Overshot Cotton Bath Mats

Yesterday afternoon I finished weaving the overshot bath mats that I started back in December.  I wove the mats using one of my jack floor looms:

My loom was threaded for an overshot pattern from Chapter 15, Diamonds, in A Handweaver's Pattern Book, by Marguerite Davison.  The draft is Johann Schleelein's design No. 123, pattern 1. 

My warp threads were an random assortment of various colors of carpet warp that I had on hand-taupe, white, spring green, yellow and cream.  The weft was a thick cotton yarn from Sugar'n Cream in variegated purples and greens. I haven't woven an overshot project in a long time even though it is one of my favorite weave structures.

It felt great to throw the last shuttle and then cut the fabric off of the loom!!!  The mats have just the look that I wanted and I know they will feel super under our feet.

Creating unique cloth is such an awesome aspect to weaving!

Play Day in the Water

My husband and I went fishing on the Boise River for the first time this season.  It was wonderful to be standing in the water, casting our lures and waiting for the fish to jump.  We both caught two rainbow trout, so it was a great beginning!  We got a photo of my first fish, which was just a little guy, but I was excited anyway:

Woohooo!!

After we fished for a couple of hours it was time for our dogs to play, so we took them over to a park by our house that has a water canal.  Both dogs know the drive to the park now, so they get excited when we get close.

Sam will retrieve this orange buoy over and over and over....

It's a great way to exercise both of them, although Max wasn't getting in the water as much today.  He just ran along the bank back and forth until he was panting.  He has as much fun as Sam does!

As you can tell, Sam loves the water, and he will run in it for quite a long time....

It was a great water day for all of us!

A Fish Quilt for a Very Special Biologist

My husband is an avid fisherman who is also a biologist with a keen interest in fish and water quality.  Months ago I found the perfect quilt kit made by McKenna Ryan called Rock Bottom and I knew that it would make a wonderful gift for the special guy in my life.  I first posted about a fish quilt that I made for my husband's office here.  This is the second in a series of three quilts that were designed to be hung side by side.  The second quilt is finished except for the fish eyes, which are waiting for suitable buttons to be found.

This quilt suits my husband quite well and soon it will be hanging on his office wall next to the first fish quilt.  I machine quilted it using a rayon variegated thread for the wave action and then a lightweight monofiliament thread for the borders.

My son Seb and I just picked up our fishing licenses, with the hope to be soon standing mid-stream with our lures in the water, fishing to our heart's content.  What a way to spend a morning, standing in a clear mountain stream, trying to catch a big one.  Well, any size would do since we just let them go to catch another day....

Fishing, anyone?

Hand Dyed Lilac Fabric

Since rediscovering how fun quilting is, I've been thinking of dyeing some muslin to use in my quilts.  I looked at my notes from my dyeing notebook and I realized that the last time I did a lot of fabric dyeing was in 1998.  It's been awhile....

I cut two one yard lengths and then four quarter yard pieces to dye this time around.  The one yard pieces will be used to make myself a vest and the quarter yard pieces will go into the quilting stash.

This time I used a Procion dye in lilac and one gallon baggies placed in plastic tubs for a convenient way to hold the fabrics and the dye solutions.  Each piece of fabric went in one bag, then the dye was poured over the top.  The quarter yard pieces were dyed using a gradation method, with a decreasing amount of dye solution used in each bag.

I didn't agitate the bags at all as I wanted the interesting texture that's achieved by allowing the fabric to sit undisturbed in the dye solution for 24 hours.

The texture is there, just as I had hoped and the fabric is going to make an outstanding vest:

For one of the pieces I ended up with interesting bursts of pink:

More interesting textures:

Dyeing fabric is just as much fun as I remembered it to be!

Bright Blue Rambouillet Handspun Yarn

The other day I had a chance to dye one of the skeins of Rambouillet that I've been spinning each day.  I looked through my acid dyes, chose a brilliant blue, and put a small amount of water in the slow cooker.  After adding the blue dye, I set the temperature to high and the timer for one hour. 

In the future, this yarn will be knit into a soft, warm hat for someone to wear this winter.  What's not to love about soft handspun wool?

My youngest son and I were able to load our kayaks to do some paddling and it's been a long, long time since we've had our boats in the water. I had forgotten how peaceful it is gliding across the water, watching the birds, and enjoying being outside.

Max had a great time-can you tell?

Flowers, and More Flowers

There's a little quilt on our front door that welcomes us home.  I like to rotate it now and then so there's something new to look at.  I've had appliqued flowers on my mind lately, so it was an easy choice to make another flower quilt.

I made a whimsical daisy using some of the bright batiks that I have in my stash.  I used a monofilament thread to secure the edges instead of a decorative thread.  Do I like it as well?  I'm not sure-I'm still thinking about that one, but you can see for yourself:

My bearded iris was made using a lovely yellow batik that I like so well I bought extra yardage to make myself a vest.  The lighter yellow was fabric that I dyed years ago using Procion dyes.

