Wake Up the Earth--Squares of Hope

A guild friend of my invited me to join her in making a block for Squares of Hope for the banner that JP Knit & Stitch is creating.  The banner will be used in Jamaica Plain's annual "Wake up the Earth" celebration event which will be on May 6th this year. 

On one side of the JP Knit & Stitch banner the squares will be knit, crocheted or woven and the opposite side the block will be fabric--either a quilt block or an embroidery block. Each square should be 6 inches finished (fabric squares should be trimmed to measure 6 1/2 inches to allow for seams).  The block should "reflect a community value you wish to champion including (but certainly not limited to) environmental protection, arts education, social justice, and human rights."  It's fine if they are abstract.

I chose environmental protection. Amanda Jean Nyberg (crazymomquilts) has a quilt pattern, Bright Birch Trees, that I thought would make perfect block. Since this is Spring, I added appliqued leaves and embroidered French knots to her design.  It's a fun block to make!

Then I got an idea about a polar bear block. When I was a kid, I'd often try standing on a kick board in the pool. It didn't have enough buoyancy to keep me on the surface, so I'd sink.  So in my square above, poor Polar Bear is standing on a melting ice floe that isn't large enough keep him on the surface of the rising sea. Sad--and true.

JP Knit & Stitch is hosting Stitch Nights at their shop on April 21, 28 and May 5th for folks to work on these blocks. If you are sewing at home, they've asked to have blocks dropped off by April 29th since they need to sew them together!  Click the link above for all the details about making the squares, sewing days and the May 6th event.

Boston people:  Do you have an idea for your own Square of Hope?  Join in the fun! Post your block on social media using #WUTECraftactivism.  Happy Crafting!

Sewing Heart Blocks for Orlando--a JP Knit & Stitch Event

I hope American readers all had a great Fourth of July celebration yesterday!!

There is an FREE event coming up at JP Knit & Stitch in Jamaica Plain, MA that I want my local Massachusetts readers to know about.

This coming Saturday morning, July 9 from 10:15 AM to 1:15 PM, JP Knit & Stitch is hosting an event to sew blocks for a quilt to send to Orlando.   Like the Boston Modern Quilt Guild after the Boston Marathon Bombings, the Orlando Modern Quilt Guild is collecting finished quilts to distribute to those affected by the recent shootings there.

The heart pattern for this quilt is Cluck Cluck Sew's Easy Heart Block.  The block for this JPKS quilt has patterned fabric for the heart and any solid color background that coordinates with the heart.  The hearts can be any of the sizes in the pattern.  Strips of the solid border fabric are used to enlarge the unfinished block so it measures 12 1/2 x 12 1/2 inches square.  A Fat Quarter with a Pattern and a Solid Fat Quarter will make a block. We need a total of 20 blocks for this lap sized quilt.

If you can't come that day but want to make a block, please drop one off at the shop and send me a message to let me know you made one. (If you click the first link above, you'll see a photo of two other blocks made for this quilt).  

Hope to see you at JP Knit & Stitch on Saturday!!

Shop address and more information about JP Knit & Stitch.

Fox and the Four Seasons Wall Hanging Pattern Release

Over the past several years I have written a handful of free quilt patterns.  A few of the patterns have been posted here on my blog (see quilt patterns and tutorials tab above) and others were for students in my quilting classes.

This past week, my first pattern for sale, "Fox and the Four Seasons Wall Hanging" was released! At present, it is available exclusively in the brick and mortar store, JP Knit & Stitch, 461 Centre St, Jamaica Plain, MA, for $15.00 USD. 

This pattern is for a 20 x 20 inch wall hanging. The pattern's packet includes a fat quarter panel I designed. The panel has 4 blocks, the fox in each season, and the apples and dots strips for the sashing strips in this project. My fabric panel was printed at Spoonflower.com on Kona® cotton.

I rated this pattern EASY.  It is a perfect project for someone with a bit of experience sewing but new to quilting. The directions include instructions for piecing the wall hanging, doing the quilting, making the binding and sewing a sleeve to hang the wall hanging using a wooden dowel. For a quilter with more experience, there are great tips for doing straight line quilting with a walking foot.

