The Winterport Clippers is a new kid on the quilting block in Area 6 of the Pine Tree Quilters Guild. It joins Bear Paws Quilters, Bangor; Clueless Quilters, Stetson; Hampden Highland Quilters, Hampden; Heart in Hand Quilters, Pittsfield-Hartland; Memory Makers Quilters, Dover-Foxcroft; Orono Quilters, Orono; Pieceful Patchers, St. Read More
The Getting Started book series from Interweave Press offers “Getting Started Crochet,” by Judith L. Swartz and “Getting Started Making Metal Jewelry” by Mark Lareau. These well-illustrated books introduce the novice to techniques and tools needed to learn a new craft. Projects in “Getting Started… Read More
Knitting in Maine is keeping its devotees in stitches, say yarn store owners. Knitters are building their skills, letting themselves be challenged and asking for high-end yarns such as silk, cashmere and hand-dyed wools. Store owners are optimistic that interest in the craft will continue. Read More
It’s the end of the year and, as usual, my house is cluttered with the dangling ends of projects I have begun but haven’t finished. For example: . The sweater I am knitting of burgundy possum and merino yarn a friend brought from New Zealand… Read More
The past is always with us, ebbing and flowing into daily life without us noticing it to any great degree. Then, some item, a piece of flotsam from yesteryear, lands on the metaphoric beach of our days and draws away from the present. So it… Read More
If on a rainy, misty November evening in Orono, you spied women walking alone or in pairs across a wet parking lot, and if they were lugging large tote bags and square cases resembling suitcases, chances are they were members of the Orono Quilters group on their way… Read More
The darkest time of the year, not coincidentally, is also the merriest time of year. As the holiday season opens before us, we naturally lean toward all that gleams and glows, hoping perhaps to magnify and absorb the waning sunlight to tide us through until spring. Read More
Quilters who love Maine, applique and lighthouses will find those three elements combined in two new books: “Lighthouses of New England” with designs by Connie Rand of Lincoln, published by House of White Birches; and “Lighthouse Designs for Quilters” by Patricia Aho of Lincolnville, published by Down East… Read More
Betsy Doherty of Brooklin wants knitters and crocheters to “get the red out” – red yarn, that is. She is organizing the “Scarves for Hearts” project. Here’s how it works: Knit or crochet a red scarf and donate it to the WomenHeart support network for women with heart… Read More
The nights are drawing in. The cold days and nights of winter are on the horizon. It’s the time of year when knitters obey the urge to curl up with a basket of yarn and knitting needles to knit warm, fuzzy things for loved ones. It’s a peaceful,… Read More
The twinkle and glamour of beads are impossible to ignore. Beads create instant interest, and adding even a few to a ready-made piece of clothing will give it an air of mystery and charm. Beads, the royalty of embellishment, can make clothing look like a million dollars even… Read More
Dressing in funky costumes on Halloween isn’t just for kids. Even adults like to don fanciful garb when they usher their youngsters to local parties or on trick-or-treat expeditions around the neighborhood. Some adults throw grown-up Halloween parties, complete with dragged-out-of-the-grave costumes, bonfires and a keg on tap… Read More
Recently, I packed up some of my handmade creations – rag dolls, knitted scarves, applique pieces, needle books, pillows and other odds and ends – and trotted off to the Elks Club in Bangor to be a vendor at a craft fair, flea market, yard sale event. Read More
Art teacher and quilter Annette Houston of Newport is enchanted with the Japanese art of sashiko quilting. “I love Japanese designs, the linearity appeals to me,” she said. Traditionally, sashiko is done with white stitching on blue fabric. “I love that indigo and white contrast.”… Read More
A month after the terrorist attacks on the United States on Sept. 11, 2001, artist and weaver Sarah Haskell of York felt a need to respond in some way to the shock, grief and outrage sweeping the nation and unsettling her own personal world. She e-mailed friends and… Read More
I never know what’s going to come in off the street and grab my needleworking attention. Earlier this summer it was a friend from Orono bearing a scrap of intricately worked off-white yarn she said was an example of nalbinding – this is the English spelling, there are… Read More
