The Stitch Up

New Year, New Skills

I kicked off the New Year by learning a new skill - weaving!  I took a rigid heddle loom class and too my first steps into learning how to make my own fabric.

The start of the adventure was just putting the loom together.

I bought a Schacht Cricket Loom and it comes with pretty good instructions, but in case you need a little extra help (which I did) the company has a number of really helpful videos that explains he assembly of the loom and then the process of warping and weaving.

My local yarn store Fibre Space hosted the class which consisted of two three hour sessions.  It was really great.  Within the first three hour class we'd been given basic overview of the weaving process, warped the loom and started weaving!

We were able to spend the week between the first and second class weaving our scarves.

As with most of my craft projects, I had "help" while I weaved at home.

We finished up our first scarf in the second class, taking it off the loom and learned a bit about various methods to finish up the fringe.

 

I love the way the fabric came out.  Using variegated yarn I think the possibilities are always really interesting.  After finishing up the first scarf, the teacher gave us some basic information on how to calculate the amount of yarn needed for a project, the length and warp and the different sizes of heddles we might use.

We then still had enough time to load up a new project on our looms before heading home to finish it up ourselves.

Luckily my helper is still standing by.

 

 

And...Done!

I finally finished the Bergama shoulder bag to various levels of success.  On the one hand, I was able to finish putting it all together:

I like the way the liner looks with the needlepoint, and I also like the way the seam that connects the needlepoint panels looks and how it sets off all the colors colors in the bag.   However:

This is not really a cross body bag.  The picture on the kit made it look like it would hang comfortably and this is essentially an arm pit bag.  I think I can add a little material to the handle and extend the length and make it actually work, but it was a little bit of a disappointment to find it was going to need a bit more futzing to use it.

Despite it not being a perfect finish, it's perfect timing to finish one of the WIPs on my list as it's time to get started on some Christmas crafts.  My friend and I are doing another holiday craft exchange and I'm excited to share my progress on that as well as some smaller projects that I think I can knock out for gifts and things.

I can't believe how quickly this year has flown by.  I'm ready to celebrate some holidays and snuggle up by the fire.  Hope everyone is finding some time to slow down and start enjoying the start of the holiday season!

So Close!!

I am really close to finishing up the needlework bag kit I've been working on for the past four years off and on.  I finished the needlepoint of the two panels and now I'm ready to sew in a lining and then sew the two panels together.  Luckily I had some assistance in cutting out the two panels:

The directions for how to put the lining in and sew the two pieces together are not exactly detailed.  This is all you get:

I did find some similar project online however and they were really helpful in providing some guidance on sewing a lining into a needlepoint bag and finishing the project.  I think the best overall guidance I found was on Makezine - it's a start to finish project for a very cute needlepoint bag so if you're looking for an entry level needlepoint bag - that's a good one to start with.

I've started sewing the lining in now and hopefully will have the bag all stitched together by the end of the week.

It's very exciting to be approaching the finish line on this one.  I can't wait to share the final product!

 

Plugging Away

I had a little break for travel last month and then some busy days at work so I haven't made as much progress as I would have liked on my ongoing project.

 

For the Spanish Quilt blocks, part of my issue is I'm still playing around with a plan for the quilt squares but I'm a little closer to figuring out what I want to do.  I decided to use a pattern called Tiny Treasure from Etsy Shop No Frogs Allowed to create what I hope look like talavera tiles.  What I'm toying with now is whether to shade sections of the tile pattern using some blackwork techniques.  Because I"m still toying around with this idea, I think I'm going to do several of these blocks with the tile pattern outlined and then decide later whether to fill them in.  

 

This is why this project is probably destined to take forever for me to finish, but I also just kind of want to follow my instincts on this and hopefully come up with a finished product that makes me super happy.

 

The  sampler project is also coming along.  I'm done with the flower borders and I've moved on to the horse and what I know will be some challenges with filler stitches for the horse body.  This is a little closer to completion.  I don't have any existential questions about additional techniques to use, just pushing through and finishing it.

 

 

My needlepoint bag is similarly moving along but still has a lot of work left.  I's a big project that I bring out when we are sitting outside for a little mindless stitching while I sip wine and the husband grills.  Because it is something I just pull out for a bit here and there, it may take a bit longer to finish, but I WILL finish it by the end of Summer (don't quote me on that).

