Crochet Scarf - a small tutorial

A little while ago, I saw a lovely scarf that was knitted using what is called the Linen Stitch.   The scarf was done so that each row was a different yarn and it was knitted long ways so that the ends of the various yarns formed the fringe on each end.  I really liked the idea of it.

Well I started, and since I am still quite a basic knitter, even though my gramma showed me how to use those two needles before I was 10 years old, I have not progressed much with knitting.  I am STILL trying to figure out SOCKS -- mind you, the sock I am working on is in a drawer and I am trying my best to ignore it!

So after trying to understand the linen stitch which goes like this

Any odd number

Row 1 (RS): k1, *sl1 wyif, k1; rep from *
Row 2: k1, p1, *sl1 wyib, p1; rep from *, end k1

I did finally get it, but the problem was that wind yarn in front, knit one,  I kept forgeting which stitch I was on and after casting on 250 stitches it got too frustrating going back and undoing 20 or 30 or 50 stitches!

So.  Instead I made a similar idea scarf using crochet.  The thing about crochet, at least in this case, there is no winding yarn in front or in back or changing or slipping or any of that.  I know.  For some using two needles to create a fabric from yarn is the way to go...

So I made this scarf.  It really doesn't look at all the same as the knitted version using the Linen Stitch.

And for me, it is simpler than making pie -- I am not so good at pie making, but a champion at cake baking! -- so we shall call this The Cake Scarf... (it kinda looks like some kid put too many sprinkles on the birthday cake when Mom's back was turned!)
I used a multi-colour acrylic yarn -- I think it was a red heart or bernat. If I was using scraps of different colours I would still end the yarn at each end of the scarf.  One of the neat things about doing it this way, is that there are no ends to weave in along the way.  AND you can make this scarf as long or as short as you want it to be.
Also with the acrylic yarn, I used one of those specialty fuzzy type of yarn and I cannot tell you what it was because it was a 2nd hand store find with no label on it...

So what I did here, was chain about 200 for the foundation, which is actually the middle of the scarf -- remember this is longways, so create the fringe as you go leave about 6 inches when you first make your slip knot and then at the end pull through the last loop so it doesn't come undone and leave about 6 inches at that end.

Now making sure you are in one side of the chain, single crochet starting at one end leaving a 6 inch start up tail and finishing leaving another 6 inches at the end, and always remember to loop the yarn through the last stitch so that it doesn't pull out. 

Your next row is with another scrap of yarn, a regular acrylic on the other side of the foundation chain stitch.   Mainly I did it that way so that the rows would look more even, because sometimes if you make your chain stitches too tight or too loose you have a sort of curve in your piece. 

Next I did a row using the fuzzy yarn, a row on each side of the regular acrylic yarn.  So now once you get a fuzzy yarn on each long ways side, you have 5 rows.   On each side of the scarf I then did two rows single crochet remember to start and end leaving a tail.  After the two rows each side of centre, one row single crochet of the fuzzy yarn.   You can continue in this manner to make the scarf as wide or narrow as you like.  I think my scarf is 17 rows ending with the fuzzy yarn on the outside edge, because I liked the way it felt, wrapped around my neck...

Oh! and I should say, that I wanted a thicker fringe so I actually added lengths of yarn between the ends of the rows to double up on the fringe.

Here are a couple of links if you want to investigate this Linen Stitch further and try a knitted scarf using this method.

http://www.knittingonthenet.com/stitches/linen.htm

this is the link where I first discovered this stitch
http://www.karenjoseattle.com/karenjoseattle/2007/10/linen-stitch.html

and here is a photo of a scarf done in the linen stitch along with the pattern that you can purchase if you like
http://www.knit-purl.com/store/pc/Koigu-Linen-Stitch-Scarf-Pattern-p4651.htm

There is even a You Tube video of how to knit this particular stitch.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FClVwxz0c3o

This was a fun little experiment, now I shall try some more in single crochet with some different yarns that are in my yarn stash...

Works in Progress - Diagonally Speaking

A couple of weeks ago, I started an afghan with some of my skeins of Red Heart yarn that were left over from other projects.  A sort of scrap afghan.  I got it finished just this morning but now I am wondering if it is as finished as it should be...

