Wednesday, May 29, 2013

Feathered Friends

Here are a few feathered friends that have been helping to keep me and my thoughts company...












Faithful Blue Bird Brooch


Hopeful Little Lemon Grass Bird Brooch


For more details, just click on the link below each bird.

To see all available brooches in my shop, please click here.
 

Friday, May 24, 2013

Remembering Kathreen Ricketson

After being mostly unplugged from the internet this last week, I have only just learned of the deeply sad death of Kathreen Ricketson, a wonderful force and source in the quilting and crafting community. I am still in shock as I write this.


I first came to know Kathreen through her terrific blog, Whip-up, and was delighted to be a guest blogger for her as well as a contributor to her book Whip-Up Mini Quilts. She had a great, adventurous spirit and lived life to the fullest. 


Devoted to the promotion and celebration of hand-made, and to the upbringing of her two beautiful children, daughter Otilija and son Orlando, who are heartbreakingly now left without a mother and a father. 


If you wish, you may contribute via PayPal to a fund set up for her children. Please see here for more information.

I have been asked to share my favorite Whip-Up blog post with all of you, but right now I can't even think straight, so I will just say visit it often and read through all of it for on-going inspiration... Kathreen will live on through what she shared so passionately with all of us.

The internet crafting community is an amazing thing. Through it we "meet" each other, encourage each other, promote each other and support each other. Kathreen lived on the other side of the world, and only a few short years ago our paths would have never crossed... but due to the internet, shared passions, connections and friendships no longer have borders and boundaries. Thank you Kathreen for being you and for making this world a smaller, more colorful and friendlier place. You will be missed. xo

Friday, May 3, 2013

Just for Fun


Just for fun, I thought I'd try my hand at spinning some rag-yarn.


I cut thin, long strips of fabric, and using a drop spindle, spun them as tightly as I could.


The result is something similar to twine, but texturally and visually, much more interesting.


I love the look and feel of it!

By the time I was done, I had a sweet little ball containing 50 yards of 1/8" rag yarn, which I can weave or crochet with, (I'd like to add knit with, too, but sigh, despite my attempts at friendship, knitting and I have never successfully hit it off).



Here's a little sample on the loom. It's a lot like just weaving with rags (long cut up strips of fabric that are pre-folded and ironed, or simply inserted flat in the open weaving shaft and pushed down by the beat of the heddle) however, their seems to be a nicer consistency and uniformity with spinning the rag strips first. And even though spinning is another step, it's also another chance to touch every inch of the work, to connect, to meditate, to contemplate, to slow down... all good stuff!


And here's a another scarf that I recently wove. 

Umm, excuse me, but what is up with all these Autumn looking colors in the middle of glorious Spring? I truly have no idea why I seem to be creating from this color palette!


Who knew that when I picked this Spring inspired lime green, and paired it with a lovely deep fuchsia, 


that the combined marriage of the two would result in such a Fall looking scarf?
Color is a never ending mystery, wonder and thrill!


Another thrill is how something so basic as plain weave, (over one, under one) can result in something that looks far more complex, 



                      Simply due to how each yarn of each color is placed in the warp and the weft.


For more information on this scarf, please see here.

Have a great weekend, Everyone!!