Design Challenge: Week #3

This week I had in mind a design challenge, but it will wait until another week.  Last night we were pounded with rain (very little hail, thankfully) so that is on my mind this soggy, gray morning.  Rain is going to be the focus this week:  Design a quilt around rain or a thunderstorm.   We'll see what transpires; what ideas do you have?

Design Challenge, Week 2 Results

It was fun to play with designs for this week's challenge; I could probably do more with the ideas, but I was able to come up with at least one that I would be happy to actually make.

The challenge was to design a quilt about what I had for breakfast:  Cheerios.   Here are the ideas from my sketch book:

The first is just a rough representation of the cereal pouring out of the box, and I could probably work with it more and like it better, but it isn't my favorite. 

   I also played with the idea of the Os floating around in a bowl of milk (almond milk, in my case) but it was too regular to suit my mood that day.  It might be interesting, though, to do a quilting pattern on the white in a sort of "splash" or "splat" design.

The idea that I labeled "Rebel" gave me a bit of a giggle, and I still like rather like it.  Perhaps someday I'll do a small Rebel, but I didn't give it more attention at the moment.

Next, I turned to some narrow, vertical bars nestled among (semi)randomly placed Os.  (I seem to have a bit of an obsession with strips right now, don't I?)   I like it quite a bit and, now that I type "vertical" I'm thinking that it might be interesting to place a few horizontal bars, too.   Hmmm.  Maybe I'll give that a try some day.   It's always good to have lots of ideas tucked away for the future and any creative dry spells.

My favorite, and the one I chose to work with for the challenge, featured Os in boxes.  Cereal boxes, in fact.  :-)  It started out with just single boxes, but doubling the size of some of them made it more interesting. 

I like the scattered look, and it's fine this way but I'm looking for something more intriguing than "fine."   I tried changing the size of the boxes and the Os, using different colors, and just generally fussing around with them.  In the end, the design combined all of those.    I'm not certain yet if I might like to scatter the boxes all over the surface of the quilt, or just in a vertical bar--there's that bar obsession again; that will require some more futzing around.

I try not to think about how I'd actually put a quilt together when I'm designing, for fear it will limit the creative flow.  But today I've been thinking about how I might actually put the quilt together.  I know how I'll do the Os in the boxes, but there are several options for putting the boxes on the surface.  I could piece them, but that would mean a great many background strips and I think that would be distracting, even when quilted.  I could hand applique them, which might result in corners that are not perfectly crisp--and we like cereal to be crispy in the box, don't we?  I do like applique, so that's a possibility; I would just have to be very careful and precise at the corners.   I could do a machine/raw edge applique, which would be less crisp but might add some interesting texture to it.   That's a consideration for another day, when I sit down to make the quilt.

What do you think?  Do you think some of the other ideas are worth pursuing?  What ideas do you have for any of them?

Design Challenge, Week #2

One week down, second one starting--we're on a roll, eh?

This week's challenge:  Make a quilt about what you had for breakfast this morning--eggs, toast, bagel, cereal, green smoothie, whatever it may have been.

I had cereal, and I'm sketching a few ideas in my sketchbook, to expand later.  I'll expand some--there are a couple that seemed better in my head than they do on paper!

What will your breakfast quilt feature?

Check back for my design ideas, and share yours.

Design Challenge, Week 1 Results

Week 1 challenge was to design a quilt representing the first sound I heard when I woke up that morning and, for me, that was a train whistle.  Remember, the challenge was to try to capture something about the sound, not the object making the sound.

First step was my sketchbook, which normally resides on my bedside table so when I'm unable to sleep I can think about design ideas and sketch them without getting out of bed.  (Admittedly, some of the designs, when I look at them the next morning, look as if I were having a nightmare when I sketched them!)

When I think of sound I think of a wave, or perhaps the Doppler Effect.  It might be sin wave-like, but after years of doing podcasts with Audacity I'm accustomed to those visualizations of sound patterns.  They seemed a little spiky for the lonely, mournful train whistle in the distance so I decided to represent them with narrow bars.  It did not escape my notice that they would also be vastly easier to piece, should I actually make a quilt.  (The physics of it all is not even close to correct, I'm sure.  Sorry, Mike!)   Here are the preliminary sketches in my sketchbook.