 I am thinking it might need a border. Hmmmmm, but what as a border? Light or Dark? Lacy or Chunky?  and do I need to go buy some yarn to add a border?

Well, one way or another, it seems that it still is a work in progress, though very close to completion!

AND

A very long time Work in Progress, that I dug out of a drawer.

  

 Before the turn of the century, and probably 3 or 4 years before that my mother's other daughter sewed some blocks and gave them to me when she decided that she didn't like how they were developing. 

The sewing on these blocks was not very consistent as they were part of the early stage of learning to sew and quilt by her.   Finally about 5 or 6 years ago, I thought I would add some strips around the blocks to make them into log cabin blocks. 

 Still a problem with consistency in the sewn seams meant that all the blocks needed to be cut to a uniform size.   But they sat at the bottom of a drawer for a long time.  When I pulled them out of the drawer on the weekend, I was determined not to put them back in again in the same undone format.

So I decided to ignore the width of the strips and trimmed the blocks all down to a 12 inch square.  If you look close at the pieced top you will see that not all the seams line up quite as they should.

But.  As my friend Carolyn says, Done is better than Perfect!

And you know what? It is!

I am not sure if I am counting this as one of the 10 quilt tops in my own little Super Summer Snippy Challenge, though...  It could be called Number TWO if it is then.

OOPS!  Now as I look at this photo above, I see an error! Darn! Can you see it?  Back to the drawing board -- well not that far back, but a bit of unsewing before I think of borders for this quilt top.

Maybe next week it will be complete -- the top anyway and I can then think about where it will ultimately go...

I must say though it feels great to pull this albatross down to a level where it is getting dealt with!  I has only been about 15 years in progress! hahahaha!  That sounds quite rediculous!

I am linking up with the Needle and Thread Network of Canadian Works in Progress ( click on the button on my sidebar).

Super Summer Snippy Challenge -- ONE

A thousand squares...

Whewf!

  Would you believe it is not nearly enough? 

  Today, I decided to start on a quilt top that I want to be mostly pink and blue.  So I started to pick through the stacks of already cut squares and there was hardly any BLUE squares cut !  How is that possible?  Greens, Reds, Orange, Black and Purple, but not a one of any real BLUE...  That meant I needed to go back to my scrap box and pull out the blues. There were a few -- quite a few actually.  I just didn't get to them in my first session or two of cutting.

So a bit more cutting of blue scraps and some mixing them up with a variety of light colour or almost white scraps.  I cut from some yardage 24 - 6 and a half inch pink squares, it is actually a 50's reprint and combined with the blues should make a pretty quilt.

This past week I got the first quilt top done.  It is a fairly simple 16 patch with sashing and turned out quite nice...

This is a quick quilt top to put together and it measures about 48  inches by 60 inches.  I spent a couple of mornings sewing the pieces together and it is ALMOST a CHARM quilt, except there are a couple of the prints repeated, maybe about a half dozen, can you find the repeats?   As an  extra for this quilt top I also cut and pressed 250 inches of binding.

Number One Done -- nine more to go!

Will talk again next Monday and report on any progress on this project...

Finish One, Many still to GO!

I have a drawer in my sewing room that has a stack of quilt blocks that are waiting for something.  They are so very patient!  They think, (do quilt blocks think?) that they have been forgotten.  Not So.

This morning I opened my eyes about an hour earlier that usual -- 4 AM -- if you can believe that.  There was no falling back to sleep, though.  I had ideas percolating and they demanded doing!

So it didn't take long to get dressed, and have a bite to eat -- oatmeal porridge today -- and I was up to the sewing room.  The drawer of part done quilt blocks and "orphan" blocks were calling.   For a change I was not anxious to start something new.  I was thinking about how I could make some good use of those blocks.

One block seemed to call louder than others, and before 8 AM rolled around I had a block made into a cushion cover.   I found in my stash a nice Moda print from a few years back to add a border onto this Brown Eyed Susan dimensional applique block, then layered and machine quilted with hearts, or maybe they are heart shaped leaves all around and along the border.

I made the back, a simple fold over style -- I don't really like a zipper on a cushion, because it just seems that if you lay your head on it, the zipper pull always pokes itself into your cheek bone or other soft body part.

