KEEPING 'THE HUSBAND BUSY'

Again, this is off topic....but probably not if you live the areas where BBQ is king. Personally, I don't care for it all that much, but 'the husband' is making it his mission, now that he has a big boy smoker.....to learn to make excellent BBQ brisket. 

  Here's his first attempt....complete with what they call 'bark'

Then the 'smoke ring'....the reddish layer just below the bark...oh he was a happy camper.  Although it was a bit too overcooked....after being on the smoker for 8-9 hrs. - that's not a surprise!  This is a completed process with many steps....he's ready to try again!!

NEED THREAD???

MUST CLEAR OUT - Selling as 1 lot - 180 spools of Mettler thread @  $150.   Most still in cellophane wrapper, some have been slightly used. Pretty much split between sizes/styles: * Quilting cotton 40/3 (164 yd. spools), *Silk finish cotton merc.50/3 (164 yd. spools), and Cotton Embroidery 60/2 (219 yds.) Comes out to less than $.83 cents a spool for GREAT quality sewing thread!  

Selling as 1 lot. Billing via Paypal Ships via USPS flat rate priority @ $13.65...a totally stuffed heavy box. Ships the next day if possible. Smoke free home.

JUST OVERCOMMITTED & FEEDSACK SALE

I've been tasked with disposing of a lifetime of quilting supplies for an elderly longtime friend.  It's the GOOD stuff.  Lot's of vintage 1930's bocks, tons of scraps, 3 tops all needing love or could be used as cutter quilts, 1 finished yo-yo quilt that has a backing which needs to be removed....cause it's pink!!!  Also have a dozen real good resource books, including the original Barbara Brackman Encyclodeia of Pieced Quilt Patterns....it's signed in loose leaf binder weighs nearly 5 pounds...new runs about $126!!  Selling this one for $40, plus #13.65 USPS priority shipping. (Because it's a binder, it doesn't qualify for media rate.)

So....you can see why I've been silent...it's taking hours and hours to go through bins, separating and organzing into sensible amounts and putting the same style blocks as a bundle, along with fabric to completed them if necessary.  Then there's the photographing, creating the text, posting them, figuring out postage, packing, sending.  I'm sure my friend has no idea the time commitment involved....after all she lives with these treasures.....and to her the amount might not be overwhelming but with over 50 boxes of fabric 8 huge bins, 80-100 quilts, 20 boxes of books, plus, plus, plus....yikes....

Yesterday I ran across a small bin of feedsack material....some whole, some smaller cuts, and two units of blocks that had been rescued from a quilt or quilt top.  I'm attaching a photo where you can see the measurements.  If anyone is interested contact me directly.  Fits very snuggly in a $13.65 medium size flat rate Priority box, usually ships the next day after payment if possible. Pay Pal, I know this fabric can go for big money, but my friend really wants her treasures to be used and wants to be pratical about the cost.....so this is being sold as 1 bundle for $75.

 Largest piece - 70"  x 78"

Click on photo to enlarge to see text - top row left to right # 3 & 4 are TWO pieces each.

FEEDSACK FANS

Is anyone looking for authentic feedsack fabric?  I have quite a bunch....one very large piece 70" x 78", can see original seam impressions.  Photo below.....also have other large pieces and some smalls as well.  Selling as one bundle.  Contact me if you are interested.

OLD DOG - NEW TRICKS

Because this is a sewing/fiber blog, I try to stay away from personal life chit chat.  However, back in Feb. 'the husband' had another cervical surgery to fix a problem from his first 6 vertebra fusion which failed. You wonderful followers have written so often asking how he's doing that I thought a final report was owed.

 He's still worse off then before this whole nasty adventure started over a year and a half ago. He's learning to adapt to his new limitations, which among other things is a 30 pounds weight restriction.  

