Spring Fiber Fest 2020—Coming this March!

Last week, Kara wrote about our busy month of March, filled with teaching and lectures, beginning with the Academy of Appliqué in Williamsburg, and including two guilds. At the end of the month, I (Teri) will be concluding the frenzy of March with a fabulous getaway in Fairfield, Pennsylvania—Spring Fiber Fest 2020, where I will be teaching this wool appliqué flower with embroidery and ribbon embellishment.

 

Last year, I visited the event to shop the vendors. The location is lovely, just a few miles from Gettysburg. I so enjoyed my time there that when Kathy, of Primitive Homespuns Wool & Needleworks, asked me if I would be interested in teaching a class, I jumped at the chance. 

Because the goal was a finished—or close to being completed—project, I wanted the design to be fairly simple, while still maintaining the variety of textures that our designs typically feature. The focus of the class will be less about the appliqué and more about the embellishment. The bottom of the flower design will be appliquéd to our background, but the embroidery around it is what makes it pop. And if you know anything about us, you know there has to be some ribbon.

We will learn a ruching technique to create the ribbon center of this posy, bedecked with a few beads. Here is the gathered ribbon, before adding the beads or appliquéing it into place.

Finally, we will learn how to frame our design, using some batting to give a bit of dimension to the design within the frame. The class comes with everything you will need, including the frame.

To further embellish our flower, we will learn how to embroider this vine, which could be placed beneath the flower if you want to display it vertically, or on both sides for a lovely horizontal picture. The leaves are made with silk ribbon.

For more information about this event, click HERE. There are only two weeks left to register for the event, so check out this opportunity now! I would love to have you join me for this fun and relaxing stitch time. Hope to see you there!!

“Floral Wool Appliqué with Ruched Ribbon and Beaded Center”

Basic wool appliqué comes to life as we create this charming dimensional flower. The center is created with a ruched ribbon, and topped with a few beads. Embroidery around the outer petals completes this bloom, and it will be ready to frame. Have you ever wanted to learn how to frame a piece with batting behind it?  Well that's the finish we will be doing for this one. We may even have time to add some vines in the border!

The class fee includes everything you will need to complete the project: handout, background fabric, wool for flower petals, ribbon, beads, floss, needle, thread, batting, and frame.

Kits in a variety of colors will be available. Come join the fun!

Class Duration: 3 hours

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Saturday March 28th 2:30 pm - 5:30pm

Teri's Travels: A Museum, a Quilt Shop, and Dignity

A couple of weeks ago, I (Teri) shared my visit to the Quilters Hall of Fame in Marion, Indiana. We are still on the road—nearing home as I post this—but I saw so many amazing things during this trip that it may take quite a while to share them all! 

Our next quilt-related stop was in Chamberlain, South Dakota. This had not been one of our planned stops, but was I ever glad it made it into our itinerary. We originally planned to follow the Lewis and Clark Trail all the way to the coast, but they sadly missed the Badlands, so we opted to skip the North Dakota part of the route and travel straight west through South Dakota. Thus, our Pierre night shifted to Chamberlain. All that to say that while I had never heard of the town, it had much to offer!

We first visited the Atka Lakota Museum & Cultural Center and learned about the Northern Plains Indian Culture. The impressive collection of historical artifacts and contemporary art was probably my favorite part of the exhibit; I hope you will enjoy these as well.

An auspicious beginning: hanging just inside the gift shop were these fabulous, colorful star quilts.

Quillwork predates beadwork among the Lakota people and is highly esteemed. For an interesting description of how the porcupine quills are used to create such artwork, click here and here. 

More quilling for baby 

In the mid 1800s, Europeans brought beads into the area, and the art of beading became as prevalent as quilling—sometimes moreso. 

 The beaded design on these moccasins would be a lovely appliqué design.

  

I love dolls, and these buckskin dolls from 1890 caught my eye.

 

Again, I see inspiration for appliqué.

 This contemporary miniature quilt by Monty Fralick is called Signage.
 Again, note the star design. I was beginning to see a pattern.

The museum is an educational outreach of the St. Joseph's Indian School. The art of quilting was seen throughout the exhibit of the school's history, as well.

If you ever have an opportunity to drive through Chamberlain, SD, I would encourage you to stop at this fabulous museum! There are many things to learn and inspiring artifacts to view.

 

And right down the street, what should we find? Yes! A quilt shop!! And a charming one, at that.

 

I walked into the shop, greeted by precuts and bolts of color on my right, and a comfortable sitting area for the non-quilting companions to my left. 

  

You've got to love a quilt shop (owner) with a sense of humor!

As I was chatting with one of the owners of The Quilt Shop, Sonya Kroupa, she asked me if I had seen Dignity. She seemed so sure that I probably had, that when I confessed that I didn't know what she was talking about, she got most excited as she pulled postcards to show me and tell me about it. She gave me directions and assured me that it was a must-see. As I left, I took closer notice to the small wall hanging by the front door, with a framed photo next to it that matched the postcard I had just bought. 

Off we went to search for Dignity, a statue that I only knew from a picture postcard and an excited story, fully unprepared for the impact she would have. 

We could see her from the highway. 

As we approached, she literally took my breath away. She stands fifty feet tall, and you can see how she looms above the people standing beside her.

The plaque beneath her feet. 

