Hi all!  Popping in for a quick post:  An interview with yours truly about my work and my submission for this year, Pink Oyster Mushrooms, is now live on the Dinner@8 blog, here.

Here’s what I wrote on my entry: Beneath the Surface of the Edges of the pink oyster mushrooms, the Space Between the gills forms rhythmic Patterns of shadow and light. My Affinity for fungi and lichen extends to the inspiration I find in the world around me in Maine, even at at the Belfast Farmer’s Market. Dyeing and painting white cloth is part of my artistic voice, my Personal Iconography.

International Quilt Festival Houston is approaching, which means for the 10th year there will be a Dinner@8 exhibit, a juried invitational, which has showcased some of the best art quilts being made in the past decade.  I have been fortunate to be invited to participate for 9 of those years and was accepted in all but one (and I totally agree with the curators…I would have picked other quilts than mine, too!).  I am THRILLED to be in what is the final exhibit because, sadly, all good things come to an end. From the quilts I have seen, this may be the best exhibit yet.

Conceived and curated by Jamie Fingal and Leslie Tucker Jenison (click on their names for link to their personal websites), each year they selected a theme and a size for the exhibit.   The size was in place for three years, then the next three years a different size, etc.  This last year, the size was 30×50, and we were asked to choose one of the themes from the past nine years.  Honestly, my quilt could fit under many of the themes.

The way it works is in November (or thereabouts), Jamie and Leslie sent out a theme to a group of invited artists.  You them made a quilt, only one, to fit the theme and size and submitted it by the due date.  Then you waited to see if you made it in to the exhibit.  I am beyond honored to have had my works next to so many spectacular works—truly, go browse the exhibits for each year and even go buy the catalogs (links on the Dinner@8 site).

THANK YOU Jamie and Leslie:  you have created through these exhibits a body of the best of the best, and I am beyond gobsmacked that I have been able to be a part of these exhibits.

To see all the interviews this year and those from past years, click on the Dinner@8 Blog link.

You know you’re tetched in the head (old phrase from my mother and aunts, meaning a few bricks short of a full load a.k.a. crazy) when you like your paper towel swipes LOL!   I’ve signed up and am actually doing the lessons in a couple of online classes:  Journey Through the Natural Year with Val Webb and SketchbookSkool’s Watercolor Rules (are made to be broken).  So I’ve been playing.

Wiping my brush off may be one of my best watercolors to date LOL!

I’ll share some of my exercises as the classes go on, but I wanted to share this tiny palette I found at least a year ago but haven’t used.  I bought it solely for the tin–the Schminke ones cost a fortune.  This one may not be quite as sturdy, but it is mighty nice!

This little black palette has a ring on the bottom to help hold it if you are sketching in the field. The center portion lifts out (it’s between the box and the tin in this photo) for more mixing area. I am pretty sure these are standard half-pans so could swap them out for higher end watercolors (or just empty these and re-use).  The item is still available on Amazon for about $19, here.  There are other colorways but I liked this one and it was cheapest.  Closed it is just under 3 x 5 inches! 

Here’s a paintout of the colors. The quality of the colors is better than I expected. Definitely not Daniel Smith or M. Graham, but adequate for a quick color in a sketchbook. But as I said, I bought this for the tin, not the paints.

Luxe print cuddle and velvet cuddle (the solid red) from ShannonFabrics.com

Oh I can’t WAIT to start sewing this.  At the Janome Education Summit in May we had a program from Shannon Fabrics using their double gauze and Cuddle (minkee).   I saw these three fabrics in swatches and NOW I have some!  They are part of the Fall line, and I can’t wait!  SQUEE…just checked and these are now available at Fabric.com–go here.

The white with buffalo-plaid moose will be backed/edged with the big buffalo-check (each square is about 2 inches) for a ginormous throw, almost twin sized (I think it will be about 54×66 inches when done.  The red will line the buffalo check for a new winter coat or wrap to snuggle in.  This stuff is SO SOFT!

Learned a fantabulous trick from the ladies at Shannon Fabrics at the Education Summit:  when cutting Cuddle and other hairy fabrics (like minkee and similar), cut the pieces, then carefully roll them up and put them in the drier on air/no heat for a while.  About 80 percent of those stray hairs will gather in the lint filter (remember to EMPTY IT), leading to a billion times less clean-up in the studio.

Stay tuned–I should have the throw done by early next week.  The coat will take longer!  THANK YOU Janome America for that fabulous summit and Shannon Fabrics for these snuggly fabrics.  For all of you, I had already ordered some blue for a different throw, and some other fabric for Christmas gifts which obviously I can’t tell you about—yet!

This is what teacher prep for teaching in Houston looks like, including well over 100 feet of parchment cut for kits!