The March of Dimes Maine Chapter is calling for stitchers, knitters and crocheters to help make preemie clothing for inclusion in the Preemie Project 1372 event, which takes place Tuesday, Nov. 14, at the Augusta Armory. The first lady of Maine and honorary chairwoman of the March of… Read More
I live in an old house with wavy floors and walls that aren’t straight. I wouldn’t have it any other way. But why I was content to live for more years than I care to say with the back of a bathroom door that looked like it had… Read More
Most of us don’t live in the lap of luxury and aren’t likely to. But Linda Morse, owner of String, a New York City knitting boutique, has written a book that will enable knitters to wrap themselves in items knit from luxe yarns of rare pedigree. Read More
Searsport will become Maine’s fiber arts center Friday through Sunday, Sept. 8-10, when Fiber College sets up shop in the Penobscot Bay town. The event offers 44 fiber arts classes lasting two to four hours each and costing $20 to $30 for each class. Several… Read More
Maine’s craft heritage runs as old and deep as granite in the state’s history. Those seeking a feast for the eyes as well as the ears this weekend at The 2006 American Folk Festival will find plenty to delight the tactile and visual senses. The… Read More
I love it when my friends travel. They always bring me the neatest stuff. Last spring, my friend Susan spent nearly a month in Auckland, New Zealand, visiting her daughter. When she returned she handed me a bag of yarn and a sweater pattern. It wasn’t just any… Read More
When you get involved with a dishcloth, you end up wanting two things – to find out more about it and to create one of your own. Yeah, I know it sounds a little like a new relationship – before you know it, you’re all snarled up. Read More
The story in the Feb. 22, 1897, edition of the Bangor Daily Commercial has two headlines: “The First Sewing Machine in Bangor” and “Woman’s Initial Experience with Modern Machinery.” Here’s the gist of it: Until the newly invented sewing machine was widely available, Bangor women… Read More
Here it is – your chance to put on the dog – and take your creativity for a walk. Bring your favorite pooch to the Downtown Dog Day Designer Fashion Show 11 a.m.-noon Saturday, Aug. 19, in Bangor’s Pickering Square where tails will be wagging about the latest… Read More
Do you or a child you know want to get hooked on crochet? “Kids Crochet” by Kelli Ronci aims to do just that – her book is filled with projects for kids of all ages. googletag.cmd.push(function () { // Define Slot var slot_sizes = [[300,250]];… Read More
Since 1986, a quiet and comforting project has been spreading its goodness all over Maine. It’s the quilt documentation project of Maine Quilt Heritage, a volunteer committee of the Pine Tree Quilters Guild Inc. It is dedicated to the preservation of the history of Maine’s quilts. Read More
With school summer vacation in full swing, the days may be punctuated from time to time with the plaintive cries of “I’m bored!” But boredom is only a state of mind and parents have only to look to the outdoors to find plenty of materials… Read More
Quilter Eleanor Greenwood of Camden went to the dogs when she worked on the quilt she calls “Eleanor Loves Greyhounds.” Done in shades of pink and purple, the quilt presented a stitching challenge – all those long, slender legs and tails. Greenwood hand-appliqued 20 greyhounds – running, trotting… Read More
When I reviewed the book “One Skein” recently, I was so inspired I decided to try my hand at a one-skein project. Even though I really like the ideas in the book, I decided to dream up a project of my own. I call it the Mandalay hat,… Read More
Bruce Bourque, chief archaeologist and curator of ethnography at the Maine State Museum in Augusta, is “learning another branch of anthropology,” he said in a talk he gave May 18 at Bangor Public Library. His learning process will culminate in a book to accompany an exhibit, “Uncommon Threads:… Read More
Sheep, llamas, goats, rabbits and other fiber-producing animals will leave family farms and step into the spotlight when they assume starring roles at the sixth annual Fiber Frolic 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, June 10-11, at the Windsor Fairgrounds in Windsor. The event is a celebration of… Read More
Those who love textiles and wish to expand their knowledge about them may want to attend the Textile Arts Symposium 2006 on Thursday, June 22, to Sunday, June 25, at the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem, Mass. The event will showcase the museum’s extensive textile collection. Read More
