Weavers January Gathering

What a great way to begin 2020! Meeting with weavers/fiber artists fellows--

We met at Rosemary's home--her entrance way is truly an introduction to a world

of lovely things--step right in and let's visit........

Rosemary bought this piece of mud cloth at a recent show and sale--she loved it so much that

she had decided to wear it to the Sante Fe Opera this summer 

She plans to take apart the seams and use this a wrap for the cool evening nights--

it will be spectacular!

Rosemary showed off her new fashion accessory (on left) cut from t-shirts!  Absolutely fun, fun, fun!  On the right are folded stars, a gift from a friend--we had no idea what type of paper or technique--very intriguing no less 

Barbara showed her four woven twill towels--a commission--the colors are

interesting--each towel has a different treadling and the colors were the choice

of the client

Diane is showing off her handwork--she is following TAST on FB--

A different stitch each Tuesday--Diane found this base cloth and adds

her stitches each week and by year's end she has a completed cloth with

different unique stitches

Diane also has been experimenting (quite nicely, I'll add) with eco-dyeing--she uses leaves of oak, pecan, chinaberry trees and various other sundry natural ingredients to get these lovely designs on
her hand woven cloth

She combines some stitching to showcase certain elements of her designs--just to think all this color comes nature--mordanted cloth and boiling water!  Lovely!

Valentine's Day Just Ahead

I know--why start Valentine Day items now?!!  It's only a few days away--

I've been thinking that hearts are not just for February 14th.

Hearts can be given to anyone any day of the year--

Give to someone facing a health situation,

or has had a bad day overall.

Diary of a Quilter has a listing of various heart projects--

I collect red and white all the time--never know when it will come

in handy.

Heartbeat--a free pattern using Jelly Rolls--contemporary for sure.

Scrappy Log Cabin on the right  So many more Heart ideas on Pinterest!

More than 35 years ago, our quilt guild exchanged heart blocks--make X number of blocks for the number of those that want to exchange--set a date for the exchange--gather your blocks and assemble your heart quilt!

definitely a quilt filled with lots of "HEART"

Each person chose their own technique and pattern--we each had 20 blocks--This was so much fun and each year I pull out this quilt and remember all my friends from those days.

Least Favorite Color

Least favorite color:  Hardly ever work with purple!!  What is your favorite color?  Least favorite?
What do color do you find that you work more with?

Color Meaning: Meaning of The Color Purple. ... The color purple is often associated with royalty, nobility, luxury, power, and ambition. Purple also represents meanings of wealth, extravagance, creativity, wisdom, dignity, grandeur, devotion, peace, pride, mystery, independence, and magic.

What is close to opposite of purple on the color wheel??

Orange, of course!  Purple is a good accompanying color to

orange--so add a little orange to your purple days and 

see how you feel.

Learning To Applique---BETTER!

I applique--not great--but I've appliqued some!  I love the process

of stitching around perfectly (?) shaped edges--so when this

applique opportunity came up--I jumped on the bandwagon--

I want to learn how to applique much better than I do--

I KNOW--it takes practice, practice, practice.  So, I'm

thinking that this monthly quilt along BOM will be

helpful.  This comes from Erin Russek, who has the

most outstanding patterns in all of internet kingdom as far as I'm concerned.

Today, yes, today, she is giving you the beginnings of this lovely

pattern--she has several tutorials on how to achieve the perfect

pattern piece to applique.  Check it out in her blog--One Piece At A Time--

Breed All ABout It! Calling All Spinners............

Have you wondered about Sheep Breeds and wanted to know more?

Here is your opportunity from Namaste Farms

• Information about the breed
• What to expect from the fleece
  • How it Dyes
  • What the breed standard is
    • colors
    • length
    • micron
• What the fleece is best suited for
• examples of raw and dyed fleece and these tutorials will be interactive where you can ask questions live in chat. There will be a different breed every episode.  
• Every Thursday, beginning January 16 at 1 PM PST, you can tune into Facebook
• free learning experience.

You can find the group on Facebook in groups/redding method

What Fiber Technique Catches Your Fancy?

What fiber technique catches your fancy?

Mine is dyeing!  Natural dyeing is my favorite workshop or class--

if you understand how your fabrics are dyed, then you

are in another world.

Chemical dyeing is interesting but natural dyes--

oh my gosh!  You can hope you get the same color each

time you hit the dyepot, but not always..

there is change in temperature, water or dye stuff,

then you have a variable color on your fabric--

that's what makes natural dyeing the greatest adventure

of all time in my book!

and indigo dyeing--oh my!  This is the way to go!

My goal for 2020 is to do more dyeing--either chemical or

natural dyeing--or maybe some surface design!

Check out Chemknits on you tube!  

Color of the Year!

What is your favorite color?  Did you see the 2020 color forecast from Pantoneview?  This group of designers and colorists hand us the colors for the season every year--This year BLUE!  Who doesn't like Blue!

From inky blues and bio-luminous neons, to summer browns and seaweed greens, colors for Spring/Summer 2020 display depth and complexity. ... Color harmonies and cross-fertilization step forward to display harder color contrasts: turquoise with a lagoon grey or a bright orange with taupe.

Blue Blues the color of the sky and sea. It is often associated with depth and stability. It symbolizes trust, loyalty, wisdom, confidence, intelligence, faith, truth, and heaven. Blue is considered beneficial to the mind and body. It slows human metabolism and produces a calming effect.

But, my favorite color isn't blue, even though I like working with blue--

I like to work with the warm colors--like ORANGE!

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.