Blessed are the Piece Makers

"Our lives are like quilts - bits and pieces, joy and sorrow, stitched with love."

This is my sister Elma's quilt - and like most quilts, it took quite a few pairs of nifty hands to complete it. She and her friend, Catherine Wurtz shared ideas and planned the pattern. Catherine kindly offered to piece the top, using a bargello border pattern as a focal point. Then Elma and our sister, Shirley, an avid quilter, pinned the top, Dacron filling and bottom together. Next it was taken to Fairholme Colony, where Selma Maendel, always willing to lend a hand, used their Long Arm Quilting Machine to sew the layers together with a beautiful Snapdragon pattern. Shirley added the final touch to this masterpiece by binding it. Meanwhile, Elma created the shams, skirt and the accent pillows. Truly a collaborative effort, resulting in a bed that cannot be found in any showroom - strikingly beautiful, but most of all cozy and warm with sweet memories of the people who helped make it!
        

                         Memories are like a patchwork quilt -               

each section is sewn together,

to be wrapped around us

for comfort and warmth

in the years to come.

- unknown

My Sister - The Carpenter

Many Hutterites are involved in a wide variety of crafts, as you may have seen on this blog. (To see
some click on 'Hobbies' and 'Recycling ' in the labels.) Some of the crafts my sisters and I enjoy include, quilting, scrapbooking, crocheting, rug making, sewing, card making and painting.



My sister, Sonia takes creativity to a whole new level, where I don't even dream of going. She's not afraid to use power tools or tackle projects that require many hours of hard labour. A few years ago she built a windmill for our lawn. This year she decided to add a wishing well to our yard.

But of all the projects that she's created over the years, the most recent one has me marveling the most. She had this full sized sofa downstairs, that she figured was too long for the room it was in. Now, if that were me, I would simply replace it with a loveseat or a chair. End of story. But not Sonia, her creative juices came up with a superb plan to take the middle section out of the sofa and make a loveseat. Not making any grand announcements of this huge undertaking, all by herself she quietly...well, not so quietly, she sawed, hammered and stapled till her dream became a reality.

Yes, this loveseat was a full length sofa a few days ago. Unbelievable!

 
 
 

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My mom is an avid knitter and has been for most of her life. Her slippers, socks and mittens have warmed the feet, hands and hearts of family, friends and strangers in many areas of the world. Creating and giving these practical gifts brings mom as much joy as the person receiving them.

Like every knitter, mom has lots of little left over balls of wool around. Of course, she can’t throw them out, even if a project has left only a golf ball sized sphere. But she has found a nifty, thrifty solution for these yarn bits. Visiting her sister a few years back, she learned a skill that has been passed down for many generations, but which she, surprisingly enough had never picked up. Using mostly leftover wool she makes beautiful pin cushions.

To describe how this is done, is difficult and I’m not an expert with directions, so I’ll have to leave that to your imagination. But I will say, you first need an empty pill container, (Yes, these have to be saved as well.) or any other object with approximately that shape. Some people use a wad of paper or piece of Styrofoam. Then there’s a whole lot of careful winding till you have the desired shape and size, add a pompom and loop and you have a pin cushion that you can’t buy in a store. At least, I’ve never seen one. Would be interesting to know where this method originates from.

 

Recycling - From Sweater to Rug

 

I believe the reason Hutterite women love thrift shops is that most of them are...well, thrifty - they love to find great deals on some piece of fabric or yarn, rescue it from a shelf or rack, and give it a new and beautiful life. Not that the piece they purchase isn't beautiful, but at that point, many times it has lost its usefulness as a garment or afghan. Along comes a Hutterite women who envisions the colours in a pretty crochet rug for her home. The shop is happy for the sale, the woman is happy about the good deal and more importantly, abandoned article will once again be a prized possession. And the earth is smiling too.

The rug in the picture was made from old sweaters, that had been unravelled and then crochet into a rug. There is nothing better to place by the door - it not only offers a splash of colour to the entryway, but is absorbent, keeps most dirt of the floor and best of all, it's easy to wash. The re-purposed wool will serve as a rug for many years.

