Quince and Quire

Momentum

I'm back to working on a variety of projects--some neglected longer than others--after another round of stomach flu at our house. WInter's little joke just never seems to end here: now we've got another 3 to 6 inches of snow forecast for tomorrow!

Well, even if I haven't completed anything of note in the past week, so many other people are doing amazing work. I'll have links to beautiful projects, new-to-me design sites, and lots more for you tomorrow. (Unless, of course, a snowstorm takes out our internet.)

Shape of the moment

I was playing around with watercolors again, foolishly ignoring my lack of skills. But they are such fun.

When in doubt about life, paint circles: what else offers a vision of harmony, unity, stability, motion, new life, water, air, levity, and the dream of perfection? Not bad for one shape.

Starry drafts

My daughter and I spent part of our snow day (you heard about the snow, right?) working on constellation books. We began with a simple accordion-fold structure, which made each page approximately 2 x 3 inches: a tiny book. She used blue crayon for her sky; I choose a greeny watercolor, and then we punched holes with the push drill to represent constellations.

Though these are just first drafts, we were both delighted with our little books. I'm planning to paint a darker sky for the next one, and to use ink for the lettering, and maybe a cursive hand. I think I'll also change the size of the punched holes to more accurately represent each star.

This was one of those projects that I had planned for January: you know, cold frosty nights with lots of stars get you thinking about such things. Now everyone is thinking about shamrocks and bunnies. But two feet of new snow gets one back in that January mood, and I am so glad we finally explored this idea.

Multi-tasking

It wasn't my most brilliant idea: knitting a three-yarn scarf while at the hospital, attached to an IV pump and automated blood pressure cuff, bringing the total number of cords and strands in my lap to five. Things got tangled rather quickly. But what else is one to do when the holidays are approaching and one must sit through a three-and-a-half-hour appointment to receive one's infusion of medicine? You see I had no choice. Oh, please don't tease me about the gold yarn. It is, at least, Italian (that makes everything better, doesn't it?) and was the specific request of the recipient. One does what one has to!

Autumn comfort

Our chilly, grey days make for somber light in which to photograph. They also make one turn to projects of comfort. I'd had a vintage quilt square, provenance unknown, rattling around in my sewing room for years. I finally turned it into--what else--a cushion cover, because I was obviously never going to make a set of matching blocks for a quilt. I used a medium-weight organic cotton canvas for the back. I do love the cheery colors and patterns.

Meanwhile there is a certain young man who will be turning three soon, and I have begun (rather late, yes) a small quilt for him. I finished cutting all the wee blocks yesterday, after hours and hours with the rotary cutter. (Now I know why I haven't tried a quilt before!) It may not be quite finished by the birthday, but I do plan to have it done no later than Christmas. I hope . . . 

Paper lace

Valentine production is in full swing at our house. Here are a few of the lacy cards I've been making with scraps of handmade pink paper (made by Lee Emma Running), red origami paper, and my ever-present Japanese push drill.

Spectra

Thank you for all the greeting card enthusiasm! One feels a tad bit compulsive as one hunches over the table, punching out tiny holes again and again in order to make a one-inch design. One loses perspective when focused at such close range. My husband thought I was nutty--but then again he spent the same amount of time hunched over his iPod, so who knows which activity is wackier.

I don't know about you, but I am feeling both the excitement and the stress of the impending holiday season. I also have four very special birthdays this month. Oh, the crafting that must be done! The party favors to invent! The invitations to make! This post helped me regain some perspective. That, and a little bit of purposeful procrastination, in the form of some spectrum analysis. Not this kind. Nor the kind my husband used to do. Just some simple knitting as a way to contemplate the notion of a prism, a spectrum, a varied and full life that we make stitch by stitch, calmly. 

Simple shawl, in progress, using Schaefer yarn. I'll share construction details when it's done. (Could be awhile!)

Child's hat, with no pattern to speak of, made from Kudo by Plymouth yarn. A nice mix of silk and cotton. Kind of a rainbow, but not quite in order, which I love. A bit like Noro in the color variations, but without some of the jarring combinations.

Add in a little time with Thomas Merton's Contemplative Prayer, and I feel ready to face my to-do list again!

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Be sure to check out my blog's updated sidebar categories. I have added many interesting and new-to-me blogs on the "good blogs" list. I have also jumped on the "inspiration" bandwagon by posting inspiring things from other blogs--only I call mine "weekly favorites." I've got so many things in the little right-hand column now that I am thinking it's time for some blog reconfiguration--but that will have to wait until after the holidays . . . . .