Now, I must admit that the actual flowers and leaves were not appliqued by me...  My cousin Linda made a variety of floral blocks some years ago and I was lucky enough to receive one as a gift, and now, finally it has become what it should have been after all this time.

Even though I do appreciate Linda's work on the applique, these gorgeous flowers just would not survive for long in a multiple pet household, so I have put the finished cushion cover into a plastic bag to protect it and I am listing it in my Etsy Shop.

 It was such an early start to the day, it is not yet lunchtime!  Maybe I can get a few more Orphan blocks made into interesting things by the end of the day...

Super Summer Snippy Challenge!

I always think of May 21 as the first day of summer, even tho that honor belongs to June 20 -- the third weekend in May is when most gardeners in Canada want to get their gardens cleaned up and planted -- fear of frost has usually ended...

The last few days have been quite full -- full of things to do - I did work on my little container garden) and full of world news that many of us have taken notice of...

Quilters were busy across the internet visiting the Quilt Bloggers Festival which was a Link-Up "party" at Amy's Creative Side (and you can still check out some links by clicking on the button on my side bar).  

Those of you who listened (and still do) to music from the 1960's and 70's are today missing and probably thinking of Robin Gibb who sang for us so many meaningful words.   And Charles and Camila arrived in Canada yesterday and fans of royalty were treated? to a rather long report of their arrival on CBC news.

As for myself, I have spent every extra minute working on a self imposed challenge for the summerand even gave it a name!

 The Super Summer Snippy Challenge.

  Lately I have really taken notice at how fabrics prints and colours have changed in the last couple of years.   I have been watching the "ideas" of the MODERN QUILT GUILD and how it has been growing across the country! 

One of the things I really noticed is that I have ALOT of older fabrics -- infact some date back to the mid nineteen eighties!   Now, I do not have "too much" fabric, at least in my mind I don't!  The concept of amount of any collection is of course relative depending upon how much you LOVE your collection!   I think I do have too much fabric when it comes to being out dated, or perhaps I could consider myself a collector of Vintage fabrics?  I think, though that the cure for outdated fabric is to become a scrap quilt expert!

So, I have pulled every fabric I have that is less than 1 meter and have started cutting!   I am mostly cutting 3.5 inch squares, but I am also cutting 3.5 x 6.5 rectangles, 3.5 x 9.5 rectangles and 3.5 x 12.5 rectangles... All cut sizes that can be combined in various ways...

When this weekend started I was aiming at cutting 1000 squares by the 21st of May -- I have reached that goal quite easily!   And I still have a rather large stack of fabrics to cut!  Today I plan to put some of those fabrics together and hopefully create a quilt top.   How long does it take to sew together squares to make a quilt? 

Well, to begin, one must first sew, 3.5 inch squares together into 2's then 4 patches, then I think into 16 patch blocks.   I have a few ideas for creating different settings and placements to make up scrap quilts or at least quilt tops over the next few months of the summer.   My CHALLENGE is that I am setting a goal of 10 quilt tops before the Autumn ( the second tuesday in September, because that is my quilt guild's meeting day).

I do not plan to make completed quilts, tho I may just get a few of the tops I make into complete quilts with batting, backing, binding and quilting.  I am aiming at 10 lap sized quilt tops all scrappy and they will be destined for donation to my guilds charity program.

My guild will help with the batting and backing for the quilts that I can finish completely, and if I only do quilt tops, the co ordinator of the charitable group will arrange to pass the top onto another member who can do the layering and quilting...

My first planned quilt top will be 12 random 16 patch blocks with sashing and cornerstones...  So as numbers go that means

12 - 16 patch blocks = 192  3.5 inch square.
sashing = 31 - 3.5 x 12.5 inch strips
cornerstones = 20 3.5 inch squares

and that should make a lap size quilt that measures about 63 x 48 inches.  I donot plan to make quilts that are much larger than that and may do some that are simply crib sized.

Considering I already have 1000 squares cut, this planned top, barely makes a dent!  1000 squares should easily make 5 quilt tops!

Bloggers Quilt Festival Spring 2012

Well, I thought it was time to get into the que and be part of this huge online QUILT SHOW...

