The New Black

I have a new camera, or at least it is new to me, and so now I can almost capture the subtle colours of this dark on black quilt. It is a small little piece I made when I was making the bigger dark on black quilt. It was a way for me to test quilting on black fabric, but until I tried this new to me dslr, all I got was a black photograph.

This was a really fun little piece to quilt. One of the nice things about working small is how fun the quilting is to do. Eventually I will get a photograph of the back of the piece because it has a nice little surprise touch.

Winding it Up

I have been working on a project made from fine, lace weight yarn that came in hanks. Winding the hanks into balls was a slow and laborious process. Luckily, I had no trouble with the yarn being tangled, and I had a plastic bin that kept the yarn neat, while winding, but with 400 years per hank it was a slow process. After winding 2 balls with that method I changed rooms and bumped into my swiveling computer chair, draped with a fleece coat -- I was hit with the proverbial lightning bolt. The chair would be perfect for holding a hank. Without the coat the chair would be too small, but with the coat it is perfect. I bunched up the arms of the coat a little so that they hold the yarn and of course the yarn kind of clings to the fleece.

Winding the balls of yarn is still slow, but the process is much quicker because I do not need to unwind the yarn and navigate the corners of the bin, I can just gently push the chair so it spins and the yarn unwinds -- my own multi-use knitting knotty.

First Nine Patch Finished

Here it is quilted, washed, dried and hanging out on the line in the late afternoon shade. I am quite pleased with it and am looking forward to making the next iteration.

Nine Patch Nears Completion

Finally, I am at work sewing the binding onto my first nine patch quilt. Now, it is about time to start thinking about making the rest of the blocks for the second one, but I also have to finish up knitting a few scarves. Oh and I want to finish up a few caps to donate to a local charity that allows people to shop for supplies free and which makes up packs of gifts for kids at Christmas and since Oregon has seen a large increase in homeless school kids, I fear they have need for lots of things for children.

There are always a few choices about what to make and do.

Side Tracked

Instead of working on the crib sized quilts I have been sidetracked finishing up several potholders.



And knitting scarves.

Nine Patch on the Floor

My second quilt sandwich using the tape on the floor method.



Now it is time to get on with it, and get to the quilting.

Quilt Sandwich

I just tried making my first quilt sandwich using the method described here at oh, fransson. It is a brilliant method of smoothing out your quilt for the sandwich. It makes use of floor space. I have to admit it is less fun to crawl around on the floor than to work at my cabinet level table, but it sure was nice to have room to spread the whole quilt out nice and flat, and the technique of using the blue removable painting tape seemed to work very well. I will definitely use the tape at the table with my smaller quilts.

I pinned my quilt sandwich using quilting safety pens, they have an extra bit of bend in the middle, which makes getting through all the layers quite easy and as far as I can tell my hardwood floor survived without a scratch.


I had a lot of trouble with the batting which came in a a queen bed size pack -- not only is it wobbly it is not evenly thick. The photo surely shows all its wobbles. I think in future I will try to get batting by the yard.


And tomorrow I will make another quilt sandwich the same way, although I have not yet quilted this sandwich.

Nine Patch

I was cruising online feeling lazy and enjoying looking at quilts other people had made. After spending a while at happythings blog I spent even longer looking at the quilt images. I was inspired by this one to try my own simple nine patch -- kid's quilt.

I am now finishing up the top for one and have a goodly portion of the blocks for a second variation. I love making multiple versions because you learn so much from the differences. Because I made the strips and thus the blocks a little smaller than I had originally intended, I will have a small border band on mine. I like the look of no border, maybe because I got used to the borderless look in all of my potholders, but it is interesting how much a border can change the quilt top.

Looking down on my quilt top before adding the border.

Corvallis Artisans Market Boutique

My wall pieces hanging in an interior window of the market.

Summer Heat

This is the second of my finished Four Seasons quilts. I think the next in the series is going to be Winter --- something in shades of brown and grey -- clouds, bare trees and rain. But before I get to that I am finishing another wall piece and doing a couple of crib sized pieces. And then there is the knitting.

Fall Colour

When the rain is not falling the colours can be breath taking.

Fall Colour
Originally uploaded by alice_knitter

Craftsmanship

I have been reading Cheap: The High Cost of Discount Culture by Ellen Ruppel Shell. First she looks at why we like cheap and curiously enough how we undervalue things that are inexpensive. In one study it was found that students reported their full cost pain killer substantially more effective than the same painkiller with a lower price -- so we gravitate toward these deals and then we do not appreciate the product.

