Becka's Project Journal

MOVED

2010-05-21T14:48:00.001-05:00

THIS BLOG HAS BEEN MOVED. SEE ME AT www.beckarahn.com.

Inkle Looms - Let's talk about warp

2009-06-13T09:12:00.004-05:00

Inkle looms are a little picky about what makes good warp. Whatever you use it has to be smooth.

Good warp:
I often use something called "rug warp". That's pictured on the left. I can get it at the Weavers Guild of MN, which is located in the Textile Center. Super convenient. It is strong, ultra smooth and comes in all kinds of colors. About $4.50 for a spool.
I have also used perle cotton 3/2 weight. Again carried at the Weavers Guild. You can get it at craft stores and use the little skeins. Have done that in a pinch, but it is more expensive that way. Perle cotton has beautiful shine.
Embroidery Floss. Works great. The little skeins don't go very far, but everyone seems to have them lying around.
Bamboo/Tencel yarn. I made a couple of scarves on the inkle with blends of bamboo and tencel. Nice drape, really pretty result.

Bad warp:
Anything with fuzz. I have tried sock yarn. It works ok, but due to the way you move the threads as you weave, any little fuzzy bits that stick out get tangled together and you do a lot of picking fuzz out of your weaving and prying things apart. Some experimenting with sock yarns might get you the perfect thing. Merino yarn is a disaster. I tried a single ply lace weight and it just plain didn't work. Wrong kind of yarn for this kind of loom.

Probably good:
I haven't tried but I imagine that cotton yarns would work great, smooth nylon ribbon yarns too.

Inkle Looms - Vocabulary

2009-06-08T18:08:00.003-05:00

I had several comments from my last giveaway asking for help with inkle looms. So here is the start to a series all about what I know! First things first, we need to start with vocabulary. Weavers have all kinds of strange words to describe the parts of looms.

Inkle looms are small tabletop looms used to make long narrow bands - up to 4 inches wide, 9 feet long. Mine comes from Beka Inc and I love it. I am the keeper of 18 of these for the kids programs at the Textile Center and these ones are durable!

Shed - the opening that you pass the shuttle through when you are weaving. On an inkle loom, you move one set of strings up and down, creating the shed.

Heddles - hold down every other thread. On an inkle, one set of threads stays in place, one set moves up and down.

Warp - the long threads that you put on the loom. Inkles make a "warp-faced" weave, which means you only see the warp threads in the finished weaving. This inkle has a continuous warp, which means it is one big loop, with all of the separate colors tied to one another.

Tension Bar - this is the only moving piece on this loom. It can be loosened and tightened to adjust the tension in your weaving.

Weft - The thread that you weave back and forth through the warp. You carry it on a shuttle. It passes through the shed. On an inkle, this thread hardly shows in your finished piece.

Shuttle - a thread holder for your weft thread. You also use the shuttle to press or beat the threads tightly together as you weave.

By Chance

2009-06-08T09:00:00.004-05:00

Hello all! It's taken me more time to get caught up from the SDA conference than I thought. Wow. One of the highlights for me was seeing the members exhibit. All Surface Design Association members were invited to submit a piece 18 inches square, using any technique. I was looking at all of them and was pleasantly surprised to see a name I recognized! This is a piece by my mom's college roommate. I knew she was an art quilter and I am not surprised that she's an SDA member, but it was a surprise to see her name. I chatted with a couple of her friends from NJ and took this picture; Rachel herself wasn't at the conference.
Edit. Bad blogger did not identify the artwork. "Hands On" by Rachel Cochran. On display at the SDA Conference Members Show, Kansas City, MO.

Winners!

2009-06-01T10:40:00.003-05:00

I have been at the Surface Design Association conference for the last 5 days and I have had so much fun reading all of your comments on the breaks between sessions. I learned all kinds of cool new things so I will have things to blog about soon. Now to the fun stuff - announcing the winners! My random number generator chose...

Kerry, who will get the silk scarf.
Yvonne, the striped cuff bracelet
Kassia, the diamond pattern bracelet

Then because there were SO MANY comments I just couldn't believe it, I decided to give away a few more things. Because I love fiber art as you may have guessed, anyone who said that their favorite project had to do with fiber art in any way got put in a list and I drew three more random numbers.

Tammimarie
Sara (#2)
HARK!
These ladies will get a random surprise package of some fiber art.

And because I am a teacher and I was so delighted that SugarMama was inspired to look up "inkle looms" and find out more, she gets her own inkle woven bracelet too!

Many thanks to all of you that entered. I hope you come back and visit often!

ALSO Q&A -
Do I teach classes in Mpls? YES! Through the Textile Center, all the time.
Can I help with inkle looms? Absolutely. I was just working on a photo tutorial on how to warp them a week or two ago. I will blog it, never fear!

Give Aways!

2009-05-27T00:36:00.004-05:00

Welcome to Blog Give Away Day!
I'm Becka. I am an art teacher. Specifically I teach fiber art. I know, cool huh? I make a lot of samples as I am teaching so my students can see how things work step by step. My Give Away Day prizes are some beautiful projects made as samples in classes I have taught. Pictured are:
- a shibori dyed silk scarf. Fuschia/lime/deep purple.
- two handwoven cuff bracelets made on an inkle loom. One is classy grey/blue stripes, one has a pick up pattern of diamonds that "float" on top. Cotton warps.

This giveaway is open May 27 through May 31. I will draw three winning names at random and announce them first thing on June 1st. All you have to do is leave a comment telling me about your favorite art class project. What did you make? Why was it the best thing ever? (Be sure you leave your email or some way I can contact you so I can mail your prize!)

P.S. I will ship internationally!

Visit more blogs and enter some more!

Giveaways

2009-05-21T08:27:00.003-05:00

I am going to be participating in:

Check back on May 27 for more details. You can win fun stuff here and at about a bazillion other blogs.

I heart Mo Willems

2009-05-20T09:00:00.002-05:00

I heard this interview on NPR a while back and forgot about it. I love what he had to say!

Somewhere along the way, we all were artists. Everyone picks up crayons or chalk as toddlers, but at some point, we just stop drawing. Radio cartoonist and children's author Mo Willems says that's a pity.

Willems is obsessed with why adults don't draw — and he wants to do something about it.

"One of the interesting things about cartooning and doodling and drawing," Willems tells Michele Norris, "is that people stop when they decide they're not good at it. Nobody stops playing basketball when they realize they're not going to become a professional. The same thing should apply to cartooning."

Willems says just sitting and drawing a character brings out empathy in people, and that's something the world could use more of right now.

One of the biggest reasons children stop drawing is that they see that adults don't do it, Willems says. When he goes into classrooms, he says, teachers often ask him to get the kids to draw. But when he does, many of the teachers don't participate.

"Well, now the kids realize that this is just a baby activity," he says.

He reminds us that parents are actually cool in kids' eyes — for a while — and kids want to imitate what they do.

"If your kid comes home from school and you say, 'I'll be right with you; I'm just finishing a doodle,' the kid's going to go, 'Dude, I want to do that, too!' "

Garage Sale Skirt

2009-05-19T18:41:00.002-05:00

Every year I get fabric from the Textile Center's garage sale fundraiser and make a skirt. This year was a blue chambray with embroidered flowers. Wrap around with fabric ties. My own pattern, based off of a skirt I like.

Planted today:

2009-05-17T16:07:00.002-05:00

petunias - pink
allyssum - white
delphinium - purple
scabiosa - blue
strawberries (relocated)
forget me not
anemone - white
zinnias - yellow
tomatoes
lettuce
sunflowers - assorted

also planted last weekend - bachelor buttons, violas (deep purple), moss roses, lupine (mystery color), columbine (mystery color), snapdragons (red & yellow)

time for drinking iced tea (welch morning) and reading a book (georgette heyer)

Weird weekend

2009-05-17T11:30:00.002-05:00

Sushi (not weird for us, but weird for some other people)
Andean Pan Pipe Concert
Stumped the comic book experts by asking for a knitting comic
Phantom of the Opera, we went to see the Broadway touring company. Our inner 16 year old selves appreciated the experience greatly. Our jaded older selves were slightly hysterical at the over-the-topness.
Ran in to friends at a restaurant in an odd place at an odd time for lunch yesterday
Had a lesson in "chatoyant" polymer clay techniques at Art-A-Whirl. Fascinating, but who knew?

