x 8.5" parallelogram of grey fabric. (with a purple chevron backing, and batting between two layers.)  (It's actually slightly narrower at the right end than the left, which was pure carelessness ummm, I designed it that way.) I strewed the freeform umbrella shapes about, then stacked them in layers, cutting smaller or larger shapes as needed. There's no fusible on the umbrella backs - they're just raw edge cut.

I added freeform pool shapes from three shades of blue solids. Then, I quilted around and on top of things with variegated thread. Finally, I stitched on a bunch of buttons, small white ones for the centers, larger white ones floating about.  

The same week, serendipity gifted me this vase (from a holiday event centerpiece): 

They came together in a wrap! 

Before washing, this little quilt was quite stiff and stood up straight even without the vase. After washing, as you'll see below, the flowers developed a wonderful texture, and the whole thing got a lot floppier, though it still stood up (barely).

I contemplated it for a while, thinking it might also serve as a little zip-up case (with a zipper joining the short ends, and sides stitched together.), or maybe a small bolster pillow. But who needs a small bolster pillow? I finally decided to set one quilted oval on the bottom. 

The ends overlap: 

Now it's a vase, and the glass insert is optional. I am deciding between putting some tacking stitches in to hold the flap shut for a few more inches from the bottom, or adding buttons and buttonholes. Note that the fact that one end is higher than the other makes for a messy look an artistic look. 

Many more quilty vessels are here (denim vessels 1), here (denim vessels 2), landscape basket with crochet lid here, another one here.

One More Improvisational Quilted and Crocheted Basket

A couple of weeks ago, I explained a quilted basket with a crocheted lid (here).  This past week, I finished  a second in this amusing obsession series. 

It started as a batiky landscape, made in an improvisational manner that could be described as Scribbly Rectangular Psychotherapy. This detail shows how incredibly relaxing this can be: 

When everything is an accident, there are no mistakes! (That's deep. I have to think about that.)

At the time I made it, I put a a tiny loop at the back-top-center, suitable for hanging as is. Three buttons and buttonholes on opposite edges make it work as a cuff:

With a jar inside, it can hold treasures or a votive....

More is better! So last week, I crocheted a lid:

That's an inexpensive touristy shell necklace around the edge, still on its original string (but shortened).

The middle button down the side is a shank button with another shell glued on.

The battered (so to speak) fish comes from a deeply cool vintage necklace (The hole in his rear fin has long since broken through).

To make the lid, I started by crocheting a circle of 1" mottled pink batik fabric strips, then switched to the lavender yarn.

The fish is hot-glued to a clear glass button. Now I think it's a holder for my finest shells! 

Quilted and Crocheted Magic Mushroom Basket

You know how sometimes you make one thing and put it away, and then you make something else, and then one day you realize the two things should be together?

For example. This fun and experimental quilted strip, about 16" long by 4 1/2"  has been sitting in my stash for years. It was quilted only through the top and batting layer, with no backing.

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Detail:

That was some serious psychotherapy. There's a ribbon-yarn wandering across it in waves, and lots of raw edges and variegated threads. 

Then, a couple of days ago,  I crocheted this objet with mostly vintage yarns. (The squiggly blue yarn I used to make bobbles is especially groovy).

Here's a quiz: What do you call this thing? There was a time (a few months ago), when I would have called it a doily, a word that has deeply anti-feminist connotations for me and women of my Boom generation.

But I have recently been immersed in a new world of courageous crochet (which includes "yarn bombing," the coolest thing ever) and have discovered that I can call things like this "mandalas"!  (Do an etsy search for "crochet mandalas," and you'll get several talented crocheters selling patterns.)

Shortly after finishing my improvised, uh, mandala, I was sifting through an unfinished project pile and found the artsy strip. They looked kinda cool together! (It helps that I've been using the same color scheme for years, jewel-tone peacock colors. Must. Break. Out!)

I had a yen to make a basket out of my strip. So I fused the strip to a blue-and-white batik and stitched a side seam. Zig-zagged over the seam edges with thread, and set in a 4 1/2" circle (two layers of fabric, with fused batting in-between)::

Stitched them together, turn right side out, voila.

Back in the pre-feminism days, I would have plopped that basket on top of  the doily on top of a bureau or sideboard or knick-knack shelf or whatever display cases 1950s people enjoyed. But this is the 21rst century, so I tried plopping the doily on top of the vessel!

But it sagged:

Nothing worse than a saggy mandala. 

So I crocheted a lining for the mandala, from dark yarn, slightly smaller than the top. With gold yarn, I crocheted the edges of the top to the bottom.

This pulled in the top, gave it the sturdiness it needed, (Here's it's leaning against the vessel.)


The extra layer also made it look kind of like a mushroom cap!  Mandala Mushroom Vessel Alert!

What's not to love? Well, a lot actually. I'm going to continue to explore the mandala-vessel- lid possibilities. I need to figure out an elegant way to make a hinge that attaches the top to the bottom. In the meantime, I firmly believe that crochet and quilting are natural allies. Both are improvisational, relaxing, serious color therapy and a lot of fun! 

