Wooly work

A penny rug I have been working on.  Thought the square shapes were interesting to work with and  the stars just really made it folksy.  Now to decide how to finish it off, since its wool appliqued onto cotton its pretty flimsy feeling, maybe I need to find some nice stiff wool for a backing and add some buttons in the middle of the pennies.

Let me tell you about an awesome retreat

Annual retreat in North Webster, IN... a blast as usual, I just heart those ladies so much. There is just something so calming and reassuring about being around a group of ladies who not only share your interests, but help you to understand your place in the universe and the sisterhood of women. OK that sounded corny I know, but I sit at the age of 42 and see those younger than me struggling with the same things I struggled with I cant help but look to those older than me who fought and survived the same battles I'm currently facing.

I was very productive during the 5 days of sewing. I know my attitude of using things up really helped me to plow through the projects since I started with mostly UFOs and orphan blocks and worked to give them a home. We went shopping in Shipshewana as we always do, I thought I was being a good girl, buying only fat quarters from Lolly's famous boat. We got a great deal by buying 100 FQs, so that is all I bought, 100. It wasn't until we got back to the cottage did my buddy Darlene point out that 100 fat quarters are in fact the same as 25 yards of fabric! Yikes! Thanks Darlene...geesh!

Here are some pics of what I managed to accomplish.

Fall orphan blocks. This quilt is the result of 4 swaps and a BOM that never got completed with various flying geese thrown in there to make it somewhat square.
GPS Giant Postage Stamp swap blocks finally at home in a quilt top.

This was a BOM from years ago, Broken Stained Glass from planetpatchwork.com. I doubt very seriously if this were all the blocks in the BOM, but its together now.

A pieced back using the Turning Twenty pattern in homespuns. This will eventually back a quilt with wool batting, my first time using it. Its the winter quilt for our bed, i need to get a move on before it gets cold.

See my cute little Kilroy peeking out! :-0)

A RxR from Mailblocks from a couple of years ago. Fuzzy appliqued flowers still need to have some more leaves put into the barren places that just need a little more.

And my Sonnet charm pack quilt, also from several years ago, finally ready to be quited.

This year's challenge was Itty Bitty, it had to fit in a 10"x13" frame. So here it is, all finished. The buttons were DH's idea, I still just wasn't pleased with the way the centers came out and he was the button man.

Lastly, but certainly not least, the favors I gave. Hand made soaps in various yummy scents. Sandy at Earthlydelightsoap made up these darling little bags with two different soap scents. I highly recommend her soap, we've been using it for years and in addition to smelling just wonderful, it leaves your skin so soft and smooth. I cannot say enough about her customer service, i contacted her to explain what I needed and my budget and she made these special sized bags, she's the greatest! I am a very happy customer!

So now the North Webster September retreat is over, next to start planning for is May. And I also need to get all these tops quilted and finished!

Good wool, bad iron, nothing complete

So I have this Block of the Month penny rug pattern by Connie Huddleson called "Pennies" which is absolutely adorable with a different theme block for each month. My idea, instead of making a wall hanging that measures 33"x42" as its shown, is to make the penny rugs on various backgrounds and I can hang them as little mini seasonal wall hangings. So this is November's block...do you see what my bad iron did? The brown rust marks from the iron? Grrr! Any ideas on what to use? I am leaning towards a Tide stick but I have never tried it on wool before. Ok, so I throw the pumpkin penny rug aside and decide to start on my mini quilt challenge for the upcoming September retreat. My husband casually said, "You know, you can do any shape with that wool, you don't always need to do circles." Thanks Gene, like my mind isn't already crammed full with ideas, you have to get me going on a whole new tangent. So after a hour or so with my graph paper, I came up with this:

I really like it. I like it so much that I become nervous about my blanket stitch. Sure, I do a fair job on gentle curves and circles, but i will really need to sharpen my skills if I want those little points to really stand out. Which led me to this:

Another in progress candle wrap, hopefully honing my blanket stitch skills. i thought these looked a little like peppermints and I think I might make another for my Christmas candles they're really turning out cute. Finished pics will be soon I hope!

Something new

Most recent completion, a wall hanging from homespuns and wool. Used a Pat Sloan pattern as a jumping off point.

Home from retreat!

This is for anyone out there who has thought about going to a quilting retreat but has been too apprehensive to go.....GO!!!!!!! I know everyone thinks they're shy or that they wont fit in, but look at it this way, how can you go wrong with a room full of other women who share the same passions as yourself? I always have a wonderful time with old and new friends at retreat. There is so much experience to draw from, if you have a question or a technique that has been a problem in the past, chances are there will be someone there who is proficient and will take the time to show you one on one. Best of all is the friends you make. I have always been one of the guys, having very few female friends. But when I am at retreat surrounded by women, older and younger I feel....(searching for a not too overly sappy term)....belonging, kinship, centered.

Anyhoo....next time a retreat presents itself to you please just go for it! Take your open mind and you desire to learn and share and just jump in head first!

This is the cottage we stay at taken from the dock out on the lake a couple of May retreats ago. Gifties made for Liz who is the Retreat Mom who keeps us all in check with her whip and wit and the other for Alison, quilter, chef and friend extraordinaire.

