Very Exciting, Very Fun!

If I get a tax return, I usually buy myself a little gift. This year I bought some fiber from Three Waters Farms. I really liked this color way, so I bought 8 ounces of it.

There is a cardigan that I like on Ravelry, and I decided I would like to make it. You can see that it uses various yarns.

So I thought that I would dye some turquoise fiber and spin that, and also mix it with the Three Waters Farms color way. But so far I’m not very motivated to go out and dye some fiber. So one day I went out to my storage shed to see if I already had some dyed turquoise fiber. And I couldn’t believe my eyes. I already had 8 ounces of turquoise fiber spun up in to yarn! And, I had these two other light and dark turquoise fibers.

I might dye that turquoise yarn into a darker turquoise. And yesterday, because I had a cold, I basically just sat and spun all day (no thinking required.) So I held the light and dark turquoise fiber together and spun a variegated yarn.

Quilting is continuing on, and a little rug hooking. But I am really excited about knitting a sweater again.

Christmas is a Time to Finish Things!

I notice I have this pattern at Christmas. I like to finish things. So far I have knit four scarves from my handspun yarn for gifts. Not just knit them, but I blocked them too! And then I decided I had delayed finishing this Christmas quilt for too long. so I just went out there and finished the quilting. I put a binding on it, and then it needed a lot of blocking because of the embroidery in the middle. I’m not 100% sure that I accomplished what I was trying to achieve with this quilt.

If you remember, the embroidery was done with the Cottage Threads perle cotton from Australia.

Here are some close-ups:

The lettering:

Embroidered motifs:

I added a little embroidery to the trees and “rocks”:

And, I finished my Kantha blanket! The running stitches are about 1/2 inch apart. I also put two lines of turquoise thread 1/4 inch apart about every six inches, just to add some interest. The rest of the quilt was stitched with some variegated silk thread that I bought at a weaver’s convention!

Oh, and most importantly, at Christmas time I always feel pressured to try to finish my rug that I started this past February. I would like to share it FINISHED when I go to my rug hooking thing this February, but I’m afraid there is a lot that is still unfinished. I wrote “make a cow” for three or four weeks on my weekly to-do list. Somehow I get afraid of rug hooking when I don’t do it consistently. But finally, I DID make a cow :))

I also hooked the entire hillside behind her. It took several mornings to finish that.

If I don’t write again before Christmas, I hope everyone has a very merry and blessed Christmas.

 

Tradition!

I’ve taken a little detour. I have saved a pattern from a magazine for SIX YEARS! I love everything about this pattern. I love the colors, the way it is quilted, the blocks used, and the way they are arranged in the quilt. So, finally, I decided the time had come to make this quilt. Most of the blocks are churn dash blocks, with a few hunter’s star blocks added. The pattern was featured in The Quilt Life magazine, June 2012, in case you still have that issue and want to see it.

So far I’ve made 25 blocks (37 are needed.) It will be a large quilt, and will be a really nice bed quilt for me. Some of the blocks are made so that the churn dash pattern is not as apparent on purpose.

I finished the entrelac blanket!

And I got myself a little income tax return gift 🙂 I thought about this for a long time. Did I want to make my own blend and spin the yarn for a big project, or did I just want to buy some nice yarn? For now, buying yarn won out. I’m still hoping to get back to making some fiber blends and spinning my own yarn.

I found this company, and I really love everything about them. They source fibers from animals that are treated humanely! The yarn is superfine merino, merino/angora blend, and merino/cashmere blend. The colors are so pretty,  and I was so impressed with their customer service. The company is Sunday Knits.

Look how pretty the package was when it arrived (it arrived from the east coast only five days after I ordered it!

This kit is for the wind feather shawl. The pattern is written really well.

So that’s what I’ve been working on lately. I have a long list of things I hope to accomplish in the next two weeks, so I’d best get back to work in the studio!

Catching Up

Posting on Instagram has been fun. Its easy to take a picture at the end of the day and write a sentence or two about what you’ve been doing. So here’s what I’ve been doing since my last post. My Instagram name is debbyschnabel.

I finished another kantha blanket. This is one I pieced last fall just before I went to Art Quilt Tahoe. I really liked the central tree panel, and just chose some nice fabrics to go along with it. Still needs to be washed and blocked a bit.

