Low Volume Possibilities for Stamp Basket Blocks

Some on-line friends and I want to exchange "Stamp-Basket" blocks that we'll make on our people-powered machines.  (PPMs = treadle or handcrank sewing machines.)

Here are some considerations for "low-volume" fabrics to use in Stamp-Basket blocks:

 I like prints like this because they consist of cream color printed on a white ground fabric so there is no "paint" to deal with. This fabric is more interesting than a plain white, off-white, or muslin.

 While these may qualify as low-volume, the contrast is just a bit too much.  The fabric in the top center is also a great way to make a piecer crazy.

 These are lovely low-volume prints.

 These might be just a bit too loud (have a greater contrast than is desirable) as basket backgrounds.

 However, when flipped to the wrong side, they could be perfect.

 More whisper-friendly low-volume prints.

 And yet one more whsipering volume print that will work well when it's cut into pieces and is free of paint so that it could accept an inked signature or inscription with no difficulty.

 These prints are still low volume but are better suited to use in over-all low volume quilts than as low volume backgrounds in six-inch blocks although they might work well in larger blocks.

I love these low-volume prints, but they would lose their charm if cut into small pieces.  However, they would work well for alternating plain blocks, sashings, or borders.

Because the low-volume makes these prints hard to see, remember that we can right-click on any photo and open it it a new tab or window to see the photo in a larger size. If it's still not detailed enough, we can use Control+ to make it even bigger.

While there are patterns for Stamp Basket blocks on line, I'm going to post tutorials for this block that are simpler and more accurate here on my blog in the coming weeks.  (For the record, Stamp Baskets didn't get that name until the 1970s when the U. S. Postal service published a stamp with these simple blocks that had been around at least since my grandmother began making them in the early 20th century.)

Happy quiltmaking....,

On and Off the Needles--November 23

I apologize for the absence--I've been having some adventures as well as challenges.
However, the socks are finished!

 This was gift yarn, and I started them a year or two ago.  This is a mixture of patterns.  These were made toe-up beginning with Judy's Magic Cast On.  For variety, the section with increases to the heel was purled instead of knitted--for some nice textural contrast.  When I reached the leg portion, I switched to slightly larger needles (because I have fat legs, and if I don't increase the needle size, I have a hard time guessing how far up my leg the socks will come since when I put them on, they stretch and get much shorter.

When I reached the leg, I discovered that inside each skein of yarn was matching reinforcing yarn that was meant to be used for the toes and heels--but I didn't know that until far too late.  I do like this yarn, despite it's dulled colors, but I certainly didn't want to rip and remake them!

Since we've received our first ice and snow storm, I just wanted them finished so I could wear them!

Here's the progress on the leg warmers for my daughter.  She attends university about 100 miles or so from us, but she's getting their first snow right now.

I've started a new pattern section barely visible at the left side of the knitting, and when I've done enough of that, I'll switch back to a rib. No pattern; just some patterns from other sock patterns or pieces of lace that I've wanted to try. If I can finish these by Thanksgiving, my Sweet Teen can take them back to school.

As I was playing crossing guard after school yesterday, I realized that not only do I want some leg warmers but also that it would be good to have them long enough to go above my knees!  (Yes, it was very windy with a biting snow/sleet mix.)  However, I'm thinking it would probably be wise to look for a wool sweater at the nearest thrift store and do some steeking and creative joining rather than to start from balls of yarn.

I'm linking to Judy's On the Needles.  I can't link to her yarn report because I haven't added any yarn--although I'd like to do so!  Yarn to a knitter is as addictive as fabric is to a quilter, isn't it?  And, of course, I'm both!!

We are expecting more snow in this second storm punch to the Southwest.  Yesterday's gift was a layer of ice covered by snow.  Since the temperature didn't rise above 23 F or so, only a bit of that snow melted [= more ice] and now we have more snow on top of that.  It is very unusual for us to have days with almost no temperature variation.  (A group I'm in planned to go sing at a nearby [10 miles away] assisted living center, but the road conditions led to our cancelling.)

I hope everyone else out there experiencing weather, rather than "climate", is staying warm, dry, and well-fed and watered!  (This weather always makes me glad I don't have farm animals to tend to!)


Happy quiltmaking...and knitting...,

Knitting Progress This Week

In my mind, I spend hours and hours knitting each week.  But this is all the knitting I have to show for this week.  Of course,   I've knit for hours in my dreams.  And I've probably spent too much time on Ravelry.com looking for more ideas for additional sections in Sweet Teen's legwarmers.  I'd like her to have these before it gets too cold--not sure that will happen since it's already dipped into the mid 20's here at night.  Furthermore, yesterday lots of us in my little town scraped a lot of ice off our cars--ice that we expected to arrive as rain or snow.