If you describe yourself as a “hip young thing” – regardless of your real age – take a look at these two books: “Funky Knits” by Carol Meldrum and Julie Marchington, and “Second-Time Cool: The Art of Chopping Up a Sweater,” by Anna-Stina Linden Ivarsson, Katarina Brieditis and… Read More
I read fashion magazines for many reasons, but mostly for what I may glean about fashion trends and how those trends may, or may not, influence what I aspire to do with needle and thread. I read fashion magazines because at their most basic they are still about… Read More
Time, I am sorry to inform you, reduces the original glory of all things. This is especially true of lampshades. I mean, who ever gives more than a passing thought to lampshades? You switch on the light, you pick up your needlework. You don’t even look at the… Read More
Step into Joyce Smith’s doll room in Carmel, where a happy muddle of porcelain arms, legs and torsos housed in a small box awaits assembly. Tools, fabric, supplies, books and other doll-making paraphernalia are organized and handy. A collection of beautifully dressed dolls Smith made, from tiny to… Read More
After a long winter spent indoors quilting, it’s always exciting to look forward to a public display of what nimble fingers have wrought during those cold months. A Bicentennial Quilt Show featuring new and antique quilts will show off local quilting talent 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Friday, April 28,… Read More
Even on a cloudy early spring day the community room at the Hampden Municipal Center was filled with light flowing in from tall windows on three sides. Kathy Childs of Bangor and her daughter Melissa Raymond of Winterport were busy conducting one of the monthly sewing classes sponsored… Read More
Months ago – I’ve forgotten how many, please don’t ask – a colleague gave me a bag of vintage fabric I had no idea what to do with. I stashed it under my desk at work and there it sat. Every so often, my foot would come up… Read More
It all started with a strip of crinkled black dull satin fabric embroidered with silver lozenges one bleak Sunday afternoon when the rain fell in torrents against the windows. I was looking for something to do besides knitting, writing or anything else I might normally do on a… Read More
At last – the book knitters and crocheters have been waiting for. It’s “One Skein: 30 Quick Projects to Knit and Crochet” by Leigh Radford and published by Interweave Press. It solves the problem of what to do with a single skein of yarn and answers the question:… Read More
Many years ago, when I first began to sew, I had a dress form to assist me. I don’t remember her precise lineage or even where she came from, but I do recall that she had a gray cloth exterior and a black cloth neck, and that she… Read More
In February, Hemmy So, a reporter for the Los Angles Times, reported that a New York company had launched a trademark dispute against online knitting groups in the United States that call themselves Stitch ‘N Bitch. The owner of the company maintains that she started the first Stitch… Read More
Recently, I strolled through the aisles of various craft stores and departments intent on looking for gadgets and other stuff that might be of interest to needleworkers. The first thing that caught my eye was a line of trims called Destination India manufactured by Wrights… Read More
We who are lifelong hardy Mainers have tucked away in our minds fond memories of mittens made for us by mothers, aunts, grandmothers or other female – and sometimes male – relatives. I remember red wool mittens my mother knit for me when I was 5 years old. Read More
If you are looking for a new hobby, simply love beautiful needlework or want to try your hand at spinning, weaving, embroidery, knitting, crocheting or other fiber-related skills, the Fiber Arts Exhibition set for 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 25, at Bangor Public Library is the place for… Read More
Once, a friend said to me, “You never outgrew the dressing-like-a-hippie phase, did you?” The remark was made, with no unkindness intended, in the late 1980s after she went back to work and began wearing power suits, a trend that left me, quite willingly, in the fashion rag… Read More
For Barbara Andrus a trip to the woods yields nearly everything she needs to make art. The artist, who divides her time between Swans Island and Manhattan, will fell a tree, saw it up and remove the bark with a drawknife. As she works, she traces the tree’s… Read More