I know many Hutterites make gorgeous rugs with new wool and use intricate patterns, and I love those as well. But I'd rather see something old become something new.

Recycling - From Swatches to Quilt

Many Hutterites are avid quilters and their handiwork is evident in the masterpieces they produce. My sister, Shirley is one of them. I always marvel at the amount of patience, expertise and time each quilt requires and how much these crafty ladies enjoy doing it. I can sew, but don't like to, so therefore would not attempt a major project like this. However, I admire everybody who does. I'd much rather recieve one of these cozy beauties as a gift. And thanks to Shirley, I did. With my favourite colour as a guide and without me knowing anything about it, she lovingly made this gorgeous quilt for my birthday.

This pattern is known as Crazy Quilt, (click on link for directions on how to make one). It's a great way to turn leftover swatches into something useful - even the smallest pieces can be used. Because Hutterites sew most of their own clothes, there's no lack of quilting material in every household.

I know there are quite a few Hutterites following this blog. Do you have any recycle/reuse ideas you'd like to share? Even if it's just something like reusing your Tim Hortons' cup. I've heard from a number of people doing that. No, we don't picked them up from the street or other places, just the ones we drank from. (-: It actually works to wash them and reuse them. Good old Timmy would probably love us for giving their cup a second chance at holding coffee.



If you have a wonderful idea, but are too shy to leave a comment, just send me an email using the 'contact me' button to the right of this post. Would love to hear from you!

Recycling - Tin Can Footstool

 

This footstool is made from tin cans, juice comes in. They're covered with upholstery roll ends. All has to be done by hand, but since I never made one, I'm not entirely sure how it all goes. People usually try to find fabric that matches their living room furniture, to make a set of two stools.

 I wish I knew who came up with this idea, but I don't. It's such a great way to use tin cans, that are practically useless after the juice is emptied from them. Better the cans are sitting pretty in a home, than sitting in some nuisance ground for years and years.

I wonder if other people have some interesting ideas to make footstools, especially from recycled materials.

(An hour after I posted this, Cindy left this link in the comments. Very interesting! Thanks a lot!)

Recycling - From Clothes to Cushy Fortrell Floormats

 

This is another rug made from Fortrell. To make it, requires a strong fabric like denim for the back. You cut your desired colours into 1 or 2 inch squares. (I know, it's a tremendous amount of work, but with a rotary cutter, not so bad.) Each piece is folded into a triangle and sewn unto the backing, which has the pattern already marked on it. You can either sew these pieces on, going in a circular motion starting in the middle and working your way out. Or you can start at one side and work your way across. It all depends on your pattern.

These are my favourite rugs, because they are so cushy. Perfect for the type of cold weather we're having right now. They're used in bathrooms, kitchens and bedrooms. But they also make nice dog beds, especially since they wash so well.

Recyling - Baler Twine and Fortrel Clothes Woven into Floormat

This mat is made out of old  fortrel clothes and baler twine.  First the twine is put on a loom. After the fortrel is cut into strips, folded and ironed, it's woven into the twine. Finally the mat is sewn along the raw edges and trimmed a few inches from where the weaving ends. Perfect for the kitchen or bathroom! Fortrel mats are not only practical and pretty, but wash and wear well, too. These days though, it's difficult to find this type of fabric, that is durable and doesn't fray.

 

I'm sure there are many people besides Hutterite who make beautiful floormats from recyclables. Do you have a favourite rug story to share?

Recycling - One Bag From Fifty

Instead of adding new recycled items to a separate  page, (or forgetting to, actually) I'm going to be featuring one at a time right here. That way I'll probably write more about the particular item featured that day.  Hopefully this will also keep me posting re-purposed tidbits more frequently, and content will be presented in a more interesting fashion. The Recycle page will eventually have the links to each item I've featured.

I never really liked my recycling page - kept forgetting to add stuff and everything I did add, had to be on the same page. The purpose for this page is simply to showcase our love for reusing things - gift that has been passed down for many generations in the Hutterite community.