This is one of my favourite quilts It was done as a group challenge with a group of 5 quilters who meet on a semi regular basis.   We decided on a  pattern that was inspired by a pattern in Quiltmaker Magazine called Heritage Squares.   The pattern called for some odd fractions in the cutting and since I was deemed the "math wiz" I recalculated all the blocks to be cut into 1/2 inch increments instead of 1/8 inch ones. 

We each made 80 blocks in our own scrappy fabrics and set a day for an exchange!  What fun to exchange blocks and see how our quilts might come together!

Now, because I wanted two twin bed size quilts, I created this version using the blocks that were in the red, brown, gold colours and after piecing the blocks added the narrow inside border of a very pale pink and then the 6" burgundy border. 
I machine quilted the quilt in a simple grid for the blocks and a straight line on the borders.   The matching quilt, not shown here is in blue green colours and was gifted to a family member and was also done by me.
This quilt was very much liked by members of my quilt guild, Abbotsford Quilters Guild that I was engaged to teach a class on putting it together.   I felt very flattered to be able to pass along some of my knowledge and things I had learned about putting quilt blocks on point.
This quilt was completed in September 2010.

To check out the other quilts in the Bloggers' Quilt Festival go to

http://amyscreativeside.com/2012/05/18/bloggers-quilt-festival-spring-2012/

and scroll down the page, quite a way down, and click on the thumbnails to check out the other quilts being shown in this festival...

WIP - Memories

Some years back I was given a task that included cleaning and sorting a home that had become almost like those homes you see on that TV show, Hoarders.

Ever since then I have developed a fear of things piled in corners, of brown squirmy bugs running in all directions when you pick up rugs or old clothes, of dust and spider webs so thick that the item underneath is a total surprise.

I know that not many homes get to that point but I think if you are able to find reasons not to pick up something or a reason why it is too much bother to pick up a broom, eventually a home will pile up to such a point where you just don't know where to start the clean up.   Really, the only solution is to just die and let someone else take care of the problem, or just move out and pretend you never lived there...

And I am not kidding!  Both those scenarios apply to the situation I found myself responsible for...

Anyway, I now find that I become a bit obsessive about things that either have no real use or things that do not necessarily please me when my eyes fall upon them in the course of a day at home.

I got into a sorting and cleaning mood the other day and one of the things I brought out was an old three tier sewing box that my Mother gave me years ago.  In this box I keep the memorabilia that is not paper files.   There are things even in this box that are due to be cleaned out because they just don't have that memory attached to them or they do not please my eyes. The box itself has become part of the memory, simply because of who gave it to me, so it serves a dual purpose.  Just to look at the box, I am reminded of the hours spent when my Mom was teaching me how to sew, especially the memory of her showing me how to set in sleeves on a blouse.

A bunch of costume jewellery -- in particular earrings.  Most of the things in the photo above is in the "give to the 2nd hand store" or the take apart to use in my crafty stuff...

Stamps, coins and foreign coins and even a sequence of 2 dollar bills... Well they remain in the box, because they were collected by my son and someday he may wish to have them, if not he can decide what or where they belong.  Among those coins are my Father's general service medals from WWII and a Silver Dollar from 1921.

A stack of 45's - The Beatles, Revolution, Help, She Love's You and about a dozen others.  They are my husbands.  He can't play them because the old phonograph that we have only play's 33rpm or 78 rpm records.  He has been watching at garage sales and flea markets for one of the small portable record players that closed up like a suitcase, but so far no luck.  But Someday...

And Badges and Identification cards from various places, My son wearing his soccer team uniform, a sew on badge from a Scout gathering, my id card from college, even a old EATON's credit card.  At the top of the picture is a SHUTTLE bobbin from my first sewing machine that is long gone, but I have that piece of memory.

Do you ever go through those things?  Do you find that there might be things you saved that after 10 or 20 or 30 years don't belong with the things you want to remember?  Or maybe there are things that you wish you had saved?

One thing about that box of things -- when I am ended, I hope that there is someone who will pick out some of those things and keep the memories in their own special way.

Starts

I am working on a project that I have been thinking about for a long time.  Just thinking about some things takes as long as making them!

I have been making things for a lotta years, but rarely  have I ever written down or made a record of what I create when it is something out of my head rather than from a book or magazine.

