A Log Cabin Quilt Challenge... as interpreted by a Wearable Artist, Judith Pipher

A Log Cabin Quilt Challenge with Sewing, Machine Knitting and Beading...
as interpreted by a Wearable Artist, Judith Pipher

Front of Garment

Judith shares her process of following a Quilt Challenge and incorporating multiple textile arts to create a one-of-a-kind garment.

My goal in life is to surround myself with like-minded people. In the world of fabric the nearest group to me is a quilt guild . I joined the guild and appreciate the art form that quilting gives. Now to explain, I am not a quilt maker. I am a quilter. I quilt garments. I do try to fit in sometimes and I do take part in guild challenges.

This Challenge was to do a log cabin design. Of course it was meant to be a wall hanging or quilt. My interpretation was a garment. The  inspiration came from The Asymmetrical Layered Jacket from Cochenille Design Studio's The Easy Seven Series book. 

All pieces were charted out using Garment Designer pattern making software (www.cochenille.com). 

Both sleeves, left front and half the back were knit using my knitting machine. All hems were knit first using stocking stitch. The fabric was an assortment of Chinese inspired quilt fabrics. I took the right front pattern piece and the upper back piece from my pattern and then cut  the shape out of light weight cotton. Then the Log Cabin pattern began to take shape. On the centre back, the quilt pattern was overlapped to lay on the knitting. This was done to extend the log cabin square and to draw the eye away from the line of  sewing. The V-shape was then hand sewn on top of the knitting. The seam that joins the knitting and quilting was above the armhole to making it easier to manage. 

Front and Back of the garment

The inside of back quilting was finished by using a bias-trimmed lining to cover the stitching of the fabric. On the right front fabric side I used the same pattern shape to create the lining and slip stitched it in place. On the left side, a knit  facing was made to allow  the v-neck to lay flat and not curl. 

Inside of the garment

I continued to think about the art form of the Victorian Era of Crazy Quilting. On a black ultra suede strip on the fabric side  a dragon was created with embroidery and beading. A zipper was used for the closure and the stitches were concealed with an embroidery stitch. On the knit side, appliquéd strips of cloth were used at the shoulder matching up with the back fabric, creating an over the shoulder flow. Brass Chinese coins  were added to create whimsical detail.

To  add other focal points Bead work was done in the centre of a large flower, plus a small floral brass charm was added on the back.

Details

Once finished I realized that the back length was not the correct proportion for me. I shortened it by undoing the side seams, picking up stitches, then rehung the garment on my knitting machine finishing it with a hem and mitre corners at the side slits. 

The results of this design are, it is not a traditional quilt but it is wearable and  keeps me warm and best of all it forms a part of my one of a kind Signature garments !

"Each of us has a unique part to play in the healing of the world".  Marianne Williamson.

A Little about Judith

Judith is a retired historical interpreter. She loves history and now volunteers to do textile management at different museums.  She does condition reports, exhibits and cares for them. Her first and best love? Fibre of all kinds.

Judith travel to learn, to meet like-minded people and to be inspired. She went back to college at the age of 64  to learn pattern making. She continued on to study tailoring with Le Grand Chic school In Italy through Georgian College Barrie. and she graduated at 70!  We were honored to have Judith study with Cochenille in both Italy and San Diego. she has also studied with Jon Moore in London,  Susan Khalje in NYC, and Kathryn Brenne in North Bay (ON, Canada)

ToDo/NewDo: Hand-Painted Bird Houses are the Talk of Bird Town

At last.. they are hung in the yard

There is no greater pleasure that wrapping up a project that has sat dormant for a little bit, or a long bit, as is actually the case.

A few years ago, as a creative project, four of us sat down one afternoon and began to paint unfinished bird houses that I had gathered for the social activity. The group included Missy (from France) who was visiting, on loan from her parents, Teresa, a past student from Mesa College, and Don and I. 

We gathered acrylic paints, and began the process of adding color and design to wood.
Missy finished hers, but the rest of us had a way to go when it was time to break down for dinner. Teresa later finished her house, but Don's and mine sat dormant for ... well, a couple of years.

Wrapping them up...

With the enforced stay-at-home we are now experiencing, it seemed like the perfect challenge to finish these bird houses and get it out in the yard. So, out came the paints, and in a matter of an hour or so, we were done.

The group

Of course, the next thing was to coat them with polyurethane, and then, we had to determine where to hang them in the yard. 

