15 in ’15 First Quarter Check-in
After a very wet and overcast winter, spring is here!
Spring in East Texas
Time to check in on my list of goals for the year. (My original post about 2015 goals is here.)
I am really enjoying this checklist structure. I feel like I am cruising along, getting a little bit done in a lot of areas, and pretty much staying with the program.
So far, three of the areas are getting most of the emphasis.
I had picked 14 fabrics I wanted to finish up and get out of here, and I just finished up the third one. I think I bought this fabric back in the 80s, planning to make clothes for an old-fashioned cloth doll for one of my daughters. That never happened.
Fabric from the 1980s.
Older fabrics feel so much better than a lot of what is available today, but I just didn’t have any other fabrics to blend in with it. There are not a lot of dusty rose and Wedgewood blue fabrics out there. I found a long thin piece of a floral, with “1986” and “Teflon® finish” printed on the selvedge, and decided to do a little strippy lap quilt. I just quilted the large floral strips, and not too precisely either. But the important thing is that this fabric has finally made it into a useful project.
Two fabrics used up, just before their 30th anniversary! (The back is that small-scale stripe, too.)
Another goal I had was to watch some of the many craft videos and online classes I have. I chose an easy-to-achieve number here, and said I would watch 11 segments. I could mark this goal complete for this year, because I have watched 19! I have gotten a lot of ideas and tips from them too. One that sticks with me is regarding ink paint sticks. I had tried them once, just coloring directly on fabric, and didn’t really like the result. In a Quilting Arts video, I saw that you should scribble with the paint stick on a piece of palette or freezer paper, and then pick up the pigment with a brush, and apply it that way. Ah, instructions. If I wasn’t surrounded by such a plethora of them, maybe I would pay more attention to them.
Another goal was to share textile knowledge six times. I have given three weaving lessons, and then last night I brought a loom to a 4-H group. There were about 30 kids, ranging in age from 5 to 15. The previous month, a spinner had come and showed her work, so although I had brought some different fibers and a drop spindle with me, I proceeded to the weaving process. For 5 – 10 minutes, I showed a variety of textiles, old and new, and told something special about each one, and then I let the kids weave if they wanted to.
I always enjoy the reaction of those kids that do give it a try. They pick it up so quickly, and then they start asking all kinds of questions — “How do you change colors?” “What do you do when you run out of space?” “Are you sure you don’t have to tie a knot in the ends?”
Last night there were two in particular who were so interested. One was a boy about seven years old. As he waited his turn, he was flipping through all the samples I had brought, and kept returning to this 8 harness weave:
8 harness twill
He was really studying it, and trying to figure out how to do that. I had only brought a 4 harness loom, and I was having all the other kids do plain weave, but I thought he was ready for more, so I started him on twill. He was very intent and soon figured out that he could reverse the treadling.
The red twill is where the 7-year-old started weaving.
The other interested one was also a boy, about 14. He took a short turn, and then left to go on to the other activities in the room. But he kept coming back, and saying things like, “So you could have a really big loom, and then you could make wider pieces, right? But then you would have so many treadles, you wouldn’t have enough feet to work them.” So I explained about tying up more than one harness to a treadle. Understanding would dawn, and he would go off for a while, and then come back with, “So you could use some really thick warps, and some thin ones, and space them out differently, right?” It is so amazing, to talk with someone who gets it so quickly, much more quickly than I ever did!
SO! I’m having lots of fun completing some projects and goals, and lots more ideas are springing up too.
Toadflax! I am going to have to draw some toads spinning!
I love that those boys found something that were interested in. Who knows what little seeds you planted.
Yes, even if they never do it again, I hope it expanded their feeling of “I can figure this out.”
Right. I’m impressed!
It fascinates me how something like weaving will just click with certain people, and leave others cold. How great to be introducing it to young people!
It was so great to see the wheels turning in their minds. That’s what I miss most about teaching – building that little bridge between the known and the unknown, watching someone cross over and discover a whole new world.
Your 4H time sounds fun. The 2 kids are engineers — asking a lot of why and how questions. You’ll probably never know how this affects them in the future.
I did use your exercise of listing the goals, but I knew I’d never implement it. It’s since been deleted. 🙂 And I do have a small number of actual goals, including to make at least 4 quilts for donation this year. (I have 2 done.) But I continue to follow my word of the year, “EXPERIMENT!” to try new things.
Thanks for the update.
Well, list of goals or not, you are really getting an lot done this year! Your Power Builder series is very inspirational, and then you are making big quilts, AND writing so much about your craft philosophy. Just clicking the links on your Power Builder series can take me a whole morning.
I’m glad you like them. Thanks for letting me know.
I so agree about the structure of 15 for 15. I love the floral fabric and the lap quilt. How marvellous that it was two boys who got weaving. All those craft demos watched. Most impressive progress. I am doing monthly updates on my 15 for 15. Keeps me motivated. Interesting post. Thanks for sharing.
Yes, I meant to do monthly updates, but that is one thing that has gone by the wayside! I am so glad I saw this idea on your blog!
So amazed by the interest of the children! The intelligence is a given, but these two went well beyond interest and dove into application. Gifted! A blessing for you, too.
I have a textile cleaning question..I’m not sure if this the correct format. Probably wrong, but that’s me all over..I have a late 50’s tea length wedding dress (my mothers) that has had a wine spill on it all these years. Someone once said vodka was good for any delicate fabric. Does one just soak it? Does one dilute it? Any ideas?
You are right about it being a blessing for me too!
I don’t know much about stain removal, but I would think that wine is there for good. 😦 You might try Kerry at https://lovethosehandsathome.wordpress.com/ . She refurbishes vintage fabrics and sells them on Etsy, so if anyone knows about stain removal, it would be she!
It’s fascinating to see who picks up on demos like your weaving one. And thanks for doing it so the craft of weaving gets passed on. Even if those kids never weave themselves, they may have a better understanding of what makes up their clothing. From what you wrote, you are ahead of schedule for your goals, so that means you can skive off for a bit, just in case you want to sneak in a wild card.
Well, I only wrote about the goals that are going on time! 🙂 And, I saw something in the Quilting Arts season 5 that is going to send me off in a wild direction for sure!
That’s what beauty does and is keep you looking at it. They’re beautiful! Blessings Always, Mtetar
Oh those boys!!! Loved it. Interesting that men were some of the first weavers/knitters
sewers etc…those women had to birth those babies and grow food…..woof
You certainly keep busy. I, too, loved reading about your class, especially the boys. It’s such a great feeling when you see that light bulb turn on.
I am trying to get everything done before the summer heat hits! 🙂