Author: Laura Kate

One of six children, I was raised by a busy mom, who instilled in me a love of fabric. Though I learned to sew and knit at a young age, it was the arrival of my first grandchild that pushed me into action. A long-time knitter, I am now ready to explore all things fiber.
Posted in quilting

Another Round Robin Quilt Challenge

Posted on by Laura Kate

Quilting Gail is at it again! She has organized five of her quilting friends in a stay-at-home round robin quilt for 2022. I’ll not go into details about how it all works. Instead, I’ll recommend that you check out Gail’s blog.

https://quiltinggail.com/2022/01/10/sahrr-2022-getting-started-center-block/

Last year was a blast for me. I was greatly challenged to expand my quilting skills. In the end I loved what I made. Its success was due in a big way to the weekly challenges, requiring me to stretch my imagination while improvising my design.

Expanding Universe lap quilt, made during the 2021 SAHRR quilt challenge.

I have an unconventional approach for this year. It will involve quilting together hand-woven vintage fabric samples that have been entrusted to me by my daughter. Here is my center block using three samples. It will have finished size of 12 inches square.

In addition to the wonderful textures of the weavings, this block cements together a split complimentary color palette utilizing red-orange as the primary color with blue and green as the supporting colors. Below are pictured more pieces, which will illustrate the palette clearly.

If this type of project interests you and you want to see more center blocks, check out the co-hosts’ posts, here.

Posted in painting

Finished Object Friday – Belize Memory

Posted on by Laura Kate
Comin’ frum Reef, Belize, 2021

Today I finished my first attempt to capture a feeling in watercolor.

On December 12th, I wrote this entry in my Belize journal, describing the boat trip back from the reef after snorkeling there:

“On either side of me the sea rolled by, with bright, transparent turquoise water punctuated by amorphous, dark green forms of sea grass and coral clumps below the surface. After the first several miles had passed, I began to detect bits and pieces of the shoreline. They came in the form of striated horizontal lines, looking like a slow fade from one color to the next. First sea green, then turquoise, followed by the strip of land separating the bay from the lagoon. The land was dark, with bumpy forms of vegetation. Beyond and above that was a cool blue strip of atmosphere. Was it mist, fog or ordinary clouds? I couldn’t tell. Eventually I detected the purplish forms of the mountains, overlapping each other and rising from the mist.”

I’m relatively happy with this painting. It captures the way I felt about what I saw that day. Working abstractly was an experiment. I might try to paint the scene again using a more organic style.

This is also my first painting on Arches hot press paper. It took a little getting used to. Pigments used were Winsor green, Thalo blue, Prussian blue, quinacridone gold, quinacridone red, carbazole violet and Payne’s gray.

Posted in quilting, recycling, sewing

Inspired by Vintage

Posted on by Laura Kate

While visiting Daughter’s Family last Thanksgiving, I was invited to rummage through a stack of weaving samples. These pieces were made over a number of years by my son-in-law’s grandmother, Margaret. They were then stored away with Margaret’s son, and eventually passed into the next generation.

Here are some of the pieces that came home with me.

I was invited to keep these lovely samplers with the understanding that they could be worked into a fiber object. I feel honored to receive them.

So today, I have a tiny glimpse of an idea on what to make with them. What if they formed the feature blocks in a quilt? It would be a wabi-sabi quilt, assembled with additional fabrics recycled from articles of clothing and household linens. In my stash I came across the following items that fit the description.

Cut up shirts and old pillowcases in compatible colors

I began my work by washing and pressing the linens, then examined each piece for needed repairs. It seemed to me that, while the samples were firmly woven, the weaves are much more open than standard quilting cotton. How could I stabilize them so they wouldn’t shift during quilting? This called for a consultation with quilting expert Jackie, aka, my mom.

She had some great pieces of advice. Ultimately, I decided that I could sew the linens to a light-weight muslin backing, string piece style, then work in some rows of decorative stitching. This particular idea was top of mind, because I am currently reading this book on the Japanese practice of boro and sashiko.

I call this sort of happening a Convergence.

Let’s start the work with these three pieces as a center block.

They are of sizes that will fit together into a 12-inch block without cuts. The three contain all of the colors in my chosen palette, which could make an ideal focal point for the rest of the quilt.

DONE!

The next steps will be to design and sketch a layout, then acquire supporting fabrics. Maybe I can source more second-hand clothing items from local thrift stores.

Posted in drawing, knitting, painting, quilting

The Best of 2021

Posted on by Laura Kate

As the snowflakes drift gently down – and blow slightly sideways – across the backyard, I thought I would take some time to review projects I completed in the past year. No, dear reader, I won’t drag out all of them. Instead, let’s focus on the best loved, by you, in each category.

KNITTING

I wanted to start with knitting, because it seems I spent a lot of time doing just that. I even ventured into teaching knitting, just a little bit, for my local arts association.

It seems there was a three-way tie for the best knitting project of 2021. So I have to go with the most charming one. And who better to model it than little LL?

POLKA-STRIPE VEST, WITH BUTTONS AND POCKETS

https://wordpress.com/post/dailyfiberfun.wordpress.com/3734

Runners up were Gentle Curves Shawl and Woodsmen’s Socks

DRAWING

I was pleased with the progress I made in this medium. It helped me to take classes from Ross Meyer. His lessons on getting high values using graphite were most informative. I also began to develop a more personalized style with casual portraits using ink and watercolor washes. The winner in this category is my sketch of H as a toddler sitting with Cat.

Also strong contenders: Happy Father’s Day and Hummingbird at Fuchsia.

PAINTING

My personal goal for this year was to improve my watercolor paintings. At the beginning the year, I painted a little bit everyday on paper the size of postcards – a very doable goal, which lasted only one month. I put my money where my mouth was and paid for in-person lessons. This helped me a lot.

Surprising to me, the most successful watercolors were some of these small experimental ones. A post called “Back to My Routine” got the most attention for this 6 x 9 painting of a stormy sky.

https://wordpress.com/post/dailyfiberfun.wordpress.com/3968

Equally popular were these two:

SUNSET AT THE WASH
WAXWING REPEAT

QUILTING

In the early months of the year, I spent time making quilts. I gained skills by following along with a group that was sewing Stay-at-Home Round Robin quilts. Not only did I learn a lot but I was really happy with my finished object.

EXPANDING UNIVERSE LAP QUILT

Two other quilted objects of note were this art quilt……….

CATBIRD SINGS

and a twin sized quilt made for LL featuring dogs and cats.

ANIMAL FRIENDS

And that’s a wrap for 2021. What does the new year hold for me and my art? I haven’t come to any conclusions yet. But whatever I choose, I’ll make it worthy of my time and effort.