Off to greenhouse now to buy a waterlily.

Another Weekend, Another Festival

2009-05-13T07:49:00.003-05:00

This weekend I spend an afternoon at the Shepherd's Harvest Festival in Lake Elmo MN. It's a haven for fiber geeks. Several buildings packed with yarn, fleece, spinning wheels, spinners, weavers, knitters and more. Then walk across the fairgrounds a little way and it is barns full of sheep, goats, llamas and more. I taught two mini versions of my "technology for artists" classes in a 4H barn with no internet connection, but despite that, I think they went really well! (Hello class!) I didn't take a camera with me, so no photos of the sheep!

We also had a couple of cute visitors over the weekend. My nephew, who just turned 6 months old, and his mommy came up for his first trip to the big city. We went to a couple of greenhouses and hung around the house with Lucy. Evidently, when you are 6 months old, Lucy is the funniest thing ever. Every time she would look his way, he would burst out giggling.

This week should be a little quieter. I finished my Pioneer sweater and it is drying from blocking right now. Pictures soon. It turned out great, although I did a couple of modifications.

It's also time for another book report! Recently finished:

Dissolution, Dark Fire and Sovereign by C.J. Sansom.
Mysteries set in the time of King Henry VIII, just after he had beheaded Anne Boleyn. Having watched The Tudors recently, I was instantly familiar with all kinds of characters from these books. Matthew Shardlake, the main character, is a lawyer who gets noticed by "those with power" far too often for his piece of mind. Great mysteries with lots of interesting incidental characters. The King and the Court are really minor characters, which I like. Often these kinds of mysteries have a talented commoner interacting with the King or Queen and this was a nice change. Matthew deals with underlings who are grasping to stay powerful and often they do not care how that might cause problems for those they order around. I look forward to reading more.

Firebird by Mercedes Lackey. A retelling of a classic fairy tale, another favorite genre. This one was a very easy read. Our main character, Ilya, is clever, the ending has a nice twist, the story had a very classic feel. I am not familiar with the Firebird story, but it had that traditional kind of feeling. I usually like Mercedes Lackey's writing and this was no exception.

Silent on the Moor by Deanna Raybourn. I loved the first two. The third was equally compelling. I read it nearly in one sitting. Lady Julia epitomizes "curiosity killed the cat" as she herself acknowledges in this book. I would call these a romantic mystery. Once again, great twists to the plot, witty writing that make me laugh out loud. The covers to these books in paperback are ridiculous -don't let that turn you off. They are smarter than they look.

The Snow Queen by Mercedes Lackey. Part of her "Tales of the 500 Kingdoms series", which is truly delightful. The series follows fairy godmothers and the kingdoms they oversee. Not true fairies, but clever magically talented girls who find themselves doing an unusual job. The "Tradition" is a magical force that tries to recognize bits of traditional fairy tales happening to regular people and then it jumps in and tries to force their story fit the fairy tale. A girl with a grumpy stepmother can find herself reliving the Cinderella story. Light, funny and packed with snippets and characters of fairy tales, which makes it fun.

Woven on Saturday

2009-05-04T14:53:00.002-05:00

I wove enough on Saturday for two belts and a smattering of cuff bracelets. (Maybe I will do a giveaway!) There weren't as many kids as anticipated at the Craftstravaganza, so we ended up doing more demonstrating and less hands-on. I did a ton of weaving. This is one of the pieces I finished. It is about 1 1/2 wide and 5+ feet long. Andy snapped a picture of me and Jen while we were hard at work. Jen was spinning fine merino-alpaca yarn in a kind of earthy colorway.

Weekend activities

2009-04-30T17:33:00.002-05:00

I will be representing the Textile Center at the St Paul Craftstravaganza on Saturday. Make N Takes for kids and me demonstrating inkle weaving and my friend Jen with her spinning wheel. Lots of fun, fantastic shopping! Come say hi!

Also, don't miss the new exhibit opening tomorrow night at the Textile Center. Hopefully we will have an online gallery for this one soon. It is all textiles from India from a private collection. Amazing, stunning, beautiful work, especially if you are in to embroidery.

Bird List

2009-04-25T13:10:00.005-05:00

We went to Carlos Avery Wildlife Sanctuary last week on a day off and here's what we spotted:

Bald Eagle (in a nest)
Sandhill Cranes - at least 3, probably more like 8, but we didn't see them all at the same time.
Coots - lots of them
Mallards- lots of them
Red Winged Blackbirds - many
Tree Swallows
Tree Sparrows, Song Sparrows
Blue Winged Teals - 2 pairs
Trumpeter Swans - two of them, one banded
Hooded Merganzers - 3 pairs
Ring Necked Ducks
Red Tail Hawk
Canada Geese - hordes

See Andy's Blog for Photos!

I heart Orange and Green

2009-04-23T23:17:00.003-05:00

My new purse. Inspired by this pattern and another similar vintage Simplicity pattern I scored at a TC garage sale, although I changed a bunch of things as I went because I like my way better. Made from a piece of vintage canvas from last year's garage sale stash, vintage trim from the thrift store and lined with a piece of batik fabric which is dark green and brown. Magnetic snap, one interior pocket. Strap is lined with cotton webbing, so it's super sturdy.

I think I am finally going to break down and try to make some of these for a couple of local shops. I have been asked before and I think maybe it's time. I am going to do all vintage and retro-style fabrics. I made this one up in about an hour and a half, tweaking the pattern as I went. How much do you think I should price them at?

Meme: A Life in Pages

2009-04-21T16:00:00.000-05:00

1. What author do you own the most books by?
Anne McCaffrey. One of my favorite authors since I was about 10 years old.

2. What book do you own the most copies of?
I try not to have multiples of the same title. I have too many books already. I know we have 2 copies of the last Harry Potter book because Andy and I wanted to read it at the same time.

3. What fictional character are you secretly in love with?
Justin de Quincy from Sharon Kay Penman's mysteries, Remus Lupin

4. What book have you read more than any other?
Moreta by Anne McCaffrey

5. What was your favorite book when you were 10 years old?
The Talking Parcel by Gerald Durrell

6. What is the worst book you've read in the past year?
I don't know about worst. Most disappointing was The Mysterious Benedict Society. Lost Interest: The Big Over Easy by Jasper Fforde. Usually if it's bad, I stop reading.

7. What is the best book you've read in the past year?
One best? The Sanctuary books by Deanna Rayborn, several by Georgette Heyer, Jean Plaidy

8. If you could tell everyone you tagged to read one book, what would it be?
Ack. Hard to choose. Anything I have mentioned that you haven't read.

9. What is the most difficult book you've ever read?
Les Miserables

10. Do you prefer the French or the Russians?
French

11. Shakespeare, Milton, or Chaucer?
Shakespeare.

12. Austen or Eliot?
Austen 100%.

13. What is the biggest or most embarrassing gap in your reading?
The Great Gatsby. Seems like everyone has to read this and I managed to get by without it being required anywhere.

14. What is your favorite novel?
I don't have 1 favorite. The things I re-read the most are Harry Potter, Anne McCaffrey, Jane Austen, Georgette Heyer, Guy Gavriel Kay, Robin McKinley.

15. What is your favorite play?
Midsummer Night's Dream.

16. What is your favorite poem?
Favorite poet: ee cummings. I think my favorite of his is
"somewhere i have never travelled,gladly beyond"

17. What is your favorite essay?
I am not sure I have a favorite.

18. What is your favorite short story?
I don't read a lot of short stories either. A Sherlock Holmes, maybe.

19. What is your favorite non-fiction?
I love field guides. I don't read a lot of non-fiction.

20. What is your favorite graphic novel?
Those Left Behind (Firefly)

21. What is your favorite science fiction?
The Hawk's Grey Feather by Patricia Kennealy, The Summer Tree Trilogy by Guy Gavriel Kay (sci-fi/fantasy mix). Strictly science fiction I like Jack McDevitt.

