ABC's of A NeedleWorker

AGES...seems like Ages since I participated in Alphabe-Thursday, but in actuality it was in 2011.  As I browsed through those posts, I noticed I was all over the place with the topics for each letter.  As an OOPerson...over organized...being all over the place is unlike me, but it worked out okay in 2011 and I made it all the way through without missing a single Thursday!

This Go-Round of 2013 Alphabe~Thursday, I will be true to my OOPersonality and establish a theme...

The ABC's of A Needleworker

You will know it's me by the 'Embroidered Letter Block'...which is not necessarily a depiction of that letter's topic.  For instance, today's topic is APPLIQUE not ApplePie.

 

APPLIQUE...In its broadest sense, is a smaller ornament or device applied to another surface.  In sewing, applique refers to a needlework technique in which patterns or scenes are created by the attachment of smaller pieces of fabric to a larger piece of contrasting colour or texture.  It is used extensively in quilting.  'Sunbonnet Sue is an example of a traditional American quilt block constructed with both patchwork and applique.  (reference...Wikipedia)

As you might have quessed, I am a QUILTER.  The Appliqued Sunbonnet Sue is one of the blocks in a quilt done with a group of quilters on the Internet back in 1996...and Yep, that was AGES ago when I was new to the internet, and so was Quilting.  Today Quilting on the WorldWideWeb is Big Business, a Social Media Super Show and a U-Tube Sensation where you can learn all the Applications of Applique in about as many Languages.  For example:  HERE is Needle Turn Applique.  HERE is Machine Applique.

You also may have guessed that I'm from Texas....just thought I'd mention that while you admire the Hand Stitched 'Button Hole Stitch' Applique on the Mockingbird Block from my Texas My Texas Quilt.  I have to say that Applique is not my favorite technique in quilting, but it is one of the best  ways to portray a pictorial scene.  I personally enjoy the handwork when time permits....which for me on some applique projects is in short spurts over a long time....like years. 

 

Kind of like my Alphabe~Thursday participation...here is my All Over the Place 2011 Letter A,

A's In Arthmetic and Agave

Linking To:

Jenny's Alphabe~Thursday #8

Kelly's Needle and Thread Thursday





NO IDLE HANDS...Chapter 4 Westward Knit

With my reemergence into my Yarn Stash, another Fiber Focus WannaDo climbs back to the top of my YarnArama Bucket List.

  SPIN!!!

When I get this 'Itch' to Spin, a couple of things usually squelch it.  One being the 'Itch Factor' of WOOL and second, I don't have a Spinning Wheel or Sheep.

I tell myself, "Sue, not only do you not have sheep, but you really don't need ONE MORE THINGY to add to your already OverDoArexia. 

Then I remind myself, "Sue, you don't have to start from sheep scratch...this is the 21st Century...you can get everything you need from Amazon.com...even sheared sheep wool that is UnItchy!"  Really, I bet you didn't know about UnItchy Wool....it's called Blended Roving...ready to spin!  After calculating the cost of 21st Century Amazon Spinning, I immediately make a run to my LYS...local yarn store...or Hobby Lobby.  It's kind of like HiHoney's theory about Fishing for Catfish...it's cheaper at HEB.  Even so, neither one is as much fun as DIY nor does it satisfy the Pioneer Spirit inherited from my Texas Ancestors.

 "I can see her yet stepping back and forth beside the spinning wheel as she spun the rolls of wool into yarn."  Skeins were often taken off the reel and one of us would hold them on our outstretched hands while the other wound it into a ball.  Or we would place it over two chairs, turned back to back a little way around, and walking round and round, wind it into a ball.  Mother sat evenings at her knitting, from time to time fitting the mittens to our hands to see if she was getting them the right size."

 

What a picture those words conjure up.  I can just see my Great Grandmother Martha Jane in that setting with my Grandmother Stella walking around and around the chairs winding yarn.  Yep, reading along in Chapter 4...Westward Knit of No Idle Hands has my Pioneer Spirit spinning yarns.

"Mother spent her leisure moments sitting beside the firelight, her hands always occupied with knitting or sewing as her foot on the rocker hogged the cradle at intervals.  There I was taught to knit and sew, sitting by her side in my little chair, carefull overhanding patchwork, or knitting long strips for the garters worn in those days. 

When I was promoted to knitting stockings, it was understood that I could not go out to play until I had knitted seven times around, and I often retired to sit on the floor under the dinning room table while performing that stunt. 

 I was not allowed to leave the work half way across a needle, but must knit it to the end, and neatly sheathe the needles in the ball of wool."

No Idle Hands suits me....how about you.

 

NO IDLE HANDS the Social History of American Knitting...HERE on Amazon.com

My Wish List Spinning Wheel....HERE ..... the one I can afford...HERE