Spinning was a blast!

Today I went back to the Fibre Factory to learn to use a spinning wheel. Last week I had a lesson on how to spin using a drop spindle, so I had a bit of an idea how to draw the roving out and spin it. However, I can't say I really enjoyed it. I never felt like I had great control and hence no rhythm. It just always felt like work. So I wasn't sure whether I would enjoy the spinning wheel or not.

First Barb taught me how to card the raw fleece. Carding was difficult at first because I was pushing the fibers too deep into the prongs of the brushes. Once I lightened my touch it carded much more easily. I made a bunch of carded rolls (roving).

Then Barb helped me to chose a spinning wheel to use. The store has many makes and models. I chose one that looked like my aunt Vyra's. It had one pedal or treadle to push and three simple speed devices. Very basic. A good model to learn on.

I got the hang of spinning very quickly. It was fun! I felt I had control and got into a rhythm. A great right brained activity. First I spun store bought roving. Once I got used to the technique I spun the carded rolls I made. My hand carded roving spun like a dream. Wow!!

Once I had spun two bobbins full. I learned to ply the yarns together to produce a two ply yarn. Plying is simpler than drawing roving and spinning it into yarn. In days of yore, the children would often do the carding and the plying.

To ply you put two full bobbins on holders down near your feet. Attach the two yarns to a new bobbin on the spinning wheel and spin the two yarns together. I was super pleased with my first skein of 2 ply yarn!!

Now to get home and borrow Vyra's wheel. Dust it off and oil it up - I'm coming to spin!!

Oddities and Icicles

Don Here:
We have had some interesting weather here.  The locals say they almost never get this kind of weather. Yesterday we had 1/2 inch of rain. The evening finished off with a surprise hail storm which blew in to the decking of the mobile and the temp went below freezing overnight.  The next day the guys and I  had a 9 AM tee time over at Desert Canyon golf course in Fountain Hills to the north.  We thought they were going to hold us up but by 9 they let us start our round.  The sun was shining and we did a very enjoyable 18 holes by 1PM.  The sun when it is out is extremely warm and usually very light winds.

On Monday thanks to Bob having some extra tickets, 6 of us went to the Phoenix/Calgary hockey game in Glendale's Jobing.com arena.  We had a great time but the Canadian team did not perform well and were defeated without a goal.  They do have a very nice arena here.  Too bad they do not get a lot of local support for the team.

One day Krista and I went for a drive and ended up at Saguaro Lake.  It is a dammed up lake that is part of a whole system of dams and lakes running the length of the Salt River.  It supplies a large part of Phoenix's water.  We did see all sorts of things out on the water including the aquatic car in the pictures below.  Not sure but he kind of looked like James Bond.

The golf ball artwork in the pics below are in a yard along a fairway of a course I was golfing.  The owners, obviously have been hoarding balls for many years.  They seem to have come up with a clever use for all of the balls involuntarily "donated" to their cause.

Krista and I also were in the Flea market in Mesa where they have a bit, ...no, a lot of everything.  The only place I know of that you can pick from a variety of skulls for sale.  The cattle skulls are popular as desert landscape ornamentation.  Most yards are desert type plants and landscape, not grass which is too hard to maintain.

All for now.

Last night on our deck we witnessed small hail stones.  

"Warming up" on the ice covered driving range at Desert Canyon golf course before our 9 AM tee time. 

Bob exhibiting fine form.  Then we went in for another coffee.

The Phoenix Coyotes take on the Calgary Flames.  Sold out crowd on the Presidents Day holiday monday.

Glendale AZ. The Coyotes' Jobing.com arena

Overlooking the marina at Saguaro Lake Arizona.

I thought this guy was really lost.

But he has a big smile on so guess he knows what he is doing.  An aquatic car on Saguaro lake near Fountain Hills AZ.

This guys yard was along the fairway and he has been collecting balls for a long time.  Obviously does not use them for golf.

golf ball art work.

The line of skulls and cactuses for sale at the Mesa Flea market

Bali Strips Challenge

I joined a Bali Strips sharing group with Manitoba Prairie Quilters this fall. Each group has 10 quilters who share 4 Width Of Fabric (WOF) Bali strips with each other. Thus each quilter gets 40 Bali strips, nearly a complete jelly roll. Then each quilter is to design a pattern that suits the strips of fabric received.