22. Who is your favorite writer?
Just One?? I have mentioned quite a few.

23. Who is the most overrated writer alive today?
Stephanie Meyer.

24. What are you reading right now?
Dissolution by C.J. Sansom

25. Best memoir?
All Creatures Great and Small by James Herriot

26. Best history?
I prefer historical fiction. Anything by Sharon Kay Penman.

27. Best mystery or noir?
And Only to Deceive by Tasha Alexander, Joliffe Mysteries by Margaret Frazer, Brother Cadfael Mysteries by Ellis Peters

And what about you?

Garage Sale Treasures

2009-04-20T18:45:00.002-05:00

Three sweaters and a shawl's worth of yarn:

Oodles of bias tape, hem binding lace, and ric rac:

Vintage Fabrics:

Happy Tax Day

2009-04-16T09:06:00.003-05:00

Tax day means that it is time for the Annual Textile Center Garage Sale. I will be working about a gahzillion hours over the next 3 days, but it is one of the most fun weekends we do all year. We already have donations from businesses to fill two 15 ft trucks. A business called this year and asked if we could pick up three palettes of bolts of fabric. That's a lot of fabric, people! I have 4 big trash bags full of yarn to bring in today, donated from friends. A fleet of the-best-volunteers-on-the-planet price it, organize it and we sell it at "garage sale prices".

It's like Brigadoon, it's here and then it disappears into the mist! If you are in the neighborhood - come Friday 6:30-8:30 pm or Saturday 9-4 to get in on the fun! Textile Center Garage Sale

What is wrong with people?

2009-04-10T13:54:00.002-05:00

The karma of the world is seriously out of whack this week. Two organizations that I hold with great fondness were victims of petty random acts of meanness. It is not my place to share the details, but mean people suck. To the perpetrators, I don't know who you hoodlums think you are, but I hope that whatever diety you believe in comes and smacks you on the butt!

Do something nice for somebody today will you?

(end of rant)

Chicago

2009-04-07T17:21:00.003-05:00

Spent the weekend in Chicago with Andy, his brothers and his mom, to celebrate her birthday!
Above is the Public Library building (which is now a cultural center). The most amazing glass mosaics I have ever seen covering nearly every surface (Click and you can see the photo a little bigger). I told Andy it was prettier than some of the castles we saw in France. Totally magical.
Below is us on day two of walking. We walked for miles. The weather was cool but lovely.

Book Reports

2009-03-31T17:22:00.003-05:00

It has been a while since I filled you in on my reading list. I ran out of new books and did a bunch of re-reading for a while there.

I cruised through:
Dragon Prince and Star Scroll by Melanie Rawn. I have read them each at least 5 times. As I have said before anything with dragons is usually good enough for me. These have some good characters and a unique interaction with magic that I like. (I am pretty sure my sister B has read them 20 times). There are more in the series.

Then The Hawk's Grey Feather by Patricia Kennealy. An Arthurian based story, told from Talesin's point of view. Celtic influences but with starships. Good stuff. First in a trilogy. I have read them half a dozen times at least.

Then I got an Amazon gift certificate for my birthday and ordered Eon: Dragoneye Reborn by Allison Goodman. Cheesy title and dumb cover art kept me from buying it before. But a recommendation from Bookshelves of Doom (who has very similar taste in books to mine!) convinced me to order it. Read her summary, she does a beautiful job. I liked it a lot. I look forward to reading more.

Another recommendation from Bookshelves lead me to Silent in the Grave by Deanna Rayborn. I LOVE these books. I am in the middle of the second one right now. Historical mysteries. I have read some who criticize them for not being historically accurate enough, but who cares? The characters are highly entertaining and the mystery itself had many twists which I didn't expect. Thoroughly entertaining and at points witty enough to make me chuckle out loud. I did have an interesting deja-vu moment - the first book has many parallels to Tasha Alexander's And Only to Deceive. Similar characters and a couple of familiar situations that they find themselves in.

Tiny Art Quilts

2009-03-26T22:33:00.002-05:00

Finally got around to listing a couple of little art quilts in my etsy shop. I have made a bunch of these and I really like working on a small scale. With all of the art quilts happening at work with our IKEA fundraiser, I feel a little like I have these on the brain, so I thought I would share. These are about 6x8 inches.

Tweeting some etsy favorites

2009-03-24T23:17:00.001-05:00

This is what is in my favorites right now. I am playing along with an etsy tweet "project".

Project Patchwork

2009-03-19T19:34:00.003-05:00

Why is a Raven Like a Writing Desk?
Becka Rahn 2009

If you are in the Twin Cities area and you love IKEA, I have a deal for you! I am one of the quilters participating in an art quilting challenge called "Project Patchwork". IKEA partnered with the Textile Center. Each quilter got 4 yards of IKEA fabrics and the challenge was to make a quilt using entirely those fabrics. This Saturday March 21 there will be an exhibit and sale of the quilts at IKEA starting at 6 pm. There will be snacks and live music and lots of art to see! Best yet, is that everything we make from selling the quilts goes to support the youth programs at the Textile Center (which are very near and dear to my heart!)

Here is a sneak peak of some of the other quilts, too! All of the remaining quilts (including mine!) will be for sale at Textile Center's new online shop in a few more days.

Who is that?

2009-03-16T17:42:00.000-05:00

Babies like the baby in the laptop camera.

Sneak Peeks

2009-03-12T18:53:00.003-05:00

(Apologies for lousy pics. My camera battery died after I snapped only a couple and I don't want to wait for it to charge!)

Here is my owl sweater. I dug through my button jar and found pairs of brown buttons so that each little owl has a personality all his own. It looks really cute with the navy turtleneck I was wearing yesterday.

Blessings on the Knitting Goddesses

2009-03-11T23:52:00.002-05:00

Blocking actually worked! The owl sweater is not only improved, but is actually cute! I am so excited! I will post pictures once I have stitched on the 19x2 button eyes. It fits (although it is longer than I expected and I am happy about that). And the sheepy smell has gone away.

i like iceland

2009-03-09T19:05:00.000-05:00

They believe in elves.

my sweater smells like wet sheep

2009-03-09T12:59:00.003-05:00

I just finished knitting my first sweater. I have made a couple of shrugs but this is the first whole sweater. The verdict is still out. (Ironically, this sweater is featured at craftzine.com today.)

The pattern is Owls. It is knit from the bottom up, which gives you the opportunity to try it on at intervals and see how things are going. The yarn is Ecological Wool from Cascade.

My first problem was although this is marked as a bulky yarn on the label and matches what is requested for the pattern, there was no way, come-hell-or-high-water that I could get it to knit to gauge. No way no how. I went up and down needle sizes and it just wasn't working. I went on Ravelry and despite what the yarn label says, the listing info that Ravelry has for the yarn puts it at an Aran weight rather than bulky. I have to agree. For you non-knitters, that means it is a thinner yarn than expected, so it will take more stitches to the inch to make it come out right. If I were to just knit away with this, the sweater would come out too small. So I gave up, knit about 3 swatches and settled on math to solve my problem. I decided that by knitting a size large with my smaller needles and yarn, it should come out to about the right size for me.

I started to sense some problems when we got around the upper rib cage area. It was a little more increasing than I really needed and looked a little baggy, but I didn't want to have to recalculate to take out the increases because then I would have to refigure the cables for the owls. If you haven't peeked at the picture, this sweater has a yoke around the top that is all cabled owls. I heaved a sigh and decided that I would see what would happen. I also decided at this point that maybe I would make it short sleeved. Figuring that I am knitting this with wool yarn, I am never going to wear it without something under it, why not save myself the knitting and just stick to short sleeves. It would be cute over a turtleneck!

The attaching the sleeves to the yoke part is completely ridiculous. I don't know. I did what the instructions said and it was just miserable. There were not enough stitches, I had to pull out a double point needle to get around some tight spots (Thanks to Andy for the suggestion). I am not sure I can describe it to you without a photo, but there was lots of swearing. The gist of it is that you knit the very bottom edge of the yoke all together and then you have a tiny little seam in the armpit to go and stitch up later. It mostly worked. It's a good thing it's in my armpits because it isn't pretty.

