Mine! All Mine!

Mia asked what of the things that I have made do I keep. There are actually very few things that I am unwilling or unable to part with. For the most part, it is the process that attracts me. The choosing of the yarns, making the warps, dyeing, even the tedium of setting up the loom I find enjoyable. To a certain extent. But it is definitely the weaving part that I enjoy the most. Having said all of that, the first thing that I am going to show you that is "Mine! All Mine!" is a quilt. A couple of years ago, when wee-Nicole was very wee, I was invited to submit a piece or two to a group show. I couldn't wrap my tired mind around making my way to my studio of the time that was about a 10 minute walk away from home,(read 10 minute walk back too) but I could haul out the sewing machine and make a quilt. Just a wall piece. When I got too tired to continue, I'd just flop into bed. My quilts are no where as intricate or beautiful as Dave's but this one is mine and I love it. It is a traditional 9 patch pattern made from some fabrics that my weaving teacher gave to me. The bag of fabrics were laces and burnt velvets, shiny unnamed fabrics and the brown fabric that you see in the patches. I was in a "brown" phase at the time, still sort of am, truth be told, and at first, I thought that I would make one block using both the right and wrong sides as a test. Just see how it worked out. I had never worked with anything remotely like this fabric before. As far as my limited quilting experience went, I was a 100% cotton kind-a-gal. I loved the results and continued to make the next two blocks squeezing out as much as I could of the pieces given to me. The backing is organza and the "batting" so to speak, is a dark beige brushed twill cotton. The black framing is another brushed cotton, and the brown edging is linen. I actually sewed two pockets on the back so that it could either be hung vertically or horizontally. There is a bit of a sag where the pocket is, I have to resew it. It's on my "to-do" list. Part of the sag is caused by Nicole, who likes to hide under the edge of it. When she is all done hiding, I shall re-stitch the pocket. I promise! No really, I do. Or maybe it'll just get hung the other way. In the photo, the poor old dear needs to be pressed too. That will happen later also. Seriously.