I've been thinking about how to quilt the New York Beauty that's draped in my studio.  Marion suggested Baptist fans, and I had to look that one up.  I knew the quilting design as ocean waves and as far as I could find out they are the same.  I think that's a great idea, so I decided to practice on this little quilt.  Please don't look at the quilting up close as it was my first try and it was a little shaky!  It's definitely harder than it looks to maintain an even spacing between the arches, but I will try again on another small quilt before tackling the New York Beauty.  For this quilt I used a lightweight monofilament thread for the quilting and this was a first for me.  There were spots where the thread wanted to skip and not catch the bobbin thread, so I had to go back, rip it out and do it over.  I'm not sure what was causing that, but I loosened the top tension and that seemed to help.

The little flower quilt now graces my front door, and it brings a smile to my face every time that I see it.  In the garden my irises are starting to fade, but my quilt will remind me of how lovely they are.

It's a lovely sunny summer day, my son and I have our kayaks loaded on the top of my van, our little Corgi has his life jacket, and we are heading out to do some paddling.  Enjoy your day!

A New Hand Crafted Bird Feeder

Marshall crafted another bird feeder, turning a small log of walnut on his lathe to produce a glowing top and bottom:

The wood has a wonderful sheen to it from the lacquer and wax finish that he put on it.  He hand hammered the copper surrounding the brass perches adding to its unique look and giving him the chance to do some metal work along with using his lathe.  This morning we filled it with seeds, and hung it out for the birds.  It wasn't long before there was a finch on it, hopping from perch to perch, checking out the new feeder.

In the backyard we have a small flower garden going now, and bird feeders scattered around, along with a hammered copper basin Marshall found at a Kuwaiti bazaar that we fill with fresh water daily for the birds.  It's a wonderful way to start the day, sitting outside on a bench with a cup of coffee, watching and listening to the birds and the squirrels.

Strolling Through The Garden

The other day I was ambling through my garden, just appreciating the joy that comes from watching things grow.  Have you ever stopped to think about what a miracle a seed is?  All of that genetic material in one tiny package that springs out of the soil when water and sunshine are available.  How amazing is that??

As a gardener, I love to feel the soil crumbling in my hands while I'm planting.  A while back my family and I planted some seeds that are just sprouting in our raised bed boxes.  It's so exciting!

Karina Peas that just broke through the soil:

My husband crafted some wooden and wire supports for the Karina Peas and the Kentucky Wonder garden beans that we have coming up.  We have Brussels sprouts and bee balm growing between the rows:

The Red Cored Chantenay carrots are flourishing as well, and we have been watching the ferny tops growing taller and taller.

Marshall built a nifty support system that is quite sturdy for both our Black Satin blackberries and our Tulameen raspberries.  They are flowering, even though this is their first season, so we are jazzed about soon seeing a little bit of fruit!

We have been eating fresh sweet peas on our salads, and I have to admit that fresh peas far outshine frozen or canned peas.  Who knew that a small green vegetable ball could really taste sweet?

Last night I sat down to ply two spools of soft Rambouillet that I have been spinning in the evenings.  Textrix has been doing some fascinating dyeing using glass jars and natural elements and you can read about her work here.  I'm thinking it's a great time to pull out the dyes myself and I think this yarn will be first in line....

New York Beauty Quilt Stuck in Limbo

For weeks now I've been looking at my New York Beauty quilt draped on one of my floor looms.  I want to weave the overshot bathmats on that loom, so the quilt is being relocated, but what I really want to do is finish it.  But....I seem to be stuck.  I've outline stitched the points and the circles, then I started quilting it using a quilt pattern from a book, but I just didn't like it.  It wasn't me. 

So I spent hours ripping out the quilting, YIKES!, not the most fun thing I've ever done, and then it's as if I've just hit a mental block.  I've done research online and read books on machine quilting, but I've come up with, well, nada.  So I guess it will just sit there a while longer until I can think of how I want to finish it. 

I think what my problem is I don't want traditional feathers or circles or grids like you usually see.  I'm not sure that I want stippling or meandering either.  Does anyone have any ideas?  I'd really appreciate some input from other creative souls!  Until I get inspired, I'll relocate it to rest on another loom :-)

Appliqued Bearded and Siberian Irises

I started work on the appliqued bearded iris flower, Iris germanica, choosing the batik fabric that I wanted to use for the petals, leaves and stems.  Batiks are wonderful choices for applique, and they are the next best choice in my book if you don't have hand dyed fabric available. 

I traced my pattern on a fusible web, cut that out, and then applied that to the batik fabrics.  This is my bearded iris being assembled.







I added some leaves, in three different shades of green, for my iris.  I decided to add a couple of buds to the stem to add visual interest.

I have groupings of Siberian Irises, Iris sibirica, growing in my yard, that vary from a delicate light purple to a deep plum.  I look forward to seeing them each year because of their delicate charm.  I cut one of my deep purple Siberians, so that I could take it apart to see how it was formed and this is my version with the leaves and buds added first:

Then I added a Siberian flower to finish off my applique.  I finished my applique design using an outline zigzag stitch utilizing Sulky rayon thread from my thread stash.  I think that my interest in quilting has been solidly rekindled with the discovery of the joy of creating miniature quilts! 

So many flowers to applique, so little time.