Let's Learn As We Knit

Solene Knits has created a stranded knitting challenge--I'm 

 ready for another challenge.  Visit the website for 

further information.  The project begins NOW!

 And Away we Go!! 

July Snowflake Quilt

Quilting Jet Girl is hosting a free quilt along July 1-

December 1.  Although not, a mystery, she has revealed

the finished project.

The material list is up now--this is a generous quilt

at 72" x 88"--perfect for some fancy quilting in the

solid areas.  

Recycle--Reuse

these “recycled” denim fibers are leftovers from the “makin’ o’ the blue jeans” at the mills. Fibre Garden has a photo of the waste before it is

processed into roving

I know this fiber was popular many moons ago and

recently when I was stash diving, I found a hank of this 

lovely soft fiber--aha, it was time to spin for my

handspun cotton towels that are on the loom--

they need more blue and I wasn't in the mood

to set up an indigo vat

It spins up nicely--

One bobbin finished and balled!

As you can see, some of the singles plied on itself--

I put too much twist so it was a

challenge to ply and get an even yarn--

but I did it!!

On The Loom...................

From my cotton handspun bin I'm using every one of

plied cottons I have to warp my loom--I had indigo dyed cotton, white

cotton, brown cotton and some blue jean cotton ( recycled stuff)

The handspun cotton bin is becoming empty--

means I must begin spinning cotton again

and SOON!

This warp is tied on from the previous warp, which was

random  commercial 8/2 cotton warp -but, there is nothing

like natural cotton-- love the

look and feel of real cotton

The best part is knowing I spun all this fiber--

There is no rhyme or reason to the way the warp is set up--

just random--I like to do that with my warps--

weft is handspun cotton--right now, a shot of brown

and a shot of white--threaded 1-2-3-4 with direct tie-up

so if I want to do a twill I can.

Plain weave for now--

love it!!

Scratching My Head...................

I've been going through my handspun stash; looking for singles to

ply for future projects.  One major problem--I'm not sure what

the fiber is!  Well, when I spun it and placed it in a special bag,

I didn't label it--I said to myself "I'll remember what this is"

Now, we are several years down the road and

guess what, my memory has failed me!!

Why didn't I write on the bag what the fiber was?!!

Stupid!  So now, I'm playing a guessing game

This is plying up nicely--good feel to the fingers--

can't be linen--I hate to spin linen!

We're going to do the burn test --Maybe,

it's hemp--I do KNOW it's a natural fiber--

all the manmade fibers are in another box...

oh, well...we'll see soon.  

Now, THIS is silk!! That I know for sure--

and it's dyed with indigo!  Singles and

what a mess!  What happen with this ball?!

only the fiber goblins know--

I'll try to ply--if not, I can use it as singles--

silk is strong and almost unbreakable.

I'm off to dig in my stash again--wonder

what finds are there?  

Traveller..................

Do you know the song "The Traveller" by Chris Stapleton?


The words to this song is the way I feel!  We have been travelling lately...........WHY?

We spent several days in New Orleans--traveled there so we could see and hear the above man--along with the King of Country--George Strait!

We stayed in hotel on Canal Street near the Mississippi- River-the view from

our corner room was fabulous--we could see the river, the great chicken bridge,

people walking along the streets below, hear the calilpore from the steamboat, 

watch the rain clouds move in and out as we viewed

barges being pushed into dock.

We had fireworks over the river one night in celebration of the birth of New Orleans--

300 years old!  We heard many jazz songs as we walked the streets and

saw sights we want to scrub from our mind.

The handmade ceramic oyster dishes in Royal street shop window--

lovely!  A visit to Central Grocery for that famous olive salad

for our Muffuletta sandwiches.  

This is not our first visit to New Orleans--we lived in Baton Rouge for 20 years

so made many trips to New Orleans.  

The concert was excellent!  That is a good reasons to travel!

So, we are travelling on to our next spot for the summer--see you down

the road.

Happy travelling!

SOUTHWEST GOURD FINE ART SHOW

What is a Gourd anyway?!! 

Gourds on display at Cambridge, Massachusetts

A gourd is a plant of the family Cucurbitaceae, particularly Cucurbita and Lagenaria or the fruit of the two genera of Bignoniaceae "calabash tree", Crescentia and Amphitecna.

The term refers to a number of species and subspecies, many with hard shells, and some without. Likely one of the earliest domesticated types of plants, subspecies of the bottle gourd, Lagenaria siceraria, have been discovered in archaeological sites dating from as early as 13,000 BC. Gourds have had numerous uses throughout history, including as tools, musical instruments, objects of art, film, and food.

When you visit this exhibit being held now at Kerrville Arts/Crafts Center you

would never think that someone could take a simple plant and

create such marvelous art pieces!   But, here you have a super

great exhibit of creativity! 

"Tres Amigos" by Judy Richie

"Mountain and Mesa" by Becky Klix

"Butterfly Cannon Ball" 

Artist Bill Decker

"Patina Pachyderm" by Mike Peyton

"Geometric Goose (Lift Off)"

Mike Peyton

Just think of the hours and hours of work on

just this one piece

There are several tables of small pieces--

All gourds don't forget!!

I like that there are a couple that feature

weaving techniques

This is "Hanging Out" by C. C. Rice

"Inspired by Mata Ortiz Pottery"

Yoshie Green

"Red Sunset" by Joanne Tompkins

Dyed, manipulated fabric, coiling and beads!!

