Friday, November 7, 2014

Finished a Couple Little Things

Embarrassed to have had a whole month go by with no entry.....October flew by!  Wish I could say it was because I was sewing so fast and so much, but alas....that's not the case. There was some fun travel though, a week long trip to New Mexico with DH and then a retreat with the Detroit Area Modern Quilt Guild.

I finished a few things for my Secret Sister at DAMQG.  We draw names in September, gift each other til the December Christmas party, which is last gift and the Great Reveal.  Can't show those now, and one I forgot to get a picture of!  But here is a tantalizing tiny glimpse of her last gift.


 At the retreat, which was so much fun--we celebrated my Halloween birthday, sewed, talked, did a Project Funway Challenge (we had 2 hours to design & complete a pillow cover using a paper-pieced bra block), played games for swag, got gifted by various members, and also did a 'Halloween Swap', where you made whatever, wrapped it, and did some stealing.  I got this wonderful wallhanging by the very Talented Dana.  Isn't it great???
In New Mexico, well known for lots of art, we saw quite a bit of weaving, besides paintings and pottery,  Being a knitter and spinner also, I have toyed with the idea of doing some simple weaving, maybe place-mats and table-runners & scarves, which would be a great way to use the hand-spun yarn I have accumulated.  At a wonderful shop with modern weavings, I picked up this little 4" pin loom and will play with it a bit.  Not big, but the idea is to use it on the go, and then attach them together to make something larger.



My first attempt I think was too thin.  At the shop I was shown a yarn weight that would be appropriate for wrapping the little loom, but maybe picked something at home too light weight.  I'm making another.  But it was really fun.  I'll let the idea of a little table loom simmer for a bit before I jump in.  My spinning wheel is made by an American company, Schacht, and they make all sizes of looms too.  Their "Cricket" comes in either a 10" weaving size or 15", looks really easy to use, and inexpensive.  It would be great for the types of things I am interested in trying.

 Besides finishing the gift item for my Secret Sister, which I can't show in it's entirety, I also finished a 36" X 48" lap quilt for Great Lakes Heritage Quilters.  They are being donated a number of different places this year, and aimed for wheelchair use.  I pulled out some Civil War reproduction fabrics (or as my Southern-living SIL calls it, 'The War of Northern Agression) to make a patriotic quilt, perhaps for a wounder soldier.  It was great to finally get it quilted and bound this month and will be dropped off at the November meeting.  On the hourglass blocks, I did meandering five-pointed stars, and found that quilting them continuously is much more difficult than just drawing one, but I don't think the recipient will mind that I was practicing.