 I like one or two better than others, and those I decided to play with in Word.  Yep, Word.  I have Illustrator and I use it for some of my pattern diagrams, and I have Electric Quilt which I use for some types of designs, but since I compose my patterns primarily in Word I have become fairly proficient in using it for diagrams and "sketches" such as these.

Here's the first try at a design.  I like it, especially the ebb and flow of the "sound" and the introduction of a second whistle as the sound of the first is fading.  I played around with wider bars but I like these narrower ones better.   I also like the choice of doing bars because they are a hint of railroad tracks, which relates back to the source of the sound.

I wanted to try some other options, re-arranging and re-spacing the bars.  I liked them closer together, rather than spaced far apart but what if they were grouped, with each group starting on a new whistle?

Not horrible but still not what I was looking for.   So, what would it would be like if they were close together at the beginning of the whistle--stronger, louder--and then further apart as the sound faded?  I tried it first in groups, with each new whistle starting close together.

It was OK and with some more rearranging it might have been better,  but I still liked the first design better.  Then I tried it with increasing the spacing from the beginning to the end.  I was running out of room, even after increasing the width of the design and it wasn't my favorite, so I didn't finish with the spacing.  This was enough to tell me that I didn't like it as well as any of the previous designs.

The other option was some fading on the color or shading of the bars.  I briefly visited the idea of color in the bars,  maybe a rainbow effect, but since I heard the train in the pre-dawn hour it seemed more appropriate to stay with black and gray tones.    So, I shaded from black to lighter grays, again starting back at black when a new whistle blew.

In the end, that is the one I like most.  (And who knows?  I might actually make it one day!)  What do YOU think? Which do you like most?

A Quilting Design Challenge

Monday is Design Day at the Spinster and, having finished my self-challenge to design 10 quilts using 10" squares, I'm ready for a new design challenge. (If you'd like to see the 10 quilts, visit my Warped Spinster website, particularly the Patterns page.  There are two more waiting to be quilted, so there will be 12, in the end. )  Those designs were primarily for patterns to make available commercially, those in this new challenge may well be just designs for my own fun, in the end--they may or may not result in actual quilts, and they may or may not end up being patterns.  The design is the purpose in itself, to get the juices flowing!

I've been thinking about doing this particular challenge for awhile now, and it's time to get it started.  I invite you to visit each week to see what my weekly challenge is, join me in creating designs, if you wish, or just watch what happens.  If nothing else, it could give you a laugh or two.  And we could all use some more laughter in our lives, right?  

If you're doing some designing with me in the coming weeks, please share what you're doing.  And if you have an idea for a weekly challenge, please let me know--I'm always looking for ideas.

These challenges will be based on things that pop into my head, and I expect some of them to be more of a challenge than others!  The end designs may end up being quite different from the first sketch or idea.  The original challenge topic isn't really important, it's a prompt to get the creative part of the brain working--if the final design has evolved into something that bears little or no resemblance to the original idea.  That's OK.  (It's a good "out," isn't it?)  I'll try to trace the evolution of the designs I do.  You may be interested in that (and please share YOUR processes, too), but I'm doing it as a sort of design journaling exercise for myself.

Week 1
What was the first thing you heard when you woke up this morning?  (If you're joining me in the challenge, you may need to wait until tomorrow morning, unless you remember from this morning.)  The quilt should represent the sound in some way, not the object making the sound.

I woke up to the sound of a train whistle in the distance, and I have an idea or two in my head.  They have evolved a bit already this morning.  Check back in the next day or two (or Follow the blog, under "About Me" on the right-hand sidebar-- to receive an e-mail when there's a new post ) for some sketches and design layouts.


I hope you'll join me for the challenge, as a fellow traveler in design, or as a spectator or commentator.

Lace Adventure

Some time ago I started to learn bobbin lacemaking, mostly to make lace for crazy quilts.  And, of course, because I'm always looking for new fiber-related arts/crafts to get my fingers learning something new.   I purchased a beginner's kit, made a couple of bookmarks--a standard beginner's project, it seems--and then put it away.  It was fun, the clicking of the wooden bobbins was surprisingly meditative, and I love good bobbin lace.  (Perhaps one of the reasons I put it away is that I have trouble being a beginner, beyond learning the basics.  I want to learn something, and be an expert as soon as I learn the basics.  I like learning something new, but I'm not so happy with those 10,000 hours of practice that expertise requires.  It's a lifelong recipe for frustration!)

