Color At My Fingertips

The loom is warp ready and I've placed colorful fibers to

brighten up a rather gloomy time.  I have certain shuttles that

I like to use--the one on the right is my favorite--a gift from

CHT board members when I retired as President--

it glides nicely across the 8/2 cotton threads. 

Each of these towels will use a different weft color--purple pops across

the orange/red warp

A little blue too makes my heart sing with delight as I

throw the shuttle--heres to a treadling good day as 

the warp progresses on the front beam.

Another towel is humming along-----wait! there is one big

glaring mistake!!  Somehow, the weft didn't cross the warp in

a few pieces--guess what?  It's time to rippppppp back to the 

mistake!

Oh well, I found this before I took the warp off the loom.

!

Whew!  off the loom!  Look at all those weft ends that

need to be darned back into the warp--handwork for sure!

I'm happy with the results from this warp--when I'm weaving

I'm thinking about the next warp--

each warp in my mind will change as I progress on the

loom-- I will leave plenty of warp, so if I choose

I can tie on the next warp--

Happy treadling y'all!

Hearts All Aflutter--It's Valentine Day!

Just last week, I took the time to remove all my snowmen

and decorate the house with Valentines--lots of pinks and

reds are showcased around the rooms!  

I find there aren't many seasonal quilts in my stash.

This is one that was made from a kit about 7 or 8 years ago.

This exchange quilt was one that was enjoyable to piece

together.  Each year when I bring it out, there are my

friends from 20 years ago.  We had such fun designing

our heart block.

Why is it we love this time of the year?  What will you do

to celebrate this supposedly most romantic day of the year?

Will there be a dinner out with your favorite person?

An alone evening with just yourself?

Sometimes it becomes an ordinary day for errands and chores,

and hopefully, when evening rolls around--there

will be a special box of candy or a bouquet of flowers

waiting for me!

Hope your Valentine Day is all you want it to be!

The history of Valentine’s Day–and the story of its patron saint–is shrouded in mystery. We do know that February has long been celebrated as a month of romance, and that St. Valentine’s Day, as we know it today, contains vestiges of both Christian and ancient Roman tradition. But who was Saint Valentine, and how did he become associated with this ancient rite? Check it out at

HERE

Mardi Gras!!

Mardi Gras Day!!   is coming tomorrow- time for all the jovial adventures and events to come to a climax at midnight Tuesday.  There has been celebrations for weeks--

Colors of Mardi Gras come alive as table decorations!

I found these decorations at the Alabama Rest Stop.

Why not leave up that Christmas tree to decorate

in Mardi Gras colors?!!

Did you know that Mardi Gras originated in

Mobile, Alabama before New Orleans??

Having a Mardi Gras Theme party?  Here is a tablescape

from From My Carolina Home.

Blog finds a Mardi Gras mini quilt for decoration.

time for the last King Cake................
The Epiphany or Little Christmas is observed on January 6th in many Christian churches. This day has come to be known as "Kings Day."

Since the 300's the day has honored the meeting of the three Wise Men with the infant Jesus. King Cakesbecame a part of the celebration to symbolize the "finding of the infant Jesus." 

Traditionally, 

King Cakes

 are oval-shaped to show unity of all Christians. The Mardi Gras season, which begins on this "Twelfth Night" (January 6th), is expressed on King Cakes by using the carnival colors of purple, green and gold. As a King Cake is cut, each person awaits anxiously for his piece to locate the small baby. 

A plastic baby is inserted in each King Cake. The person who finds the baby is deemed the "King" or "Queen" and will bring the King Cake to the next King Cake party.

Color of The Month--Blue--Color of the Year--Violet

Do you follow fashion trends?  Or color trends?

This color of the year is ultra-violet!

I'm screaming now--I dislike that color!!  I'm an

Orange person!  --but, I'll survive

the year.  Our theme for 2019 at January spin-in is

PURPLE cowl--!!!  Who thought that one up--My 

partner in crime!!  She loves that P color and so

many of our spinners love that color!  

So, take a look at Violet, if you are a Purple person!

Now, if you are in that color spectrum--maybe, 

BLUE is your color--who doesn't like blue??

Books have been written about Blue 

Isn't He adorable?  Find this blue bear HERE

and learn more about BLUE

Blue is calming, refreshing, relaxing, sustaining – like a quiet day on the beach. Blue can be healing – a soft caress of colour. Blue feels steadfast and safe.

Blue symbolises trustworthiness and maturity, and is a signal to be taken seriously. Blue is the brand you can trust. Blue appears in over half of all corporate logos. “You can rely on us” it says.

But blue doesn’t have to be sedate and serious. Blue is very versatile. Blue can be fun, just perhaps often in a more contemplative kind of way than some other colours.

And blue is certainly not always gentle. Blue has its own energy – it is full of life and vitality. Clean water and a clear sky both look blue. Blue is the colour of our shared home, our planet Earth. Blue is the colour of vastness – the endless sky, the unfathomable ocean, the horizon and the distant mountains. Height, depth, distance – they’re all blue!

