A Day With Friends

A super hot day!  cool inside though with friends who are sharing their

talents--we haven't met much lately and this day was our

last gathering till Sept--oh, there will be planned

retreats for some--lots of travel for others--then the

stories to share of our adventures when we gather again!

Super bright!  Love this top!  I'm partial to Orange, of course!

Linda created this bargello top in a workshop/class--

Smashing colors and quilting!

Linda's quilt of warmth for her granddaughter,

who loves to dance!

Judy is working on this pattern, very well aged by 10 years!

Once she saw this, she knew she had to make this quilt for

her dining room!

It is such an astounding work!  So impressed by the ability to

figure this out--Judy is taking it step at a time--

The pattern is from Buggy Barn, which sadly is no longer in

business--and this pattern is out of print. 

Each piece is hand appliqued with care and precision

This is how Judy is finishing up the piece to applique

She is using this product called 'whisperlite'--it is

certainly sheer and adds no weight to the piece like some

other stabilizers

Judy has finished the Christmas gnome top from

Fatcat Patterns--it was 2018 block of the month

Some of the blocks set your teeth on edge but she

handled the placement and stitching of this block perfectly

Here is her stitching on the Joy block

Sandy is tackling this awesome quilt pattern by

Bonnie Vanqool for Windham Fabrics

She has many grey fabrics--now, just needs to choose

her brights--this pattern is made with all half square

triangles

Annette has been working on her Grandmother's flower

garden quilt for many moons--it's all paper pieced--

she is sewing the top together by add each square

Several of the gals are working on 2019 block of the month

from Pat Sloan's Out of this World--Linda has chosen

red, white and blue fabrics for her theme.  

Judy's is on the display wall as he adds her blocks--

she has chosen sheep as her focal point.

Sorry to say, these gals put me to shame!

I've not got a focus fabric or any thought as

what to do with these blocks--

maybe, I'll dig through my stash to see what I

can use.

A good day spent with friends sewing is better than any

other day!

ChickenS............................

for some reason, I'm doing the chicken blocks from Fatcat Patterns

 This free block of the month began in January--so, you

guessed it--I've done five blocks already!  I'm a 

sucker for chickens--the blond headed daughter has

chickens--so I make these for her.

The other day when we were at the ranch,

I saw not one but Three chicken quilts I've made

for her--

She displays them across the sofa, tacked to the

wall or just draped over a chair--

Okay--enough of these chicken blocks!

The five blocks I've already made are going into a 

reversible table runner!!--oh, guess I need to do

one more to make the runner look right

Here chick chick--

that's enough for me..

Summer of Weaving

Are you familiar with Handweaving.net?  This is a great

resource for weaving drafts and other information. 

Just recently they received a rare 1910 Italian book

on weaving pattern compositions titled Manuale de Compositore

di Tissuti by Pietro Pinchetti--this manuscript contains

1230 drafts for shaft looms.

You can find the collection Here.  These drafts range from 2 to 54 shafts! Some very interesting 8 and 16 shafts included.  This venture took months to obtain so quite the find to add

to the collection.  The original is from the Smithsonian Library and has been

digitized for public use.  You can download a copy here

The text of the publication is in Italian, of course!

Weavers don't need to read the words--we can read the drafts

to make sense of the pattern.

Found Treasures!

After I came across my silk paper treasure chest,

I looked in one to find many 1" and 2" squares--

okay that's all well and good--can always

use those tiny pieces somehow and somewhere.

Not only did this 'treasure chest' yield tiny squares

but, also

This wonderful pile of 'booty'!  Yea, I can see

a small quilt in my future and all the pieces are ready

to sew!

Maybe, having the chests 'lost' for awhile gave the

tiny elves time to work up perfect 2.5" blocks--

So glad I found my treasure chests full of treasures!

Silk Paper--

My studio has been moved three times within the last year!

