Savor--These Handwovens!

Our April meeting of WOW (Way Out West) Weavers was a humdinger!  We had lots of show along with some tell.  Some of our members are moving, some are working on their flood damaged homes, some are traveling,  but we still come together to share our love and joy of weaving!

INSPIRATION!  all in one morning!

1-2-3--Done! Right!

Holy Smokes!  It's Friday the 13th!

Beware.............

January, February, March--all three blocks are finished for

the Clementine quilt.  

I goofed up with February, but did make it right--

January block was more time consuming--it would

be helpful IF I read the instructions correctly and carefully before

beginning!  

The block instructions don't come out till last of the month.

I'm ready for April's block

Here I'm making these 12" finished blocks--so proud of myself

then realize there is also 16" block that should be made to go

into the quilt--well, bummer!  guess I'll see if I can work

those into my schedule sometime down the road--if not,

This will be a very small baby quilt :-]

Orange is the Color of the Month

Here is April's color bear for the month--isn't he cute?  He comes via Clever Chameleon--

Orange, the blend of red and yellow, is a mixture of the energy associated with red and the happiness associated with yellow. Orange is associated with meanings of joy, warmth, heat, sunshine, enthusiasm, creativity, success, encouragement, change, determination, health, stimulation, happiness, fun, enjoyment, balance, sexuality, freedom, expression, and fascination.

Orange is the color of joy and creativity. Orange promotes a sense of general wellness and emotional energy that should be shared, such as compassion, passion, and warmth. Orange will help a person recover from disappointments, a wounded heart, or a blow to one’s pride.

The meaning of the color orange is stimulating, vibrant, and flamboyant. While made up of red and yellow, it carries less aggression and fierceness than the color red due to its combination with the calming color yellow.

Studies show that the orange color can create physical effects such as increased hunger, heightened sense of activity, increased socialization, boost in aspiration, stimulated mental activity, increased oxygen supply to the brain, increased contentment, and enhanced assurance. Orange also helps aid decision making, and enhances happiness, confidence, and understanding.

The color orange is a very hot color and often provides the sensation of heat. While orange is a common color associated with summer and the hot sun, often associated with being a main color of harvest and autumn due to the changing color of the leaves and pumpkins.

While orange does stimulate the appetite, it is a common color found in citrus fruit and is often associated with Vitamin C and a healthy diet. Orange is a popular color in restaurants to encourage the feeling of hunger and contentment.

The color orange has very high visibility and is often used to gain attention. It still gets your message noticed without the bold, in-your-face presence that the color red has.

Too much orange causes self-centered and self-serving qualities, including pride, arrogance, and lack of care for others. Too little orange causes loss of motivation, lower self-esteem, and loneliness.

Different shades, tints, and hues of orange have different meanings. For example, dark orange may represent deceit and distrust, while red-orange relates to passion, pleasure, desire, aggression, domination, and action, and a golden orange often stands for prestige, wisdom, illumination, wealth, and quality. A light orange or peach color tend to be more friendly and soothing.

Hat Addiction........

this is my latest addiction!! HATS!

Do I need an intervention?!  Not yet please!

I'm having too much fun!

Hats, hats and more hats!  I see a pattern

and think it needs to be knitted--plenty of

stash yarns to use for these projects.

Recently, one of my favorite hat designers, Woolly Wormhead,

offered free patterns for her blog followers--Join

her Woolly Hat Society--she has some awesome hat patterns.

All Finished!

I could sit and knit her hats all day long-I learn something

new--with this pattern I learned a new cast on method-

alternate cable--gives a nice beginning edge.   I had several balls

of Cumulus leftover from another knit along--Sequential 

is based on Fibonacci sequence.

This fun  Classic Beanie is such an easy knit and

the construction is fabulous!  I'm knitting with yarn that

I bought for another project but never did that project--

Alaska Yarns was the supplier--the yarn is so soft

and easy to knit with

The yarn is "pooling" --that doesn't

bother me--makes for an interesting look.