The owl part was delightful. Super simple cute cables. I like doing cables. I skipped the short rows at the top (I did the ones earlier and I didn't like the way they looked.) A little ribbing, cast off, stitch in ends.

Then I tried it on. Bleh. The shoulders and sleeves are pretty nice, the shaping for the waist fits my waist ok, but it's too big over my shoulder blades. Not horrible, but not great either. I try it on backwards just in case that is an improvement. Nope. I am hoping that with blocking maybe it will relax a little and maybe that won't be so mediocre. We will see.

So I ran a bathtub full of hot water. It won't hurt this to shrink a tiny bit (as you may have guessed) so I think why not encourage that... Here's the funny thing. This is supposed to be natural colored wool. I picked a nice chocolate brown color. The bath water was amber. Something was washing out of this yarn, but I am not sure what. And a very strong smell of wet sheep. Glorious. I broke out some nice handmade soap and I am letting it soak for a while. (Lucy is fascinated)

So that's where things stand. Sweater is soaking, I am skeptical. I am also staying home sick from work today and I think it's time for lunch and a nap.

i got nothing

2009-03-05T23:05:00.002-06:00

Quilt progress is going slow because I have a nasty cold. Lots of kleenex and my sinuses feel alternately like they are going to blow up or that the world is conspiring to make me fall down. Delightful. I have spent the last three days with my collection of pretty vintage hankies in my pocket, snuffling and helping to hang a gallery show at work. This one is all baskets/basketry and we have about 10 more pieces than we really have room for. It opens tomorrow and I hope we find homes for everything. The pieces are amazing and beautiful, which is how I wish I felt.

quilts in progress

2009-03-01T22:14:00.005-06:00

These are both quilts being made as gifts for friends who I am pretty sure do not read my blog on a regular basis, making it safe to share.

The first is black and red with a tiny bit of turquoise. I deliberately chose big bold prints for this one and it's a little wild. Those are the 5 different blocks, all pieced. After looking at it for a while, I decided that I will put plain black sashing between them, just a narrow strip to give them a little space from each other.

The second is more warm earthy tones with a little hint of japanese influence. I "fussy cut" a fabric with big koi fish on it to make sure I had a fish in each block and the deep purple is a subtle print of flying cranes. I am really thrilled that these were all fabrics from my stash.

Thursday

2009-02-26T08:15:00.000-06:00

The Snow Fairy by Claude McKay
I

Throughout the afternoon I watched them there,
Snow-fairies falling, falling from the sky,
Whirling fantastic in the misty air,
Contending fierce for space supremacy.
And they flew down a mightier force at night,
As though in heaven there was revolt and riot,
And they, frail things had taken panic flight
Down to the calm earth seeking peace and quiet.
I went to bed and rose at early dawn
To see them huddled together in a heap,
Each merged into the other upon the lawn,
Worn out by the sharp struggle, fast asleep.
The sun shone brightly on them half the day,
By night they stealthily had stol'n away.

Mushrooms

2009-02-23T08:56:00.002-06:00

I am participating in a handmade mushroom swap. I signed up because it made me laugh. But I will mail off these little mushrooms and get back 5 different mushrooms in the mail. I am planning to put together a pattern/tutorial for these, so you could make your own.

Mine are made from upholstery fabric and cotton duck. Stuffed with stuffing and the stems have a bolt in them so the mushrooms can stand up on their own.

Book report: The Mysterious Benedict Society

2009-02-17T09:54:00.002-06:00

The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart

Enjoyable Read? Yes
Would I read it again? No.
This one was really just fluff. I enjoyed the story, I liked the characters, I finished it with no strong feeling either way. It reminded me at times of the Lemony Snicket series, which I did like but didn't love. The premise of this one is that a group of super smart kids (orphans) get together to invade a school, run by the bad guy, and foil his plot to take over the world. Things work put pretty much how you would expect - a couple of twists where someone turns out to be someone else, heroes that didn't like each other at the beginning end up being friends, the orphans find families.

Happy Valentine's Day

2009-02-14T09:54:00.002-06:00

T is for Tree

2009-02-09T18:32:00.004-06:00

I am working on a new collection of tiny alphabet quilts. I started making little patchwork alphabet letters for my etsy shop - keytags and coasters with fabric all pulled from my "too-small-to-fold-up-but-too-nice-to-throw-away" scrap bin. These have no pattern, I just make them up as I go along, hence the name "Impromptu Alphabet". As a concept, I love the aphabet - I have collected alphabet books for years, especially ones with an unusual theme. This little quilt is "T is for Tree". The leaves are tiny little quilts themselves. The whole thing is about 8x9 inches. I entered it in a Singer Sewing Machine "Sewing with Nature" challenge. I think they ultimately are looking for something with a bit more actual organic material stitched in, but being as it is winter in MN, that kind of thing is hard to come by. I have also done the letters E, F, and C and they are waiting to be quilted.

Here are some of my favorite alphabet books:
Mary Poppins from A to Z by P.L. Travers (I have an original 1962 version)

The Skull Alphabet Book by Jerry Pallotta

Anamalia by Graeme Base

The Z was Zapped by Chris VanAllsburg

Allison's Zinnia by Anita Lobel

The Alphabet of Animals by Christopher Wormell

The Alphabet (Mouse Books) by Monique Felix

Shiver Me Letters by June Sobel

Book Reports: Dragonheart, Chalice, To Hold the Crown

2009-02-03T08:41:00.002-06:00

DragonHeart by Todd McCaffrey

I have loved Anne McCaffrey since I was about 10 years old. Her son Todd is just as good. He has taken over writing stories set in the dragon-filled universe that she created. I read this in one day.

Chalice by Robin McKinley

Another author that I usually love. Her Spindle's End is one of my favorites. I had seen Chalice mentioned on several blogs I read. It is, in fact, mentioned on Anne McCaffrey's blog. Go figure. Anyhow. It is a lovely story with an interesting premise. It wasn't action packed but it made me smile.

To Hold the Crown by Jean Plaidy

Jean Plaidy books never disappoint. This one is the story of Henry VII, father of Henry VIII. It covers from about the time of his marriage to his death. Surprisingly, I found this copy at Target, but I think given the popularity of the Tudors (Other Boleyn Girl, The Tudors), they are stocking some unusual titles. Henry VII was neurotic about losing his crown and Henry VIII was ready to take over at age 10. The only disappointing thing for me is that a good portion of this book switched the focus to Katharine of Aragon. I read Plaidy's Katharine recently and felt as though this book borrowed a lot from that. Both great, but don't read them back to back.

What I'm baking for breakfast

2009-02-01T10:02:00.001-06:00

Cornmeal Biscuits
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup yellow cornmeal, preferably stone-ground
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
1 cup plus 1 tablespoon milk

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a medium bowl, combine flour, cornmeal, baking powder, salt, and sugar. Whisk to combine. Add the butter, and, using a pastry blender or two knives, cut it in until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
Add milk, and stir until just combined
Spoon 10 mounds, about 1/2 cup each, onto baking sheet 1 inch apart; bake until biscuits start to brown, about 20 minutes. Remove from oven; cool on a wire rack. Serve warm.

From Martha Stewart

January 29

2009-01-29T19:01:00.000-06:00

More TV

2009-01-26T19:29:00.003-06:00

See us on Twin Cities Live! (Actually it's just me and a lot of footage of the kids.)

A little crafting

2009-01-26T08:56:00.002-06:00

Quilted heart valentines. Etsy is doing a project to deliver valentines to Meals-on-Wheels recipients in Brooklyn and is collecting valentines. These are going off to them along with some Andy made too.

I already have this little cardigan in green, so when I found them on sale for $6, I got another in a different color and added this pink elephant. The elephant is from my Animal Outline Patterns, which you can find in my etsy shop. (I hope the people who have purchased them are having as much fun as I am. I use them all the time.)

Our 15 minutes of fame!

