39 ++++Still Counting!

Happy Birth---day to Me!

Yes, I have always said I was 39 when asked "how old are you?" 

Then I add "plus x number of years".  It takes awhile to

add the two numbers together--

I enjoy my age, even with the aches and pains of the body.

No, I don't want to look my age--but, the other

day a young-er gal said to me

"I'm looking forward to having gray hair.  I figured I earned them!"

I thought what a great thought!

But, I'm still highlighting my gray head, people!!

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Sterling LaBosky owner of Sterling Quilt Company, has designed this super quick table runner project. Fall is her favorite season, October is Sterling's favorite month, and Halloween is a favorite holiday, and this recipe is perfect for your favorite fall mini charm pack. It’s also the perfect project to break out of your white background comfort zone. Black and…BOO!

This table runner finishes at 18″ x 34″.

1 Chestnut Street by Fig Tree & Co. mini charm pack
1/2 yard background fabric {Bella Solid Washed Black 9900 118}
1/4 yard pumpkin fabric {Bella Solid Snow 9900 11}
2/3 yard backing fabric
1/4 yard binding fabric

You can find this pattern recipe Moda Bake Shop

Stitching Christmas! Never too early.........................

Val Laird has the first of six free Christmas Tree ornaments that she will be sharing with you. There will be a new one added each fortnight. Here is the Christmas Pudding:

She has added embroidery and some crochet techniques to

her unique ornaments.

You can find this pattern along with the other forthcoming ones

in Craftsy

Weave, Wove, Woven

It was weavers gathering day!  Hurray!  Always a great time to see what my fellow

weavers are doing in their studio.

Marion showed off her inkle woven bookmarks that she gave as thank you to

her garden club members.

She used natural colored cotton (green and brown) in this tape woven lenght

She also had this 'dog' off the loom after 5 years!  It's is absolutely lovely!

Light and fluffy as a cloud with this mohair boucle yarn--hard to weave that's for sure,

but a real bonus for her sofa this winter.

Not all our talk is about wovens.  Connie was showing off the indigo dyed

napkins, stitched in patterns.  These napkins will be used for the

state conference luncheon

So many interesting and unique patterns in shibori technique

The guild is hosting stitching days where anyone can assist with these

stitchings and learn some new techniques in the process

Every napkin is different!

We'll need over 200 napkins as luncheon favors

This is my favoritef!

Connie was demonstrating how to achieve these lines in the cloth with

resist stitching

Penny showed off her woven fabrics to be used as aprons.

She used an overshot pattern between plain weave.

Look closely and you can see how the plain weave does the 'tracking' element

when washed.  This has to do with the way the fibers are twisted and spun--

nice patterning technique

Penny also had these interesting towels she wove in Cottolin.

And Penny has these wonderful linen washcloths that she makes every year for the guild sale.

These sale like hotcakes--she pairs them with goat milk soap--perfect gift!

Super duper day spent with friends of like mind.

Hats--Done!!

This was such fun to knit--I hastily picked up a ball of yarn and my needles as we

were going out of town.  I need something to do with my hands as we travel.

Knit, knit, knit--follow the pattern and soon I see that the yarn is changing colors

Well, I'll be!  This is a ball of leftovers!  yarns that have been wound together

into a ball--forgot I did that! 

 But, who cares--I like the color changes!

This was Sea Folk by Jennifer Lysen

This is the second hat off my needles--It is Picacho Peak

by  Alyssa Latuchie 

The yarn is silk and feels so soft; will be nice to stuff into a coat

pocket for anytime use.

New Publication!

a date has been set for the first issue! There are a lot of foundational instruction to write, patterning to check, and stash to organize before we go live. Plus plenty of time to contribute your ideas into the first issue. Here is what's going on behind the scenes.

Preface: What is THIS yarn and How to Organize Your Stash
Chapter One: Knitting
Chapter Two: Crochet
Chapter Three: Weaving
Chapter Four: Fiber Art

Every pattern will be organized by yarn texture (tailspun, coiled, etc.) and yardage (1-25, 25-50, 50-100, etc.) and weight/WPI (TBD). We are coming up with names for defining weights of "Super Bulky" that are most common in the industry. The commercial yarn industry has "Fingering" "Lace" "Worsted" "Chunky" etc. We need terms too - don't you agree? 

RE-DO!

Have you ever finished a project, stepped back and gave it a good look, and just didn't like what you see?  That happens to me all the time--wish I had a magic mirror that would tell me--"Don't do it with that fiber or fabric!"  It would be so much easier.

I finished the first block of "Be My Neighbor" by Moda, sponsored by Bear Creek Quilting Company

And I did NOT like it!  Not only did I get the chimneys off the roof, but I just didn't like the fabric

I selected.  It's always interesting how the selection of fabric makes a difference.

Then the light bulb went off in my head--why not use plaids for my neighborhood?

DUH!  I have a whole box of plaids just waiting to be accommodated--

and then went I dropped into Creations last week and saw this 

awesome PLAID quilt on their welcoming wall--I just knew 

Plaids were the way to go!

Navajo Code Talkers Quilt

I just had to buy a bundle of plaids and stripes!

This is such a neat looking quilt.  I hope to make my

Neighborhood plaid friendly!

This is the second block in the neighborhood and it's plaids.  Haven't redone the first

block yet so I'm on schedule to behind in this project!!