Comedy of Errors.........

 Many thanks for Peg for sharing this draft in her late July blog post. I just started weaving on this today and love the look although it is fiddly but then she warned it was......lots of color changes and I haven't gotten a rhythm yet, also always trying to make sure the colors get carried up the side for their groupings. 

But it was a comedy in errors getting this on the loom - I'm blaming it all on the prednisone I started on Saturday for intense sciatica pain. It is helping quite a bit but I'm wondering what will happen when my 9 day course of this med is over, will the pain return???  I'm waiting on the scheduler to get me in with PT so hoping that happens soon.  Now back to this project.  I wound the warp, got it wound on the back beam yesterday. I threaded the heddles. Then I sleyed the reed - I'm using 24 epi in a 12 dent reed only I didn't double check which reed was in there and it's so close to my 15 dent reed. You can guess what happened - I got to the end of sleying the 'wrong' reed and sat back and could see it immediately so I pulled all 476 ends out, put in the 12 dent reed and re-sleyed.  I got the warp tied on the front beam and started to weave to make sure all was correct - nope. But it wasn't a threading error, I had 3 out of 10 treadles tied up incorrectly. I have NEVER used the wrong reed and NEVER tied up treadles incorrectly in my 37 years weaving so I've determined it must be from prednisone brain, if there is such a thing.  At least fixing treadle tie-ups is much quicker than dealing with a threading mistake. 

I stopped to watch HGA's Textiles and Tea zoom presentation at 1:00 and now am having a hard time going back to the loom, just can't seem to focus. While the presentation was on I did cut out fabric for 4 tote bags for gifts (maybe one a gift for me) - I'll get to sewing those another day as I need a color of thread I have none of........isn't that always the way it is.........

Phew........

Phew.........these cross stitch ornaments took a long time to stitch and put together. I realize that I'm getting older when it gets harder to see 32 count fabric to stitch on even with reading glasses and an Ott light with a magnifying lens. It was a real challenge at times. I had thoughts of making more for a few gifts.....not happening!  These will look great at the beach cottage, not just for the holidays but all the time as decor. Now back to working on holiday gifts. 

 

Another start...........

 Another pair on the needles of the socks I'm knitting for holiday gifts.  I finished pair #2 the other night, started pair #3 last night. I love how this one is turning out.  I'm using a solid gray for the cuff, heel and toe.  Getting a lot of sock knitting done in the evenings while we watch Suits on Netflix - we're hooked. 

In other crafts I'm working on small holiday gifts here and there.  Hoping to get a warp on the loom soon but need to finish up a couple of other projects first, feeling very scattered. Would love to get holiday gifts finished up in the next 2 months so I can get back to a wall quilt I had taken a class on. 

Moving right along.......

I'm moving right along knitting socks for holiday gifts. I finished the pair I started last week, now have another pair on the needles. Also working on some other small gifts. 

Not much else to say.  It's hot, but not as hot as it could be, that's coming this weekend. Just like every summer we're in extreme fire season - fire just a bit to the west occasionally throws some smoke in our direction but it's mostly blowing the other direction. Counting down the days until the end of fire season. I hate summer. 

 

Sox in progress.........

I've decided I need to knit a number of pair of sox for holiday gifts so no idle hands around here for the foreseeable future.  Here is the first - I'm down to the instep on both pair, have them going at the same time so it's easy to match up where I start and stop in the pattern for contrasting cuff, heel and toe.  Also working on some other gifts but can't post them here..........

 

Inkling away..........

First warp on the inkle loom down, one more just like it to go. New inkle weaving project for holiday gifts so can't show until after the holidays, so months away from the reveal. 

Christmas in July............

First off, why in the world do my pictures from my phone want to turn sideways when uploaded to the blog??? I took pictures holding the phone 2 different ways and the same happened with each. Many times at least one of them will be turned correctly.  And I save them to my computer and edit them turning them the correct way but when loaded to blogger they turn back. ACK.  I give up. 

Anyhow, got heddles threaded, reed sleyed yesterday on this warp. It's a combination weave from a workshop I took from Robyn Spady. the threading is based on the Periwinkle overshot pattern in the Davison book. The treadling is polychrome swivel. This makes a sturdy fabric but not suitable for anything where the back would show as there are very long floats - would be great upholostery fabric or for a project that is lined. I'll be using this for our holiday card inserts. So far it's been slow weaving only because I haven't gotten in a rhythm with the color changes and treadling. Maybe others wouldn't think it's slow weaving but for me it is.........but since I'm not weaving to sell anymore it really doesn't matter. 