A half-dozen women with stitching on their minds met on a snowy Jan. 5 at the Bangor Public Library to launch a new organization, the Maine Needle Arts Guild. The guild is designed to appeal to those who love the art of embroidery, including but not limited to… Read More
We all know what to do if we get chilly at home or at work – put on a sweater and wool socks. In these days of high heating oil prices, turning up the thermostat is not an option. Putting on another layer of clothing is. But what… Read More
Want to win a copy of “Dyeing to Knit” by Elaine Eskesen? Knit or crochet your fanciest, most colorful or most wildly patterned 6-inch square from a washable material such as cotton or acrylic. Designs should be worked fairly tightly and not include open work. The names of… Read More
If your New Year’s resolution is to learn to knit and-or crochet, “Maran Illustrated Knitting and Crocheting” may be the only book you’ll need to move out confidently onto the Yellow Brick Road of needlework. There are several reasons for this. The book is set up like a… Read More
During the holidays I came across several ideas that I liked so well I want to pass them on to By Hand readers. Clip this column and add it to your “seasonal ideas” folder for future reference. My 8-year-old grandson made a personalized tree ornament… Read More
Sissy, my 16-year-old black cat, seats herself expectantly by my feet. I am sitting in the wing chair. I know what she wants and she knows what she wants, and for the next few minutes there’s going to be a power struggle waged for possession of my lap. Read More
During the holiday season, you need time to relax, time to shop, time to wrap gifts, time to spend with family, time to put into practice the festive traditions that make a holiday memorable. But with the many demands of life, time is the one thing you never… Read More
It took two feed sacks to make a dress and four to make a sheet. One feed sack might make a pillowcase, a small tablecloth, place mats or a whole stack of dishcloths. These simple facts were common knowledge among frugal Maine housewives trying to… Read More
For those who stitch, books about needlework are welcome holiday gifts. Books recharge our batteries, offer new spins on old ideas and introduce us to new techniques we want to try. If your holiday gift list contains names of those who love to mess around with yarn and… Read More
We all know that libraries are magical places where curiosity is satisfied and learning from books and other materials is something we take for granted. Quilting with Kids @ the Library, a program at the Old Town Public Library, opens a new dimension into the realm of learning… Read More
When I imagine my Pilgrim ancestor, Isaac Allerton, and the other citizens of Plimouth Plantation sitting down to a harvest dinner in 1621 – which many years later became the model for what we call Thanksgiving Day – I see them saying prayers of thanks for what had… Read More
Every so often – more often that I’d like to admit – I get these, well, nutty ideas, which makes me wonder if my brain has shrunk in my declining years and is now about the size of an acorn even a squirrel would spurn. Read More
Although it has been a chore for me to adjust to the fact that the field across the road from my house is being developed, I am fascinated by the process of transforming the field from farmland to residential sites. The instruments that change the… Read More
Inspiration for those of us with an itch to stitch and to make stuff isn’t necessarily a gift of the Muses wafted like fairy dust into our yarn fuzzed minds. Often it’s much more prosaic than that. In my case, inspiration is more likely to be a combination… Read More
You never know when a poultry expert is going to be of help to someone like me who owns an antique quilt. I don’t know who made the quilt. I do know it’s from my mother’s side of the family. She inherited it from her… Read More
Size will be the first thing readers will notice about Knitscene, the new magazine from Interweave Press, which hits newsstands today, Oct. 18. The magazine is an inch narrower and 2 inches shorter than regular size magazines. Its unconventional size signals, perhaps, the kind of knitters and crocheters… Read More
There’s nothing like having a cousin near your own age – someone who laughs at your jokes, celebrates the good times with you and commiserates during the not so good times – someone who shares your interests. I am lucky enough to have not one, but two, such… Read More
