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--

Sew Something Patriotic!

Alycia Quilts offers a free Mystery QAL (quilt along).

Alycia is the Colorado Quilt of Valor co-ordinator.

She makes sure that each veteran receives a patriotic

quilt as a tangible thank you for their service.

January 31 was the day she released the fabric 

requirements for the next mystery, which she is 

calling 'scrappy'!  Finds my stash just fine.

Maybe, you'll join along with me as we sew for our vets!

Fabric Requirements:

This quilt is a really scrappy quilt – so I am going to give you estimates of yardage. I grabbed from my scrap bins and used those first…

Reds:  1 ½ yards  Pick a variety

White: 2 ½ yards   I used a Variety, but one white will work as well

Dark Blues: 1 ½ yards Lots of them – the smallest piece you will be using is a 3 ½ inch square

Light Blues 1 ½ yards  ( ½ yard of 3 different lt blues)

Backing

Batting

Binding

Approximate Finished Size is 62 inches x 80 inches

If you prefer a pdf Head over to my Craftsy store and the PDF will be there for downloads -

Spin-in Treasures!

Sometimes at January spin-in, I have time to shop--

mostly before the participants arrive in the morning

or after they leave in the evening.

I did find this lovely 50/50 merino/silk blend

at Dicentra Designs booth--"Russian Puppet"--

love Lisa's names for her fibers!

This was a gift from my partner (the other half of my brain!)

Handspun natural color cotton!

And a Cowl--although, not purple--it suits me just fine!

Another pretty from Lisa @ Dicentra Designs is

this felted reversible shawl--soft and drapey,

I couldn't resist!

The front side combines many techniques

and textures--wool/silk roving on

silk backing

Yummy! Yummy--colors just like the Gulf of

Mexico waters on Destin beaches

I have three sets of HiYa Hiya interchangeable knitting needles

and love them--when talking with lace maker extraordinary Fran--

 one who knit this fabulous lace shawl.

She said she uses ChiaoGoo Needles 

I just had to try them!  Amazon here I come!

and the needles arrive within two days!

I rarely use needles above size 8--this set is perfect!  

So anxious to try them out on my lace knitting projects.