April Rolls into May

April birthdays just roll along into the month of May. That's okay with the expatchers--any day to celebrate the happiness of being together is a very good day. And what would a gathering day for quilters be without some 'show and tell'. Oh, we have lots of 'Tells'! Karen just returned from two weeks in Ireland and Scotland. Her Tale was about her adventures in those countries. She brought along her newest quilting handwork.
This is the pattern she is using to create her lovely quilt top. Karen has a way with colors and prints.
We were happy to see Brenda, as she has been battling an unusual illness. She even has the doctors baffled. She finished her mystery quilt from 2008 Quilt Festival and what a pleasing sight it is to the eyes! Wonderful batiks. This will be backing.
And since this was a mystery pattern, there was discussion on how color placement could have made a difference in the nine patch block that comes out into the border. But, you never know where the pattern will take you.

Annette has faithfully been working by hand on this log cabin heart hanging that she is giving to her hubby on their 30th wedding anniversary. Shhhhhhh, don't tell him! I doubt he will be reading this blog so the secret should be well kept until the reveal next week. She plans to outline with gold thread.
Shop Hop quilt-- different quilters, one pattern. See how each tackled the setting and block placement. First, here is Judy M's setting. And here is Brenda's.
Interesting, huh? By adding an additional sashing around each block, Brenda made her quilt bigger which required more applique work around the border. One of our absent quilters (who is living in Mexico) made the exact same quilt but she didn't have applique work on the border. She just used the piecing continuation. Individual quilts for indiviual quilters!
We celebrate with gifts of fat quarters. Sandy requested 30's fabrics.
Karen requested reds! How diverse!
The remainder of the delicious birthday angel food cake.

More Tips of the Trade. This one coming from Linda, who shared her belt sling for quick scissor draw! There is no way you'll lose those scissors if they are attached to your belt! Good thinking Linda! The gals keep thinking of recycling to aid in our quilting endeavors.

One Pot Dyeing or the Tale of a Lazy Dyer

To dye or not to dye? That is the question; and when the answer is 'to dye', the lazy dyer is willing! First, look to see if there is some dirty fleece in the fiber closet--definitely, dirty fleece. We are talking fleece right off the animal. Fleece that hasn't touched water or soap--dirty, loaded with wonderful lanolin. We are happy to report there is one dirty fleece just waiting for those colors-- Please don't ask the breed--there is no information available in the bag and the memory is faulty in that regard. But, we can certainly tell it is most likely one of the prize winning fleeces bought at Estes Park Wool Market. The staple is silky, long and soft; excellent for spinning and more importantly, dyeing. This fleece has a nice gray tint.
Set up the dyepot with all the proper equipment (plastic gloves, mask, dyepot, covered work space, vinegar etc). Now, cram, yes cram, that fleece into the dyepot. Make sure there is a little top space. Glug, glug some vinegar into the dye--we are talking lazy now. If you prefer, you can measure vinegar. Cover the fleece with cool water. Add water just till it covers the fleece. Do Not fill to the rim of the pot. We are ready to add color.
We are using three primary colors (acid dyes)--yellow, red, blue--thinking about the migration of colors--what colors will you get with this mixture? Oranges, purples, greens and a varied cross selection. We are sprinkling the dry powder right onto the top of the fiber. This is where you put on that mask. You can do a cross with dye or triangle, square, one section, any way you want. Here we have used a cross with the yellow dye, which takes a little longer to activate for some reason.
Now, sprinkle the other sections with other chosen colors. Most often I use only three colors but you can use more. Make sure all the dye powder has been dissolved in the water by gently pressing down to get it wet. Now, you are ready to cover the pot, turn the burner to low, very low and wait 30 minutes. Make sure it does not boil or you'll have muddy colors. Patiently, waiting................
Look what was pulled from the first pot!! Pull the fiber from the dyepot and place where it can cool. DO NOT DISCARD the remaining water. There is more dye in the pot. Repeat the process of cramming the fiber into the pot, cover with water, sprinkle dyes (you can use different color range or the same), add more vinegar, heat on low, cover the pot and wait 30 minutes..... Second pot color. Okay, let's do it again! DO NOT DISCARD liquid--cram more wool into pot, repeat process. We continue to do this until there is no fleece available. Third pot! WOW! what color ranges! Now, the fingers are itching, just itching for this fiber to dry so we can take them to the spinning wheel. After fibers have dried completely, rinse in warm water until color runs clear. The dye liquid remaining could also be frozen for another dye. Too bad, there isn't another dirty fleece in the fiber closet. And that is the way this lazy dyer gets her color.

Fiber Friend Day

Tuesday--ah, a day to relish; a day that is spent with fiber friends. This fourth Tuesday of the month was spent with expatcher quilt group. And once again, they do not disappoint. They bring their laughter, joy, sadness, concerns, stories along with their physical nourishment and WIP (works in progress) as well as completed projects. Judy M had several Binky Patrol quilts that she had completed with lively stitches. All had binding stitched on and just needed some loving hands to finish the handwork. Snowflake design work. There are three of the winter bear quilts in various sizes.
"Lovely" quilting pattern on the kitty/puppy top and circles on the bright orange top. Judy practices her long arm quilting skills with the Binky tops.

Linda brought her finished wall hanging. We had seen this WIP one visit to her house. Strips'N Curves using Bali Pops package.
Closeup view of one section.
We couldn't decide if we like the hanging this way
or lengthwise. Either way, it will be a wonderful addition to her decorating scheme.
Annette, our hostess, was working on her small log cabin blocks by hand.
One of her first quilting projects was this cozy nine patch quilt that graced the back of her sofa. And last but not least Sandy, who was toiling away on her place mat--if you can believe she'll let anyone drop food on this labor of love! And now for some tips of the trade from our clever Sandy--first, a scissor saver (we have to come up with a catchy name for this gadget) This is also a good advertisement for deluxe hotels! Now, you know those pesky drop out return postcards that keep falling out of magazines. Well, here is how Sandy solved that problem. This publication also had a CD with patterns. So, take one of those post card thingies and tape it to the inside of the cover.
There is a pocket for the CD and you have conquered one less annoying fall out problem! Very useful, Sandy--thanks for sharing!!

Spin Along

Love fibers? Love dyeing? Love spinning? Love knitting? Yes, to all!!
So you take these lovely wool fibers that have been rainbowed dyed (more on this in a later blog post)
Take them to the spinning wheel and get some wonderful spun yarn.
Find a knitting pattern from one of the young male designers and off you go!

Backlog!

There has been a backlog of projects sitting on the studio table. Taking the time to play 'catch-up' is always a challenge. This week there were a few spare (if you can call them spare!) hours to work on these projects. And now the projects are cleared off the front burner and placed in the neat little stack of finished UFOs--hurrah!!
Pinwheel blocks
This is the last block of the 12 to be worked up. Upcoming will be the directions for assembly.
Fourth block from the Christmas Row of the month from Fat Cat
Two more blocks from Debbie Mumm's six month BOM. Notice that it is just color placement that gives the difference in look.
Now, to find the extra hours to work up a couple more of the projects that have been found on the world wide web! Always interesting to search and see what can be found out in that vast world--thanks to all the creative people!