Stitching and Knitting Accessories

  • Home
  • Blog
  • Stores Near You

Archive for category: Good News and Knitting

You are here: Home » Blog » News & Updates » Good News and Knitting

Enter to Win an Ort Keeper from Chic-a!

30 Jul 2014 / 4 Comments / in Contests, Good News and Knitting/by Joanna

Win a Chic-a Ort Keeper Butterflies

We love hearing about creative uses for Chic-a products — share yours below, on our Facebook page or on our Ravelry group page, and you could win an Ort Keeper! If you haven’t tried any Chic-a products, you can still enter by simply saying how you’d use them!

The winner is drawn at random on Aug. 31, 2014.  Please note: Neither Facebook nor Ravelry are affiliated with this contest. You must be 18 or older, and may only enter once for this contest. Void where prohibited; certain other restrictions may apply.

The Chic-a Quilt Project Begins: Week 1

18 Jul 2014 / 0 Comments / in Good News and Knitting, Quilting/by Joanna
Chic-a quilt supplies

Chic-a quilt supplies a-plenty.

It occurs to me that I really don’t need to learn a new craft, especially since I already have so many things that I am doing. I guess I just like doing creative stuff! In this case, I have designed my first quilt and I have set off to make it. It’s probably going to be the size of a pillow, but that is OK.

I decided I would use the English Paper Piecing technique for my first project. I downloaded some hexagon graph paper and drew out some ideas. I thought I would make a Chic-a logo quilt.

I found that it is hard to write letters in hexagons, so I decided just to do the crown from our logo. I also liked this idea, since it doesn’t need so many pieces. I need to start small for my first project, because I do want to complete it!

With the design idea finished, it was off to the fabric store to find the fabric. My daughter and I went to the cotton section and found the pinks. We had fun picking out prints. Then we went to the white and grey section to find the background colors. We had a lot of fun, and I am sure we bought too much — but we figured it is better to be safe than sorry!

Chic-a Quilt Quarters

Quilt quarters surround my Chic-a Crown logo design graph.

When I finally got around to start cutting the fabric, I began to realize that the set-up and prep for a quilt is a lot of work. There is a lot to do before you can even think about sewing it!

I spread out my fat quarters and set to work. I cut three layers at a time, and now understand the ease of the rotary cutter. I will have to think about getting one of those. Once I was finished, I had a nice pile of 2.5” squares ready to go.

Chic-a fabric quilt cutting

It has been awhile since my hand cut so much fabric at one time …

While I was cutting, I was thinking about which Chic-a pouch would work the best to put all this stuff contained. I decided upon the new All Clear Pouch (pictured), which currently is only available in local stores. The Clear Front Portfolio would work well, too.

Chic-a AllClear Pouch

The Chic-a AllClear Pouch keeps my project organized.

Now that everything is in one spot, I can easily take it along with me and work on those little hexagons. I think I have over 300 to make. Even when those are finished, I still haven’t sewn anything. This is going to take awhile, but I am ready for the journey!

  • Here I am in front of “Jeweled Diamonds” by Christina Belding, quilted by Ken Grantham. Design Source: “Bordered Diamonds” by Kaffe Fassett. According to the description, this machine-pieced quilt has “70 different fabrics and 30 different metallic sashing fabrics. Not one fabric or sashing fabric repeats in a row. Each diamond is individual.”
  • “Tuning Fork #11” by Heather Pregger is another quilt I really loved.
  • “Roses in the Window” by Carol Morrissey — beautiful!
  • There was also some wearable art on display, such as “Scarlett’s Crimson” by Philippa Naylor.

Chicago Quilt Festival Inspires My Next Project

11 Jul 2014 / 0 Comments / in Good News and Knitting, Quilting/by Joanna

I had a chance to walk the Chicago Quilt Festival a couple weeks ago. I met up with my friend Susan, owner of Red Gate Stitchery, and we walked the show together. It was a lot of fun — and very eye-opening into the world of quilting. I have been sewing since I was a little kid, but I have never done a quilt.

The quilts that were on display were amazing. I can’t even imagine how many hours of work were represented in the quilts that I saw. I took pictures of some of my favorites:

Belding quilt
Here I am in front of “Jeweled Diamonds” by Christina Belding, quilted by Ken Grantham. Design Source: “Bordered Diamonds” by Kaffe Fassett. According to the description, this machine-pieced quilt has “70 different fabrics and 30 different metallic sashing fabrics. Not one fabric or sashing fabric repeats in a row. Each diamond is individual.”
Tuning Fork quilt
“Tuning Fork #11” by Heather Pregger is another quilt I really loved.
Morrissey quilt
“Roses in the Window” by Carol Morrissey — beautiful!

