add another!
No, that doesn’t sound quite right. How about: Brain research shows learning new skills is good for you!
Here’s my new toy, a Kundert drop spindle, with my first attempt at spinning (click picture to biggify; teach me photography to better focus-ify).
I need to let the new yarn “marinate” on the spindle overnight so it’ll keep its twist, so I haven’t yet been able to fully evaluate it. I’m quite pleased that it looks rather yarn-esque, though!
The F for Friedrich went so well yesterday that I was ready to try the M for Martha today. I think it turned out very well, too. I got lots of practice with turning outside corners! I am really enjoying the machine applique, and it opens up lots of new possibilities for baby and kids quilts. I can’t figure out now why I was so hesitant to try it! Here’s the full placemat so far (the red at the top and the bottom is just for the binding):
So, add two mittens to the bottom or leave it as it is?
Here’s my latest machine applique work. I’m working on placemats for Martha and Friedrich for Christmas gifts. They match a bib I’ve made for Agnes. The placemats for the two kids will be the same except for an ‘F’ appliqued on one and an ‘M’ appliqued on the other. I stitched on the F this afternoon and was amazed at how well it turned out. Beginner’s luck? We’ll see how the M goes. Here’s a view of the whole placemat. Should I applique on two mittens in the lower left corner or leave it as it is?
Here is the Hope Stone with Fringe. I wrote about it a few posts back, on November 11. I’ll mail it off later this week.
Does learning a new skill count as a Crackpot Project? Why the heck not!
Last spring, honorary crackpot Aunt Barb stayed overnight at my place, and I showed her some of my knitting. She went ga-ga over the swatch for my Hillswick Lumber sweater, and told me that it was such a piece of art that I needed to frame it and hang it on the wall.
Several months and a few trips to local big-box craft stores later, I’ve framed the swatch.
I was considering hanging it up in my bedroom, but I think I’ll actually take it in to work and hang it up there.
Details: I bought a shadowbox frame, and piece of mat board – I had to go to a couple of stores before I found pieces of mat board without holes (for photos) available at a decent (i.e., suitably cheap for a crackpot project) price. I then used regular thread and tacked the swatch onto the mat board around the edges of the knitted portion of the swatch so the texture of the yarn ends is still present.
an organized fabric stash! 🙂 Now that the construction is winding down, I’m working on reducing the amount of dust in the basement and getting things organized down there. And of course the top prioritity is organizing the fabric stash and other sewing supplies!
The Hope Stone was completed before the Crackpot Convergence, but it was to dark to photograph. So watch for a picture next week.
Two crackpots have converged in Bloomington. Here is one crackpot working at her mobile beading station. We have learned that there is a quilt show in Bloomington this weekend. Report to follow…
Glass stones with HOPE inscribed on the top are given to survivors at the Relay for Life. Survivors are invited to pass the stones along to someone else affected by cancer to share the hope. I am embellishing the stone to add more good wishes before I send it to a friend of Rebecca’s.
It is mounted on stiff interfacing that I painted to match the stone. To hold the stone on the backing while I stitched the beads on, I stitched it temporarily to the interfacing by crisscrossing it with thread–stitching from one side to another. First the row of large (6/0) beads was stitched to the interfacing. Then I added one row of 11/0 transparent aqua beads. The next step was to build the spokes that go up toward the center of the bead. Finally, I added the tiny 15/0 gold beads. I ran the thread through the gold beads several times so the stone (cabochon) would be held firm to the interfacing.
I glued some aqua Ultrasuede to the back to cover the previous stitching. I had to get over my glue with beads aversion in order to do this. Then I stitched the Ultrasuede to the interfacing using a beaded picot stitch.
Now I’m adding some fringe to the bottom. I sure wish I could remember how I added fringe to the one I made last year. I’m pretty sure I didn’t do it the way I am doing this one. It’s about half done, but I won’t be able to post the next photo till next week.
A great reference book for this sort of thing is Beading With Cabochons by Jamie Cloud Eakin.