A wonderful day April 6, 2009

I finally got around to hot gluing the spools for my spinning wheel. The ends were popping off which the previous owner warned me about, telling me that the woodstove dries out the wood on the spools and causes the glue to fail over time.  It was a simple task, given that of course I have a glue gun, two in fact, one high temp and one low (hahaha still burns the crap out of your fingers).  Once repaired wow the spinning wheel was working again.  The tops being loose is a problem because they spin on the spool instead of remaining still when the tops are on tightly it allows the yarn to wind onto it while you are spinning.  I have been watching some youtube videos of spinning and think I am doing okay!  I had to wind some yarn from a broken spool onto an unbroken one to be able to glue it and noted that my yarn is not too stretchy a good thing and also that it wasn’t breaking when I was winding it, strongish but not yet great.  I am pleased with my progress.

I wanted to post these images of the quilts that were hanging in the show yesterday.

detail of white on white handsewn quilt

Holly Hobby quilt

detail of quilt

embellished quilt

detail of quilting

Bed Turning at the TowPath Quilt Show April 4, 2009

Two springs ago, I drove over to Michelle’s apartment in Fayetteville and we walked to a quilt show at one of the elementary schools.  Today we drove over, stopping first for lunch at King Davids.  We split dolmades, eggplant fries and she got a pita pocket and I got a gyro and turkish coffee.  After we ran into the LL Bean outlet because about 10 years ago I bought a windbreaker that is not waterproof and to be honest is sinfully ugly, I needed a real raincoat though, and got one.  I also had to buy a new suitcase because the travel one I bought for myself was irresponsibly borrowed and left in another country by the person that borrowed it, leaving me only with an old one that is ripped.  I also needed purse supplies so we stopped at the fabric store too. 

butterfly quilt

Antique crazy quilt

double wedding ring quilt

antique log cabin

We arrived just in time for the bed turning.  A display of several antique quilts and also a history of the quilts, various historical pattern names, discussion of battings, hand quilting which by the way does not show up well in photos, fabric choices and so on.  These are some of the real highlights of the bedturning.  Tomorrow I will post the new quilts we saw. 

Two Posts February 8, 2009

I wanted to move two posts from my Breezy Day Handbags blog to this post because they just didn’t seem to belong in that particular place.

This first image is of an antique crazy quilted patch I purchased at the Salt City Antiques Show a couple weeks ago.

Antique Crazy Quilt Patch

 

This second image is of a fair isle skirt that I designed myself and while wearing it at Mission Rose Quiltery and Knittery, I was hired on the spot to teach knitting at that store, and work part time.

Fair Isle Skirt

Westcott Street Fair Part 2 September 22, 2008

It was a very grey day and it misted and was pretty cold most of the day.  We were lucky to be right near Karen and Dick’s house so we had access to a bathroom that wasn’t a portapotty, Karen also provided us with wool sweaters and a wool wrap that helped with the damp.  I went for a walk towards the end of the day and signed up to volunteer at the Peace Council and ate a delicious coconut macaroon.  It was a good place to people watch too, a lot of fun and interesting people.  We had lots of lookers and a few buyers.  We made up the cost of the fair and then some each I made enough money to buy groceries and gas this week which it was looking like I might not be able to (boy is money tight right now) and we also both noted which bags seemed over priced and which bags most people were drawn to.  We figure that at the Plowshares event this year we will definately make money.  We are also thinking about a spring craftshow and perhaps a mid summer one too.  Plenty of friends stopped by our booth and all in all it was a great day, even though my poor toes were grape popsicles by the time I got home.

The Sonya Bag September 7, 2008

The Sonya bag

Michelle has given up on me in these last two weeks, and took the yarn that I bought several months ago to make some of our more inexpensive Lion Brand yarn bags.  Yesterday I finally sat down and started getting some crazy quilting done.  Next weekend we will sew on labels and I will be lining bags for the Westcott Street Fair the following weekend.  The fabric for this bag came from a Jellyroll at Mission Rose.  I loved the fabrics and even though I am not really a neutrals person they really spoke to me; I love the quiet simplicity.  For some reason they reminded me of my cousin Sonya thus the Sonya bag was born.

New Purses July 29, 2008

Crazy Patch and Wool Lotus Purse

Okay well the summer is passing quickly and I have about 10 purses to line or sew together.  Much to be done.  These are two of the ones I need to finish up.

Cotton Purse July 1, 2008

So my Mom is visiting and we went to Patchwork Plus yesterday.  I purchased three skeins of a silk and viscose yarn, two are wheat colored and the third a lovely creamy color, for making another purse.  They were on discount and I got the skeins quite inexpensively.  I also purchased some fabric for a lime green and navy crazy quilted purse and this wonderful anchor fabric for lining the sailor purse.  My daughter, whom Michelle says should be our style consultant in all matters, thinks we should be able to sell this purse easily, in fact that I will have to hide it from her.  The hubby is in Burlington and promises to find some interesting yarn to bring home too.  Can’t wait to see what he has chosen!! 

My forsythia art quilt.  Not yet bound or finished….

Crazy Quilt Squares April 13, 2008

I started crazy quilting last year.  My Mom is a quilter but she likes to do really precise things.  I prefer the more haphazard style of crazy quilting.  I took a couple classes to learn more stitches and to get ideas.  Looking at my first panels, I can see my inexperience; I really stuck to the seams and didn’t really meander about.  I also did some experiements and came up with stitches on my own that I later learned how to do properly.  I haven’t really done any embroidery all winter.  There is something about knitting on cold winter nights…

My daughter had the great idea of turning some of these squares into elegant handheld clutches.  Another summer project.