Blue Hands!!

I'm anxious to get those Indigo Blue Hands again!  Doesn't matter if I wear gloves--I still
get blue hands!  Enjoy these videos on Japanese Indigo Dyeing!


Why the interest in Indigo dyeing?  Every year our expatcher quilt group shares birthday
fat quarter fabrics with each other on our birthdays.  One of the girls has asked for Indigo
fabric for her selection--here comes the dye pot for her!! And my handspun cotton towels on
the loom--

Let's Learn As We Knit

Solene Knits has created a stranded knitting challenge--I'm 

 ready for another challenge.  Visit the website for 

further information.  The project begins NOW!

 And Away we Go!! 

July Snowflake Quilt

Quilting Jet Girl is hosting a free quilt along July 1-

December 1.  Although not, a mystery, she has revealed

the finished project.

The material list is up now--this is a generous quilt

at 72" x 88"--perfect for some fancy quilting in the

solid areas.  

Recycle--Reuse

these “recycled” denim fibers are leftovers from the “makin’ o’ the blue jeans” at the mills. Fibre Garden has a photo of the waste before it is

processed into roving

I know this fiber was popular many moons ago and

recently when I was stash diving, I found a hank of this 

lovely soft fiber--aha, it was time to spin for my

handspun cotton towels that are on the loom--

they need more blue and I wasn't in the mood

to set up an indigo vat

It spins up nicely--

One bobbin finished and balled!

As you can see, some of the singles plied on itself--

I put too much twist so it was a

challenge to ply and get an even yarn--

but I did it!!

On The Loom...................

From my cotton handspun bin I'm using every one of

plied cottons I have to warp my loom--I had indigo dyed cotton, white

cotton, brown cotton and some blue jean cotton ( recycled stuff)

The handspun cotton bin is becoming empty--

means I must begin spinning cotton again

and SOON!

This warp is tied on from the previous warp, which was

random  commercial 8/2 cotton warp -but, there is nothing

like natural cotton-- love the

look and feel of real cotton

The best part is knowing I spun all this fiber--

There is no rhyme or reason to the way the warp is set up--

just random--I like to do that with my warps--

weft is handspun cotton--right now, a shot of brown

and a shot of white--threaded 1-2-3-4 with direct tie-up

so if I want to do a twill I can.

Plain weave for now--

love it!!

Scratching My Head...................

I've been going through my handspun stash; looking for singles to

ply for future projects.  One major problem--I'm not sure what

the fiber is!  Well, when I spun it and placed it in a special bag,

I didn't label it--I said to myself "I'll remember what this is"

Now, we are several years down the road and

guess what, my memory has failed me!!

Why didn't I write on the bag what the fiber was?!!

Stupid!  So now, I'm playing a guessing game

This is plying up nicely--good feel to the fingers--

can't be linen--I hate to spin linen!

We're going to do the burn test --Maybe,

it's hemp--I do KNOW it's a natural fiber--

all the manmade fibers are in another box...

oh, well...we'll see soon.  

Now, THIS is silk!! That I know for sure--

and it's dyed with indigo!  Singles and

what a mess!  What happen with this ball?!

only the fiber goblins know--

I'll try to ply--if not, I can use it as singles--

silk is strong and almost unbreakable.

I'm off to dig in my stash again--wonder

what finds are there?  

Traveller..................

Do you know the song "The Traveller" by Chris Stapleton?


The words to this song is the way I feel!  We have been travelling lately...........WHY?

We spent several days in New Orleans--traveled there so we could see and hear the above man--along with the King of Country--George Strait!

We stayed in hotel on Canal Street near the Mississippi- River-the view from

our corner room was fabulous--we could see the river, the great chicken bridge,

people walking along the streets below, hear the calilpore from the steamboat, 

watch the rain clouds move in and out as we viewed

barges being pushed into dock.

We had fireworks over the river one night in celebration of the birth of New Orleans--

300 years old!  We heard many jazz songs as we walked the streets and

saw sights we want to scrub from our mind.

The handmade ceramic oyster dishes in Royal street shop window--

lovely!  A visit to Central Grocery for that famous olive salad

for our Muffuletta sandwiches.  

This is not our first visit to New Orleans--we lived in Baton Rouge for 20 years

so made many trips to New Orleans.  

The concert was excellent!  That is a good reasons to travel!

So, we are travelling on to our next spot for the summer--see you down

the road.

Happy travelling!