I have wanted to make myself a lacy crocheted shawl and I have seen some that too me are more than I want to do.  I was at first thinking of a repetitive lacy pattern, but then another idea entered my head and for the last two days I have been working and re working the first half dozen rows of the impending shawl pattern.  It looks like it will take some time to create...  and time to write.

In the meantime...

I  have been planting things in pots and larger containers to make my little townhouse back yard a glorious place to sit on warm summer evenings...

The usual red geraniums.   I have said it before, I plant red geraniums in memory of my Mom and since it is mother's day today was an excellent day to put them into the largest planter pot on my deck.

Petunias, white one's in gallon milk jugs on a towel bar hanging on the fence.  I saw this idea on Pinterest, except a wooden bar with brackets was used, but I only had an old towel bar, so we shall see how it works...   I am hoping that the petunias, grow enough to hide the gallon jugs...

And seedling dahlia's that were really cheap at $2.00 for 6 -- I haven't put this type of dahlia in my container garden before so on speculation I thought that 2 bucks is cheap enough to test them out, tho it takes all season to see how they mature and progress so 2 bucks and time...  I have no idea what the colour is tho,  maybe thats why they were cheap, hmmm?

Right now my whole house is quiet and most every one is having a nap, perhaps I will join them -- my dear hubby tho is out at work so really it is Me and Walter and Archie (the cats) and Pearl (the dog) and you gotta know that cats will curl up and take a nap anywhere and at any time, like wise most dogs....  So, pretending I am an old grey cat I shall follow the trend as it seems to be unfolding in this house...

Oh! and thinking of my Mom on Mother's Day.....

Work in Progress -- afghan and new thing...

Have you ever thought that something you do is TOO MUCH FUN?  Then when you think that having too much fun is not such a good thing you decide to step back and not let yourself have too much fun?  Does anybody else do that?

Well I was thinking that I was spending too much time on the computer -- facebook, twitter, pinterest, this blog, email and looking for interesting quilting stuff.   Well, it was getting to where I was looking more at quilting stuff on the computer than actually making quilting stuff.   So I tried to do other things... But I STILL didn't get any quiltmaking done!

I did manage to progress on the corner to corner afghan.  In fact I think there is less than 25% of it left to do...  I will measure 48 inches wide by about 70 inches long, and I think what is on that burgundy skein of supersaver may just be enough to complete -- but just in case I do have another small ball of that middle turquoise..  I am hoping that it will be finished up by the weekend.

And of course reading about other people's projects inspires me to test out new things.  For awhile now I have been admiring Grandma Coco's micro macrame' bracelets.   So I did a bit of reading about it and decided that the beads and cords were not going to be as neatly achievable as I would like....  So I thought about it and dreamed about it and just happened to be going through one of my books (Crochet Embellishments by Jean Leinhauser) and realized that crochet braids is much like micro macrame but I already knew how to crochet and I was already good at it!

So tho it is different, in a way my bracelets crocheted and beaded  is my own version of the fiber style bracelet.

This is my first ever bracelet done with crochet braid with rather large vintage faux pearls.   I am pleased with it.  The crochet braid is made with regular size 10 crochet cotton.

So with some more crochet cotton and another synthetic string I had in a drawer I have made a few more braids but have not yet added the beads.

At this point of experimenting with this technique I am creating the braid first and leaving extra long threads on each end, and I then thread the beads onto the crocheted braid.

So even though I thought I was having TOO MUCH FUN on the computer I have found that I am quite happily occupied with the various aspects of crochet.

I suppose the motivation to work on one of the too many in progress quilts will again strike me and I will be off on another tangent of quilting creativity.

I am so lucky to be so easily occupied, so if and when I get to feeling guilty about spending too much time on one thing, I just switch to something else.

Oh and in an attempt to be a good homemaker (hahahahahahahaha!) I spent some time today making my bedroom neat and tidy -- but I did not do dishes, even tho they did need to be done!

I am linking up with the Needle and Thread network again this week, so go check out the other canadian needle artists who have already linked their blogs.

Work in Progress - Corner to Corner Afghan

One of the least expensive yarns to buy is Red Heart's Supersaver.   I strongly suspect that it sells very well because they have been making it for a long time.  There are those knitters and crocheters who consider it a "junk" yarn, right? 

