My 30 Minute Vacation

We are in the San Luis Obispo area for the Seven Sisters Quilt Show this weekend. We always try to come into the area the day before set up. We got here pretty early this afternoon so the travel trailer was hooked up by a reasonable time.

We are actually staying in Avila Beach. This is the fifth year that we have stayed in this same place. I have seen signs for the beach but have never gone. Today I really needed some calm and quiet time so I decided to go check it out.

I got in the truck and headed to the beach. I found Shell Beach in our navigation system. It sounded interesting so I headed there first. But when I got there it looked like the access was in a spot where I might get trapped in our big pick up so I drove back to Avila Beach and just followed the signs. I ended up in a cute little area by the pier with some shops and restaurants. There's a place right on the beach front called Avila Lighthouse Suites where I'd love to stay someday.

Avila Beach Pier

In the opposite direction from the pier was a beautiful rocky cliff that jutted out into the ocean. I wish it hadn't been low tide because I'm sure watching the large waves crash against it would have been amazing. But it was still beautiful this afternoon. Most of the time I just sat on the sand looking in that direction.

Doesn't that look like a peaceful place to be? I love the sound of the waves as they break. That kind of roaring sound is much more prominent when the tide is higher but nonetheless it was so calming to just sit and do nothing for about 30 minutes. I didn't think about work, other than the fact that I thought it would be a good blog post. But once I took the pictures I just sat there and stared out at the ocean and listened to the waves.

Whenever I go to the beach I search for interesting shells. Today I found a couple as well as some interesting rocks. One of them is really smooth and has a slight indentation on one side. As I was sitting on the beach touching it, I thought that it would make a good "worry stone." It's a little big to keep in my pocket but it has the perfect place to rub in stressful times. 

My Beach Treasures

It is so easy to get caught up in everything that goes with running a business. A good friend of mine reminded me many times that it is important to "Stop and smell the roses." I took that advice today only I stopped and smelled the ocean breeze.

Wishing you a few moments for a mini vacation like mine.

Carol

Learning to Spin

Last weekend I spent some time with my neighbor in Nevada Rosemary Hill. Rosemary is a well known knitter. She designs patterns and ebooks and she teaches too. She also makes gorgeous shawl pins. You can find out more about Rosemary on her website at www.designsbyRomi.com .

The last time I was there she offered to give me a lesson in spinning. She told me that spinning is a very zen like process. Given the crazy hectic life I lead that made it very appealing. This is something I've always been fascinated by. I love antique spinning wheels and can picture women sitting in front of the fire spinning their wool into yarn. I was able to squeeze in some time last Saturday to have my first lesson. I am usually on the teaching side of things so it was very good for me to be the student. It helped remind me how my students feel when learning something new. The one piece of advice I do my best to pass on to them is this. If you are a perfectionist, try really hard to let that go during class. I know it is hard but we are going for concept rather than perfection. Once you have the concept down, then you can work on improving your technique. I have to say, I heard those words in my mind a lot on Saturday.

I learned three different ways to create yarn from roving. This is one of the fibers that I worked with.

Hand Dyed Variegated Roving

I absolutely love hand dyed fabric. I couldn't believe that Rosemary was letting me practice on this gorgeous hand dyed fiber. The first thing I had to do was pull it to make it thinner. There is definitely an art to doing this properly. If it is too thin it breaks and if it is too thick the yarn will be thick at that point.

I can see that once you get the feel for how to do this, that it could be a very zen like process. It is quite soothing to just fondle the roving, as long as you're moving forward in the process. When I pulled it too thin I had a hard time putting it back together.

Once I pulled it and got it to what I thought was relatively even, we started twisting it. Rosemary took one end and attached the clip of a ball point pen to it. Then she took a few steps away from me and held it pretty tight. Then she started turning the pen. While she was doing that I was guiding my end and trying to make the twist even and she kept backing up. As you'll see below, that didn't happen so well. But I had to remind myself that this is my first attempt. After we had the whole thing twisted then we had my end meet hers to create a piece of 2 ply yarn. This is my first piece of yarn.

