Missives from Quilt Camp at Lake Lucerne 2021

I wasn't sure if the 1st wkd of October Quilt Camp at Lake Lucerne would be happening or not due to Covid, but it did happen!  Most of us were vaccinated, so let's hope no one gets a breakthrough case of Covid in the next 2 weeks.   

 

Laura Ramseier - Me - Shirley

It was good to see everyone (Laura, Shirley, Lynn, Pat Saft and the gang ...) again, after it was cancelled last year due to the pandemic.

I brought the Star Quilt for Show & Share, since I'd been working on it at previous Quilt Camps.

It was nice weather, though unseasonably humid and warm for October.  We saw lilacs blooming at the roadside on the way out there!  Bring back sweater weather! 

 

Janna and I went for a walk down to the beach and caught a beautiful sunset:

My oldest and best friend Janna happened to be visiting this week, so I brought her along.  She did handwork on a baby quilt, Hawaiian applique -- corduroy an silk with a linen backing.  She knows it's not practical, and expects it to be used and in tatters -- if she finishes it for the kid before he's an adult!  I suspect they will hand it on the wall!

 

I was working on a few projects ...  Heart-shaped potholders for France when we go next spring.  I didn't finish many, but made progress.  

I spent a lot of time quilting the 10-in squares and cutting out the heart-shaped pieces.

 

Heart Prototype #2 (No Bias Tape)

I was trying to avoid using bias binding, but discovered the turned hearts come out just a little too small.  At least the pieces are cut out, quilted, and ready to be assembled--once I get the binding.

This McKenna Ryan Chickadee Block.  It came as a kit, with the applique pieces already lazer-cut, fused and ready to go!  That saves so much time!  I can't tell you how often I've traced applique pieces -- backwards.  It wastes a lot of time and fabric.  This is a much better way to go.

To put it all together, I used my freemotion table with my Ott light underneath set up as a light box.  I had the pattern layered with a piece of baking parchment where I could lay the pieces and iron them down without fear of them sticking.  When I was ready, I stuck the centerpiece down to the background.

It still needs some work with stitching and finishing, but at least the bare block is together now.   (See block at the top of this post)

Holly's Smoky River Quilt Top

I was also working on this Smoky River quilt top my mom started a while back, but never finished.  Now I see why ...  There are some oddities about it, where things are not quite coming together as planned.  I'll make it work, though.  I do like the Stonehenge fabrics. 

I do remember my mom showing this to me a while back.  She was tired of it ...  I think she had planned to enlarge it into a king-size quilt, but changed her mind after discovering several oddities about the pattern.  She did have the 9-patch borders done, but according to that pattern, you have to cut them off so they fit the span of the middle part.  Huh?

 

Me and Janna at The Little Farmer in Fond du Lac

Apple Wood Weaving Shuttle

 

Apple Wood Weaving Shuttle

Commissioned from Chuck Spiegelberg in Oshkosh, WI - October 2021 

 

Front Side View with thread channel.

 

Bottom View

 

Back side.

Last summer, I commissioned a weaving shuttle from a woodworker who sells at our local farmer's market: Chuck Spiegelberg of Little Things.   I am very happy with this little beauty and can't wait to try it out on my floor loom!

I had a sample / model / unfinished shuttle from my friend Lynda (the smaller one in the photo above).  It's one that she and her father started.  She has several other ones, so she loaned me this one in perpetuity.  I think it's dogwood from their property in North Carolina.

More than a year and a half ago (before Covid), I'd asked the local apple orchard (Redmond's Apple Basket in Ripon) for a chunk of apple wood.  They trim and prune their trees in the winter, and were happy to bring me a log and deliver it to the winter market -- They want to see what we do with it!   The wood has been drying in the basement ever since.  I was hoping and praying that there was enough good wood to work with -- without cracks.  And there was.  He said there was just 1 spot he had to fill in a crack with glue--and you can hardly see it.

CL did his best to quarter it and tried to make some blanks to that it could dry with a minimum of checking and cracking.  You can't really purchase apple wood for woodworking projects unless you harvest/procure it yourself.   He was so frustrated with that process, that he politely declined making this weaving shuttle, though he has made several other weaving implements for me, for which I am ever grateful.  So it was time to call in someone who knows what they are doing, with the tools and skills to do the job of a bona fide wood worker.

 

Here's another shot with a slice off the original chunk of wood.

Applewood is heavier and more dense than you might think it would be.  Much heavier than the dogwood.

Fruit woods are very good for weaving shuttles because they are hard and have a closed grain, meaning: They feel good in your hands.  Lynda swears by the dog wood and that there's no need to even finish it because the oils from your hands and use will finish the wood. 

The Shacht cherry shuttles have a hand-rubbed Danish oil finish, so that's what I would opt for.  Tung oil feels too much like plastic.  I think I want to see how this does with the making it's own finish with use.

I asked if he'd make more of them for me, if I supplied the wood again.  His wife said that it was an interesting project because it was new and he had to figure out how to make it, but it sounds like it was also kind of a challenge -- more of a challenge than he might want to be bothered with in future.   I thought I'd ask the Apple Orchard people for a chunk of pear or plum wood next. ;-)  

I may have to find a new wood worker, though.

Holly's Quilts: Mouse sleeping Under a Pumpkin Moon

This is one of my favorite quilts my mom ever did.  I saw the pattern not long ago, but can't seem to locate it now to tell you the pattern name or designer.   I love the choice of batiks and fabrics!

 

Little mouse sleeps under the Pumpkin Moon!

 

Detail of the corner flourishes in relation to the sleeping mouse.

The red and orange circles are Swarfski crystals that add a wonderful frosty sparkle to this wall hanging.

 

 

Detail of the patchwork pumpkin. 

When October Goes ...

 

Lovely walk in my Dad's woods yesterday ... The last days of October.  There is still some fall color to be seen, though most of the leaves have already fallen for the season.

A Good Day for Spinning

 

A Good Day for Spinning

It's been a long time since I did any spinning on the big Saxony cherry (aka The Sleeping Beauty) wheel!  Last weekend, the temps and humidity inside the house were just right, and the mood struck to spin.  

On the big cherry wheel, I am spinning some luscious alpaca roving, already carded.  I'm pretty sure this comes from the Sabamba Alpaca Farm, not far from here.

At the beginning of September was the Wisconsin Sheep & Wool Festival, but my friend Lynda and I decided not to go down for it this year.  Both of us have everything we need as far as fiber and tools.  That weekend, I went to her house to sit, spin and catch up with her -- using my portable Louet S90.  We had a lovely afternoon!

Holly's Pumpkin Quiltie and Fall Leaves

Holly's Pumpkin

I am continuing to showcase some of my mom's quilts here.  I am not sure if she made these [I think she did ...] or if these were shop samples, or if someone gave them to her.  There are no labels on them.        I think she made these.

 

Here's a detail shot of Holly's Pumpkin, showing the stitching around some of the elements.

Fall Leaves on Blue

Here's the one I hung up for my Dad this month.

Here's a detail shot.  She must have been just starting with the thread painting.

I love that batik background.  It looks like a huge tree trunk. It's an amazing batik!