Terry wanted to see my sea glass necklace. I’m happy to oblige.

And since several of you were contemplating drill bits (I’m pretty sure there’s a glass and ceramic type), you might want to know that for the necklace, the artist didn’t drill at all (though she did for the wind chime/mobile thingie).

And even though no one asked, but Judy thought my food descriptions sounded tasty, here’s a picture of my hapa lomi salmon with sea asparagus (did anyone see the “Chopped” episode where they had to cook with this? I was yelling at the TV — at a cooking show! How crazy is that?). By the way, the leftovers were extra tasty with avocado.

Where I used to post about German fests and castles, now it’s all tropical dances and food! Here are some images from our day at the Polynesian Cultural Center here on Oahu. Hopefully made more relevant to my creative journey blog in their arrangement by color. Everything should be clickable for a little bit bigger view. There’s also more on Flickr.

Clockwise from upper left: Hawaiian hula in plantation era costumes, traditional hula skirt or “pa’u,” Tahitian dancers, Hawaiian dancers.

Clockwise from upper left: Tahitian dancers, Fijian or Samoan dancers (I can’t remember), Tongan drummer, skirt made from the inner bark of the wild hibiscus tree.

Clockwise from upper left: Hawaiian hula kahiko dancers with feather rattles, Tahitian dancers with I’i hand implements, Samoan fire knife dancer, Hawaiian kahili, or royal standards.

Clockwise from upper left: Taro, Maori woman from Aotearoa (New Zealand) performing the haka as a welcome, Maori man performing another part of the ceremonial greeting, Maori group singing.

Clockwise from upper left: Fijian house for sacrifices, Hawaiian checkers (konane), Fijian tattoo for a king, Fijian outrigger canoe.

Wind Ornament, originally uploaded by Umzavi.

After several hot, hot weeks, the Trade Winds came back and made everything lovely. They blew in my Mother in Law as well and we have been slowly drifting from one activity to another. She’s a big fruit and veg eater, so on Saturday, I took her to the Farmer’s Market at KCC. Of course, since we were in the neighborhood, we had to visit my favorite two fabric/quilt shops Calico Cat and Kaimuki Dry Goods. The kids and I spent the rest of the day at a pool party. On Sunday, we went to the Waikiki Art Fest, which I discovered happens quite regularly. I was very pleased to find that it was not all ticky-tacky touristy stuff and in addition to a few gifts, I also purchased a sea glass necklace and this fantastic mobile. I love how unassuming , yet utterly charming it is. I was sold on the piece of green glass with the bit of text on it. We ate fresh Vitnamese BBQ on the lawn by the beach and later walked in the sand. On Monday my daughter and my MIL made a tote bag together with puppy patterned fabric bought on Saturday while I lunched at Orchids. Then we enjoyed pot luck and auction night with the Hawai’i Quilt Guild where we came home with mountain apples. They taste like tart pears and smell like roses. Tonight I made my own version of lomi salmon with cooked salmon (instead of traditional salt-cured), tomatoes, onions, and sea asparagus from the market. It was delicious and I think it needs a name: Hapa (half) Lomi Salmon.

We have a few more excursions planned and an inter-island cruise next week so I may or may not breeze in and out of the blog in the near future.

I thought I’d share my process for adding the stag’s head to my latest quilt. It’s by no means the only way to add embroidery to a quilt, it was just my way for this quilt.

First, I drew the stag’s head directly onto a piece of tear-away stabilizer. I’m a confident draw-er and just went freehand using a photo as reference, but one could certainly find or print something out at the appropriate size and trace it onto the stabilizer.

Next, I pinned the stabilizer onto the front side of my quilt, which I had already quilted with parallel lines or channels. With 40 weight thread, I free-motion quilted the stag’s head, following the pencil lines I had drawn on the stabilizer. The tedious part follows — gently tearing away all the stabilizer. A seam ripper or something pointy is helpful to pick at the teensy bits in tight spaces. I also knot and bury any thread tails left from when I’ve stopped and stared lines of stitching.

Above is a detail of the front of the quilt with the machine embroidery; below is the back of the quilt showing the full picture.

For the nose and the eye, I placed appropriate shapes of fabric in position under the stabilizer to raw-edge applique the pieces as I followed the pencil drawing (you can still see a white haze of stabilizer that I haven’t yet picked out).

Once the machine embroidery is done and the stabilizer is ripped/picked out, it’s time to add the thicker lines with hand embroidery. Follow the main machine stitched lines, but don’t do the ones that define details on the interior of the image.

