Thursday, October 31, 2013

Whoooooooo! Happy Halloween!!!!

Whooooo!  Trick or Treat!  It's always a treat to visit with expatchers quilting group!  And Judy's house as usual is decorated for the occasion............
Primitive Gatherings magazine and their patterns--here Judy used one of the calendar series to create this whimsical wall hanging--and don't you like the way she used the cheese basket as the background.  


Table toppers are always a hit on any table

There are no witches here.........

Draped over Judy's long arm quilter are these two hangings ready for the finishing touches.   She makes them ahead of time, ready to be given as gifts when the opportunity presents itself.


And she is cutting flannel for her daughter's snuggly blanket 



The color combinations are super duper

Here is a stack of flannel blankets waiting for the blanket stitching around the corners


Baby blankets to be given away as need arises--

More wonderful fall hangings in the background with Judy M(standing) and Camilla (our 'mother' who is moving away soon--ahh, we are going to miss her!)

Linda and Sandy are conferring on a pattern app for their I-pads

Now, isn't this just smashing!!?

That's Brenda sewing away

and one of missing has come to visit--Judy C has been supervising work on her retirement home and that keeps her busy busy!
I have a passion for this magazine and so does Judy M.  Primitive Gatherings is such an interesting publication--some quilting, some wool work, little stitchery--Judy made this wool work from one of the PG magazines.


Here Linda is stitching down the binding on her Christmas quilt. 
No Tricks here, just plain good Treats!

Sunday, October 27, 2013

Let Us Zig, Let us Zag!

This is just something about Frankie's Knitted Stuff .  Not only are there great knitting patterns, but also unusual patterns.  And too boot--the patterns are all FREE! for a donation to Children's Liver Disease Foundation. 
I liked this pattern, but I'm not making a blanket!  Nope, but a scarf! 

What can you do with only 10 stitches?  Well, this is easy Zig Zag for sure!
One strip is finished--but, this is going to take forever.....if I knit only one strip soooooo why not do several at one time?!  Genius, huh?

Sure, it's genius, except for all those loose threads hanging everywhere, but it is quicker to knit all at the same time
 
We are making progress--there could be just one small problem--maybe, the ZZ's are too uniform!  Stay tuned for the finished scarf results...............

Wednesday, October 23, 2013

LOST.............................!

Lost--one motivation.  Can I find it again?  And Soon?!!  Okay, let's dig through our STASH bin and see what's been aging for awhile==maybe, we'll find motivation there. 
Of Course, here is that darling purse pattern/kit I bought way back in ____ (?) who knows when. 
We even took time to mark the pattern on the wool panel.......And it's just been sitting around--aging!

Now, do you have any idea how long it took for me to do this little bit of stitching?  Answer--not long......once I found

 the box of perle cottons floss--recipe calls for just plain embroidery floss, but I think perle cotton would look nicer.

Oh my gosh!  Here is a pattern that I had stuffed down in the bottom of my knitting bag.....

And there is the knitting that was begun--or how long ago??  And it's handspun wool too boot.
 

Oh Gee Whiz--I bought this scarf kit from a rep-- I remember-- I thought it was absolutely smashing when I saw it--but, haven't done a darn thing with it yet.  Okay, we'll let it age awhile longer.
Motivation is out there and I'm hoping I can find it soon. 


Saturday, October 19, 2013

'INTERWOVEN V'

“INTERWOVEN V” is a juried exhibition that  runs from October 19, 2013 through October 27, 2013.  Fiber will be the primary medium – cloth, yarn, paper, basketry, felt or leather.  This exhibit is featured at 18 Hands Gallery and the opening reception is October 19th.

Tapestry piece by Gerry Woodhouse
This hand dyed woven purse is by Kyla Crawford.
You have seen this piece before on the blog, but look how Scharine exhibits this lovely silk shibori scarf
There are many wonderful fiber pieces in this special gallery offering--take a look at the website or better still visit the gallery--only one week though!

Tuesday, October 15, 2013

TEXAS CONTEMPORARY ART FAIR

 
What a treat to visit Texas Contemporary Art Fair recently!  The displays and exhibits from nation wide galleries and artists was set up nicely, with interesting grid path to accompany visitors.  Take a look at the website and browse through the photos and special exhibits.  I took a few photos....................
 
 
This piece was impressive from a walk by and then upon a closer inspection.........

Why not do this same thing with paint chips?

Tara Tucker

Bigfoot Loves Minicorn, 2013
Presented by Rena Bransten Gallery
I love this Big Foot!

He certainly can take up a large portion of your room........


And a true "Living Room"

Pablo Siquier

1308, 2013
Presented by Sicardi Gallery
 

And why not make pieces from sugar casts?

The whole space gave off the sense of contemporary!

Clayton Brothers

Wishy Washy, 2006
Presented by Mark Moore Gallery

 


Ewerdt Hilgemann

Imploded Column (2:1), 2008
Presented by Kopeikin Gallery

 


Friday, October 11, 2013

WOW! AT IT AGAIN!

Back in the folds of WOW (Way Out West) Weavers after a summer of absence.............. These gals never cease to amaze me--why you ask?  Because several of them are fairly new to weaving world.  We are a mixture of experienced weavers and beginners who are on the verge of being experienced
This hand painted warp by Tracy (our very experienced weaver/teacher) is absolutely delightful.  She was finishing up tying the fringe  and will place this textile in our guild's fall sale.

Ah, how can Scharine do it?  This lovely crackle weave scarf with hand dyed soy silk is smashing!

Scharine also branches into other parts of the fiber field with this indigo dyed silk shibori

I know how much time it takes to tie up all those little tips and we aren't talking minutes either--but the results are well worth it!

Scharine is also doing 'burn-out' on this silk/acrylic scarf--another WOW factor! 

She uses a stencil to create the flowing floral effect

A Waffle Weave towel from the looms of Tracy

Tracy hand stitches the hem on her towels

And we come to Barbara's work--she has such an eye for color -- lovely scarf and such master weaving!

Barbara will have this shadow weave towel in the guild fall sale--it will quickly be grabbed up, I'm sure!  I'm glad she likes to weave this structure--because I don't!   You can visit Barbara at her blog Barb-e Designs



Then we come to Leigh's work--a fairly 'new' weaver--she has a loom with two back beams and she wanted to learn how to use that feature, so off she went..............and wove this sampler from the following Hand-woven magazine.  I think she is learning some pretty spiffy stuff about her loom and her weaving techniques


Tuesday, October 8, 2013

Fall! Autumn! Break Between Summer & Winter..................................

I didn't think I would work on anything for fall--seems there is plenty of hangings for this season around the house, but when this little hanging popped up, I couldn't resist--after all, it was just a 'small' wall piece!



Little Bits of This and That offered a Mystery Monday--well, I'm there!!  Surfing the internet sure can get you in trouble.............................


Just a small pattern each Monday--how could this do any harm?  So, dig out those fall fabrics and begin--one pumpkin and then another
Then comes the page break with little squares (we do mean little!) and of course, those fall leaves--always fun to make those leaves...............
We are adding some little fussy cut star blocks

Really like these little acorns!
The next Monday we added the frame work to the spider stars

And to the acorns

complete the right side of the hanging................

Look! what we get!!  It is finished and ready to be backed and quilted--which might come next year--but, what a fun project to do. 

Repurposing!

 Still cleaning out closets; finding all sorts of interesting things I had forgotten about.  Years ago, I had spun cotton and wove on indigo...