I accomplished a lot at school this week, and most of us had the opportunity to chat with many, many great parents of great kids.

I also walked into Costco and got a great buy on a new laptop--I'm hoping my old one stays alive until I learn Windows 8  and get a lot of files saved.                                                                                                                       
 Sweet  Teen  is enjoying  Homecoming Weekend at her university. My plans include our Victory Prayer Quilt group   as well as a potluck and Pet Blessing Service. 
Happy quiltmaking...and knitting,...

Little Bits of Progress

Little bits of progress on the knitting front.

The Meadow Blossom shawl is finished--not blocked, but finished.  The Sweet Latte socks have acquired a few new rows.  And after quite a few gauge swatches, I began a pair of leg warmers for the College Girl. I just cannot settle on one pattern, so they're going to be more like samplers!

I confess that I've spent maybe ten minutes quilting--that's all.  I do look at fabric or a quilt or a sewing machine every time I pass...so that's better than ignoring it all. Our Victory Prayer Quilt group will meet next Saturday.

I've made several trips to and from Socorro, NM.  Last week College Girl went to the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta with some friends from computer science and asked if I'd mind picking her up from the mall afterwards--so, of course, I agreed.

I had this past Friday off for Fall Break, so she asked me to drive down and get her.  Saturday morning we filled the car with gas and took off for Amarillo and explored the antique shops on Sixth Street.  Of course, we also went to the mall afterward, kind of mandatory with a teenager.  When I asked her what her favorite part of the day was, I expected her to reply with something like, "The gelato at Cowboy Gelato," [where we ate lunch].  Instead, she said, "Just spending time with you."  Aaaaah, she *is* sweet!

We're thinking that we'd like to go back to Amarillo and stay overnight so we could have a couple of days--and visit Canyon antique shops too---although it's very disconcerting to find things from my childhood and early adult life that are valued and sold in antique stores, even if they don't truly meet the standard for vintage and certainly aren't antique.

Today I took her back to NM Tech; it's homecoming week, so I hope she has plenty of fun along with her studying.

I'm in awe of the fact that I've driven close to a thousands miles this weekend--and am grateful for my economical car and the relatively good gas prices.  We did have a lot of fun!

Happy quiltmaking...and knitting, too.....

Fiber Arts Festival

 Today as well as tomorrow the Heart of New Mexico Fiber Festival is taking place in our little town.
It was cold and somewhat blustery when I ventured over there this morning--although I was told that it was even worse at the park last night.

 There were not a lot of producers and artisans in attendance.  That did make shopping a bit easier, but I do hope the festival grows by leaps and bounds in future years.  (Next weekend is our bit-more-famous Pinto Bean Festival, but the big Taos Wool Festival is next weekend.  And for competition the world famous Albuquerque Balloon Festival opens next weekend too.)  I doubt that I'll be able to go to the Taos Wool Festival, although I'd like to.

First picture featured both skeins of yarn that I purchased.  Second photo was a close-up of the lace weight.

Third picture is a close up of the sock yarn I purchased.  These were spun and dyed by Robin Pascal of Edgewood, NM.

There are quite a few batches of roving, both dyed and undyed, for sale  as well as some lovely yarn (but not sock yarn) from the Mora woolen mill--Tapetes de Lana.  Mora used to be the poorest county in New Mexico; now Torrance County is.  The woolen mill there now has 13 employees and has helped people move from welfare to paying jobs.  I'll try to post more about them later this week.

I hope y'all are getting to quilt or knit or something equally creative!  (Our jugband--we have only one jug, really--played and sang for a wedding this afternoon.  Fun!)

Happy quiltmaking,.....

Quilting, Patchwork, Knitting, etc.

First I want to let you all know that although my little town received so much rain that we still have some puddles, to my knowledge there is no lingering damage from flash floods.  We do have a lot more green stuff growing than we've had in years--although technically we are still in a drought.

 This is the first quilting that has happened in ages--and I managed that only because yesterday was the monthly meeting of our prayer quilt ministry, Victory Quilters.  This is a wonderful star quilt pieced by Judy; however, it's going to be a while before I can show you the rest of it. I was gifted a Necchi BF (straight stitch) sewing machine that I took to the church; it was nice not to have to lug a sewing machine along when I went there yesterday.