It's exhausting work to pack and unpack--put things away

and then forget where you put anything--it's not in

the regular place you thought!  and then there are

some things missing!  well, not really missing--I just

forgot where I put it--

The last time when I thought I was settled--

I came across my silk paper boxes--

I love silk paper!

What is silk paper you ask?  There is an excellent book

by Kath Russom on Handmade Silk Paper--

Yes, this is silk paper!! paper you can write on,

create structures with, shape every which way you want,

a fun activity too! 

The back of the box--shaped like a treasure chest

Another chest made from silk paper--front

side

back--

I just might make more silk paper--to use in my wall hangings--

a great way to use up all that silk roving I need to spin!

Miniature Block Stamps

You can give a gift to someone and eventually,

the gift comes back to you--

The giving works with non tangible things or

with tangible.

Case in point--the following small hangings

This  one was given to my mother for Valentines' day

many years ago--Recently, when she had her fall and

went into Assisted Living, we cleaned out her house and

I found this in her bedroom--it came home with me--

This one was given to my mother-in-law--

she loved red--and when she passed--

it came back to me.

These two small quilts are my treasures--and I'm

grateful they can be in my house again.

I created these little miniatures with stamps 

I've had them for years--although friends have asked to borrow

I don't let them out of my sight!  These tiny stamps were

used often--

I did find Bowers Art Rubber Stamps- creator,

James Bowers--he passed to the happy stamp heaven

in 2015--

there are tons of rubber stamps, but I haven't seen

any like this lately.

I just might stamp again since I found the stamps!

Thread Painting Or Needle Painting.......

Doesn't matter what you call the technique--it's still a 'freeing' opportunity to be yourself on fabric with needle, thread and motion.  

Laughing Cat Designs has a tutorial for her machine thread painting--

The basic thread painting stitch is only a free motion zigzag on the machine.  

The goal is to add color where it's needed--a zigzag stitch can achieve a

painting effect with different threads--it will also highlight and shade

different parts of the piece.

Check out the rest of her tutorial on how she uses thread painting--

Give a look at Nancy Prince's website--

This is machine thread painting!!  Just WOW!

We have seen many different types of thread painting at

Quilt Festivals--the quilts look likephotographs--just

unbelievable.   Nancy has a photo gallery to admire

plus a tutorial--you too could do this type of thread 

painting by machine.

For me, I prefer Needle painting by hand--

Mary Corbet has a excellent experiment that you can try.

Here is one of my Needle Painting embroideries--

the cartoon is from a agate geo stone--I loved the

look of the circles in various shapes 

I used silk threads to feature the highlights of 

the smooth surface of the stone

This was so much fun to stitch--I don't know why I

haven't done more of these--maybe, it's time to pick up

that needle and thread again to do some needle painting.

Another Warp for Towels

Okay--I'm ready to weave again--but, first you must wind a warp--big decision to be made--
What colors?  What size fiber?  What sett on the loom?  The last question will be answered first--
whatever the pattern is on the loom now--that's what it's going to be--yep, I'm just tying on and pulling through----AGAIN!  Think I've done this four times already--it's a regular twill pattern warped now and there is so many ways you can change the treadling to make different patterns.

What colors for the warp?--Easy--I go to my fiber closet and pull out all the colored yarns--and size, I don't worry about--anything goes in this warp.

I'm using bright colors--nothing white or natural, my lightest this time

is yellow--but the rest of going to brighten up the towel

How is this warp looking?  I'm not sure I want to leave the yellow now that

I've seen it in photos--might change that out.

and, I'm not worrying about the way the colors lay--just random--

try it sometime--it's a freeing--no planning!

The size of yarn runs from 10/2 to 8/2 cotton.

Okay, warp is ready--

just need to finish that last yard of weaving to begin warping again........

Small Things--Good Things

Thinking tiny --working Kathleen Tracy's 2019 Mystery Quilt--

This is April's block--cut and ready to sew--I'm keeping up so

far.

If you look at my blocks--there is no room for 1/4" seam!

