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Archive for the ‘Felting’ Category

Oops!

Monday, August 26th, 2013

bkuemoonready2shrink

I finally got the blue moon quilt stitched to the pre-felt and ready to shrink. But, oops, it really shrunk. I should have tested a small piece of organza to know what was going to happen.

bluemoonshrunkThe blue pre-felt totally felted through to the front. I think this can be saved, but will not be what I imagined. I stretched it on my ironing table and blocked it by pinning it as I stretched it. I decided not to put it in the dryer.

bluemoonblocked

Tomorrow, I am going to test a small piece of organza by just getting it wet and wringing it out and then put it in the dryer.

I think I will have time to do that. We have dinner guests, friends from our neighborhood so I have some cooking and cleaning to do. We enjoyed some time with the Portland contingent of family last night over pizza and ice cream.

Here is the progress on the chemo cap I am knitting. I am loving these colors. I have just 4 rows done on the pattern so it is hard to see how it will look. It is not just stockinette!

judyhat

Better Results?

Saturday, April 27th, 2013

montañas y lunasbackground

 

Here is the second discharged piece after getting thrown in the washer and dryer. I did simpler stitching – just horizontal. I think I could have stitched the lines a little closer, but it has nice texture. It shrunk more in one directions than the other. It started out square. Here is a detail shot.

mtsandmoonscloseup

 

I am going to crop out a twelve inch square for my SAQA auction piece. I am titling it Montanas y Lunas (mountains and moons). I plan to do some hand stitching on both  pieces. The other piece will be larger and titled Undulations. Here are some perle cotton auditions.

threadaudition1

 

This is a gorgeous variegated hand-dyed thread by Laura Wasilowski of Artfabrik fame.

threadaudition2

 

I am not sure where I got this thread. I think it will add some nice color to the Undulations piece.

I got the results of my gall bladder ultrasound, and I have a remarkably healthy gall bladder and all the other organs and abdominal parts that showed in the scan were in great shape. So, I am going to stop worrying about that. I think I have found the reason for the hives on my legs. I realized that we changed soap in the shower at about the time the itchiness started. I have stopped using it and so far so good. I will now stop being a hypochondriac — at least until the next symptom arises. I am an old lady, after all.

We have had a run of gorgeous weather. I planted by veggie garden yesterday and replenished the herb planters.

herbplanters

 

There is room for a few more herbs. Mr C came after me and cleaned up the deck.

Here is the garden bed with a few weeds and looking a little disheveled.

gardenbedblankslate

 

I went at it with the hoe and turned up the earth. Love it!

gardenbedsprepared

 

I planted lots of lettuce for now.

lettuceplants

 

This year, I planted the squash and cucumber in the ground next to the planter box so that they have room to spread out.

squashandcukes

 

I am going to wait to plant tomatoes, and I still have room for some other plants like eggplant and peppers.

I really enjoyed getting outside to enjoy the sunshine and fresh air.

Honey, I Shrank the Quilt!

Monday, April 22nd, 2013

silkwoolshrinktest

I decided that before I got to far into this experiment, I should do a sample to see what might happen. I love the results. Nice organic texture and it shrank up quite a bit. First, I just rinsed it in hot water and threw it in the dryer with a towel. It shrank a bit, but not enough. Next, I washed it in the washer with a towel, in hot water and then put it in the dryer and Voila! – just want I was hoping for.

I have finished the stitching in one direction, now I have to stitch vertically. I hope to get that done tomorrow.

silkwoolstitching

 

I have to be at the hospital at 7:30 in the morning for an ultrasound of my gall bladder. I am wondering what they will find. I have been feeling icky all day — hives on my legs again and abdominal pain. There is something going on.

I had a nice week-end. I met one of my blog readers for lunch on Saturday. Kaylin is from Seattle and is going to start classes at Oregon College of Art and Craft in the fall, with a fibers major. She was here for orientation. We had a great time over lunch with her friend, Carol.

I have been busy with SDA work and getting the Artists Among Us database done. I have 60 artists with an average of 12 pieces of art to be coded and entered. I am going to train someone else to help me. I am hoping that this is the last year that I will be doing this job. I am trying to keep on top of things, just in case I have to take time out for gall bladder surgery.

 

Oregon Flock and Fiber

Sunday, September 23rd, 2012

Yesterday was busy with more Quilt Expo hob nobbing and getting some errands done – like buying groceries, picking tomatoes and roasting them and preparing a home cooked meal. Mr C and I went back to the Expo Center at the end of the show and met Terry. With Mr C’s help, we were able to get the quilts down and ready to pack up, but whoops, they lost our boxes and specially labeled bags. So, we had to wait while someone went to Office Depot and bought us new boxes. I had special boxes for shipping the quilts. I will have to prepare some more bags for the Colorplay quilts which are going on to Australia in November.

Today, after church, I decided I wanted to make a quick trip to the Oregon Flock and Fiber Fest. It is an array of eye candy — colorful yarns and roving — and beautiful sheep, goats, alpacas and llamas.

A member of the Columbia Fiberarts Guild was one of the featured artists and I wanted to see her work. She is a weaver. I was disappointed that there were only a couple of pieces of hers in the gallery. Here is one.

I ran into several friends during my short visit, and I took lots of fun photos. So here we go:

A felted wall hanging.

Creative packaging!

These rugs were hooked using roving. Here is the maker.

These rugs were woven – so pretty.

I loved this indigo dyed roving and I really should have bought some.

The artisan grows her own indigo and dyes using the leaves and she also used Rit color remover and gets all these luscious colors.

Many women were spinning or knitting. There was a spinning contest going on out on the lawn.

Loved these little felted sheep.

Before I drove home, I had to visit the animals in the barn.

Apparently you do not have to shear these sheep; you just pull the wool off as it grows. It was very soft.

Tomorrow, I have to get back to my studio. I have 12 x 20 piece to get finished by Oct. 1 and I need to finish quilting the kelp. Not to mention the 3 x 3’s.

 

Distracted

Thursday, March 15th, 2012

I keep thinking about the arrival of the grandbaby and our trip in April. I really should be kicking it up a notch to get every thing done that I need to do before we leave. I talked to Jayme and Mark tonight, and they have assured me that there will be a baby and soon!!

That is today’s 3 x 3 up there. And here is yesterday’s. which was 3.14!

I have been plugging away on the Tobermary piece. It is one of those things that I agreed to do and I am not doing what I want to do, but I think this will be nice when it is done.

Yesterday was Columbia Fiberarts Guild. We had a wearable art fashion show and some of the members had good stuff for sale. I bought some hand-dyed fabric and some curly roving. Here are some other goodies being offered.

Dye painted roving:

Dye painted yarn:

 

This is a jacket made by a member. I love how she does this stitching on a lot of her work.

Bonnie Bucknam was in Guatemala and brought back these beautifully embroidered tops to sell. She has them for sale, here.