 I just tossed it over one of my treadles so that I also could show you one of the wonderful lights from Ikea that my young friend Kim Larkin picked up in Dallas and mailed to me.  I've wanted one for years, but Ikea doesn't ship them.  They are available on Amazon for about three prices.  I'm thinking those of you who do live within shopping distance of an Ikea store might want to pick some up as gifts for your relatives or quilting/crafting friends who would have to drive hundreds of miles to get to a store.  The lamps have a heavy solid base and are very easy to assemble with nothing more than a screwdriver.  (I sent one to NM Tech for my daughter.)

The respiratory virus/infection that has had me down for three weeks or so did not prevent me from making some other acquisitions.

 Dillard's is selling these Southern Living Christmas Cookbooks for $10.  In Albuquerque the funds go to Ronald McDonald House; I'm not sure if that is true in all markets, but these would also make good gifts.

 I've acquired this purplee lace weight yarn thinking it will make a nice scarf or shawl.

 These are the socks I've been working on.  I started the toes months ago but couldn't decide on a pattern. This pattern was called an eyelit rib--it's free on Ravelry, but I just searched and couldn't find it.  In any case, it was a top down sock that I'm doing toe up.

 I've started this sweater with some of Auracana Chilean hand-dyed yarn rather than the Cascade in the directions. Download Here. (Yes, I easily spend hours and hours on Ravelry--to the detriment of blog reading.)

 These are a few of the wonderful Bow Tie blocks I received in the recent Treadle On Block Exchange. The block on the left was made by an educator in Gallup; Gallup was the first place I lived in New Mexico 25 years ago!  I haven't yet met her in person--but I'm thinking I should!

This is the 3S Shawl showing the first picots I have made in knitting. (I've made more than a few thousand in tatting!)  It's not yet blocked; I just tossed it over the back of the loveseat so I'd have a photo.   I thought it would be larger, but I had only 100 grams of yarn.  It will be plenty big enough to wear as a neck accessory or in the collar of a coat.  (I have another on the needles in a dusty pinkish red color which will be quite a bit larger.)

I've been keeping very, very busy; you know I've been just trying to ward off loneliness with Sweet Teen away at college.  I can see that I could end up being very, very busy but not enjoying things if I don't give some more thought and editing to my activities.  I would love to start a little needlework/handwork group of four to six people who could meet in my home one evening every couple of weeks.  I'm not sure I know enough people to make that happen.

I did get home Friday evening and miss Sweet Teen--but Netflix had arrived so I got to re-watch Tuck Everlasting as well as another film that's not worth recommending. The truth is that I just love the music in that film--and the Edwardian dresses. I'm coming home from school really exhausted--and am looking forward to another special ed teacher coming on board soon so that I can have a reasonable sized caseload instead of about twice as many students as I should have.

I'm really missing my blog reading--I get so spoiled over the summer.  I even have magazines I haven't had time to read!

Happy quiltmaking.....

Fireworks, Indulgences, Celebrations

Yesterday, after helping to make pies that were then frozen and will be served in the Methodist Cafe at the NM State Fair in September, I ran some fairly quick errands and came home with these.

Sweet Teen took old towels to college, which I appreciated.  She just loves polka dots, so when I saw these towels on sale, I bought a couple.  The owl mug was another sale item, and whether she uses it for pencils and pens, or beverages, I'm sure it will cheer her up at some point.

I also brought home a splurge for me.  Now I just need to be efficient with my time so I can enjoy reading them!  I really have a thing for print media, and regardless of how many blogs are on my Bloglovin' list, I continue to love the paper stuff.  Why is that?

As I was remaking my bed with fresh sheets last night, someone in the neighborhood was setting off fireworks, and I was finding the pop-pop-pop anything but pleasant.  So as I went to another bedroom to close the window I was greeted by a genuine firework display that was bigger than most small towns put on July Fourth.  Because of our intense drought, our town, for the first time in memory, had no display and allowed no aerial fireworks.  We've had a few weeks of off and on showers since then (a big deal for us, although cumulatively less than most places in the U.S. receive in just one rain shower) and had a 5 minute rain shower earlier in the evening.  I stood there and watched until it was over.  Because of the low clouds, I could hear a lot of what people were saying although they were three or four blocks away.  They were celebrating a birthday.  Despite the fact that they were sending an astonishing amount of $$$$$ up in smoke, I really enjoyed that fantastic display!

When I signed in to write this post, I discovered that the Blog Reader is still there.  What is with that?  Interesting, but now that I've been reading on Bloglovin' and find it so much more convenient, that old Blog Reader doesn't even compare.

No, I haven't stitched anything.  I do have a pair of slacks I'd like to get hemmed.  We'll see.....

In general, I'm just celebrating milder temperatures (with any luck we've had our last 90+ degree day) and am enjoying all the green as well as blue skies and gorgeous clouds!  There are a wide range of celebrations occurring accross New Mexico the next few weeks, although I don't know how many I'll be motivated to attend.  I'm just such a homebody!

