Beaded Knit Scarf is Done - Finally!

2 years and 11 months isn't THAT long...right?  

That's how long it took to complete my first beaded scarf.

I bought the yarn and beads at The Fiber Studio in Henniker, NH.  The yarn is rayon and cotton.  There are many hundreds of beads.  The scarf is knit in 2 pieces, starting at each beaded-end, then joined with a Kitchener Stitch at the neck.  (Don't look closely -- even with video tutorials, grafting is difficult to do well!)

And guess what... I have beads and yarn for 2 more scarves!

Stay tuned ... but please don't hold your breathe. :)

Happy Valentine's Day!

Lynn

Once a Piker, Always a Piker

Today's BLOG isn't about quilting.  

It's about sewing on a patch for a friend.

For as long as I've known him, our friend Mark has been making annual trips up to Lake Champlain, Vermont, to ice fish.  He tells me it's "catch and release" Pike fishing. (ice fishing images here)

I think he has as much fun planning the trip, the meals, and the sleeping arrangements as he does drilling the ice holes.  (No wonder, have you ever seen how thick the ice becomes up that way?)

The Pikers dress in style.  This is the back of the jacket.  The Flag patch is on the left sleeve. 

Which brings us to the patches on the right sleeve. 

I sewed the round blue "40th Annual" patch on this morning.  It took 10 minutes.  (Taking pictures and writing this BLOG is taking me longer!) 

40 years!  Seriously?  Mark CAN'T have been making the trek for THAT long?  Could he have?  I'll have to ask him about their math.  Seems a bit "fuzzy."

And finally, here's their group motto - emblazoned on the front.  Maybe for their 50th Annual, they'll add a line.  How about something like " If you can't take winter you don't deserve summer ... or you'll just have to move to Florida!"

That's all from the Simply Colorful Fiber Studio for today.  

I'm off to work on my Valentine's Day quilt! 5 days left.  Happy Sunday!

Lynn

P.S. Did I ever tell you my UVM ice fishing story?  A bunch of us college students drove out on the lake. I found what I thought was a frozen dead fish. I put it in my pocket, thinking I could play a trick with it back at the dorm.  The problem with that plan was that half-way home, while I was still packed in a care with10 of my closest friends (half of whom I'm sure I'd only met that day), the fish started to move in my pocket?!  It completely freaked me out. It was all I could do to roll down and fling that thing out the window.  Joke was on me. :) 

A Paper Piecer is Born! #QuiltLove

Isn't this paper pieced heart wonderful?  

Pattern by www.PiecebyNumber.com out of Geneva, Switzerland.
Sells for $3.50 on Craftsy.com here.  

My sister sewed it last night while watching me on SimplyColorful Fiber Cast.

Am I the luckiest big sister in the world?  I used to offer to pay her to let me have a sleep-over in her bedroom - that's how much fun I have hanging out with my sister.  And to think, all these years later, after very rarely letting me bunk in her room, she's willing to spend her time sewing with me.  

Anyway - enough about me!

Here's another of Karen's creations:

"Mercury"
Pattern by 627handworks.com is available for free this week on Craftsy.com here.

How about this bird? 

Nothing like a winter cardinal to brighten the day!

And a similarly-colored cocktail to enhance the night! (compliments of hubby TGBob)

Thanks for sharing Karen!

Just 6 days left until Hallmark says we're supposed to tell the people we love that we really do - in fact - love them. Why not say it today...a lot can happen between now and next Friday!

Sew on,

Lynn

Here's one more free pattern to celebrate the season of Love.

Pink Quilt for Valentine's Day

Remember my leader/ender pink half-square triangles?  

I'm using them in a Valentine's Day lap quilt!  

10 days and counting.  

People have asked about my quilt making process.

I'm a "loose" quilter.  I don't follow formal directions anymore.  Instead I draw inspiration from the fabrics, colors, and pictures of other quilts.  Then I just start cutting, sewing, and laying out.

Don't get me wrong.  I do think about lights and darks.  I think about design repetition.  I think about balance.  So I plan in that way, but I just don't seem to have patience for reading every line of complex patterns.

Here's where I'm at with my pink quilt so far:

The Chateau pattern from Timeless Treasures is my inspiration. 

Free on www.fatquartershop.com.

I have plenty of extra pink fabrics - both lights and darks.

Isn't it interesting to see how by changing just 1 fabric in the above 2 photos it looks so different?  (lower left flower fabric in top photo is replaced with a pale pink batik in the lower photo)

Which one do you like better?

We'll have to play with different combinations this Friday on Simply Colorful Fiber Cast!

8PM EST, 2/7/14

Until then, stay warm, and sew on!