As I'm knitting with this interesting yarn,

-this looks like a landscape

and the other side of the hat

Finished!  So fun to knit--was afraid I'd messed up

the ending--but all is well--great way to get a

finished hat.

Of course, I've found another hat pattern to

knit....do I dare?!

Origami Knit--the finish on this thing is fascinating! 

And here is the April Hat of the Month:

Finlandia by Paige Buursma

Finlandia is a fitted, worsted-weight beanie that is knitted in the round from the brim to the crown. The repeated tree motif is made from basic lace stitches (K2tog, YO, and SSK).

The designer suggested Malabrigo Yarn--perfect!  It's in my stash!

--

Let"s Read!

What do you do in your spare time--if you have any?

I love to read!  And always, always on the lookout for

a good book to read.

One time when we went to bookstore with my 

mother, I asked her if she would like to look for

books to read--her reply,

"I have A book to read!"

Oh My Gosh--just one book!

Here are some of the latest finds.

Nick Petrie:"Light It Up"--I've read his other two

books so third one is a must--

Brad Meltzer: "Escape Artist"  Oh, yes--a history

lesson wrapped into a mystery!

Huan Hsu:  "The Porcelain Thief"--what could be better

than a tale about Chinese porcelains treasures buried--the hunt is on!

Rhys Brown:  "The Tuscan Child"--a story that takes place in Italy

and England.  I'm 2/3 the way through this.

Mario Giordano:  "Auntie Poldi and the Sicilian Lions"--60 year old

Aunt detective--I couldn't wait to read this one--Finished!!

Ben Aaronovitch:  "Midnight Riot"--oh boy!  This sounds really good!

and then two Irish 'cozy' reads by Carlene O'Connor--a trip to

Ireland!! 

And then, we made a trip to Costco--it was bad news when

I walked by the book shelf--more interesting books!

Harlan Coben"  "Don't Let Go"  pure fast reading with a good

story line

Anthony Horowitz:  "Magpie Murders"--a story within a story

John Grisham:  "Camino Island"--probably text book story line,

but fun read

Janet Beart:  "The Atomic City Girls"--a tale of women at

the Manhattan Project

Sometimes, I get lucky with Paperback swap and find a book

I've been wanting to read; such is the case with Christine Carbo's

"Mortal Fall".  I have many credits with PBS so it didn't cost

me anything to receive this book--just takes time as it is 

sent by the owner by media mail--it isn't as if there isn't

anything to read!

Tools/Tricks of the Trade

As progress of the Clementine Quilt Along continues,

I'm learning more and more about shortcuts to speed 

cutting along.

This is March block--on the website.

Mine is still on the sewing machine table

All the pieces have been cut, marked and sewn along

the correct lines--

Chain stitching is a must when you want speed.

I found these nifty little gadgets work well when you

are trying to square up half square triangles. There are two rulers in each

package ( Slotted Trimmers by Kari Carr)

These need to be trimmed to 2" unfinished--best part is

the slots to cut off 'dog ears' too!

I was sewing along merrily--all blocks were sewn together--

well, crunch berries--thread had run out of the bobbin!!

I hate when that happens--so I quit for the day!

Then I re-read the directions for the blocks and see that

directions call for 12.5" block AND 20.5" block!

For the past three months, I've only done the 12.5"

Guess I'll go back and make the larger blocks........

so much for reading the directions first time around!

Four Seasons

It's time to work on Summer of the Four Seasons designed by 

Laura Paschkis, who is an author of children's books.

She has designed these marvelous center blocks for

each season.

Summer requires a little paper piecing--

sometimes I'd rather do PP instead of

using templates

All the parts and pieces are cut prior to

going to the paper

Well, look at that top one!  Doesn't quite meet the

ending--okay, a do over!

Here is one of the star points for the border of Summer-

really cool looking

Completed! all borders on and ready for the quilter--

along with my Fall and Winter panels

This is the cover of the kit

Now, working on Spring--guess I should have done Spring first

Bear Creek Quilt Company has free instructions for all the

seasons--just add your own fabrics and if you like the

insert panel, you can purchase it.  I bought the kits for

this series--had the coordinating fabric

Here is the winter panel--