I have another pair of socks started, will take a photo once I'm more than 2" into the knitting. I want some denim colored socks, only denim, not stripes or other patterns.  I'm still working on some black socks but can't take those places to work on because if the light isn't good I can't see well, especially if I drop a stitch. 

 

I am remiss. I meant to post these socks earlier in the week but totally forgot.  Neighbor Jill in the knitting group I was invited to last year gave us all a ball of holiday sock yarn at the beginning of the year and we're to create something with it for this upcoming holiday season. I made these slouch socks - love them. I only had a little bit of yarn leftover so made a little ornament for her, a tiny basket of yarn complete with yarn balls and knitting (on toothpicks).  Picture is sideways, don't ask me why...........

Took this picture last weekend at The Wool Co in Bandon (on the coast).  I went to visit Kelly, the owner, and saw this in the yard - it had been put up to celebrate knit in public day the weekend before. I love it - hope it lasts for a long time.  Of course in visiting I bought more 'stuff' I didn't need but what does need have to do with anything.......

 

Almost done.......

The king size quilt for the trundle bed in the guest room is almost done. Some people call this a spider web quilt but I need another name for it as I have a spider phobia, don't even like typing the word.  I took my pieced quilt top to a long arm quilter, Stitched on Second, and picked it up this week. This photo shows it laid on the floor in the foyer while I trimmed it up. This was not easy.  I have since learned that Stitched on Second will do the trimming so next time I do a big quilt I'll pay them to do this. Smaller quilts I can easily do.  I now have the binding (the charcoal gray background fabric) sewn on the front, turned to the back and clipped. It will take me several evenings to hand sew the binding to the back.  I have very little leftover fabric but I think I can eek out some pillowcases using one or more of the prints as the borders on white on white fabric as the body of the placemats.  I have some bolsters that sit on the bed against the wall that will definitely need recovering but will have to find a suitable fabric for those (dreading that sewing chore).  So good to almost have this big project done. I'd like to make another king size quilt for our bed but that will have to wait........maybe next year........
 

Polka dots.........

 Here's a picture of the 8 finished towels - I wove each one with a different color weft. Feels strange to only put on enough warp for 8 towels but now that I'm not selling I don't have the need to. Four of these will immediately be used as gifts, others will be stashed away for future gifts or for me.  Next up at the loom is to finally weave off a scarf warp that's been on the AVL for way too long.  But first I need to trim  and sew binding on the quilt I picked up from the long arm quilter this week - picture of that to come once it's finished. 

Berries......

 strawberries picked this morning, more ready in a day or two

thinking maybe scones or shortcakes are in order

berries are yummy

On the loom........

I decided to weave this towel draft again although now I'm not sure of my color choices in the warp.  I do know once off the loom and washed the circles will show up much more so hopefully I'll like them. 

I'm sorry I can't tell you whose draft this is but I do remember I found it in the May/June 2019 issue of Handwoven. Well, being honest I don't remember this off the top of my head, I had it written in my notes from the last time I wove these towels. 

This is weft color number 3. I'm not sure what color will be next. I had hoped to have this warp woven off this past weekend but it didn't happen. Since I no longer sell woven goods I'm not weaving much these days but would really like to get back to it.  There have been many projects on my very long to-do list that I could never find time for.....not sure how to get my mojo back........

 

Ready for garden goodies........

Sam made me this great potting bench/sink out of leftover composite deck board cut-off's from when he rebuilt the two decks. I had seen a picture in a magazine a few years back of one made out of pallets so saved it for inspiration. I love it.  I need to put a hook on the back wall for a colander, maybe some fun outdoor metal art too. I do have to empty the bucket of water, the plum trees will love the extra water. Misty has discovered it's great fun to hang out right there to catch the water as it's flowing to the bucket. 

Here's a close up of the sink. It's just a plastic storage container from Home Depot. The faucet was 1 of 2 I bought over 30 years ago that we never used. There's even a stopper for the drain hole. 

Now all I need is for the rolly bugs and earwigs to stop eating my veggies as they pop up from the soil. I have noticed they don't bother the veggie starts I've bought, just the tender starts from seeds I've planted - this happened last year too. I even planted some marigolds amongst the veggies last week and noticed this morning that they're eating the leaves off those - I thought marigolds were a deterrent. Sheesh.  I've tried a organic bug spray meant for gardens last year, trying a different brand this year - not working so far. if anyone has any ideas please leave me a comment. 

 

Quilts.........

