Tuesday, March 21, 2017

Qwilt Qwazy Queens Blog Hop!! Meeting Kris Conrad: Interview with a Lace Maker


A big THANK YOU to Marian at Seams to Be Sew for hosting this Blog Hop!  




Blog Hops are always so much fun to participate in and I'm super excited for this one because we had a very broad scope of topics!  So I'm excited to show you something AMAZING that I happened upon just a few days ago...

After teaching for four days at Calla Lily Quilts in Greensboro NC -- had a fabulous time and got to stay with my friends Karen and Graham Pervier -- I drove to Raleigh, returned the rental car and was picked up by my former neighbor, Charlene Wasilczyk, to stay with her and John for a few days.  They were our neighbors for ten years before they left sunny soCal for NC.  They totally broke my heart when they moved!!!



We were all talking during brunch and Charlene mentioned that the lady across the street was a lace maker!  Charlene described some of her friend's work to me and I immediately asked if there was any way I could meet her and see it while I was here.  So after a bit of texting back and forth, Charlene and I strolled across the street and I got to meet Kris.

Her front door says it all!


 


When we walked in, Kris was instructing two of her students and helping them with their projects.  This was the table where her supplies were laid out: bobbins and fibers, scissors and pins.




There are two of these beautiful narrow pieces of lace intertwined with a thicker gold thread. The second is on the back of the other column in the right hand side of the picture.  Kris explained that they originally hung in a former house in narrow windows on either side of the front door.




Here's a closeup of that beautiful piece!




After her students packed up all their bobbins, threads and projects, Kris took us upstairs to where she spends the most time at her lacemaking activities.  She has been a lacemaker for 35 years and is a member of several guilds devoted to the art.

This is a small part of her hedgehog collection; of course, I loved the one with turquoise hair!  According to Shopping my Stash: "The hedgehog is the mascot of lacemakers, primarily because bobbin lacers use lots of pins in their work.  But makers of all types of lace have adopted this cute animal."




Kris has set up a table for her lacemaking, with the necessary lighting, both natural and electric, to make it easy and comfortable for her to spend many hours immersed in her craft.




This is the project on the table right now; it's an English lace style and she said that she was using Midland bobbins to make it.  The bobbins were an art form in themselves, smaller and lighter than the standard bobbins and some were very decorative.  Kris said that the lace took her about an hour per 1/2" square, so about 4 hours per square inch, whereas most of her lacemaking took about 3 hours per square inch.  She's working with a fiber that is very fine, approximately 140 wt. silk.




This is a piece that her mother-in-law had framed...
 


Another framed piece on the wall....




Kris showed us several works in progress, each on its own pillow that provides a soft, curved surface to support the work and keep it from dragging.  This one is a beautiful butterfly surrounded by all of the bobbins wound with the fibers used in its construction.




This next one is a forest of pins, but if you look straight down you can see the intricacy of the pattern; again, she is using very fine silk.




I want to thank Kris for her generosity in opening her home and sharing her passion with us.  Always thrilled to meet a fellow fiber fanatic!



There are three other Featured Bloggers today.  Leave a comment on my blog and all three of these blogs to be entered in a BIG GIVEAWAY!!

Thrift Shop Commando
Adventurous Applique and Quilting
Sew Many Yarns


Visit Marian's Blog for all of the giveaway details and even MORE giveaways to enter!


And here's the full schedule in case you're in need of some fun stories, hilarious pictures, or incredible inspiration:






42 comments:

  1. Thank you. What a treat to see!

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  2. WOW!!!! What an amazing talent! Thank you for the inside view!
    lstangl482 at aol dot com

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  3. So happy I stopped back and did not miss this post! Thank you for the wonderful look at lace making. What an art form ... :) Pat

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  4. OH WOW! Paula, that was so awesome to see. I would love to see her work in person.(:Ummm-- And I thought quilt making was slow! I don't think I would have the patience to do that.) Thank you so much for sharing today.I really enjoyed seeing all the beautiful works of lace that Kris made.

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  5. This post was awesome. thank you for a look into lace making.

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  6. Cool, thanks for sharing.
    cork@pa.rr.com

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  7. wow, the lacework is amazing! thanks for sharing!

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  8. Yess blog hops are the best...You never know what you will see and learn. . happyness04431@yahoo.com

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  9. Beautiful work, but very intimidating.

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  10. Beautiful lacework!!! Each piece is a treasure💕

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  11. wow that is so cool. my mother in law brought back some homemade lace and I have it framed

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  12. Wow - the lace is gorgeous! I do some family tree searching and had often found the women with occupations as lacemaker - didn't understand the connection until now! wow!

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  13. That's so incredible! I hope she has someone to pass her talent down to in the family or even a good friend.

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  14. Lace making looks like it would be an awesome thing to do! Thanks!

    Please click on the delaineelliott above for my email link.

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  15. You are super talented. So much for me to think about.

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  16. Super fascinating and love your hair coloring BTW.

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  17. Wow, gorgeous! I would never have the patience for such intricacy but it certainly is beautiful.

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  18. wow! i would never have the patience to make lace, her work is gorgeous.

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  19. I have seen demo's of lacemaking and it is so interesting to watch. If I tried it though, there would be a BIG mess!!!

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  20. Your bobbin lace is so pretty! My cousin and sister do some beautiful lace work-it looks so confusing to me, my sister says no! Thank you, Susan

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  21. Words kind of escape me right now. WOW! Those lace pieces are incredible! How fun to be able to peek inside a lacemakers home.

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  22. Her lace is really beautiful and how neat to see all of it!

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  23. So interesting to see and learn a bit about other crafts. Her work is gorgeous, thanks for sharing!

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  24. Nancy A: rangerer@sbcglobal.netMarch 21, 2017 at 1:07 PM

    Your lace making is amazing.

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  25. Thank you, and your friend's neighbor, for an interesting show and tell. I don't think I could work with those tiny bobbins and threads. The lace is beautiful!

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  26. Her lacework is amazing, thanks for sharing it. I have a few friends who do this, and it makes my head hurt just to think about it! I don't think I'd remember from one session to the next what I was doing!

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  28. Oh what intricate lacework. I just can't imagine being able to do something like that. Thanks for sharing the beautiful work.

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  29. Beautiful lace. Thanks for sharing

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  30. Your work is amazing!!! Thank you for sharing it with us!

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  31. Oh, wow!!! I have always been amazed at the intricate work of lace makers. Amazing! Thankyou for sharing.

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  32. Wow, I didn't know anyone made lace anymore. Her work is beautiful.

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  33. I've never seen anyone making lace before. Thanks for sharing.

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  34. Oh my goodness!! What a Gorgeous job she does!! Thank you for sharing your Friend & her talent with all of us! Amazing how she does that!!

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  35. Wow, what a treat to see all of that beautiful lace and we think we work with small pieces! Enjoy your visit and have a safe trip home.

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  36. Reading this was a special treat. Lacemaking is so intricate. Her work is beautiful.

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  37. What an amazing opportunity, and I'm so happy you shared it with us today. She does beautiful work and can you just imagine all the hours, not something you can do by machine either. Truly spectacular.

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