Back again! With lots of knitty content!!

I guess the boys and I didn't get enough of camping with the family and had to - just HAD to - go back for more.
Much as we missed all the cousin action and the laughter, the lake was pretty tranquil with just the boys, one of their friends, and me.




The weather was gorgeous, not too much smoke made it down the valley, and we all got a lot of swimming time in!


When I wasn't swimming, I was beach sitting.  It gave me a great opportunity to get some knitting, journal writing and drawing done.   Every year, at least once over the past few years, I've drawn Saddleback from the vantage point of the beach.

Typically I've got watercolour pencil crayons in my bag, along with some coloured pens.







This year I also brought some pre-cut artist trading card sized cards of different weights and textures. 

And, because I'm that knitterly kind of girl, I finished up two projects that I've been working on for a while.







This shrug, from this pattern, has been on my needles for only about a week from start to finish - pretty big project considering the gauge!  The yarn is one of my all-time favorites, Noro Silk Garden Sock. It's a blend of wool, silk, angora and nylon meant for sock knitting, but I think it's far to lovely to hide in my shoes.

For the curious, I used colourway 268 - colours that coincidentally completely match this season in this area.   Something that doesn't really show in the photos is the beading in the cuffs.  This was my first adventure with beading in knitting, and it's spawned loads of ideas for my next projects.  Now if I could just settle on one and get started!

The other major project that I finished was this big red cardigan.  It was originally started as something to keep my hands busy while I sat on my rear recovering from my broken toe.

Please excuse the cheezy self portraiture - it's hard to set the camera, run around to the front and quickly look natural!!

For those who are interested in the process and modification notes of either sweater (or in seeing more photos of how they go together), there is a great deal more information on my Ravelry page.  Look me up, if you care to - you'll need to be a member or become one to sign in - you'll find me there under the username Threadsongs.

Ciao!
Lisa

More fun with fibre

Well, I had to wait for the backing of the next quilt to dry (it was flannel, I did the pre-shrinking) and had some time on my hands this afternoon.

Some of those pieces of fibre surface from yesterday were tickling my fingertips, along with a bunch of thread clippings (actually set aside for paper making), and this whole fusing idea - they were begging to be put all together!

I started out with a really, REALLY bright red fabric as my foundation, then fused a bunch of the thread tidbits to it, trying to evenly cover the whole works. Once they were firmly on, I tried putting some Angelina fibres on there, too . Drawing on my pile of sample stabilizers, tried out something called 'trick film', a stabilizer that's supposed to go on top of the area to be stitched, then melted away with a warm iron. I popped that on, then proceeded to stitch through to help hold down all the wayward fibres. After lots of happy stitching, I tried to melt away the stabilizer. Without singeing the Angelina fibres(!). Not so easy, as it turns out.

The stabilizer didn't, no matter what I did, disappear completely - but has left a delicate cobwebby layer over top of the whole thing (this is where I wipe my brow and say thank goodness it's just an experiment)! The plastic look of the areas that still have stabilizer reminded me of the vinyl from yesterday, so the whole piece was a natural for continuing along the same vein as the feather card.

Thus, the next bunch of ATCs (shown in lower row of the photo at the top of the post).

It was a lot of fun to cut this up and mount it on the watercolour paper. I think my favorites are the ones with the dark blue thread. The coral, while subtle and lovely, doesn't have very much impact from more than, say, 12" away. Also the blue thread makes the pieces more about the primary colours - something that tends to be a recurring theme in my work.

Youngest kept me company during this time, making his own ATCs, some with stitching and enclosed fibres, too.

O! The dryer stopped. Time to mount that backing and get going on the next quilt!

May all your ATCs be 2.5 X 3.5"...

Lisa

Missing photos from a post ago...

Well. let's try this again.

Here are my first two samples. The vinyl is really hard to photograph...it gives so much glare.

It's seems wrong somehow to work so hard to create this interesting texture only to encase it in plastic...but it kind of lends a 'grandma's couch' aspect to the whole thing. Y'know, you can sit on it, but you can't touch the fabric.

My kids were both very intrigued by this, and boy-handled both pieces quite a bit (and the wipe-off surface was a bonus, there, too!).

The photo at left is not totally accurate, as the textured surface completely fills the vinyl encasement, even to that right hand edge. The glare is such that it looks as though it's not totally filling the space. Also, If I remake the notebook cover, I'll make the textured surface 8 1/2" X 11" and the vinyl encasement a half inch bigger all 'round. It'll cover my note paper better.

I'm looking forward to the bound book project, and have special tissue set aside just for that.