Pumpkin blocks for a swap completed at retreat.

Christmasy Delectable Mountain blocks for an upcoming swap. (I LOVE! LOVE! LOVE! this pattern, have already made 36 half blocks, going to make more for sure!)



For the rest of you woolenators to drool over, purchased at Lolly's and Yoder's in Shipshewana.



More pics to come when my quilt hanger gets home from work :-)

I want to play with wool

I don't know if its the slight chill in the evening air or the schedule change at work that has allowed me to have my relaxing evenings back, but I was really needing some wool time. So I have been working on this penny rug and its finally finished!

I have learned a few things, which is always a good thing, and I realize now that I need to throw my wool back in a hot washer for another go around, its really not as felted as I thought with just one trip through. I need to continue practicing my buttonhole stitch to work to get a more even consistent stitch width and length. But all and all, I'm pretty pleased with the result.

Wishin' and wool

This is my wool. This is the disorganized state it lives in. I suppose I could buy another tote for all that's overflowing, but it will still live in the corner of my bedroom. In the future, when the boys move out and I can claim more than just a corner as my sewing space, I want shelves so that I can look and see and be inspired rather than dump everything out on the coffee table in the living room to remind myself of what I already have. I'm searching for some sort of...what's that word?...oh yeah ORGANIZATION!

None the less, I did manage to make this.


A flattened view.

AC and pennies

Hot and humid days makes weeds grow tall enough to stick their tongues out at you. As you stand staring from inside your AC cooled window they taunt you, challenging you to summon the energy to face the heat and come after them.

Boo-ya weeds, I'll just make a penny rug and watch movies.

Don't look now Momma's got her wool out!

My life, is different, I have been told by so many people that hear my tales of normal everyday life here at Casa de Leonard that we should have our own reality show. Hmmm, would a camera man know that when I scream DANGER WILL ROBINSON that means I'm headed out of the bathroom in nothing but a towel and for every one's safety they should remain calm and continue staring at a fixed point in the room lest they be blinded? I think for the public safety we'll just keep the show off the airwaves.

My husband has always been a singer, not that he sings well, but that he adapts current situations into a little tune. The boys were awoken with a little ditty that went something like this, "Wake up, wake up you sleepy heads, its time to get your hineys out of bed!" or he has been caught serenading the cat with "God bless the fuzzy one!" Currently, he has been singing "Don't look now, momma's got her wool out!" Based on a Rodney Carrington song that he heard on the radio Called "Don't look now!" You can click if you want, but after the penis post from a week ago I thought I'd let you have your choice to watch :-)

So anyhoo, these candle wraps are what I've been working on. The gold light bulb was the first, bought as a kit from eBay and the other three were just me messing around with wool I already had and pattern ideas sketched out on freezer paper. I thought these were just a great quick Christmas gift idea. ***12/1 Teresa from Stitchinbythelake asked how these are held together, I used 2 buttons and 2 lengths of floss to wrap around the buttons. Try some yourself, they're sooo easy!

Wool Woes

This wool thing is really starting to frustrate me. I have always been a jump before looking kind of gal so naturally when I decided to start dabbling in wool I went crazy, purchasing from many different places.
My wool collection started with a Marcus Brothers wool packet, which I have since found out is not 100% wool, but rather 70% wool and 30% nylon.
So then I bought some 100% wool from Quilters Quarter which I found to be rather expensive, but after researching, the prices are pretty comparable. I bought some Mill Dyed and hand dyed just to see the difference in coloration. When it arrived, it was plain un-felted wool. So after washing it several times, I have now felted it myself, but lost yardage due to shrinkage. I bought a pre-packed kit also 100% from The Back Door which is just up the road from me. Their wool looks nothing like the wool I felted, it has a softer, more ripply texture.
To add to my experimentation I also bought several 100% wool sweaters from the thrift store and felted them. I have found this wool to be very dense and thick. I also bought what is supposed to be 100% wool from several eBay stores, some new and some recylced all of which has completely different textures and drape.
Now I am just confused. I cannot even say which I like best, well yes I can, the hand dyes are my favorites because of the color variations. I am seriously thinking about loading up a sampling of all my wools and heading into The Back Door for some professional advice. Of all that I have learned on the Internet, I guess there's no way of ever understanding the 'hand' of any fabric without using, you know, your hand!

Penny rug attempt

wool

My first shot at a penny rug. I enjoyed it so much I went out and bought loads of wool, and have been perfecting my felting technique on new wool, and recycled wool from the thrift store.

The decision has been made!

I decided to try out machine applique on the wool leaves. I learned some lessons, first of all, I can make my machine 'blanket stitch' which is wonderful because I was stressing over doing it by hand. I also learned that I like working with wool, its thickness really beefs a project up. I wish I had tried to do something with the packet I have had lying around sooner. I also reinforced the fact that I was still too chicken to put binding on inside corners so I birthed it instead, maybe a future project will find me feeling a little more froggy. Now for the big question.....what happens when I wash this? Will that wool bleed all over everything? I guess time will tell.