Using two strands of embroidery floss and a small chain stitch, I was careful to only go through the top layer of the quilt so as not to mar the look of the thread drawing on the back. Make a small quilter’s knot at the start of your floss, insert the needle into the top only of the quilt an inch or two away from where you want to start stitching, exit the needle where you want to start and pull it gently to pop the knot through the top and into the middle of teh quilt sandwich. When you’ve embroidered your way to the end of the floss, make similar knot by wrapping your thread around the needle twice and pulling it down the length of the needle and floss until it is close to the fabric (it helps to stick a pin into the knot while it’s loose to facilitate sliding it down the floss); enter the needle into the fabric at the end of your stitching and exit the fabric an inch or two away (being sure to go through the top layer and some batting only). Gently pull the needle and floss until the knot pops down into the quilt.

Enjoy the many possibilities of combining patchwork shapes with embroidery lines.

This is the first of my One Block Wonder quilts. I stayed pretty true to the book, arranging the hexagons in waves of color to my liking and adding a border. I chose a solid border color to make the quilt look more modern (I considered white for a truly modern look, but was worried about practicality).

(click to enlarge)

I kinda missed the woodland theme of the original fabric though (“Lush” by Erin Michael). So, I machine and hand embroidered a stag after I quilted the quilt. It might be a bit out there, but I really like it!

Madison the cat approves.

The above quilt and matching pillow will be a gift. I used a few more of the hexagons to make a version for our couch:

I almost bought new fabric for the backs of these quilts, but was still reeling from having used nothing from my stash on either quilt top. I did have several white duvet covers picked up at a flea market a few years ago, so I bit the bullet and dyed two to match. I’m not great at dyeing to specifics, but I’m very happy with how these turned out. The stag quilt has a solid steel blue backing, and mine has steel blue overdyed in a tie-dye pattern with olive green. My intention was to have the very geometric hexagons on the front speak somehow to the looser, organic, hexagon-ish shapes on the back.

I’m loving my coordinated couch appropriate for a quilter.

I was debating whether or not to post about our activities of the last few days. They’ve been all kinds of fun for us, but maybe not that interesting to the rest of the world. In a nutshell:

• my son finished up a fantastic four day space/science camp and shot off the rocket he made;
• we went to see my blog friend Robin and watch her son play hockey since they were on “our” island;
• the next day we went to the water park with one of my friends from waaaaaaaay back when and her family since they too were on “our” island (in two weeks we get to go to theirs!).

Then, yesterday I spent most of the day making these:

Now there’s something for an artsy-craftsy blog.

We need to carry water around just about everywhere. Quite a while ago I had admired Kathey’s tutorial at Pink Chalk Studio but more in an abstract way (although I did purchase some insulating batting for eventual water bottle carrier making). This weekend it gelled for me and I decided that the carriers would incorporate some of the details from a little bag in Japanese craft magazine too. Plus, they’d look great in re-purposed BDU fabric.

I dug around my closet o’ crafty and fabric-y goodness looking for “stuff,” and pulled out some coordinating fabrics and binding leftovers, a collection of patches — military and otherwise, fun woven ribbon (the woodland ribbon is from Nic, and the flame ribbon was bought to embellish the hand towels in our hot rod half-bath), more of the fat red ric-rac from the mushroom quilt, clasps from two unused necklace-type key chains, twill tape, vinyl coated fabric (from the sandwich wraps), two sliding fastener thingies bought years ago only because they were cheap and seemed useful, cotton cording, and a leather cord.

In short, I quilted the BDU fabric to one layer of insulating batting and one layer of regular batting, then embellished with ribbon and patches. I made the straps with ribbon sewn to twill tape for her’s and ribbon sewn to folded over fabric for his. Added the fasteners and sewed the straps to the body. Then, I sewed up the sides and added the bottom circle (pre-quilted to one layer of insulating batting). Next, I made tubes of slightly smaller dimensions out of the vinyl coated fabric and sewed on their circle bottoms (not too much fuss sewing that as the troublesome shinier side was to the inside) then slipped them into their respective outer bodies. Now the carriers are lined all nice and tidy-like. I finished the short ends of two rectangles (one for each carrier) of coordinating fabric and folded over one long end on each to make a casing. That went into the tubes, right sides facing inward, raw edges matching. As per the Japanese magazine, I sewed binding over the raw edges to finish everything off. Lastly, I threaded the cording through the casings and added the cinch-thingies to snug and un-snug the top. That “poof” on top allows the plastic loop that holds the cap onto the bottle to stick out, and also allows for easy access to the water without pulling the bottle out of the carrier to drink.

