the emotional life of sølje

I have been working on a new postcard group, this time I’ve been having dreams of Africa; running with the animals, enjoying the beauty in rugged lands. I decided it was time to cut into some of my fabrics from Africa, adding trims for a little embellishing. Three of the cards will be going to friends, one will be my own keepsake of my dreams.

Inscription:
The desert winds whirl,
dreams of Africa carried.
running with the animals,
stalking the night,
primal survival.

Tags: Quilting by Solje
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While Kevin went off to sunny and warm California over the weekend, I started and finished my first pair of socks. I’ve wanted to try knitting socks for a while, and finally got up the courage to open up my books about sock knitting again. I used handdyed superwash wool and size 5 circulars (24″). I started off knitting with two circular needles for one sock, but after I finished the increases, I changed to just one circular. I loved that! Knitting this way was super easy and comfortable. For the cuff, I prefer socks that are more ankle socks, so I chose to start the k2, p2 ribbing a few rows after ending the heel, binding off at about 1-2″ above the heel.

These socks were made with the same skein of yarn, knit at the same time (sock 1 came from the center pull and sock 2 was knit from the outside strand of the ball)… but sock 1 appears brighter than sock 2. Oh well, not a big deal to me.

About the techniques I used:
*sock on the left (sock 1) was my first attempt and sock on the right (sock 2) is my favorite because I “fixed” the errors from sock 1 for sock 2. I didn’t feel the urge to rip and start again on sock 1.
*sock 1, I did a cast on method as described in Really Clear Instructions For Knitting Toe Up Socks by Cynthia Spencer (which I loved all the pictures!!!). I did not like how the toe turned out, so for sock 2, I did a figure 8 cast on (on two needles) and I am in love with that method since I don’t have the pokey corners and the figure 8 is easier to tighten up.
*for sock 1, I didn’t “quite understand” where the increases were suppose to be at, so I have increases on the top and bottom of the sock before I finally figured it out (aka, re-read the directions). Sock 2 of course has this correct.
*sock 1 has a heal turn that is lacking (holey), but was easy to fix. I had a hard time with the turning to begin with (getting the yo increases looking good), but by sock 2, I had it down.
*and finally, with sock 1 I bound off with the same size needle, but fixed this by sock 2 by using a size 7 to bind off. Now it fits over my heel, and fits great! I had to re-do the first sock with the smaller bind-off… I wanted to be able to wear it

I think I am going to find another yarn that would make a great pair of socks.

Tags: Knitting by Solje
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It’s getting closer to being finished (compared to 6/8) … The colors were hard to capture inside, when I finish, I will take it outside for a more true photo. The red is a yummy raspberry color, and the blue looks like waves in the ocean with the different blues.

I set the cardigan aside for a couple of months, and now I am on a finishing binge. After this is finished, I will have nothing waiting on needles, which means…. I GET TO START ANOTHER PROJECT AND NOT FEEL GUILTY As if I’d feel guilty anyway But at least I will have free needles!

Tags: Knitting by Solje
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This is the final journal quilt that I have created for 2005, so far. August was a month of tulips for me. This was the month that I also played with tulip quilted postcards.

For the background fabric, I “painted” with foiling glue, foiling in the color I wanted, going back and foiling some more. After I achieved the effect I was looking for, I worked on the tulip.

I worked a fake trapunto technique for the bloom; I trimmed some Steam a Seam2 to the edges of the fabric, and filled the center with batting. I then very carefully fused the edges of the bloom in place on the background, finished by appliquéing the edges. I also added two lines of embroidery floss off center to make it look more like tulip petals.

For the quilting, I quilted in green spikes for the field of tulips, and for the blooms, I quilted in swirls. Quilting on foiling is interesting. If I do this again, I may use a slimmer needle, as the quilting needle did create rather large holes through the foiling.

Tags: Journal Quilts, Quilting by Solje
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“When world’s collide” or “Meeting of the minds, coming together”
The creation of July was fun. I finally got brave and tried out my heat gun on painted tyvek. I didn’t even wait for the painted tyvek to dry, I put the heat gun on it as soon as I was finished applying paint. It was great fun to watch the tyvek shrivel up and contort into forms. I had also cut up other shapes of tyvek, but I liked how these three were formed the best.