 

I did start a new travel project while I was traveling in May.  I used a tattoo pattern that I'm hoping to use as a patch for jeans, or a shirt or something.  This is one of those smaller projects that I could knock out in a weekend, but I think for now I'm just going to keep it for a little stitching while traveling.

 

My friends and I are still sharing various art journal challenges which have been good for inspiration.  Check out my Flickr feed for my occasional attempts at art including a pasta self portrait!

 

Our current art challenge is to make a tiny magazine.  I'm thinking that I might do a digital version as I've thought I might like to do a magazine as a spin off the blog and this is a great opportunity to play around with that idea.  I'll post some pages here when I've got something finished.

 

Hope everyone's Summer is off to a great start and you're enjoying lots of stitching outside!

Spring WIPs and Current Inspiration

February and March have been a little more eventful than usual around here.  We actually took a little trip.  (Head to my Flickr page if you'd like to see some Vegas pics!)  Despite that, I've finished a couple of items on my WIP tracker here on the blog!

First up, the 2021 Tea Towel calendar from September House.  I was happy to kick my stitching off this year with another of her great patterns and I'm happy with the way my color choices worked out:

Next up - the gradient half pi shawl.  I had a much more complex pattern for this, but it was really too much for my skill level so I ended up just searching out a basic half pi pattern online.  I think the yarn itself really elevated the basic pattern though and I'm love the result.  I used a Cashmere Lace weight yarn from Pepperberry Knits in  "Kitten", "Tahiti", "Mrs. Smith" and "Smoke".  Because of how light weight the yarn is I had to knit with double strands which was new for me, but it's such a smooth, soft result I'll probably try something similar again.

Unfortunately I haven't made much progress on the quilt squares.  I've cut out a couple test squares, but I keep going back and forth on the pattern that I want to use so I'm still experimenting.  Hopefully I'll have more on that project soon!

In the mean time, it's onto a couple new projects.  The first is my "travel project".  This is fairly small so it's what I stick in my "carry-on" to stitch on the plane or during down time at the hotel.  As we traveled recently I had some time to work on it and I'm getting close to finishing it up, so I'm going to knock it out.

I think this pattern is from the Colonial Patterns Wild Wild West , but I really have been carrying this around for awhile so I won't swear to it.  The plan was to use it as part of "Cowgirl Quilt" I have planned - it could still be a part of that, but it would also make a nice patch so we'll see!

The next project I'm going add to my WIPs is my Ida Tunnell sampler:

As I understand it, the saying "It'll Never Be Seen On A Galloping Horse was a fairly well used saying back in the day, but it was one my great grandma liked and used regularly so I'm attributing it to her for this sampler.  I'm back and forth on filling in the horse with stitches.  I'll decide after I finish the florals on the side.

One of my goals this year was to blog about what is inspiring me and use that to help focus in on what really resonates with me and my stitching.  Since I haven't blogged for a bit, I decided to combine my recent inspiration with my WIPs for this post.  

My current inspiration has been a really fun and eye opening project I've been doing with my friends.  Each week, one of us picks a few pages from the book Journal Sparks for everyone to work on and then we are sharing what we've come up with in a google doc.  

Much like the Spoonflower Challenge I did with my friend in January, this is really getting me out of my safe space and offering the opportunity to work in different mediums.  It's also making me dig a little deeper into how I see myself, my future and the world around me.  It's a great book and fun if you want something to kind of shake up your creativity.  It's also showing me some new sides to my girlfriends which is especially wild.  I've known these women for 40+ years and yet they still surprise me with their talent, sensitivity, humor and depth.  A few of the things I've made that were inspired by the journal prompts:

I think we'll keep finding ways to inspire each other even when we're done with this journal project.  These ladies really are stabilizing and motivational for me and I'm grateful every day that they are my friends.

I hope everyone is finding inspiration in the beautiful Spring weather, the new blooms, and the new optimism that things will be returning to normal.  Happy stitching!

