Heading to Quilt Market

In a couple of hours I'll be on my way to Quilt Market in Portland. I'm experiencing that last minute packing mania: Does this green go with that grey? Will TSA find the tube of toothpaste that won't fit in my plastic bag? How many knitting projects will I realistically finish? Do I want my computer (and if so, where the heck is the cord)? What bag looks good to carry it in (since I neglected to make one)? Etc. etc. etc. Of course, all eyes will be on the fabric, not on me, so I should just lighten up!

I'll be covering Market for Etsy, Quilt Country magazine, and also for True Up! (I'm super-excited to help Kim out with that and hope to meet some of the other bloggers who are filling in for her, as well.) And I'm traveling with the Iowa City talent team of Greta Songe (fabric design), Codi Josephson (Home Ec Workshop owner), and Jenny Gordy (Wiksten). So fun to get to focus on fabric and sewing for five whole days!

Heather Ross, Threadbias, Stitch magazine, and Voting

Sometimes the world of quilting and sewing seems very big, and other times it seems like a small town, where everyone is somehow connected to everyone else.

Those close connections happened for me with some recent stories I did for Stitch magazine. In the Spring edition of Stitch I wrote a short piece about Threadbias, a website started by a brother, sister, and sister-in-law team seeking to create an interactive site for quilters. I've dipped into the site occasionally and am always impressed by what I see—talented quilters and designers and lots of good photos and encouraging comments.

For the summer issue of Stitch I had the great good fortune of profiling Heather Ross. I've long loved her fabrics and she was a delightful person to talk with. Our interview was right around the time of Hurricane Sandy when she and her family evacuated their Manhattan apartment, but she somehow maintained a calm and cheerful demeanor. I loved learning how she's combined her love of nature and the environment (she was an environmental educator in California) with her illustrations and love of stitching.

So suffice it to say I was delighted today to get an email from Threadbias noting that their quilt design contest using Heather Ross's new Briar Patch fabrics was open for voting. Contestants created quilt patterns using Threadbias's online Quilt Design Tool. If you haven't seen them, it's worth taking a look at the variety that emerged from a single line of fabric—some modern, some traditional, some dense and scrappy, some light and airy. I love seeing the way a single pattern changes depending on the fabrics used, and this is a riff on that theme...same fabrics, different patterns. Check it out!

Baby Sewing Machines

After delaying a trip to Minnesota due to the weather, I got brave and drove north to visit my aunt. She's about to turn 87 and I wanted to wish her Happy Birthday in person. She's an amazing person—still so enthusiastic about life and willing to try new things. 

She saw that the local guild was sponsoring a quilt show and off we went. There were some lovely quilts, but one of my favorite things was a sewing machine display. 

The woman who owned the machines had bunches of books identifying and dating the machines and enjoyed talking with people who came up to share stories of their own antique machines. 

I was especially taken by the toy machines. She told me that while many of them were created for children, they all actually sewed and were sometimes used by women when they traveled. I loved the decorative elements on the machines—one even had mother-of-pearl inlay. I've bid at auctions on a few small machines, but never been willing to shell out the big bucks for one...after seeing this display, I may change my mind.

Held Together by Knitting

Last week was horrific: bombings, explosions, the death and maiming of innocent bystanders and volunteer firefighters. On top of it, the weather was dismal—grey for days on end, nearly 5 inches of rain in 24 hours resulting in flooded homes, and north of us there as a snow storm. Nature didn't offer the respite we needed after days of manmade horror.

I was supposed to go to my aunt's house for her 87th birthday, but decided to put it off until the weather was more favorable. It's not as though I didn't have plenty of work to fill those delayed days, and not as if I didn't know that it was unhealthy to watch the endless news coverage on television and online, but I found myself drawn in. I heard the media's reports on the dance instructor, the recently married couple, and the two brothers who'd lost their legs. I saw the images of the Boston bombing repeated in a continual loop. I listened to stories about the volunteer firefighters who rushed into the fertilizer plant in Texas and perished. I even thought of the sorrow of the mother of the Tsarnaev brothers. So many lives damaged. So many lives ended.

And through it all, I knit. I knit back and forth on an Elfin Baby Bonnet in pale pink. I repeatedly knit rows of the 208-stitch-long Dovetail Cowl. When I finished it, I started another. It seemed to be one of the only things that made sense. Creating something in the face of so much destruction brought a modicum of comfort. When so much of life seems so far beyond control, I knit. It's not all I do. But it's what I did last week.