Recently I worked on some sewing/quilting projects.  The wallhanging above was from a kit a friend gave me. It's got many small pieces in the center, applied wool flowers, it's 15" x 18". I machine quilted it, some stitch in the ditch, free motion around the flowers, diamond window pane in the borders. I am not a quilter - this size is around my limit.  I'm interested in exploring tiny quilting so this has gotten me started. For tiny quilting I'm planning much smaller than this. Adding it to my very long to-do list.

I finished the 4 placemats I had started a couple months ago - I just did simple quilting on them. I had enough of some fabrics to make some serged napkins. 

 This turkey wall hanging was made from a quilt kit gifted from another friend. It's fused applique with crazy free motion quilting. As I said the quilting part is not my thing but I manage. I put a hanging sleeve on the back but it may end up being a table centerpiece around Thanksgiving - undecided as of yet. 

Also on the quilting front I took my king size spider web quilt to Stitched on Second for long arm quilting - it should be ready in a few weeks. 

I'm finally getting back to the loom. I wound a towel warp on the back beam the other day, threaded heddles and sleyed the reed yesterday.  But have other things on the calendar the next few days so will get back to it soon. 

 

spider webs........

 Earlier this week I finally finished piecing the spider web quilt. It's hanging over a table in this photo. I started this right after the holidays. Very slow piecing with all those fabrics and widths.  Yesterday I ordered some fabric for the backing - I was limited in my choices since I needed 118" wide to avoid piecing. I really don't like dealing with huge amounts of fabric at the sewing machine - putting this one together was a bear as it's king size. I'm hoping where all those 'slices of pie' come together in the center of the spider webs it's not too thick for the long arm quilter. 

Even though I have a need for another king size quilt that may wait until next year - smaller quilting projects as well as weaving and other crafts are on the agenda for the rest of this year. Yesterday I was working on a turkey wall hanging/table centerpiece quilt. A friend gave me the kit for Christmas. I've got the turkey all pieced, actually pieces cut out of numerous batiks and fused. Will post a picture after I sew the two borders on. I'll quilt this myself since it's small.  I've also got 4 placemats all sandwiched and ready to quilt which I'll also quilt myself. 

Our weather has finally turned to spring - we are out of the freezing temps at least for now. I've got apple and plum trees flowering so sure hope there's no hard freeze. I haven't planted any of the early veggie seeds yet - maybe this week.  I'm afraid what's going to happen is that we'll go straight from winter to summer in a week. 

It's been a while

It's been a while since I last posted. Back then I had taken day one of a quilt workshop on paper piecing.  I attended day two a couple weeks later and this is the start of my quilt which will end up being a 42" x 42" wall hanging or table topper. There are many more of these blocks to be made that will radiate out from this center.  I've found that I really like the paper piecing. But I had an issue with the teacher's instructions being different than the commercial pattern which resulted in pieces being cut wrong and me not liking my curves. I know my curves would have turned out better had I followed the pattern instructions. As far as pieces being cut wrong I did buy a bit extra fabric so I'm hoping I have enough. I may end up contacting the quilt shop to have them send me more of several of the fabrics just to be sure, hopefully they still have more. If I can get more of most of the fabrics I may remake these 4 blocks. (the background looks tan but it's really gray)  I never attended day three of the workshop - it snowed and was quite snowy around my town until early afternoon. I don't think I missed anything as it was just continuing to sew blocks. I did learn something new and loved it so in spite of issues it was a success and the shop where I took the class is great. 

Because of things going on in my family life I never got back to working on this project. My mother had a few falls, resulting in hitting her head, hard, and started going downhill quickly. She passed away two weeks after the last fall. Even though she was 94, had moved into a memory care facility and was getting more and more frail it was still a shock. I've always been certain she would live to be over 100. I can't say enough good about the memory care facility where she had been living - the Lodge at Countryside Village (Grants Pass, OR).  All of the staff are so kind and compassionate. 

As I wait to get things started with settling her affairs I decided to spend time at the sewing machine working on the quilt blocks from the quilt I started after the holidays. It's been very therapeutic. I now have only 3 more blocks to make and then I can start sewing them all together. I'm anxious to get it finished and off to the longarm quilter. I'm anxious to put away the piles of fabric strips and fold up the craft table. 

If the weather cooperates I'd like to get out to clean up the raised beds. Usually I would have had some early things planted but there's been no time and even if there were the weather has not been good - snow, sleet, rain, cold.  Maybe we'll be heading into more spring like weather later this week........maybe............

So, that's my life at the moment. I would like to say I'll post more often but it may not happen, at least not for a while. 

A little bit......