The kids tested them out today and although the vinyl fabric doesn’t seem to stop wetness very much, the carriers got overall high marks.

Why is it that as soon as I say (even just to myself) that I’m over something or not going to do it, I go and do it anyway? Don’t answer that, it’s rhetorical.

A while a go I lamented the many directions I could/should go and wondered if would be beneficial to focus. After that post, I decided that although I would probably never be the type to focus completely and create a “brand” for myself, it would be OK to let a few things drop.

There are a million über-talented fabric designers out there that I couldn’t dream of competing with, (not being terribly fashion forward myself) and I had decided that as fun as exploring patterns based on local flora would be, my energies would be better spent on art quilts and home projects. My sketches were unceremoniously shoved to the back burner.

Until last week. I had reason to expand on one idea, and that, of course, built some momentum, which got the juices flowing, and now I have six designs uploaded to Spoonflower (private at this point) being made into swatches, just to see what a small collection would look like.

I had the idea that if my designs were picked up by a fabric company, I could donate the proceeds to an entity concerned with the study and preservation of Polynesian plants, or just plain conservation, like the National Tropical Botanical Garden, or Hawai’i Nature Center. I’m not particularly interested in opening up an Etsy or Big Cartel shop to sell fabrics at upwards of $18 per yard myself. I suspect this will go back to the end of the line now that I’ve gotten some of the fun part out of my system (not before making a list of nearly 20 plants that would be interesting to draw when the mood strikes again).

Speaking of the mood striking, Katja watched me using Adobe Illustrator to make my designs and wanted to make some herself. I think this is a perfect example of being inspired by something and yet making it uniquely one’s own. I’m also so proud of my daughter’s creativity, that really this post is mostly an excuse to show her off!

Saturday was Military Appreciation Day at the Honolulu Zoo. We didn’t have anything else planned, I’m back to being a single parent again, it was something to do, so off we went.

There was live entertainment. I wish I could remember this guy’s name, as I think he performs around Honolulu quite a bit.

The Honolulu Fire Department represented. The kids could climb aboard an ambulance and fire truck. Only in Hawai’i would the fire truck include a surf board!!

There was story time…

…and crafts,

…games…

…and more games…

… and things Hawaiian to learn about.

Of course, the were animals too. The Honolulu Zoo may not be world renown, but it has the requisite elephants, monkeys, zebras, and tigers. There were also some weird relatives of the crocodile called gharial. My son made a point of finding all the lizards — like the one above. The nene, below, is the state bird of Hawaii and a relative of the Canada Goose.

A big mahalo (thank you) goes out to the Hawaii USO for organizing the day. Zoo entrance was free for ID card holders (like us), they had frequent shuttle buses from free parking at the nearby community college, they advertised free ice cream and hot dogs to the first 8,000 visitors (but it was a whole lunch bag with chips, cookies  and water too). And when they said lots of activities for the keiki (kids) they weren’t kidding. There was plenty to keep everyone busy and no long frustrating lines despite the large numbers of people there. Everything was well organized and well staffed. Even the weather cooperated with lots of sunshine and trade winds to keep it from getting too hot. All in all a great day!

Sew, Mama, Sew is having a sewing machine month and since I love my sewing machine(s) so much, I’m participating.

We were a crafty household growing up and I learned to sew on a treadle Singer and my mom’s 1970s-era Husqvarna. By high school, sewing in one capacity or another was part of my life, and my grandmother bought me a White machine as a graduation gift. It was simple, but served me well until it was crushed moving house. Enter my mother-in-law the quilter who had just traded in her 40 year old Husqvarna for a new Bernina. She took pity on me and bought her old machine back for $1 and then sold it to me.

That Husqvarna took me from crafty hobbyist to artist who sewed nearly every day. But when I started free-motion quilting, I knew it was time to upgrade. I did some homework and narrowed my choices down to upper end Pfaff or Berninas (we were living in Germany at the time and these were the most available/best deals). So here’s the pertinent Sew, Mama, Sew info:

What brand and model do you have? Bernina 440 QE

How long have you had it? About 4 1/2 years

How much does that machine cost (approximately)? With the exchange rate and a discount for being with the US military and not having to pay German VAT (value added tax), I think I remember it being between $1400 and $1700.

What types of things do you sew? I sew mainly quilts of the scrappy, arty sort, but also handbags, clothing and kids costumes, a little home dec, some softies, and patches onto uniforms. Once I repaired a hammock strap and a leather belt.