I know there are many more lovely and soft and probably easier to work with yarns out there in the marketplace -- but somehow, Red Heart's Supersaver creeps into my stash.  Mostly it finds it's way into my box of yarn because I find it in the thrift shops for even cheaper than it is in the retail stores!  How about $2 for 3 almost full skeins?

Now, as with quilts that I make through the year and donate to my quilt guilds charitable projects, I like to make up a few crocheted throws that I donate in the late fall to our city's Christmas Bureau.

I have a "go to" pattern for the afghan that I usually make for this.

It is from Red Heart's selection of free patterns.  Go to Corner to Corner Throw to get the instructions for this pattern.  I have been making this particular pattern for at least 10 years now!  I first found it via my Mother-in-Laws suggestion (she was not computer literate but had a print out and one in progress when I first saw it).

I love the way you can make this afghan look very formal with the angled strips being alternated in planned colours (see the pattern's photo on the Red Heart site, or as I make it, I pull out a ball of supersaver and start at the corner and crochet until that colour runs out, then I pull out the next colour and go for as long as that next skein lasts.  I am always pleased with these afghans!  Always bright and cheery.  Once you get started it just seems to grow itself...  This afghan doesn't have to be made in the size described in the pattern, you can make it baby size or lap size of king size if you like.  When you have figured out the increase and decrease method you become master of this project!

So this throw is destined for the Christmas Bureau, come November  hopefully I will manage to get a couple more done to donate.

I have a second Work In Progress, that is being added right here to my blog.   Look up.  Look Way Up.  See the tabs at the top of the page?  Well, I have a collection.  It is a collection that I started in 2009 and just recently decided that instead of hiding it in computer files, I would add it right here on my blog.

If you will click on the tab up there that says My Collection of Big Things you will find some of the photos I have taken of Roadside Attractions in various cities and towns between Duncan, BC and Winnipeg, MB.  These all are photos that I have taken myself, tho there are many many more BIG THINGS across Canada...  If you read back to The Worlds Largest Raspberry Plant a few days ago you can read about my most recent addition to my collection.  If you regularly visit my blog, for the next while I will be adding photos of the BIG THINGS.

I am linking up with the Needle and Thread Network today.  Remember to check out a few of the other Canadian blogs  linked up there too!

The World's Largest Raspberry Plant

A few years back my lovely husband and I took the opportunity of time off (he lost his job) and a bit of a financial windfall (enough for some fun but not enough for a lifetime) to go for a drive through the western 4 provinces of Canada.   Made total sense.  I mean, we live here in BC and we started out both being born in Manitoba.  Time to check out some of the stuff in between that was off the main highways...

Now being just a bit odd, and since there was no real purpose to the trip but to go for a drive in the country we developed a REASON for the drive.   Too many people asked us why we were going for a drive for a month...  So we decided to make the purpose of the trip to discover as many BIG THINGS in the cities and towns along the way.

We did not find them all, not even close.  We did take a few detours to small towns to find the ones that we could...  We stopped to see the Worlds Largest Easter Egg in Vegreville, Alberta (here is the link of the photo and its newspaper write up http://www.tabloidcolumn.com/easter-egg.html )  and we went to Leader, Saskatchewan to see that towns SLEW of big things http://www.leader.ca/sculptures.html

Those were only two of the many, many stops we made and the photos we took of the BIG THINGS that represent their towns and cities. 

Well, finally, right here at home I took a picture of our own City's BIG THING --  the worlds biggest Raspberry Plant.  There was a write up back in July 2011 in our own newspaper and you can read that at  http://www.abbynews.com/news/125012219.html

There are a couple of other BIG THINGS locally that I have driven or walked by right here in town, but  just have not had the camera with me when I  was  in the  vicinity.  There is a big salmon sculpture over near Fish Trap Creek Park -- not so big, but certainly bigger than a real life salmon.  And then there are the Sikh horsemen at the Temple on South Fraser Way... 

I have an album of some of the BIG THINGS that I got photos of when we went for our month long drive in a Pinterest album which you can go check out at this link.  http://pinterest.com/susanbgsnippy/big-things-in-canada/

Next time you go for a drive in the country - any country - keep your eyes open for a few BIG THINGS...  Yes, they are an odd thing to collect, eh?  Oh and there is a website where many of the BIG THINGS are documented and listed so you too can go in person and see a BIG THING in Canada!  go to http://www.bigthings.ca/  or http://www.roadsideattractions.ca/alphabet.htm and make your own list of BIG THINGS to go and visit...

