Sep 1, 2013
Judging fleece at New Hampshire Sheep and Wool Festival
At my first New Hampshire Sheep and Wool festival with Guido, I was shocked when he confessed a certain attraction to the idea of raising sheep. Why on earth would you do that? Raising livestock reduces your stitching time!
Not one year later, Barb Parry‘s husband told the story of the day his wife came home with animals to graze in the back yard. Hanging around fiber animals produces a contagious desire to care for them, I gathered. Flockitis?
While I am far from interested in becoming a shepherd, attending Lucy Lee’s FiberCamp 2012 talk made me realize that I did want a fleece. Now why on earth did I choose to go to that talk? That’s the fun of FiberCamp… you’ll never know what you’ll learn. No hurry for this fleece, just… when presented with the right situation, I wanted a fleece. Not flockitis, just a fantasy fleece!
The situation presented itself last fall in Wisconsin. I knew that one of my sister’s dear friends, Laura Stremick-Thompson was raising Shetlands on Blind Faith Farm. She and her husband acquired their first registered Shetland sheep in 2009. I thought they just planned on hobby farming. However, Laura and Jim expanded the flock, adding other breeds and crosses. Clearly, flockitis was in the air, as they witnessed the first lambs born on their farm in 2010. Their closed spinner’s flock now has 15 sheep, including primitive double coated and single coated Shetland, Shetland cross, Bluefaced Leicester/Icelandic and Clun Mule. As you can imagine by this list of breeds, Laura is careful and dedicated to her flock, hoping not only for quality fiber but high quality of life for her herd.
What a fluff ball, Rupert!
Stella won won first place in the Double Coat Division and third place overall in the Shetland category at the 2011 WI Sheep and Wool Festival, and placed again in 2012. Also in 2012, Rupert captured first place in the Shetland colored, double coat class. Two others received third place in their categories. Here’s Laura sharing the ribbons with her flock.
Last October, Laura had 2 Shetland fleeces left. The color ways of Spectacles and Buckaroo sounded good over the phone. Sight unseen, I purchased them and shipped them to Boston. Buying a fantasy fleece was too easy.
Buckaroo as a lamb
Spectacles a few months after shearing.
According to Laura, Spectacles gets his name not only from his dark eye marks, but for the spectacle he makes of himself! The fleeces were much better than my pessimistic, novice fleece processing expectations. So clean, so beautifully skirted and with nary a second cut, the bags of lanolin smelling woolliness waited through the winter. On a hot summer weekend, I put on my swimsuit and washed the fleeces in the bath tub. What a jolly time that was! There was great pleasure watching Specs’ fleece go from beige to fluffy white and the delicate grey patch on his back. Buckaroo wasn’t nearly as dirty, but carefully swishing the laundry bags filled with fleece was really pleasurable.
Buckaroo’s fleece, tawny and luscious, before washing
That’s not a shadow, that’s Spectacle’s grey markings
I took some of Buckaroo’s fleece to wet felt immediately for a quilt I’m making now. Wow, Shetland felts much more slowly than Merino or Silk. His fleece has a lovely depth that will be great for this series on childhood camping experiences.
I haven’t finished carding, but it will happen someday. Once combed, I have no idea what I will do with the rest of this fleece, but it makes me happy just looking at it around my studio for the time being!
After processing all of Buckaroo’s fleece, I felted a portion to use in art quilts.
BlindFaithFarm has a shop at Etsy.com. In 2014, they plan to sell roving. If you’re interested in fleeces, catch Laura at the Wisconsin Sheep and Wool Festival next weekend, September 6 – 8, 2013, where her flock’s winning traditions will hopefully continue. Laura can also be reached at laurast25 at wi.rr.com. You, too, could have a fantasy fleece!
Aug 14, 2013
Quilting simmers on the back burner this year as I pursue the last stage of the master knitter program. Without starting my tirade for more hours in a day, let me just say how pleased I was to participate in the Studio Art Quilt Associates’ exhibit at the 2013 Images Quilt Show in Lowell. Val and Michele led the charge as co leaders of the Massachusetts/Rhode Island chapter of SAQA. As the veteran event organizer, I can totally applaud and appreciate the time and energy dedicated to this exhibit. Thanks, wonder women!
The SAQA special exhibit called for three works made by the same person united by theme, techniques or colors. What a great opportunity to look through my quilts and complete finishing touches to one languishing! These were the 3 quilts I showed from August 8 – 10, 2013.
Entry Blessings, 2013
I originally put this quilt together for last fall’s Rising Star Quilter show, but was so unhappy with the work, I took it apart and modified the felted background, approached the appliqué in a different manner and requilted the work. The Arabic greeting wishes all who enter peace and tranquility. Besides the wet felted “cloud,” I embroidered the words on silk, adding a trail of sequins and beads. I tried to balance formality with irregular shapes… not sure if I got it right yet, but the felted cloud functions better than it did last fall.
