Tied One On!!

I absolutely love this part of weaving prep! As the warp smooths out and the colors line up there's nothing but possibilities.

All I have to do is tie up the treadles and I'm ready to go.  Considering how long it took to get this warp from the warping reel to the loom the weaving will seem like a minute! 

I don't know about your corner of the world but it's but excessively hot and dry here - well, no rain but plenty of humidity - this is PA after all!  The flowers and grasses are looking pretty bleak but I was able to catch a pretty good shot by getting on the ground and shooting up.  I don't think I need any reminders of how parched everything looked this summer.

Another One for the Queue!

My LQS, Chester County Quilting,  runs a monthly workshop, imaginatively called 2nd Fridays, where we bring whatever we want to work on, eat, talk, and give suggestions and feedback.  During the school year I'm usually so tired that I don't plan ahead and end up starting a new project each month.  Maybe that's where all these projects came from?

This is called Blossom Time, from Pam & Nicky Lintott's Layer Cake, Jelly Roll and Charm Quilts.  I walked into the shop with nothing more than a copy of the pattern (my books never leave my house!!) and finished up the night with all of the blocks pieced!!

 

I didn't get any quilts done yet but I did quilt two table runners and hand stitched the bindings so I feel somewhat accomplished.   While they were here for the 4th, Jackson saw the brown corriedale I was spinning and asked me to knit some mittens for him.  We had fun tracing his hand and measuring his hand circumference.  I'll make them bigger so I can full them a bit.  This yarn is fluffy and loosely spun so it will shrink down to a nice warm mitten.  With the heat we've been having this summer it's a little strange to be thinking about woolen mittens!!

 

I Need to Set a Date with My Machine

I've been out of school for a couple of weeks but I've been lucky to get lots of grandchildren time so the sewing and weaving have been on the back burner.  It's pretty quiet around here now which means it's a good time to make a dent in my TBQ (to be quilted) pile.  I hung all of the tops in the garage and took pictures, unfortunately not with the best lighting.  I wanted to use Adobe Ideas after Mary, mentioned being able to draw over her quilt photos and try out different quilting designs. 

I also wanted to check on backing/binding, choose threads, and take measurements so I can make sure I have the batting ready.  I thought I had three or four but ended up finding eight!! Yikes.  Here's the first one in line.

Cute as a Bug!! This was a impulse buy because I thought it would go together quickly and I could practice machine quilting on it.  The pieced border took longer than I expected but once I got the hang of it the rest went together like a charm.  It is straight but I'm not so great at adjusting the hanging rod :-)

I've been out of school for a couple of weeks but I've been lucky to get lots of grandchildren time so the sewing and weaving have been on the back burner.

Cousins - Ella and Jacob

 Gates are so much more fun when they're not closed!!

Jackson shows us how it's done!

Summer Fiber Fun!

There's been a bit of knitting.  Veronik Avery's Nordique Swing.  It made my list in 2009 but I never got around to finding the right yarn.  I'm using a Lane Borgosesia sport yarn that was part of a bag sale from WEBS maybe twenty years ago.  Do they even do that anymore?  You would call up a give some general color wishes and you got 5 bags of 10 balls each.  I think it was $50 so your yarn came out to $1 a ball/hank.  I used a ball or two for my Litla Dimun shawl and will have more than enough for this sweater!

Nordique Swing, IK Fall 2009

After more than six months languishing on the front beam of my loom, Ella's huck lace blanket is being threaded. Halfway there, another 350 ends to go.

Ella's Huck Lace Blanket

Lots of tee shirts were embroidered for spring and summer.  A lacrosse player for Jackson.  Jacob seems to be leaning towards golf.  At least he likes swing the club all over the place! 

Jackson's lacrosse shirt

Sewing for little girls is so much fun!!  Here's a little outfit for Ella.  She's already growing out of it so there are a few more on the cutting table. 

Ella's summer outfit

I even brought my Lendrum Saxony back into the living room.  That was relegated to safe storage when the kids moved in with us.  They've been in Long Island since last summer but I just didn't have my spinning mojo back.  Let's hope it's here to stay.

With any luck this is the start of a very productive and very relaxing summer.

Roses in the Winter

I'm finally getting some projects done but the time and the lighting haven't come together for some good photos to show you.  I did get a chance to shoot some still life compositions for You Capture and thought I'd share this one with you.

Jacob will be here tomorrow so I know the camera will be out.  Hopefully there will be some fibery goodness to display soon.