Spanish Embroidery of the American Southwest

Within the mix of textiles I think about as being part of the Southwest frontier include the brightly embroidered shawls, blouses and quilts that originated from Mexico and its Spanish origins.  In doing a  little research, the majority of what I think of as Spanish or Mexican embroidery is the "Colcha" embroidery.  [1]  Colcha embroidery was originally used to mend holes in bed spreads called Colchas and the Colcha stitch was a method that preserved yarn at a time when textiles were the result of a long process of collecting wool from sheep and turning it into yarn. [2]

 

The wool on wool Colcha embroidery is one of the few textiles developed and made in New Mexico during the Spanish Colonial period.  [3]  Wool used for Colcha embroidery was dyed using indigenous plants and the designs reflected the animals and plants that women saw in their daily lives. [4]  While commercial yardage and yarns did eventually become available and started to influence styles and compositions of embroidery, the remoteness of the regions in New Mexico where Colcha was practiced meant that women had to be resourceful and the Colcha tradition was further defined by the use of recycled textiles. [5]

 

One of the best resources I found on Colcha Embroidery is the book "New Mexico Colcha Club" which covers the history of Colcha embroidery as well as efforts by a group of women in New Mexico to preserve the technique and share its history.  [6]  The book explains that the Colcha style uses just one stitch - the "Colcha" stitch - rather than a combination of stitches.  [7]

 

 

(Photo from the book "New Mexico Colcha Club")

 

The author of "New Mexico Colcha Club" believes that the Colcha stitch provided an easy and extremely flexible stitch that could be used to cover a large quilt faster than any other stitch.  [8]

 

 

(Photo from the book "New Mexico Colcha Club")

 

The availability of factory made cotton fabric and finer plied yarns mentioned above did result in a new branch of Colcha embroidery with a change in design.  [9].  Designs of freestanding motifs were used more than a covering of the entire ground with a continuum of stitches as with the wool on wool style.  The Colcha stitch was still the fundamental, dominant stitch in the wool on cotton branch of Colcha embroidery but additional types of stitches - chain, stem, satin and split stitches - were also used.  [10]

 

 

(Photo from the book "New Mexico Colcha Club")

 

Colcha embroidery died off at the turn of the century as the textiles used in the Southwest  became more of the purchased, factory made variety and less of the wool that was locally woven and decorated.  I've read a few different accounts of women who made a concerted effort to preserve and teach Colcha embroidery.  "New Mexico Colcha Club" covers the efforts of Maria Adela Teofila Ortiz Lujan to establish a social club that met monthly to share patterns, work on Colcha projects and enjoy each other's company. [11] The history of Colcha embroidery was also preserved through the Spanish Colonial Arts Society in New Mexico which acquired and displayed historic Colcha embroideries.  [12]  The tradition of Colcha embroidery continues to be carried out by women in New Mexico, including Esther Vigil the daughter of Teofila Lujan.  Ms. Vigil  displays her Colcha artwork and has taught classes on the history and technique of Colcha. [13] 

 

 

(Photo from the book "New Mexico Colcha Club")

 

I think a lot about what attracts me to quilting, embroidery and other textile art forms.  I get glimpses of it when I read about preservation efforts of traditional techniques or stories of women who enjoyed the same textile hobbies hundreds of years ago that I enjoy now.  These fiber art forms provided women over the centuries with a creative outlet and an opportunity to bond and socialize. It's an art form that's more likely to be taught from mother to daughter, or between friends than taught in a formal setting but it should be preserved and celebrated in the same way that painting or sculpture is preserved. I so admire the effort it takes to maintain historic techniques when the world wants things quicker and easier each decade.  Reading about historic textile art forms and the women who defined them is always inspirational for me and I hope you all were inspired as well!

 

References:

 

[1] Deborah Busmeyer, A Stitch Out of Time (July, 2016) https://www.newmexico.org/nmmagazine/articles/post/art-nm-97074/

[2] Busemeyer

[3] Lynne Robinson, Colcha: Stitches and Stories (June, 2019)

[4] Robinson

[5] Robinson

[6] Nancy C. Benson, New Mexico Colcha Club, Spanish Colonial Embroidery & The Women Who Save It, (Museum of New Mexica Press, 2008)

[7] Benson, 48

[8] Benson, 59

[9] Benson, 70

[10] Benson, 71

[11] Benson, 103

[12] Benson, 109

[13] Benson, 155

New Year New Projects

I love January. I love making New Year resolutions and goals, starting a new planner for the year, making lists and getting organized.

 

My first project of the season is a combination of my desire to get organized, recycle and upcycle. I've been saving wine corks with the plan to use them to make a note board and I finally got started. I combined the corks with an old frame I was no longer using and started hot glueing.

