Non-quilting projects

I guess my previous post was too long; Blogger wouldn't let me add more :-). A few months ago, in this post, I mentioned that GameBoy had selected some Eric Carle fabric while we were checking out a quilt shop in Berlin, Ohio. To the left it is hanging on his wall, finally. All I did was find some artist canvasses--I wanted the stretcher bars actually, but the canvasses from JoAnn's worked--and staple the fabric to it. You can see that the stretcher bars for the middle fabric were a titch too long, but GameBoy didn't care. And then I hung them on his wall. He is a sunny boy and so his room is painted yellow and orange.

Our bathroom is teeny-tiny, and for months now, I've wanted to hang hooks and sew loops to color-coded towels, to save room and also encourage people to hang their towels back up. This week I was able to do that:



And I took my first tiny steps into making altered books. Clearly, this is an inexpensive lined notebook, bought at a back-to-school sale:

First I stapled groups of pages together:
And then I painted (applied?) gesso to the pages:
And that's as far as I got. The next step is to glue pretty papers to the cover, and I am stripping magazines to make a collage for my first entry.

A close-up: The lines show through but I think I like that

I am also working on this year's Christmas angel, a small tatting project, and a small wooden Christmas ornament project. If those work out, they will be presents, so no pix until they're distributed.

EDIT: I forgot to mention that the instructions for the towel loops were from Martha Stewart's website, here. They're very easy.

My first quilt is nearly done

I have been working on several different projects--in fact, I am a little amazed at how much I've been able to do. For the past year and a half, approximately, I've felt guilty about any time I've spent working on my stitching. Because I enjoy stitching, I suppose, I've felt like I should be spending time on service and other more "spiritual" activities instead.

Through some of my reading, including The Artist's Way by Julia Cameron and Simple Abundance by Sarah ban Breathnach, as well as the talk Happiness, Your Heritage by Pres. Dieter F. Uchtdorf, I've come to realize that, as the daughter of a Creative Being, I'm allowed and even expected to be creative myself.

Above is a completed quilt block--my first one! I made four in total.

All facing the same direction
Another layout
And another

I went with the third layout--very Palladian. I liked it the way it was, but because I wanted to learn to add sashing, I bought another fabric to coordinate.

Sashing added
Sashing and the short side of the border
Jazzboy (or is it Kilroy?) holding up the finished quilt top

I actually don't care for the sashing fabric too much. I feel like it's too close to the main dark color. I do have trouble mixing colors and prints. I was always taught never to mix patterns. Oh, well, I also learned to "flip" the tatting knot, and then had to unlearn it, so I suppose I can learn to do this as well. However, I just *love* the backing fabric:

A close-up; below is all the thread I had left

What have I been doing?

It's been since July since I posted; have I been doing anything? Well, I've been working on a variety of projects. So here is an update.

TATTING: It was time to learn to make split rings. I used two sites for instruction: Tatra-Sutra and Georgia Seitz' site. Tatra-Sutra was a good site to begin with: It actually had me tat upside-down, which allowed me to understand what I needed to do and how it was different from regular tatting. However, to do this, I had to contort my wrists and hands to do it right and it became painful. Picots were especially difficult. So I attempted Georgia Seitz' method. This had the benefit of being similar to the method I'm used to, and, as it turned out, allowing me to keep even tension. I did have quite a bit of difficulty learning not to flip the stitches. It was difficult enough that I almost gave up. But after a good night's sleep, I gave it one more shot and decided this was the method for me. Now I all had to do was practice making even picots and making sure each split ring was closely butted up against the previous--this will be important for my next tatting project.

These are my first attempts. I would go until I messed up, then cut it off. That is also how I learned to tat originally: Tat, slide, tat, slide, tat, no-slide, snip. (Sliding lets you know you did it right.) I started by using two shuttles with two different colors, but soon gave that up because it required a knot to get things started, which I hate, and because the thread was so thin that I had trouble seeing what I was doing wrong.


My first successful split ring, using the Tatra-Sutra method. Here, I used a size 20 variegated thread, the Continuous Thread Method (no knots) and differently colored shuttles. My favorite shuttle is the Clover tortoiseshell one, on the left. The variegated thread allowed me to easily see whether I was making the knots correctly.

QUILTING: I started my first-ever quilting project. A friend of mine started a beginning quilting class in our neighborhood/ward, and naturally I jumped right on it. Some of you are aware that I actually already had a couple of projects lined up, but had never started them. This is because I sometimes need someone right there with me, showing me what to do and how to fix my mistakes. I generally have no trouble with threads, but am a little afraid of ruining and wasting my fabric.