The ATC came out well, all things considered. I've been wanting to enclose objects for a while, and this seemed like the perfect opportunity. I like that the surface is both hidden from and revealed to touch, and that the feather is completely enclosed. I'll probably add some red/orange/yellow beads to the thread.

Unfortunately the great vinyl vs. fabric/tissue texture will be lost in the card sleeves.

Hope you find some time to play today.


Lisa

My first class!

I'm so excited. I'm taking an online class through Joggles by Sue Bleiweiss on mixed media surfaces... this is my first run at a project. I didn't have all the right stuff (I signed up so late that there was no physical way my materials could have gotten here in time).

Not one who is easily put off, I tried lesson one with what I have on hand. What better way to compare products?- thought I! I have Steam-A-Seam, but no Misty-Fuse (yet)...not the recommended paints yet, either. Tissue and muslin , however, I have in abundance.
I used red tissue for my first layer, then yellow, then thought I'd play a little with the paint angle. This was not as successful as I'd hoped, mostly because I don't think I applied enough of the crackle medium. I did crackle medium on top of the yellow (which was cool, 'cause it made my red tissue show better), then silver on top of the crackle medium...I was hoping it'd crackle. It didn't. It looked a bit cool anyway, so I didn't scrap it, just went for more paint! I added another dry brushed layer of red, and liked the look much better.

Sadly, Blogger is not communicating with my computer well...so I can't show you the photos of my two projects made from the final surface.

First, I needed somewhere to keep my notes (and can't wait to make the course project that is for that - there is one, but I'll need to wait for my materials to arrive in the mail!). I used some vinyl that I've had around here for a while, making envelopes the size of an 8 1/2" X 11" sheet and enclosing 8" X 10 1/2" pieces of the final surface in each. Then I punched holes in the one edge and, using some brass split pins, put the notes in between the two final covers. I'll post a picture one of these days, when blogger deems it possible.
I also made a little ATC using one of the feathers in my house left by our cats' most recent playtime. Why do they always insist on coming in? It takes forever to vacuum the feathers all up. Ah. Well. At least I got to make a little homage to the bird.

Until next time,

Lisa

More ATC action...

I had a few moments here and there while waiting for the potatoes and carrots to cook, so worked on adding some ink to the ATCs I stamped the other day and to the new fir cone one (I did the cone one this afternoon while waiting for my bobbins to wind.) I think the secret to getting things done is being reasonably well organized. I have many, many (*many*) projects in various states of construction at all times, with most of the things that they need incorporated nearby. When I get a few minutes (sometimes literally 2 or 3) I'll either pick up the next project or check that the things needed for the next step are ready to go.

I'm starting to really like the stamped ATCs. I have one more to finish using the first of the circle stamps (see two posts ago) - it needs some colour oomph yet...I'll do that one sometime this weekend.
I'm also pleased with the way the fir cone came out. It's a bit abstract, but I thought it was okay for a first collage idea.
Our boys were totally impressed that I thought to carve up my shoe to make stamps...they want to know when I'm going to cut up the other one. I've got my eye on vinyl erasers to make letters now - won't they be impressed! I do have some old lino kicking around here somewhere from my block printing art school days, but it's probably too old and brittle to be much good anymore. There are also some blocks I made to print Christmas cards when we were first married that could probably translate well into fabric stamps if I could only find them (and if they're not too brittle by now, too).

The circular theme is interesting (again, see post before last). I'd not only like to explore that further, but also the kinds of shapes that we saw from the air that were, on closer inspection, subdivisions. The repetitive geometry was beautiful. - Actually, the concentric arcs in the stamp are from the idea of the cul-de-sacs that we could see in one area. At some point here I'll start working with the shapes separately. Right now I'm enjoying the juxtaposition that one is a farming shape, and one is a more urban shape - macro in our world, of a huge scale that only really made sense from many hundreds of feet up in the air. The two industries are placed further and further apart, and yet, they fit together so well in a spacial context.

I love the compact efficiency of the circle. I was really amazed to see it used in farming on such a large scale - but in terms of irrigation and other machinery's efficiency, it makes complete sense. Many of the farms here have big linear rolling irrigation systems, not ones set up on a pivot. One of the beautiful aspects of the circular fields was that from the air we could see the service roads snaking in and out and around them, some in grid fashion, some just sinuous roads that were outgrowths of function, not of form.

Hopefully someday we'll have the opportunity to fly over Colorado (or anywhere else with so much to see) and I'll be in an aisle seat, with my camera and sketchbook at the ready. In the meantime I'll just have to make due with this faulty filing system I call a memory.

Sleep tight,

Lisa

Gotta love this business

Only in the quilting business do we get the opportunity to enjoy Christmas at many times of year!

