And It Begins With 3 Stitches

Begin with three (3) stitches--sounds easy, doesn't it?

I can begin with three stitches and create

this lovely shawl--I'll knit forever!

This free pattern is presented by Wool Feast

on their blog

And it all begins with only three stitches!!

Our Chinchorro....................

Finally! we have a place to hang our special chinchorro or hamaca!

We were in and out of Venezuela for many years--living there,

working there, enjoying the customs, crafts, arts, food and especially the people.

When we left the country, one of hubby's Venezuelan co-workers

gave us this wonderful gift, which came from (Monagas)

Tierra de Gracia.

I had bought a hammock as well, but this one is special as

it was made with us in mind.

Just look at the detail in this tree fiber yarn, made from Curagua tree (much like tequila plant)-knotted, fringed, such decorative edges

And the stitches that enclose the loose warp threads

all twisted by hand, all stitched with loving care

Myself, as a spinner, know how tedious it is to make rope this

twisted--not an easy thing to do

Each section looped off and tied to the base warp threads

What makes it special is our names stitched into

the top of the hammock

Oh, yes, this is such a special gift!

as we swing under the tree, we remember those

lovely people who carefully crafted this with

us in mind

A Gift that will be loved for years to come...

Color Combination

I've always thought that any shade of a color will work together, whether it's in a quilt, painting,

clothing, etc.  Take nature for instance--if a tree is green, all shades on that tree will harmonize together--right!   All hues of reds work well in a quilt--true!  Any tone of blue, etc. etc. etc.....

#1 son recently put new leather seat covers in his truck.  He thought he was getting

a grey that matched his interior decor UNTIL the covers were actually on the seats--then

the panic set in!  Once in the truck, which has tones of dark and medium grey,

the covers looked light!  He pulled me out to have a look--saying, "This is horrible!  These

don't match anything!" 

"why son, this works perfectly fine!  All shades of any color blend nicely!"

He says now after two weeks, he's getting used to the seat colors--I think he's just

becoming ONE with change!

Why do I bring this up?  Because I'm having the same issue with one of my knit

projects...............

I started out with light green in my handspun silk--oh, so lovely

then I ran out of that yarn and added a darker green for a few rows--

didn't like the feel of that yarn so I switched to forest green alpaca yarn--

NOW, I'm having the same dilemma #1 son was having with his

seat covers--not so sure this works!

I'm taking my own advice--

all shades, hues, tones, values in one color

DO work together!

Knit on I will! 

Monday Blues?

Sometimes, we just don't want to face Mondays!  Why does it come after that wonderful spent weekend?  Oh, Monday!  Back to work, wash day, cleaning day, pick yourself up day and get to it day!  There is a solution for those Monday blues.....................................here

Every Monday (began last week--sorry, I'm late!) there will be a

FREE block!  Yes, free!  I love free and I love Temecula's designs.

I need some small blocks to go with the T-shirt quilt I'm designing.

Hop over to the blog and pick up your free pattern--

be aware--these are miniature blocks--only 4"x4" 

Historic Mini Quilts Have A Home.

Goldentranscript recently had an article on a person that comes to me from

a past life!  I'm so excited to see that Tina Gravatt has a home for her 

marvelous mini quilts!  Now, others can enjoy her bountiful minis.

Tina has showcased 107 miniature quilts that represent 200 years of quilting history, approximately from the 18th Century to the present. There is a focus on American quilts, but also has styles from the Netherlands, Britain, Sweden, France and Hawaii in the mix.

She used these historical correct mini quilts to teach .  Each quilt is unique

with different techniques and designs correct to the time period.

Sometimes, she even had exact replicas of the beds to the time.

Now, this wonderful collection has gone to Rocky Mountain Quilt Museum,

Golden, Colorado

My connection with Tina is when I was Education Curator for Magnolia Mound Plantation

and she was one of the knowledgeable people who taught workshops during my tenure--

I look forward to visiting her collection in the near future.

Up Your Knowledge on Embroidery.............................

One of my classes at the conference was Elevating your textiles with Embroidery..

Although I've been stitching my method of embroidery for years,

it's always worthwhile to learn from someone who does excellent

work in threads.

Here we have some samples of our instructor's work--

this is on handwoven fabric--it just revives plain fabric

One of the things we did was make a sampler of different

stitches--here is our instructor's work--

Such wonderful French knots!

And just line and squills--but the look is

fabulous

Here is the feather stitch on another piece of

handwoven fabric

Different widths of the stitch

Grid work with color selection

Running threads--this is handwoven fabric with grids

Just take a look at this these running stitches--short

and sweet

Couple of interesting books that I was not

familiar with

Here is masterpieces of our instructor--it's on silk paper

Variety of glittery threads perks up the look

of a exhibit piece

Another piece of silk paper with back stitch work.

Now, if you need a place to start to look up 

embroidery stitches--look no further then Here

All I want to do now is STITCH!!

Member's Exhibit--Oh WOW!

This is your view when you entered the exhibit hall--just

breath taking when you see that full overshot coverlet,

"Helen Jarvis Double Chariot Wheels" by

John Schmact--

This is definitely a winner!  This won Handweavers of

America Award

"Opphamta on the Drawloom"  by Charlotte Allison

"Black Swan" felting by Olga Tarasova

Elegant and flowing movement!

"Cochineal Sunset" by Shannon Hardy

"Kelp Shadows" 

Weaver is DeeDee Woodbury

"Purple Geometrys" woven by

Meg Wilson

Judy Phillips presents her Seven striped pointed twill towels

"The Beginning of Mad" by Rebecca Shanks

Judy Phillips gives us more of her wonderful Point Twill towels

Another winner!  Interweave Press presented their

award to Marian Chinn for her Spot Bronson Bread Cloth

Look at this lovely!

Olga is quite the gifted felted and

presents this whimsical hat with curls

"Espresso Lace"

Lynn Smetko won an award with this piece in the fashion show

"Autumn Leaves"  by Nancy Chronister

A very complex weave structure

A painted warp by  Diane Ferguson

"Aurora Borealis" 

Laura Viada was a big winner at the conference--

This piece won numerous awards

"Illuminati"

"All That Glitters" by Barbara Esterholm

Laura Viada "Distance Vision"

Close-up of this transparency

There were also some spinning yarns--two of them winners

Lisa Hardaway is an artist in residence at Houston Center

for Contemporary Crafts, so this is one of her rugs

"Bandit"

As you can see, there were lots of inspirational pieces--and you

walk away with so many ideas in your mind!

Overload!!