My interest was renewed on a recent trip, a river cruise through the Netherlands and Belgium.   The experience was the paramount purpose of the trip, but for "souvenirs" all I wanted to find and buy on the trip were a small piece of real Delft blue ware and a small piece of antique Belgian lace.  (Well, there was the chocolate, of course; never fear that I took care of that!  Chocolate isn't a souvenir, it's life.)

Our first stop in Belgium was in Antwerp, and I fell in love with the city immediately.  On the square I found a shop with modern handmade lace, and I picked up a few pieces.  You have to be careful that you're buying handmade, rather than machine-made, lace.  Modern handmade pieces are affordable, while still being beautiful.

Our next stop in Belgium was Brugges, a beautiful medieval city with, as one of our guides said, every other shop a chocolate shop with a lace shop in between.  (This is the only non-lace related photo, I promise; no interminable travel slide show here!)

The "egg" of Brugges--the medieval city center--sees many tourists and counts lace as one of its attractions.  They even have a map made from lace along a canal.

I saw similar pieces of modern lace in most of the shops, so they are likely buying from the same workshop--but they're still  lovely and I bought a few more pieces.  (The workshop is in Belgium, and Belgium does have a minimum wage so, while they may not be making what they're worth, the lace makers are not in a 5-cent- a- week sweatshop situation.)

But I was looking for a piece of antique lace.  A very small piece.  Because antique lace is pricey.  (If only those poor women could have gotten today's prices, or even anything CLOSE to that amount, as they worked themselves into blindness for very little pay.)

Eventually I found a lace shop with small pieces of antique lace, and I fell in love.  A very small piece was as much as I could afford and there were several framed pieces that made the decision difficult but my eye had been immediately drawn to a small, exquisite piece of needlepoint lace. (It looks as if it was cut from a larger/longer piece--I can only hope that the larger pieces was not sacrificed solely for the purpose of selling smaller pieces.)   It came home with me, and I'm still deciding where it's going to live in my house.  Perhaps it will move around.

On our way back to the bus to the ship we walked along a cobblestone street with houses where lace makers would come from the rural areas to sell their lace--you can see carvings of lace makers' heads above the doors.

Now I am itching to do some bobbin lace making again, so I went in search of my pillow and bobbins.  It was a 2-day effort.  I don't have a large house but my craft closets can be a bit daunting.  Yesterday I gathered my courage and dug into the downstairs closet, with success!  I'm back to the beginning with learning and it will be a LONG time before I do any finer lace (assuming I'm willing to practice) but the bobbins and the process are fun and relaxing.

I bought four antique Belgian bobbins in Brugges because I love the shape and it seemed appropriate for a purchase in Belgium.  As a practical matter, though, they roll a lot and I have ordered some East Midlands-style bobbins, which are more pencil-like in shape.  I will "spangle" them with rings of beads at one end, both to add a bit of weight and to keep them from rolling.   They're also very pretty and more enjoyable to use.    You can also buy them painted and pre-spangled, made from wood, bone, ebony or glass.  There are memorial bobbins--bobbin commemorating Prince George's birth or Prince Philip's 90th birthday, anyone?   They are beautiful but expensive; good for gift lists, or gradual collecting, I suppose.   A search on Pinterest yields many examples of lace makers (much, much better than I will likely every be in my lifetime) using many bobbins for a project, and some have a collection of these special little bobbins.

I'll write more about my lace making adventures, though it may be a little while before I have anything worth writing about.  I'm still aiming for that crazy quilting lace!  (I am including an Irish crochet rose motif in a class sample crazy quilt; that's something, right??)

What a Zwartble Sheep Taught Me

This weekend I decided to take a break from quilting to do some fiber-y activities, specifically prepping a Zwarble fleece that I bought some time ago.  (This was all inspired by watching a video by Deb Robeson about spinning rare wools.  Zwartble isn't a rare breed, but in the process of talking about spinning those breed she demonstrates some good combing, carding, and spinning skills.  Her passion is infectious!) 

