Wasp Nest Pin Cushion

Yes, you read the title correctly!
A wasp nest pin cushion:

Apologies for the bad image, it's a screen grab from the Zoom!

The maker found a wasp's nest and wedged fabric scraps into the individual cells to make the pin cushion. Genius!

This was found by Steve Wiman, the owner of Uncommon Objects in Austin TX.
Yesterday, Atlas Obscura and Weird Homes Tour hosted a virtual tour of Steve's home:

It was a wonderful presentation!
It was recorded (I want to see it again). Hopefully, they'll offer it online.
Worth the price of admission!

I will close with this quote from Steve:

"If you're not OK with dust, you shouldn't be a collector."

Linking up with
Michelle's Creative Compulsions Linky Party

Obstacle Course Project

I started a fun online sewing workshop with Hadley Clark called Obstacle Course.
Little did I realize how prescient that title became!

Hadley gave us a list of 25 potential items or processes to use and we were supposed to use at least 6.

I decided to combine two Indian skirts and make a dress.

I think the fact that I was experimenting "beyond the rectangle" (not making a loose tunic) was one of my big hurdles.

My concept was to make a dress in the style of peasant blouses that I used to make in the '70s.

Hard to see it, I'm wearing one of my creations.

I was doing it from memory. Mistake #1!
Why didn't I Google one?

[source] This would have been helpful!

First fitting:

neckline too low! too wide!

Second fitting:

not yet sewn - totally held together with safety pins

Third fitting, after stitching:

way, way, WAY too tight!
I require a better gusset.

The seam ripper will become my BFF this month.
Yes, my August sewing challenge is to continue working on this.
I refuse to give up on it!

How did I do with the Purple/ Green sari upcycle that I was planning to complete for July?
Nothing. I did nothing.

Linking up with
Elm Street Quilts One Monthly Goal Linkup

VOGOFF!

Miz Bagg on the cover

VOGOFF 2020 has finally hit the virtual news stands. Woohoo!
It's a whopping 120 pages of wonder (and only two pages of ads).

My contribution is on page 13:

layout by @bagandaberet

I also made a little video from the above:

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by anne m bray (@annembray) on Jul 3, 2020 at 7:15pm PDT

I must thank Melanie for inspiring us all to get creatively crazy in isolation.
MWAH!

Big Orange

I love orange!

I've drawn my orange tube of paint:

I chose orange for my Stitching the World path:

that's Australia, BTW

Why am I going on about orange?

It's this month's theme for Shelbee and Nancy's "Good Buy/Good-bye Book"

This one was a Good Buy, it's an Indian skirt that I turned into a pinafore:

This one not so much:

2013
See how it's sticking to me?
Therein lies the problem!

2012 - even then, it annoyed me

To Poshmark it goes!

It so happens, I bought these both at the same shop in Artesia, CA. 

The shop, Cottage Arts, has closed, the owners retired. 

Sad face, happy wallet. 

Linking up with

Shelbee's Spread the Kindness

One Monthly Goal July

What is my sewing goal for July?

It's time to revisit (and hopefully complete) my very bright tie dye tunic that is fashioned from a secondhand sari. I became stalled on the removal of beads from the neckline. Or some sort of sewing mishap - sewing and trimming on the wrong side or some such.

Oh yes. It's all coming back to me. I found the photos. 

The moment I realized I trimmed the wrong section of seam allowance. 
I wanted to wrap the inner allowance over the layer underneath and stitch it down on the outside of the shoulders.

I gave up a year ago! There is one of those mirrored flowers at a shoulder seam.
The mirrors are glued on and I need to work around it somehow.

How things are looking now.

The white thread is temporary basting with silk thread - silk is easier to remove than cotton/poly.

Here's an old post showing the sari before I cut into it.

Linking up with
Elm Street Quilts One Monthly Goal Linkup

A Rug Weaving Adventure

Last Saturday, I took an online rug weaving workshop with Aneesa Shami.

[Aneesa's photo]

So. Much. Fun!

