My First Christopher Nejman Pillow

In early 2007 the Christopher Nejman group started to take off and with a lot of help from the other group members and Chris I started my first real project, A Harem of Color Pillow (HOC).

Everything was a learning opportunity. Since my background was largely in computers and technical research sometime it was a bit of a challenge.

It was both a blessing and a curse I had never done a quilt or anything like one in my life. I started reading everything I could on thread, needles, fiber, dry & wet felting and sewing machines. While my little Singer CE-100 had done fine for the 30 blankets it became increasingly challenging to creatively squeeze more out of it.

The HOC pillow is the starting point for all of Chris' Fiber Construction Techniques so getting it right took time, patience and a lot of tests. The materials used in the pillow are sheer, shiny, slippery and they should fray. Threads are shiny or metallic. Every bit of it was the kind of stuff the average fabric/quilt store knows very little about so we were all in rather uncharted waters.

I felt a bit like we were building a float for the Rose Bowl parade or maybe Mardi Gras.

Once the tops were punched, the unique patterns sewn with shiny threads and the trim added we were invited to sign our names to our very first pillow. We even learned how to digitize our signature and machine embroider it to finish the total look.

It wasn't as perfect as I would have liked but it was spectacular.

I was on my way.

The Heather Bag

I purchased my Babylock Embellisher in late 2006 and within a few months I had moved from flat wool roving to mixing the roving with a variety of found materials. I found some great bits of information on using the long fibers as a binding agent but it was not enough.

I created some test pieces and created a tote bag combining punched fabric, roving, sheer organza, Angelina fibers and machine embroidery. I punched it and attached it to a canvas bag.

I was hooked.

Learning from the best

I have been busy since last spring learning a lot more about my Babylock Embellisher and sewing. I spotted a Sewing With Nancy segment on the device and jumped on a chance to play with it.

After a few small projects with wool roving I ran across a different technique, punching not just wool fibers but whole pieces of fabric to fabric. Sewing without thread. I could get to like that.

The proponent of this radical approach is Christopher Nejman as documented in his book, "Pillows - Designer Sewing Techniques". I signed up for his Yahoo group and started a new chapter in my life with fiber...

A New Time

This blog has gathered dust the last few years and it is time to shake it up. While I continue to work with the land of computers I have revisited some of my roots. In particular I have started to get back to the world of fiber.

This all started about 2 years ago with the purchase, somewhat on a whim, of a dual purpose sewing/embroidery machine, the Singer CE-100. The good and bad of the machine is that it is relatively inexpensive for an embroidery unit because all of it's "smarts" are done via a USB connected PC.

Well that cool toy inspired my nephew to talk me into creating 30 or so embroidered blankets for his upcoming outdoor wedding. One blanket into the project and a serger was acquired. I found a nice little Brother 1034D to fit the bill.

Intro

Thoughts from a Geekette who lives in the Rockies and enjoys things both technical and associated with the Fiber Arts. I use Mac, PC's and Linux tools to explore the world.