Throwback Thursday - Camping achievement patch

I went for a hike through the state park the other day and was fondly reminded of the winter months I spent camping there.  A couple years ago I challenged myself to camp out every month of the year.  I started in May of 2009 and went through April of 2010.  To be honest, the winter months were much easier for me than a couple of the summer months.  As long as I was able to stay dry, I was able to stay warm.  In the heat of the summer, there's not a lot one can do to get relief out in the woods.  And if there are bugs swarming too....that's just miserable.

After I accomplished my camping goal, I wanted something to commemorate it. Sort of like when I was in girl scouts and would have gotten a badge.  I thought it would be neat to make a quilt with achievement patches both to motivate me to continue trying new things and to tell a story down the road.  So far this is the only one I've done.  It looks like it'll be a long time before I earn a quilting patch.

Knit cotton wash cloths

Photo by David Wesley

I knit up a couple of dish/washcloths recently.  Its knit regular on straight needles but the decreases make it angle like that.  I finally found a purpose for that robot button I made at swap-o-rama-rama.  

Blue and White Knitted Cowl

I love visiting with my Aunt E.  Not only is she a kindred spirit but she has a craft store addiction.  I knew I got that from somewhere.  Occasionally I benefit from her overflowing stash, which is where the yarn came from for this cowl.  Its just a basic garter stitch done on 15 needles but I LOVE the color.  

Photos by David Wesley

Old school NES

Here are some Nintendo themed crafts I made for swaps.  

Mario Bros. Coasters.  Made with Perler beads and a cork base.

ATC made with felt and paper

Blogger doesn't want to cooperate with me and turn my picture right.

Natural dye - Red daylily

I find natural dyeing fascinating. Fixing the beauty of nature to fiber is like capturing it in time.  Flowers that would otherwise die and fade from memory, can be used to extract the color, and fashion into a piece you can have and remember for years to come.  These red daylilies grow outside the mansion where I work.

Photo by RaeRaggs

Photo by David Wesley

Another thing that is fascinating is that you don't always get the results you expect.  The same dye can have a different effect depending if you use cotton, wool, silk, iron mordant, alum mordant, etc.  This is lovely green is a result of using silk and alum in my daylily dye pot.