Happy quiltmaking....

Candyshop Completed, etc.

Yes, I finished Sweet Teen's college quilt.

 I did not, however, manage to get a photo of it completed.  The glorious meandering feather in the outer border is sort of visible.  We repeatedly said we'd get a photo of it in her dorm room, but didn't do it.  She took this photo with her new phone.  (I'm trying to learn to use her old one!)

I also made a sleeve for her computer.  We used bits and pieces left over from her quilt.  My friend Claudia graciously agreed to make the panel with her initials, since she has an embroidery machine and I don't.

I neglected to take a picture of that too, so she sent me this one, but forgot to photograph the other side.

It feels very strange to know I'm now living here without her--despite the fact that she will be home for Labor Day weekend.  Just as growing old isn't for sissies, neither is leaving your child at college (although I admit I've shed tears at every transition).

Happy quiltmaking,..

Candyshop: Two Borders Quilted

The first two borders are quilted.

 The tricky thing about borders is that they really do consume much of the area of the quilt.
These first two borders have continuous feathers.

 The yellow border has a single spine--mostly because I started the second side of the feather without remembering to double the spine.  However, since that border is narrow, a single spine worked out just fine.

The second border is five inches wide, and I did remember to stitch the second side of the spine.

We spent much of the day in Albuquerque taking advantage of the tax-free weekend to pick up several items of clothing, school supplies, and items for Sweet Teen's dorm room.  We had set out in the morning hoping to avoid the worst of the crowds.  Of course, we hadn't realized that one of the places Sweet Teen wanted to shop was opening early, so by the time we left the mall, a good portion of the state's population was there!

After yesterday's off and on rain showers, we were hoping for more today.  We've had several hours of thunder in the distance, but no rain.  Still, the clouds do help moderate the temperatures.

I'm hoping that tomorrow I'll be able to complete the third [8.5 inch] border and move on to binding.  After the noisy crowds today, I really noticed how quiet the treadle is.

Linking to Sarah's Friday Linky Party

Happy quiltmaking.....

Candyshop Update: Treadling Away

Treadling, treadling, treadling.
I am having so much fun free motion quilting on one of my treadles.
I just tossed the quilt over the loveseat and snapped a few photos of some more of the blocks I completed.

 So they are not the greatest photos, but they do show the fun I'm having.

 Sweet Teen did a great job of choosing fabrics for this quilt over the last several years.

 The green dotty background in this block is the fabric scraps left from that dress I made back in the 80s.

 I have quite a few of these little four-inch strips, both flying geese and four patches, yet to quilt.

I think I have only one eight-inch block left to quilt.
So I will soon be moving on to the borders.

Esther Aliu shares some wonderful applique patterns with her readers.  So please hop over and take a look at her blog and the work her readers are sharing today. (She's sharing what could also be categorized as a quick sewing misadventure today too--the kind of thing of interesting, unexpected results many of us have encountered in our decades of sewing.)
Also linking to Lee's WIP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced.

Happy quiltmaking...

Candyshop: Quilting the Blocks

Treadling along on the quilting....

 I'm using a variety of Glide threads...

 and fairly consistent quilting designs with subtle variations in similar blocks.

 I like to make quilts that have differences in piecing or quilting because I think it makes them more interesting.

 So far I've quilted with gold, turquoise, antique brass, peony, violet, lavender, and probably a few other shades.

I'm using a Hobbs 80/20 batting and did have to change to a 100/18 Jeans needle.  A regular 100/18 needle would probably have worked, but I found the package of Jeans needles first.
Also, I switched the stitch plate on my Necchi BU to the one without the feed dog openings since the feed dogs are down and it's cutting down on the amount of lint I need to clean out with each bobbin change.

This is so much fun to quilt.  Sweet Teen wanted me to enter it in the upcoming county fair, but since her departure for college conflicts with the fair, I think it's more important for her to have the quilt with her in her dormitory.  If I couldn't get back to the fairgrounds on time, I'd lose the quilt since fair officials have the right to dispose of things not picked up as they see fit. That would not be cool.
Since my school year begins next week, I'm really working to get this done.  (Remember when schools used to start the day after Labor Day and end before Memorial Day?  Oh, yes, that was before Sputnik and Diane Ravitch, and politicians deciding they'd be in charge, although they decline to attempt to pass the 3rd grade tests they mandate.--Sorry, just a teeny tiny vent right there.)

Time to go look at what some other quilters are working on:
Judy's Design Wall Party
Connie's Free Motion By the River
Happy quiltmaking....