A Trifle for Saturday Morning: My Knitted Boyfriend

Yes, I am currently knitting-obsessesed. Blocking my Dovetail Cowl and knitting another Elfin baby bonnet. Stumbled across this this morning. If you need about five-and-a-half minutes of distraction from the events of this crazy week, settle back with your cup of coffee to view one woman's solution to finding a man who will never leave you:

MY KNITTED BOYFRIEND from Noortje de Keijzer on Vimeo.

On the Road, Again

Phew! I'm a bit discombobulated right now and I haven't finished half this month's comings and goings. But suffice it to say that I'm a little bit here and a lot there—there being Virginia, Minnesota, and Chicago. I love to travel, but I'm also a real homebody and so there's always a little conflict in my soul when it's time to head out. There's never a trip I'm sorry I made, once I've made it, but I always resist going away...always!

My most recent venture was to Virginia, for my niece Anna's vocal performance senior recital. For an hour my sisters and I and our husbands and my nephew, Anna's brother Karl, sat dumbfounded as we listened to Anna sing. I don't see her often and was in awe at the growth in her vocal abilities and at her stage presence. Even her parents and brother were left with their mouths hanging open. I loved the way her friends pitched in and performed parts, both from operas and musicals, to add fullness to the evening.  (That's her to the left, wearing a honey cowl. She's so gratifying to knit and sew for: I've made her two Birdie slings  —here and here—and she's used them until they fall apart. This time she opened the honey cowl and immediately put it on and wore it all afternoon.)

Photo courtesy of VA Quilt Museum

While the event was lovely and it was fun to be with family, Virginia itself was a real highlight. Daffodils, forsythia, and budding trees gave me hope that spring might eventually come. We wandered through the farmer's market, sampling doughnuts from Mennonite bakers and locally roasted cups of coffee. We took a little hike along a rushing stream, where bloodroot and May apples pushed up, through the forest floor. And we even stepped inside the Virginia Quilt Museum for a look at Material Witnesses, an exhibition by the Manhattan Quilter's Guild of New York City. There were also a few Civil War quilts—so graphic and so amazingly preserved.

VA Quilt Museum civil war display—hexagons have a long history!

Heading out to MN tomorrow for a weekend with my aunt, in honor of her 87th birthday. I delayed my trip by two days, as we've been having torrential rains and flooding and she's getting snow. But she says it's for the best, because there's a quilt show there this weekend. I'll try and take a few photos!

Color and Texture: Spain

Walkway in Ronda

I had the great good fortune of accompanying my husband to a meeting in Southern Spain last week. We spent nine days visiting Malaga, Seville, Granada, and Ronda (part of that was meeting-time, of course, but I didn't have to go to the meeting). The opportunity to go on these trips reminds me of what's good about freelancing and a flexible schedule...

Dresses in the Paul Nunez shop in Seville

The Moorish influence in this region (Andalusia) meant lots of beautiful tile work that I knew would remind me of quilts. What I didn't know was that the streets and sidewalks would all be beautifully patterned with rocks. Seriously, I don't think I walked on a solid surface the entire time.

Sidewalk in Nerja

 The other thing we didn't know was that it was Holy Week, or Semana Santa. The frightening-looking costumes belong not to a race-based organization, but are Nazarenes. The other stunning thing were the floats featuring life-sized, wood-carved Biblical scenes decorated with incredible silver and embroidered textiles, that were carried through the streets, sometimes for hours. The young man below is one of those carrying a float.

Hope you enjoy these!

Float carrier takes a break during a procession in Malaga

Nazarenes in Malaga procession

Nazarenes in Malaga procession

Float of the Virgin Mary being carried through the streets in Malaga

Malaga float detail

Will it rain? Float carrier in Malaga wonders

Nazarenes in Granada

Detail from the Alhambra in Granada

Arches in the Alhambra in Granada

View through the Ronda city walls

Granada windows

Shawl shop in Seville

Traditional Spanish dresses in Seville shop

Shawl detail: hand embroidered

Sevilla detail 

Sidewalk in Seville

Floor in Seville

Seville garden

Seville tile

Crafty Classes Update

Elfin Bonnet from the front

So, my week of lots of work-related deadlines has most fortunately been punctuated by opportunities to get my hands on fabric and yarn. First up was a knitting class with Master Knitter Lisa Wilcox Case. When I saw the hat in Home Ec (and felt it—knit from the springiest, softest merino Millamia), I had to make one.

