Aunt Ellen’s Lace
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Pin Woven Pillow
In my previous posts on pin weaving I explained how to make a pin weaving board and showed a weaving project in process. To finish your new ‘fabric’ when you have filled your pin weaving board with your weavings, it is time to steam and remove it from the board.
As all the yarns I used are wool I want to shrink them into a mat with a hot iron and steaming while the weaving is still on the pins. Spray with water and press – straight up and down – and let cool and spray and press again. Leave it to cool and dry on the pins before pulling the pins out of the board. I used glass headed silk pins which are very thin. Most of them bent beyond reuse so I recommend sturdy pins without plastic tops. Though the chances of melting a pin head while pressing is low if your pins extend from the weaving board surface, you don’t want to deal with plastic stuck to your iron sole plate in the middle of pressing.
Turn the weaving over and repeat the spraying and pressing then let it cool and dry flat. I used a silk Organza pressing cloth to reduce the chance of burning the wool.
Cut a piece of iron-on interfacing slightly smaller than the weaving. I used a black interfacing used for needlework backing from the local JoAnn’s. I can’t find it on their website. Iron on the interfacing on the backside of your weaving. Make sure to let it cool flat before continuing.
Cut the weaving into a square. Save the longer cuttings for another project. I used a serger to cut and finish the edges at the same time.
I decided to use my woven fabric for a pillow cover. I made the solid wool backing from recycling a wool woman’s blazer that I cut apart and felted. Sewing three of the sides I attached large snaps to the fourth side so I could remove it from the pillow insert for cleaning. When putting this much time and effort into a pillow cover, spend a little more and get a quality pillow form.
The ironing of the wool does change the fuzziness of the yarns which I like. Before constructing the pillow cover I use a battery powered WAHL pet shaver to remove the fuzzy surface. This tool is also perfect for shaving accumulating fuzz, but be careful to use the guard and keep the shaver parallel to the surface to not cut into the fabric.
Sew the pillow together at three sides and attach the fourth side as you desire. I use this pillow daily and it holds up very well though it deserves to be treated as an heirloom.
Making Heirloom Tomato Pin Cushions
I got the urge to make a wool Tomato pin cushion this morning when I was playing with some new wool fabric I purchased at Wool & Goods for Primative Rug Hooking.
I googled for a pattern and found The Painted Quilt. What fun to have a quick and easy project that is both very useful and of heirloom quality.
Pin cushions are just that – for pins. Have you ever wondered what happened to all your needles? Pin cushions suck them deep into the center where you may never recover them.
With scraps from making the Tomato I also made a hand full of Strawberry Needle Cushions. Small enough to keep needles from disappearing and cute enough to just display.
I have old pattern weights they don’t seem to make any more. Bright yellow round O’s that fit perfectly over the gathered stitches that create the bottom of your Tomato.
I followed the directions from The Painted Quilt cutting a bias strip 6″ x 12″ long. The remaining triangles were the perfect size for making the Strawberries. I sewed along the folded long edge for the classic strawberry shape.
Stuffed with Corridale wool top, the lanolin is good for keeping your pins in perfect condition.
I do use a fabric glue or fray check on the wool edges to ensure long wear. I recommend also using FrayCheck at the end of the process to protect the edges of the ‘leaves’.
Being a kitchen witch is working with what you have on hand. I could have driven 10 miles to shop for green wool for the small amount I needed to finish the leaf top, but I threw an extra log on the woodstove and overdyed some tan and some dark grey wool with green Pro Chemical and Dye Washfast Acid Dye.
Other than the changes in using wool fabric, wool stuffing and using the O weight, I followed The Painted Quilt directions. I didn’t bother with a template for the greenery and I just cut them free hand.
Try it!
How To Make A Pin Weaving Board
In an earlier post I spoke of Pin Weaving with hand spun and dyed wool. In detail…
March Winds Bring April Baby Quilt
April Cornell floral fabric for the backing, setting squares and setting triangles to carry the four colors that make up the dancing blocks across the field of flowers.
Grandmother’s Quilt
They say a stitch in time saves nine, but why does it seem the only stitches I find myself sewing are in newly purchased clothing or home goods with poorly constructed seams, hems and sewn buttons.
Big business, no matter what you are paying at the register, is based on profit and greed - pay the worker as little as possible, make the product as quickly and cheaply as possible – so they can spend more on promoting themselves and pocket more in the end.
Greed is still master of the owner and the trickle down effect rarely trickles enough to positively effect the ones with the bent back, the arthritic hands, and the diminishing eyesight that bring the pieces together to make you the latest design.
Buy local, buy quality, buy directly, pay full price.
Pin Weaving With Hand Spun and Hand Dyed Wool Yarns
The Wood Stove Collection of hand spun wools which I dyed last winter were the basis for this Pin Weaving project… Continue Reading…
Weaving serenity from the cold.
The overwhelming urge to hibernate through the winter is lessening with the daily increase of sunlight.
I’ve been by the woodstove dyeing, spinning and pin weaving as well as knitting Alpaca hats through the last few months.
I can smell spring in the air and the perennials are poking their heads through the ground. This year I will garden…beginning with cleaning up the debris from last fall once the snow and mud have cleared away and the warming winds of spring kiss my face.
The Grace Thayer Red Work Quilt Blocks 1873 – 1890
A dear friend gave me these vintage Red Work Blocks – 53 of them – that have been passed from woman to woman for many years. The story of this set of blocks has been lost to time, but I certainly contemplate the life of Grace Thayer and her seventeen year embroidery project.
One block short of a completed quilt top, I wonder if there was a 54th piece or did Grace plan to complete the final square when she sewed the top together. Did she die before beginning the last piece? For now I am using a new 8″x8″ muslin square which also highlights the difference in color, weight and weave from the late 1800′s pieces.There are two identical squares of Scissors and Button Hook. Did Grace forget she had already embroidered that design?
After removing the stack of muslin blocks from the plastic bag I received them in (not a good idea for fiber storage), I scanned each square into the computer as they looked – creases and all. It was several hours of work that I grew bored of rather quickly. How long did it take Grace to embroider each square? How long each day was she able to bend head to hands by dim light to create designs from everyday Muslin and the Turkey Red embroidery floss popular in the 1880′s?
I will display a grid collage of the pieces in this post, and I will create a page showing each piece for close up examination.
Interest in Red Work has increased in recent years. Originally Red Work Quilts were finished without batting and sewn square to square as a summer bed cover. Check out these sites for the history of and patterns for Red Work Quilts.
