A Rainbow of Felt

These are my latest stash of raw materials -- a whole rainbow of dyed wool felt. I just love the bright colors. The wool felt absorbs the dye in a very random way and give a soft, heathered look. I've been using the felt for ATCs and inchies (okay, they are a little bigger than inchies) with fabric paper applique. I need to incorporate some hand spun yarns because the colors match perfectly. Time to go play!

Our New Home Away from Home

It has been a busy week around the Wheeler home despite my being under the weather for much of it. My husband has been wanting a Suburban for a long time. Even the mini van can get rather crowded when we travel and Adam would like to be able to drive up old logging roads without worrying the van is going to fall apart. Well, he found one very reasonably priced, so we brought it home last week. Then, to make those camping trips a little less stressful for mom, we bought a vintage 1958 Gem travel trailer. We don't know much about our little "canned ham" trailer. There doesn't appear to be much information about the Gem on the internet, so if you know anything let us know.

Saturday, we drove to Albany, Oregon to pick it up. It needs a little work to make it nice, but it is in very working order as it is. Yesterday, we clean it up with a lot of bleach. It has a couch that folds down into a double bed. The dining table also makes into a double bed. There is also a fold down twin bed in the back. We all slept out in it last night. I was a little worried about being cold, since the temperatures have been dipping below freezing, but we all managed to stay warm and cozy. My husband even made breakfast on the little stove. He's ready to head out camping next weekend. I think we should wait until the threat of snow has passed, though.

Now it's time for me to add all those fun comforts of home. I've been looking at fabrics for curtains and pillows. The old curtains reminded me of faded old shirts my dad wore back in the 80's. I've thought about 50's fabrics, but I don't know if I want to limit myself. I think it needs something bright and fun. Maybe I'll even make a quilt for the bed that matches.

And the Winner is . . .

#1. for the Yarn -- Mo from Unmainstream Mom Reads #2. for the Matchbook Notepads -- Lisa from The Rest is Still Unwritten #3. for the Coffee Cuff -- Lisa Jurist from Mud Hound Primitives #4. for the Bookmark -- Karen South I also have been making some fun ATCs and would like to include six additional winners who will recieve an ATC -- Emily Rose from Dreameyce.com Vivien from Seven Pines Designs Marilyn Butler Cathie from Clevelandgirlie Sarah Z Corinna Nitschmann from Felt Trapped Spiritbouncers Now I just need everyone's mailing address so I can send your gifts off as soon as possible. Thank you to everyone who participated!

Still Spinning

I've been spinning away with more of food colored yarn. I just love the colors and so enjoy spinning. We made a trip to IKEA a week ago and bought a china cabinet to hold all my new yarns and spinning supplies. Plus there is room for my sewing machine so it doesn't have to live in my closet any more. I love the look of all the yarns lined up in steel pots. I'm going to need to find a use for all that yarn soon though, or I am going to run out of room. I have a feeling they will find the way to my Etsy shop so I can then buy more wool.

My husband made me a niddy noddy for taking the yarn off the bobbin and turning it into skeins. Much easier then using the dining room chairs. Plus each loop around is two yards, so I can just count the loops and know how much yarn I have.

Another yarn I have been trying is wire core yarn. So much fun! I use 28 gauge craft wire and spin the colorful wool around it. The yarn can then be shaped however you like. It is a little bit of a challenge because I have to wind it around the bobbin by hand. It doesn't seem to want to pull on however tight I put the tension. The wire just wants to cling to the hooks. This is my first length. In a few places the wire came to the outside, but with practice I'm keeping it all hidden inside the wool. I'm thinking it would be fun to make a bouquet of wired flowers with the yarn or some type of yarn sculpture would be really cool. So many ideas!

The Big Chair Reveal

Pop on over to our Twelve by Twelve blog and check out all the results of our latest challenge, "Chairs." Mine is titled "Mom's Hideout." This is my first attempt at using hand stitching. I enjoyed the process for the most part, but it took my much longer than I expected.