I used two purple batiks that I had in my stash, and bought a very pale purple marbled fabric for my background.



My first quilting strips, and my first quilting seams (on the very left).


My friend showed me how to pop the seams. I haven't done it yet myself, but it looks pretty cool!


A close-up of the popped seams.


My first patch! Notice that the corners almost touch. I'm very proud.

TRAVELING: I attended Wool Gathering in Ohio in September. You can see their website here. This was one of the best festivals I've attended in a while. It's all about the fibers used in textiles (mostly spinning and knitting) and where they come from. Raising the animals, shearing them, processing the fibers.

Yak yarn and its applications.

Colors and non-colors.

What you need to get it from sheep to yarn.

I was in extremely frugal mode, so this marudai was the only thing I bought. It's for kumihimo, or Japanese braiding, which I've wanted to try for years. Here is one site where you can read about it and see examples.

TRYING TO CATCH UP: What time I've had to stitch has been divided between finishing my Christmas angel from last year and crocheting a doily for my table.

Where I am on the angel...

...and the doily.

And that's it! My next post will probably be on starting Christmas projects, which I intend to kit up this afternoon. I (finally) received my Just Cross Stitch Ornament Issue 2009 yesterday and the whole family has made their picks.

Goodies From Ohio

My package from Ohio arrived today and here's what was in it!

My latest knitting project: Peacock Tail and Leaf Scarf from the book Knitted Lace of Estonia by Nancy Bush. Nancy Bush actually lives in Salt Lake City and owns Wooly West, an online knitting store. She also writes for Piecework magazine, most often on Eastern European knitting. The yarn is Wildfoote Luxury Sock Yarn (75% wool/25% nylon) in Gunsmoke. I also got size three bamboo needles. I thought afterward that I should have bought Addi Turbo circulars instead, but, hey, I can always use more hairsticks, right?

I got these at a shop in the middle of absolutely nowhere. My sister Shiloh and I drove 20 miles the wrong way, then followed GPS directions to this little store, Fiber Fun Studio. It's actually in the basement of the owner's house, which always makes me leery. I usually avoid these kinds of stores; I always feel like I'm interrupting the owner's day, since they have to come out of the kitchen or wherever, and then they follow me around, through their home, and I feel obligated to buy something whether I want to or not. However, I was reassured but the fact that this shop had a clear basement entrance and a parking lot. The owner was very knowledgeable and helpful. My sister is a far more advanced knitter than I am, and the owner was able to speak with both of us on our level. There was a section for weaving also, but I don't know much about weaving--yet. Here is another fun thing I bought:









It's a fabric box. On the left, you can see it laid out--it's a 12" square. Basically two pieces of fabric sewn together, with Pellon fused in the middle. Five pieces: One large for the bottom, and four smaller for the sides. On the right, it's all assembled. Very fun! I'm thinking I'd like to try to make one of these myself.

We also went to Berlin, Ohio. Amish Country. I have been there several times and didn't anticipate buying anything, but at the quilt shop, GameBoy and I fell for these two pieces of fabric. On the right is a fabric printed with Eric Carle's Very Hungry Caterpillar. GameBoy just loved it, and wants to hang it in his room. I think what I will do is cut it into the three panels and tack it onto styrofoam or stretcher bars and make a tryptich wall hanging. And below is half a yard of a toile-like print. I just fell in love with it and decided I had to have some. I don't know yet what I will do with it.

Finally, the main events: The National Quilting Association's 40th Annual Quilt Show and Knitter's Mercantile Knitter's Connection Show were both held at the Columbus Convention Center while I was there. It was incredible fun! First we visited the quilt show, which was quite dizzying. Very much a swirl of color and people. I don't really quilt--yet--so I didn't buy too much there. Just a book on Celtic Tatting (basically tatting Celtic knots):


And these cute patterns for making quilt motifs (out of paper, fabric, ribbon, whatever) for cards or picture frames:



The picture doesn't really show what the craft is, so here is a link for cards and picture frames. I can't wait to try them.

Then, off to the knitting show! First, because Shiloh and I had paid a $10 membership fee, we each received a free gift bag, which contained the following:

On the left is the clear plastic tote bag with some books and a sample of cleaner, and on the left are the skeins of yarn that were in the bag.










The yarns include, silk, wool, and cotton and I am very excited to try them out..