This takes your breath away!!

"The War Bonnet"

Becky Klix

Thirty individual feathers carved from gourd

and painted with acrylic dye.  constructed using

traditional methods and decorated with horse hair,

beads and animal pelt--just absolutely smashing 

piece of art!

These are just a  small representative of the

work--a must see exhibit in my books!

Are You A Hooker--rugs that is!

Are you a hooker?  A hooker of rugs that is!  well, this is right up your alley--

Cindi Gay will have free online video lessons beginning August 1 with Creative stitches beyond the loop
Join her Facebook group

Maybe you just want to learn something new--hop on board.  I have a couple of pieces that I would like to finish so I'll tune in to get motivated.

The Color is PURPLE!

I'm not a purple person, but I have so many friends that are!

If you have been following along, you will find this is the sixth bear in the

colorful game from Clever Chameleon--

What does it mean if you like purple?  Dress in purple?  Eat purple foods?

Dye your hair purple?  Just love the color Purple with all your might!!

Purple combines the calm stability of blue and the fierce energy of red. The color purple is often associated with royalty, nobility, luxury, power, and ambition. Purple also represents meanings of wealth, extravagance, creativity, wisdom, dignity, grandeur, devotion, peace, pride, mystery, independence, and magic.

The color purple is a rare occurring color in nature and as a result is often seen as having sacred meaning. Lavender, orchid, lilac, and violet flowers are considered delicate and precious.

The color purple has a variety of effects on the mind and body, including uplifting spirits, calming the mind and nerves, enhancing the sacred, creating feelings of spirituality, increasing nurturing tendencies and sensitivity, and encouraging imagination and creativity.

Purple is associated spirituality, the sacred, higher self, passion, third eye, fulfillment, and vitality. Purple helps align oneself with the whole of the universe. Different shades, tints, and hues of purple have different meanings. Light purple hues represent feminine energy and delicacy, as well as romantic and nostalgic feelings. Dark purple hues evoke feelings of gloom, sadness, and frustration. Bright purple hues suggest riches and royalty.

Light purple or lavender is a feminine, graceful, elegant color that has long been associated with refined, wealthy women. While the color purple represents royalty, lavender represents beauty and femininity. Lavender is considered to be the “grown-up” pink. Its lighter lavender shades have a sacred place in nature, with lavender, orchid, lilac, and violet flowers considered delicate and precious. The color lavender suggests uniqueness and specialness without the deep mystery of the color purple.

Fall Into A QAL

Summer days are long and HOT!

Here is a quilt along that might give you some

'cool' thoughts as you work your way through

the blocks

Inquiring Quilter is hosting summer long whimsical

blocks, which are released from a different designers

every two weeks 

Just take a look at this hedgehog--isn't he cutest thing?!

fun to create and the idea came from Vanda imagination

Janda Bend has designed a harvest basket--what will fill your

basket?  

EPP--We Might Join In..................

Oh Boy!  I'm in trouble!  I saw this delightful EPP 

(English paper pieced) block on Temecula Quilt Company

blog--love their creative quilts--mostly small wonders!

Not only was the block fascinating, but when you look at 

the overall quilt--WOW!  remarkable!--

We have a couple of our expatchers doing EPP, but they

are doing hexagons--you can get some great looks

but  EPP didn't turn me on until I saw this!

I found a couple of You Tube videos that are

helpful with the stitching--

Are You A Block Head?

Here is Round 2 of Block Heads--I didn't participate in the

first round, but this sounds like a fun way to sew this summer.

Each Wednesday for the next few weeks, a different designer

will post their design for the week--

WOW!  Such a chance to make some wonderful blocks

from creative people...

Moda Block Heads 2 Details:

• Free PDF patterns post every Wednesday beginning today, June 6, 2018
• The Moda Cutting Table blog will direct you to the designer’s page who will be sharing that week’s block
• I’ll be posting my version of the week’s block each Wednesday.  On the week’s when the block is my own design I’ll also be sharing tips and tricks for piecing and fabric selection. (The other designers will share those ideas when they post about their block designs).
• There is also a Basic Instructions PDF you can download now with instructions for some of the techniques used in this year’s blocks.  Find it here.

Moda Fabrics blog

Here is the first block--continue onto Lynne's blog

to pick up the PDF

• Lynne’s Blog / Facebook / Website
• Betsy’s Blog / Facebook / Instagram
• Jo’s Blog / Instagram
• Jan’s Blog / Website
• Lisa’s Blog / Website / Instagram
• plus guests designers!!

Tour-de-Sock!

Tour De Sock is off and knitting!! 

Have fun and raise money for a worthy cause in this speed-knitting competition based on the famous bike race with a similar name! Competitors will race to finish a pair of socks in each of six stages earning points for finishing the fastest. Registration fees (less paypal and shipping expenses for prizes) will go to Doctors Without Borders to help continue their excellent work of providing medical care to those in need around the globe

Please join us in the Ravelry Group for any off-season news. Registration for TDS 2018 is open!

Registration for Tour-de-Sock is OPEN! 

Such fun knitting socks as fast as you can--prizes are involved too for the finishers.  I'm not much into winning prizes--I just like the chance to knit special patterns by great designers and assist in a worthy cause--Happy stitching, y'all!!