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.  

January Work Day

Kathy heats things up!

Carol cuts up!

Kathy and I met 25 years ago when quilting was our passion.  We amassed embarrassing quantities of fabric and quilt notions along the way.  Quilt projects were at the top of the "use our stuff" heap when 2014 began.  

Kathy worked on two projects in January.  Her first project was an amazing block of the month appliqué quilt and her second project was strip quilt using Kaffe Fasset fabrics.











I worked on a quilt for my nephew.  I had been reminded a few months earlier that I had never made a quilt for Shawn.  I also completed a tote for Granny Jean, my godmother.

Neither of us made a dent in our stashes. 

The Purpose of this Blog

Hi all,

Carol and I are self-taught artists.  Our interests include quilting, sewing, knitting, crocheting, painting, weaving, all kinds of papercrafting, jewelry making, just to name a few.  As a result we have a plethora of art supplies we have purchased over the years.
Beginning in January we began our "It Seams Green" project with plans to use up our stuff!  Each  month we choose a type of project to "finish".  The month of January was dedicated to finishing a quilt!