And other purchases:



A silver shawl pin



A needle size pendant--I bought a similar for my sister, because she was very kind to house my family and me for a few days, as well as drive me around.



A felting kit to make a journal cover.



The pattern for the journal cover.

I'm heading back to Ohio in September for Wool Gathering at Young's Jersey Dairy, and I cannot wait!

"Not For Us Alone" and Frames

After taking a week off to recover from my vacation and also coddle a cold, I picked up my stitching again. My box from Ohio containing Dan's Christmas ornaments hasn't arrived yet, so I put some time in on Amy Mitten's "Not For Us Alone," a mystery sampler that I mentioned here: http://lilywork.blogspot.com/2009/03/new-camera.html

Since I last posted, I had received my Handi Clamp scroll frame, and I spent about half an hour attaching the piece to the frame. Now that I've done it, it should take me 30 seconds in the future. The plus to these scroll frames is that you don't have to baste your fabric to the frame, or mess with split dowels. The downside is that the little clamp can make a dent in your linen, so the manufacturer recommends putting quilt batting at each end.

After attaching the fabric to the frame, I got busy and stitched. I did rice stitch for about two hours. If you compare the two posts, you will see that I didn't get a lot done. I'm not a particularly fast stitcher. Not only that, but I kept counting and recounting to make sure I wasn't off at all. See, I often tell people that once you count your way to a starting spot, you really don't have to count all that much for the rest of the project. You just work your way out from your beginning, keeping all your stitches touching, and no problem. And that's true most of the time. This, however, is a mystery sampler, to be worked in a certain order. And it's also a kit, with a limited amount of thread, so I can't just rip it out and re-do it--I'll run out of thread. That's why I rarely buy kits. Well, one reason. (The other reason is that the fabric in kits is often Aida, which I hate, and the supplies are of poor quality.) But I really love Amy Mitten. This kit is worth it.

By the way, the thread I used today was a hand-dyed silk named "Gravestone." I just love Amy Mittens thread color names!

After my stitching session, I decided to attach my project to my Gazelle floor stand, which my mother-in-law gave me (while stitching, I was reclined, watching TV, which is my favored stitching position).



And then I got to thinking about the various frames I use for holding my stitching. I can and often do stitch in-hand. I've never had any problems maintaining tension doing this, but it causes the linen to wrinkle and it's very hard to get wrinkles out of linen. Especially after you've finished stitching and you can't use the steam option on your iron because you used overdyed silks and they'll run. No, much better to use a frame and clean hands.

It's a toss-up as to whether I use stretcher bars or q-snaps more. Stretcher bars are light and cheap, and you can mix and match sizes to get the best fit for your fabric. It can be a little time-consuming to attach the fabric with rustproof brass tacks, spaced just so. To the left is a project attached with those tacks, as well as empty stretcher bars. And to the right you can see how the bars come apart for the mixing and matching.









Q-snaps are pretty light, as well, and very quick to set up, but they are not cheap. My recollection is that they are about $10 a set. Another concern is that the clamps can supposedly "run" your linen--like running nylons. I've never had this happen. only heard of others' experiences. To the left is an assembled q-snap, and below you can see how the clamps come off.










I also use scroll frames frequently. They are especially good for larger projects: you can just roll up your extra fabric. In fact, for me they are the best for larger projects. They are neither inexpensive nor superexpensive. The downside is that they only provide tension top and bottom--not side to side. This can be overcome by taking quilting thread and sort of attaching the fabric to the sides, but then every time you need to scroll to a different section, you have to cut the thread and re-do it. Since "Not For Us Alone" will require much rescrolling, I'm not bothering.

One thing I never ever use on my counted stitching is a hoop:

Hoops, while being very cheap and providing excellent tension, leave marks on the linen. Some stitchers use them anyway and wrap them with muslin. I suppose you can use them if the hoop is large enough that any marks would be under the frame (assuming you frame the piece), but I only ever use them for things like stumpwork, where tension is absolutely required and the marks will be covered in the finishing.

Finally, my favorite option for holding my work: The Slate Frame. This has very taut tension, provided by the pegs on the four corners. However, it is the most expensive option: Mine cost about $60 and the first one the saleslady showed me was over $80. That one was beautifully finished wood with inlay--a piece of art in itself. But as I have not been able to collect these, as I have all of the others, I can only put one project at a time on it. This project is one of my 30+ UFOs: The Mermaid's Sea Chest by Lauren Sauer. The link takes you to a photo of the incredible finished project. Now that I've pulled this one out, I feel really motivated to work on it again. So many projects, so little time!