I've run out of wall space in my house (for art), and so, the yard and garden have become my new playground.
So, after and little experimenting, all the houses now are hanging on my back fence, amid my bicycle wheel/depression glass hangings.

New homes for the bird houses

Missy's polka dot version... Why Not?

What a great cloudy day! It set the colors off.

Already a birdie or two have been poking around, checking out the real estate. Don and I are having amusing conversations about what the 'he' bird is saying to his 'she' bird. 
"Hey honey... check out this red house. Don't you like the porch?"
"No dear, I think it is too much. I prefer the pastel model over here. It has a bit more deco style"
"But that one is beyond a starter house... I don't think we are ready for that"...
etc. 
etc.

The summer should be interesting.

ToDo: First Project with Garment Designer, Susan Van Campen

Handwoven Garment 

Susan Van Campen, Inland Empire, California

Susan won a door prize called Proportioned 4 You (an e-Book of patterns) from my business at Stitches West this past February. 
Below is a garment she made using the Cape Coat pattern in the E-book.

Front View

Susan say:

I wove the fabric on a four-shaft loom with ten dent reed. The warp yarn is an 8/2 Cotton and the weft is chenille.

Back View

A Little Bit About Susan

Susan is a retired LCSW, Licensed Clinical Social Worker. She has been weaving for a couple of years now.

One of her retirement goals has been to learn to weave fabric with the goal of making clothing. Susan is the co-president of the Inland Empire Handweavers Guild.

ToDo/NewDo: Weaving as a Distraction to the World

Challenge the Mind... learn to weave

Holly and Leo Dumont, San Martin, California

Holly and Leo Dumont have been emailing with me to keep me updated on their progress of learning to weave.

Part of their goal?

Don’t neglect your brain health while worrying about this virus.  

The Internet provides all sorts of tools for challenging your mind. Holly shared one that I found particularly interesting, as it also serves to spark creativity. Amongst the many exercises they have, making lists of 100 things… looked like a lot of fun. https://litemind.com/tackle-any-issue-with-a-list-of-100/

The Weaving Challenge

Holly and Leo have decided to live in the present, and their focus is to learn how to weave. They had purchased a floor loom... and then...
 

See what Holly says about their process of learning to weave…

The big loom is scary.  It uses a lot of yarn.  What if I make a mistake?  What if I can't figure it out?  All this drama.  So my husband went out and bought this table-top loom.  Aim small, miss small, small mistakes, small risk were all some of Leo's thoughts.  And it made it less scary for me.  For our anniversary we were going to take a class.  But that's out, so we turned to books, on line learning and magazines.  

Ashford Table loom

The big loom came with 6 years of old Handwoven, and Weaver's Craft magazines.  So every evening I read a couple.  Some of them I don't understand at all.  

From the Handwoven Magazine I learned about Long Thread Media.  

For $100 you get  workshops, magazines etc.  (We were going to take a course with Tom Knisley, and they have an online class with him).

We got some books, recommended by Handwoven subscribers (Issue 144 & 145).  

• Alderman, Sharon.  Mastering Weave Structures.  Interweave
• Osterkamp, Peggy.  Weaving for Beginners.

After doing some reading, we decided to hit YouTube and watched the dressing of the loom for the Ashford Table Loom about 5 times.  We'd put it on, run to the kitchen, try the process, wait, what? run back watch it again, and try again.  The great thing is with the books and video, we were able to get through the warping and we're partially through the dressing.  Two minds are better than one.  Four hands are better than two.  Mistakes were made.  Laughter was more contagious than the virus that's on everyone's mind.  For several hours, it left our minds completely.

I want to make cloth and Leo wants to make rugs.  We both have an interest in recycling.  Our first project is going to be piece of cloth from which we'll make project/travel bags.  We will do one plain bag, and one using the technique of Zanshi.  I have lots of leftover embroidery thread that we are tying together to make the warp thread.

To learn more about Zanshi, go to this site

https://redstoneglen.com/classes/zanshi-and-sakiori

My goal is to make yardage and I like the following Indigobird pattern partially because you can use it to make items to sell.  Not that I'll get around to that, but I don't have to worry if I make the pattern a dozen times and give them to friends.

Below is the lining for the brown and white bag.  Leo and I dyed these during the summer.  These are leaves from our trees.  The fabric was mordanted with alum.  We rolled the leaves in copper pipes, spritzed them in vinegar (nails were soaked in the vinegar - so technically this is home made iron water) and then steamed them in a vintage vegetable steamer.  We left them for 24 hours before unwrapping.  