2009-01-24T18:07:00.002-06:00

Fox9 Tv Coverage. This reporter was really great and came to the Textile Center to film these segments.

Here we are this morning on KARE-11!

Famous

2009-01-21T18:57:00.002-06:00

If you are around the Minneapolis area, check out my kids on Fox 9 News throughout the Friday morning show. (I will post a link if they put it on their website.) My seatbelt fashion project collaboration is getting some great press and they came to interview 3 of the teens this afternoon. I am not on camera for this one, I was just off stage giving them big thumbs up. This is one talented and fun group of teens! I love them all. You can see more about the project at its Facebook page. :)

For those blog readers who don't know what I am talking about, I coordinated a project for AAA Minneapolis and the Textile Center to help a group of teens make fashions from seatbelts. Their workshop with us was this past weekend and we have a runway show on Friday with some fantastic prizes, a DJ, cool lights, and lots of glitz. Fun fun fun.

Book Report: Flora Segunda

2009-01-20T15:14:00.002-06:00

Just finished reading Flora Segunda by Ysabeau Wilce, around watching inauguration coverage. This one took me a while to get in to it. I felt like the beginning was trying too hard to introduce too many unusual things -like setting the stage was a little bit contrived. The story itself is a coming of age kind of thing. Fourteen year old girl finding her place and her individuality- I don't want to give away story details. But the magical world she lives in is an interesting one, and by the first third of the book I was sucked in. I will look for the sequel.

Reading Log

2009-01-14T16:42:00.002-06:00

I am going to try again and blog the books I read. I would love to keep track - I read a lot (usually several at once) and so I think I will talk about them as I finish them. The first read of the new year was actually a re-read: Jane and the Stillroom Maid, by Stephanie Barron. I love this whole series - mysteries starring Jane Austen. I needed something to read with lunch one day and just pulled this off the shelf. I love the language and the flavor of Austen. I am not a purist, I will read just about anything that is related to Jane Austen's work.

Book number two: The Other Queen
by Philippa Gregory. Another subject I will read almost anything about is Queen Elizabeth. This book is told from the perspective of three different characters, alternating between them with every chapter. It is mostly the story of Mary Queen of Scots while she was imprisoned by Elizabeth. The narrators are Mary and the Lord and Lady Shrewsbury who were her supervisors while she was being held. Philippa Gregory's books have been hit and miss for me - I loved the Boleyn ones and really didn't like the Wideacre ones. This one was a hit for me.

Tiny Embroidery

2009-01-12T08:58:00.004-06:00

Sublime Stitching, my favorite place to get embroidery patterns, has issued a challenge: tiny monograms. There aren't many rules, but you can see the contest here: little pillow

I woke up yesterday with a cold, which kind of snuck up on me. So I decided to make a pot of tea, put on my bathrobe and stitch a tiny monogram. Here is my monogrammed pillow.

It is silk dupioni fabric embroidered with silk thread. The monogram is 5/8" tall, the pillow is about 1 1/2".

Here be Dragons

2009-01-08T23:05:00.002-06:00

After the discharge paste dries, then you iron it on the silk setting with as much steam as you can get. It shows up pretty quickly. (But smells like warm old tuna) The stencil, I think, is beautiful. The discharge results are pretty good. It didn't take out as much color as I was hoping. This was my first project, so I really didn't know what to expect. I also don't know how this scarf was dyed or even for sure what the fiber content/finsih is (the tag says 100% wool). You can see it well in the photo, but the weave is very open and kind of transparent, so I folded it up on itself to get a good picture. You can see if I put it up against white...

it nearly disappears. It is gorgeous but totally subtle. I am going to add some more to this scarf (although I am not sure what yet). Next experiment is to try it on some scraps of my handdyed cotton.

UnBleach Stencils

2009-01-06T18:25:00.004-06:00

It was a weekend for an experiment. I bought a nice merino wool scarf at a holiday sale. It is plain peacock blue, which is a lovely color, but it seemed to need a little something. I thought about shibori dyeing it, but I am a little over shibori right now. So I went and got a bottle of discharge paste. What's that? It's like bleach in that it will take the color out of almost any natural fiber, but it is not as nasty to work with. Bleach will also liquify wool and silk, which is not usually an effect you want. I have heard about discharge paste, but never used it, so here goes the experiment.

I first cut a freezer paper stencil of a dragon. (love dragons) I was inspired by a medieval dingbats font. I redrew this guy and simplified him a bit to make a better stencil.

Here's the stencil partly cut. I folded my paper in half and cut two at once so I would get a mirror image.

Then I ironed it on to the scarf. (If you want a good tutorial about freezer paper stencil, just google. There are a bunch). Next I painted on my discharge paste. It is roughly the consistency of egg whites and smells like old tuna. (No kidding.) Not seriously objectionable, but not so charming, shall we say?

The key is to make sure it soaks in to the fibers. This picture has it all painted on (although you can't tell). The magic doesn't happen until after it has dried and you iron it.

So, stay tuned for tomorrow for the results!

Welcome Spoonflower

2009-01-05T08:39:00.004-06:00

Hello Spoonflower visitors! My fabric design "Wild West" is in the Spoonflower fabric contest this week. Visit the blog, vote for your favorite, and the winning fabric will be available by the yard in the Spoonflower etsy shop.

I am also running a special in my etsy shop in celebration. Go check it out!

Holiday Gifts

2009-01-02T09:19:00.007-06:00

Erik's stocking, which I knit for him. It just turned out amazing. I am so happy with it. It's about 80% from this pattern - I changed some things.

Craftiness by my Aunt Marcia! She made this mobile for my nephew with an assortment of felt animals. The fox with the turkey feather sticking out of his mouth is my favorite!

Holiday Adventures

2008-12-30T19:05:00.002-06:00

Erik and his Aunties.

Uncle Andy reads Erik a story.

"Who are you strange people?"

The big junk yard in the sky

2008-12-16T22:46:00.003-06:00

On the two very coldest days all year, I cleaned out my Textile Mobile. The Textile Mobile is the big 1981 retired dairy delivery truck that is the symbol of our outreach programs at the Textile Center. It is a beast, but it has been my beast for many years now. This summer it died. We held on for a while, debated about fixing its many broken bits and finally decided that it was time to retire it. I kept meaning to clean it out and send it on its way, but with one thing and another it never happened. Then out of the blue, we got an offer from someone wanting to buy it and haul it away. So, in the -30 degree wind chills, some kind souls on my staff and I emptied it out and got it ready to go. I don't even want to think about how cold we were. We blew kisses to it and waved goodbye as it was towed out of the lot this morning.

8 Tiny Reindeer at etsy

2008-12-11T19:20:00.002-06:00

Santa Reindeer Pattern from fuzzymitten
Holiday Potholders from KitchenSpice
EcoFriendly Wool Table Runner by CherryLaneJane
Prancer Necklace by LizMathews
Mini Christmas Soaps by daisycakes
Mr Rudolph Earrings by chatnoir
Randolph Christmas Slug by Marthaland
Rudolph Hair Clips by marymarsh

Sunny weekend

2008-12-03T08:23:00.003-06:00

Lucy thought that peeking out through the Stone Arch Bridge was very cool. Every time Andy would look over the edge she would stuff her head through to see what was so interesting. My inlaws were here for the weekend and we took a long walk from our house to downtown Minneapolis.

Winter Animals Patterns

2008-11-24T19:17:00.003-06:00

This week I am giving away a free "Animal Outlines Pattern" with any purchase from my etsy shop. This is a special set of Winter Animals: polar bear, reindeer, snowy owl, cardinal, snowshoe hare and dove.

So Many Projects

2008-11-24T17:23:00.003-06:00

There's nothing like a gently snoring dog next to you on the couch to zap every bit of motivation to get up and do something. I have been working like a mad woman lately. I delivered 75 sets of buttons with geeky textile saying on them to the Shop at the Textile Center. They already need to be restocked. I sold half of my inventory of puppets in one morning there last week (all of the lions!) so I need to get to sewing more puppets. My final write-ups and samples for the book "One Yard Wonders" were due last week. I have 2 projects in the book which is scheduled to be published in late 2009. I still have to write a bio for them. My new baby nephew threw off my schedule for getting his room decor done and so I finished these for him:

This evening I should really try to convert the photo studio back in to a guest room so my inlaws have a place to sleep when they come visit very soon.