Neither one of us are 'sitters'.....we like to be active and hands on.  'The husband' enjoys outdoor cooking, always has.  I can count on one hand the number of times I've cooked a Thanksgiving turkey in my oven.  He's cooked on a Big Green Egg since we got ours in 1999.  Living here has turned his interest more and more toward 'real' BBQ smokers.  

This monster weight 275 lbs. and of course once the delivery man got it off his truck (or should I say dropped it off the truck!!) we were on our own.  So, 'the husband' came up with this clever engineering feat to winch it up the two steps to our deck using his 'come-along', a hydraulic lifter once used for his motorcycles, and a ramp he built.  

Frankly, I could barely watch....like waiting for a train wreck...but it worked and it only took a total of 4 trips to Lowe's!

FIBER JUNKIES - APRIL

Along with coffee & some scrumptious goodies Denny brought.....we began with our usual show and tell while rapidly gasping over Denny's new direction working with collage.

 She finished adding 'goose poop' triangles (left overs from trimming half-square triangles) to this spiral collage.  Next she'll do her magic with major free motion quilting which will add more design while serving to hold all the glued raw edge pieces in place.

 When I said we gasped....I wasn't kidding.  Next Denny pulled out her project for this meeting.  Clever doesn't cover it!!!  She's collaged various surface design pieces to a plain cotton background...which included a lot of garment tissue paper pieces.  Then, she's drawn a dress form onto heavy plastic as her pattern....

 ....which was transferred to another piece of muslin.  Now her fun really begins....she's cutting scraps using her GO-Pro fitted with flower templates.  They are glued onto the muslin, overlapping as she goes. The shape will eventually be covered with bright happy flower shapes.....so 60's....., cut along the outside of the dress form sharpe and applied to her tissue paper covered background. Honestly we all could hardly work on our projects as we kept drifting over to Denny's work area to see how she was progressing.

 Judy came up with a novel idea after unearthing a polar bear fabric scene from her stash.  She's using a nearly transparent piece of pattern 'paper', somewhat like an interfacing to pin various colors/patterns of fabrics to help guide her as she auditions various fabrics for the trees she'll be adding. 

It was taking longer than she hoped but the work paid off as she found the right combo of fabrics that will be turned into trees.....providing the 3-D affect she desired.

Unfortunately, I didn't get a photo of Gen's small bird.....and dear Kate wasn't feeling well so she skipped the meeting.  I didn't accomplish a ton, but the decisions/designs shapes were made, which is often more time consuming than the making!!  Here's a peek:

 I brought a piece of National Non-wovens WoolFelt that I foiled during at recent FJ meeting (thanks to a stack of foil gifted to me by reader Princess Bubbles!).  

The sun material has some mottling and wonderful texture....it's dyed cotton batting!!  Gen dyed squares of batting in a whole range of colors a couple of years ago and gave them to me. (How many times do I have to rave about what great pals these gals are?!?)  Thought, because it's not a super sturdy material.....it needs to be used for just the right purposes....and it sure worked here.

My plan is to add rows of trees....then either machine or hand embroider branches.  Everything was cut before I departed for home.....hopefully I can find time to work on it this week.  We are in the midst of a big home project....and that has to come before any studio play time.  Stay tuned, won't you??  And thank you for visiting!!!

In the meantime, check out these blogs to see what others have been working on this week:  Nina-Marie's Off The Wall Friday, Sarah's Whoop Whoop Friday, Crazy Mom Quilts.

NEW RULER

A short time ago I asked for recommendations for rulers that don't slip.  Thank you all for responding.  The brand that came up most often was Quilters Select

Prices seem higher than other options and can't be found on Amazon....which is too bad as the shipping for this one was $10...price of ruler $25.  A hefty investment (though it was a birthday gift...thank you Christopher).  Yet for a tool that is used as often as we use this kind, it's worth it.  

It truly did not slip and I really liked the marking measurement system.  At first I was a bit skeptical about the rather 'frosted' look....as I was used to clear plastic rulers.  However, it actually helped removed glare which I experience because of the overhead lights above my cutting table.