....a little bit of sewing happening here but not much. Did did come up with borders for 2 sides of the sample blocks to make them placemat size. They will have dark purple binding, it's already sewn, ironed and ready to go.  I now have 4 placemat tops set aside to quilt later on.  I've figured out my fabrics for the second part of the quilt workshop but now I'm questioning myself on what goes where.  For the immediate I'm back to making blocks for the teal quilt top for our guestroom bed.......I'm sure that will be set aside again soon to work on other projects. 

Snow off and on here the past couple of weeks, has been some on the valley floors but mostly a bit higher in elevation, enough to mess up driving on the passes to the north and south of our valley, and then many feet higher in the mountains, that is great thinking ahead to fire season. 
 

Paper piecing......

 Last month I signed up for a 3 day paper piecing quilt class at Stitched on Second in Gold Hill. Friday was day 1 which was to learn the technique. Here is my block from that day, it's made up of 4 smaller blocks. The pattern is out of a Carol Doak book, the instructor provided it. It's fittingly called 'Cindi's Block'.  It was suggested that we should make 4 more big blocks and use them as the center of a baby quilt. I have no use for a baby quilt and I don't have a use for a wall hanging in these colors (I was working from bits of stash fabrics). I have decided to use them to make a set of placemats - I will add borders to 2 sides so I end up with a rectangle. They will be bright and cheery to use on the deck table once it's eating out weather. 

I'd love to be working on this over the weekend but the weather is nice and we need to get the plum and apple trees pruned - 2 plum trees done yesterday, will do the apple trees today. Did grapes last month. Roses still to come sometime in March. And it's getting time to think about the garden. There has been lettuce, spinach and chard growing under ground cover all winter.  It's amazing how much we have growing on a city lot - more than we ever had when we were on acreage. 

Day 2 & 3 of the workshop come in a couple weeks. We have homework to do - buy our fabrics, cut out paper patterns. I already bought my fabrics but need to decide what will go where.  The pattern we'll be doing for those 2 days is called Arizona Cactus - more complicated and includes curves.  

This month was a bad one for me to sign up for a class but I'm so glad I did - I love learning new!  I'm really enjoying the paper piecing. Of course I 'had' to buy a lightpad from the quilt shop halfway thru the day.  I have a tiny lightbox that I bought for who knows what over 25 years ago but it can't compare to a lightpad that has cutting mats that fit on top and it's big too. And I even got a carrying bag. Added benefit of being so flat to store, it won't take up much space. Every new technique comes with a new set of tools that must be added to the cupboard!  

This photo has been sitting on my desktop for quite a while now, since right after the last post when I was weaving it. I couldn't capture the iridescence in this scarf and the sequins don't sparkle as much as in real life. As I said in my last post this is my guild challenge - use gold to celebrate my guild's 50th anniversary. 

 I originally thought I'd weave a second scarf but then came to my senses and cut this one off to finish it. Since I'm no longer selling my handwovens what would I do with 2 scarves with sequins, even if I did use a different weft. I suppose I could have rethreaded to a different draft but still, I just don't need more scarf inventory, still have quite a bit from my selling years.  Instead I tied back on and am weaving using different variegated tencel wefts to create fabric to make notecard inserts. I will use notecards......I'll be using a dragonfly punch for the cardstock. 

It's snowing this morning - so nice to see some snow. It won't amount to a whole lot by the time it's over but it's covering the ground and is so pretty even though it's still dark out. 

Sparkle.......

It's not evident in the photo but those are sparkly holographic sequins in this tencel scarf on the loom. The Saturday Handweaver's Guild will be celebrating its 50th anniversary this year and our challenge for the year to weave gold. Hopefully there will be an exhibit along with other celebrations. 

At first I was going to weave this with gold warp & weft but in my sampling it looks so flat so I started trying out different wefts. I really like this greyed teal weft. I put enough on for 2 scarves, still trying to decide between a few colors what color the weft will be for the next scarf. 

This is plain weave with double weave pockets that I slip each sequin in and then close them up on the next shot thrown. I made some scarves many years ago using this technique. This scarf will have a repeat of 5 rows of sequins on each end. For a conference exhibit (2001) on recycling I wove fabric with bigger pockets and slipped small circuit boards in them. This is a 6 harness weave. At some point I'll need to figure out how to weave a fancy twill with pockets........I'll add that to my very long to-do list. 

I tried out 3 different styles of gold sequins when sampling. They all happened to be from my way too large stash of specialty sequins. These are square and holographic gold. I buy my sequins from Cartwrights Sequins. I don't know if they still have these, haven't explored their website in quite a while since I have such a huge stash in a multitude of colors, sizes and shapes. 

This project is a nice break from working on quilt blocks. I've made 40 of the 72 needed - they are slow going. I'll get back to them sometime this week.