I used a diamond saw tooth design to create a total of 12 saw blade blocks. I had to choose some pattern that could accommodate a large variety of colours, yet still have some unity within the entire quilt.

I think the completed top looks very nice. Now I will have to decide on boarders, quilt it and take it to the MPQ meeting when we all reveal our work. Ultimately the completed quilts will all be donated. A great challenge for a great cause.

Squaring up a block.

Each block had a range of colours, so I tried to put coordinating colours together.  Also I tried to put the darkest colour, then a middle range, then the lightest, followed by the blank.

Put the four blocks together to produce one saw blade.

Twelve different saw blades completes the main quilt top.

What do you think of my use of all the coloured strips I received?

Ever heard of ....

Swedish weaving. New to me. Beautiful yarn work.

Yesterday, at the Mesa Dunes hall where I was quilting with the park quilting group, I met a lady who wanted me to do zigzagging on some cloth she was going to wash and didn't want to fray. As I was zigzagging the raw edges we talked about this unique material, called monks cloth, and what she was using it for. She said a friend was going to teach her Swedish weaving.

Curiosity on my part led her to run over to her friend's mobile and get some samples. I fell in love with the weaving right away. The monks cloth is so soft, yet textured and heavy enough to be a great afghan, yet the yarn work is so light and intriguing. Gorgeous. See the photos to get an idea.

Oh no, another disappearing fibre art that I would love to learn. I need a dozen more lives to live!!

An entire afghan.  All the colours and the fringe is yarn woven onto the monks cloth.

A close up of the yarn woven into the monks cloth.

The needle used to weave the yarn is flat.  Here you can see the detail of the monks cloth showing the coarse weave that gives the grid for following when weaving in the yarn.

Silk Ribbon Bobbin Work

Today I took a class at Quilters Oasis in Mesa, Arizona. Linda Hopkins, the instructor, presented the class to her one and only student, moi!! Linda is from New York area and comes to Arizona for the winter. She goes to various quilt shows as a demonstrator for River Silks, a company that sells hand dyed silk ribbons.

Linda uses the ribbon in the bobbin of her sewing machine. That means you have to think backward (or upside down). First you hand wind some ribbon on a bobbin, then place the bobbin in your machine by-passing all tension discs. Select any utilitarian stitch - straight, zigzag, designed, basically any stitch other than satin stitches or any stitches that go over the same area numerous times.

I made myself a reference sheet that shows a variety of machine stitches, often set to the largest stitch size I could set the machine at, in two different widths of silk ribbon - 7mm and 4mm. This sheet will help me remember the stitch settings when I want to use this technique on a project.

It was exciting to reveal the fancy ribbon work by turning the material over. (Remember, you are working upside down, the ribbon is on the bobbin, which is underneath.)

During the workshop various shoppers came in to the classroom to see what we were doing. At one point a woman said, "Krista, Krista Zeghers from Holland?".  I looked up to a familiar face.  Carol, who used to work at Boyne Valley, was visiting the shop. We knew each other from working for Tiger Hills School Division. What a small world!!

Silk ribbon bobbin work is now another tool in my quilting tool kit of strategies to use. Great day!!

Quilters' Oasis in Mesa, Arizona

Sampler of bobbin work

Linda working on a crazy quilt that has a lot of silk ribbon bobbin work on it.

My sampler, ribbon side up showing various stitches, length and width noted, 

with 7mm ribbon (blue) and 4mm (green) ribbons

Back of sample showing the type of stitch used.  This is what you see as you are working.  

The ribbon is in the bobbin, so the fancy work is underneath.  

Makes for an interesting reveal, when you turn it over.  Rather like working blind!

Samples of the silk ribbon.  Once again the 7mm is blue and the 4mm is green.  See the size difference?

See the ribbon I have hand wound on a bobbin ready to be put into the drop-in bobbin case.

Spinning Class

I attended a spinning class. No not cycle, but yarn. Barb, my instructor, used to be a shepherd in Quebec, then moved with her husband, who is in the aerospace industry, to Tempe. Way too hot here to raise any animals that have wool, so she became a spinning instructor.