10 Days Old

2008-11-17T18:12:00.003-06:00

Doing his impression of a tree frog.

Stocking Stuffers

2008-11-17T18:07:00.004-06:00

Daisy Cakes Soap is one of my favorite etsy shops. Try her Turkish Mocha, Kumquat, Almond Biscotti or Elements of Bamboo. It all smells heavenly.

Edit: (ARGH! Typos. The link works now)

Nephews

2008-11-13T18:57:00.005-06:00

I have 6 nephews, who are all super cool human beings. My oldest is 14 (is that right? how is that possible!) and the youngest is a week old. Because I have been doing a lot of looking around on etsy lately with the new one due, I thought I would show you some of my favorite gifts for the boys in your lives.

This printof a hugging bear family from zukzuk makes me smile.

Holly at grovecraft makes great cycling hats - something warm and cozy that fits under your bike helmet.

Want to knit something for your nephew? How about a monkey from fuzzymitten?

I have several CircularAccessories shirts. I think this one, called "The Hunt" is great fun!

How about a mountain biker ornament for your tree?

You know I love puppets. These from owlyshadow puppets are awesome.

Maybe not such practical gifts, but what are aunties for anyway?

Fairy Godmother

2008-11-11T10:12:00.002-06:00

Once in a while in my job I get to be a "fairy godmother". Giving a scholarship, making a certificate for an award, even accepting a new class proposal sometimes feels like I am doing a little magic for someone. Yesterday I got to be a part of giving away three $5000 grants to artists. Sometimes Mondays are cool.

New!

2008-11-06T19:06:00.002-06:00

It has been a little quiet around here because I have been busy becoming a new auntie.

This is Erik. He's new.

He is a little early. He decided that nobody had enough excitement for election day. Have much baby knitting to finish.

today

2008-11-04T08:45:00.003-06:00

Spooky

2008-10-31T08:34:00.001-05:00

Costumes and more costumes

2008-10-24T21:37:00.007-05:00

I was not organized enough this year to post my annual costume-a-day but you can see them in the archives! Just click that label down at the bottom of the post that says "costume-a-day" and it will take you to see 24 quick and easy costume ideas that you can throw together in the next week. It's my trick or treat to you!

10 inches

2008-10-20T21:10:00.003-05:00

I feel like I have lost 20 lbs! More than 10 inches cut off today and donated to "Locks of Love". The "before" picture is actually from August - it was the only shot I could find with my hair down, so it was longer than that. I just keep shaking my head to feel how light it is.

Dyes

2008-10-16T19:53:00.005-05:00

I had a comment in a previous post and I thought I would answer it here instead.
"How long does it take you to dye your fabrics? They're so gorgeous."

It depends on what I am dyeing. To do most kinds of silk, I can steam set it and the actual dyeing part takes about 5 minutes. First, I mix up colors. Most of the dyes I work with are in powdered form. Sometimes with silk, I use food coloring or koolaid though. Then I "do stuff" to the silk - fold it, crumple it, stitch it - anything to give the fabric some texture. Then I put dyes on it, usually with squirt bottles, so I can control where they go. I usually only mix up 3-5 colors and do a lot of blending to get everything else. Finally, I either steam set in the microwave (2 minutes) or set it with a mordant and let it "cure" for 1-4 hours. Rinse, dry and iron.

Cotton is much the same, but not steamable to fix the colors. So cotton has to sit in the dye for an hour or more.

So, it's pretty fast depending on the complexity of the pattern I am doing. I tend to do a whole bunch of small pieces at once, so I will have a dozen new pieces but only about 9x12 inches of each one. (The photo above is acually a batch of t-shirts sitting on our back step.)

Knitted

2008-10-13T18:08:00.003-05:00

Pattern: Ilean (downloadable on Ravelry)
Yarn: Louisa Harding Castello, wool, poly, nylon, acrylic. Close up it looks like a thread of blue, one of black one of shimmery gold. Used just a little more than one skein.

It's basically a loop that I can slip over my head. It was a rainy day today and this was quite cozy. An easy to memorize pattern (which is usually very hard for me). Love it.

Kale

2008-10-10T18:01:00.002-05:00

I love the texture in these photos. Hope they inspire something creative for you.

Thank You

2008-10-06T14:21:00.002-05:00

A big shout out to Schlaifers Enamels. I needed a rush order to finish up some bridesmaids jewelry and it's already in the mail. Their customer service is top notch, friendly and they are my heros today!

PMC

2008-10-05T19:48:00.004-05:00

PMC = Precious Metal Clay

I have worked with the silver metal clay before with mixed results. It is a little bit like trying to sculpt with bubble gum. I have not been pleased. But a week or two ago, I got a book about using enamels with pmc. I thought the book might give me a little guidance - this stuff can't be that bad to work with or no one would use it. I have to say, the author is my hero. So far, my favorite bit of advice has been:

When working with metal clay, a good rule of thumb is the 10-80-10 plan. This means plan to spend 10% of your time working with the wet clay, 80% of your time on the greenware sanding and finishing, and 10% of your time on postfire finishing.

PMC works in several stages. You have this wet bubblegum stuff that you make in to something. Then you let it dry overnight. Then you have a dusty clay "greenware" piece that you can sand and file to your heart's content. Then you fire it. I did not appreciate the greenware stage appropriately. I just cut the circles, stamped the leaves (see below) and then left these to dry. All the rest I did in the dry stage. What a difference.

I am thrilled to pieces with these two new silver enamels.
(edit: can't get the other image to post tonight. I will try again tomorrow.)

These are silver, stamped with a hand carved stamp and then filled with enamel. The discs are about the size of a quarter and are slightly rippled, giving them a kind of organic look. The ripple was purely a coincidence - I fired them on a three pointed trivet and they bent a bit while firing. I liked they way it looked, so I didn't try to flatten them. It's like a leaf in a puddle.

I also invested in a tiny little dremel tool. It has a lovely wire brush attachment that polished these up to a nice brushed finish. Not too shiny, just right. They will be in the shop soon, although I may just have to keep one for myself.

Puppets, needlepoint and fax machines

2008-10-05T19:18:00.002-05:00

A lovely long weekend for me. Sigh. And it's almost over.

I spent today cutting out puppets, getting ready for the holidays. I have 90 cut out and in bags now. I still need to do about 10 lions and some penguins and then I will be done cutting. I do some kind of a new animal every year. Last year was a rhinocerous. The year before was a moose. This year I am going to try hedgehogs. I have them cut out, but I am not sure how they will look quite yet. I like to do puppets in stages - first I cut; then all the machine sewing - bodies, then ears, then heads, then beaks and things; and finally curling up with movies and the hand sewing. It will take me about 30 hours to finish all of these. Yipes!

This evening, I finished up a few odds and ends and then designed a little tiny needlepoint elephant. I am going to make more ornament kits for my etsy shop. I found two packages of hardanger cloth, which really looks to me like tiny cross stitch fabric, at the thrift store. They are bright red and blue and were just begging to be made in to something cute. I haven't decided how to finish the ornament yet, but I think they might be little heart shaped "pillows" with some vintage fabrics on the back.

We also figured out how to make the fax machine on our printer all-in-one thing work. The place I order enameling supplies from doesn't have online ordering and so I usually fax the order in. I discovered that I have a special order for enamels in the works and I am out of all kinds of my favorite copper blanks, namely the ones I need. I have my fingers crossed that they can get my order out to me soon!

Hello out there!

2008-09-21T17:15:00.002-05:00

Ok, I do really seriously want your roommate stories! Come on people.

A co-worker of mine told me about her roommate "Rosemary". To make a long story short, it seems that dear sweet Rosemary had imaginary friends. She had a friend who died and she had to speak at his funeral, she went to London to visit her ultra-cute boyfriend who had a freak accident and was hospitalized there and sent long email conversations to her friends. All made up and ultimately confessed to. 2 years of total fiction. Wow. Beat that!