Then she looks at some of the underlying costs of this drive to the lowest possible price one of which is a devaluation of craftsmanship. For those of us involved in producing beautiful quality crafts products that will last for years and survive to be handed down this poses some extra problems. Of course I think this tendency is a problem for all of us, and for society, but for those of us who are going the extra mile to use craftsmanship to create beautiful functional joy, it is a more immediate problem.

And then there is the problem of sewing machines. As I said earlier mine died -- almost but maybe not quite completely. It was cheap and it died young. Because I am not now willing to repeat my mistake and buy another equally cheap machine I have resorted to borrowing my mother's. A used machine she was given the first year of her marriage, which means in stead of a two year old machine, I am using one in excess of 50 years old. Quality and craftsmanship can really pay off in the end.

Anyhow although Cheap provides no answers, the book poses some difficult and important questions about sustainability and quality, questions I think are especially important to those of us for whom producing quality crafts is a lifelong habit and a matter of pride and joy.

Autum Haze

Whole quilt front.

This is the first of a series of four seasonal quilts
-- obviously given its title it is a celebration of the autumnal season.


Last weekend I
exhibited it in a quilt show held by the Santiam Scrappers.

In a day or two it will make its journey to the home of its new owner -- hopefully I will not need to borrow it back when
I work on the quilts representing the remaining two seasons.
Detail of the back.

Fall Colors

I have been trying to take a photograph everyday -- not a great photograph, my plan is simply to take at least one photograph everyday. What with digital cameras, there is hardly any reason not to take a few. I have been pretty good about meeting my goal -- except for the downloading and processing parts. I know I missed one day when I scratched my eye while working on the evil hedge, but I have taken several photos almost everyday. I hope over the long haul my photographs will improve and perhaps more importantly I will learn to really see what is all around me.

Knitting for Me!

I have been working on a knitting project -- an old project. Of course when I pulled the project out after a hiatus of about 9 months I decided to re-knit it. Mostly I enlarged it just a bit. The yarn is soft the pattern is very stretchy but I do not want it all stretched out. Of course since then I have wondered if I made the correct decision!

The yarn was something I bought on deep discount from Webs, a closeout as I recall. I chose the yarn because it was a good price and the jewel tones were so lovely. I am really fond of these kind of tones.

I love the cute little star shape that is exposed when the ball of yarn nears its end.

I am not exactly sure about the design of this sweater. I have begun with the back. It is one of the first things I have knit with seams in ages and ages. It is a modified 2x2 rib with baby cables. It is relatively long and has a tiny amount of shaping at the waist. I do not remember what I had originally planned for the front. At present I am thinking about a gentle V neck. And as for the sleeves I expect they will have a bit of shaping, but that is for another day.

Quilt Show

Here are a couple pictures of my quilts hung in a local eatery.

Not All Silence is Golden

I have been overly silent these last few months.




As I sit here thinking, I am having trouble remembering what I have been doing. Painting the house for one thing -- nothing creative just slapping new paint over old on the exterior of the house. It does look better now. I've got a bit more to do before the rains come rumbling in, but it really does look better.

I've done some gardening -- pretty basic, but I have tomatoes and some other veggies. I have also been thwacking away at the various outrageously tall hedges with which my yard abounds.

Before my sewing machine went virtually belly up, I finished a couple of quilts and even exhibited some. I also sewed a skirt -- following pattern!

More recently, along with the painting and yard work, I have been covering various notebooks with a variety of papers. The gluing is relaxing and I will shortly have a goodly supply of useful notebooks.

I will be posting pictures soon, of the things I mentioned and the projects just now in the thinking stages, and I'll be doing more creating as well. I am always happier when I am making and designing something.

Sam Among the Quilt Squares

I suppose I should try to keep Sam off the table but he is just so darned cute. Actually, in all honesty I did try to keep him off, but I failed.



Because I failed, after about the second time Sam messed up my design layout I moved the layout work in progress on to a plastic bin lid.



I am still making these beastly little squares and thinking about the layout for this quilt.

Moving On

The holidays are over, so at long last, it is time to get back on target and to get back to work -- note that the cats are following my lead. Not that I wasn’t busy during the holiday season — between house cleaning, decorating, sales and making Christmas gifts I had plenty to do.

I made quite a few of these little ornament/key chain fob/decorative tidbit thingies. I love playing with colour and pattern.

The two sides of these doodahs are never identical because that would be no darned fun.

I also finished a few potholders and the lap quilt/wall quilt that was my Christmas present to my father. These photos are thanks to him as I simply got black on black with my camera.

Quilt top

This is the quilt back.

I also knit sox for presents and have begun a pair for myself. Mine are a rather odd mixture of chartreuse and a few other colours, but the ones I knit as a present were a very respectable rosy rust and grey.

Anyhow aside from the sox I still need to finish for myself, it is now time to move on to the new year's projects.