After 40 years of sewing I have accumulated piles of fabric scraps. They float through my sewing life like confetti celebrating the creative moment. Some are too small to do much of anything with, but are too big to throw away. I hoard those odd-shaped and -sized pieces,… Read More
I am fortunate to have as a member of my family my Aunt Effie, who knows how to sew. My earliest memories of her are of hearing her talk about sewing, prefacing a statement with, “I’m going to make …” Aunt Effie’s daughter is a… Read More
Hurricane Katrina has left thousands along the Gulf Coast disoriented and reeling from the terrible losses they have suffered. People in America and beyond are responding to the disaster in ways both big and small. Quilter Susanne Boutaugh of Millinocket knew just what to do… Read More
Ponchos, shawls and capelets cozied up to the fashion world several seasons ago, but are still being worn here in Maine. Indeed, these garments have an odd staying power and appear in new guises with new generations of knitters and crocheters. For those who wish… Read More
The birth of my nephew’s first daughter, the impending birth of my niece’s baby and the birth of a dear friend’s grandson – such a bonanza of babies – sent me scurrying to my bookshelf, my trunk of old needlework magazines, to the library and to the Internet… Read More
If you sew, knit or crochet, the March of Dimes needs your skill for its Preemie Project. The organization will mark Prematurity Awareness Month in November and as part of a campaign to educate the public about premature birth, volunteers – individuals or groups – are being enlisted… Read More
I find geometry baffling. Oh, sure, when I was a teenager, I understood the concept of proving theorems and even enjoyed the task. I arrived at the right answers even though I always left out a few steps of the logic required to arrive at a solution to… Read More
When the American Quilter’s Society AQS Quilt Exposition opens Aug. 25-27 at the Gaylord Opryland Resort in Nashville, Tenn., quilts made by eight Art Quilts Maine members will be among the 18 guild semifinalists in the Ultimate Guild Challenge contest at the exposition. The competition offers $5,000 for… Read More
I came of stitching age in the 1950s and 1960s when magazines that specialized in needlework and crafts abounded. Woman’s Day and Family Circle magazines, Better Homes and Gardens, and even Country Living magazine featured needlework and craft projects that caught my imagination and sparked my interest. These… Read More
One of the most pleasant requests I received in June was: “Will you make my bridal veil?” That question was asked by the young woman who became my daughter-in-law recently. The answer, needless to say, was a joyous “Yes.” We met at a local fabric… Read More
In the summer months, sundresses are a staple of my wardrobe from June to August – but not just any sundress. These lovelies are the product of my sewing machine. The pattern I use, Simplicity 9613, is one I’ve had since 1990. It has a… Read More
Traditionally, blackwork embroidery is done with black silk thread on cream-colored linen using a backstitch or double-running stitch. Sometimes it is embellished with gold metallic thread. Erica Wilson’s “The Craft of Black Work and White Work,” published in 1973, which I found lurking on one… Read More
I can’t begin to tell you how long I had that piece of coral linen – so long that I’ve forgotten where it came from. For years it lived in a stash of linen in various shades of cream and ecru I kept for embroidery projects. Read More
As I was leafing through a back issue of Piecework magazine recently, I saw an ad for a needlework stitching service called Ghoststitchers. I didn’t visit the company’s Web site, www.ghoststitchers.com, because I was more intrigued by the juxtaposition of the two words, ghost and stitchers, which conjured… Read More
Tired of getting junk mail? Take a tip from Laurie Walton of Glenburn and try sending – and receiving – fabric postcards. Yup, postcards made of fabric to send through the mail. She has made and sent more than 60 fabric postcards and has received as many from… Read More
“What a gorgeous jacket,” I said when I saw the indigo silk Shantung jacket worn by a woman at a Finnish coffee party I attended in Orono one pleasant Sunday afternoon in April. Appliqu?d daisies made of various printed silk fabrics adorned the front, back and one sleeve… Read More
When the wedding march swells to signal the beginning of a bride’s walk down the aisle, and I am among the guests, I’m prepared. Tucked into my handbag is a purse-size sewing kit complete with needle, lengths of black and white thread, and a nail clipper for snipping… Read More
