file under fiber

26 November 2019

Happy Thanksgiving!

Tammis Keefe, linen towel, 1950's.

The lettering on the sign beneath the bird's foot is a bit blurry, but states Roast Turkey Today. The turkey looks suitably irate.

Safe travels to everyone on the road, in a plane, on a train or on foot!

12 November 2019

Autumn colors on the Charles River

Some kind of maple tree with brilliant color.

On October 14, DH and I took the last 6-mile canoe trip of the season organized by PaddleBoston. Our shuttle driver, and his friendly dog, took us to a launch in Dedham, with kayaks and one canoe (us) in a trailer. We were in no hurry, and just enjoyed a lazy paddle and the autumn panorama of New England in peak leaf season. Who needs Vermont?

Male mallard ducks, called drakes, have beautiful iridescent head feathers.

Egret.

As usual on the river, we saw a number of birds, including egrets, great blue herons, cormorants and of course mallard ducks and Canadian geese.

Still water = perfect reflections.

Gallant husband attempts to pull canoe.

The water level of the river was extremely low; the DCR diverted water from the Charles earlier in the year to work on the dam at the Museum of Science, and rainfall was lower than usual. In places even the shallow draft of our canoe was insufficient to maintain clearance above the river bed, and we had to get out and walk.

In the center - my favorite tree - I look for it every autumn.

I was inspired to try and capture these lovely colors and knitted a Broken Garter scarf for myself, using PurlSoho's adaptation of a Sequence Knitting broken garter stitch pattern.

Materials:

I used two lace weight yarns -

Dirty Water DyeWorks "Lillian" line in Topaz, a tonal gold (I love this yarn)
Manos del Uruguay "Alegria" line in Butia, hand-painted with rose, brown, gold and a bit of green
Needles US size 3, for my sins

I cast on 43 stitches

Finished size: approximately 8" by 60", a length which works for me. At a workshop I took with her, Ms. Campochiaro, the author of Sequence Knitting, mentioned that garter stitch items have a lot of lengthwise stretch, so I make the scarves a bit wider and shorter than other scarf patterns.

Broken Garter scarf.

Last look.

31 October 2019

Rising Star Quilt Guild Show

Coneflower Boogie Woogie, detail.

On October 4, 2019, family and I went the Rising Star Quilt Guild show, held in a church in Lexington, Massachusetts. Here's a selection from the 118 quilts on display. The lighting is a challenge in this venue, so there were some quilts I loved which were just too hard to photograph.

Coneflower Boogie Woogie, Judy Botsford.

Every style of quilting was on display, including modern quilting, generally characterized by a lack of borders, lots of negative space, tonal or solid fabrics, and intricate machine quilting. Often modern quilts are based on traditional designs, such as Flying Geese or Pinwheels. Another genre of modern quilt is the map quilt, an fiber interpretation of geography.

Prisms, Corinne Steigenwald.

Gregarious Greylags, Kathleen McCormick.

Gregarious Greylags, detail showing quilting.


The Main Event, Laura diNapoli.

Coins, Louise Rains.

Coins, detail.

Etoile pour Oliver, Carol Miller.

Autumn Tumbling Blocks, Barbara Salamy.

Blossom, Christina Crouch.

Baby Quilt #2, Kate O'Leary.

Baby Quilt #2, detail.

Boston, Peggy Boning.

Boston, detail [note Logan airport.]

Vendors at the show.

Some of the quilt designs are very personal. The image below is of the artist's mother. Atara Halpern's quilt Synapse, following, is a visual exploration of the work of neuroscientist Santiago Roman y Cajal.

Trudie, Denise Konicek.

Synapse, Atara Halpern.

Synapse, detail.

The thread-painted quilt below captures a calm moment with two beloved pets.

Fredlet and Tommy, Betsy Habich.

The floral fabric used in the floral portrait below was made by the artist decades ago - in a class where she first met her husband.

How We Met, Cathy Papazian.

How We Met, detail.

Waterfowl Pond at San Francisco Botanical Garden, Amy Breiting.

Waterfowl Pond at San Francisco Botanical Garden, detail.

The quilt above doesn't try for photographic realism but rather an impression of shapes and color; the irregular border adds to the feeling of observant improvisation.

Some quilts celebrated a rainbow of colors; other works have an Asian theme.

Ombre, Christina Crouch.

Scrap Bag Fiesta, Bonnie Newman.

Speak Softly to Me, Evelyn Rossin.

Asian Harmony, Missy Shay.

Several quilts combined piecing and applique.

Field of Poppies, Tamara Jessiman.

Dresden, Dorien Keusseyan.

Dresden, detail.

Prosperity, Nancy Wasserman.


Prosperity, detail.

According to Nancy Wasserman, in Victorian times occupants of a new home would place a tomato on the mantle, for good luck. If no actual tomato was available, in those pre-Wegman's days, a tomato pincushion would substitute.

Enjoying the quilts.

Two of the quilts were both made in a Block of the Month (BOM) series offered by the Cambridge Quilt Shop. Precut packets are sent out to participants; the completed blocks are set and bordered as desired. The pattern is Vintage Farm Girl, and it's neat to see the two interpretations, and the sheep block is adorable.

Farm Girl in Shades of Blue and Gray, Susan Dresley.

Cambridge Quilt Shop Block of the Month [Vintage Farm Girl], Lolita Elverrillo.

Cambridge Quilt Shop BOM [Vintage Farm Girl], detail.

Of course, there are all sorts of intriguing color combinations. Some classic, like blue, white and yellow, and some more unexpected but powerful, like the teal and fuschia quilt below, which includes blocks with fussy-cut centers.

Green and Pink Stacked Posies, Phyllis Maddox.

Green and Pink Stacked Posies, detail.

Moody Blues Hunter's Star, Laura diNapoli.

Reach for the Stars, Evelyn Rossin.

Some quilters have decided that the more, the merrier, when it comes to color - delightful - while others employ a monochromatic tonal palette, calm and elegant.