Two Japanese quilt blocks

It was time for another color & pattern study in the form of a Japanese quilt block. This time I chose an indigo print and paired it with more of the Belgian grey linen. As you can see, the outer edges of the block are unfinished (because I am not yet sure what I will do with this block), and so the proportions don't look quite right. And, as you can see, some of the strips got wonky. That would be the linen, which is loosely woven and has a lot of movement, rebelling against being paired with the tightly-woven indigo cotton. Note to self: don't combine these two fabrics ever again. The finished block size is nine inches square.

Oh, but it's hard to resist linen, with its elegant presence and soft hand.

As part of my color & pattern study, I tried a similar block pieced from paper. I used scraps of fancy Roma and Moriki papers to make a six inch square block. I really like the blues and browns together.

My block pattern came from the Briscoe book, Japanese Quilt Blocks to Mix and Match. The pattern I made this time is called yosegi kawari nikuzushi, or simple pairs variation. If you'd like to see the first quilt block I made, go to this post.

Next week I'll have some fun paper experiments to share with you, some holiday craft ideas, and a book or two as well. I hope you have a great weekend!

Walnut ink success, part one

I made walnut ink this weekend. It was simple. I don't know what my problem was the first time. I think I got lazy and didn't research anything and therefore didn't cook the walnuts--that is the secret. You take the walnuts and toss them in a pot. Bring to a boil and simmer for eight hours or so.

Before you look at the walnut mush in the next photo, take a minute to see what pretty ink comes out of the husks, as seen in the photo above. 

After eight hours of simmering--four hours on Saturday, then four more on Sunday--this is what the formerly-green walnuts looked like. Yeah, they smelled funky too--kind of a mix between cloves, moldering furniture, and fruit. I took the pot outside when it seemed like the stew was done, and got ready to strain the ink from the husks and nuts.

I poured the liquid through cheesecloth in a strainer, and then composted the solids. Thus far, that is all that I have done to make ink. Other tutorials (I'll list them at the end) recommend another round of straining through a stocking, or adding vinegar, alcohol or gum arabic to the ink, which I have not done. 

I got about one cup of liquid from the nuts. I suppose I could have gotten another quarter cup or so if I really wanted to. In the measuring cup, it looked like murky soup. I expected it to make an opaque, dark line when I used it in my nibs.

It was actually a transparent, still-quite-watery ink, but I like the color. Here is a Q, just written with my Mitchell size 2 nib on a scrap of Fabriano paper.

I tried abstract shapes on Lana watercolor paper with a bit of gold gouache added in, using my hand-cut reed pen.

 

The scribbles that emerged from my Brause 66EF were, not surprisingly, darker, given that the nib comes to a fine point. 

There were some issues regulating the flow of ink out of the nib. I think if I simmer the ink again in order to distill it further, this will get easier. 

Here's a portrait of my poor Mitchell size 2 (oh, rusty and covered in walnut ink!) and my reed pen, still bearing glints of gold. 

The official summary of my methods:

1. Gathered up black walnuts from my yard.
2. Put them--whole--in a stainless steel pot and added water to cover the nuts.
3. Brought the nuts and water to a boil.
4. Simmered the walnuts on low, covered, for four hours. (Why four hours? That's how much time I had at home before our afternoon engagement).  Turned off the pot and let it sit overnight.
5. Simmered the walnuts for another four hours. Turned off the pot and let things cool. 
6. Took my pot, ladle, strainer, cheesecloth and glass measuring cup outside to avoid permanent stains inside my home.
7. Filtered walnut ink through the cheesecloth-lined strainer. 
8. Took the ink inside and started writing right away! The entire straining-of-ink, writing-of-letters and photographing-of-results section of this process took place in one hour, while the kids took a siesta. If my letters look rushed, they were!

Here are a few of the many tutorials on making walnut ink.You will notice there are many slight variations in their methods.

http://www.ehow.com/how_2101025_make-walnut-ink.html

http://home.insightbb.com/~denevell_books/making_walnut_ink.htm

http://quazen.com/recreation/crafts/how-to-make-walnut-ink/ 

http://www.magpienest.org/feathersofhope/131/walnut-ink

    

When I have time to do more experiments with my ink, I will show you the results! For the time being I am simply happy to have made art out of walnuts in my own yard! 

Walnut ink?

 

We collected some of our black walnuts this weekend, rather late in the season; many have been gnawed by the squirrels and crushed by the mower. I have a notion to make walnut ink. I have tried before, and ended up with a bucket of sodden walnuts and not much else. I'll let you know if I have success this time!

A little more cheer for Monday

 

I completed five napkins for my daughter's lunch box, one for each day of the week. Yes, I am such a slow maker of things that it took the entire weekend to complete the final two napkins. But aren't they cute? Too bad they are going to come home covered in tamari and apple sauce. 

 The teachers at my daughter's school have given me a few sewing assignments. Maybe they saw the napkins and thought I had too much time on my hands. Anyway, the first assignment will be fun: a set of bean bags in rainbow colors. At least we know I am good at sewing square things!