My First Piece of Yarn

As you can see it is definitely not consistent in thickness. But I love the colors. It was fascinating to me to see what happened to the variegation of the roving. When I sew with variegated thread I see the color change as I'm stitching. What happens here is that the colors twist together as well as in line and sometimes you get a spun piece of yarn that contains all of the colors. You can see this in the photo above since it isn't twisted as tightly as you'll see in other pictures.

The second technique I tried was spinning with a Drop Spindle. This takes some coordination because you have to hold the fibers in one hand, spin the spindle with the other and pinch the fibers so that they twist. You have to make sure that the spindle is always spinning and that you keep spinning it in the same direction. If the fibers are too thin then it breaks and the spindle drops. Rosemary told me she knows someone who makes glass Drop Spindles. I am definitely a long way from wanting to try doing this with a glass one. I'm pretty sure I dropped mine at least 10 times.

With this method I could really tell when it was twisting properly. It was almost magical the way the roving just twisted all on its own. My yarn was far more consistent with this technique. While I'm sure it isn't anything that Rosemary would want to knit with, I was pretty pleased with how it turned out for my first attempt. I love the colors of this one the best.

My Yarn on the Drop Spindle

Last of all I learned how to spin using a spinning wheel. I had no idea there were other techniques for spinning until my lesson. I think Rosemary told me she has four spinning wheels. She brought two of them down from her studio for us to practice on.

I used the Spinning Wheel in the foreground. You can see the one Rosemary used
in the background.

This is the Spinning Wheel I used

First I practiced the rhythm of pushing the pedal. There is a piece that moves up and down and when it is at the top point, that's when you push the pedal. Just watching the wheel spin alone is very soothing. After I had the feel for that, we threaded it and I started spinning my roving into yarn. This really is very magical. The thread just spins and twists all by itself. There is definitely a trick to it though. If you don't hold the fibers exactly right, then it twists too much and it gets very thick.

There are all kinds of benefits to hand work. There is something about the process that lowers our blood pressure and really helps us to cope in challenging times. It is far more relaxing when you are moving in a forward progression than when you are reverse sewing. However I have to say that even when I was getting frustrated with the yarn twisting too much, getting too thick, and taking it out to try to fix it, I still really enjoyed the process. Here's what my yarn looks like on the Spinning Wheel.

My Yarn - Again probably not something to knit with but
not too bad for a first attempt

While I'm sure it will take a lot of practice before my yarn is consistent, I can see where I could definitely couch it onto a quilt for embellishment. It would be very cool knowing that I created those fibers.

I know they make small, portable spinning wheels, but as far as portability for my constant on the road lifestyle, I think I will opt to take the Drop Spindle approach for starters if I decide to pursue this more. It is definitely portable. I might look into getting some roving and just practice pulling it. Rosemary told me that this is the key to the whole thing and I can see where that is the case. If it isn't thin enough the yarn is really thick at that point when you spin it.

I got the basics of the technique. Now it is up to me to practice and get better at it. I think I'll keep my eye open for roving and a Drop Spindle at shows. Maybe I'll find something at the Albuquerue Fiber Arts Fiesta in May.

Here's to a new medium to explore.

Carol

Young Quilters

The display of Quilters under 18 Years of Age was right by our booth at the Best of the Valley Quilt Show in Lindsay, CA. I am looking forward to teaching my granddaughter, Tristyn to quilt. You can see her playing with thread and Perle Cotton Bubbles on the side of this page. She is also featured in my post about Perle Cotton Bubbles. She likes to carry pieces of fabric around the house. So I'm getting her used to all of that at a very young age (she's 17 months old).

I was very impressed with the work of the young quilters who entered their quilts at the show. I would like to share it with you here.

This first quilt was made by 11 year old Jada Wheeler from Bakersfield, CA. She plans to decorate her room with a jungle theme. Her grandma let her choose the fabrics for the quilt. I think this quilt is going to look great in her room.

Jada's Jungle by Jada Wheeler - Age 11

The next quilt was made by Evan Renee Carson of Porterville, CA who is 9.  It was sewn on her white Featherweight sewing machine. Her inspiration is to be just like her Grammie (Priscilla Girard) who Evan says is a great quilter.