First I needed to clear some space in a location where I could prop up my iPad

I used 6/12 ply poly/cotton for my warp [which in retrospect, is too heavy] on the Purl & Loop loom that I got last year at a workshop with Brittany Wittman McLaughlin at Craft in America.

For my rug ties, I wanted to use fabric scraps. 

I cut an assortment, using Frau Fiber's yarn-from-teeshirt technique for the tie dye tee. 

I tore strips for the wovens.

Decidedupon an indigo + hot red combination

OK! I'm ready for class!

Starting with plain weave

then adding knots

Knotting is super relaxing

[apologies for the dirty thumbnail and ragged cuticles]

Finished piece!

I really enjoyed this workshop and Aneesa is a great instructor.
When she offers the class as a taped eCourse, I'll add the link.

Speaking of links, I'm linking with

Michelle's Creative Compulsions Linky Party

Shelbee's On the Edge of the Week

The Crazy Quilt is Mended!

For this year, anyway.

Compare it to the last time I photographed the entire thing (2011):

My final mend, on 6/13 was an Old Faithful patch:

I was surprised that it was the last item I needed! (Yes, I can see the tweed has holes. Will mend next year!)

For more of the quilt story, here's a page indexing various Crazy Quilt entries

Linking with

Frédérique's Patchwork & Quilts

One Monthly Goal

Clog Zoom

click to embiggen

What is this piece of silliness, you ask?

I'm participating in the fourth round of "Call and Response", an online art collaboration conceived by Kristine Schomaker and her team at Shoebox PR. (Click here to see Round 3)

The above is my response to the following, from my art partner, Kristine Augustyn:

View this post on Instagram

Watch with Sound!! My next response to @annembray.art for the @shoebox_pr and @kristineschomaker #shoeboxcallandresponse #videoart #spinning #sewing #around #art #video #digitalart

A post shared by Kristine Augustyn (@kristineaugustyn) on Jun 9, 2020 at 5:43pm PDT

I have enjoyed every iteration of this project.

I posted my Round 2 (which was edited into a single movie) and Round 3 on my new art website.

To see the Round 4 day to day collaboration for the next two weeks, follow my art Instagram @annembray.art

Linking up with

Shelbee's Spread the Kindness

Michelle's Creative Compulsions Linky Party

One Monthly Goal Challenge - June

I had fun spending May with the #mendmay Instagram Challenge. I focused my mending on the Crazy Quilt, my endless work in progress. I will continue to work on it, and to fill my scrap diary, a record I'm keeping of the new patches teamed with the patches I'm covering up. 

Will I finish it in June? Doubtful, if the Quilt King has anything to say about it.

Linking up with

One Monthly Goal
Creative Compulsions
Shelbee's Spread the Kindness

My COVID Uniform

This came up in a textile group I'm in:

Hi All!
My name is Stephanie, I am Costume Designer/ Historian based in Los Angeles. I'm curious about your wardrobe! As we've been sheltering in place we've been curating a new type of uniform that we wear indoors, in our homes.
I'd like to invite you to share with me 3-5 pieces that you've been wearing in heavy rotation. It's an exercise to further consider the garments on your bodies and clothing that surrounds you at this specific time.
This is a time capsule project of mine that I intend on publishing on Medium. All the details can be found in this form, please feel free to share with others as I'm attempting to capture stories from around the world.
Thank you, hope you all remain healthy and safe at this time.
Best,
Stephanie

These are my regular "lounging around the house" garments.
COVID didn't change anything, except for the color chart tees.