Taking a break from embroidering on the Wonderful Counselor quilt. Considering next steps. I think I still need some embroidery in there between the words. And maybe some embroidery in the borders, although I do plan to machine quilt most of the borders.

Close-up of the words. You can see I used the blue disappearing ink quite a bit on this quilt. I did a sample to make sure the ink would come out before I used it on this radiance fabric (hand dyed 50/50 cotton/silk)

Close-ups of some of the embroidery:

I started working consistently on the big PEACE quilt. While it was still on the design wall, I chose 12 spots to put verses and marked those spots with the blue disappearing ink, and chose 12 verses about peace. Its been fun to choose a verse, write it in the spot, and get it embroidered on there. I am hoping that this will be the next quilt I machine quilt.

Right now this quilt is under the Juki. I am taking my time and trying to quilt it nicely. I made it a long time ago, and I still like it.

I got it into my head that I should do another sample quilt from the quilt kits I put together. So fun to make small pieces like this. The small pink triangles are actually the leftover pieces from cutting out the big pink circle! I am teaching Quilted Embroidery at the Cotton Patch on April 21. 

 

And since I finished my kantha blanket and am taking a break from the Wonderful Counselor embroidery, I needed something to work on. Out came the big mitered square blanket. I laid it out on my bed and marked how much larger I want it to be, so at least I now have an ending place in mind. Still a lot to do on it. I’m using bits and pieces of leftover yarns and some of my old handspun yarn too.

Sunday my sister called and asked if I had ever made a jelly roll quilt. Well, once I made a top using hand cut strips, basically the same as a jelly roll. As I talked with her about the math and how to do it, I remembered I had a project box with some leftover strips in it–leftover from the big PEACE quilt. They were cut 1/2 inch finished and 1 1/2 inch finished. Most of the 1/2 inch strips were brights and darks. Most of the 1 1/2 inch strips were neutrals. So I started sewing those together. I couldn’t believe it when I sewed the narrow and wider strips together–they were exactly the same length! So then I did a little math, and realized that there still was not enough for a decent sized quilt. I did some more math, and decided that if I would make some 3 inch finished strips, that would make the quilt big enough. For the 3 inch strips, I used both neutral and bright fabrics. I sewed everything together without planning. And when I finally finished, and threw it on my bed, I was really pleased with how pretty it was. Now I’m just thinking about how to quilt it.

Speaking of quilting, one thing I have been doing lately, is going to Joann’s when they have a sale on (haha, when do they NOT have a sale on,) and buying four or more yards of one fabric so that I have quilt backs for my never-ending box of quilt tops that I have not finished. Since I don’t seem to be too good at selling, I have enjoyed finding places to donate quilts for people that might enjoy them. A young couple I met are working with Afghan refugees that are coming to Sacramento. I told them I could send some quilts to them.

I hope all of you are enjoying your creative time. Just working consistently every day it is surprising how much you can accomplish.

 

Can’t Stop Knitting……..

I have lots to tell you about. But it seems I can’t stop knitting long enough to write a real post…

When I was in Anaheim for my rug hooking retreat, my friend Shelley wrote about a new knitting project she was working on–a blanket made out of leftover yarn and mitered squares. Before I became a quilter I spun and knit all the time, and mitered squares were one of my favorite techniques. I do still have lots of leftover yarn from my knitting days, and now I can’t stop. Just one more square….

If you haven’t tried mitered square knitting, don’t start. I’m warning you. Its addicting.

I’ll be back later to catch you up on other projects I am working on.

Recycling

Its pretty popular nowadays to recyle and repurpose things. And textile art is a great medium for doing that. I still can’t resist a good wool jacket at the thrift store, even though I know a good part of it has been faced, and not useful for rug hooking. I have a bin full of linen and silk clothing that I have picked up at the thrifts. I hope to use it in a quilt one day. Maybe this will be the year.

I have recycled quite a few sweaters. I used to dye the fiber, spin the yarn, and knit my own sweaters. And I used to wear a different size. So when I lost a lot of weight, I unraveled some of those sweaters. That was a lot of really nice wool and I didn’t want it to go to waste.