How much do you sew? How much wear and tear does the machine get? I sew nearly every day, and have been known to throw teh occasional weird thing at the machine (see aforementioned leather belt). The add oil indicator (based on number of stitches sewn) comes on monthly.

Do you like/love/hate your machine? Are you ambivalent? Passionate? Does she have a name? My machine has no name, but I love her dearly. I also love teh old Husqvarna for sentimental reasons, and because you just can’t help loving such an old workhorse. My expectation is that my Bernina will also still be going strong in 40 years.

What features does your machine have that work well for you? I didn’t anticipate it, but I love the knee lift. It is so convenient to be able to lift the presser foot without moving your hands! Close runners-up are the ability to lift the needle up or down with the tap of my foot, and the automatic button hole feature.

Is there anything that drives you nuts about your machine? It doesn’t drive me nuts, but the stitch regulator wasn’t as great as I had hoped. I can free-motion well, but not show-quality perfect; and unfortunately, I can’t get the stitch regulator to be any closer to show-quality than I am on my own.

Would you recommend the machine to others? Why? I would definitely recommend any of the mid-grade to high-end Berninas. In my experience, they are predictable, well-made machines with all the features most sewers would need. The feet are very easy to switch out on machines made in at least the last five years, which I think encourages people to use the right tool for the job. I’ve had no problem finding Bernina dealers from California, to Germany, to Hawai’i and everyone has had wonderful customer service.

What factors do you think are important to consider when looking for a new machine? I see a sewing machine as a durable good and so I think it’s important to buy something sturdy that will last. I’ve seen too many beginners get frustrated with cheap machines (ie: tension problems and hard to swap feet) and not only never finish their projects, but walk away from the experience feeling like failures. As long as one is making the investment, I suggest to buy a machine that doesn’t just do what you want to do now, but can also accommodate what you want to do in the future. With a good machine, you’ll grow quickly and you don’t want to have to go machine shopping again in just a few years. Oh, and I think it is important to try out several machines to get a good feel for them. I found that ergonomically, I was more comfortable with the Berninas than the Pfaffs — probably because they were similar to the Husqvarnas I had used for over 20 years. I’ve heard many Pfaff users say that they can’t get comfortable on a Bernina. Either way, buying from a sewing machine store gives you a chance to test drive and get as much support as you need, whereas buying from a discounter is a bit of a shot in the dark.

Do you have a dream machine? I already own my dream machine.

I may not have found my artistic voice, or style yet, but I’m definitely settling in to a process.

Momentum seems to have a lot to do with it. I get an idea and then I have to jump right into it. Or, if I can’t do that, I write it in my sketchbook, make dinner, collect bits, mull it over, procrastinate a lot, get side tracked, and do myriad other things that lack discernible forward movement. It’s all good though, because this slow percolating time helps me refine what it is I’m going to create.

Then, when the mood hits and the planets align, I get down to work. The hardest part is that this is when the momentum really kicks in and once I’m elbow-deep in paints or dye, or firmly planted in front of the sewing machine, I don’t want to stop. More frozen pizza nights than I want to admit to are the direct result of sewing “just one more row,” “I’m almost to a stopping point,” or my favorite, “I’ll be right there,” which really means I’m standing in front of my design wall contemplating the next move.

Knowing that I work in these fits and spurts helps me to get the most out of them, such as grouping like tasks together, or making sure there’s plenty of pizza in the freezer. Another aspect of my process is to gather bits so that when I do get inspired, I can access the bits akin to a painter choosing paint from blobs on her palette (a great analogy I adopted from artist Gerry Chase in her workshop).

One day I’ll be immersed in sun printing, and try out multiple colors and sizes of motifs. Painting and stamping are the same. If I dye fabric, I’ll throw in some extra pieces, or maybe some yarn or lace. Another day I’ll be piecing, and I’ll sort scraps by color, or set aside cut-off strips, squares or triangles that could come in handy in another project. Now, I take crochet yarn to the kids’ TaeKwonDo and hook roots while I wait. I need to have several things going at once so that I can choose one aspect and roll with it for a while, not breaking my momentum to create a single project start to finish, but rather to focus on a day to paint, or to sit at the machine, to crochet or embroider, until I have enough pieces to sort through them to create the composition I’m looking for.

The last two photos are details of quilted, embroidered, fabric and thread collages mounted on or sewn to stretched canvases — similar to Cloud House. There will definitely be more.