HANDWOVEN #3

INSPIRATION!!!  

Inspiration comes from everywhere and no where.  I am enjoying exploring hand weaving on my Rigid Heddle Loom these days.  

Recently I was the recipient of a wonderful piece of sculpture from the fabulous work of Cathy Norrell.

This is such a fine piece of intricate detail.  I keep finding beautiful facets to study and admire.

This piece inspired me to weave a scarf with some wonderful Bamboo yarn I have had in my stash for a very long time.

After warping with some heather blue acrylic, I began to weave.  I loved it!

I am really pleased with the results.  I am so pleased that I took many views of it which I will present at the end of the blog.

But, first, let me show you the inspiration piece with the finished scarf.

Isn't this just amazing?

Here are more shots of both the inspiration piece and the scarf.

What a wonderful, fun adventure I am on!!

-lilbit and sandi

Details:  Kromscki 32" Rigid Heddle, 8 Dent, Acrylic Heather Blue for Warp, Bamboo Silk for Weft

HEXAGON FINISHED PROJECT

I started this project in January 2012 and have finished it in February 2015.

I started with these fabrics to make a hexagon project.  




I worked on it watching TV; riding in the car on trips to see my grandchildren compete in wrestling, basketball, and football; and while waiting in various offices.  My hubs thought I would never finish it!

 I worked on it in sections.

Another set of units

One of the larger component sections

Here the design starts to develop

When I reached this point it was large enough for my 48 inch breakfast room table.  

 I liked this size so I added some borders and called it a finished top.

Channel quilting seemed to be perfect for finishing this piece.

All of the piecing was done by hand.  Over 570 hexies were used.  I did not hand quilt this because I was just ready for it to be finished!

LilBit loves this quilt.  She has on her little shirts because it is very cold today.

And, of course, she will just take a little rest while Mom takes her picture (again)!!




I am already working on some more hexies for more projects.  They are so addictive and fun to make.

Will post more on the new hexies later.

                                           -sandi


* inspired by a project by Bonnie K. Hunter, Quiltville USA

MAJOR MAKEOVER

I found this really neat old sewing rocker at a neighborhood yard sale.  I have had it for a few years and kept trying to decide how I wanted to re-do her.

She was pretty ratty looking . . .

Take a look at this seat cushion . . .

It is very water stained and paint splattered and faded out . . .

Today I decided to make a seat cushion cover. 

First I chose some bright fabrics to use.

Cut a bunch of strips in random sizes.

 

Now start sewing . . .

 

I am thinking Improv and Quilt As You Go.
I chose a variegated thread to use on the reds, oranges, and yellows.

I love this thread!  It has red/gold/orange/and pink. 

The other thread I chose is a rayon Madeira thread in a luscious green color.

 

Since I was going to do QAYG I chose to press the batting and the backing together so they would better adhere to each other.  I did not use a fusible batting, though.  I just wanted them to stick together by static cling.

I started by placing the first square off-center and then building it like a log cabin block and using straight line quilting all along the strips.

The seat cover is complete.  Now I will simply staple it onto the cushion frame.

The next step:  paint the rocker itself.  What color do I choose?  Black, Grey, White??

I finally settled on Black with a matte finish.  Actually, it was already in the cabinet in the garage and there were 3 full cans.  So, I thought, just use it!

Hubby suggested I put it up on the tailgate of his work truck.  He wasn't worried about any paint spray and there was no wind today.  That was a good thing. 

As you can see it is some bad shade of brown.

First coat of spray went on.

It is already looking good.  I am not very patient with spray paint and often get in such a hurry that I have runs.  Today I was going to be patient and diligent . . . so I decided to make the project not seem so long and drawn out, I cleaned my studio in between coats of paint.  That will be another post later.

She is finished and I love the paint job.  And no runs!!

Now on to getting the cushion put on.

We do not have an electric stapler so Hubby helped with getting the staples in the back.

Not such a pretty sight from this side . . .

However. . .

My improv seat cover.  I love it!

Now to put cushion and rocker together. . .

These first pictures were made outside and the sun was so bright it distorted the colors of the cushion.

Brought it inside to take another picture. . .

That is much better . . .


And this one is the best.  Lil Bit is not too sure about the rocking part of the rocking chair.  LOL  Just look at that mouth!!

                                                    -sandi

 

 

TAKING IT ON THE ROAD

I am headed down to visit a guild in North Georgia to do a program and trunk show for them.

The script is written. . .

The trunks are open . . .

And the quilts are sorted, labeled, and ready to pack . . .

About 25 quilts to show and use to discuss how to find a Modern quilt.  This should be a lot of fun.  Now I have to make them all fit into two suitcases!

I will be blogging more later about some of the individual quilts in this collection.  Some of them you have already seen, some are new additions.

Lil Bit wants to go with me.  She has on her glam collar.

                                          -sandi

PAINTING IS FINISHED

Wow!!  what a great feeling.  My living room is completely painted in the most luscious color:  Iced Cube Gray.  It is so fresh and clean looking.

My hubby and favorite son-in-law switched the sofa for the love seat and now I love the spaciousness in the room.  I will have the carpet cleaned and then bring in a couple pieces of furniture for quilt storage.

The other thing I am doing is hanging this Modern Mystery Quilt that was designed by Weeks Ringle and Bill Kerr.  When I decided to do this mystery quilt project, I planned for it to be a wall hanging in my living room.  It has been finished for quite a while and now it is time to hang it.

My Art Quilt is hanging over the fireplace and it looks so much better on the gray wall.

The wall paint takes on a blue tone at certain times of the day as the natural light changes.

All of the furniture has been moved back in and I absolutely love the "new look".  It makes me feel like I have a new house.

The Love Seat with the coffee table.  This picture makes that coffee table look out of proportion.  LOL   That is a painted silk piece on the wall behind the Love Seat painted by Chris Sandow.

The "Princess Chair".  This is the biggest chair!  When we ordered it from the book at the furniture store, I had no idea how over sized it would be.

My mom's drop-leaf table that my hubby refinished for her and she only used it for about a year before she became ill and lost her battle with cancer.  That was over 25 years ago and I have kept this table and used it in several different rooms in my house.

"Our corner" where we spend most of our time reading and relaxing.  This is where I do a lot of my hand quilting and sewing hexies.

And this is Little Bit's corner where her favorite doggy bed is.  This is where she always runs to when she gets a treat.  It is also very close to the foyer leading to the front door where she must check to see who is walking on the sidewalk.

My next big adventure for this room would be to be able to update the upholstery and maybe even remove the carpet.  But, in the meantime, new paint and some new wall hangings make it interesting.

I almost forgot to mention that we do have a little TV in this room.  Hubby thinks it needs to be replaced with a larger one, but I am very happy with the little one.  The huge one is in the basement "man cave".  I love those two little bird pillows painted by my artist friend, Chris Sandow!  They always make me smile.

Well, as you can see, this is clearly an eclectic room.  At least, that is a nice way of saying it is a "hodgepodge" of styles and moods.

Thanks for stopping by.  If you are in my area, come on over and we will have a cuppa.


                                       -sandi