Lynn

P.S. I'll post the Fiber Cast URL link on Friday morning to both www.facebook.com/SimplyColorful and on the Simply Colorful Google+ Page.

Smocking Anyone?

In a glass case at The Sewing Studio in Maitland, FL.

Ever heard of the Smocking Arts Guild of America (SAGA)?

Up until last week, I'd not known of its existence either.  

I discovered it while visiting The Sewing Studio in Maitland, Florida.  (What a store, but more on that in a future post.)

They have beautiful, fine batiste in every color, pleating boards for sale, embroidery floss, and inspirational children's outfits under glass. 

Another heirloom outfit at The Sewing Studio in Maitland, FL.

I've only ever done one smocked dress (for my niece Alexa), and that was 20 years ago.  I recall it being quite fun and easy.

Here are a few smocking images I just found on Google.

 

Honeycomb examples

Design examples

Here are some books if you want to learn more:

A-Z of Smocking Book (Amazon)

Best of Sew Beautiful Christening Gowns Book (The Sewing Studio)

The Joy of Smocking Book (The Sewing Studio)

Treasury of Smocking Design Book (Amazon)

And finally -- if the smocking bug bites, you may be interested to learn SAGA's Annual Conference is September 17-21, 2014 in Orlando, Florida. 

The Convention brochure will be posted by March 1, 2014, and Registration starts May 1, 2014.

Smock on,

Lynn

Making New Quilting Friends in Florida

   

Happy first day of February!  What a night we had last night at the   Cornerstone Quilt Shoppe in Orlando Florida.

If you were on Fiber Cast, I apologize for the spotty video and audio.  We were streaming through a local internet service provider, it was raining outside, and I only had my laptop PC camera and microphone.  Add to that, I jostled the PC as I moved it around the store ... and it made for a not-so-interesting-or-pleasurable experience for you - our viewers.  

I'm so sorry about it because the stories were priceless, including Fiona's.  As a member of the Royal School of Needlework, she worked on Kate Middleton's wedding dress.  (Did I mention she's also an aeronautical engineer?)  Cindy III is a nurse and a natural-born story-teller and producer (tiaras came from her!) She wants to say hi to her family in Austin. "Original Cindy" grew up in Berwick Maine and knows Keepsake Quilting, so we bonded over that.  Mary's grandchildren are named after presidents (Reagan and Lincoln - so far), and Patty started her needlework sampler in 1990!

Anyway, thanks everyone for sticking with me.  Next one will be better....

Nothing ventured, nothing gained ...

You don't know until you try ...

Yadda, yadda, yadda!

All technical difficulties aside, I consider myself so fortunate to have met new quilting friends.  Each one shared their story and passion for quilting with me.  They were open to trying a LIVE broadcast, and they clearly enjoy each other's company.  

A big thank you to Original Cindy, Cindy III, Mary, Patty, and Fiona!

Here are some (rather grainy) photos from last night. 

Here's the red FIAT I rented all week, in front of the store.

Here's "Arthur" the long arm quilting machine working on a snowflake design.  

Here's just one corner of the store.  Isn't the pineapple scrap quilt punchy and bright?

Here's just one of the quilts that "Original Cindy" machine quilted.  They do 100's of quilts a year, and people send their quilt tops to be done from as far away as Denmark.  If you have a quilt top in need of machine quilting, I highly recommend Judy Dickerson (Shoppe owner), Cindy, and the team at Cornerstone Quilt Shoppe.  Their machine quilting work is top-notch.  

Phone: 407-207-6500, email cornerstonequilt@cfl.rr.com 

I'm about to board my plane back to Boston.  Have a great Saturday everyone!

Lynn

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Nancy's Quilt Shop and Ginny King

I made a fun trip to Winter Garden, Florida earlier this week (on a break from my www.fetc.org tradeshow work).  I found Nancy's Quilt Shop.  It's chock full of fabric, samples, jelly rolls, a classroom, and helpful staff.

I splurged on a Robert Kaufman bundle of greys, browns, and whites.  Not my usual palette!  Let's just say the Modern Quilting bug may have bit me.  (What fiber bug DOESN'T bite me? LOL)

Here I am with Ginny King.  She used to operate a quilt store in Kissimmee, Florida.  Now she enjoys working at Nancy's and making purple quilts for her grandchildren!  She helped me pick out fabrics for my next "Modern" House quilt. (More about that project and up-close pictures of the fabric in a future BLOG.)

Nancy's Quilt Store is on a quaint brick-lined street in Winter Garden, Florida.  Bicycles, outdoor cafes, and water fountains adorn the street.

One water fountain had mosaic tiles.  

Very quilt-like, don't you think?

What're you working on this week? 

Are you ready for tomorrow's Simply Colorful Fiber Cast?  I'll post the URL tomorrow ... and look forward to visiting with you LIVE from somewhere in Central Florida, starting at 8PM EST. 