It's bright and sunny outside, the lilacs are budding, the tulips are blooming, it's 18 degrees Celsius and I'm here in the basement quilting snowflakes into this sweet Christmas quilt.

This one is done using Flurry, with a wool batting. I was listening to a wintry book while quilting...and was very relieved to walk upstairs into the sunshine!


In amongst all the customer quilting I'm doing to catch up (don't worry ladies, things ARE getting done) I've been taking a few minutes here and there to work on my artist trading cards. I'm determined to have a few to trade for the last Sunday of the month - if I'm here, that is. I might be away again. We'll see.

I've also been playing with inkwork on the cards that I stamped the other day. They're coming together - some nicer than others. I made one today that's a fir cone out of torn handmade paper mounted on a different colour handmade paper, painted with fibre dyes. Once all the inkwork is done on them I'll post photos. While Mom and I were in Kamloops I picked up the most recent copy of Cloth Paper Scissors and my head is now busting with ideas for ATC's. There's a great article in there about altered recipe cards that's got my head spinning with ideas, too. I did a couple quick sketches and hopefully will get some time to work up some cards based on those ideas at some point during the next few days.

Back to the machine...more glorious quilts to work on!

Happy stitching,

Lisa

Back in the swing of things

Here's a couple of photos taken at the Shelter Bay Ferry landing on Sunday during the trip home. The lake was gorgeous, the weather mild. We're so lucky to live in such a beautiful place! Granted, it IS pretty isolated...especially in the winter time.


Mom headed home yesterday morning, and I got busy unpacking and trying to get the shop back into presentable shape. For those who I met at the show - it's a home based shop, and although I have regular visitors, there are times when it looks more like a quilting studio than a quilt shop!
Finally, today, it is starting to get back into decent shape. I think. I guess my visitors will ultimately be the judge of that! :)


While we were away, I got a chance to replace some inside work shoes I've worn out. Now that I have the replacement, I've started cutting up the old shoes to make stamps for fabric and artist trading cards. They were harder to cut up than I expected! They're made of stern stuff...but it's perfect for stamping.

Although the design looks like it's inspired by the part of the shoe it's cut from, it's actually a shape that's been cogitating in the back of my head since Jodi and I returned from MQX. Below us (while flying into Denver) were these wonderful circular fields. After talking to Mom we decided that they must be like that as a result of the type of irrigation used there. Jokingly I said to Jodi that we should do Denver quilts or Denver patterns...and haven't been able to get the shape out of my head since. The stamp that I carved out is a modified shape, not the exact shape of the fields we saw. I have a hunch that this is going to be part of a series of related shape stamps.

Here are some artist trading cards and fabric stamped earlier today, waiting for embellishment.

It's good to be back.

Lisa

The last 24

Many of you know I was in Salmo for the West Kootenay Gathering of the Guilds. As always, it was amazing to see the amount of work produced in our area! Beautiful quilts.

It's surprising how regional the work is - considering that we're all within a reasonable proximity. Each of the Guilds does seem to have it's own distinct flavour...it would be interesting to figure out whether that's due to demographic or geography. Some groups are quite far from a fabric source, some have several within a 1/2 hour's drive. Most of the quilts shown were traditional in style, proving that the main body of quilters continue to to traditional quilts, not art quilts.

The Salmo Guild deserves a hearty congratulations as the meeting went wonderfully well, everything was really well organized. From a vendor's point of view, the day went off without a hitch!

Today our youngest had his Master Class in pre-music where he performed a song he's been working on for a couple of weeks. He did beautifully! He's not performed in front of an audience before, but did very well.

Oldest has caught the Artist's Trading Card bug from the presenters (Don Mabie and Wendy Toogood) last week at the school district Art Festival. He's been madly making cards since Wednesday, and today got to go to a bona fide meeting and trade some cards. Youngest and I joined them after music, and now we've got the bug, too!

Here are the five remaining from the seven I made this afternoon once we returned home. They're all on paper I made about a year ago (after the last art festival, using the art festival handouts, shredded cotton batting, dryer lint and bits of thread). The two in the upper corner are stitched together strips of the heavy, handmade paper, the other three are from similar sheets made from the same slurry. The one's the boys traded for are part of the 'three leaf' ones. Like most things, it called for stitching! I got to play with some of my new (variegated) thread that came from the Banquet at MQX. The lime-y green was already threaded on the machine when I came down to play with the stitching aspect (cool, as it is the same as the thread used in the paper - coincidence!). I've got lots of ideas for more and hopefully there will be some time between now and next trading meeting to get a small body of work together.

My Mom arrives tomorrow, and together this week we'll be going to Quilt BC. I'll have a booth there, so if you're around come by and say hi. I'll try to post from there, but can't promise anything!

Happy stitching,

Lisa