Once I knit a sweater for my dad. Poor dad. It wasn’t really a very masculine sweater. But to be honest, it wasn’t very feminine either. I brought it home with me when we cleared his house out. That was a lot of really nice yarn.

Its been four years now. I found it when I was looking for something else in the storage shed. I unraveled the parts of the sweater that  I could. The front was constructed the way they used to make fair isle sweaters–knitted in one piece, and then cut and hemmed. So that made it useless to unravel. But a good part of the sleeves and part of the back were in good shape.

 

Of course, when something has been knitted for a long time, the yarn is  kind of crinkly. So you need to skein it and re-wash it. In the end I have quite a bit of this beautiful blend of angora, silk, and merino wool. I will make something nice and cozy that will remind me of my dad. It won’t be as much a memory of him wearing this sweater as it will be a memory of how kind he was and how much he supported all my creative endeavors.

It All Started with Twine?

So has everyone seen the fabric twine? It must be on Pinterest, because it is so cute. I saw it on The Quilt Show website. The first time I saw it I thought, Ooh, pretty! But the second time I saw it I was hooked. They used it to make a little rug! So I clicked over to the tutorial. I needed strips of fabric. I do believe I have a box of strips somewhere. 

I found the box of strips, and soon I was MAKING TWINE. Now, to be fair, she did warn that it was a little hard on the hands. Oh yeah. That twisting motion was very hard on my hands. I made this much, and knew that twine making was not in my future.

That made me a little mad, so I went back to the box of strips. There were plenty in there. I could make another knitted rug. I really do like these rugs. I have two in my kitchen, and they are nice and cushy to stand on. Plus, they are easy to wash. And free. And they use up a lot of fabric that I would otherwise be donating to the thrift store.

Okay, so I got that rug started. The strips in the box were mostly neutrals, both darks and lights. I liked that idea, and decided to add just a few sparks of color once in a while.

So about a week later I went into the studio with the intention of cleaning up. There were still some strips leftover in that box. I was thinking I would just toss them. I made the mistake of actually LOOKING into the box. There were three squares that I had started on a few years ago. They were from a fabric panel that had old inn signs on it. I really did like those signs, and I liked the way I had outlined them with the strips. Oh, plus, for some reason, there were two paper-pieced blocks in there. Maybe I should use these strips up and make a little quilt.

ONE WEEK LATER, (and of course, with lots more strips cut out) I finished another WAY TOO BIG quilt top. It was very fun to work on this quilt, and it was a nice break from using my hands so much (machine piecing instead of hand work.) But 72″ X 72″? That’s gonna be a lot of dang quilting.

In The Studio and On My Lap

Here’s the latest work being done in the studio–

I made the giant nine patch quilt top into a sandwich. First I made a pieced back for it. I’ll have to show you that after the quilting is finished.

And I started working on the little snowball quilt idea I had. You can see that most of the blocks are 3 inch finished blocks. Then I made six, nine, twelve, and fifteen inch blocks to insert into the quilt. I thought of a lot of different ways to do this, but I ended up using the original little sketch I had drawn in my journal. I love having my little journal with me!

I still have a lot of the 3 1/2 inch squares that I pre-cut for this quilt. I have another little idea in the works for them.

In the evenings, I usually move into the living room and have some handwork in progress.

I’m working on another of  The Psalms quilts. Here you can see I machine stitched in the ditch to stabilize the background. But then I decided to do kantha style stitching over the entire background.

Well, you know all about my circle love 🙂

And I finished the rug made from fabric strips. These rugs are so cushy to stand on. I really like having them in the kitchen, and they wash very easily too.

After being washed:

Its just right in front of the stove. And the little girls like to lay on them when they are waiting for me to make their meals!

Knitting With Fabric Strips

 

So, there were enough questions about this, and not enough info on the world wide web, that I decided to write a little tutorial. I hope this is helpful, and clear enough.

I cut fabric strips 1 inch by the width of fabric (usually 40-42 inches.) I did find some recommendations to tear the strips, which they said would result in less fraying. While I agree with this in theory, I don’t like the way the torn strips get all distorted. I like the way the cut strips look. Also, I am a non-pre-washer of my quilting fabric, so none of my strips are cut from pre-washed fabric. I think that it might be more enjoyable to knit with pre-washed fabric. But again, I’m not going there.