Eco-dyed fabric

Now… on to the weaving

Day 1

Here you can see the header (the fat red yarn) and the beginning of the weaving.

The warp yarn is 8/2 unmercerized cotton, and the weft is a thick and thin brown cotton.  This should full nicely after washing. I put on enough yarn for 2 bags plus.  There's three yards on the warp.  Each bag uses about 1/2 yard.  So, after we get the 2 bags on this warp, I should have enough for a small mystery project at the end.

We aren't going to worry too much about our selvedge edges on this go, since it's fabric and not a finished object.  We figure we got enough to learn just making a piece of cloth.

We had a hoot deciding how to beat.  Leave the shed open and beat?  Close the shed and beat?  Switch to the next shed and beat.  Since this is a table loom, so one hand is occupied moving the leavers while the other beats and catches.  After some bantering about and a bit of let's try all of them, we went with the close the shed and beat twice.  Now, if we could just agree on the music to listen to while weaving.  Leo's holding out for something with a lively beat....

Day 2

All good things must pass.  Here's the end of the nubby brown yardage.

Winding on the "remainder threads".  

Last year I did a lot of embroidery and have lots of leftover green.  Zanshi is a Japanese weaving tradition that saves all those remainder threads and reuses them.  I tied the warp yarn, an 8/2 cotton to 6 strand cotton floss.  I did this in ratios of 3.  The first color run was 1 yard weft to 12" of floss. Then Leo said it needs more green.  So I went to 18" of floss and 18" of weft.  By the way, this tying of threads took more time than anything.  Do NOT do this with cats present.  Let's just say that part of the time was spent chasing the varmint who ran off with the nudibranch green.  She's a very knotty cat.

After a plain header, Leo began the Zanshi.  I know that cotton doesn't "full" but it does shrink, so it will be interesting to see what happens when you mix unmercerized with mercerized cotton.  It sure is fun.  When I was a kid, back when dinos roamed, we spent a lot of time in Baja California.  This pattern reminds me of a hoodie that was as popular as puka shell necklaces (sans the knots), baby oil at the beach.

Now I gotta prep the mystery project.  It's a mystery to me what we will fill the rest of this warp with.  

It is not a mystery why there is no header yarn between the next project.  I "found" it later.  Katia is taking the 5th.  

An update to this project will come in a future blog...

Thank you Holly and Leo! It has been a pleasure to watch your process.

A little about Holly and Leo

Holly and Leo live in the Central Coast California. Both are long time farmers. Their love of fiber goes back to when the raised angora rabbits and Merino/Cotswold sheep.  Holly still keeps a market garden, but Leo has turned his love of plants to waterside restoration with native plants to prevent flooding.  The pair of them love plants.  Holly always wants to know, if you can't eat it, can you dye with it?  Can you spin with it?  Can you weave with it?  Leo loves dyeing but only with natural dyes. Although Leo's hand sewing is not the fastest, it didn't stop him from taking an indigo class last summer with John Marshall (highly recommend!). Holly has been sewing since Jr. HIgh School, when they taught Home Ec. but she didn't learn to embroider till taking classes at the SF School of Needlework and Design. Both Holly and Leo hope that weaving will take them into the next two decades. They recommend that if you and your kids are hanging around the house, now is the perfect time to start seeds for a summer garden. Seeds of Italy has a great selection, all of which do great in California. If you want a summer garden, start now!  (See my woad in the back row!)

ToDo/NewDo: Machine Knitting the Landscape Around You by Judith Pipher

A Machine-Knit Masterpiece: The Tom Thompson Pines!

Judith Pipher, Wasaga Beach, Ontario, Canada

This sweater is an original design by Judith. It is inspired by the Canadian artist Tom Thompson.

Judith describes her design..

My loves are Georgian Bay which is on the Great Lakes. 

The yarn colours are blends of Koigu yarn from Chatsworth Ontario. The plan was drawn on to my basic sweater pattern that was put on to paper, then coloured.  It was then knit on my 940 brother.  The back is stripes of the colour on the right side. The pictorial was done in intarsia,  the trees are hand embroidered. it was to have a front zip. That proved to be too heavy so I sewed it closed then made an I cord  to match  to hide the join.

side view

back view

A Little about Judith

Judith is a retired historical interpreter. She loves history and now volunteers to do textile management at different museums.  She does condition reports, exhibits and cares for them. Her first and best love? Fibre of all kinds.

