Saturday, October 5, 2019

MKALs

Oh Good--another mystery knitting adventure for
fingerless gloves!!



FRIENDLY DRAGON--Fingerless gloves designed by Sabine Kastner

Clue 1: Tuesday, 1 October
Clue 2: Sunday, 6 October
Clue 3: Sunday, 13 October
Clue 4: Sunday, 20 October
Clue 5: Sunday, 27 October
Notions you will need:
  • 3 mm (US size 2½) circular needle, 80 cm/32’’ long, to work the magic loop technique (or size to obtain the desired gauge). If you prefer other needles for working in the round over a small circumference, you will need an extra short cable needle of the same size for the cast-on.
  • 6 seed beads (4 mm beads work well with sport-weight yarn)
  • Fine crochet hook (must fit through the hole of the beads) or dental floss for applying the beads
  • Cable needle (if you need one)
  • Waste yarn, stitch markers, darning needle
The pattern includes information on how to adjust the measurements of the mitts by varying yarn weight and gauge (note that this will influence the yardage required).


This sounds so spooky--"Ghost of the Moon Shawl"
Hosted by Meghan Jones--you'll find the free pattern
on Plymouth Yarn Magazine website beginning October 1--
there will be spooky poems as well as weekly clues along
with tutorials to make this Autumn accessory





Thursday, October 3, 2019

Wooly Adventure Begins.........................



How Wooly Works
  • The 2019 theme is "holiday Celebrations"
  • Each participating shop will design their own 8" wool applique pattern to go with the theme
  • Visit any Wooly Block Adventure shop to receive one of their 8" patterns free
  • Patterns and kits can be purchased online or mail order during the event, which runs October 1-November 30, 2019
  • Patterns are only sourced in PDF and not mailed unless you order the print copy





Tuesday, October 1, 2019

Want to Waste Time?

I'm really into this--Exuberant Color--has the best ways to clean up your time wasting habits!!  Was glad to run into their blog to find these ten (10) ways to give you more time in the studio while you are quilting--



Time Waster One--disorganized fabrics--oh YES!  
my fabrics are all over the place--look how neat this
stack above is!
Time Waster Two--cluttered working area!
You bet!  mine looks terrible; just making your
working space less messy, you will find it is more desirable
Time Waster Three--wrinkled fabric scraps!
Mine look like you'd never use them at any time!

I think all these are absolutely perfect for any type of 
fiber work--check out the blog to read what the other seven
time wasters are--you'll be surprised how you can clean up
your studio to work more efficiently!


Sunday, September 29, 2019

Recycling?

 May moons ago, I was weaving constantly!  I do mean constantly!  I wove many yards of fabric--most of that yardage went into my 'secret' stash bin.  Just recently, I was rearranging the closet where
the bin set--thought, why not see what's in that bin?  it was yards and yards of handwoven fabric!
Why not do something with all this lovely fabric?  
I turned them into dish cloths--that's what I did!
Some were cotton--like this one with slubs of color;
most were plain weave structure

some were linen

this was 10H weave, when I had that loom--it is
 structure drafted from my last name--cotton

I also found handspun (warp and weft) indigo dyed cotton yardage that I used for my
costume when I worked at 1790's plantation--some of my
very first handspun cotton too--not such a great job--
it was effective for what I used it for.
I've been hemming these towels for the past few days--
thinking about those days when I treadled away!
do I give them as a gift?  Use them myself?
Anyway, I've recycled from one stash bin--
to another!

Friday, September 27, 2019

CatchUP!



Not been much in the mood to sew, or weave, or knit or spin!
Just being lazy--but it's time to motivate myself--besides, it
is September!  Cooler weather, shorter days, more gatherings (
that's lots of motivation!)
Here is my version with sunflower fabrics
These are setting blocks—only one more block to finish. 

Or yes, I'm a sucker for anything fall, pumpkins, leaves, etc


this fall mystery came from Fort Worth Fabric Studio
with 2019 Spooky Halloween Mystery--each week a different
block--Here is the first block
It makes me feel cooler when I'm working with these colors!


Fort Worth Fabric Studio has the final free steps for you!
Look for another SAL with upcoming Christmas theme



Wednesday, September 25, 2019

Potholders............................

I bet your potholders look better than mine!  No matter how often I wash them--there is always that faded look and I get tired of seeing the same ones over and over again--I know, that's not a big deal to some.
here are the ones in my towel bin now--

I love. love the ones I made from this pattern and usually if I give
a gift it is using this pattern and I make it from handwoven fabric

This one was a gift from a dear friend--it has been
used so much but every time I use it, I think
of her.
I decided I needed some new hot pad holders!  I've been
thinking about all those 'orphan' blocks I have--
than that light bulb went off in my head--
those could be used to make some really neat
hotpads!  
I found this tutorial--yep!  

These were orphan blocks--the mittens were from an exchange 
that was done about 20 years ago--one on the left was hand stitched
motif that I didn't know what to do with--problem solved!
 another orphan star block--turned into a nice size potholder!
These two were handwoven pouches that were used for
name tags--always wanted to use them--found that
potholders were the perfect answer!
in each potholder, I used two layers of this teflon shield
fabric--works well along with two layers of cotton batting.





Monday, September 23, 2019

Yes!

My grandson is getting hitched!  We're excited for sure!  The bride is lovely too!  The bridesmaids have planned a bridal shower in early January-- I'll be invited--that's a given!  What gift should I have for her??

Recently, one of our expatcher gals shared her lovely placemats made from four fat quarters!


She made these Christmas ones and a set for Fall--oh, joy!
This is what my gift will be!
You can find more information here--

and then when I went to seek out more placemats, I found this video using 
charm packs!  I have those too!--We're off to the sewing machine
to create an unique gift for that special bride!!
I've had this charm pack forever!!--finally, a use for them!
These are going to be some bright and cheerful placemats--all
from one charm pack--well aged!






Noah’s ARC

870 acres!!  You can not imagine how this impacts your life.   On our journey to this destination, we read the story of Noah and the buildin...