I use size 15 needles. I went and bought myself a nice pair of bamboo circular needles, because I like that their ends are not so pointy. Remember, cotton strips of fabric are not nice and stretchy like most yarns, so you want to try to knit not too tight (that’s why I wanted needles that were less pointy.) I did a gauge swatch, and it seemed like I got 2 stitches per inch, so I cast on 40 stitches for a rug 20 inches wide. I just measured, and it is only 18 inches. So there you go. You want to knit in a stitch that will lay flat. Garter stitch is the way to go (knit every stitch.)

Progress on current rug. Sophie supervises.

After you cut a million and one strips, you need to join them, so you will have a continuous strip of fabric to knit with.  Take one strip (you can cut off the selvedge ends or leave them on,) and fold the end over on itself like so (you can see I am actually doing both ends at the same time.)

Neatly cut a slit in the end. Don’t cut close than 1/2″ to the end of the strip, or it might tear when you join the strips.)

I sit and cut a pile of these while I am watching TV in the evening. When you have enough, take two strips, and PREPARE TO JOIN 🙂 Slip the second strip through the slit in the first strip.

Now bring the long end of strip two, and insert it into the slit in strip two, and start to pull it all the way through itself.

Pull it ALL THE WAY through .

Then pull both strips taut, and TA DA! You have a continuous strip. Continue doing this until you have a big pile of fabric “yarn.”

 

When you roll your strip into a ball, you might notice that it is getting a bit twisty. You can overcome this by winding forwards for a while, and then reversing and winding the other direction for a while.

When you first wash your rug, there will be a TON of frayed threads. Yes, I give the rug a haircut. Its kind of fun 🙂

You can crochet with fabric strips, but I find it very hard on my hand, and I noticed that another blogger said the same thing. Proceed at your own risk. Even knitting for a long time with this heavy fabric and big needles is tiring. Proceed cautiously. Your rug will develop quickly. No need to wear your hands out making a bath mat. (I keep saying bath mat, but I think they make great kitchen mats.)

Also, Shelley reminded me that the first thing I did with fabric strips was to knit Christmas stockings. They are so cute. For these I cut the strips 3/4 inch, and I knit on 4 double point needles size 13. Just use a very basic, simple sock pattern. Use a contrasting solid color for the heel and toe.

So What’s Next?

Even though I said I was finished with the cross quilts, I continued to work up until the night before we were to hang the exhibit. As the finish approached, I already had another little idea working in my head. I had seen this ad in my rug hooking magazine, and was enchanted by the colors in it.

I had already pulled a huge group of solid fabrics that mimicked the colors of yarn in the ad, so I thought about what I would do with them when the time came. I find this is a good way to work. Instead of being pressured to COME UP WITH A GREAT IDEA when confronted with a group of fabrics, I have plenty of time to think about it. So coincidentally, I saw this little snowball quilt in Jenny’s blog (thank you, Jenny!) and for the first time ever, I really really liked the snowball block. I think it is the fact that I perceived them as small blocks, and also that they really mimicked circles, with the spiral quilting. Anyway, I decided to use the snowball block as the basis for all these colors. I looked at different sizes, and decided that a 3″ block would make me happy. Pretty easy to cut out 3 1/2″ squares, and 1 1/2″ squares for the corner rectangles. Here’s the start:

And then, one night, I was sitting in my chair. And I wanted to make another knitted rag rug. Here’s the thing about these rag rugs. They are really comfortable to stand on, and they have held up well to multiple washings. They are completely thought-free–the only thought required is choosing the group of colors you want to use. That’s just fun. They are scrappy, so you don’t have to think about what color comes next. And I like the repetitive motion of putting the strips together and winding them into balls. I always stay ahead of my knitting, because I actually like putting the strips together and winding balls better than knitting!

As I worked on this, I started berating myself. Why do you waste time like this? You could be working on a project that has meaning and purpose. But pretty quickly I realized that this is part of the process. I need to give myself time and mindlessness in order to renew and cultivate my creativity. I wonder if Leonardo da Vinci did mindless knitting between his masterpieces. NOT THAT I AM COMPARING MYSELF WITH LEONARDO. Just wonderin’ 🙂