Category Archives: silk

The Land of the Lost

     I have been transported to the land of the lost. The land of dyeing silk. I  may never return. I am very happy and relaxed here. They may call my name for meals and I may never come up for them.

    I don’t want to put any words to it yet. Except -happy.

    Lost in the land of silk dyeing.

The Softness of Silk

     My husband, Marc, came back yesterday to spend the next five days with us. He came early enough in the day that we were able to take a day trip and enjoy some of the pretty countryside here.I love choosing new places to check out here. The weather has been especially nice and I took some great pictures which I hope to show you tomorrow. So nice to have him here …

     I finished a little silk piece on Tuesday. I had picked up a package of silk scraps at the Vermont Quilt Show in June at this booth and could have spent hours in there searching through her bags of treasures.It is called Delectable Mountain and is located in Brattleboro, VT. If I take a trip that far south, I will definitely check the store out. She had lots of merchandise. This is what I have left over-

     I loved working with the silk pieces and I did it entirely piece by piece without thinking of design on a design wall. Just laying it out on my table next to me and choosing another piece to add.  No agonizing over what would come next. and I was done with it in an afternoon. And I love it. It’s nothing fancy as far as design is concerned and I could critique for you. But I am just going to enjoy it. I love it.

I will hand stitch this piece and it seems like a good project for the ride home next week. The edges fray like crazy so I need to sandwich it as soon as possible. I will use silk thread and hand dyed embroidery floss for the hand stitching. Any suggestions for me  for those of you who have used silk before?

   
Off to help out with a kids golf tournament. Having trouble with this…so hope it publishes. 
Happy Summer, my friends!

Little Things

     I love little things that make my job easier. And I always learn something at a workshop that I can apply to what I am doing. This little scissors is perfect for ripping out tight seams. It’s actually a suture scissors.  I bought one from Deb Kurasik at my workshop on Wednesday. The stitch length she recommended for paper piecing was 1.5-tiny -so ripping out was not fun. They really helped .

    

     Also, I remembered some table extensions that we had used in a fabric dyeing class last spring that put the table at just the right heighth for working in a standing position. When I asked Betsy, my friend who is in charge of organizing the programs where they came from she smiled and went and got me a set of four from the closet.

 PVC tubing that had been cut! This thirty dollar table is now the perfect heighth  for cutting and standing. And I thought it was another gadget to be purchased. Why don’t I think of things like that? (yes, it’s ready for binding 🙂

     I must move with my day. I am Mr. mom this weekend-dad and mom rolled into one as Marc is skiing in VT with his friends. I am tempted to begin something with this beautiful blue linen I dyed this summer, velvet and a drawer full of silk scraps I pick up along my way. I have a show I entered and must have a piece for in three weeks. Fun-remind me I feel no pressure!

Happy Sewing ,my friends!