Designing Monday

I pieced a top for the local homeless shelter this week.  We were given a packet of 6" squares at the last guild meeting and asked to piece a top that is 11 x 15 squares.  As I started sewing, I found that some of the squares weren't cut quite right.  Some an inch or two too long, which is okay.  But some were cut skewed or 1/4' too short.  I also really don't like the idea of trying to match all those corners. This is a utility quilt that will be washed over and over, so it doesn't have to be perfect piecing, but I still want to do the best I can.  So I decided to offset the blocks like tiles.  This meant adding a few pieces from my stash which I am always happy to downsize.

Here is the top in progress.  Wow is that fuzzy!

Looks like I got a little carried away adding blocks on that row!

I'm currently trying to piece the September block from the Threads of Memory sew along on the Civil War Quilts blog by Barbara Brackman.  I seem to be making it a lot harder than it should be.  I'm sure I will get it figured out in my lifetime, but today it seems to be eluding me.

I somehow got sucked into the vortex of Lori's Humble Quilts Sew Along this week, too.  I don't know how that happened.  One minute I was reading her blog and the next I was dashing around my sewing room finding every little scrap I could find and voila!  Here are the first two steps of the mystery:

I received my silk scarf from the teacher of my class.  Here is the finished product.  I really love it.  However, I haven't been able to find anything in my closet to match it with, so I guess that means a little shopping excursion is called for.

Hop on over to Judy's blog  to see more beautiful designs.

Artsy Fun

I have been having lots of fun with friends the last two weeks.  Last week I went to an evening class to make woven snowflakes using reeds.  Kind of like weaving a basket, but way easier.  My book club went on this adventure and we had a lot of fun.

This is Barb - she moved to Florida yesterday.  I am sad.

This is Chris ( Yes we have two people named Chris/Kris)

One of our members was sick so we all worked a little harder and faster and made her snowflakes for her.  So we each finished two for ourselves and jointly finished two for her.

This is Chris and Barb ( Yes, we have two Barbs, too.)

Finished Flakes -- They hang on fishing line

Yesterday I went to a Silk Scarf Painting Class with 2 friends from my stitching group, Fiber Friends. This was my second time to try this and I had forgotten more than I remembered, so it was more like my first time.  The lady who teaches this class comes to my church and she has made almost 1500 scarves.  Each one is more beautiful than the next.  There were only 4 students, so we got lots of help and had lots of time to gab while we contemplated our next step or waited for our scarves to dry.  We received a blank white scarf and then pinned them onto a frame.  We each chose the colors of paint we liked.  In the first photo you can see swatches in the back left corner.  In the center background, you can see lots of finished scarves that Sandy, the teacher made.   

Here are my friends with their nearly finished scarves. 

Vicky made colorful flowers in purple and pink and a grey and pink background.

Barb used Christmas colors in red, green and gold in a diagonal color wash. 

Sandy, the teacher is in the background.

Here is a better view of Vicky's scarf and the frame.

 I forgot to take a photo of mine.  Sandy forgot to bring a bottle of fixative which is part of the finishing step to fix the color in the silk.  So she took all of scarves home to wash and dry and then she is mailing them to us.  What great service!  I'll post a picture of mine next week.

Me? An Artist?

A chance meeting at church on Sunday led to a fun class on Monday.  The class was painting silk scarves.  I am the first to admit I am not an artist - can't color, can't paint, can't sculpt or draw.  If you give me a quilt pattern, I can usually follow it and I'm pretty good at picking out colors that go together.  The teacher of this class said NO Sewing, so I knew I was out of my element.  She gave us a brief explanation and demo of the process and showed us many samples of her gorgeous work.  Since I was a beginner (and not an artist, remember?), she recommended that I try the simplest technique and design.  Works for me!

We each received a blank white silk scarf which we ironed to freezer paper to keep it from wrinkling. We picked colors and painted on a paper towel first, then a silk swatch, and finally we were ready to create.  I started by putting some black and silver lines using a resist type paint, then went to town with the fabric paints.  To get some watery special effects, I used two sizes of salt.  We dried our scarves, ironed them to set the paint, washed them in a fixative, and ironed once more. And

TA DA!  Here is my gorgeous scarf!

The most fun part was painting the fringe.  Isn't it fun?  Now I want to make more, more, more!  Maybe I CAN do art!  I'm wearing it out today for lunch.  Can't wait.

I also saved my little swatch.  It's about 12 inches square.  I am thinking I might be able to make a little rosette pin if I can figure out how.


 We had company for the weekend and they left us this beautiful bouquet and a bottle of wine as a thank you gift.

You probably didn't know I have my own vineyard and wine label, did you?

Well I do have a vineyard that consists of two grapevines, but no, this I haven't tried winemaking yet.  I do think it is pretty cool to have a wine named for me!  LOL!