Mittens and things

I bought this Interweave kit from Robin Hansen at the mitten show at the art gallery in Bowdoinham, Maine. A friend of mine bought a kit as well. We both found the pattern a bit odd.

The thumbs start further along than usual for one thing. Since I’ve never felted anything before I had no idea if my mitten was really too big or how it would shrink. It did not shrink in the way I expected and is really too big, the thumb too high on the hand, and the thumb itself is huge.

I’ve made the compass mittens in Robin’s book Favorite Mittens and they knit up beautifully. Not sure if Interweave changed the directions or what. I do love the compass pattern and will try these again. Meanwhile, I’m putting these in the washer for another shrink.

Here's my seascape for the "People in Places" by Linda Scmidt class I am taking online at Quilt University. The sky and sea are painted with fabric paints and fabric crayons. See the brown edges on the mountains? That is burnt edge applique, something new for me. You hold the fabric up to a candle flame and sere the edges. I quite like the effect although the process is a little unnerving. By the way, the candle is sitting in a pan of water so you can quickly dowse it if things get out of hand.

The sparkly parts are a sheer metallic fabric. I used one blue crinkly sheer and the other, which doesn't show up very well here, is not blue and is more subtle, obviously since you can't even see it! Those are treated to the candle flame as well. I experimented with a scrap of sheer first. I was a bit apprehensive that the whole thing would burst into a ball of flame and there would be headlines of a house fire in Bowdoin, Maine the next day. Whew, didn't have to explain that to my hubby.

Today is a snow day, a day off work for me, so I am baking bread (James Beard Cornmeal Bread, yummy) and will work on my seascape this afternoon.

World's Tallest Snowwoman!

Bethel, Maine 2008

Have a fun and creative day!

ENJOY!

Russian quilts

This YouTube video was shown on "The Quilt Show" and I thought you might enjoy it, too. Lots of creativity here.

Enjoy!

I've been playing around with an idea for a wall hanging. I started with some strips. Blues for sky and water. Yellow for sunshine.


Sewed strips together. Cut through the strips and reassembled offset.



Played around with some narrower strips (on the left). The first set was cut 2 inches wide. The narrower were cut 1.5 inches wide. Lots of orange in that one. Luscious, but not what I was looking for.
Cut greens for strips to add to the side. I'm choosing clear colors for a certain fresh summery look. Lots of play, not sure if this will ever make it to my final design.

I've signed up for a class at Quilt University, my first class! I'm taking "People in Places" with Linda Schmidt.One of the lessons is a seascape. I bought some supplies this past weekend. Metallic organza and iridescent sheer fabric, I think these are for seafoam. Can't wait to see how to use those! I might add some to the above.

Here kitty, kitty. I watched Susan Carlson on The Quilt Show a few days ago. Susan lives close by along the coast of Maine, but I have never taken one of her classes. She showed her method of painting with fabrics using a turtle outline. It looked so easy! I tried with this cat, the pieces are not glued down. This may go in the trash, but it was sort of fun. Another reason not to throw out any piece of fabric no matter how small a sliver, ha ha.

And a Happy New Year!

"Chickadee Dreams" pattern by Ty Livingston for Bigfork Bay Cotton Company. I used the pattern but there is a kit available, too. Since "Chickadee24" is my username on Ravelry and The Quilt Show, I really identify with this little wall hanging.

The quilt starts with a 14 inch square of black fabric. The pieces that make up the chickadee, the mountains, even the birch bark branch are all cut out and fused to the black background. The fabric pieces are spaced to allow the black to show through. Rather like stain glass quilts or like a woodcut. Now that I understand the concept I would like to play around with this a bit for my own designs. Laura Wasilowski has made some quilts this way, too. Interesting possibilities. Of course the batik fabrics really help keep the edges neat and clean. Not every piece in this quilt is a batik, but most of them are. I used Wonder Under for the fusible.



Just a couple of Christmas vignettes before we pack everything away for another year.


Happy New Year!