I was cruising the aisles at a local fabric shop in March when I happened upon a twentysomething woman wearing a polar fleece poncho. “Did you make that?” I asked, and she assured me that she had. She cut 12-inch squares of fleece in contrasting… Read More
Interweave Press has published a trio of new books that has planted more visions of needlework in my already over-stashed-with-ideas head. “Crochet With Wire” by Nancie Wiseman, a small square 88-page book filled with eye-catching photographs, gives the ins and out of making beaded jewelry… Read More
My grandmother was not the only person in the family who knew how to wield a needle. My grandfather Guy Hamlin darned. In the early 1900s, as a young man, Guy worked as a brakeman on the railroad, making runs to Vanceboro. He’d done a… Read More
Aqua and hot pink. Dusty purple. Earthy browns. Boisterous orange. Vivid yellow. Ocean blue. Designs and colors with a distinctly global flavor. Junior and senior students spread out their works in progress, revealing pieces of fabric vibrant with tie-dyed circles big and small, with batiked… Read More
As a child, I played with yo-yos, but not very successfully – the string always tangled up and left it fraught with knots. I enjoy the music of cellist Yo-Yo Ma. I have been accused of being a yo-yo. It is not unusual for me to yo-yo in… Read More
Seams rip out with no warning. Holes happen with alarming frequency. Scissors slip and gash for no sane reason. The fruit punch always lands on the whitest fabric. There are a million ugly stories in the naked sewing rooms of Maine. These, my friends, are… Read More
My mother showed me how to embroider when I was 10 years old. That summer, I received for my birthday a kit consisting of a square of white cotton. The sides were stamped with a fawn, a kitten, a puppy and a duckling. Each corner had a tiny… Read More
OK, people, let’s get ready to scrumble. No, it doesn’t have anything to do with the Hell’s Angels revving Harleys. Nor does it have anything to do with the cruise-in at your favorite diner or doughnut store. It’s not a word you’ll find in Webster’s dictionary, so don’t… Read More
“I’ll give to you a paper of pins for that is how our loves begins, if you will marry me, me, me, if you will marry me.” Children probably don’t sing that folk song anymore and they’ve probably never seen of a paper of pins. Read More
It was bound to happen, one of those mysterious and unlikely juxtapositions that causes one to exclaim, “Why hasn’t anyone thought of that before!” Actually, it’s been happening for as long as women have been crocheting ruffled doilies, but only recently has it been recognized for what it… Read More
I have been a kitchen-table seamstress for 44 years. All that time I have dreamed of having a sewing room of my very own. But alas, the houses I have lived in have never afforded me that luxury. I came close to it a few… Read More
If you lived in Bangor in the early 1900s, the Bangor Steam Dye House at 71 Central St., E.S. Baker, proprietor, was in business to “cleanse and dye” clothing and household items. J.H. Gould established the business at 40 East End Central Bridge in 1858, and employed seven… Read More
Many new knitters start by knitting scarves before progressing to more ambitious projects. But for those who want to linger in the scarf mode while advancing one’s knitting skills, “Scarf Style” by Pam Allen just might be the way to get a wrap on things. “A scarf on… Read More
Clothing size is a loaded number. Seamstress Norma Binan of Hampden, owner of The Nifty Needle, will be the first to tell you that. Not only is she a plus size – clothing industry jargon that applies to women size 16 and beyond – she is experienced at… Read More
The crochet hook my son carved from hornbeam, a pale hued wood of the birch family, has a fine grain smooth as silk. It is the most beautiful tool I have ever owned. His inspiration came not only from his own innate creativity, but from… Read More
Andrea Rouillard’s looms are situated under windows where the sun spills in. The light makes the canning jars of stewed tomatoes, green tomato relish, plum butter, rhubarb jam and peach pie lining the shelf across the room gleam like jewels. In one corner is a wire cage filled… Read More
Don’t let the tranquility of Stacey Van Dyne’s kitchen and living room fool you. Behind the white picket fence door of the snowman cupboard, in the small drawers of the apothecary chest and in a room down the hall of the house in Orrington lurk the dyes, fabrics,… Read More