Art, Craft and Needlework, April, 2011

[Harriet]

Express yourself!

Every production of an artist should be the expression of an adventure of his soul. (W. Somerset Maugham)

Despite any will I may have in the matter, what I express interests me more than my ideas. (Pablo Picasso)

I don't see why we ever think of what others think of what we do – no matter who they are. Isn't it enough just to express yourself? (Georgia O'Keeffe)

Where the hand goes, the eye follows; where the eye goes the mind follows; where the mind goes, the heart follows, and thus is born ... expression. (Sanskrit writing)

Some people have everything, and other people don't. 
But everything don't mean a thing if it ain't the thing you want. 
It's not what you look like, when you're doin' what you're doin'. 
It's what you're doin' when you're doin' what you look like you're doin'. 
Express yourself!
(Charles Wright & the Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band )

If I can't dance I don't want to be part of your revolution. (Emma Goldman)

March was downright fun!

Lynlee and Indiana came in to give encouragement!
Sunny is marking the quilting lines for her dgd's quilt, "Kaleidoscope of Jewels" , (photo in Sept thread).
Emptynester has carved a gnome home out of cottonwood bark and made a wire-and-bead bracelet. (photos in March thread)
Mr. Emptynester is carving, too.
Nancy finished a lap robe, a purse, and is joining her green granny-square crochet in strips.
Nancy's dgd is learning to join crochet squares from her grandmother.
Harriet finished dgs's quilt top and planned the quilting, but the machine-quilter will quilt it!
Harmony is not avoiding us; she is only on a little break!
BookSaver lived our dream and went to a retreat, where her creativity led to an insulated tote, 3 child's aprons and a ruffly scarf.

Just think what we'll come up with in April. Join us!

[Nancy]

I'm working on getting the strips sewn together on the green granny square project and
have the next part done for now glad for this progress with the colder weather this weekend
it's a perfect project to work on!

Okay back with more progress all the strips are together and I"m working on the edging now for this one.

[Nancy]

Green granny square throw is now done and it's lovely!

I've been working on attaching the brown granny squares this weekend and have them
all together now and I"m working the the edging now one of three colors.

With the rains we have it's great to have these to work on!

[Lisa B.]

Well Ladies,

I've not posted in quite a while. Life has just gotten in the way and we are scrambling for stock at work due to the crisis in Japan.

Anyway, I've finally decided on the colours for the anniversary quilt. This I'm going to do in traditional African fabric by Da Gama Textiles. Fabric is called ShweShwe. It is pure 100% cotton but has a destinctive odour to it until finally washed. Very stiff when bought off the bolt. Need to soak in vinegar water for 24hours before drying and using. This does not leave a vinegary smell but rather sets the colours in the fabric which run constantly if you don't set the colours.

The colours are red, brown and blue.....all very traditional. The blue are called Indigo and the browns are Chocolate. There are varying depths of the colours so I can do light, medium and dark for the quilt.

This I will try and get started on sometime in the next few weeks.

Still in the ongoing exchange for the mosaic blocks. Whilst waiting for my new partner's centre to arrive, I'm continuing on getting the pattern right for the skirt. The top has been cut to make a muslin first so now need to do markings and then pin together, take photo's to see if any further alterations need doing and then sew the muslin for fit. Finger's crossed that all goes well with the skirt and top.

Apologies for the long post.

Harriet, which magazine is QNM? and which specific issue is it? This so I can go and see if our newsagents stock the mag. We also are about a month or 2 (sometimes 3) behind the rest of the world when getting international magazines. Also, the newsagents don't always stock the magazines as they become very expensive here.

[Harriet]

Nancy, that is what it's all about, to be able to look at something we thought up, finished, and say it's lovely! Happy for you.

Lisa, gee, that wasn't a long post - I take that long to say, "hello".
It is an article in the February-March issue of Quilter's Newsletter Magazine called "Mosaic Patchwork Bonanza". But it is not exactly a "bonanza" since only 4 full size (difficult looking) patterns from Jinny Beyer's Quilter's Album of Patchwork Patterns book are given. Of course, full-size shapes CAN'T be given in her book of 4,050 of them, so this IS different. The definition of mosaic patterns they give is taken from a quote from the Laura Wheeler quilt column in 1933: "It is a design that does not fall into blocks, but just goes on and on." The patterns are Orange Peel, Rainbow Flower, Painted Daisy and Gay Cosmos and the only color images are piecing diagrams, not how to end your piecing and create the edges of a quilt. At one point, it says you keep going as long as you want, lol. Of course, the article really brags on the book and calls it "a master course in drafting and design".

The machine quilter says she is finished so I need to get the label made for the houses quilt. When it gets home, I guess I'll be working on binding for a while. I am trying out fabrics for the next (baby) quilt to be given at ds and ddil's shower.

[Nancy]

The owner of the green granny square throw was happy that her's was done and took it
right home yesterday.

Today I'm thinking I can do up squares and dgd can attatch them for her new baby sibling
that is to be born later in the year. {No I"m not a grany to this one.} This one needs to
be for either sex. Still thinking on colors I have that can be used here and what I might need
to get to add in with it.

[SuzLew]

I bought 3 more 'skull' fabrics yesterday for Dd/32's quilt- have 19 different skull fabrics. now need to start cutting out pieces -what we will do for our kids - Ihate skulls!

[Nancy]

Finished the brown granny square throw this weekend yea!

[Nancy]

#1 Dgd has her afghan put together and likes working on it to keep warm as she does the edges, she is going around the outside of it with single crochet, decided it needed to be longer so I made up 3 more blocks to put on it.

#2 dgd was working on making crochet chains having fun with those.

I made up cookies and they took a bag of various kinds home with them.

{We also sent home a bag with #3 dgd the newest ones we made oatmeal chocolate chunk ones were a hit the best yet! }

Could call this a hen party ha!

[Harriet]

SuzLew you will have so much variety of fabrics. It must have taken a long time just to find them all! Hope you have a lot of fun with it!

Awww! Little granddaughters learning stitchery!!! And me with all grandsons in the coming years! Happy times for you, Nancy. I glanced over one day and noticed dd working away stictching one of her little bracelet thingies and poked HRH to get him to look. She looked so calm and grown up.

The binding for the houses quilt is made and the batting is cut away to square the quilt edges, but there won't be any more time. I just don't think it is a possibility. And besides, I wanted to have a sleeve and the label appliqued, and I wanted to gift wrap it... ... Sigh. I will show him/them the quilt and just explain I'll have to keep it to get the rest done.

By the way, the machine quilter did a very good job, putting a lot of thought into it. Somehow, I just can't get a truly long-arm-quilted quilt to be drapable to suit me, though. Even though she tried to keep from a lot of lines crossing, etc., and keep it soft and drapable as I asked, there are just a lot of places that it is compacted so much as to be very flat and stiff. When I machine quilted myself, on DangerBoy's and dsil's, for instance, I just didn't have that problem. Somehow there is just a lot of thread used in a long-arm-quilted quilt... Is that it? I am truly puzzled, because this lady wanted very much to please me and still I'm surprised at the stiffness.

I've ordered fabric that I hope will be ideal for the final border of ds26's baby shower gift. Here's a better photo than their ebay shop where I purchased. Puppies on blue. I hope it works - hope the color is right, hard to be sure online. He has seen the center. I wanted to look at his face and be sure I didn't see any hint that he thought it wasn't boyish enough. The borders should be surprise enough to make him smile still, and ddil won't have seen it at all, may not have a clue, since ds probably wouldn't tell her.