 

 

This is a pretty fun project that comes together quickly if you don't count the time it took to drink all the wine -I did NOT drink all that wine during the pandemic. Although this past year probably contributed to a large portion of the corks I used. I'm close to finishing but I do need to drink a few more bottles so this will probably take another month or two to wrap up. I'm thinking of asking friends to toss me some of their corks so I don't have to sacrifice my liver for a cork board.

 

I'm also working on the 2021 tea towel from September House.  I love her patterns and love kicking off each new year with her calendar tea towels.

 

Finally, I've planned out my big project for 2021. I've decided to finish up the Spanish Ladies Quilt that I started back in 2006. When I say "started", basically I got inspired while we were living in Spain and I stitched four panels that I wanted to turn into a quilt and that's pretty much where I stopped.

 

 

I've figured out that I need 48 6-inch squares to complete the quilt. I'd planned to either stitch or applique the squares to look like Talavera Tiles. I'll probably still do that, but I think in order to get it done I'll have to intersperse some regular fabric squares. I'm hoping to use fabric from my current stash but if all else fails I'm going to try and find what I need at the thrift store.

 

I'll also be fitting in some projects from my WIP backlog where I can. I'm going to try to learn from last year not over estimate what I can get done and keep it fun!

 

I hope everyone's year is starting off with promise and inspiration. I'm looking forward to sharing and learning in 2021!

2020 End of Year Wrap Up

I didn't get as many Christmas crafts done as I had hoped this year however, my friend Teresa and I did do another Christmas themed craft exchange since last years Elf exchange went so well.  This year we decided on Christmas nesting dolls and we got crafty with it.

 

I decided to try making a set of dolls based on the Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer cartoon.  I made Hervey the elf, Rudolph,  Yukon Cornelius, Sam the Snowman and the Abominable Snowman.  I'm not a skilled or practiced painter so I sketched things out a bit before I picked up the paint brush which helped.  Overall this was a really fun project and I'm happy with how everything came out.

 

My friend made a more traditional matroyshka style set of nesting dolls with a Christmas spin and they are so cute!

 

Teresa is pretty amazing with a paint brush.  I don't think the photo captures how perfect the tiniest nesting doll is, but it's amazing.

 

As always I had a lot more crafting planned for the Christmas season.  I wanted to make more progress on the table runner I started last year, plus FINALLY complete the tablecloth I've been planning for years.  But despite the fact that COVID has made this a much quieter Christmas season without as many social obligations, work and trying to get gifts out to everyone in time for the holidays put me off my game a bit. 

 

In general, this year was a learning one for me.  I had what I thought was a great plan to pick out 3 or 4 WIPS to do each season so I could really move through my backlog of projects.  And initially I had some good momentum and thought I'd really cracked the code on working through my stash. That lasted about one season. 

 

The WIPs I chose for the Spring season took much longer than I'd thought they would and it threw off my plan for the rest of the year.  The needlepoint bag and the knitted shawl are both still in progress - although the shawl is much closer to completion then the bag .

 

While I didn't get all the projects done that I'd hoped this year, I did learn quite a bit about pacing myself, setting realistic expectations and accepting that sometimes life will throw the occasional twists and turns that might change my plans.

 

I'm hoping to use all of those lessons in the New Year with my NEW PLANS to work through some WIPs. (Yes I am undaunted by last year!) I'm still focused on using the materials and projects that I currently have rather than buying new items - just another resolution to add to my list for 2021!

 

Wishing everyone a Happy New Year that brings health and happiness to all!  See you next year!  (Sorry I can't help myself)

Summer is Actually Still Spring and Inspiration

I vastly underestimated how long it would take me to finish my Spring projects. Either that or I underestimated how much life in general would get in the way of my important crafting deadlines.  Since we are well into Summer, my Spring Bohemian projects are really now Spring/Summer Bohemian projects. It's a little bit of a bummer as I had some desert themed projects in mind for Summer, but there's always next year!!

WIPs

Despite not wrapping them up, I have made some progress on my projects. I'm close to finishing up the Art Quilt project "Little Selfie on the Prairie". This started with a sketch and then I more or less played it by ear to create a portrait with fabric.

I'd planned to give this a crazy quilt look with some finishing stitches.  This has ended up being a little tough with the appliqué layers.  I should have done a lot of the crazy stitching on the background fabrics first, then appliquéd the girl and wagon on after, but - you make, you learn right?  I'm almost done with the stitching now and I think over all I'm happy with the result.