Do you crochet? Have you combined it with quilting? I would like to hear about it!

PS I just realized that the lid also doubles as a yarmulke. Having written a book on yarmulkes, I'm surprised it took me this long to figure it out!

UPDATE 10/7/13 Another vessel with a crocheted lid is here.

Play With Your Jeans: More Denim Vessels

Dare to cut the legs off a pair of jeans, and play with the resulting tubes! To add to the denim vessels in my last post, here are some more, created (or revised) last week. These projects are fast, easy, and you can  make up the rules as you go along. I didn't use any interfacing ; a lining made from more denim, or another stiff fabric, is all they need. Hide a glass vase inside if you're going to put flowers (faux or real) in it.

For this first one, I simply cut two shallow curves on either side of a leg, leaving most of the side seams intact.

I stitched a duplicate from angel-printed denim yardage for the lining. Ovals of denim are inset into the bottom. Sturdy lining is what allows it to stand up (in a slouchy sort of way).

It's reversible: 

At the moment I'm using it to store scraps - the more I stuff in, the straighter it stands! It could also make great party centerpieces. My Local Teen took one look at it, slipped it on her hand, declared it an oven mitt, and promptly began using it as...

...an exfoliating facial mitt!? (Hey, that could work! Normally, it sits on your kitchen table holding an exquisite dried flower arrangement, until you need to fetch something from the oven. Then, simply dump out the flowers, place it over your hand, grab hot things, put them down, and, while the mitt's still warm, vigorously rub it against your cheeks, before returning it to the table and rearranging the fallen flowers in it.)

(Cheaper than blush! Oh, and it's also collapsible. Pack it along on vacations. Place a hotel glass inside when your out-of-town admirers send bouquets to your hotel room. If that's not a practical gift, I don't know what!)

Where were we? Next: a pocket vase.

It's made from two jeans legs, cut to the same length, one leg placed inside the other. The inside leg is right side in. It's bottomless at the moment - let's call it a vase sleeve.  Slip it over a heavy glass vase. The pocket came from a different pair of jeans.

Place flora just  in the pocket,

Or in the pocket AND in the top: 

(by the way, these are lace painted flowers I made a while back for a bat mitzvah...)

Or, climbing FROM the pocket, up to the top, or vice versa...

Above are felt flowers that I didn't make.

The back:

Lee jeans should send me money, right? 

I crocheted the edging with cotton (blue) and bamboo (gold) ribbon yarn. To cut even holes for the blue yarn, I used the Edge Perfect Blade, praised in an earlier post.)

And finally, my Gaetano basket, named after genius Italian designer Gaetano Pesce. I came across his work while googling vases. He's a giant in the design world - check out his colorful jewelry. Some of his chairs look like this: 

Hmmm, all of you are quilters are musing - that's pretty darn quilty! (Ho hum, another man being called a genius for doing things that mostly women  have been doing for years. Fortunately, I'm not bitter.) (UPDATE: Pesce really is a genius. More of his amazing artwork is here!)

With Gaetano chairs dancing in my head, I cut off a large round slice from a jeans leg. Cut open one seam and laid it flat. Cut a piece of denim yardage to a little bigger, to serve as backing. Laid the backing denim flat on the table, put a piece of cotton batting on top, then drizzled polyester stuffing as evenly as possible all across the top of the batting. Put the jeans leg slice on top of the sandwich. That sucker is now very puffy. (A little too puffy. Next time I think I'd just use batting, not the stuffing).  

Machine quilted across the breadth of it. 

The horizontal lines aren't actually stitched; they're loose threads. I did a couple of zig-zag tacking stitches in one place, then lifted the presser foot, moved the piece about an inch forward, and then did another couple of tacking stitches, moved forward, and so forth. You might want to measure and mark first if you're new to machine quilting. 

I bound the top and sides, set a quilted circle of denim in the bottom, and bound the bottom edge. The top is embellished with white embroidery floss stitches and mother-of-pearl (mostly) buttons (which make everything much better.) Results:

A few hand-tacking stitches (or the addition of some buttonholes and more buttons along the edges) will make it as open or closed as you want. 

I'm using mine to store balls of yarn that I'm working with, on my coffee table. 

It's reversible, too. On the bobbin side, I used variegated thread. 

Grazie, Signore Gaetano!

Finally, I elaborated on the paisley vessel shown in the last post. I added a round of cross stitches, and finished the top edge with a cuff from the lining, held in place by french knots.

I haven't made up a tutorial for any of these yet, but will if people let me know which (from this post or the the last) that they'd like to see. Meanwhile, here are three fun and easy denim vessel tutorials from around the web: One, two, and three. Braided denim vessels, a la braided rugs, to ogle here. 

Denim has SO many possibilities. I want to try distressing the denim before creating the vessels. Some family, yard sale, and expensive designer jeans come with delightful worn spots and holes. And some jeans are made with interesting seams and embroideries, which would be fun to show off in a vessel. I can see them as vases, handbags, lunch bags, and - what else?  I hope this inspires you to play with your jeans! And, yes, I would LOVE to see pictures of your creations!