Naylor quilt
There was also some wearable art on display, such as “Scarlett’s Crimson” by Philippa Naylor.

The show was fun and very colorful. I think could see Chic-a’s products fitting into the quilt world sometime in the near future!

While I was there, I knew I wanted to look into English Paper Piecing. My knitting friend, Christina, had showed me this technique a while back — and I wanted to explore it.

I found a booth, The Quilted Forest,  that was explaining how this process works and they were selling all the pieces! Well, that was great and I got everything so I could get started in the hotel room that night.

quilt supplies

Here’s my haul: 1” hexagon paper pieces, glue stick, pile of pre-cut fabric squares (very cool!), needles and thread because I didn’t bring any with me and thread snips. I have always wanted these for when I am sewing at the machine, so it was a good opportunity to get them. It turns out that, since the blade is under 3”, I could carry them on the plane!

The Quilted Forest’s owner Shelley Robson had suggested using the glue stick instead of sewing around the folded edges. That did prove to be easier, but when I started to sew the hexagons together, I ran into trouble. The next day, I went back to Shelley’s booth, and she got me all back on track. She told me to sew them together from the back — good idea!

I think this is going to be fun to learn, but I plan to use bigger than 1″ hexagons. Bigger will cover more space more quickly! I guess it just keeps in line with how I don’t like to knit small things and I don’t like sewing small things…

Anyway, I have decided I am going to start a project using this method. This should be quite an interesting journey, so stay tuned for an update soon!

“Knitting a Jumper Quite Possibly Helped Save My Life”

26 Aug 2013 / 0 Comments / in Good News and Knitting, Knitting/by Chic-a

I found this story via Daily Mail and found it to be both interesting and uplifting. An anonymous woman writes how her hobby from the 1970s—knitting—helped get her through an extremely hard time with breast cancer.

I’d been passionate about knitting as a teenager. I made soft toys for my nieces, knitted myself a stream of multicolored tank tops, and kitted my older brothers out in chunky cardigans. But for 30 years, in a rush of working and raising a family, I had completely abandoned the hobby.

But then came the fateful day in March 2007 when I was diagnosed with breast cancer.

My head hammering in pain, my stomach churning with queasiness, I barely had the stamina to string two words together. And walking further than the front door was a superhuman effort. After being diagnosed, I’d had two operations in quick succession. Now I was in the middle of chemotherapy treatment to mop up any stray cancer cells. But if my physical problems were terrible—the loss of a breast, the loss of every scrap of body hair—my mental anguish was worse. Every waking moment, my brain tormented me with visions of death and dying. How long did I have? What would happen to my daughters if I died? How would my husband, Richard, cope?

But in the midst of this nightmare, completely out of the blue, something took me back. There was one thing that really seemed to help. And it was the most unexpected thing in the world: knitting. As I reached for my knitting needles, I knew dimly that I would gradually begin to feel better. And sure enough, as I touched the ball of soft wool on my lap and felt the cool needles in my hands, my pulse seemed to stop racing. The rhythmic movement of my fingers lulled my brain, and I began to feel at peace. As I watched the jumper grow inch by inch, I felt a quiver of pleasure, and for the first time I dared to hope that I might actually live to wear it.

I knew I needed a project to work on, something to keep me busy. To my surprise and delight, I discovered that the simple process of repeating the same movements over and over again was soothing. And while I was concentrating on the pattern, the terrifying visions of dying faded gradually. While my brain was busy counting stitches, I didn’t have time to think about anything else. Yet, as I fought that battle five years ago, I had absolutely no idea that I had discovered one of the key strategies for survival. Knitting a jumper for myself quite possibly helped save my life.”

Author Laurence Gonzales, who wrote the book Surviving Survival: The Art And Science Of Resilience, has dedicated his career to studying how people survive disease, disaster, and grief. He believes that the simple act of knitting, much like gardening or jigsaw puzzles, can help people survive an ordeal such as cancer.