The knit shawl is in progress.  I'm finished with the first color, and have just moved to the next, which is a darker grey.  Two more colors after that so it's got a ways to go but this was another project that involved some new techniques to me, so I'm happy to be learning as I go.

Last but not least, the needlepoint bag - it's so much stitching!!  I finished one side, I'm almost done with the straps and then it's just ("just") finishing the other side.

At this point I think I'll still be working on this needlepoint bag through the end of the year, but it's so pretty it's worth the time!

Inspiration

I've been reading a book by Lisa Congdon called Finding Your Artistic Voice.  It's really helping me identify ways to focus in on what I want my "voice" to be as an artist.  I'm realizing that a lot of the things I've been doing this year with the "Bohemian Frontier" articles, some of the WIPs I've prioritized, and the themes I've been creating for each season are all methods I've been using to pursue a concept - I just haven't put everything together into a cohesive "voice".

Lisa Congdon's book recommends some exercises to get you to work through your inspirations, practice what interests you and get to that original idea or style that makes your art your own.  One of the exercises she recommends is making a "Family Tree" of your inspiration - making each branch one of the things you're inspired by.  I loved that idea but decided to make it an inspiration quilt drawing.

Congdon also has lots of interviews with other artists who give great advice on the process of creativity.  Overall, Im loving the book and I think even as a hobbyist I enjoy what I'm making so much more when everything is kind of clicking together and I think her books helps get you to that place.

 

 

 

Bohemian Spring WIPs

Time to move on to a new round of WIPs!  It's Spring and we've been doing some weeding and planting and trying to get outside as much as possible, but after a really nice week of warm weather it's been cold and rainy - so a perfect time to snuggle inside and get crafty!

My theme for the next few months is "Bohemian Spring":

I took this photo at a shop in Phoenix and then did a little graphic work on Picmonkey!  I tried to choose 4 WIPs with a little bit of a 'hippie' vibe.  I've put the inspiration photos on my project board with my "theme" photo.

Without further ado - here's what I'll be working on:

1.    Embellished jeans 

As part of my effort to reuse and recycle I've been saving jeans that wear out.  Some I'm cutting up into squares and they will be part of a quilt project I'm planning for the Summer.  But for jeans that are more "gently" worn, I want to just repair any holes and then fancy them up with some embroidered patches.  I have a sweatshirt with embroidered birds that does not fit great and I wasn't wearing it too often.  SO - I just cut the birds out and I'm going to use them to embellish the jeans.  I also bought some cool notions at Mood on one of our trips to New York a few years ago and I think one or two of those will go with the birds I'm using.  I'm also thinking to add some additional patches that I'm making from designs from a Tattoo coloring book.  So far, I've spent some time transferring the designs and organizing all of the embellishments on my jeans.

I think once I've embroidered the additional designs I'll pin everything on the jeans to make sure that I like the placement.

2.    Needlepoint Bag

The next project I've been working on off and on for awhile.  It's the Bergama Shoulder Bag from Anchor Crafts.  I bought it a couple years ago at Craft South in Nashville.  It's sold out now unfortunately so I'm glad I picked it up when I did but it's a big project to complete and kind of unwieldy to work on so its been slow going.  In order to get it done in the next few months I'm utilizing the husbands saw-horses so I can handle the large frame. It's working pretty well.

I've been working on a small section each night and I'm making some progress!

3.    "Little Selfie on the Prairie" - Embroidered Art Quilt 

I sketched this out last year with the plan to make an appliqué, embroidery art piece.

So far I've picked out the fabrics and I should be able to fuse the background together this weekend.  After that I'll need to make patterns to appliqué the girl and wagon and then start embroidering.  I'm excited to see how it turns out.

4.    Gradient Half Pi Shawl

I bought the Gradient Half Pi shawl pattern at Fibrespace here in Virginia a few years ago.  I also bought some really pretty yarn to make it with!  I'm nervous about this one - my knitting skills are still pretty basic.  If I do have trouble I've found a lot of half pi tutorials on YouTube so I'm hoping I can follow along.

So those are the plans!  Writing it all down here has helped to keep me on task so far so I'm enjoying the process.  I hope it's also enjoyable to read about!