mini quilt in progress

i was a little bored the other day, so i put together the lottis jansdotter lavender sachet i received as a subscription gift from selvedge. the linen is so soft and fine, i wish i could have more of it.

i also started on a miniature quilt that i had been mentally processing for awhile. i felt it was time. so i cut the scrap pieces i had, rather randomly into squares and rectangles, arranged them nicely and hand sewed them together. it went together quickly and i was able to reuse the natural linen pouch my gift came in as the backing.

now that i have it pinned together i'm rather at a loss for what to do. should i quilt it with little crosses, use a sashiko technique of scallops, hand stitch rectangles and squares in mimic of the patches?

part of me wants to save it for the long plane trip i have ahead of me in four weeks, but part of me wants to just go ahead and finish. i think perhaps i shall set it aside for now, let it simmer in the recesses of my mind, and come back to it when the time is right.

simply stunning

okay, so how amazing is prince poppycock from america's got talent?! the attitude, the sharp and witty comments, the amazingly put together costumes and creative makeup, the stage styling, the beautifully voiced songs, and the oh-so elegant towering wigs. all together he makes quite an exquisite. it's like some of the best characters from a georgette heyer novel come to life.

the entire show was becoming a bit eh and painful to watch, and i was waiting to hear the young female opera singer perform again, when prince poppycock came on stage and i just had a really beautiful moment. i had not been paying much attention to the show before that point, so i ventured online last night to hear and see more; mainly the other three tapings of him. it was wonderful to see them all and to truly appreciate his genius. i can't wait to see more. oh, and i ordered a pin from his boutique. to show support and all.

textural yet delicate

i came across a really neat cone of cotton slubby thread and also a jade green cone of pearl cotton at my local yarn store; i love slubby textiles. looking at these thin yarns i really wanted to weave a scarf from them along with a grey bamboo yarn from my habu stash which i could pack for my trip. when i got home i plotted out some warp stripes with the green and grey against the cream, figured out a good width and length and had at it on the warping board.

needless to say the first warp was a disaster; all of the slubby threads stuck to each other like velcro. so this particular thread would be a weft yarn unless spaced with a slicker material. good to know. i salvaged as much as i could, placed them on bobbins and rethought my plans. when in doubt, fall back on pearl cotton.

the second warp went off without fail, and i was able to thread up, get tension, and start to weave. i kind of plan as i go when it comes to the weft threads, i like the sudden thought flashes that happen when i do this. taking notes along the way helps though. and keeping a record along with samples of yarn used.

i like how it came out, wrinkles will only add to it's textural appeal, and it's really light; so perfect to pack for travel.

inspire

while browsing the web last night i came across such lovely photos of the work of mina perhonen. the textiles are so rich with details, intricate workmanship, dripping with creativity, everything so tactile, colors pairing in unusual and visceral ways; just pure eye candy to this textile loving soul.

i can thank selvedge issue 16 for tipping me off to this designer; another reason why i love this magazine. and luckily for me, there is a store in kyoto. only six more weeks. i keep having to tamp down my excitement, or my brain may very well reboot.

i just want to visit all the prettiness, perhaps buy a pair of socks, or a scarf, or an itty bit of fabric. maybe they have a sale rack?

first to finish

i had large ideas for the aqua textile piece i first wove, but then decided to focus on the yellow piece as it turned out so lovely. paired with linen (my love), minty satin ribbon (my obsession), and sewn into a kapok stuffed boudoir pillow (my soft spot), i think it is something quite special now.

i love how it turned out; this whole creating textiles thing is absolutely fascinating to me.

self portrait

an interesting assembly; shells, flora, pins, tape, postcard, bookmarks.

different strokes?

i'm finding that using different wefts create different looks, even if the warp is the same (hypothetically i knew this already). i looked around for some other thread to use, as i had made a longer warp then what i had blue yarn for, remembered my mother had a spool of crochet thread and "borrowed" some of it. so here's the result:

i'm thinking of something to use the finished piece on, and have several plans running around my brain. so wish me luck when i cut into these two pieces!

just a little peek

here's an inspiration photo for the piece i'm currently weaving:

and a snapshot of the material making process; i'll use this to construct a pretty something. it's funny, at first i wanted to use a green thread the same size as the warp, but i didn't like how it was weaving. so, i took it out (i had to anyways as there was a mistake in the threading), and looked through my stash to see what i had that could work. when i came across this novelty ribbon yarn, i thought, "blue-eyed, blonde", saw that i had two balls of it (surprise, as i'm a single skein purchaser; bad habit, that), sent a couple of shots through, and liked what came forth.

this is the first time i worked on my new loom. the two accessories, high castle tray and baby wolf trap, are really coming in handy! i'm so glad i let myself get talked into these purchases. i'll post more photos as it goes.

zzzzz...

gratuitous pet photo.

i'm seeing plaid

one of the projects in weaving i completed, (if fulling is the last step in a woven piece, then i completed it yesterday) a german bird's eye twill. this was an interesting piece which i titledworldly camel, as it contains camel down yarn, handspun bamboo, cotton, and baby alpaca.

the warp was an experiment in using different colors and creating stripes. with the weft, i repeated the spacing of each warp color to create an asymmetrical plaid. i wanted to get as much out of the warp as possible, so the overall length of the piece is longer than planned; but that's okay as it makes a wonderfully soft wrap.

i like the strong blue lines, it makes the neutral cream and brown really pop. i had fun weaving this piece; even with the couple of weaving errors i can spot. herringbone, or as it is known in weaving lingo, twill, is one of my favorite patterns. overall, none too shabby for my first wool piece and my fifth weaving piece. i have three towels which were projects from an issue of handwoven still on a friends loom, and two beginner pieces finished, one a rag rug table runner, and the other a scarf, which i gifted to my mother.