Such a cute side detail!

Lisa calls it the Elfin Baby Bonnet and she recreated the pattern from one that an elderly neighbor gave her when she was in college. She described a woman who lived alone, across the hall, and knit hats for babies. Lisa still had the pattern the woman shared with her, typed up on an index card like a recipe. The construction of the hat is so cool—you knit it flat, then fold it in half and use a three-needle bind off to "stitch" the two sides together. Lisa hopes to have the pattern available on Ravelry soon. I knit a red one, and bought a different yarn yesterday to make a pink one. With spring coming, these may not be appropriate gifts for babies for awhile, but I'll have a nice gift stash for next fall and winter.

Then yesterday I taught my first quilting class. I was a little nervous—Would people like it, would it be enough to fill the time? It turned out that I knew all four of my students, some long-time friends and some new friends, so that helped with the nerves.

The group discusses layout possibilities for HSTs

It was so much fun to catch up with them, find out about the connections between them, and watch their very different fabric choices become half-square triangles. I can't wait to see what they ultimately do with their squares. And I hope they enjoyed the class.

Nora and her HST blocks-a pillow for her bed?

It's always surprising to learn that you know something other people don't...it's easy to just assume what you know is common knowledge. But in hindsight I am grateful to my half-square triangle sweat shop for making me adept enough at half-square triangle-making to share it with others.

Maureen and her Heather Ross-polka dot HSTs

And everyone agreed that Laundry Basket Quilts Triangle Papers are a pretty nifty tool.

Half Square Triangles: Please Sir, Can I Make Some More?

After all my whining about my half-square triangle sweat shop, I realized that I'd gotten really good at making them. And that I was getting a little excited thinking about how I'd arrange mine when they arrive. So when Codi was talking about adding some quilting classes at Home Ec, I volunteered to teach one on half-square triangles.

These fabrics are from Jessica Swift's Blomma by Anna Griffin Blend 

While they're pretty simple to make, I have learned a few tricks along the way. If you're in the area and interested in joining the half-square triangle mania, here's a link to the class. It's perfect for those who are just getting interested in quilting but have basic sewing skills. We'll make enough half-square triangles to make a pillow top or get a good start on a baby quilt.

P.S. In case you're not a lover of musicals, the title of this post is a riff on a line from Oliver! Not a great riff but hey, it's the best I could do with what I've got. Which is not enough caffeine. 

Master Knitters on Etsy

Lisa Wilcox Case

It's a little after the fact, but I thought I'd share some of the photos I shot for the master knitting certification post that went live on Etsy. Etsy's discovered that a large number of their visitors are accessing the site through mobile media, and that's changed the kinds of photos they need--big, bold and graphic reads much better than detailed. So a number of these just didn't cut it.

Lisa's intarsia sample

But I wanted to share them with you because I think the master knitting process is impressive, and Lisa Wilcox Case's notebooks are amazing. Filled with reports and samples, they really demonstrated her abilities, as well as the requirements for being a master knitter through The Knitting Guild Association.

Lisa's final project for master knitter certification

The other part of the master knitting story that was fun for me was that I was having a heck of a time finding a second source to talk with. I went to lunch at a local restaurant and was chatting with the owner, who I've known for years, about what her daughter was up to. Her daughter, Taylor, had been in my class when I taught at a Montessori school many years ago. She described how Taylor was getting ready to graduate from college, thinking about various careers and then said, "Oh, and she's getting master knitting certification." So funny! So I contacted Taylor (who shared a couple of photos that I've included, as well).

Lisa demonstrates a cable technique

One thing that struck me was how different the personalities of these two women seem, yet how they both want to be (or in Lisa's case, are) Master Knitters. Lisa's been a librarian and an endodontist--methodical, detail-oriented, exacting. Taylor seems to be much more of a free spirit, but she's enjoying the challenge as well.

Hope you enjoy these!

Samples in Lisa's certification notebooks

Lisa at work (she knit the sweater she's wearing)

Lisa's entrelac sample

Taylor wearing a hat she knit

Cowl knit by Taylor

Taylor's yarn bombing on the Cornell College campus