Guess these blocks will be sewn again--it takes perfect

measurement to get these tiny blocks just right!

Remembering Adelia: Quilts Inspired by Her Diary quilt book (Kathleen Tracy) is being used to make Peony Stars:   

Want to give it a go?  Check out Kathleen's Facebook group--

so many wonderful free patterns in the files

and you too can think tiny.

ONE of These Days.........................................

One of these days, I'm going to learn to Brioche Knit!  That's a fact Jack!  I have several brioche patterns that I would love to knit--I have two videos in my library--there are multitude more in Youtube library...........................
For some reason, my mind will not wrap around this knitting technique--I get carried away by distractions too easily..........................................Now, here is another opportunity to learn

and it comes from one of the master knitters--Franklin Habit of

Brooklyn Tweed

 Just look at this---BASIC Brioche- 101

What better place to begin.......

oh gosh, he even has Brioche 102--knitting with two colors in the round!

And if, IF, I can get through 101 and 102, I can graduate up

to Brioche 201--Oh Joy!

There are pictures--lots of pictures--

I Think I Can--I Think I CAN!

Summer Time! And The Living is Easy..................

Oh Yeah!  Summertime!  What a song!  Easy breezy!  Great listen!

Come along to this summer time quilt along from Moda Bake Shop--
Ocean breezes, waves crashing and sand between your toes--The theme for the summer is Seashore with Ocean themed QAL.  This journey begins on June 3 with fabric requirements and ends on August 26 with the reveal and one last 'bonus' block that can be used for the label.
Hard to believe we are talking about Summer time and June--time stops for no one!

Mark your calendars for this one--should be cool breeze as we sail through

summer time!

Unst Lace Shawls

Where is Unst, you ask? I wasn't too sure myself until I did some research.  Unst is one of the Shetland isles located north of Scotland--
  I love lace knitting and when I found these lovely Unst Shetland Lace shawls, I was in heaven!

Here is a lace knitting pattern you can buy from Sharon Taylor--such a lovely

garment!  These shawls are fine, you can pull them through a wedding ring!

Watch this video to see how these beautiful shawl are knitted but

first, you must do the spinning--my question--how can they knit so fast!!?

Enjoy the magic of creativity!

 

BBC Archive has a video from 1960's with more information--fascinating to watch!

Relax! Read!!

Haven't I told you how much I like to read?

I sure hope you like to read as well--

this is a whole new world out there when you

open a book.  You can travel to all parts of the

world as you lose yourself in the pages.

I'm always reading at least two books at the same

time--One book is on the bed stand--another

is on the coffee table in the family room.

Here is my latest reads....

We (hubby is a reader too) have discovered John D MacDonald with his

Travis McGee character--we've finished the first in the series--

"The Long Goodbye"--why it took us so long to indulge in this read,

I don't know!  So glad we began this series.

Elizabeth A Garcia--"One Bloody Shirt at a Time"--oh my, how

I love this read.  I've also finished the second ("The Beautiful Bones") in the series!

These reads take me back to Big Bend Texas and Terlingua--

I walk in Deputy Rios shoes....

"Luckenbach Texas--The Center of the Universe" by Becky Crouch

Pattison--daughter of Hondo Crouch, founder of Luckenbach--

We visit Luckenbach often--we attend the Cowboy Church on Sundays--

attend the afternoon or evening music concerts.

This book brings you the history behind the town, population 3--

a delicious read and music that comes out of the history

"The Lost Girls of Paris" by Pam Jenoff--

I learned about the lost girls of Paris through an episode of

"Foley's War"--an almost true look at WWII in Europe--

And now we step into secret agents lives

Mike Blakely's book "A Sinister Splendor"--a semi fictional

look at 1845 Mexican-American War--We know Mike and his

wife Annie through their music--they play many of the events

and functions around Hill Country Texas.  Imagine my surprise

when we were eating dinner with Mike/Annie and learned

he is an author--many times over!

Hope you will find a way to escape the mundane routine of

daily living.