Here's a photo of the finished wall hanging.  It would a sweet decoration in a baby's nursery.  I chose a solid orange border but a pink border will pick up the pink of the apple blossoms in the spring block and blue will accentuate the snow in the winter block!  Using a border fabric with a pattern looks greats too!

"Fox and the Four Seasons Wall Hanging"

If you are in the Boston area, I hope you'll stop by JP Knit & Stitch to see the finished project and pick up a "Fox and the Four Seasons" pattern packet for yourself or as a present for a friend!

Knitting: My Sky Scarf

Have you heard about Leafcutter Designs' Sky Scarf conceptual knitting project?  The concept, and the knitting, on this project are straightforward.  Each day you look at the sky and pick 2 colors from your small collection of yarn that best represent the sky you see that day.  Then you knit 2 rows using those colors.  In twelve months you have a nice scarf AND a weather report for the year!

This sounded like too much fun to miss. Leafcutter Designs has a lovely kit with yarns which you may purchase at the link above. I picked out my yarns at JP Knit & Stitch, my local quilt/yarn shop. I decided to add a bit more color so I chose a couple of balls of yarn to use on days with stunning sunsets. 

It's really interesting.  I'm purposely looking at the sky everyday now, really appreciating UP and feeling more connected to God's creation.  

The most difficult part of knitting this scarf is picking the colors for the day.  On the days when it rains all day or the sky is bluest of blues, it's easy.  But you know that adage about Boston weather:  "If you don't like the weather here, wait a minute"?   It is so true!!  I'll think I know what my yarns for the day will be and then an hour later the sky is completely different!  It can be a real challenge!

The little bit of knitting every evening is really nice, a quieting calm space in each day. 

Here's my first month of knitting:  June 27 to July 28, 2015.  

Weather report: July 2015 in Boston, Massachusetts

The first row with red is July 4th.  The red and white rows symbolize the fireworks over Boston's Esplanade.  I didn't see them, not even on television. In an effort to keep my noise-sensitive English Springer Spaniel calm and quiet, I was watching a show about the British monarchy with a narrator who has a very calming voice!  (The show, and a lot of training for the past year, really helped Tipper a lot)!

The brighter rows up near the needles are a recent sunset.  In July I had expected a lot of deep blue rows.  But it turns out we have a lot of blue days with clouds.  So, lots of bright blue and light blue and white.

My yarn is a mix of fibers. It's from Denmark. I can't read the label but I think it is wool and cotton. I love the colors and it has a nice feel knitted up.

If you want to see other folk's Sky Scarf projects, check out #skyscarf on Instagram.  And join the party if you knit!

Vikings Modern Improv Quilt Completed: "Bjorn & Bjorn"

My Modern Improv Viking Quilt is done!  I love it!  Both the piecing and the quilting are improvisational. This quilt is based on Score #10 in Sherri Lynn Wood's book, The Improv Handbook for Modern Quilters.  I made this quilt during a Quilt Along Event sponsored by JP Knit & Stitch in Jamaica Plain, MA  earlier this month.  A total of 7 of us quilters all had a great time at the shop learning to make improv quilts using the Scores in Sherri Lynn's book as guidelines. 

I had so much fun doing the quilting on this piece.  Most of the quilting is free-motion, but a little bit was quilted with a walking foot.

Here's the sun detail. I love this!

The waves in the ocean are totally unrealistic--they roll from right to left in some places and left to right in others.  In the sky there is a eddy in the breeze that echoes the waves in the ocean.

The castle walls are primarily quilted with interlocking squares and rectangles. However there is  wood grain over the castle gate and some timber in the castle wall. 

If I had to do anything over, I would have marked the sky before I quilted it. I thought I was quilting in reasonably straight lines across the sky...but apparently  not!  Clearly with improv piecing, it would be prudent to assume that is a pieced seam is unlikely to be straight!

The breeze was so crooked that I did something I rarely do with my quilting...I ripped it out and redid some of it.  Here's the before (left) and after (right).  The re-do still has some elements of the original tilted sky, but it's no longer jarring.

View fullsize

View fullsize

The quilt's name is a bit of an insider joke.  I've always liked the Scandinavian boy's name Bjorn (pronounced Bee-yorn). Bjorn is also the word for Bear. Both man and bear are rightfully Bjorn!  

