Some thoughts

The previous two years I went to the Rosemont Quilt show, and last year I went to the Bead and Button show in Milwaukee. I was also stopping at Joanne Fabrics a couple (at least) of times a month. This year I'm lucky if I stop at Joanne's once a month, and I skipped the quilt show; the bead and button show is going on this week, and I have no urge to go up there.

I did miss going to the quilt show this year, but mostly for the company; I had been going with a group of friends, and it was a fun day out.

I had been spending an amazing amount on my needlework but I finally found something completely engrossing in temari. Now I’m wanting to get rid of some things; my crazy quilting supplies, the needle felting stuff, and the polymer clay stuff. I’ve discovered that those activities do not satisfy in the same way as temari; I guess I had been searching. I seem to need more of a framework to thrive.

I'm not sure how to get rid of the stuff. I want to make sure it goes to "good homes," somewhere it will be loved and used. I've been considering eBay, or Freecycle, or give-aways. I asked about a classified add in our guild newsletter. I usually give old clothing and household items to thrift stores; but that would not work for this. I'm getting so frustrated, I even threw away a couple of (primitive style) patterns. (I can hardly turn around in my sewing room, it's not an inspiring place right now.)

I finished a temari last night, I will show you when the recipient receives it.

Swirl II

I'm really surprised by how different this swirl looks from the last one. This one looks like icing, and I can just imagine sticking my finger into it.

It is actually not exactly the same as the blue on cream; this one has hexagons and squares, not hexagons and diamonds. The stitching is closer together on this one. You can see less of the background. And I found out that you can add stitches (out of order) to fill up gaps.

The first one was a SAL from my Talk Temari group, this one was from the Inspirations magazine; thank you Marj for the loan of the magazine. I think, though, the main difference (improvement) is because of the practice, not from any difference in instructions.



I like this pattern, it is very nice to stitch on, because you can get in a zone. There are a lot of variations too; I think I will be trying some. You can stitch different shapes, and with more than one color.

Swirl Temari

This is a picture of a swirl temari. Thanks to some excellent instruction, I was able to stitch it very nicely on my first try. There's just a little too much space between the divisions. If you follow the longest thread on each section, you can see the hexagon and diamond divisions that form the basis of the design. It was a lot of fun to stitch.



C was very concerned that there were white spaces left. (You stitch the hexagons, and then the diamonds, and the diamonds stick out like a sore thumb before getting covered.) She was very pleased when they got covered up, and even helped pull the needle through on several stitches.