Now I'm going to want a few other sizes that I use the most such as a big square!

PLAYING WITH WOOL FIBERS

The tourist season is about to begin here in the mountains where the spring foliage is beginning to bloom.  The folks at Woolworth Walk just reminded all their artists to stock up on their products.

.....So, I've been felting.  It's been awhile so it's been fun getting my fingers all wrinkled again.  My stash of felting supplies contains quite a lot of merino cross- cut batts which are supposed to shorten the felting time over soley using wool roving.

I've avoided using the batts because they seemed more difficult to work with.  But on the positive side, I can achieve finished pieces that are thicker and stronger, like this embellished vessel and these shallow bowls.

This was a piece I reworked because it wasn't felled enough the first time....however I still don't like the shape or color.

This one is still a bit damp, meaning I need to wait before it's totally finished.  Sometimes 'curls' felt right in and other times they refuse to do so and needle felting those little buggers into the wool becomes necessary.

Check out these sites to see what other artists have worked on this week:  Nina-Marie's Off The Wall Friday, Sarah's Whoop Whoop Friday, and Crazy Mom Quilts.

AN ITCH....

A month ago I experienced what I considered to be a complete failure of a little project. You can see my report here.  I'm a finisher, so it's rare for me to give up....and I thought I did!

Well, it got buried in a stack of 'stuff'....you know how that goes don't you??  Nearly forgotten.  However, like an itch that needs to be scratched, I couldn't quite leave it alone.

So I unearthed it, added a fabric backing and proceeded to outline the design with a narrow zig-zag stitch.  Next I mixed a clear drying gel and a thick matte medium and thickly covered the map paper/bike fabric to give it a faux encaustic appearance.

When researching this approach, suggestions were offered to add a bit of color (such as pale yellow) to better echo the look of bees wax.  Since I wanted to retain the colors as they were, I ignored that idea. 

This project taught me what not to do when combining such big pieces of paper and fabric....will I tackle another similar project?  Probably not, but it feels good not to have given up!

FIBER JUNKIES - MARCH MEETING

As usual we began our FJ gathering with coffee/goodies & show and tell.

 Denny and Kate have been taking classes from a local Greenville, SC batik artist who has adapted his own simplified methods to this wax/dye art form.  This is Denny's piece with goodness knows how many different layers.  The background light made for great viewing of the piece but unfortunately not such good picture taking.  In person it's breathtaking!!

 She's already drawn out another design for her next project.  Can't wait to see how it progresses.

 Gen is really into collage...this is a combo of paper and fabric.  The orange at the top of the piece is a dyed dryer sheet!

However, it's paper that's really grabbed Gen's interest....layers of various papers that she's altered with surface designs. 

She's made her own textured rollers from cardboard toilet tissue rolls and sticky foam sheets.  Other ideas she uses are string, rubber bands, and yarn.

Denny came prepared with two collage ideas....

......and two large bags filled with she called 'goose poop', (leftover bits from cutting half-square triangles) which she glued onto fabric traced with a spiral.  She used the tip of her finger to smear the 'Tacky Glue" onto the back of the fabric to hold it in place.  She was smiling the whole time, loving this mindless way of working. 

 You might notice the plastic overlay marked with her design.  This acted as an additional placement guide in case the markings on her fabric rubbed off.

We were all so impressed with this technique.  We know that Denny will consider this only to be the first layer...she's all about layering and is an expert at it.  Kate couldn't quite stretch the fabrics she brought to work with her chosen design, but she was geared up to finish it at home. I didn't get photos of anyone else's pieces because I'll admit to being too focused on my project.  It wasn't collage, I needed to spend the time sewing a sleeve to my latest large Japanese style wall quilt.

The enthusiasm and potential of what Denny and Gen were doing got us all so excited that we will continue with this technique theme for our next meeting.