When I saw the fabric was printed with a Viking meeting the Bear, I knew  "Bjorn & Bjorn" was a great name for my quilt!   Don't you just wonder what they are talking about in those deep, dark woods??

Modern Improv Quilting, Project 3 -- The Vikings

I've started to work on my third quilt using Sherri Lynn Wood's book, The Improv Handbook for Modern Quilters--A Guide to Creating, Quilting and Living Courageously.  This quilt is based on Score # 10 from the book--"Showing Up".   It an amalgam of several of the Scores in the book--it's up to each quilter to choose which Scores to use together. 

With the crenelated turrets above and the blocks comprising the castle wall shown below, I've done a riff on Score #5 "Rhythmic Grid."

The pennant flags are an element found in Score #4, "Patchwork Doodle." 

The patchwork sky blocks are based on Score #1 "Floating Squares".

And finally the Viking Ships at Sea are based on Score #7 "Layered Curve."

I found the great Viking fabric at JP Knit & Stitch. It's a Alexander Henry Fabric from the De Leon Design Group and is called The Vikings.  It's so much fun to work with!

I still don't know what the final quilt will look like, but I have some ideas!  I'll keep you posted on my progress!

"Early Birds" Low Volume Fabrics in a Modern Flying Geese Quilt

I put my "Snow Melt" quilt aside to work on a sample quilt for a class I teach at my local quilt (and yarn) shop, JP Knit & Stitch.   I had seen the Cloud 9 "YoYogi Park" fabrics designed by Heather Moore of Skinny la Minx in the shop and thought it would be fun to use them in the quilt. Genevieve, the shop owner, agreed.  

I chose the grey and white "Peeking Birds" first, then the deep teal and light aqua fabrics from the same line.  Genevieve wanted yellow in the quilt so I added the yellow from Carolyn Freidlander's "Doe" line from RobertKaufman.com.  She picked the bright orange and white floral fabric ("Nobi" from Alexander Henry) for the back!

All of the fabrics on the front of the quilt meet the criteria for Low Volume Fabrics.  (See my post from 3/19/2015).  This quilt has a lot of negative space.  I'd made a quilt using this design once before and that time chose two light solids in the negative space. It's an entirely different quilt using all low volume fabrics. 

I like both quilts. Each has a unique character.  

I usually try to put a solid in a quilt with a lot of print fabrics to give the eye a place to rest. Up close this quilt is busy.  At a distance, the flying geese blocks read as solids while the pattern in negative space in the background seems much more dominant. That's really interesting. 

I really enjoyed making this quilt.  I had recently listened to Abby Glassenberg's great podcast with Heather Moore.  Heather lives in Cape Town, South Africa.  It's unlikely I'd ever meet her or go to her shop, but it was fun to hear Heather talk about designing fabrics.  The Internet really can make Half-a-world-away feel like Right-next-door!

There are still a couple places in my class, Beyond Beginner Quilting, at JP Knit & Stitch if you'd like to join us!  The class starts Saturday, May 2, 2015. 

Fabric Dolls--Episode Four. Waldorf-type Dolls

Sometime in January I was doing handwork on a quilt and listening to one of Abby Glassenberg's WhileSheNaps.com podcasts.  The January 19, 2015  Episode #41 was with Christina Platt, the owner of Bamboletta.com.  When it was over, I went straight to my computer to see the Bamboletta dolls. 

These were the dolls I had always wanted when I was a little girl.  They have realistic faces with cotton knit bodies and wool stuffing. Christina's initial doll was based on a Waldorf (Steiner) type of doll.  She has since created her own patterns and her dolls have smiles,  Christina said in the podcast that she no longer thinks of them as Waldorf style dolls*. Bamboletta is a small company, really a cottage industry, in Canada. These folks make beautiful dolls. That first day I must have spent at least a half an hour looking at all the dolls they had for sale on their website. I kept going back and forth looking at each face. Christina embroiders all the faces herself, and each really is unique.  I finally purchased a Sitting Friend girl with red dreadlocks for hair. Much later I realized that the doll I got is one of the dolls posted with the information on WhileSheNaps.com about the podcast. Go take a look!