I feel like an ant next to her! She is as magnificent as her name; everything—and more—that Sonya had promised at the quilt shop. 

“Dignity represents the courage, perseverance and wisdom of the Lakota and Dakota culture in South Dakota,” sculptor Lamphere said. “My hope is that the sculpture might serve as a symbol of respect and promise for the future.” To read more about this amazing statue, click here.

  

The star quilt she is holding is comprised of 128 diamonds, which move in the wind. At night, they are lit up by LED lights. I would love to have known about her the night before, so that I could have also seen her glowing in the evening sky, but I am so thankful that we happened upon Sonya's quilt shop, or I would have totally missed her. Thank you, Sonya!

So we travel through the Badlands, visit Mount Rushmore, and then go to the Crazy Horse Memorial. The first thing I see when we enter the visitor center are more star quilts. Why is this such a predominant pattern, and why am I surprised to see its prevalence here in South Dakota? I knew of the Lone Star and Bethlehem Star patterns, but these were simply called Star Quilts.

  

To sum it up, the star pattern symbolizes the Morning Star and giving a star quilt represents respect, honor, and admiration. The star design is reminiscent of the patterns on early buffalo robes. During the mid to late 1800s, missionaries arrived in the area, teaching the craft of quilting. At about the same time, the overhunting of buffalo made it more difficult to obtain the hides for the buffalo robes. Ultimately, the star quilt replaced the buffalo robes as one of the most valued gifts among the Northern Plains Indians. 

So it is fitting that Dignity is holding a Star Quilt. 

My next quilty adventure checked off a bucket item list. I can't wait to tell you about it!

Note: I could share hours worth of links for you to read about Lakota Star Quilts, but I will give you just a few, in case you are as intrigued as I was.

• Native Report: Gwen Westerman
• History of the Star Quilt
• What is the Cultural Significance of Native American Star Quilts?
• Owinja—Star Quilt

Who Needs a Pattern?

'Tis the season for giving—and decorating! But as the weather chills and winter comes upon us, it is also a great season for stitching. This year, I (Teri) decided it might be fun to do some free-stitching and practice my spontaneous designing (not my forte), using some felted wool from old sweaters and whatever threads and beads I had on hand that made me happy. I tend to do better with a plan, but I allowed myself to play with various stitches and combinations, trying new threads and just having fun. Here are my results.

A gathered lace flower surrounded by pearly beads remind me of a snowflake. I gave this one to a friend before she left for her Florida winter, so she could be reminded of the snow she'd be missing.

I gathered an assortment of threads that I had been given, but had not yet tried, as well as my bin of beads. I cut wool circles of about two inches, and smaller pieces to stitch in the center, and I was ready to play. Above, the results are under my tree on the embroidered tree skirt that my mom lovingly stitched for me some thirty years ago.

The center circle is attached using a knotted blanket stitch with alternating long and short spokes; a bead added between each stitch. It is edged with a blanket stitch.

The sweater design inspired the embroidery on this one, accented with crystal and bugle beads and knots. Rayon thread gave a bit of luster to the knots and the blanket stitches around the edge. 

Bugle beads create the star with a glass bead in the center. The rest is blanket stitching.

Rayon thread is used for the blanket stitch around the diamond, which is stitched with a ribbon flower made of 1/8-inch ribbon lazy daisies with a beaded center. 

The green center is attached with a beaded blanket stitch, filled with herringbone stitch and surrounded by seed stitches and a feather-stitched snowflake.

Rayon thread adds luster to the lazy daisy flower in the center. The ornament is edged with a knotted blanket stitch, with beads added between each stitch. 

The bugle beads surround a glass bead to create an eight-pointed star, this time with wool thread colonial knots on the ends of the beads. On the edge, I added larger, triangular beads every third blanket stitch. I made a knot before and after the bead.

Here, my shape is not an exact circle but more of a teardrop shape. In the center circle, I stitched three bugle beads and used pearl cotton to stitch a knot in the center and detached lazy daisy stitches between each bead. To attach the circle, I used a blanket stitch, alternating the direction of the spokes. I then added wool colonial knots between the spokes in the circle and at the tip of the spokes outside of the circle. I edged with a knotted, beaded blanket-stitch.

The pearly bead star is centered with a pearl cotton colonial knot—the same thread used to attach the diamond. (Well, almost a diamond; those little shapes tended to shift on me.) Rayon/metallic thread (Dazzle, by Wonderfil Specialty Threads) gave some sparkle to the chain stitch and colonial knots, as well as the knotted, beaded blanket stitch around the edge.

Finally, I used a small herringbone stitch with the rayon thread to attach the center circle. Pearl cotton and small beads created the feather-stitched snowflake in the center. The ornament is then embroidered with pearl cotton chain stitches and rayon herringbone stitches and colonial knots.

The possibilities are endless. I could have kept on stitching these little gems, but other seasonal obligations are curtailing my creative time. Most of these little ornaments have already be given to friends. They make fun little personal gifts and would make great gift tags as well. 

The best part is that because the wool tends to be pretty thick when you felt sweaters, you don't even have to back them. It is pretty easy to hide the thread ends in the middle of the wool, and I just used a thick thread for the outer edge to make it look neat. The only problem is that I hardly dented my felted sweater wool stash—so more fun awaits. Maybe I'll have to make some mittens, too!

 

With a few more ornaments, my Charlie Brown tree might be transformed!