Giveaway Winner

Wow, such great responses to the Sew Mama Sew Giveaway!  You are a committed bunch. Even for those of you with a great desire for my scraps you have to remember that in itself is a commitment. Those two, frenetic beauties are my reasons to commit to the future.

Some of the highlights of your commitments out there:

• Eating less meat and growing your own veggies (Did you know that meat and rice production, worldwide, is one of the most significant sources of greenhouse gases?)
• Choosing to be one-car or car-less.
• Turning down the heat and using those quilts and handknits.
• Choosing when to cook and bake to take advantage or avoid the extra kitchen heat (I totally do this!)
• Actually using washable sanitary napkins or the reusable caps (wow, that's commitment!) 

As we struggle through a home reno I am constantly thinking of ways to renew our own commitments. Number 1, we are making the place as efficient as possible in terms of the infrastructure like furnace, insulation, water heating, windows, and electrical. We aren't replacing everything, but we are almost starting from scratch in the basement and all our choices are thinking about the long-term (for us and the girls) and not just the short term budget. Those decisions will affect whether my sewing studio gets drywall or not, but I'm willing to make a few sacrifices.

And number 2, After having to clean out sort, and move all our belongings at least 3 times in the last few months I am getting really sick of our stuff. Every time a few more boxes go to Goodwill, recycling, or garbage. I am at the point where if anybody buys me anything this Christmas I will lose it.  I just don't need anything. I need some quilt batts and time, lots of time.  But that's it.  Someone tell my husband.

Okay, time to stop the rant and get to the news you really want: who won? Using random.org I picked two numbers.

120

Meg wins the quilt. She uses t-shirts and upcycles them into her love's clothes.  That's a lucky baby!

192

Elizabeth wins the selvages.  Check out her site, I think she'll make good use of them.  And I may have to rethink my new more stuff attitude.  Did you see her aprons?

I've sent emails off the winners, washed my hands of the basement dust from tonight, and will indulge in a hot bath before bed.  It warms me up before I turn in and the thermostat goes down for the night!

Thanks again.  I hope to see you all back soon.

Giveaway Day

It's Giveaway Day at ! I had such a good time in the spring, so I knew I had to sign up again. I've actually got two giveaways here.

First up is a quilt.  I made this wall hanging to celebrate the launch of 350.org. And with the big meeting starting in Copenhagen next week I thought it a perfect time to highlight local and global efforts to address climate change.  I won't step on my soap box but I will say this:

I believe climate change is happening.

I believe humans are having a discernible impact on the world's climate.

I believe that if climate change is not proven to be real we have done no harm in taking action.

I believe that real change will come from both the individual and the political.

This quilt reflects the Prairie Landscape in its choice of fabrics, the layout to mimic the fields, and the quilting details. I made it without buying a thing.  It is machine pieced with fusible applique, machine quilting, and a handstitched binding. It is 100% cotton and comes with a hanging sleeve already attached.

Leave a comment here for one entry.  I don't believe in forcing action, insincere action, on people so there are no extra entries for signing up at 350.org. But I strongly encourage you to at least check out that organization and the many others.  And rather than enter here, make one small commitment to yourself and the next generation to reduce emissions - change a lightbulb, shut off the car, shop at the farmers' market, or turn down the thermostat.

As quilters there are many ways we can reduce the impact of what we do. A key way is through the use of scraps.  This is my daily scrap bin.  From here, I sort according to colour and selvages. I'll be honest, I used to throw out these pieces, but I use them now.  Except, I don't use the selvages.  However, I now know that other people use these with gorgeous results.  So I am giving away my relatively recent collection of selvages.  Close to 50 unique selvages from Amy Butler to Denyse Schmidt and everything in between.

I will use the random number generator to pick two winners.  Please, leave your comments and note any commitments you are making to tackle climate change on the homefront.  The giveaway is open until December 6, midnight MST. And yes, I will happily ship internationally.

Is it Earth Day Already?

For awhile there this environmentalist was feeling a little jaded.  Last summer I was gung-ho on green crafting, searching for gorgeous and environmentally friendly fabric, and actually using my scraps for something.  In truth, all I've done are a few dying experiments and a spreadsheet on energy and water use associated with quilting.  Beyond getting wrapped up in being a mom to two gorgeous babies, I simply got excited to quilt.  Oh, and that spreadsheet is on the old, old computer currently in storage.  

Having spent my entire professional career working on environmental issues (climate change, sustainability, and green energy) it kind of made me mad that it all seemed, well, trendy.  It was eco-this and green-that. Sure, it was  good to get so many of the issues in the public eye, but so much of it was greenwashing. I was just about to really burn out on it all when the economy went to pot and that news replaced anything environmental.  Hmm, not sure what's better.