After the shriveling-up process, I did some highlighting with paint by rubbing the high points using my fingers. As for adding the melted tyvek to the quilt, it was very easy to sew through. I did remove the foot on my Juki, sewing with only the needle exposed (please be very careful if you do this), so I had no crushing or changing of the texture of the tyvek.

The background is melted Angelina fibers and quilting. I used a lot of heat on the Angelina fibers, and they bonded to the point of almost looking like a molten gold. This month reminded me of some of the daily pictures that NASA posts.

This month was just a lot of fun in experimenting.

Tags: Journal Quilts, Quilting by Solje
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Read about Nikki’s description about construction and process here

Getting mail yesterday was like Christmas This is the quilt that my friend Nikki made for me, using the fabrics and doodads I sent to her! Isn’t it awsome? I think she had a great vision and was successful in the construction. I love the dangly beads–I was hoping for dangling beads

Tags: Quilting by Solje
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There really isn’t any great story behind this journal quilt page, except in creating a fiber art “Dream catcher”.

June’s Journal Quilt Page was a continuation of May’s process of slicing the batik to show the snake fabric. I did the same with the printed fabric for this month as well. Angelina Fibers, yarns-natural and synthetic, freemotion quilting, copper.

I think that I was more successful with creating an aesthetically pleasing quilt this month, and I did enjoy playing with the different textures and colors. I would like to work on more projects with printed wording, but I need to work on the content that works with the printing.

Tags: Journal Quilts, Quilting by Solje
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There is a lot going on here. Granted, it’s not the most aesthetically pleasing. It’s not suppose to be. It’s not even successful in the display. BUT, this journal page is another that has a personal message in it. This month, I learned about more snakes in the genealogical tree. I wish I could say they were further along the line and I was not familiar with these snakes, but I am.

This “family” tree was made of angelina fibers, yarns/other fibers and a lot of free motion creating. I added beading (paua shell leaves, turquoise, aquamarine chips), for the tree and the water (to wash away the sins of past) below. This month I also discovered the joy of foiling After this page, I played with foiling techniques on several other projects.

Fabrics used include the obvious snake print, and a “lighting storm” batik. The snake fabric was sewn underneath the batik, and then the batik was trimmed away to reveal the snakes.

As I said, this month’s Journal Quilt was much more of a personal statement over a very bitter and upsetting time (still not over it, but the “branch” has been trimmed in my mind).

The upside? A reconciliation with another close family member that I missed very much!

Tags: Journal Quilts, Quilting by Solje
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This is a quilt that I made for a friend. Three of us decided to try a challenge: we would send fabrics, beads, etc to one another, perhaps items that we’ve been wanting to create a quilt with but couldn’t get the idea out of our heads, and the person who received the bag of fabrics, etc would create a quilt for that person.

I had fun with the challenge, but will admit that I had a difficult time in allowing myself to just create. I was really afraid of cutting into the fabrics I received (cool fabrics from her wedding!!), and I had many ideas swirling through my brain. In the end, it has taken the three of us almost 2 years to finish the quilts at least we were all running at the same pace!

The quilt I completed was hard to photograph. It didn’t matter where the picture was being taken, nor lighting. Obviously I need lessons in photography! It is close, but the colors are not as crisp as in person. The outer white border is the satin from Julie’s dress, I wanted to keep it free from any quilting. I included a “randomly-organized” pieced mix of Fairy Frost fabrics set in a zig-zaggish pattern, some treated with Angelina fibers surrounding the wedding picture.

The wedding cake is beaded, and there are also beaded flowers and other doo-dads around the quilt, including buttons and flowers/bows from her wedding. I am encouraging Julie to add more to the frame around her picture. I also had fun with crystals.

If I had it to do over again, I would probably have created a crazy quilt instead. At the time of starting, I wanted to create something different in style. Funny how ideas can really evolve over time. I did enjoy the whole process, and I did learn a lot over the last year and a half.

Tags: Quilting by Solje
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