It's A Gnome Kind of Year.

Fatcat Patterns is back on my radar!  I have always enjoyed Sindy's

patterns.  And she offers them free during the month they are posted.

Beginning in February, you can download the first of the Gnome

blocks--everyone of these Gnomes will set your heart singing

as you create them!

 Here is another Gnome BOM!  Piecemakers Quilt Shop is 

offering these Gnomes at $5 for the pattern or you can

purchase a kit for $19--I'm going for the pattern as

I have a wool stash.

It's going to be a fun stitching time with

Gnomes.

A gnome /noʊm/^[1] is a diminutive spirit in Renaissance magic and alchemy, first introduced by Paracelsus in the 16th century and later adopted by more recent authors including those of modern fantasy literature. Its characteristics have been reinterpreted to suit the needs of various story tellers, but it is typically said to be a small humanoid that lives underground.^[2]

Garden Mystery in Woolwork

Do you know the Ricky Nelson song "Garden Party"?

I've been listening to oldies XM station and this song

popped into my head when I saw this stitch along in

wool.

"Went to a garden party to reminisce with my old friends

A chance to share old memories and play our songs again
When I got to the garden party, they all knew my name"

If you know that song, it can be an ear worm for you now!

Farmhouse Threads is hosting this SAL on their blog--

each Friday for several weeks, you can download a 

different pattern from each blog--

it's a chance to meet other woolmakers and see

their products.

Happy Stitching in a garden of wool!

February 2nd, Rhonda McCray, Farmhouse Threads

www.farmhousethreads.com

February 9th, Kathi Campbell, Heart to Hand

www.hearttohand.com

February 16th, Linda and Donna, My Red Door Designs

www.myreddoordesigns.com

February 23rd, Kathy and Taylor, The Cottage at Cardiff Farms

www.thecottogeatcardifffarms.com

March 2nd, Lisa Bongean, Primitive Gatherings

www.primitivegatherings.us

March 9th, Shawn York, The Rusty Crow

www.rustycrow.com

March 16th, Jeni Gaston, Woolen Willow Designs

www.woolenwillowdesigns.com

March 23rd, Debbie Busby, Wooden Spool Designs

www.woodenspooldesigns.com

March 30th, Joyce Weeks, Geoff’s Mom Pattern Co.

www.geoffsmompatterns.com

April 6th, Gloria, Vicky and Heather, Olde Green Cupboard

www.oldegreencupboard.com

April 13th, Laurel Arestad, Simply Put Plus

www.simplyputplus.com

April 20th, Joan Grenke, Bits and Pieces by Joan

www.bitsandpiecesbyjoan.com

April 27th, finishing instructions by Rhonda McCray, Farmhouse Threads

www.farmhousethreads.com

Towels-Towels-Towels--Handwoven!!

Our WOW (Way Out West) Weaver study group is continuing their year long study of

handwoven towels.

February we talked about Principles of design as we looked at each towel.

Barbara's shadow weave towels had balance and pattern

She does an excellent work with her  12 Harness weave structure

We can also see Repetition in the usage of stripes

Marion showed her "play" towel--this towel had

pattern and movement with the texture 

We have a new weaver, who had her rigid heddle towel

Her cottolin towel had a soft hand and used repetition in the weave.

Can you see the small skips in the warp?  

This cotton towel uses variety in the design

Gretchen wants to weave this towel again--

it has the hand and drape that one enjoys in a towel.

It is cottonlin with single linen as weft--

To me this is balance in the strip effect.

How about movement this handwoven!

Front and back keep your eye moving 

Love this one!  Not balanced but movement unifies 

the towel

Overshot gives this rhythm--I can just feel the

treadles as you walk through the design

Marion C enjoys this color selection.

Three towels from one warp!  Yes!

Variety is a factor here

Karen I used emphasis:  will make one area stand out by contrasting it with

other areas.  The area is different in size, color, texture and shape.

She enjoyed changing the sett to weave unique towels

Purple and yellow compliments each other--

Tracy used a hand-dyed yarn to add balance to the strips

Here is another Karen towel--emphasis on color

Karen plays with color combinations by wrapping her

yarns on cards--this way you can see if the colors

'play' right with each other

Karen used thick and thin method in M's and O's weave.

What design principle does this cover?  

Balance, emphasis, movement, pattern, repetition,

proportion, rhythm, variety, unity?

Gerry used 16/2 cotton for this interesting weave--

how cool is this?

Scharine had two "Spots and Dashes" towels--

Lisa's towels are well loved--these are some of the

first towels she wove--

We also talked about the recent linen workshop with

 Jetta Vandermeiden

Each warp used different linen yarn--this one used

16/2 linen in lace weave--which gives long floats

on the reverse side

This warp was 35/2 linen

Barbara had a shawl to show--12H advancing twill in Tencel

lovely, shimmering hand with nice drape!

This is so much to learn about design principles--