I did, however, go through my posts and was reminded that I promised a shot of garbage. Okay, the exact waste from the construction of one baby quilt, not garbage.  This was absolutely everything leftover from the project.  Useful or not, it's all here.  The leftover spool was recycled. The thread and tiny bits of fabric were left outside for the squirrels as they built their nests.  I sorted through all the fabric scraps into useable and non-usable scraps.  There wasn't much in the way of batting scraps because I cut it from a much larger batt.  And yes, I threw out the rest of it - I don't do much other stuff in the way of crafting to even use it.

Since my tirade a year ago I do have to say that I've changed a little.  Maybe it's because I've done a lot of quilting in the last year?  Maybe some of that trendiness started affecting me.  Either way, I've been looking at my scraps with a keener eye.  And I've become more aware of waste from quilting before I even produce it:  I am even more careful when I cut, thinking about what the leftover pieces might be useful for (doll quilts!); and I cut all batts from one king size batt until their are no usable pieces (7 quilts from the last one!).  Now, to get back to that dying.

Natural Dying - Nanking Cherries

Here is the second round in my natural dying experiment. I picked the nanking cherries off the bush in front of both ours and the neighbour's house. These tiny red Prairie cherries are a staple in my life. We had a bush in our yard growing up. Actually, it is still producing cherries at my parents' house. Usually one of the first things to bloom, the flowers are a tender pink in the spring. By August you have juicy, dime sized cherries with a small pit. Sure, they are a little tart, but they make an excellent jelly. I realized after the fact that I should have taken a picture of the cherries, but you can still check them out.

This time I used an unbleached muslin and a scrap of plain white cotton. The top photo is the before shot. For the dye I used the mash again, mixed with some juice. I made the juice by boiling down about 3 cups of berries with a few cups of water. I ended up with 3 cups of juice, 2 of which went to making some sherbet. The dye was an orange-pink colour.

To prepare the fabric I decided to treat it with a mordant, alum. Alum is toxic, if you eat a tablespoon or more. But considering it is sold in the spice aisle at the grocery store and is approved as a food additive, I decided it fit into my efforts at natural dying. I simmered the fabric in the mordant solution of 2 tablespoons alum to about 6 or 7 cups water. I know, I should measure and give you more precise instructions, but this was done after the girls went to bed. The fabric simmered for an hour while I simmered the dye solution about the same time.

After soaking in the mordant I squeezed out the excess water, but did not rinse the fabric. Then I added it to the dye and simmered for another hour, stirring to make the colour a bit more even. After an hour I turned off the burner and went to bed. This is what it looked like the following afternoon. We decided to go swimming, so I never got to it in the morning.

From that vibrant colour I got this pale pink. This is it after a few rinses with cold water.

This is it when it dried. The unbleached cotton is on the left.

I've decided to try a few more items, sticking to traditional Prairie materials. My next experiment will be with the berries of the mountain ash tree.

Natural Dyeing - Black Currants

Inspired by the look of the jellybags when I made black currant juice I decided to try some natural dyeing the other day. I saw this post on Crafting a Green World ages ago, so I had some direction.

I chose two different fabrics to see how each would take the dye. The one on the left is a traditional white on white and the one on the right an unbleached thick muslin. I first simmered them in a mixture of 8 cups water with 1/2 cup salt for an hour. I only had kosher salt and fleur de sel in the house, so kosher salt it was. The salt is supposed to act as a mordant, encouraging the dye from the juice to stay on the fabric. While that was simmering I took the mash (the berries) from the blackcurrant juice making and simmered that in some more water. Sorry, but I wasn't wasting (as I saw it) the blackcurrant juice on this experiment.


Here is the fabric just as I immersed it in the dye. I simmered the fabric for another hour on the stove. Then I shut it off and let it sit overnight.

Don't you love the colour? Here is the fabric in the morning, just as I took it out of the dye.

And here it is after a couple of rinses. The running subsided, but it was still running so I added some white vinegar to help set the colour. Unfortunately, that seemed to encourage more running... So I gave it one more rinse and put it outside to dry.

This is the end result. More grey/mauve than purple. I would hesitate to put this in a quilt that is going to be washed, but it is still pretty enough to be used in a wall hanging

If I was willing to try some non-toxic methods for dying I've had great results with the Procion dyes, but this was an experiment with non-toxic, natural dyes. I've done a bit more research since then and it seems that cottons are the worst at taking on natural dyes without a good mordant. But most of the literature seems to recommend using alum or other heavy metals as a mordant. Alum arguably non-toxic, but it isn't a gaurantee.

I am going to try some more natural dyes - nanking cherries, turmeric, and maybe some beets and onion skins. I'll keep you posted.

Just Made It

Whew, it got done. Well, sort of. I still have to sew on the sleeve and finish the binding. I did get it entered in the contest, though. I really like the quilting on this one, it pops.

So now, I need your votes. Go to the Craftster site between now and August 31 to vote. You will have to scroll through the entries for the craft contest to find mine. I hope that mine is the one you like the best! There are some... interesting entries. Lots of creative ideas, that's for sure.

