Art, Craft and Needlework, July, 2024

[Nancy]

I am making progress on the knit project I have it 1/3 rd of the way done.
I have been carding blending and spinning wool fibers up nearly every day and it is great to make progress on this again now.

[Nancy]

I have been carding blending and spinning up wool this week.

Got 2/3 rds done on my colorful knitting project now.

[Harriet]

It's good to think of you carding and spinning again, Nancy. Hope you have very pretty results.

Was really pleased and felt humbled that this doctor today remembered that the last time we saw each other, dd was planning a wedding, so I had started thinking of a quilt. She asked to see the quilt, if I had a photo. She was so complimentary and called her nurse to come and see, too. I showed her the photo I'd posted in last month's A,C and N thread. I think they both caught on to my explanation of the difficulties of it and she said that was healthy, to try new things and work the brain. (She was definitely preaching to the choir on that - I firmly believe creativity is good for brain and for confidence.)

The Sisters, Oregon (town) quilt show 2024 has been held and the videos of it are out now. I watched the "Sundog quilting" studio? video - I believe that is the name of their studio since they have an Irish Setter redhead dog. Leisurely video and with lovely, relaxing music, showing what must have been ALL the hanging outdoor quilts. There were so many. Very inspiring. All that sunshine onto the quilts outside ☼ makes you worry about fading BUT there comes a time when it is meaningful and valuable to get to showcase the beauty of people's work. So it is worth taking them outdoors for everyone to enjoy.

[Harriet]

Photography Art thoughts -
the wedding couple chose a true film photographer for the wedding day. Very artsy, trendy choice these days, I understand, and some of her photos are impressive. She developed some black-and-whites that are so crisp and beautiful. One drawback is that in the fast pace of event shooting, the photographer may get closer to the end of a roll of film than they realize. There are sometimes photos that are taken so close to the end of one film that a wide blank stripe falls across the final image even though the photographer thinks it "took".

This happened twice at least at dd's wedding, leaving a blank stripe fully blocking out dd's mother-in-law (!) in the photo of the couple with their mothers, and another blank strip right across the middle of her photo of just the quilt, lol! She did find an extra one we hadn't yet seen with the quilt looking great, BUT it is actually of a group of four people who sat at the table near it, giving her a really attractive backdrop as she shot their centered photo. Now, if these were wedding guests I know, I'd probably like that photo lots. Problem is, I don't know any of them - complete strangers!

A gift at my dgrandson13's birthday yesterday was a Polaroid camera remember those? And he is super excited about learning that kind of photography, which is experiencing a new popularity, he says - cutting edge stuff, lol. A lot to read to learn the art of it, plus now there's an app.

[Nancy]

Harriet I agree about the sun and quilts out doors esp. now with smoke in the air!

I had fun taking vids. today saw deer at the corner, then on a diff. street had a bad vid. redid it and then the 2nd deer showed up! Got em both!
Plus a hawk perched on a fence on a diff. street. One other of ddoggo in back yard. will go up on yt after I schedule em for next week.

[Harriet]

Sounds like the wildlife has been cooperating with you lately, Nancy! How is that colorful knitting project going?

I've been watching instruction videos on machine quilting on home machines and also some on machine binding.

Really appreciated one lady who gave the times it took her to do the things she showed. (Thank you!!! Nobody ever does that!) She quilted what looked like a 50" by 50" throw-size on her home machine in a simple way. She told exactly how long each step took. For instance, 3 hours at the machine after she had everything basted and set up, but before trimming for the binding. It helped me to see that it could be done without breaking your back or being miserable. She was also really honest about having a newer machine than most, and how that probably helps her with speed. I won't have that, but she gave me honest info, so now I'll know.

Have watched some about quilting part of the quilt at a time and joining. I've done that some before, about a fourth at a time, and wish I'd had all this good video instruction on making the back joins look so neat. I did it pre-youtube! lol

Different people's binding ideas are a study, lol. Some people bind with shortcut after shortcut. Others are so careful they even go back to the ironing board to steam-iron the binding perfectly around the edge after first attaching it. Goodness. I must be somewhere in between. Interesting to see the tips and of course to be able to watch puzzling parts over again.

[Nancy]

Harriet I agree quilts are hard on the back If you can do it in some smaller segments of time is good.

I tried watching some of the Olympic opening events I was distracted by some life events going on here and found the boat parade
to be boring to be quite honest & the next bit was not my cup of tea so I just turned on some music that helped. I did get some fiber carded up
and blended and spun that up.

The colorful knitting piece the size of a doll blanket is done now.

I could start a dish cloth but did house hold chores instead today.

[Harriet]

Nancy, sometimes your own thoughts are better than any entertainment while you're crafting something. I've been thinking that I'm probably missing something not watching more of the games, but it always seems so hit-or-miss whether I'd hit on a time that would really mean anything to me.

My grandkids have 17 days (dd44's 3 youngest) and 27 days (ds' children) left in their summer break from school.

DgdC generally wants to come over and just learn to sew with me, work with fabric, have fun.

Middle dgs, dd's third child, wants to learn to use a rotary cutter/mat and sewing machine.

So that's nice to consider for upcoming weeks.

I have a baby shower on the 10th, I think. To tell the truth, I'm hoping to get out of actually attending, but have a gift to send. It would be cool if there were time to stick a baby bib in... ..