My First Quilt by Evan Renee Carson - Age 9

Summer Sunset won a Third Place Ribbon. Abrielle Ward from Hanford, CA made this quilt. She is 13. It is her second quilt and is the first one she quilted herself. She started with Jelly Rolls. She said it was a fun and easy quilt to make.

Summer Sunset by Abrielle Ward - Age 13

Raine Palomino from Hanford, CA made Pandas at Play. She saw the pattern at Best of the Valley last year and decided to make it. Raine quilted it by herself. She is only 12 years old and did thread play, free motion quilting and some stitch in the ditch quilting. She is definitely a serious quilter. Her quilt was the Second Place winner. (Sorry the photo isn't clearer).

Pandas at Play by Raine Palomino - Age 12

This is Irelan Fletcher's "First Quilt." She is from Clovis, CA and is 11 years old. She made the quilt with her grandmother, Janet Fletcher and her friend Judy McDaniel. Irelan chose the fabric, sewed, cut, and pressed the half square triangles. She also sewed the short seams, created the design and free motion quilted the rose design on most of the blocks. Judy did the feathers in the borders and Janet sewed the long seams and binding. Irelan says she loves quilting! Her quilt finished in First Place.

First Quilt by Irelan Fletcher - Age 11

Last, but certainly not least is Payton's First Quilt. Payton Evan is 8 years old and is from Porterville, CA. In her artist's statement she said that her favorite part was pressing the fabric. She says her grandma pressured her when her hands were tired but told her "Don't stop, we are almost done." I met Payton at the show. She was so excited about her quilt. Hers won Best of Show in the Under 18 Category.

Payton's First Quilt by Payton Evan - Age 8

Congratulations to all of the entrants! These are some very talented young quilters. I have a feeling we'll be seeing a lot more of their work for a long time to come.

Happy Quilting,

Carol

Quilt Show Themes

Many of the shows we do, especially quilt guilds have a theme. It is always interesting to see how that theme translates into the show. I recently did a post about the Hi-Desert Quilt Guild's China Lake Tribute at their show last month.

The following week we were at the Glendale Quilt Show. I have to say that they win my prize for the best way of presenting their theme. The theme for this year's show was "Any Holiday on Quilts." As soon as you walked in the door, you knew that.

This was the doorway on the right side as you walked in the building

Someone spent a lot of time on the Welcome Sign. Various holidays are depicted in each letter.

When you looked to the left as you walked through the door this is what you saw.

Again the sign that says "Holidaze" incorporates the theme.

I walked past the entrance several times a day for various reasons. Every time I saw one more little detail. When I saw what I call the "Halloween Hunks Quilt" I couldn't resist taking a picture to share it with you. 

Isn't this a fun quilt? I love Halloween prints with bright colors and this definitely uses a lot of them.

The guild is moving their show to a new venue in Pasadena next year. Since Pasadena is the home of the Rose Parade the theme for next year's show revolves around roses. It will be interesting to see what they do with that.

Happy Quilting,
Carol

Batting Tape

I have a big plastic bin full of batting scraps of all sizes. For some reason I feel the need to keep any leftover piece of batting that I "might" be able to use later. Often times the piece I pull out to use is just a little bit too small. If I'm doing a big quilt sometimes I just need a little more length or width.

When I first started quilting I learned how to sew two pieces of batting together. This was time consuming and somewhat frustrating because it didn't always lie flat. I found Heat and Press Batting Tape a couple years ago and have used it with success. The only thing I don't like about it is the material it is made from. It is shiny and kind of "plasicy" feeling. You can see it is kind of shiny.

Heat and Press Batting Tape

When I heard that From Marti Michell products has a Batting Tape too, I was very excited to try it. This is a fusible too but it has a more cottony feel to it. The best analogy I can use is that the one I used before is like adhesive tape where as Marti's is like the paper type adhesive tape.

Marti's Choice Batting Tape

The lighter weight and fabric like fiber makes it much easier to quilt through either by hand or by machine. It is also the ideal way to use Marti's Low Fat Quilting Method described in her Machine Quilting in Sections book.

This quilt as you go method can be applied to any quilt you're making. It is a great way to quilt a larger quilt on your domestic sewing machine.

Now I will enjoy piecing all those not quite the right size batting pieces even more.

Happy Quilting!

Carol