JSI--Day Two!

And We begin!!  Yes, the vendors are setting up in their places--all their 

goodies will be displayed and ready for those shopping spinners to arrive @ 1 PM

In walks.....

One Crazy lady

Two crazy lady!

and the fun has begun!!  

Spin-IN--Florida!! Day One

The day begins!  We are back in Florida for our annual January spin-in # ?

There is some debate about the number but we begin in 1989--

you can do the math!  The beach is always a welcome sight upon our arrival.

And now the work begins..........

or should I say the Craziness!

We will take this empty room and transform it

into a world of wonder for spinners.  It is our day to 

set up the room for the vendors to move in at 8 AM

on day two--then participants arrive at noon!

See you tomorrow

And we say goodnight to day one of

January spin-in!

Bet This Doesn't Happen To You!

I hate this!  I'm knitting along--and there it goes--the yarn gets all tangled

and in one big mess of knots!

I can almost understand the reason behind this--as this yarn has been

used more times than one can count--I begin a project, and then

just don't like how it is looking, so I unknit and ball the

yarn (this yarn!) up for another day!

I think the yarn has a mind of its own--

and taking revenge!

I love this yarn--and I want just the right project and I think, NO,

know, this is the perfect hat to wear this handspun silk/wool yarn.

To untangle, it takes some time away from knitting this yummy yarn into

this super duper hat.

The Gilmore Girls Hat!  Studio Knits figured out the pattern--and I want that

furry thing on top too--just right for this yarn!  Oh, yeah!

Well, look at this--Finished!

and I love the little furry ball as a topknot!

Finally! found something that looks great in this yarn!

Heart Gifts From The Heartf

Are you thinking about something to make from your heart for that someone special?  Now is the time to begin.

Here is a quick knitted heart block from Studio Knits

Hearts, hearts and more hearts from

Quilt inspiration blogspot

Here are some of my favorite ones from that site:

I Heart this small table mat or it could be a wall hanging--

anyway, it comes from the heart and hands of

Cluck Cluck Sew

And a sweeet embroidered message for someone special

Allie Oops Sweet Appy Life

What ever you make for your sweetheart it will come

from the heart and hands.

The Geese are flying!

Temecula Quilt CO has a super duper way to make those geese

fly right off your machine.  

And then here is another way those geese blocks can be used.

Robert Kaufman's  website has inspiration in color

Generations quilt patterns has a different method of build geese blocks

Quilters Cache has a paper pieced method

So many ways to make those geese fly!

So we come to  Ocean Waves QAL MamaSpark

Ocean Waves Coloring Grid 

Another UFO Bites The Dust!

Oh yeah, I'm on a roll--well, maybe, not knocking them out of the

ball park yet, but I've tackled another UFO and

Nailed IT!  Yes, under the belt, bit the dust, finished--

So excited to have another quilt top ready for the quilter--

don't know if she's ready for me though!

I begun work on this summer of 2016 with the

Bonnie Hunter Gals sewing group and then we headed back

to home base and the box of finished blocks set idly by

in their cute little container.  This pattern is

"Hopscotch, Butterscotch" from

Bonnie Hunter's book 

Adventures With Leaders & Enders

I love the piano keys border--I tried to use different fabrics

in order to use up scraps--

here's to another UFO being a FO! 

Wool Work Project

Do you like to do wool work?  Or Maybe you would like to learn how

to do wool work.  Here is your chance to participate in this 

free monthly block program.  On the 2nd Friday of each month, until the end of the year you can download the pattern.  

Please note you have 30 days to "click & print" out each pattern before the next month's block is released!  After that 30 days, it will only be available to purchase as a pattern/kit.  Be sure to check back often and print off your patterns!!!!  Buttermilk Basin also has kits & threads available!  Enjoy the world of wool stitching!

Here is the first pattern--and you're off to a good start!

Happy stitching!

Can I Share?

I LOVE my group meetings--whether it is a weavers' or quilters

gathering, I'm always in awe of the hands that make beautiful things.

At our January weavers meeting, we didn't have much show and tell

but what a delight it was to praise those who did accomplish

a goal--like Karen, a new weaver several years ago--and all she

wanted to learn to do was weave a baby blanket!

Okay, Karen, show it off!

Her first baby blanket!!

She was worried about this small mark of "creativity"--what was the cause?

Most likely, she skipped a few warp threads when she passed her

weft shuttle through--we call it a 'design element' and

she'll pay more attention the next time she throws the shuttle.

and the 'tracking' in this is absolutely bonus!

Tracking comes in plain weave with the twist and ply of the yarn--

washing brings out that element.  Who worries about pattern

weave when you can get such lovely tracking?