*Waldorf type dolls are used in Waldorf schools. The dolls are all natural, usually made with cotton knit bodies, washed wool roving for stuffing and with embroidered faces. The Waldorf dolls are made without much facial expression. This is done intentionally so that the doll can better reflect the feelings of the child playing with it. 

In January this year, Bamboletta started selling kits for their 9 inch Piccolina dolls. I purchased a kit for a Girl Doll at the beginning of February. They ship kits once a month--it's due to arrive this week. Christina says the kits are for the "crafty, not crafty type of person!"  The doll in the kit comes with pre-sewn body and clothes. It doesn't include a pattern for the doll. You get to embroider the face, add the hair and attach the head to the doll. 

Back in the 1970s and 80s when I was making dolls I'd wanted to try making a doll which was really 3 dimensional. Somehow I never found out about Waldorf dolls. There was no internet back then....  But looking at Waldorf doll resources on-line recently, I realized I'd had a copy of The Childrens' Year by Stephanie Cooper, Christine Fynes-Clinton and Marye Rowling (the 1986 edition) on my bookshelf.  This book has directions for making a Waldorf doll. I don't know if I just missed it or if I thought I wouldn't be able to find the supplies to make the doll.  (Remember, no internet)!

I just spent a couple weeks collecting books, patterns, perusing Pinterest and watching YouTube videos. I even watched some with Russian narration!  It didn't matter, just watching was informative!  I week ago I sat down to make my own Waldorf-type doll.  I wanted to do this before my Bamboletta kit arrived, before I had to chance to look inside a doll to see how the pros put one together. I wanted to be able to make a doll that was mine, not a copy.

I purchased the supplies to make the doll's body from Etsy shop Reggiesdolls. The hair for this doll came from my great local quilt/knitting store JP Knit & Stitch, with the colored strands of wool from Peace Fleece.

I had 4 books and 2 patterns as resources:  The Children's Year noted above, Growing Up sew liberated by Meg McElwee, Toymaking with Children by Freya Jaffke, Making Waldorf Dolls by Maricristin Sealey, a pattern for the 16 in Play doll from the Etsy shop TimbleGarden and Silver Penny's tutorial and pattern "Making a Waldorf-Style Doll: Tips and Techniques on Craftsy.com.

I culled ideas and techniques from all my sources but decided to use the pattern and great illustrated directions for the "little amigo cloth doll" in Growing Up sew liberated. Because my clothes patterns were mostly for 15 inch dolls, I made the doll slightly shorter than the pattern and made the torso straight rather than curved.  Here is the result:  "Blue-eye Becky". 

Becky's shirt is the pattern included in Growing Up sew liberated, her jumper is from McCall's Crafts Pattern M4338, the tights are from a pattern purchased from Reggiesdolls, her panties are a pattern from the lovely blog Frokenskicklig.com, from her post on April 14, 2013.  I made Becky's felt boots without a pattern,

This is a great doll.  If you want to make a Waldorf-type doll using a pattern I highly recommend the pattern in Growing Up sew liberated.

I really like this doll, but decided I wanted to change a few things. I wasn't able to create feet per the pattern instructions. I'd stuffed her legs too tight without leaving an allowance to fold up the feet. I also wanted a doll with more relaxed arms.  I had enough doll fabric (barely) to make another 15 inch doll.  So I decided to try again. 

This time I drew my own pattern.  I made arms with a slight curve which attach to the torso and legs with an outline which is a bit more anatomically correct and with formed feet that have soles.  Here's "Nellwyn."  Her name is an old English name which means "bright friend."

Her shirt and panties from the same patterns I used for Blue-eye Becky.  I designed her skirt and her MaryJane felt shoes. 

Nellwyn's head is a bit wobbly because I cut the head covering a little too short. Other than that, I'm really happy with her. Now that I have my own pattern for a Waldorf type doll that I like and which works for me, I can't wait to see the doll in the Bamboletta kit!  I'll do another doll post when I make the kit. 

It was really fun to make these 2 Waldorf type dolls. I really learned a lot.  Now that I have drawn a pattern of my own, I probably will make a doll from time to time. But the business of making dolls for sale?  I'm leaving that to the pros!!