Judith travel to learn, to meet like-minded people and to be inspired. She went back to college at the age of 64  to learn pattern making. She continued on to study tailoring with Le Grand Chic school In Italy through Georgian College Barrie. and she graduated at 70!  We were honored to have Judith study with Cochenille in both Italy and San Diego. she has also studied with Jon Moore in London,  Susan Khalje in NYC, and Kathryn Brenne in North Bay (ON, Canada)

 

ToDo/NewDo: Gillian Lamb (UK) Finished Bead Projects

Completed Bead Projects

Gillian Lamb, Surrey, England

Recently Gillian caught up with her UFO’s from her bead teaching days. 

She says:

Very often there was not time to complete the samples I made for use in class.

The grey necklace uses cubic right angle weave and seed beads of different sizes, decorated with faux pearls.

All the small pink brooch needed to finish it was a pin on the back.

I feel so good to have completed both projects after so many years.

Grey necklace (above) and pink brooch (below)

The lovely beaded bumble bee below was a test of my dexterity after two hand operations last year. It is mainly made from delica cylinder beads, size 15/0 seed beads and peyote stitch.

A major feat after two hand operations!

I am gradually working through all my UFO’s and of course adding into the mix a new project or two. Rule 1 ..... finish the project. 

A little bit on Gillian

Gillian lives in Surrey, England and is officially retired, but she says there is always something to work on, be it a craft, the garden, or in the kitchen cooking. She started hand knitting at her grandmothers knee, knitted her wedding dress and got drawn into machine knitting and ultimately published a few patterns in magazines.

Gillian was lured into beadwork thanks to Stitch Painter software by Cochenille Design Studio. She taught in the UK and Japan, her beadwork book was translated into Japanese.

She says that now in her life she is spoilt for choice: so many crafts that she enjoys. She is trying to get better with her sewing and not be afraid of her machines.

ToDo Challenge: Art with a Toddler

Creativity with Art: Toddler-Style

Meet Fiona, from the greater Denver area

Fiona, Two Years Old

It is never too early to encourage our little ones to be creative. They are so free in their mind, and everything they do is amazing. If only, as adults, we could adopt their mindset and not worry about how good our work is. Fiona is fearless. She likes to try everything.




Here you see Fiona painting in her back yard. She is trying out the new easel that her Nonna sent to her for her birthday. She likes to dress the part (notice the artist smock),

Two Year-old Artist

Nonna loves watching her creativity and adding some of her own to it, by taking one of Fiona's early art pieces (with a little help from Mom) and turned it into a fabric using Photoshop and Spoonflower (digital printing) in the process.

Fabric designed by Fiona with Mommy's help and Nonna's translation to a repeating pattern.
Printed by Spoonflower in North Carolina

A little bit about Fiona

Fiona is an aspiring artist who lives in the greater Denver area. She likes to think about what she does which you can tell because she moves into a complete-focus state when she is busy. She loves to be read to, likes to poke and push things, and keeps busy at all times. She also likes her quiet time, flipping through story books, as if she was reading them. Fiona turned two this week. Her parents are encouraging of all her activities and were reading Harry Potter to her in her first week of life.

Fiona, always, always checking things out.

Zen in the Yard during Challenging Times
During this 'at home' world we now live in, Fiona's dad created this Zen area in their yard. A lot of brush was removed, and now the area is being used for yoga (for Mom, Dad, and Fiona), reflection, and quiet time. At present this space is now deep in snow, when three days ago, it was a lovely afternoon. Welcome to Denver spring weather.

ToDo/NewDo Project: Up-cycled Phone Bag Purse from a Retired Sweater

From Sweater to Phone Bag Purse

by Mary Ann Newton, Seattle Washington

Mary Ann Shares

Two years ago, I finished a cotton sweater that bagged and sagged, no matter what alterations I did to make it fit. This week, I took off the sleeves, sewed them together, joined at bottom, embroidered and embellished, lined, made a finger cord, and Voila! Now, what to do with the front and back of the sweater.

A little bit about Mary Ann
Mary Ann is a retired landscape designer living in the Seattle areas. She loves having the time to express herself in all kinds of fiber art.

ToDo/NewDo Project: Lisbeth Wahl, Up-cycled top

Upcycled Top

by Lisbeth Wahl, Peschiera del Garda, Italy

Materials available: 

• A nice quality wool sweater, which got in the wrong program and shrank in the washing machine. 
• Woven velvet fabric, with a little stretch. Odd size leftovers from the making of a dress to my daughter.
• All stuff that has been laying around for a while, until I finally turned it into this

 Unfortunately I didn’t think about taking before and after pictures.