If you really don't have anything to share, then go check out my new vintage rabbit ornament kits. I love to design projects and these turned out so cute! The kit has all the instructions and materials you need to make a cute cameo style rabbit ornament. I even put in some of my little stash of vintage fabrics.

Roommates

2008-09-17T16:19:00.002-05:00

My first college roommate was named Kim. Kim was a sophomore who hadn't found a roommate, so she got a freshman by random assignment; that was me. I talked to her on the phone once before school started and she basically told me to bring nothing - she had everything and it would all be perfect. It was all perfectly mint green and peach. Her carpet matched her towels which matched her sheets and blankets, which even matched the carpet "cleaner" and air freshener she loved - fresh peach. I still think of her every time I smell artificial peach.

I was telling one of my summer camp groups about my roommates. I don't remember why. But I got this great idea. I want to do a series of art pieces all about roommates. Not sure what exactly it's going to look like yet, but I have some great ideas percolating.

So here's what I want from you: Please inspire my art! Tell me about your roommate. Basic info, quotes and fun facts. Either leave a comment or drop me an email.

Roommate: Kim
Basic facts: College dorm room, business major, crispy bleached blonde hair
Color scheme: Peach and mint green
Her story: She stopped speaking to me about October and left little notes "I will be vacuuming on Tuesday, please move your stuff." and "Please do not print anything on your computer when I am here. I need to sleep and I don't appreciate it." My friends called her "the PsychoB*tch". She never spent a single weekend at school but went home every Thursday night and didn't appear again until Monday afternoon.

Roommate: Wendy
Basic Facts: College Dorm, flunked herself out playing computer games
Color scheme: Anything goes with black
Her story: Both Wendy and I were ditched by our original roommates. They decided they wanted to live together about a week after school started so they went and got everything switched and informed Wendy that she was moving in with me. Wendy had a pet rat named Wolfgang. He was very much not allowed in the dorms. She spent all of her time in the computer lab playing "MUDDS" with a bunch of trenchcoat-wearing friends and never went to class. I referred to her friends as the "Lost Boys" and I became "Captain". We made s'mores in the microwave once and burned the marshmallows. Wendy only had 2 cd's - Prince and Meatloaf.

Gallery Show: Freedom, the Fiber of our Nation

2008-09-10T18:34:00.004-05:00

Sexual Revolution
Becka Rahn
2008

"In so many ages and so many places, a young girl is considered the
property of her father, brothers, or husband. She is not given the
opportunity to study and pursue a dream, but is expected to marry and
have children or become a commodity to trade for family status and
prestige. My experience has been very different. This piece is a wish
for all young girls to experience the freedom that I have enjoyed by
growing up in the time and place that I did.

In this piece, I used the idea of fertility to represent that freedom,
because it is used as a symbol in many cultures. Acorns, snakes,
elephants, lotus blossoms, rice, pine cones, frogs and pomegranates
are all motifs embroidered and woven in to textiles used to wish
fertility to a new bride. In the style of "Space Invaders", a video
game representing my place and time in history, the girl in the
picture is shooting down these symbols. The number 1960 is the date
that the birth control pill was approved. The letters RSR are my
initials.

Hand embroidered with hand-stitched appliqué. Cotton threads and
fabric."

You can see this piece in person as part of the "Freedom: The Fiber of our Nation" show at the Textile Center Joan Mondale Gallery, now through October 18.

State Fair

2008-09-08T08:31:00.005-05:00

We managed to get to the State Fair for a few hours one evening. I found my "quilt on a stick" The ones that won ribbons were lovely, but very traditional quilt sorts of patterns. The butter princess sculptures were near where Andy got ice cream at the dairy barn. The "spaghetti & meatballs on a stick" looked yucky, but we had to take a picture. The lamb was in the baby animals barn and was about half a day old. So cute and sleepy.

Catch Up

2008-08-25T19:10:00.004-05:00

Time to catch up with summer projects. I went around and took a bunch of pictures of thing I have finished recently that never made it to the blog. Here are some of the highlights:

My new laptop sleeve. It is lined with cute japanese dachshunds fabric.

Fishy Skirt. I need to hem this still so I can wear it on Friday. Bright tropical fish and three stripes of ric rac.

Some cotton yarn that I dyed this weekend.

Coral and crystal earrings.

My very first fabric design from Spoonflower.com. I am a beta tester. I haven't done a thing with this fabric since it arrived. I will post as I investigate.

A pillowcase top made with a little fabric from this great vintage fabric swap I participated in. The elephant (yes, it's an elephant) from the previous post is more vintage fabric. A flouncy skirt from random clearance fabric. Simple tube with a drawstring and a flippy flounce.

Finally, a skirt made from two remnants picked up at Crafty Planet. (Thanks Rachel for making me get them). I appliqued little bits of the lacy print on to the polkadot print to create the illusion of a border that goes all the way around.

Contest On a Stick

2008-08-11T17:18:00.001-05:00

The Minnesota State Fair prides itself on being the home of 59 different foods on a stick. No kidding! Check out the video or the official "food finder" site. Not wanting to be left out of all the fun, the Creative Activities section of the fair decided to add a new category this year - "Quilt on a Stick". To qualify, your quilt must be 8x9 inches, consist of a minimum of three layers that are hand or machine stitched together, and have a sleeve on the back, which holds a paint stir stick. At the last minute, our entire staff at work decided to enter our quilts-on-a-stick! The category has several ribbon and cash prizes associated with it. How can you resist entering, with the possibility of being able to say "I won a blue ribbon for Quilt on a Stick"?

My entry is above. It is titled "Wallflower". (Although it is not present in the photo, it does indeed sport a stick.) I intended it to be a bit of a mystery and it has stumped some of its viewers, who haven't picked up on what exactly they are looking at. Leave a comment by August 21 (Fair opening day) with what you see in my "quilt on a stick" and I will award a prize of Kitchy State Fair Goodness to a random winner.

pretties

2008-08-04T20:22:00.001-05:00

Out of curiousity, I counted how many silk cuffs I have sold though my etsy shop and came up to more than 70. Wow! I looked back through the photos and thought about how much I really like making these. Each one is different, but all beautiful.

busy doesn't begin to cover it

2008-07-26T13:19:00.002-05:00

* Since the last post, I have supervised 7 more camps, finished the Fall class schedule with 30+ classes, attended 2 work related parties, and designed a postcard.

* The power cord for my iPod died, 3 weeks after its warranty was up. Happily it was just the cord and that was easy to replace.

* The photo is a "doggie bag" that Rachel and Andy designed for one of my classes. I gave them the idea and they figured out how to make it. Cute huh?

* We went walking to see the petroglyphs near my sister's house. Lot's of pretty wildflowers in the meadow.

* Today we are planning to sit in the back yard and read. That's all.

This week at camp

2008-07-17T19:25:00.002-05:00

we made:
handdyed fabric
bean bags
wet felted pictures
cat purses
animal pictures from fabric
felt bugs to watch your plants
handspun yarn "cotton candy"
washcloths
knit tiny blankets
played in the scrap bin
learned to thread sewing machines
cut out 12 pairs of pajama pants
... and we still have a day to go!

meet yoda we did

2008-07-15T23:10:00.002-05:00

Did the Science Museum's Star Wars exhibit with my dad this weekend.
* The wookie costumes are amazing. The detail is unreal.
* Princess Leia wears double knit polyester.
* It was an honor to study Yoda up close.
* Thank you to the exhibit designers that made the display so that you could see the Milennium Falcon model from about 8 inches away. Details need to be appreciated.

We saw an exhibit of Muppets when it came to the Childrens' Museum here several years ago and I have to say, nothing compares to seeing Ogra (from the Dark Crystal) for sheer "wow", not even Yoda. She gave me chills.

pretty things: cool blue

2008-07-15T23:05:00.000-05:00

Cool!