Dyeing Gradients..................................

You seen these lovely gradient yarns--some very expensive.

I can understand why--it takes time to skein yardage to make

a smaller skein but continue to be in the same ball of

yarn.  I came across this tutorial on Simply Notable

web page--you can see it process with step by step

instructions.  She is using Kool-aide for her dye.

But, for me,

after Easter sales--give me a ton of those little

tiny dye tablets for egg dyeing--those will work just

fine--

In years past, I've dyed my silk roving with these

tablets--using the microwave to set the dye--spin it

up and knit a lovely scarf for spring wear.

Simply Notable has an April dye along for hand painted

yarn--using Easter egg dye--book mark this site as you will

find many useful tidbits of crafty things.

Decisions! Decisions!

Here is May!  Can you believe??  Summer will jump right out at us soon--

in the meantime, I'm sewing --sometimes!

It's the 'little' things that get in the way--

like a outside freezer door that was open just a tad and although,

it ran and ran for days on end, it also froze a ton of ice

and melted some of the products therein---

Surprise! when you go to the door and find it just a tad

open and peek inside--your heart sinks!  Oh No! 

What a mess!

Well, it did need defrosting--not now though!

salvage as much as we could and let the ice melt--

Or 

the blond headed daughter calls you up on

Friday evening as ask if you'll come to the ranch

Saturday AM to move furniture out of two rooms--

she is having tile laid in those two rooms--

okay, we can deal with that-- the next

weekend we'll be there moving furniture

back into the rooms!

  Life can get in your way when

you're having fun...............

The other day, I pulled out all my -un-quilted tops--oh,

bother!  so many to be quilted--what am I to do?

1.  I can stop making quilts

2.  Send the tops off to be quilted--big bucks!

3.  send the tops off to Quilts of Compassion --that's first choice!

4.  Learn how to machine quilt

5.  Hand quilt the smaller one

6.  Make table runners or lap quilts or baby quilts

In the meantime, I'm sewing these Blocks from Pat Sloan's I Love to Quilt series

"Flower Bouquet"

This journey began on January 2 and here is 

Block 14

These two blocks are Block 15

Pat has two layouts set up--

I'll decide later what to do with the blocks.....

Seventh Heaven Kaleidoscope.............................

Mary Corbet of Needle 'N Thread is offering a free

embroidery pattern for your stitching pleasure--

There is alot to stitching these Kaleidoscope and

she gives you a step by step method to achieve a

beautiful piece..

Elements of design, color, layout--she gives a clear

cut bonus to hand embroidered projects--

questions?  She has the answers on her website.

Happy stitching, y'all!

Agatha May Read..................

Another Agatha for May--Hercule Poirot to the rescue!

"Poirot, disillusioned by the "senseless cruel brutality" of modern crime, pays no attention to the sad case of Mrs McGinty, an old woman apparently struck dead by her lodger for thirty pounds that she kept under a floorboard. When, however, he is asked by the investigating officer to take another look at the case to stop an innocent man going to the gallows, he realises that things may not be as simple as they first appear to be."

What shall we knit to this mystery?  I don't know......

Maybe, book mark--simple and sweet

No Wrong Side bookmark by Katherine Vaughan

Another one by Katherine titled Jewel Cross Rib

Don't think I've ever knit a bookmark!

A Belfry of Hats!

Here comes the Kentucky Derby tomorrow!  This blog is about hats--a free study of hats all year long--not the traditional Kentucky Derby Hat, like this one......

but, woolen hats you can create all year long for the winter cold months.

I know it doesn't seem right to be knitting wool hats in the hot summer

months--what better time though?  You'll have a belfry of hats for

gifts or for charity or just for yourself.

check this out---

A month by month free hat pattern from Kelbourne Woolens--

of course, they are selling their yarn to go with the pattern...

I'm just a few months behind finding this site, but the patterns are

there beginning with January

January

February

March

April

Each of these patterns have different techniques--a learning experience for sure!