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.)

Rules? What fun!

"Rules are made to be broken" has always seemed an odd adage, though I have broken my share of rules--usually unintentionally but, still, my share have been broken.   I think perhaps it has been a matter of the "why " of rule breaking.  The intent determines the quality of the breaking and, when it comes to fiber arts and quilting, the creative intent makes all the difference; breaking rules just for the sake of breaking them seems unnecessarily disrespectful of the artists and craftsmen who have come before us and established the rules--though that establishment was likely as unintentional as my breaking!

Sometimes I break rules unintentionally, conjuring unexpected creative opportunities.  At least,I allow them to be creative opportunities after I have explored some colorful turns of phrase.  After making mistakes I learned to figure out what I could do to work the happy accident into a new design, instead of "fixing a mistake."  I didn't always approach it this way, especially in quilting (in which I have the most experience) and I have unfinished projects to prove it!   Over the years I have seen and heard quilters who are desperately seeking just a bit more of a particular fabric to finish a quilt.  I will grant you that there are times when you don't want to explore new design opportunities but most of the time my quilts have benefited from stepping back when I make a mistake, looking at the design, and then looking at it again from another angle (sometimes literally).  I have learned to not make the suggestion to other quilters, though, unless I know them well; I have gotten horrified looks from some when I have suggested substituting another fabric from their stash.   It is what our foremothers would have done, out of necessity; think of all the antique and vintage quilts we cherish for just those qualities that we sometimes reject in modern times.  They are those bits of fabric or design that cause us to wonder what happened so the quilter did that.  Quilts (and, I think fiber creations as well) are all about stories, and these accidental designs tell such interesting stories!

Sometimes we break rules with a specific intent to come up with something new and different, trying out the "what if?" possibilities.  In this case I think it might be better if we do this after we know some very basic rules, for the sake of some structural integrity, if nothing else.   Judith Mackenzie, a marvelous spinner and fiber artist, tells of a teacher she had who allowed students a certain number of happy accidents and after that they had better be able to tell her why they were doing what they were doing differently.   I adore looking at "what if," and given all the wonderful new ideas and techniques that fellow quilters and fiber artists are coming up with, it's not an uncommon activity.(I'm constantly amazed and admiring of people who have developed techniques that, even when shown how to do them, seem inconceivable--how did they come up with these things?)

Over the past few days I have immersed myself in a gluttony of how-to videos, because I have a great deal to learn and learning is one of my favorite things.  Watching them in such rapid succession has made it apparent that experts have different rules about the same things, and they are sometimes in direct conflict.  What one expert explains as a "must" another expert will say, "What a waste of time!"  

 Granted, this can be a confusing thing for beginners in a craft if they aren't experienced enough to know head from tails.   The key is to try them out for ourselves and find out what works best for us, personally.  That takes time and practice, and as a person with a very short attention span who wants to know how to do something and wants to do it well NOW that can seem a daunting prospect.  But happy accidents along the way make the practice a joy.  Any art that has hard and fast rules, with artists who always follow them, will not advance or stay truly alive and thrive, or tell a good story.

Breaking rules--what fun!!  I'm all for it.  I don't do New Year's resolutions but if I did, I would make one to break some rules in quilting, spinning, weaving, and any other fiber-y activities I undertake.

The videos:

I am enrolled in a many Craftsy classes about quilting; the videos I've been watching the past few days have been about spinning and weaving because I'm still very much a beginner in those areas.  They are all available from Intervweave and yes, I have bought a lot of videos--these aren't all of them--but mostly over a period of 2 or 3 years; I just revisit them:

How I Spin, Rita Buchanan

The Gentle Art of Plying, Judith Mackenzie

A Spinner's Toolbox, Judith Mackenzie

Weave a Good Rug, Tom Knisely

Loom Owner's Companion, Tom Knisely

Spin Art, Jacey Boggs

Spin to Weave, Sarah Lamb

In Praise of Simple Cloth, Rita Buchanan

From Wool to Waulking, Norman Kennedy  (Mr. Kennedy has some great stories and memories of spinning and weaving over 60 years, beginning as a young man in Scotland)

Top Ten Thanks

I am thankful for many, many things but for this blog it seems appropriate to express thanks for those things around quilting and fiber arts; I am thankful today--and every day:

1) for Family, whose support is ever-present:  for Mom and Dad, who taught me that I could do whatever I set out to do--and respected that I could decide what that was; for my siblings, who love me in spite of myself and encourage me in ways large and small (and always "have my back");

2) for Mom, who taught me to sew, knit, crochet, embroider--among many other things;

3) for Friends, who help me to laugh, who hold my hand when I need to cry, and who just seem to always be there when I need them;

4) for all the Quilters and Fibert Artists, beginners to masters, who inspire me every day with their talent and creativity;

5) for Quilters and Fiber Artitsts who give of their time and talent to those who need kindness and comfort;

6) for Quilt Shop Owners and Staff, who have shared so much and given me so much;

7) for Designers of all those gorgeous fabrics and fibers with which we get to work;

8) for Inventors who create the technology that makes it all easier, from rotary cutters (and rulers!) to longarm machines to beautiful and functional spindles, wheels, and looms;

9) for the Internet and the World Wide Web, which give us ready access to an unimaginable wealth of resources and opportunities for sharing and inspiration;

10) for all the People in the world who love quilts and knitted, crocheted, spun and woven pieces.

I am thankful for it all, and especially for all of you; Happy Thanksgiving!

Ten for Ten

I'm 10 for 10 on my 10 for 10 challenge! 

A few weeks ago I challenged myself to design 10 quilts from 10" squares.  (All right, I already had a couple of designs completed, and one pattern published, with another in the works.)

I confess that I actually designed 15 or 20 quilts over the course of those weeks, but I decided it would be nice to actually LIKE all the designs, so it took some time and I learned a few more things to put in my designing toolbox.  You likely have learned other things, or things diametrically opposed to what I found works for me.  Then again, maybe these same things won't work for me next week.  That's the fun of designing, isn't it?

Here are 3 methods I used to get at the initial designs:

1) Pull out some 10" squares, cut them up and sew them in different ways.  Or, sew them and cut them up in different ways.  Putz.  Play. Toss them out and start again.

2) Start with a design in EQ, and then try to figure out how to piece it.  This one can be rather fun, but it can also be rather frustrating.  I'm pretty much math- capable but when you start doing seams on top of seams on top of seams on top of inserts on top of diagonal seams, well....then it's off to method #1.  Pull out the squares and just start putzing away on them until it comes out as you envisioned it--or something close to it.

3) Picture something in your head, then try to make it work using either method 1 or method 2.  What you see in your head at 3 a.m. does not necessarily translate into a usable or attractive end.  Sometimes it's just ghastly. 

Some of the time it works out just as you planned, and sometimes it doesn't, but even then a little more hacking, er, cutting and sewing yields a serendipitous prize.  I won't show you the piece from the original thought process (I think it was merely dull, not ghastly) but here's what happened when I did some more cutting; it wasn't square because of the cutting, so I just kept make slices and inserts until it was square, and then did some rearranging.  These are test blocks, and don't necessarily use the fabrics I would choose for the end.   So, this is #7.2, after 7.1 alpha test (and beta, for that matter) failed:

 

I'm not sure what my next design challenge will be; half of my 10 for 10 designs are pieced now, and others will be pieced over the next few weeks.  But in the meantime, what shall the next challenge be?  Any ideas for me?