2nd Sashiko

Last night during the Dancing with the Stars Results Show I finished my 2nd Sashiko! It is, again, a traditional pattern but bigger and more intricate than the first one.

Starting mine today

Okay, so I haven't finished my reading for my grad class. Everytime I think about doing it, my heart starts racing but not in a good way. And I had vowed to myself that I would finish the reading before starting my Winter White quilt for the Year of Schnibbles challenge. But now a co-worker is having a baby and I really should make a baby quilt and the pattern could have another row added to make it a baby quilt size so it really is my obligation to work on the quilt, isn't it? Okay, I think so too.

The co-worker does not know the gender of the baby (they want to be surprised) so shall I go pink and blue or yellow and green?

Sashiko

I had a wonderful time at the New England Quilt Museum on Saturday learning Sashiko. Here are two pictures of the museum. It is located in an old bank on a cobblestone street in Lowell MA.

The Sashiko picture is the one I finished. I have two more with different traditional patterns in process. The goal is to have Shibori blocks and Sashiko blocks for a quilt. Don't you think it will be an outstanding quilt?

Went to the campus library yesterday for a meeting and found another quilter! She had a lovely quilted wallhanging so I asked about it. She made it using Ricky Tims's Convergence Quilts book. Okay, so even though I said I would not commit any more impulse buying this month, I bought the book. Then I came across this wonderful quilt, Kimono Convergence, he made. Wouldn't it be wonderful to incorporate my Shibori dying into a Shibori Kimono Convergence quilt? So many wonderful project to dream of...so little time!

Shibori 2

Here is my latest Shibori experiment. This one used two different techniques: spider webs and ori-nui. I started out with white cloth and dyed it with navy blue. I am totally excited about the results.

Shibori

I've been experimenting with Shibori, the Japanese shaped resist dyeing tehnique. Here are some of my experiments. I took an old blue shirt of my husband and stitched it, bleached it and it turned pink, and then, in some cases, added some dye before removing the stitching.

New quilt top

Finally finished this quilt top last weekend when I should have been doing other things. I am trying to feel guilty but not succeeding. I am in love with it.

Simple block in a block pattern but I tried to be loose in the blocks so the sizes are not all the same and the placement of the blocks is not too regular. I wanted the blocks to be floating on the white background. The quilt is 85 inch square so it hard to take a picture of the whole thing and you can see the distortion from the camera and the wrinkles from laying on the ground.

I have my pattern!

I received my Winter White pattern in the mail yesterday! I can't get started on it until after I finish my reading for my graduate class but it certainly will act as an incentive to get that reading DONE. And, I can just casually walk by my fabric wall and eye my fabrics and dream about what will look good in my first schnibble. How wild do I want to go??

I had a wonderful, long weekend practicing my dyeing techniques and assembling a quilt. I had meant the quilt to be a gift but I like it so much I think it will just be mine. I need a quilt for my bed.

I need to take some pictures of the dye project and the new quilt but till then, here is a picture of a 5 color reduction lino print I made this last Spring. It made it into the juried student show which pleased me a lot. The print is currently hanging in my office. The birch trees are at the end of my driveway.

A Counting Quilt and Book

I thought I would post some pictures of a counting quilt I made for my granddaughter. Here are Kitty, sheep, frog, and flamigo--there is also an 2 scoop ice cream cone, hot air balloons, butterflies, mice, boots, chicks, a house, and tumbling blocks. Most of the squares are paper-pieced, a few are applique. After I made the quilt I then took pictures of the different squares and wrote a story about Kitty's Big Adventure. I made a handmade book with the quilt pictures and story and with a finger puppet of Kitty that lives in the pocket in the front cover.

Got my pattern

I have my pattern for a Year of Schnibbles. Couldn't find it at any of the quilt shops locally and the one place I found it on the web was already sold out. Finally bought it from Ebay. I am not planning to buy special fabric for it. I have a well supplied stash. I think I will do okay.