Now! That Was An Interesting Meeting!

If you walk into your Fiber Artists meeting and see color everywhere--you know it's going to be a good day! That was such the case at the monthly meeting for Houston Association of Fiber Artists  (HAFA).  Our speaker was Sherrill Kahn and a live wire she is!  Her samples were spread out on the counter top for anyone to touch, analyze and learn from.  And then the program began.................................

Full length of her samples

Sherrill uses household items to achieve multi looks

And she is so giving with her talent and knowledge of surface design techniques

She has written several books on these various techniques

She was wearing this lively vest

Her jewelry

Stamped, dyed, painted, shaped and worn

The front of her vest

This was a white sweatshire that she cut down the middle, dyed, painted, stamped--you name it, Sherrill did it

Another sweatshirt

Very little embellishment with sewing machine--she declares she is not a sewer!

And she even decorates her buttons--plain buttons turned into art pieces!

Sherrill owns Impression Me Now company that makes rubber stamps.  They are now making these large sheets of stamps that can be cut apart and used separately or use as a whole

Fabulous designs created for you so you don't have to!

Well, I just had to get her latest book--I see some surface design techniques in my future!!

TUESDAY!!!

Tuesday!! A day to spend with expatchers in Judy M studio--always a good day in my book!

Judy has made this cute banner to celebrate birthday months.

On refrigerator has an inviting hanging to enjoy coffee as we work

Hot off the long arm!  This whimsical tree quilt made by Brenda, quilted by Judy M

I like the way Judy gave the trees an uplifting motion

Next up for the long arm is Brenda's king size quilt top

Wonderful color combination!

Judy assembled this quilt top using two different jelly rolls

Perfect color combinations

I never think about venturing into Tuesday Morning store, but will after the gals tell me they can find neat fabric bundles for a great price.  Linda found these at her local store

Annette was stitching the binding down on this fun Binky Patrol quilt.

Camilla is working on another top for her church group

Brenda had her BOM (Block of the month) blocks out for us to admire

These are lovely flower blocks from Pam Bono Designs

This will be the center block to complete this lovely flower quilt top--will be anxious to see the finished top!  Yes, another Tuesday spent with expatcher gals is so special and rewarding!!

W(else)WMDFK?

WWMDK= What Would Madame Defarge Knit!  W(else)WMDFK= What Else Would Madame DeFarge Knit.  Do you like to read?  Do you like to knit?  Well, here is the perfect solution for you--

The first WWMDF book (comes as PDF-ebook or print form or you can order both) has  twenty-one knit and crochet designs (including one bonus design for paper enthusiasts) each inspired by a character you know and love.  The essays written for each pattern is a delight to read!

The 'else' book has 27 new knit designs (including a weaving pattern with DIY loom instructions) all based on new characters.  How can you go wrong?

Tune into Craft Lit podcast and listen to classics read as your fingers work their magic with one of many patterns from either of these two books.  And if you are a member of Ravelry join the group and knit along with the current KAL.  We are finishing up one of my favorite books Jane Eyre. 

Weaving A Life

Our weaving group is fortunate--we have many talented sharing weavers in our area. Scharine is such a person. She is always willing to share her heritage and did so at one of our recent gatherings.

If you have March-April issue of Handwoven, you can read all about Scharine and her journey to weaver her life.

She shares the lessons learned from her grandmother, who lived and wove in -Okinawa.

Scharine weaves her soul into her fabric.

bashofu, a banana fiber is spun to make light, stiff cloth that is perfect for wearing in a hot climate.

The leaves are split into strips and then each piece is separated into thin slivers of thread, which are then tied and spun together

This spinning process is very time consuming but worthy of the fabric woven

a weaving shuttle

Silk and hemp fabric with natural dyes for color

Scharine models a traditional kimono

It boggles the mind to think of the processes used to achieve such lively colors and perfect patterns

Silk woven sash

natural dyes bring out the ikat pattern in this garment

Many tiny knots were tied to achieve this delicate pattern

spinning wheel made personally for Scharine from bamboo

Stencil!  Yes, a stencil cut to be used as a resist

This is sample of process of stencil that is used to create the pattern

Scharine's stencil cut and dyed in John Marshall workshop.  Yes, our group is very fortunate to have talented weavers in our midst--very sharing weavers!