Yard Sale Saturday!

Its been awhile since I was out in the neighbourhoods looking for yard sale deals... Not that I really need more stuff, but well yeah, I need more stuff...

I really only spent my money at one church yard sale and got a few things that will definately come in handy...

Wooden Alphabet Blocks -- I don't know why, I have no young people around me -- so these are either destined for something crafty that I have not thought of YET, or perhaps into the Etsy Store...

Lovely, Lovely, Lovely!  Again, I am not sure what these are for, but I do have in mind using them to embellish a zipper pouch or bag.  A lovely patient teen, I am told put in the time to make these up in a variety of sizes and colours and I am so thankful for that effort.  I love fabric Yo-Yo's!  Don't you?

And some interesting bits of fabric, that I am not sure what use they will be put too, but cute and bright and sure to be used for a interesting project...

And the best buy of the day!  And the best work saving project.  I was thinking that I need a bench or two to set my container garden plants on this summer and the church yard sale had this bench and a mate to it.  This is not how or even actually where the bench will be in my 'scheme of things' for my yard but these benches were only 2 bucks and they saved me a whole bunch of work!  I was thinking of finding some used pallets and re using them after taking them apart to make rough benches, and that would have taken hours and hours.  These pretty little benches are just about right and already painted a gorgeous yellow...  Hours of work SAVED!

Yard sales are so addictive, but at least they are not too, too expensive!  I did see a used Coach purse and was tempted and thought about it a bit too long because when I turned back to pick it up another lady was already paying for it... I guess I will just have to wait longer to be an owner of a COACH bag...

Study of Self -- Work in Progress

I don't know anything that is more of a Work in Progress than our own selves!

Recently the subject of abstract art came up in a conversation with some of my quilting friends.  Do you understand Abstract Art? 

I said "No, in most cases I have no idea what I am looking at."

Now when I am challenged to learn more about something, especially when it has something to do with quilts and quilting I am motivated to do a bit of research to "expand my horizons"!

Here is a article that might help to enlighten you, as it did me, on the subject of Abstract Art -- Art 101: Understanding Abstract Art  (just click on the underlined title to open a new window to read the article)

A 1960's "abstract" tessellations made with scrappy squares, or in those days "just a quilt for the bed"... (sorry the photo is not so great but it is a scan of a slide taken about 1967)

As a quiltmaker, most of my creativity is based on traditional quilting patterns and designs.  One of the earliest quilts I remember was made up of hexagons, pieced but not arranged in specific pattern combinations, it was made of fabrics cut and sewn from shirts, skirts, dresses, and apron scraps.  

the above quilt, a more modern form of the squares that are shown in the first photo This is one of my own quilt creations and one of my favourites -- colourwise -- to me I can see a landscape with all the colour that one might find with flowering shrubs and a  sun setting  sky, Iwould say  this is abstract art, even though when I made it I was not purposely creating abstract art.  It hangs in my bedroom...

A Hexagon quilt or a quilt made up of squares or rectangles, I think, is a good starting point to seeing abstract art.  First, as I learned recently, a hexagon and a square and a rectangle and also an equalateral triangle are all tessellations, which basically means a shape that is two dimensional that covers an area with no gaps or spaces.

 So you see how a hexagon when pieced with many other hexagon creates a tessellation?  Next when you add colour to those shapes, you open up a world of ideas -- forming groups of hexagons into representational shapes, flowers, diamonds, and waves of colours radiating out from the centre.   Random hexagons could be a form of abstract art, but IS the thoughtful placement of colour and even dividing the hexagon into smaller shapes to create diamonds and triangles to form a hexagon make it into a different form of art?  Hmmm, there's a question for someone who studies that sort of thing...

and this one, not abstract, just weird...  acrylic paint on unbleached cotton...

edited in to explain this quilt --  this is a quilt I created in 1998 that was inspired by images from a book called Strange Stains and Mysterious Smells by Terry Jones and Brian Froud pub 1996.  each image was hand drawn with acrylics onto cotton fabric and they are hand copies of images in the book.
Anyway, back to the idea of abstract art...  From what I understand, Abstract Art is whatever you want to see in it.  Now, art such as that done by Picasso, I am able to absorb and somewhat appreciate when I take the time to look at all the facets of it, but a piece such as Jackson Pollock produced, I thought was still somewhat beyond me until I carefully read the article that I suggested you read.  So then when I really make an effort to study it I can see the way the colours and splatter can resemble a randomly pieced patchwork quilt.  I begin to relate.  With no formal art training, I jumble through and try to understand...