1) Michael Brandon Chenille Sweater
I purchased this at a shop in Venice, CA in the late 90s. Been wearing it a lot since then. It's a non-wool blend (Nylon? Tags removed long ago) so it's perfect for SoCal weather. So comfy.
2) Color Chart Tee. 
I have two of these, which I had printed by Redbubble and Society6 last year to test how various colors print on black. The cotton jersey tees are super soft and nice, the printing is not. They're presentable enough for Zoom, so they're my "upscale" Zooming tops. They always get nice comments!
3) French Dressing Lounge Pants
I have two of these as well. Picked them up at the day job from the sample box. They fit perfectly! They've been my standard cool weather bottoms for a while. I will be sad when the spandex dies.
4) Striped Wool/Nylon/Spandex Ankle Socks
I picked these up on sale at Nordstrom's in the late 90s. They used to be in "winter work wear" rotation until the spandex died. Now I've worn holes in the heels. Sigh.
5) Leather Slides (don't remember brand)
Yes, that's gaffer tape holding the right shoe together. I got these new off of a Poshmark seller a couple of years ago (or was it retail at DSW?). As soon as they started getting shabby, they became "inside" shoes.

This is a "walking around the neighborhood" look with the Tee and Pants.

Again, the form link is here.

Linking up with
Shelbee's Spread the Kindness

#MendMAY One Monthly Goal Challenge

The One Monthly Goal is a new-to-me Linkup Challenge that I discovered via Frédérique, one of my A-Z Blogging buddies.
I'm too late to officially add my goal for May, I'm going to play along anyway.

For Ali Edwards' One Little Word project, I'm making a tactile record of my actions while mending the Crazy Quilt (the endless mend and the cat's new favorite nap station).

This is somewhat disheveled, it makes sense to me!
Just a little behind in stitching things down to the base cloth (bottom part of jeans leg).

I'm snipping bits of the old distressed patches that I'm fixing, mostly by covering up with new patches. I'm taking bits of both and stitching to the piece of denim. Also recording any floss used in visible mends. I'm meandering down the denim, starting in upper left, finishing row, then going down and across from right to left, going down and across left to right, repeating until filled.

These are the One Monthly Challenge rules, in case you want to prep for June:

Select ONE of your creative goals for the month that uses fabric, thread and / or yarn.  This could be to make a few blocks. cutting fabric for a project, sewing on a binding, or finish a quilt top.  Any goal that involves a step in the process of making with thread, fabric or yarn is a valid goal.

Describe your goal in a:

• blog post complete with a photo(s) of your project and a link back to One Monthly Goal. (main event page or to the actual linkup page)

                                                  or

• via Instagram your photo and description of your goal along with the social tag #onemonthlygoal and @elmstreetquilts    (See the tutorial on joining the link-up from Instagram)

                                                  or

• via Flickr complete with a photo(s) of your project and a link back to One Monthly Goal. (link to this main event page or to the actual linkup page)

Add your project to the link-up at the goal setting link-up.  (Each month, the goal-setting link-up will be open from the 1st through the 7th, closing at 11:55 pm ET.)

Then come post again at the end of the month to share your accomplishment in the One Monthly Goal Finish Party.  The finish party which will run for 6 days at the end of the month.

The Mending Linkup is still open, add your mending projects!

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Linking up with:
Frédérique's Patchwork and Quilts

Breaking Bad in Ojai

Go hiking but make it fashion:

Anita and I decided to do another Social Distancing Fresh Air activity and we set our sights on Ojai. Since Ventura County had reopened up the hiking trails, Anita suggested a hike up the Shelf Trail. Bonus: Severo had the day off and would join us. Win, win -- he would drive, I could take countless road tripping photos! Well, and he's a fun partner in crime!

Reading the coyote warning at the trail head.

The rules

Why was there a dictionary at the trail head?

Hi Anita!

Severo was determined to capture a photo of that lizard! He did!

California Sage, such a wonderful scent.

Social Distancing with Anita behind us.
Yes, our masks are not properly covering our noses. Sorry.

We then went to downtown Ojai and got great takeaway from The Nest.
More on that on The Glutton blog.

After that, Severo and I drove home via PCH, the coast highway. Lots of "No Parking" signs, lots of people parking anyway. "Beach Closed" signs on every LA County lifeguard shack, lots of people still on the beaches.
People, if you don't follow the rules we'll have longer restrictions!
Keep wearing your masks, social distance, and flatten the curve!