Sewing for the love of animals

Five sewing machines + one serger + a passionate group of fiber art enthusiasts from the Riverbend Fiber Arts Guild = 31 dog and cat blankets and 9 pillows for animal care facilities in the Chattanooga area.

Riverbend Fiber Arts Guild members sewed fleece, flannel and terry towel
blankets and bed liners to provide warmth and comfort to animals and pets.

The February guild meeting began with a presentation and videos about rehabilitation services for animals that was given by Certified Canine Rehabilitation Practictioner, Cassy Englert. Many pets and service dogs have benefited from the underwater treadmill, neuromuscular electrical stimulation, athletic conditioning and other theraputic services available at RIVER and similar facilities.

Carbon, a flat coated retriever, uses the underwater treadmill.

After the presentation, guild members got to work cutting fleece, flannel and terry towels for the animal blankets.

Cutting terry towels for a dog blanket.

Measuring and trimming fleece fabric to size.

Flannel pillow cases were stuffed with knit and fleece trimmings to make dog beds and crate liners.

Stuffing pillow cases with trimmings and fabric scraps.

Sewing machines and servers were humming. Pillow cases that were stuffed with scraps were sewn closed.

Sewing the pillow cases closed to create dog beds.

Pieces of fleece, flannel and terry towels were sewn together to make cat and dog blankets. Old flannel shirts can also be cut and repurposed for these blankets. Step-by-step instructions for making dog blankets with flannel shirts can be found here.

Serging and sewing per blankets.

At this meeting, guild members completed 31 blankets of various sizes and 9 dog beds for their annual community service project. It all went to the dogs... and cats.

Show and Tell

Left: A year-long "Sky Scarf" knitting project inspired by
the changing colors of the sky.  Right: A quilted batik table topper.

Left: Neckwear woven on the triangle loom with bead embellishments.
Right: Knitted items with alpaca yarns.

Woven cotton dish towel.

A whole lot about buttons

Linda Rhodes, button collector

The Riverbend Fiber Arts Guild had the pleasure of hearing button collector, Linda Rhodes, talk about buttons and her extensive collection at the July guild meeting.

In her presentation, Linda provided information about the history of buttons, the various materials from which buttons are made and the categories that collectors use to define their buttons— linear, contour and realistic.

Interesting button history:

• While women were still lacing up their garments in the 18th century (hold it in, ladies, while we lace you up), buttons were being used on men's suits, shirts, cuffs and knee pants. 
• Did you know that in the Victorian era, the buttons on women's mourning dresses were matte black? Only after an appropriate mourning period could shiney black buttons be used.
• Before garments were discarded, the buttons—considered too valuable to discard—were clipped off and saved in the "button box." 
• In the late 1950s, "studio buttons" were made by artists and specifically sold to collectors.

Vases of button flowers and button cookies.

Show and Tell

Veronica Hofman Ortega is published in Summer Belle Armoire magazine. (left)
Kathy Swift-Lawson shows her alpaca yarn. (right)

Pat shows a lace shrug she made from just two knitted rectangles!

Needle felting and hand spun alpaca yarn.

A hand woven shawl. (left)
Hand spun art yarns. (right)

Guild members attended a workshop on the magic loop
technique and learned how to add beads to knit fingerless gloves.

Crocheted kitchen scrubbies.

A shrug made from hand-dyed yarn combines knitting and crochet.

A Taste of Beaded Embellishments

Beads can add color and sparkle to a variety of items. The May program at the Riverbend Fiber Arts Guild meeting offered options for combining beads with knitting. Guild members are reminded that beading and beaded embellishments can fulfill the 2011 Guild Challenge requirement of a decorative design element for a "Fiber and Caffeine get me going..." tote bag. All guild members are encouraged to create an entry for the Challenge. Challenge results will be exhibited at the October guild meeting.

 Show and Tell

Guild members show off their fiber talents at Show and Tell.

Sally Broom models her hand knit Ruffle Scarf (left).
Martha Ooten shows her hand dyed angora fibers and
a knitted shawl from hand spun yarn (right).

Veronica Hofman-Ortega's work will be featured in the July issue
of Belle Armoire magazine (left).
A hand knit beret by Dana Huskey from her hand spun yarn (right).

Mary Wells' hand spun yarns.

Free-form crochet pieces from hand spun yarn by Martha Ooten.