Bright Skies II, 2013
Inspired by a baby quilt I made in 2003 (that hung on the wall and not in the crib, I hear), I dyed and painted many of the fabrics in both Bright Skies quilts during my days in Rome. Fabric, felted and knitted suns are reverse appliquéd to the piece. The lower right sun is simply a machine quilted circle… indicating perhaps new techniques I may incorporate in my quilts? This was my languishing quilt, as the top was completed in 2010.
Gioia’s Rainbows, 2003
Driving around the Castelli Romani in 1998, I came upon a most magnificent double rainbow. I made this quilt during my youngest daughter’s rainbow phase, but it sat in a drawer for a decade. I think it’s time to hang this quilt somewhere.
Now it’s off to play with more fabric!
Aug 12, 2013
Are your eyes closed? Visiting the Old York Museums‘ 2013 decorator show house popped open my eyes. More than a dozen designers and landscape architects took over a waterfront property currently for sale. It’s an inspiring space, open to the public through August 15 (closed Tuesdays) in Kittery Point, ME. Compliments to all who worked to make this museum fundraiser a success!
Read highlights of the house in my blog post for Giardini di Sole. A lot of creative rethinking of space went into the decoration, and entering the house from the shoreline gives an entirely different experience (so smart, those designers!). There’s no photography allowed, so no home dec eye candy to share, just a garden view, peeking out from the grape trellis across the feng shui saltwater pool toward the cove. Do visit Secret Cove, if you can.
I can share my “Carpe Diem” decorating philosophy, however…
“Open Your Eyes: 1,000 Simple Ways to Bring Beauty into your Home and Life Each Day” was first published by Alexandra Stoddard in 1998. 
I hadn’t realized that my eyes had closed, but walking into my house after visiting Secret Cove sparked the annual retrieval of this favorite volume (I see it’s available in a digital format these days… hmmm!). I immediately tidied the piles of post that accumulated during our vacation and opened my eyes.
Thanks to Stoddard, there are 3 principals that I incorporate in my own home and studio.
- Shake up your art and home dec accessories. We tend to no longer notice your great stuff if it’s always in the same place.
- Decorate with objects meaningful to you. The abundance of coral fabrics, candlesticks and objects in Secret Cove was beautiful, but there’s no coral in Maine. If I spent much time scuba diving in warmer climes, such motifs might show up in my place (Such are home decor trends, I guess).
- Consider proportion. How does your eye travel across the room? Slight changes can give your space a completely different vibe.
As these glorious summer days and nights keep us outside and away from home, there’s nothing like opening your eyes when you come back inside. Seize the day and make the most of your space!
Jul 11, 2013
My wool collection includes yarns, threads, fleece and roving. On hot summer days, the latter two are some of my favorite toys. There’s something quite gratifying about putting on your swim suit and playing with soap, wool and water.
Needle felting is nice, but wet felting just brings out my beach instincts. In any case, I’m happy to include both in my art quilts.
Several of my recent art quilts use a felted background. It gives a lovely sense of multi textural goodness that contrasts with embroidery, quilting, applique and beading. For all of the fabric that I’ve dyed and painted, felting gives me a new dimension.
Here’s a background…
That became this quilt…
Earlier this week, my daughter’s college exploration took me to the Pioneer Valley. She considered my suggestion to fiber shop audacious. “Oh, no…don’t you have enough projects going now?”
She’s probably right, or we would have definitely stopped by New England Felting Supply in Eastborough to pick up some dyed quick felting merino roving. Felting has been a fun change of pace from my Master Knitter Focus this year.
I recently felted some undyed Shetland fleece and am here to report that merino felts much more quickly (however the end result was fabulous, pictures in a future post)! The slapping, stomping and throwing were undoubtedly excellent upper body work outs. If nothing else, I love playing with soapy water on summer day. It beats sitting in air conditioning, doesn’t it?
Jun 30, 2013
Word is getting out! More people are learning about the Melrose Adult Education program’s topics and signing up to learn painting, acting, business skills, interior design and craft. Yours truly will lead a basic knitting skills class on August 5 and 12 from 7 pm to 8:30
- Basic Knitting Skills: Learn 2 ways to cast on, to knit, to purl, and how to bind off. Understand some of the most common abbreviations in knitting patterns and get ready to work on a basic knitting project! Bring light colored, smooth (no novelty yarns, please) worsted or bulky weight yarn and appropriate size of knitting needle. This class works for those who have never knit before, or need a refresher class. With your MCAE registration confirmation Sit ‘n Knit Melrose offers 10% discount on your class supplies. 7 – 8:30 p.m. Offered on Mondays August 5 and 12, 2013. COST: $25.00
I’ll also lead morning and evening sessions for Sit’n Knit’s boot camp series. Seaming knits, buttonholes and new ways to cast on and bind off will be the feature topics. I’ll let you know when registration is open for these Tuesday classes that begin August 13.