Spinning is not difficult but does take time to master. I spent an hour and a half with Barb learning how to spin using the drop spindle. I didn't feel very successful but she said I was doing well.

Barb is very good at using the drop spindle and spins silk yarn that she then plies in with other wool yarn. These two ply yarns are very beautiful together. The natural wool yarns are dark browns to tans. The silks are beautifully dyed. She made a shawl out of dark brown wool with a ply of teal blue silk wrapped around the wool. Gorgeous.

Once I learn to use the drop spindle a bit better Barb will teach me to use the spinning wheel. Today I practiced again for about an hour on the drop spindle. I am getting better, but still need more practice before I attempt wheel.

The shop, the Fiber Factory is right downtown in Mesa and is run and staffed by unique folks. There always seems to be interesting characters sitting in the shop knitting and visiting too. A great place to be a fly on the wall (or a spinner in the corner!).

The Fibre Factory sells yarns and other knitting and crocheting supplies, but is unique in that it also has spinning wheels and looms to learn spinning and weaving. Not sure how many people in a desert are interested in working with wool? Can't say I expected to find a shop like this in Mesa!

Barb is spinning a blue silk thread.  The individual fibre length of silk is very long, perhaps one foot.  You can see how far she has to hold her hands apart to separate the threads.

Barb's beautifully inlaid drop spindle.

The looms that are for use by weaving students.

A sample of a section on weaving by one of the students.

The Fibre Factory has a pink chair statue right outside the door so it is easy to spot.

Here I am spinning the spindle off my hip, to create the spin that twists the roving into a yarn.

Here I am drawing out the roving into a thin enough piece of wool roving to create a useable sized yarn.  As you can see, wool has a much shorter staple (length of fibre), I only have to hold my two hands about four inches apart to draw the threads before they get spun into yarn.  

Pickleball

Don and I have been enjoying playing pickleball. It is a racket sport played on a badminton sized court with the net dropped lower and using a table-tennis like paddle with a wiffle ball. This sport created in the 60s seems to be gaining popularity out here. Our park has two courts. The regulars usually play in the evening under electric lights. They were very inviting and encouraged us to play with them. That way we learned the basics.

I bought an extra paddle (there was already one here at the mobile) and Don and I practiced yesterday. It was windy and it effected the light wiffle ball which is like a large ping-pong ball with holes in it. (Kind of like a large practice golf ball. ). We had lots of fun despite the wind.

Arizona home

We are having relaxing days at our new home in Arizona. We are renting Hogers mobile at Mesa Dunes. The trailer is a very spacious two bedroom unit. The deck gets sunshine in the afternoon, so we usually sit out there.

We enjoy playing Pickleball. It is a game like tennis played on a badminton sized court, with paddles akin to table tennis and a wiffle-like ball. Great game. I will try to get pics of it tonight.

Lunch on the deck, mixing Mexican and Japanese.

Sushi and tacos with salsa.

The front of Hoger's mobile.  Don is reading on the deck, enjoying the afternoon sunshine.

Cactus with Palm tree behind are beside the mobile.

Orange and grapefruit trees behind the mobile.

Donation quilts

The local quilt group of Mesa Dunes always makes 40 quilts a year for the Royal Purple who give them to foster children with disabilities. I joined the group today and was able to sew together one quilt top consisting of blocks in a 10 X 8 grouping.

The quilt group is a real bee hive of activity. Some people sew tops, some iron, some tie and pin quilts for binding, and then some people sew the binding on.

Someone has created an adaptation to raise the tables to counter top height for some of the jobs using PVC piping to add to the bottom of the legs Very creative, inexpensive and does the trick. Marvelous idea!

Tying the quilt with yarn.  They use large needles and pliers to pull the needle out as it can be very tough to get through all the layers of fabrics and batting.

Tying the yarn.

The ladies work on the finished quilt top on a raised table at counter top height.

Pinning the binding over so that it can be sewn by sewing machine, making for a stronger join.

My rows are completed in this photo.  Then I joined the rows to finish the quilt top.

PVC table leg risers.