April Weaver Gathering

Blogger has changed their look; so, the short story is....it is harder to figure out the codes for photos!  But, we'll learn and get in the groove with blogger again.
Here is the April happening with one weaver study group.  We are donating unused shuttles to our new weaver, Scharine.  These came from Rosemary's studio.  It seems the longer you have been weaving, the more shuttles you gather and some just sit idle by the side lines.



Rosemary attended a juried art festival in the area and bought this lovely jewel of a shawl.  It is plaited twill pattern.  Olga came bearing three of her recent felted creations.  The first one is dyed a chocolate brown.  It is silk base with wool inlay.



For some reason, the camera picked up the color differently in this photo.  You can see the wool strips laid in stripes.

This creation was black base with white silk and wool inlay.  Absolutely fantastic handle!

In this photo you can see the stretch of the wool/silk as it is pulled and laid over the base fabric.

We all envy this one!  Olga said it was a keeper for her to wear!

Penny showed her woven blanket--so very soft; the handle on this was wonderful!! And the color combinations were real winners.

Our study for the year has been waffle weave.  Penny had a sample to show.  She used two different weights of linen and the top fabric has been washed.  She isn't pleased with the look.

This photo shows the linen fabric before it was washed.  This would make great curtains.  Penny wants to achieve a nice washcloth.

Connie had her waffle weave samples.  She is using color to outline the 'dimples' of the waffle.  We all agreed that we like the plain checkboard effect between the waffles.  The only problem weaving waffle and plain weave is the draw-in.

Great waffles achieved but not to Connie's satisfaction.  Back to the 'drawing board' for her.

Antje, on the left and Rosemary on the right are examining Antje's latest rug.  Antje breaks all the rules for weaving and we love it!!  This, to her, is the wrong side.

This is Antje's right side! She wove it this side up and tucked al the loose ends to the back side.  She is very thrifty and uses old clothing for her 'rags'.  She'll combine knit and cotton together.

And this lovely shawl is from the new weaver Scharine--can you believe?  She is weaving with sari silk and this has been through the burnt test to make sure it is truly silk.  Lovely--another one to break the rules with her weaving!

A close-up of Schraine's edge where she is knotting the fringe, for a more elegant look.

DANGER-WARNING!

There is a quilt pox going around--it is very contagious to some and as the sign says "no known cure"!  Have you caught this pox yet?  In our house, it has a steady hold on the sewing room and at times, no one enters--afraid they will catch the pox!

But, some are daring and have ventured in to try their hand at different techniques; like this applique.  Don't you just love this little squirrel?--Fun to make up using the spray starch and freezer paper method.  Just need to stitch around the acorns, do the sign lettering and wagon rope to finish up this block before April block comes out.  This one is from Bunny Hill Patterns.

The next three blocks are from two different challenges or QALs--one is being led by Natalia at Piece 'N Quilt (Star Block QAL, which just began) and the other is the wrap up from a series that began in the fall through Moose on the Quilts.  With the latter there are enough blocks to make a nice size quilt top--mostly from Layer Cake stack.

Each month there was a different quilt designer who were generous to give us a block.

And then there was this QAL--from PS I Quilts. It sounded like a good idea at the time, as the technique used two different jelly rolls--one lights, one darks, but then............
after you sew all those strips together, you have this.

And then you need to cut more strips.  Now, these are neatly stacked ready for the next step, which is ........

heading to the machine area where all those neatly stacked strips get tossed around and in one big mess!

Okay, now you sew again--five strips into one big block; make sure you alternate the colors right--or otherwise, frog it (rip, rip, rip)  Of course, that has never happen...........................

This will make an interesting quilt top if and when it is finished with the sewing--but at this point, it is rather boring, so one strip is added--occassionally--while sewing on another project.  Someday, you might see it here--COMPLETED!