This is my first foray into preparing a fleece for spinning, and I bought the fleece pre-washed. I want to learn a lot about fleeces and wools but I'm not sure I'm ready for the whole skirting/scouring process yet.  With the caveat that I've not had much direct experience with fleeces, I still would say that this is not a fabulous fleece. But, then, I'm not a fabulous prepper or spinner so I figure the fleece has a lot to teach me about handling various challenges.   There are MANY knotted clumps in the fleece, some flecks of skin (maybe the sheep was rooing?), and I think it might even have been felted just a bit during the washing.  There is some VM (vegetable matter), though not much, and a slight bit of kemp. 

But don't you just LOVE the color?   Zwartbles are beautiful sheep.

First, I pulled locks (you can see a couple of samples in the photo above) and loaded them onto my Valykyrie combs (2 rows of tines).  I made 2 or 3 passes with the combs and pulled through a dizz.

I spent some time picking out clumps, but not a great deal of time; that showed in the resulting singles and yarn--pretty textured.  That's not necessarily a bad thing, depending on my use for it.  This isn't a fine, next-to-the-skin wool and I would probably use it in weaving.  Don't you just love the color?  :-)

(Two ply yarn, spun and plied on middle whorl of a Kromski Sonata wheel; and using Woolie Winder.)

 I wasn't entirely satisfied with the results of combing so I tried carding it.  While I was reasonably happy with the results they were much harder work, especially since I have only cotton cards and they are much too fine to work work well with this wool.   I don't enjoy carding as much as I do combing so I abandoned that, at least until I come into some wool cards.  (I'll clean the cotton cards later.  Ugh.)
Learned:  While cotton cards work for some wools, this is not one of them!  I, myself, do not like carding as well as combing, in any case.  Carding doesn't allow the flecks to "drop out" during the process and those little white flecks will end up in your yarn.

So, I watched Deb Robeson again, for some more detailed hints on combing well, and refined my technique.  My second experience with combing was more successful and it was rather fun, not to mention that It produced better results.
Learned:  Take time to loosen the tips and butts of the locks, to open up the fibers, before loading on the combs.  Don't "bite" too deeply into the locks on the comb--comb from the ends.

Several nests of combed top later, I was ready to try some spinning. 

 

This is quite "springy" stuff and it was a bit of a challenge to draft--my drafting hand got increasingly tired as I tried to draft the fibers out evenly.  I also had to stop occasionally to pull out a clump--this preparation was better than my first combing, but it still had its share of clumps/"texture."  This is the best of that spinning--I didn't photograph the really textured lengths!

While spinning I noticed that one of the nests/tops was much easier to draft, and looked much better.  I remembered that I wasn't always consistent about the number of passes I made on the combs and it stands to reason that this easier drafting was from a top that had been passed one more time than the others.   The resulting single was much more even.

Learned:  If you don't want texture, don't be afraid to take the time to make another pass or two on the combs.  It also allows more of the flecks and any un-picked VM to drop out.

 

I have wound the singles onto 2 bobbins and will let the rest a day or two before I ply into a 2-ply yarn and knit a sample swatch.  I'd also like to do some more combing, applying what I learned with these two rounds, and spin a yarn to do a weaving sample.  Hmm.  I need to track down a 2" weave-it loom somewhere.  I'll post those samples when I've finished them.

In addition to some things about combing, carding, and spinning wool from a fleece, here are additional acquistions from working with the fleece from my friend, the anonymous Zwartble sheep:

1) a deep appreciation for those who clean and prep fleeces for those of us who usually just buy prepared top, roving, and batts--they've done the hard work, and we have the fun of spinning and using the wool;

2) a heart-felt thanks to the shepherds who breed and grow sheep specifically for the wool, and take extra care when raising and shearing the sheep:  coating the sheep, providing them with good nutrition, hold off on the stress as much as possible (one of the things I learned from the Deb Robeson video is how stress can make the wool more fragile), and all the other things I don't even know about that make for a quality wool that is a joy to spin;

3) a greater desire to support shepherds to grow sheep (especially rare breeds) for hand spinners.  It is nothing if not an expensive proposition and if we don't support them we will lose them.  I will search out some sources online but, more importantly, I want to seek out local flocks, or at least those in my home state (which, admittedly doesn't grow many sheep and most of those are for meat) and work with them to get quality fleeces, and encourage them to continue with their work.  (Iowa Sheep and Wool Festival, here I come!  I'll be saving my money.)