Process:

• I cut away the sleeves and the body part, making them as long as possible.
• Then I used a pattern I had previously made in Garment Designer (A sleeveless tunic), adjusting the curve under the arm and the length of the shoulder to fit the sweater sleeve.
• Round neckline with an opening in the front. In the neckline I added a sweater “fish”form. About 1/8 smaller than the neckline circumference measurements, to make it stay nicely flat.

 Note:A weak point, which I might redo, is the uniting of the two materials in the breast-line. (the firmer fabric with the more elastic knitted sweater). Special care should be taken there to not stretch the various fabrics in the making.

About Lisbeth

Lisbeth is a world-renown felter who lives in Peschiera del Garda, near Verona, Italy.

Born in Denmark, She trained as a tailor and pursued her career in costuming and pattern making, most notably the costume department of Teatro alla Scala (Milan). She became interested in felting, and has taken her talents on to new realms. In 2016, she won the top award at the Australian Common Threads Wearable Art Showcase with her felt piece called Set Your Light Free, which combined felt with fiber optics.

Instagram: @ lisbeth.wahl.fiberart

https://www.facebook.com/lisbeth.wahl

NewDo Project: Crochet Top by Kathleen Heafey

Crochet Sleeveless Top

by Kathleen Heafey, Berkeley, California

I recently met Kathleen at Stitches West in Santa Clara. She purchased Garment Designer and immediately went home and had a garment going within a day. I love that! 

Kathleen shares this crochet top with us as her "NewDo".

Garment Details:

I did the garment as a semi-fitted top, sleeveless, round neck with some adjustments to the sloper in the shoulder area to accommodate my narrow shoulders. I also slightly adjusted the shape of the neck. This was my first attempt with Garment Designer and I love using the program! So much flexibility and the shaping instructions for crocheting were very accurate based on my stitch count.

Yarn:

Katia 50% silk 50% cotton blend. ( I believe it’s discontinued)

I crocheted the seed stitch for the body and added the bobbles. I did the neck, arm and bottom edging separately in a V stitch. 

About Me:

I have a small business in Berkeley, California called Woven Grey. I design and make a line of cotton storage baskets and am carried in shops throughout the country. I started crocheting a few years ago and have been trying to design original patterns with the intent to eventually publish my designs.

Kathleen Heafey
hello@wovengrey.com
www.wovengrey.com
510-735-1413 (cell)

ToDo/NewDo Project: Barbara Kerr's Necktie Change Purse

The Change Purse in process

Creative Necktie Change Purse

by Barbara Kerr, Seattle Washington

Here is our first Todo/NewDo share. Barbara says:

In these uncertain times the very best thing to do is to focus our mind on something pleasurable. This little change purse is made from a vintage man’s silk tie.  A friend at a recent embroidery guild meeting taught us how to do it.

 General Info 

• The 9 inches for the bag are cut from the wide end, and 9 inches from another tie is for the flower 
• The flower's 9 inches are cut from the other end of the tie- 
• The interfacing from the bag is left in and is removed for the flower 
• The button was the last one on a card and was so perfect
• It is hand stitched and takes about 2 hours to make

The finished piece in use

A little bit about Barbara

Barbara is a retired Social Work Supervisor from Columbia Presbyterian Hospital in NYCShe moved to Seattle in 2012 where she lives with her daughter in a nice little house in West Seattle. 

Barbara shares her past...

When I was about 7 my friend and I learned to hand sew from her 2 young aunts. My aunt taught me to stitch on a machine and I sewed my wedding dress. I made all my clothes , my children’s clothes  and my husband’s sport shirts. 

I taught myself to knit when I was 17 and have knit almost every day since. I started to teach knitting, crochet, embroidery and English Paper Piecing in 2001 and taught at the Stitches Knitting Convention for the following 11 years. I still teach at Pacific Fabrics in Seattle (closing today for the next 2 weeks).

I belong to the Evergreen chapter of the Embroiders Guild of America, the Pacific Northwest Needle Arts Guild, and a knit /crochet  group that meets in a Community Center. I have 3 gals who come to my house every Monday for Embroidery and socialization.

Thank you Barbara for sharing your NewDo project. This is also an upcycle and sustainable item. Congrats to you and your creativity!