Summer & Winter

The Way Out West Weavers study group (WOW--we get allot of bang with our name!) is weaving away on their looms on Thursdays. They have each designed a summer/winter pattern and spent each week thomping across their treadles to achieve the look they want. Here is Anita's loom, but there was a mistake.........................................and how do you repair this right in the middle of your warp? You add string heddles and rethread; then continue on your merry way! Way to go, Anita! Here is a drawdown of her pattern. Boy, these days you can use a computer program--remember the days when you had to use graph paper and mark each square by hand? Another loom shows off her summer/winter pattern. Gerry is the great leader of these weaving days. And she is so organized! See how she keeps track of her warp, weft, pattern throws--where, when, how and why--gee, to be so good! Her woven cloth tells the tale! another sampling of her handiwork. We all ooooh and ahhhhh over D'anni's woven towel--what perfect circles! Marian received this inkle loom as a Christmas gift and she is learning how it works. She has it warped for bookmarks. Here is the back of the loom. She has already woven these samples. Her goal is to make a band that can be wrapped around brie cheese as a gift/decoration. Our study group is assembling a basket of goodies for our biannual Contemporary Handweavers of Texas conference to be held early summer. Each basket will be raffled. Our basket will be filled with kitchen items. Our summer/winter weaving sessions will continue throughout the year.

Spring into Spring!

Be sure to check out the Spring 2011 issue of the free online magazine Quiltposium. You can set up your email and receive issues regularly--all free!
We are springing into spring here--and new projects are on the way. With our expatchers meeting this week, we view Karen's 'Quilt Diva' creative work.
Look at this neat handwork. Buttons will be added for her eyes after it has been quilted.
Remember this quilt top from our last meeting--here it is quilted by Sandy.
The quilt stitch is feather lively and shows up nicely on this brown backing.
Judy is planning a birthday quilt for her granddaughter, who is living in Phillipines. They will come for a visit in June and it will be ready for her. Pinks, pinks and more pinks are on the agenda. She is definitely a 'girly girl.'
She will be using a colorful center panel and is cutting her strips to make the surrounding blocks with esqued nine patch block pattern.
In an earlier post, this photo of Camilla with her bluebonnet wall hanging was left out--sorry!
Also, forgotten was the birthday fat quarter stash that Camilla received at the March birthday luncheon. She requested pastels.
And Spring wouldn't be complete without a little bunny hanging around. This one decorates Judy's dining room.
And her hallway invites you into this birdhouse--another spring happening.
Hope you have a little spring in your neck of the woods!

Last Day of the Livestock Show

It is the last day of the livestock show and demos for the guild. It is one of the hardest days to find volunteers--after 20 days of non stop action, it is time to end the event. It's a beautiful spring day. We are packed and ready to take off for the arena. At our previous volunteer day, the draw band broke on the guild wheel, so this day, we decide to take our own wheel.
And to make it easy to bring, it is placed on its own little traveling wheels. There is a short walk from the car park to the tram, which travels to the entrance of the livestock site and then another walk into the center. Of course, the spinners/weavers booth is in hall A, which is at the opposite end of where you enter. We travel with our sun roof open and country music blaring--yew haw!!
Let's meet some of the people who drop by the booth. We were happy to see this young lady, who comes knitting as she enjoys the sights and sounds of the Ag center! And she just learned to knit and she's doing socks!! She told us she recently bought a drop spindle and is looking for a wheel--yippee! We tell her--'next year, you can be on this side of the fence'!
This father and son lingered for several minutes as they inspected the loom and wheels in action.
A crowd gathers around the loom as Kathy takes it through its paces.
Connie, our faithful leader for the day, is spinning away on cotton that she pulled from the cotton bale located down from our booth space.
When she's not on the wheel she demonstrates on the spindle.
She also shows how to card the cotton in preparation for spinning.
One of our volunteers decided to show her talent at needle felting--using these sharp little barbs, she creates some unique characters and designs.
Here she shows her needle felted heart in hand pillow and Santa Claus.
Let's take a look around the booth space to see what woven items gain attention. Some of these items have been designed and woven at this event during years past.
Brightly colored batts await the spinners hand.
Tapestry from the talented hands of Blaine.
Here is a woven coverlet and hand spun knitted scarf.
And of course, we must have our mascots close at hand.
Kathy keeps up the beat even as she converses with the crowd.
It is difficult to calcuate how long the warp should be for these three weeks of weaving. No one wants to warp during the last week. Luckily, the loom is on its last couple of yards. Thank goodness--this calcuation was right on target!
Some of the yardage from last three weeks rest on the split rail fence for the handle of interested parties.
We are happy to show our craft and educate. One of the best parts of being there is the people you meet. Oh, you can guess what they will ask--usually the same question time and a time again; but, it doesn't matter--you always enjoy seeing those light bulbs going off when everything clicks and they get it!!