Oh, and we did make something else this weekend: peanut butter cookies! It's been a long time since I've made any, and they are so good! (Sorry to anyone out there with allergies). We used the recipe from Martha's excellent cookie book.

Catching up

You may have heard about the current rain situation in our region. The fickle, festive, itinerant rain; the rain that comes and goes and returns again, with moody sky and heavy brow and sudden fervor. We had a lot of that rain last week, right when my husband's family was visiting from their own notoriously rainy part of the world. It made for an interesting combination. And the puddle boots got a work out. 

We did get some blue sky and pink-tinged clouds.

The back yard--such as it is--decided that it is now located along the equator, and sprouted accordingly. 

The rain brought mossy friends for our chives.

The delphiniums relied on our smokehouse for a little support in all that rain.

We had enough sun for my intrepid family to go tr(ash)easure hunting on our property. Who needs a flea market when you've got 200 years of farm implements and kitchen utensils hidden on 10 acres, just waiting to be found again? The coffee pot above caused a lot of excitement; I think we'll have to plant something in it. 

My mother-in-law tutored me on the Kitchener stitch, so I am one step closer to being finished with this little project. I'll have details and more photos of the final, felted bag next week.

Tomorrow: walnut and quill!

Japanese quilt block

After all the rainbows and exuberance in the things I've been making for children, I thought I'd show you the other side of my design aesthetic, in the form of a quilt block using a Japanese pattern. I know, it's really plain. And it's still in process, so you just have to enjoy the loose threads. (And just enjoy the helter skelter view my wabi sabi chairs, too--antiques from a church in Iowa.) 

Belgian grey linen, unbleached cotton muslin: perfect. Too subtle? Maybe. But for me the restraint of the colors and precision of the pattern combine to make exactly what I had hoped for. Now I just need to make a few more . . . 

 

The pattern comes from Japanese Quilt Blocks to Mix and Match, by Susan Briscoe. This book is an incredible resource for designs and technique. The author presents patchwork blocks, sashiko blocks, applique blocks. She discusses traditional fabrics, color combinations, and ways to combine the blocks. The entire production is clear and impeccable. The clean, graphic quality of the designs are immensely appealing to me. (Check out author Susan Briscoe's blog here).

Linen Wool Cotton, newly published in English, has been getting a lot of exposure on various craft blogs. I mention it now because it was the inspiration for the grey and ivory fabrics I chose. Akiko Mano, who grew up in a family of clothing manufacturers, appreciates the subtlety of texture, weave and color that appear in apparently-plain fabrics. This entire books is filled with projects in shades of white, ecru, ivory, grey, dove: you get the idea. She brings a little spark to her sewing with embroidery, often using red thread. I'm not sure red thread would be a good idea for my patchwork block, though. I'm happy with the colors as they are.

Then again, I do have a nice selection of patterned Japanese fabrics on hand. Maybe for the next block . . .  

June means . . .

. . . changing out the linens . . .

. . .trying something new in the guest room . . . 

. . . sun hats and cheerful stripes (the bag is made by a women's cooperative in North Africa) . . .

. . . another project to finish . . .

. . . and maybe one more to begin.

Sorting things out

I don't have a fabric stash to rival some of the better known sewists who post their collections on flickr, but I do have enough that it gets messy. I had been storing my fabric in bins in the attic while we worked on the house--and we all know that the attic is no place for one's creative endeavors. Now that I have a sewing table in the guest room, I decided to sort, purge and organize what I have so that I can proceed with the long list of projects that await. Miss L's birthday is approaching, and I have made a pledge to myself that it will be a handmade birthday. And of course, she wants a pencil roll. Another one to make!

I discovered a few things while sorting: one, I have a lot of fabric. And two, I can't organize the fabric without organizing the sewing tools; I can't organize the sewing tools without finding a new home for the knitting notions that moved in with them; I can't organize the knitting notions without clearing out some space on the other craft shelves . . . and so on, until I have organized the supplies for every craft in which I have ever had an interest: bookbinding, calligraphy, stamping, lino cutting, letterpress printing, print making, paper making, painting, collage, clay, origami, weaving, embroidery, felting, knitting and sewing. 

All of this leads me to ponder the issue of focus. I am naturally enthusiastic about making stuff, but part of this journey back to the artistic self I used to be means figuring out what I do well, and sticking to it. I can enjoy some of the other arts on the side, but really thinking about what my goals are as an artist--and in what medium I can achieve them--is an important first step. At the moment, the top picks are writing, of course, followed by lettering arts, sewing, and knitting. 

And then there is the issue of my interest in the history of it all, and wanting to research and write about textiles, machines, tools, and makers. I guess I need to make a few lists!