“In the wake of a severe trauma, it can feel as though Read more →

Knitting Brings Hope to Children Affected by HIV/AIDS

01 Aug 2013 / 0 Comments / in Good News and Knitting/by Joanna - Chic-a Founder

Knitters around the world are sending a much needed cuddle of love and support for children living in emerging nations plagued by the HIV/AIDS epidemic. When we think of knitting for charity some common images that may come to mind are the cold and lonely homeless living on dirty streets in major metropolitan areas, or perhaps the tiny hands and feet of babies struggling to survive in your local NICU unit. An image that is probably NOT top of mind is Africa! Children in such countries as; Botswana, Ethopia, Malawi, Nigeria, Uganda and over 13 other African nations have been left orphaned by the HIV/AIDS plague, many of them are now struggling with the disease themselves. Imagine a child left helpless, parent-less, AND now struggling to overcome a relentless illness themselves. A horrifying reality, that is being alleviated by a global movement started by Amy Berman of The Mother Bear Project.

Get Involved

How do you get involved: All of the bears for the Mother Bear Project use the same WWII-era knitting pattern. It is SIMPLE, which is amazing because knitting masters down to the novices can participate. The whole bear is basically made as a tube (knit flat or in the round, you decide), and then you split for the legs and pick up for the arms. The clothes are knit as part of the bear. One bear can be finished in a few hours of work (intermediate level knitter), and they only require about 35 yards of 3 colors of yarn. If you have 50 yards of each, you can easily embellish as you wish. The bears do not need to be “realistically” colored so any yarn in your stash can be used! You can get the pattern directly from Mother Bear, for a small $5 fee. It is so encouraging to be part of an activity that builds communities naturally, and is generally associated with it’s inherent generosity.

Mother Bear

What about you? What organizations have you knitted something fun for? How did it make you feel? I’ll bet as warm and cozy as that first pair of “nearly” purl-fect socks! I hope you have been inspired, and I can’t wait to share the next “Good News in Knitting” with you…maybe it will feature your special knitting philanthropy!

Happy Knitting!
-Joanna

 

Some Additional Mother Bear Project Resources

Official Mother Bear Project Facebook Page: http://www.facebook.com/motherbearproject

Charity website: http://www.motherbearproject.org/

Official Easy-to-Knit Bear Pattern (both knitting and crochet) available through the Mother Bear Project: http://www.motherbearproject.org/pattern.html

Page 2 of 41234

Interesting links

Besides are some interesting links for you! Enjoy your stay :)

Pages

  • Blog
  • Chic-a Home Page
  • Products
  • Stores Near You
  • Totes and Project Bags
  • Stitching & Knitting Accessories

Categories

  • Contests
  • Crochet
  • Crochet Projects & Patterns
  • Fashion Design
  • Fun things in the Knitting World
  • Gadget Trays
  • Good News and Knitting
  • Knitting
  • Knitting Music
  • Knitting Projects & Patterns
  • Needle Cases
  • News & Updates
  • Product Reviews
  • Products
  • Quilting
  • Sale Items
  • Tools and Accessories
  • Totes and Project Bags
  • Uncategorized
  • Yarn Keepers
  • Zipper Pouches

Archive

  • June 2017
  • August 2016
  • May 2016
  • April 2016
  • March 2016
  • February 2016
  • January 2016
  • November 2015
  • October 2015
  • May 2015
  • April 2015
  • February 2015
  • December 2014
  • November 2014
  • October 2014
  • September 2014
  • August 2014
  • July 2014
  • June 2014
  • May 2014
  • April 2014
  • March 2014
  • February 2014
  • January 2014
  • December 2013
  • November 2013
  • October 2013
  • September 2013
  • August 2013
  • July 2013
  • June 2013
  • May 2013
  • April 2013
  • June 2010
© Copyright - Stitching and Knitting Accessories - Replete e-Commerce Theme by Kriesi
  • Stores Near You
  • Reseller Central
  • Products
  • About Chic-a

How Chic-a Began

Chic-a was founded in 2007 by Joanna Reyes. Born out of an idea to create something practical, yet fun and colorful for knitting and crochet projects, Joanna designed and crafted the Quick Draw Project Bag. Responding to immediate popularity, Joanna continued to develop products to meet the growing demand, and out of this, Chic-a was born.

After 10 wonderful years in business and meeting countless amazing people who have helped make this venture possible, the Chic-a offices are closing their doors. Our products will no longer be manufactured, but you can still find some in retail stores. Click here to find one near you.

If you have any questions about Chic-a, please contact Chicaknitting@gmail.com

© Copyright 2018, Chic-a Stitching & Knitting Accessories. All Rights Reserverd.