New Contest

Generally I don't like to get preachy. I work in the environmental field and I am very bad at giving unsolicited advice, bringing on lectures about climate change quite easily. But I came across a really interested contest on Crafting A Green World and I just have to share it.

Climate change is a big deal, a really freakin' big deal. Don't buy the science? Okay, don't, but what if it's true? Isn't it worth trying, just in case it is true? I know that most of you out there have kids or grandkids, do something for them. We all know the spiel about saving energy, driving less, buy local, and on and on. And I think most of us are already making daily changes, big and small. But here is a way to express your craft and get the word out.

Bill McKibben, a prolific author and environmentalist has started a new organization to incite action on climate change. As part of their launch they are hosting a contest with Craftster. Create a project or a t-shirt design to best express the 350 message. That is - the importance of reducing the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere to 350 parts per million. Above this number - we are already well above it - and we increase the impacts and severity of those impacts of climate change. More frequent and more severe weather, loss of habitat, rising sea levels, changes in growing seasons, migration of disease, health care cost increases, and loss of species diversity.

So, get your craft on and enter the contest. It will get you thinking about it, at the very least, while playing with our true loves of fabric, beads, thread, paint, and paper.

Green is Not Just a Colour

Lately I’ve been thinking about the environmental impact of craft. In particular, my craft – quilting. There is a perception that quilting is inherently environmental – at least in the past. The use of scraps from clothing and functional items put together in patterns to make something both utilitarian and beautiful. It sounds like the perfect example of upcycling (making something better than the original) rather than recycling.

Sure, there are still quilters these days that only make things from scraps – dutifully saving pieces as small as 1 by 1 inch squares to create masterpieces. But let’s be honest, most long term quilters have impressive stashes of fabrics. And those stashes are filled with fabric that could be years old, in pieces rarely smaller than a fat quarter and sometimes a few metres, because you never know what you might use it for. There are discussion groups around the sorting and storage of said fabric, books about using it up, challenges to create something without buying anything new, and even the assignment of all that fabric in wills.

Quantity is one thing, quality is another entirely. Most of us use 100% cotton exclusively. Art quilters and some creative folks will design and experiment with vintage polyesters, blends, or wools. Generally we think that 100% cotton quilts with cotton batts are of the highest quality, and proudly give our creations away to give comfort and warmth. As we should.

But, and this is the but that’s been bothering me lately, what goes into making and dying that fabric? I know you can get organic cottons these days. And sometimes you can even find some more creative or colorful options, instead of the unbleached cottons that typify green fabric. I’m not sure, however, I can give up my whites and my bold prints. So, I’ve been trying to get more info on the entire fabric creation process – from cotton growth to dye content. Unfortunately, I’m not having a lot of luck because the manufacturers don’t like to share that info. I’ll keep digging and report on my findings.

The other big issue I think about is the waste. Sure, I keep all my useful scraps. Smaller pieces get put in a bag (a plastic ziptop... I know) to be donated to someone who makes Project Linus scrap quilts. Bigger pieces I do keep because I do like to paper piece and those odd pieces come in handy. But what about all the selvages, the thread clippings, the batting scraps, the empty spools, the used patterns, the freezer paper, and all the other garbage left over? As far as I can tell the only thing that can be recycled, at least in our market, are the empty plastic spools.

For an interesting experiment I’ve been keeping all the garbage from the latest project, the baby quilt. When I am finished I will post pictures – of the garbage and the quilt.

On top of all this, there is simply the matter of the energy used in production of the materials we use and the creations we ourselves put together. How many work by candlelight in a wood heated house with scraps that we piece together and quilt by hand? Yeah, I thought so. So, just for me I have to account for the energy used by my sewing machine, iron, Ott light, overhead light, and stereo (a girl needs tunes to keep her going). And in the winter, I sew in the New York open concept loft-style basement, sometimes necessitating that I turn up the furnace a degree, although I am still wearing slippers and a cozy sweater (my basement is damn cold with no insulation).

Hmm, maybe I need to add in the digital photography and computer use now that I am blogging.

Don’t forget about water use. Prewashing, washing, ironing, blocking… All that water has to be treated, transported, heated, used, and then treated again. What about detergents or other chemical products like starch or sizing? That goes into our water supply as well.

I haven’t found the answers yet for all my questions, and I will keep investigating. I can only account for quilting and the little bit of other sewing I do. That means I can’t comment on other crafts. Do scrapbookers keep their bits or recycle? What about painters?

To get you started on your own journey to greening your own craft world I’ve put together some links of good green links for us quilters and crafters.

Crafting a Green World is an excellent site that covers all types of craft and how you can use craft in an environmentally friendly way. They have some great Earth Day posts that I need to devour for info.

Sew Green has some good links and resources, and is written by designers.

For some fabulous green fabrics, check out Mod Green Pod and NearSea Naturals.

Of course, I have to provide some basic cotton information, a la Wiki.