Lisa is learning to use her ridged heddle loom for braids or bands--

she wants to use this length for strap for her yoga mat--fabulous!

and then there are the quilters!  This lovely batik pineapple pattern was

on Judy's machine--she was quilting this for her church's raffle--

The applique was added as an after thought--

doesn't matter in my book, I'm there for those raffle tickets

when they're available.

Karen is planning her baby quilt for new addition.

Here are her fabrics

and this will be the pattern--from Elanor Burns book--Trip Around The World.

It will certainly be a lovely quilt for the new baby.

This video gives you an insight as to the process, using strips.

Annette was doing her hand stitching with her English Paper technique--

she is working on her flower garden quilt.

This is an easy take along project

Camilla brought along her finished Texas quilt--we exchanged the

5" squares of Texas theme fabric in the fall--(have to say, mine

are still in a bag--who knows where!)

Great quilting theme with Texas stars!  Okay, we are off to a good

start for 2017!  

Natural Jeans......................

I don't usually subscribe to these magazines, but I have a couple

of subscriptions so I can send the paper version to my 96 yr. old

mother, who doesn't have much entertainment but

watching television and reading magazines.

I thumbed through the issues and this one peeked my interest--

what?  someone is bringing  indigo back to farmers.  As a person who

worked as Education Curator on an Louisiana indigo plantation, this

article came to life for me.  

Indigo is different from all other natural dyes (apart from shellfish purple)in that it needs no mordant (a substance used to set dyes on fabrics); it is insoluble and is deposited on the fibers as microscopic particles without needing to form a chemical bond with them. The chemical properties of indigo dye remained baffling well into the 19th century. It was so mysterious and challenging to work with that, in many cultures, folklore arose around the dyeing process. In Bhutan, pregnant women were not allowed near the vat in case the unborn baby stole the blues, and women in Morocco believed the only way to deal with a particularly challenging vat was to start telling outrageous lies. All this trouble was worth the final result. Once dyed, indigo is so colorfast that it can last for centuries or even millennia.

The process from turning the leaf form into this powdery blue magical dye was laborious.

Slaves spent their time walking through the blue sludge every day turning their hands, feet and

every body part that touched the plant, blue.  Even today when you work with indigo,

you will come away with blue hands.  It is always like a magic act when you

use indigo vat to dye--

But, this is the only natural dye that will give you BLUE!

Here we have an industrious company bringing farmers together for

this venture.

They even sell their dyes to independent dyers like me.  

You like that pair of jeans you wear, then you can thank

an indigo vat!

How's Your Day Going?

Are you feeling blue?  Down in the dumps?  Stuck in a funk?

Could this be your Blue Monday? 

The holidays are over, New Year’s resolutions have been broken, and you can’t seem to shake your cold. Tired and overwhelmed, or just downright depressed? You're not alone. Blue Monday — typically the third Monday of the new year — is called the most depressing day on the calendar.

Started as part of a publicity campaign by Sky Travel, this notable date was first published in a press release by psychologist Dr. Cliff Arnall, who at the time worked at the Centre for Lifelong Learning, part of Cardiff University in Wales. Arnall devised a literal mathematical formula to arrive at the Blue Monday theory. It factors in weather, debt and time since Christmas, timing of New Year’s resolutions, low motivational levels, and the urgent feeling that you need to take action. It also reflects that Monday is regarded as the worst day of the week with many dreading the prospect of returning to work.

But the third Monday in January may be redeemed in some eyes. The Guardian calls Arnall's mathematical formula "arguably hokey." As The Guardian reports, "This dubious bit of math was used to give academic weight to a press release put out by Sky Travel to encourage people to cheer themselves up with a holiday."

How to combat the blues on Blue Monday? Arnall advises via the Daily Mail: people can "use the day as a springboard for a higher quality life. For example keeping Christmas spending to a strict budget next year will make you less depressed in the last week of January."

Conversely, the happiest day of the year falls around midsummer. On the upside? There are some Blue Monday enthusiasts who believe it actually falls on the Monday of the last full week in January — which would mean we'd celebrate it next week. So now you have time to prepare.

Yankee Diary

Each month in 2017 you'll get a pieced or applique pattern for a Civil War reproduction sampler inspired by several patriotic quilts from the time.

Barbara Brackman has been reading the diary of Caroline Cowles Richards who worked on many quilts in Canandaigua, New York, in the 1850s and '60s. She wrote about them in her diary, which also gives us insight into life for fortunate girls in the mid-19th century.

