Bicycle wheels

I knew I wanted to play with pieced circles for this project, based on the book Quilters Playtime by Dianne S. Hire.  I like the author’s approach.  She shows samples and describes her methods, without prescribing how to make any one precise element.  However, a little more direction would be nice – it took some experimenting to find out how to work in a desired size range.

I made a practice piece first – the light coloured circle.  I liked it, and then wished I’d used better fabrics to experiment with.  Decided to stay in that colour range and add some gold, made the one with the gold inserts and the darker blue.  I have a centre piece made for that one that incorporates a bit of fuchsia.  By that time I had a better idea of what I was doing and I went on to make the smaller circle.  I was trying to make them irregular.  I succeeded best in irregularity with the last one.  The second one came out pretty “even”, so that the bits that are irregular look more like mistakes!

I might assemble them something like this – it could become a piece to hang over the stairs by the door.  Needs a background, possibly pieced brickwork in medium browns?  The circles need something in the centres, and at the moment I’m thinking that I could use a lot of buttons in there somewhere.  The edges can be left irregular or smoothed off, as the spirit moves when I get to that point. 

I’d like to finish it up, but there are various classes coming up which require prep work and samples, so this will have to go in the UFO pile for now, I’m afraid.

Off to Japan

 

Ian is in Osaka!  He will be working as an ALT (Assistant Language Teacher). 

Here is what his last view of Merritt looked like when we left on Tuesday – we stopped at Tim Horton’s so he could buy a coffee for the trip.

I should have included Tim Horton’s (but we can see the drive thru sign).  There is Canadian Tire, complete with some big flags, a Greyhound bus, and the dry August hills that surround Merritt.  I’m sure the scenery is a bit different for him now!

We met Richard and Luke and went for supper at the nearest White Spot restaurant.  Richard took this picture of me with my two little boys.

 

 

 

 

 

 

And here is the traveler at the airport, ready to head off for his adventures. 

Bike tire border patterns

I did a rubbing from Miriam and Anna's bike tires. Then I charted one of them and tried to make a copy of it in weaving. I gave up after the first row because it was just too hard to follow the chart the way I was doing it. So I loosened up and did a random pattern to finish this bag (green). 
I started one with a new approach (dark purple). This time I wove twill in a contrasting colour to make some of the tire track image and embroidery in between for the rest of it. I used some lovely soft cotton yarn I found in Turkey for the basis of the bags and odd bits of mixed fibres for the contrasting colours.

Spokes and Cogs by Lesley

I used a technique that I learnt at a Japanese paper folding workshop to make this greetings card. I think the origami paper that we used there worked better than this slightly thicker paper. It was difficult to cut the smaller details through 10 layers of paper.

Tim's touque (hat)

Tim has made a number of nifty hats lately, and given many away. This is a keeper, as it has his name worked into it. It was his first attempt at a fair-isle pattern, which he designed on graph paper first. I told him he should go into the business! His collection of crochet hooks is growing.
The other project on his lap is what he calls a "man bag."

Kathy's bicycle theme: Making Tracks

I used my bike tire and fabric paint to print on cotton, but it wasn't as clear as I'd hoped. So I dug in the toy box and found some smaller wheels (cars and trucks) to try next. Matched the colours with a set of curtain samples (nice crushed texture, a bit bi-coloured in sunlight). The variegated yarn is couched on, supposed to make you think of a map.
Tim signed it in the bottom left. It's in honour of his Adventure Race coming up the weekend of Sept 9th. He'll be biking, whitewater canoeing, rapelling (sp?), and mountain climbing in the Rockies as a fundraiser for literacy and Bible translation in Peru. (Did you catch the Andes Mountains on the top right? (", )
Not sure what this will be when finished, but perhaps the side of a bag. It is quilted a bit, but not finished.

Quilting challenge group results

 

A group of friends has an annual challenge.  Last year’s challenge was to make a piece that incorporated a set fabric (which came in several color ways).  The piece was to reflect a month or season of our choice.  Last week we all got together in Kelowna to display our pieces, go out for lunch at the pub next door, and choose a new challenge.

Here is the link to the album of photos:

2011 Challenge Photos

Next year’s challenge will have the theme of Tradition.  If you want to see the conditions we’ve laid down, click here. 

When I suggested the theme I was thinking mainly in terms of new interpretations of old traditions, but as we left a number of people had picked up on the idea of the traditional quilt patterns they had always wanted to try and now was a good time to do it.  So it will be interesting to see what comes out of this when we assemble again next summer.

Weaving trio

Miriam and Anna are making woven bags now. They have really helped me by trying out my instructions and showing me how long it takes to make a bag for the first time.

Here are a some of their creations: Anna's on the left and Miriam's on the right. They are shown with the lining fabric, where I have some already.