Sew on,

Lynn

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The Day I Decided to Make a Hitty Doll

It was a rainy Fall day in 2013.  I went to my friend Sarah's new fiber studio in the next town over.  In awe of her new space and time, I looked around.  My eyes couldn't take in all the colors and designs fast enough.  I saw quilts, beads, color charts, a retro yellow chair ... and ... wow ... wait - just - a - minute ... What's that I see over there?

Dolls!  Lots of them. Whimsical fabric dolls, a magician, a mermaid in process, antique replicas, miniature furniture, even a doll with her own little doll in tow were all there for me to ogle.

I just had to see and learn more.    

Sarah, in her never-ending generosity, offered to teach me how to make a doll.

She introduced me to Gail Wilson's Hitty doll kits.  I joined Gail's kit of the month club.  First up was to make my own Hitty.  Here she is.  She's on a chair that I made (with mini rushing) a month later.

  

My Hitty is just 6.5" tall, just like the original Hitty now housed in the Stockbridge, MA library.  My Hitty's head, arms. and legs are made of paper mache clay.  Her body is made of fabric and stuffed with merino wool.  Her undergarments are made of batiste and mini lace which I hand "dyed"  (Gail actually has us use diluted acrylic paint).  Her dress is made of tiny print cotton fabric.  He necklace is made from real (tiny) coral beads.

And Hitty comes with a delightful little story.  Here's an excerpt from Gail Wilson's website:

A LITTLE BIT ABOUT HITTY

Hitty is a small wooden doll, about 6-1/2", who presently lives in the Stockbridge Library, Stockbridge, Massachusetts. She is believed to have been about 100 years old when she was found in an antique shop by Rachel Field and Dorothy Lathrop in about 1929. Rachel and Dorothy wrote and illustrated (respectively) such a charming story of the way they imagined Hitty's life, that not only did the book,Hitty ~ Her First Hundred Years, win the Newbery Medal for children's literature (1929), but Hitty became beloved by all from that time to this. The book has been republished many times (it is still available and I highly recommend it) and there has developed an enormous following for Hitty and all of her things. Many people make Hittys, most of wood, some of cloth, some porcelain. I chose papier mache to be in keeping with her sculpted look (especially her hair), but I wanted to make a kit of Hitty, so it seemed ideal to draw upon my many years of mold making, and make a doll that not only was myHitty, but one that others could make too and still be recognized for who she is.

Click here to order the soft-cover book thru Gail's site. [$6.99 plus tax & shipping]   

I especially like the part of the book when she ends up in a crow's nest.  Read the book to learn about her authentic coral beads.

Anyway, I had such fun making my first Hitty.  I will keep her for myself forever.  I made 3 more "from scratch" before Christmas.  I gave the green-dressed Hitty to my sister and the red-dressed Hitty to my Aunt Nancy.  I've kept the blue dress Hitty because her expression doesn't look childlike enough...

Where is blue-dress Hitty's mouth???? LOL

I enjoyed making these dolls and I will make more.  Stay tuned.

And until next time - keep on creating!

Lynn

P.S. Don't forget next Friday's Simply Colorful Fiber Cast will be LIVE from Orlando somewhere.  

House Quilt Construction Continues

Hello!

Winter House Quilt construction continues here at the Simply Colorful fiber studio.

I've been played with house placement on the top and edges. 

This quilt's going to be unusual -- a one of a kind for sure!  Don't do this at home - I'm not sure all this overlay, after-the-fact placement and piecing is worth all the extra effort of Y seams and unsewing.

I need about 30 houses for the perimeter. 15 are done. 15 more to go.  I'd like to have them done in time for Fiber Cast this Friday so we can go back to the strip piecing.  

And true to form, I made a miscalculation on one of the roof lines, leaving raw edges exposed.  It was easily fixed with an appliqued bird. 

Do you think the cats on the roof will catch the bird? 

Speaking of adding whimsy into the houses ...

We now have football players in the garage.  (No Pats jokes, please...Congratulations Broncos!)

Cute cowboys playing in a Christmas house.

Betty doing laundry. (Who's she?)

And my favorite, the school bus in the garage.

How are your projects coming this week?  

Want to join me on Friday night for a bit of sewing?  

Next Simply Colorful Fiber Cast is 8PM EST on January 24, 2014.

I'll post the URL on the Simply Colorful Facebook, Twitter, and Google feeds a few minutes before "show time."  As always, the recorded replay will be available afterward if you miss the LIVE event.

Come see our slightly new studio look (thanks to viewer feedback) and sew with me!

Lynn

Simply Colorful Fiber Cams Archives:

January 1

January 3

January 10

January 17