So, now thinking of myself as a quilt ARTIST, I am able to start to understand that even making a traditional quilt block makes many of my quilts fall into the abstract category, I think, maybe...

So onto more discovery of my own self and what I like to do...  I ultimately enjoy being a Work in Progress!  How about you?  Do you want to discover how your idea of your craft and art has formed and is developing within you?

Dyeing Buttons - Wednesday WIP

When I get an idea in my head, I rarely let it go.  My Dad once told me that a Bull Dog, latches onto what it is after and just hangs on.  I guess in a way I am a bit of Bull Dog, but I try not to attack LIVE things, just ideas!

A while back I was gifted a big batch of buttons, at least half of them were various white ones.  My plan was to sell the buttons, in my ETSY shop, once they were sorted and picked over, but a couple of thousand white buttons would just get tedious after a bit.

Then I saw an article about dyeing buttons!  Ah Ha! says I.  I will dye some of those white buttons and then I can sell them in a variety of colours!

Well, success and failure.

I bought a couple of boxes of Rit Dye.  I wanted to get Yellow, but the store didn't have any in stock, so red and blue it is...

So I went to the 2nd hand store and bought  a small pot for $2.50.  It is quite an excellent pot for that price, too.  I didn't want to use my regular food cooking pots -- you just never know for sure how non-food things could affect you.  A 2nd hand pot, it is...

First I tried out the red dye.   BEAUTIFUL!  Oh and did you know that glass, shell or ceramic buttons don't absorb dye?  Only plastic or nylon; but that's okay cause glass buttons are apparently a bit more rare now-a-days and therefore one can ask a higher price for them... Good, hey?

WOW! beautiful bright cranberry red!  So even and shiny!  And once the buttons were in the pot, I let the pot simmer and stirred them up a few times for about 10 minutes...

Next I tried the blue.  I must admit I didn't pick through the buttons before I put them into the next dye batch in the pot.

I at first thought that there must be alot of glass, shell or ceramic buttons in that bunch, but I did a second batch and the blue dye just doesn't absorb into the plastic buttons nearly as well as the red.

I even did a batch where I put about a tablespoon of the blue powder dye into the pot and about 1/2 teaspoon of the red, hoping to get purple.  It doesn't work that way with dye of this type, I guess.  I don't know why.  Some of the buttons did go a really dark burgundy but most went that bright cranberry red, even the ones that in the first blue batch stayed white, picked up the cranberry red.   So I have many fewer blue buttons than red...

Well, there are still some buttons left and I do want to try to get some green buttons and some yellow, but I think I will just buy dye in green and yellow, rather than trying to mix colours...  It is a bit too iffy to try to mix dye powder to get a pleasing colour. I'll go with the box... 

That is my kitchen experimenting for awhile, as I probably have 4 or 5 hundred red buttons to sort and package and list in the ETSY shop and a couple hundred blue ones...

That should keep me busy for the next couple of days -- its raining today so what better job than to sit and sort buttons???

Flea Market Sunday

It's been quite a few weeks since I have been able to go to our local Flea Market here in Abbotsford.

Last weekend of course was Easter, and before that for close to a month of Sundays my hubby has been at work and that means I have no driver or bag and bundle carrier!

(that's the husband in the red vest, he is always in a rush!)

I was on the hunt for things to go in my little garden, but this table had high prices and garden ornaments were somewhat faded and getting old...

I did find this fellow and decided he needed to come home with me.

The parking lot was jam-packed and people and cars coming and going...

And I bought a Rosemary plant for my garden and as soon as I brought it in and set it on a table, Walter was sniffing and then biting off leaves...  So, no sitting around, I am going to get it outside and planted in a moment...