So in the name of reusing instead of throwing out here's todays item:

These shopping bags won't be clinging to a nuisance ground fence, trees or shrubs. They are made by cutting ordinary plastic shopping bags into strips and crocheting them to create practical and pretty bags - my sister Elma's handiwork. They have a sort of  soft leathery feel to them. Each bag requires about fifty shopping bags to complete.

My sister got the idea from a dear elderly lady in a neighbouring town, who had been creating them for years. She could easily have sold them, but chose rather to give them to family and freinds as gifts. Elma was one of those lucky recipients. Later, she got Elma started on making them as well - sharing patterns, ideas and techniques with her.

If you'd like to make your own bag, you can get directions here. Found this, but don't know Amelia Redmond. In any case, my thanks to her for making it available online. Apparently there are many people who wisely repurpose shopping bags. Great to see!

Do you have a bag story you'd love to share? The comment section is waiting!

Hutterite Hobbies - Long Arm Quilting

Gammil Optimum

By Guest Blogger, Selma Maendel

Earlier this year, teacher and quilter, Anna Maendel of Fairholme Colony experienced the realization of her long-time dream when her colony became the excited owners of a 30 inch by 12 foot, top of the line, computer guided, Gammill Optimum Longarm Quilting machine. "Now I can concentrate on the fun part of quilting, which is piecing the tops,” Maendel comments. This is possible with the Longarm Quilting Machine: after stitching together the top, fill and backing all that is left to finish the quilt is to do the binding.

 A longarm quilting machine is similar to a regular domestic sewing machine, but the quilting is easier on the shoulders.  The longer neck area means quilts don't have to be pushed through a five inch by ten inch opening to stitch the top. No more crawling around on the floor to pin the three layers together!

 Since the backing, batting and top fabric are attached to rollers, everything stays flat and taut, resulting in reduced chances of the fabric bunching up.

 The large stitching area allows for creating gorgeous stitching designs, with a large variety of patterns. Maendel concedes that her favourite is Anne Bright’s “Bending in the Wind”, a nature theme featuring bulrushes. “If it wasn’t absurd I would use it on all my quilts.” she chuckles. Hundreds of stitching patterns are available, including juvenile designs featuring animals, flowers, butterflies, toys and even flip flops!

 For anyone with completed tops lying around waiting to be quilted, Fairholme Colony offers very reasonable prices, depending on the density of the chosen stitching pattern. Contact Anna or Selma for more information on prices and how to prepare a quilt for quilting. The generous machine size allows them to do any size quilt, including wall art quilts, place mats, table runners, small baby quilts and oversize, King size quilts.

The density of the stitching pattern, together with the type of fill, determines how soft or firm the quilt will be. For a cuddly quilt, it is best to use a soft Dacron fill and a stitching pattern that isn’t very dense. For a firmer quilt, a pressed fill and a dense pattern work better. Flatness or puffiness is determined mostly by the type of fill, with a Dacron fill resulting in a puffier look than a pressed fill.

For people wishing to donate a quilt to a charity, the quilting can be done at Fairholme Colony free of charge.

Thank you, Selma. This looks like an incredible machine! I've seen Anna's gorgeous quilts and am well aware of the amount of work it takes to finish one, so I fully understand her excitement. I rejoice with her!

Hutterites and Hobbies - quilts

My sister, Shirley is an avid quilter and has created many gorgeous quilts over the years. Here are just a few of them. Some of these were gifts to family and friends. She's also donated some for fundraising events in our area. My favourites are the Barcello Border ones, especially the green one.

Hutterites and Hobbies - paintings

Some Hutterites showcase their creativity with paint and a brush, including my sister, Sonia. She works mostly with acrylics. Here are some of her latest pieces. A few her paintings have been displayed at the Portage Art Gallery and gone on tour in Manitoba.

Waterfall

Canada

Tranquil

The Fishing Hole

Northern Lights

Hutterites and Hobbies - wooden toys

Hutterites enjoy and excell at a variety of hobbies. These include: painting, crocheting, quilting, scrapbooking, intarsia, photography and many more.

Today I will feature some pieces from my cousin, Alvin's woodworking collection. I'm always amazed by the detail of every toy and can only imagine how much time and patience each one requires.