There’s still some spaces in my classes…I’d love to see you there because I’m ready for full classes!  This is what handouts and basic class samples looks like.  Add more quilts, stuff I’m shipping, etc., and that’s just with three full-day classes and the Machine Quilting Forum!  Here’s what I’m teaching:

Teaching my favorite and most popular classes! Click HERE to go to the Classes page for Quilt Festival.

If you’re interested in any of my classes and have questions, please do write and ask!  I’m happy to answer.  The first two are fused collage.  Birch Pond is best suited to someone new to art quilting.  Collage the Garden can be a rank beginner who is adventuresome or the more intermediate art quilter wanting to do their own thing.  Fine Finishes is how to finish your quilts (traditional, modern, art).

Here’s a question for you:  should I rename Fine Finishes–An Album of Techniques  to “Bindings and Facings and Piping, Oh My!” ????

Back view, Sarah’s shrug, which is major modifications on the Biston shrug pattern (c) Mercedes Tarasovich, variations (c)SarahAnnSmith2018

So, once again, I can’t quite do things the way the pattern says LOL!  Last summer, I knitted Ashley a gray shrug using the Biston pattern on Ravelry.  It was lovely and knit up very quickly and easily (especially since Ashley is a size 2).  Thought I’d knit up something quick for me this summer.  Right.  Not.  Bought this glorious yarn, Malabrigo Rios in the Indiecita color way, which has blues, greens and some purple (but not an obnoxious amount of purple).  After doing a test swatch in various stitches, I chose a stitch that showcases the yarn but is rather slow (at least for me, I’m not a fast knitter).

Sarah’s test swatch included from top to bottom: 1×1 ribbing, linen stitch in three different gauges, a broken rib, the broken/chevron rib from the Biston pattern, a knit-purl diamond motif, seed stitch, stockinette and a garter stitch at the start/bottom and edge.  So glad I did it because I wan’t wild about the look in stockinette (hence all the other variations), and was able to learn that the linen stitch on smaller needles resulted in a fabric felt stiff.

Detail of the linen stitch I selected and the 1×1 ribbing I decided to use.

Yarn wound into a ball, knitting commences

As of this week DONE! I used the basic measurements from the Biston pattern, but instead of knitting cuff to cuff in stockinette, then seaming and adding the nice chevron rib collar, I wanted the direction of the linen stitch to run horizontally across my back. So I cast on for the lower center back, increased 10 stitches at either end of each row five times, then 15 stitches twice, until I had enough to go almost from wrist to wrist. I alternated skeins/balls every 2 rows to prevent color pooling from the dyeing pattern on the hank.  The cloth ended up being thicker and warmer than I had realized it would be, so it became a winter shrug, not a summer bolero.

From the front. Because the yarn relaxed a lot with blocking, it does seem to slip open a bit–it fit perfectly before washing. I may try again and see if I can wet and block it again and make it not-so-large!

That meant I knit until the whole main part was 16 1/2″ long, then started tapering down to equal the increases. I did a slip stitch at each end. I bound off for the length of the sleeves, but kept the remaining stitches live on the needle. After testing on the swatch, I decided a simple 1×1 rib would look best.

After sewing the sleeves, I knit the cuffs. I calculated how many stitches I wanted to fit my thin wrists (32 I think) and picked up a stitch in every other slipped stitch, which gathered the sleeves in nicely. In a better universe, I would have tapered the sleeve portion more, but I wasn’t about to frog a summer’s worth of knitting and opted for a gather. 1×1 rib for 27 rows which is a bit under 4 inches long.

Collar came next: I picked up some stitches around the seam area, then picked up stitches one to one. Knit 27 rows, bind of in pattern.

Linen Stitch Shrug in Malabrigo Rios Indiecita done! (c)SarahAnnSmith2018

Blocked. I have learned that the super wash yarns apparently have a propensity to GROW and get LONGER. I’m fine with the extra length down my back, but I have about 4-6 more inches in length from wrist-to-wrist than I had before washing. I will try to shorten this with blocking shorter (have asked for foam blocking squares for my birthday), but I am falling out of love with the concept of superwash if it always grows like this. Even washing and blocking your swatch doesn’t really convey how MUCH it will grow when a full size garment.  If anyone has any words of wisdom, please DO share!

Still, I love this and know I will wear it a lot in winter. I love the look of the linen stitch on the hand-dyed wool, so I just need to find a hand-dyed wool that I like the feel that doesn’t grow.

Weighs 491 grams, so that is allegedly just under 5 skeins, but I actually used just a bit over (plus the amount for the swatch). Don’t mind that I have nearly a skein leftover–it will be pretty in something.

I’m on Ravelry — if any of you are over there, you can find me at https://www.ravelry.com/people/SarahAnnSmith