2008-07-10T22:58:00.003-05:00

pretty things

2008-07-07T20:23:00.000-05:00

photo safari

2008-07-06T13:51:00.002-05:00

Rachel was here for the week and although we didn't take very many pictures, we did spend an afternoon at Como Park, taking pictures of the flowers.

One minute documentaries

2008-07-03T09:06:00.000-05:00

Be sure to check out the "One Minute Documentaries" by Andy and Rachel.

Embroidery Tutorial : Running Stitch

2008-06-26T19:23:00.003-05:00

Things that rock.

2008-06-26T18:53:00.002-05:00

1. Read this post

The society that doesn't value handwork is wrong. The magazine article that suggests you are less than human because you prefer an evening with your cat and spinning wheel to dinner at a noisy new restaurant is wrong. The company that doesn't believe you can enjoy a knitting circle and also chair a board meeting is wrong.

This is from Franklin Habit (see below). I think I like Franklin.

1,000 Knitters is a long-term photography project undertaken by Chicago photographer (and knitter) Franklin Habit, who blogs at The Panopticon. The goal is to celebrate through portraiture a creative community whose members have historically been either overlooked or sentimentalized, and whose work is often undervalued.

In the series, self-identified knitters are photographed singly while at work on the same wool scarf.

The first knitter cast on in May, 2007. As of June 14, 2008, 928 knitters have taken part.

The final format of the work is yet to be determined. Possibilities include a book and/or a gallery exhibition. Showings of the work-in-progress will likely take place online.

2. My summer camp this week wrote me a note on the white board, because I won't be there tomorrow. It says "Thanks Becka! You Rock!" with some accompanying artwork. (This isn't even a class I taught, I just checked them in and dug out cool and funky materials for them.) When your class is taught by a "sassy art goddess" I think some of it must rub off.

geekery

2008-06-26T09:24:00.002-05:00

That last little post was from my class on Tuesday night. We were talking about "Intro to Website Design" - how to put together a nice looking and functional website. I posted as a demonstration of how easy it is to update some kinds of websites.

My sister Rachel arrives on the scene here tomorrow for a visit. Gotta clear off a bed, which is covered in photo equipment. But it should be a fun time.

The official start of summer camp season was yesterday. We created some zipper bags, much to the amazement of some parents. I love when that happens.

hi there

2008-06-24T19:48:00.001-05:00

This is from Technology Tuesdays!

Marbled

2008-06-21T22:53:00.004-05:00

Friday, I spent the day learning to marble on fabric and paper. A very thin layer of acrylic paint is floated on top of a layer of carageenan. You drop the paint with an eye dropper and then pull long combs through it to create the patterns. I had a great time in class - it was so much fun to just be a student for a change.

These are scans of fabric pieces that I did. The fabric is alot easier than the paper and I got better results, but the alum (mordant) in the fabric contaminates your carageenan tank and the way to get it back in balance is to do a couple of pieces of paper in between your fabric pieces. I mostly cut up my paper pieces in to small bits to use as thank you cards.

Meme

2008-06-18T09:30:00.002-05:00

1. Becka'sButterflies, 2. Pasta Flower, 3. Departure, 4. pea boat, 5. Gene Kelly, 6. quench your bokeh thirst, 7. English Countryside, 8. mocha coffee soft cream, 9. The Photographer, 10. March 30 - My Story, 11. Apple Juggling by tongue, 12. Paddlefish Silhouette

The Questions:
1. What is your first name? Becka
2. What is your favorite food? pasta
3. What high school did you go to? Stevens
4. What is your favorite color? lime green
5. Who is your celebrity crush? Gene Kelly
6. Favorite drink? iced tea
7. Dream vacation? English Countryside
8. Favorite dessert? coffee ice cream
9. What you want to be when you grow up? an artist
10. What do you love most in life? creativity
11. One Word to describe you. prestidigitation
12. Your Flickr name. paddlefish

If you'd like to do it too here's what you do:
Open three windows. One with the list of questions, another open to Flickr and ready to do an image search, and a third to Big Huge Labs' Mosaic Maker (create a mosaic with 4 columns and 3 rows). Answer the first question, put your answer in the search field on Flickr and choose one of the images from the first page to represent your answer. Click on the photo then copy and paste the url into the #1 spot on the Mosaic Maker. Do that for all 12 questions, then click create and post the results to your blog!

Things that caught my eye today...

2008-06-17T18:46:00.001-05:00

Pretty things. That's all.

Vacation!

2008-06-16T20:31:00.008-05:00

I have been away from blogging, not because I was really on vacation, but because of...

...aka the Shibori Symposium. Many fantastic artists from all over the country descended upon my art center in a frenzy of shibori goodness. As Overseer-of-all-Things-Shibori, my presence was greatly in demand.

Just before that happened, I found a fabulous sheet at a thrift store and whipped up this dress, while Andy was kayaking with a friend...

...I wore it to the opening reception for the shibori show. The bonus of making a dress from a sheet is that it cost me all of $1 and it is a nice poly/cotton wrinkle free blend, so no ironing. But just before I made that dress, I worked on this shirt...

... with the help of Dolores the Dummy. She is new to me but has "seen a few seams" if you know what I mean. She isn't pretty but she is amazingly helpful. (Dolores was named by my friend Nancy, who had her over for a visit before she came to me.) It took me about 5 weeks to make the shirt - not because it was hard, but because I only had the opportunity to work on it for 45 minutes at a time for that long.
And finally, somewhere in there, Andy and I celebrated our 13th wedding anniversary. I took him to see "A Midsummer Night's Dream" at the Guthrie (totally fantastic) and he bought me these charmingly silly shoes as a present.

I can just see them with black tights and cute skirts this fall. Love it! (apologies for crummy pictures. I just didn't feel like photo styling today.)

My latest etsy purchase

2008-06-03T22:30:00.002-05:00

Back when I worked at a summer childrens' theater, we did a production of the Three Billy Goats Gruff. Because I had a friend (through my dad) who was from Romania, we had her translate the goats' dialogue in to Romanian. The troll spoke English. It has always been one of my favorite shows. It was silly, but so fun. The story has a happy ending where they all order vegetarian pizza. We built a huge bridge set piece that we could walk over. We spent a few minutes at the beginning of the show teaching the audience a bunch of the Romanian words (iarba is grass!) and they helped the troll figure out what was happening. I got to be the "Great Big Billy Goat", which if you know me is pretty comical all by itself.

So when I saw this "O Capra Mititika" (Little Billy Goat), I HAD to have him. He is crafted by Mark at MNSCeramics.etsy.com. ( I also have a verdegris colored rhinocerous by Mark and my sister has a pair of bears)

New!

2008-05-26T20:40:00.003-05:00

Spent a little while in the "cupboard under the stairs" (aka enamel studio) working on some new designs. Sewing machine, mad scientist, trout and groovy vinyl.

choices...

2008-05-21T08:34:00.003-05:00

I have narrowed it down... Which ones do you like best? I already have a pair of brown and a pair of black, so I am looking for some color.

Ho Hum

2008-05-19T18:05:00.002-05:00

I started Sunday with a list of things to be accomplished.
- buy new sandals
- get new capri pants
- find electric tea kettle
- get fabric for special project
- prototype new finger puppet design

I accomplished exactly zero of those things, but not for a lack of trying!

Sandals - not only didn't find any, but didn't even find any I wanted to try on. Pathetic. I don't like thong style with things between my toes or super high heels, but otherwise I am pretty easy to please. Time to check out zappos.com

Capris - This season the colors seems to be white, pale pink, khaki, taupe, black and screaming raspberry. I don't wear any of those colors. Hello sewing machine.

Tea Kettle - Chintzy plastic or badly designed stainless. Still looking.

Fabric - Favorite store which used to carry cute retro prints no longer carries them. Project demands 30's reproduction fabric. Reprodepot, here I come.

Prototype - Great idea to save myself lots of time. Prototyping involved bonding paper to silk screen in a manner which was not as designed. Operator error. Sigh.

On the other hand, Andy had a fantastic kayak adventure with a friend and then this morning went and took pretty artsy shots of my flowers which are finally blooming!

I see you there with your camera

2008-05-08T07:57:00.001-05:00