Marled Yarns

The challenge is to spin this fiber into yarn--and present

a completed project in January 2018 at our annual spin-in

I'm looking at this fiber thinking--I don't want to spin each roving

separately--I'm going for that marled yarn look

Spin a little white, spin a little black, spin a little tan--no

rhyme or reason to the pattern

Then ply--here is the look on the bobbin

and in a ball--Now, let me tell you--I have been spinning this

'marled' yarn for years!  Every since I was spindle spinning silk and

had all these little balls of spun silk--how do you use them individually?

you take 2 or 3 or 4 and ply them together and get

Marled yarn!!  

Marled yarns are formed by twisting together plies of different colors. The result is a single strand of yarn with multiple colors winding around one another.Marled yarns can be made from any number of plies—two, three, four, etc.

Oh My! Flower Pots!

Esther Aliu is offering the most gorgeous flower display of all times!

This begins today--15th of each month, through November, a

different section will be revealed!

and it's FREE!  No strings attached!

just download and create to your heart's content!

This wall hanging will finish at 38"x48".

"Images" "Trees"

The current exhibits at Kerrville Arts and Cultural Center are diverse--there are three in the gallery now, through August 27.  One is presented by Dinah Bowman with artwork inspired by geological formations--

sorry, I didn't take any photos of this exhibit

One of the other exhibits is "Trees:  Artistic View" by

Hardy Lewis

The Quilted Tree

Painting of Tree Trunk

Steel Tree #1

Weeping Willow Tree

Panel of six trees

Bloodlines

Untitled

The Hanging Tree

Close-up of Hanging Tree

Trees, in my opinion, have always been nature's art form--

elegant, mostly stable, winging towards the sky with

upward swinging branches

The juried show by Kathleen Cook

There were many interesting pieces in this exhibit--paintings,

mixed media, etc.  but being a fiber person, I looked for

those presented in that medium.

Above is stitching work by Kim Paxson:  

"Mary Oliver's Question"

This piece won blue ribbon in the category 

"On Butterfly Wings" by Kathie Carlson

Weaving of textures--and here is the butterfly

"Texas Toast" by Ginger Collins

Stitchery along with painting

"Waiting" by Ginger Collins

Painting on fiber with stitchery

This colorful wall displayed winners with their ribbons.

Excellent representation from Kerrville Arts and Cultural members!

Summer Solar Eclipse QAL

How exciting to have this quilt along to coincide with the

upcoming eclipse!  This isn't a mystery--the reveal is here

and step by step instructions will be given

All the blocks are Ohio Stars!  I love Ohio Stars!

well, I like anything that is a star in a quilt!

There will be lots of Flying Geese...............

here is her video to show how to make four geese

from two squares of fabric.

What's for dinner.

What's for dinner?  Always a dilemma--sometimes I like to cook, but in these hot days of summer, I just want to lounge, drink a glass of ice tea (unsweetened, please) and wait to see if the dinner fairies show up--never have, never will!

On this particular day I pulled some shrimp from the freezer and thought about what to prepare-- the first day, hubby said let's go for a burger--who am I to say, but honey, I need to cook those shrimp.  So, I put the still frozen shrimp in the refrigerator to thaw--they'll be good tomorrow.
Tomorrow comes, and we had a late breakfast and mid day meal--no shrimp there either.  Finally, the third day, I KNEW I had to fix those shrimp.  Besides, they were completely thawed--what to make?

We really like Paula Dean's Fiery Cajun shrimp, which takes butter and Texas Pete hot sauce--good ole Texas Pete was nowhere to be found in the pantry.  Alexa--add to list--Texas Pete.

Another shrimp dish that is easy peazy is just to boil them--or sauté with butter and garlic,but I wanted something different-- how about shrimp and grits?  Never made that before and I'm in a cooking mode.  Gather ingredients, which I do have on hand!  Here is the recipe from Bobby Flay

• 4 cups water
• Salt and pepper
• 1 cup stone-ground grits
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese
• 1 pound shrimp, peeled and deveined
• 6 slices bacon, chopped
• 4 teaspoons lemon juice
• 2 tablespoons chopped parsley
• 1 cup thinly sliced scallions
• 1 large clove garlic, minced

Yum, Yum!  

Now, I'm back in my mode of not cooking again for awhile!

Dished up and served and 15 minutes later--all gone!

Another Free BOM

Here is another chance to sew through the long month of August.

Jacquelynne  has a special I Love Home sew along for you.

Head over to her blog and sign up to receive the information.

I didn't see a start date, just know it's in August.  And it looks like

fun.  She has some fabric suggestions on her blog along with a coloring

page--love that idea!  You can plan ahead or let the youngsters do

the deed for you!  

Along with this one, I'm planning to join in Bee In My Bonnet's

August sewing event.

Each week there will be a tutorial--the instruction manual (yes, manual--24

pages of information!) is already on her website!

Gather those fabrics and let's play!

Chinese Quilts

And there it was!  The Chinese quilt banner hanging on the entryway to the

International Folk Art Museum in Santa Fe

I walked in to find the most fascinating pieces of fiber arts all from

Southwest China!  We have visited China and saw first hand the lovely works

of art--I even bought a few small pieces, which I think have been

taken off larger pieces.  But, I never saw such a collection as this.

Take a walk through this vast array of quilts and

read some of the history

Here is a whole paper on this type of work, coming from

University of Nebraska, Lincoln, which has one of the nicest

quilt museums

Chinese patchwork, also known a Hundred-Families robe (Chinese: 百家衣, baijiayi), is made by sewing scraps of fabric together to form design art. This technique is still used in Chinese quilting. Silk or cotton is used to make the patchwork.

There is much symbolism in each of the quilts 

And colors burst forth in all blocks

Silk embroidery is used most often to decorate

This was a joyous journey through some of China's greatest works.