We'll go to upstate New York for our time travel in a Yankee Diary. Sarah and Carrie begin the War in parallel fashion, a little bit spoiled, a little bit self-absorbed. Both matured under very different circumstances.

the last Wednesday of January,

which is January 25, 2017---to see the first block.

More Spinning info

Bobbin Boy's website has such insight into the world of spinning.  Maybe, you are a new spinner and just got a wheel for a gift or maybe you are experienced and need some assistance with your wheel's problems.  This is where you venture for any spinning information.  Check it out!
Happy treadling!

Paraskavedekatriaphobia--??

Here we are--Friday, 13th of the month!!  How superstitious are you?

If you are worried about what's in store this time, then you're not alone. Psychologists have even come up with a word for how you're feeling – paraskavedekatriaphobia, or fear of Friday the 13th.

One option is to stay tucked up in bed all day to avoid any potential Friday the 13th bad luck that may come your way, or alternatively, you could ignore the superstitious chatter and embrace it. The number 13 has been considered unlucky for many years, even before Christ. The number 12 is historically considered the number of completeness, while its older cousin, 13, has been seen as an outlier.

• There are 12 months of the year, 12 gods of Olympus, 12 hours of the clock, 12 tribes of Israel, 12 Apostles of Jesus, 12 Descendants of Muhammad Imams, among many incidences of the pattern historically.
• In many Western countries tall buildings are missing the 13th floor. In China the fourth floor and in some cases all floors with the number four are left out of Chinese buildings.
• Houses often do not have a number 13, and many hotels, including the Carlton in London, miss out a thirteenth floor.
• It is considered very unlucky for thirteen people to dine together, and the first to rise will reach serious misfortune – a superstition upheld by US President Roosevelt. He also refused to travel on Friday the 13th.In Somerset, it is said that whoever turns a bed on a Friday turns ships at sea. In Cumbria, babies born on a Friday were laid on the family Bible.In some areas, calling a doctor for the first time on a Friday is a certain omen of death. Cutting hair and nails on a Friday is a certain path to misfortune, and many couples will refrain from marrying on a Friday.

Dr Caroline Watt of the University of Edinburgh says that it is the belief in the Friday 13th superstition that could, in fact, prove the greatest risk to the average person: “If people believe in the superstition of Friday the 13th then they believe they are in greater danger on that day.

"As a result they may be more anxious and distracted and this could lead to accidents. It becomes a self fulfilling prophecy.

“It is like telling someone they are cursed. If they believe they are then they will worry, their blood pressure will go up and they put themselves at risk.”

Dresden Plate Is Where It's At.....................

It seems that there are two (that I've found) Dresden Plate sew alongs

this year--Bee In My Bonnet has put her 'spin' on this

historic pattern.  Why was it so popular during the early 20th century, you may ask.

"The popular name for this quilt, Dresden Plate, reflects the romance of the Victorian Era with its love of elaborate decoration on household items and décor. Dresden, Germany was a center of 19th century romanticism movement in art, one that included the fine decoration of porcelain. The plates were embellished with elaborate design using flowers, fruits and foliage. The beautiful plates would surely have been admired by women of the early 20th century."  

Quilt Doodle Designs has added her touch to this pattern with what she calls

'a mystery'.  Each month she'll have a different take on the center--

Creepy!

Bet you never thought that spider webs were useful to the human race!

Well, guess again!  Some of these facts I already knew, but

didn't know about painting on cobweb canvases--

really interesting, huh?

To us weavers, we think that the spider is the first true weaver of fabric.

 A spider web, spiderweb, spider's web, or cobweb (from the archaic word coppe, meaning "spider") is a device created by a spider out of proteinaceous spider silk extruded from its spinnerets, generally meant to catch its prey.

Spider webs for humans

Uses of spider webs

Helpful spiders

Practice!

I hate knitting swatches for any pattern--but, these are great to practice for stranded knitting.

Yes, I know--just a little late for this year's Christmas tree--

there is always next year and you can begin now to create some interesting and colorful

ornaments.

The pattern is free from The House of Hogbuffer and of course, you can find it

on Ravelry--not a member yet?  It's easy and free to join!  

I think it's time to work these up through the year and be

ready for next year's Christmas tree or maybe even gifts to special friends!

Happy stitching!

Love Photography? This Is For You!

Okay, so I'm just a little late settling into this challenge, but this project can begin any week of the year.....................do you love to take photos but don't always have the perfect subject?

Soul Depiction Group on Facebook might be the answer to your dilemma.  There is 

other photography groups on Facebook as well that feed your soul, like

365 Days of Photos, which encourages you to take a photo and post each day--

this one will become your photo journal of your life.  I did this project several years ago

and thoroughly enjoyed my journey.

Here are some guidelines for photo junkies!