CONTAINERS OF ALL KINDS

Carol's Basket

Several years ago at the Houston Quilt Show, I purchased two bags of blue plastic rope for making baskets. I also purchased a book showing you how to do it called "Textile Coil Pots and Baskets" by Helen Deighan. Of course I also bought other stuff at the show and somehow the rope got put aside for later.  Carol would

Kathy's First Basket

Kathy's Second Basket

ask me every now and then if I had done anything with the "Rope." My reply was always the same - nope! After a while the "ROPE" became a joke. When we decided to make April our "Container" month, I pulled out the "ROPE" and took it to Carol's house.  
I split one of the bags of the stuff and we began to "use it up!" Boy were we surprised when we found out that we actually enjoyed making these baskets. So, she made one and I made one.  Since I still had another bag of the "ROPE" to use up, I made another bigger basket.

Carol's Bucket Container

While I was making the second rope basket, Carol was busy creating a different container.  These "buckets" are made from fabric with some interfacing to give them body. What is really great about these buckets is that you can make them practically any size you want! They are so cute and there are so many possibilities to use them, I can't wait to make a few. 

CATCHING UP!

Yes, I know this post is coming to you in early July. Kathy and I both had some unexpected and undesirable health issues in April and May. But, you know what? We still managed to stay creative and use up all kinds of old paper and fabric and fiber and a huge assortment of tools, while dealing with medical issues.

Some Used Up Stuff! 

Being in action with our creative endeavors, even while feeling puny, is good medicine. It is true, what they say, some days maturing bodies ain’t too purty. We didn’t stick with self pity very long before we were back in the saddle and moving forward. (Note, I refrained from writing about riding off into the sunset.)

Making things is like meditation and laughing is like prayer for us. It is what we do to cope with life. Kathy and I are learning that slowing down and enjoying the process and the company of friends is a wonderful thing. We were hoping to use up the fabric and beads and yarn and other supplies before we are out processed from this life so our children don’t have to deal with our junk. We’re still on that plan. It is just taking us a little bit longer to make a dent in our stashes.

Print Madness

Another gelli print day.  Spring is arriving in Texas and we had a productive afternoon in Kathy's sunny studio.  We can hear birds singing and dogs barking and the neighbor's fan squeaking.  It is lovely and warm.

We have watched several videos showing gelli printing.  We get to work and discover we are having several issues:

1.  The paint is too thin

2.  The paint is dries too fast

3.  The paper is too thin

4.  We are using too much paint

5.  The gelli plates are getting sticky

6.  Unmanned brayers roll off the table and onto the floor

7.  Holding on to a soapy gelli plate is like trying to hold on to a soapy baby with no arms or legs.

So we watched some more videos and ate some chocolate cake....and then a miracle occurred.  We corrected our approach and discovered that we are picking up color from previous prints with a wonderful distressed look.  Heavier paper, less paint, no baby wipes, parking breaks on the brayers and we are in business.  

MARCH MESSINESS

March 8, 2014

March is here already and we decided to make this our messy month! Painting it is….On paper, fabric, our clothing, and ourselves!  We started out very organized with paper on the painting surface and aprons over our clothes. Good start. Well, that lasted about five minutes before we had stuff everywhere.

Neat and organized!

Both of us had purchased a Gelli Printing Plate and had never used it. We saw a demonstration of many techniques using it at the Houston Quilt Show last year and were duly impressed. We had to have it. That was in November. So here it is, March, and of course neither one of us could remember any of the cool techniques. YouTube here we come. After some time watching videos and taking notes, we thought we had it figured out enough to give it a shot. I don’t know if we did anything right but we sure had a great time doing it.

Gelli plate on the left, corn on the right

We started this blog to “use up our stuff” but we have run into a bit of a dilemma with this month’s activity. Yes, we used paper, paint, stamps, stencils, even an ear of corn….But now we have a pile of really awesome printed paper that we have to “use up”!! Now what?

The aftermath

Learning the Twist and Wind

Twisting the Fringe

Carol and I got together yesterday for lunch and to learn something new.  Twist and Wind.  No, it's not the newest dance craze or exercise routine (heaven forbid), it's how to finish the fringe on our scarves and a quicker way to wind bobbins for our "weft." Carol is using a tool called a Fringe Twister. Years ago a tool like this was made by Conair as a hair twister.  Apparently that didn't work very well and they stopped making it, much to the dismay of all the weavers out there. This little battery operated twister makes short work of fringing anything.

Bobbins are ready

"Weft" is another new word for me.  It is the yarn that is used to weave back and forth across the "warp." The bobbins go into a gadget called a shuttle.  These bobbins are 4" long, nothing like the ones in my sewing machine.  Carol has a neat bobbin winder that I used to wind these bobbins.  Winding by hand is time consuming but her little hand winding machine is fast. I now have 10 bobbins ready to go so I've got to get busy. Our February weaving month is almost over and Carol has been weaving up a storm. Since our last get together she has made three dish towels and that red and blue scarf in the photo! I need to catch up!

Finished Twisted Fringe

After that we did a little shopping and came back to my house for dessert!   Fun Day!

This is called warping..

January Update: Carol finished her quilt top for Shawn. My applique quilt will be ongoing for quite some time but at least I got a good start on it. The other quilt is still progressing. In other words, mine isn't finished!

Warped and Ready

February, with it's freezing "Polar Blasts" put us on the path to weaving.  We are both new to this and we have discovered that we really like this craft.  With a learning curve of new words, like warp, weft, shed, apron rod, surgeon's knot just to name a few, we dove right in!  

Carol's Finished Poncho

With lots of yarn from prior knitting and crocheting projects, we have plenty of materials.  Our Rigid Heddle looms were warped and we are off and running this month! Our first project.... a scarf!

Kathy's Scarf - Fringe to be twisted.

January, Part 2

Adding Borders to Shawn's Quilt

We got down to business on our second January work day.  I was ready to start sewing Shawn's quilt into rows.  
Kathy shared a great hint to help me stay organized as I picked the rows of blocks off the floor.  I just placed a pin in the upper right hand corner of each block.  I have been quilting for a long time, so I had to yell at her for not telling me this 25 years ago.  

Border for Applique Quilt

Meanwhile, Kathy finished the ironing part of her appliqué quilt.  It is going to be wonderful!  Lots of hand stitching to be done!





















Then she discovered a quilt top she had started awhile back.  She had purchased additional fabric to complete the top, but hadn't come back to the project...things like moving to a new house took priority.   By noon she was back on track and had completed cutting out the additional strips and was stitching up a storm.