Ruggedy Rugs to Trade, Part One

Remember the center of this rug? From my January post...this was the start of the Trade Rug project with my cousin Kris. I gave her flowers, she gave me peas. And a bunny. And a kitty. And some mossy rocks. 

And the mossy rocks inspired some pinecones and needles. And a spider, lady bug, and grasshopper... 

....who lived near a pond where they were friends with a froggy... 

...a cranky crawfish...and some other critters...

What will happen next?? Stay tuned - Kris is designing away!

Here we go again...

Basking in the completion of our Nigel Slater Quilt project, Kris and I embarked on our next joint project...this time with rugs.

Each of us created a design, and then passed our rug to the other one to take the next steps. Parameters: 

• Use yarn. That's about it. 

Here is my first round, using scraps from my prior veggie and leaves projects: 

And here is what I got back from Kris last week - Bunny! Kitty! Peas!

And in the "something completely different" department, here is Kris's trade rug...her green dots in the center, with my continuation of the theme in reds: 

Can't wait to see what comes next! 

Autumn's Underfoot

After 6 chair pads and a large rug of veggies, I decided that I was ready to design and hook my first original rug. I started with a photo taken by my mom:

I did a line drawing, and started color planning: 

Then I ordered the yarn. I used two suppliers: Violet Jane Yarns, and Seal Harbor Yarns. 

Here's the full palette:

Then, I enlarged the line drawing, and transferred it to monk's cloth, using a homemade light table hack: 

Once transferred, I started hooking: 

And here's the finished rug, 32" x 55":

The Nigel Slater Project, Blocks 3 & 4

Yes, so, back in the quilting arena...cousin Kris and I completed our blocks for our Nigel Slater project. Here are the two spring blocks. The challenge fabrics are the "moo, moo, moo" fabric on the white ground, and a chevron multi-colored fabric that both of us disguised by using in tiny amounts.

Tobi's spring garden block:

Kris's spring recipe block:

And here are the two summer blocks...challenge fabrics are the african batik and the christmas cranberry print.

Tobi's summer berry pie:

Kris's summer berry pie: 

Here are the final 8 blocks, 2 per season, laid out on my design wall. One of these days, I'll decide how to finish these and do the final assembly. 

Cabbage and Artichoke and Watermelons, Oh My!

The rug hooking, it calls like a siren of the sea...Here we are, a year later, and there has been much progress made on the rug front.

The beets from my prior post evolved into 6 chair pads:

Which evolved into a large veggie rug:

This led to my first original design project....see next post.

And Now, Something Completely Different

Uh oh, this looks like a new project. During our pre-Christmas visit with Chris and Kris, I got to see Kris' latest project: punch needle rug hooking. This is a type of rug hooking where you work from the back of the cloth, punching the yarn to the front using a special needle. Middlebury, VT, where C&K are currently living, is the home to the Amy Oxford School of Rug Hooking and between Kris taking classes there, and her affiliation with The Ruggery on Long Island, she is a wealth of knowledge about this craft. Here is my foray into this new art form: 

First Kits have arrived.

 Getting the pattern stretched onto the hooking frame. I had to build the frame, using stretcher bars and carpet tack strips. Then you pull the monks cloth taught, using the tack strips to hold the fabric in place. I stapled old quilt batting scraps over top of the tack strips to keep from lacerating myself as I work on the hooking. 

 Reading the directions. 

Ready to start hooking. 

Beets!

Stay tuned…more to come!

Adventures in Glass

It's been a few years since Caitlin and I have taken our yearly lamp working class with Stephanie Maddalena at Hudson Beach Glass.  We spent two days in January making glass beads using a propane torch and some low temperature glass rods. Here are the results. 

Just out of the kiln. From upper left, clockwise:

Encased silver foil over black and blue; tiny jelly fish aquarium; blue encased swirl; medium jelly fish aquarium with green frit and encased with clear; implosion with green frit

Blurry close up of Jelly Fish aquarium

 Necklaces and bracelets. Original lamp worked beads, and commercial beads. Silver beads and findings. Strung on waxed cord. 

Close-up. 

The Nigel Slater Project, Winter Block

Sometimes the muse just strikes. The Winter Block for our cousinly Nigel Slater project isn't due to be traded until the first of March. I'd been playing with design ideas in my head ever since finishing the Autumn Block, but I'd been stymied by the challenge fabrics selected by the Andrews husbands for this next quarter.  Scottie Dogs and…glow-in-the-dark Space Bats. Really???

Suddenly my design ideas needed to make a right turn. And then, last week we woke up to this, a perfect day for French Onion Soup. 

The moon on the crest of the new fallen snow, and a big bag of onions, loaf of fresh french bread and red table cloth spawned a new design. These are all improvisational blocks…quirky log cabins, wonky drunkard's paths, and some skewed strip piecings and here it is..

French Onion Soup and Fresh Bread on a Cold Winter's Night:

And the other one in the pair:

And now…on to spring design ideas!

The Nigel Slater Project

Last summer, I had a chance to spend some time with Kris, who you will remember from the Great Cousinly Quilt Project way back in 2009.  We discovered that we both had a full set of Nigel Slater's food writing and cookbooks, and both of us were enjoying exploring various culinary adventures. Before we knew it, the creative juices were flowing, and The Nigel Slater Project was born. 

Here's how the project works:

• Using Nigel Slater's cookbooks for inspiration, we each create a 12 X 18 quilt block. 
• We can only use fabric.
• We need to create two copies of the same block.
• Our husbands each select one fabric to be used in both of our blocks.
• We have three months to create the blocks.
• At the end of each quarter, we send one of our copies to each other, along with the husband fabric choice for the next block. 
• At the end of the year, we'll each have the same set of 8 blocks…which we can then piece into a finished quilt. 

Last weekend, we travelled to Vermont to see Kris, Christopher and delightful little Cole. Amidst the gingerbread houses, legos, hikes in the woods, and studio show and tell sessions, Kris and I exchanged our first blocks! After 3 months of work, it was so much fun to see what each other had created and it was awesome to see how great the blocks look together! 

Nigel Slater's "The Kitchen Diaries"

Pumpkin Tomato Lahksa - it was a yummy recipe for a cold, rainy autumn day!

Pumpkin Laksa!

The fabric palette for the first block.

Piecing in progress:

Tobi's finished autumn blocks:

Kris's finished autumn block: Cathedral Windows hand piecing!!!

 Autumn blocks together, with the husband challenge fabrics for this autumn block. 

Christopher's swirly fabric on bottom center.

Bruce's purple batik on bottom right.

What will next quarter bring??