Today's Exciting News!

Hi Everyone,

Today I finished a knitted lace shawl that I have made for Diana. It was one of the projects that I spoke about in my last blog entry. This project is called, "Upstairs Shawl," and was designed and copyrighted by Michaela Behrends.

Now at last, I am getting these wonderful projects done! What do you think?

Have a great day!

Barbara

Catching Up On Set-Aside Projects

Have you ever had so much enthusiasm for a project that you just can't wait to get it started? Well, when you work with fiber arts, that happens all the time! It can be great fun, but it can get to be a problem when several of these great and exciting projects come up all at once!

I had several scarves that I was working on for my daughter, each one started in this way, but none of them finished. Well, as you see, they are now done, and am I ever so happy that I had the perseverance to get it done!! I have made myself a promise that I won't get anything new until I finish all the wonderful things that I have in bage, boxes and shelves. I started with all the beautiful baby yarns, languishing in storage bins. Made over 100 infant hats by the time I finished it all. Whew!

Now I'm onto the scarves. Baby quilts to be finshed up come after this. Little by little, the stash is getting smaller. I hate having a lot of stash hanging around, and given our climate, it can get unusable if it sits in boxes too long.

So, onward! Lots more to do before I get to start a new stash!!

Have fun and enjoy the day!

Barbara

The DVD that I have been waiting for!

Hi Everyone,

Today, I'd like to say a word about the Rigid Heddle Loom. As you know from past entries, I have been working on this Ashford Knitter's Loom for some time now. I love the portability of it and the way that it can use up pieces of yarns from finished projects to create something totally beautiful, or new yarns to create luscious new things. It can accomodate all sorts of yarns, from cotton to silk or anything in between and works well with ribbon, too.

I have looked for classes, to teach me the variety of patterns that this simple yet complex loom can create, using pick up sticks or fingering methods to make incredibly beautiful fabric. The few classes that I have found in my area are incredibly expensive, and once you have been there, that's it. If you forget what you learned-- not unusual if you do a variety of fabric arts and then come back to the loom, then you are in trouble. You either have to try to "bring it back" by tracing your old steps (often not fun for me!) or you have to pay for your classes all over again. In addition, I really haven't seen anyone do much more than the most basic stitch patterns.

So, I was understandably excited to discover a brand new 2 DVD set that you can find on the Interweave web site, called, "Weaving on a Rigid Heddle Loom," by Jane Patrick.

It is a fantastic set, with clear instruction and a nice set of downloadable instruction and "cheat sheets," as Jane Patrick calls them. Ms. Patrick's style of teaching is wondeful for adult learners. The sections are very comprehensive and she takes her time and makes clear illustration of her work. She shows examples of the different stitches she will teach and then takes you through it with patience and clarity.

At last! A tool to help me learn the true power of my little heddle loom.

If you have a rigid heddle loom, you shouldn't be without this set. It is very affordable (about $35) and has a total of 2 hours and 39 minutes of instruction time.

Have a great day,

Barbara

Quilts for Blue Denim Ministries & Prayer Shawls for Hospice

Hi Everyone,

This week has been a time for packaging the many Prayer Shawls that were made this past Fall and Winter and finishing up more quilts for Blue Denim Ministries. Here are some pictures of what has been accomplished.

I surely do appreciate the efforts of all who helped out in this work: Robin, Pat, Leah, Georgianne, Joyce, Arlene, Thelma, Toni, Judi, Judith, Bernice and Marsha.

Have a great day,

Barbara

Back to Baby Quilting!

Hi Everyone,

This week, I am playing a little bit of catch-up with some UFO's -- that is, Un-Finished Objects.

My plan is to work on some baby quilts, some for me to sell and some for the ministry of Blue Denim Ministries. I am so glad to be working on these projects; at first it was only to make better space available in my work area, but I am now getting re-energized for these projects that have waiting a while for completion.

Today, I am showing the first two that I have made for upcoming shows in 2011. They are made with an alphabet that is completely embroidered, using my Bernina 630 sewing computer. Once squares were completed, lattice and cornerstones were cut, using the strip cut method. Once laid out, they were sewn together "Eleanor Burns" style, and then borders were attached.

This week, the job needed finishing by bringing the backing, batting and front together into a crib size quilts. You can see the progression of this through the pictures.

Tools needed included Quilt Basting Spray, curved pins and a Kwik Klip, also shown in the pictures.

After the pinning was complete, the quilts were done bu the "Stitch in the Ditch" method-- that is to say, sew a topstitch along the seams so it is nearly invisible but holds all three layers together.

Once that is done, trim the excess batting and leave about 1 inch of backing fabric all the way around, to use to make a hem to finish the quilts off.

Voila!

Have a great week,

Barbara

More on the Holidays and Being Creative!

Hi Everyone,

Today, I am showing some of the weaving and embroidery that I worked on for the holiday shows in November. It was great to find that the shows were picking up in activity this year. After a couple of years of lacklustre sales, due to the economy, this year seemed better. Among the shows that I did, I certainly enjoyed being at Francis Farm for the Carpenter Museum Show and also the Co-op show that Arlene McGarahan has always hosted, as well as Saint Thomas' Episcopal Church's show.

Roger made me some new set-up frames for the Tea Towels, which you can see in the pictures below. They are made of PVC piping. These days, I have noticed that most shows require a

backdrop of some kind, so this actually serves two purposes for me! He had a bit of PVC piping left over and used what was left to make a small corner stand for the quilted table runners.

I'd like to also mention that the scarves in the pictures are a new design that I started making this year and are a combination of acrylic and rayon chenille. I had a hard time keep up with the sales on these, so I was pretty happy about how they have been received.

Have a great day,

Barbara

Merry Christmas!

Hello Everyone,
I hope your holidays were fun and enjoyable. I had a very busy time, finishing up projects until I had a repetative stress injury that completely side-lined me! Well, in the midst of all that, Diana had asked me to help her with a tee shirt quilt project for Christmas presents for Craig and Sarah, her boyfriend and his sister. Both of them are big fans of Jimmy Buffett (as is Diana) and Sarah had a large supply of tee shirts from the various concerts that they attended through the years. When she was thinking of getting rid of them, Diana took them and asked me if I would help her to make them into the two quilts.
So, as my first installment in what I have been up to this holiday season, I will show Diana's beautiful quilts' construction. By the way, she has never made a quilt before and she did almost all the work-- and a great job! See for yourself!
Barbara