Tammis Keefe, textile designer

I've recently discovered a wonderful textile designer, Tammis Keefe, who was very prolific, from the 1940's til her early death in 1960. Super cool, fun period designs....oh no, another thing to collect!

This calendar towel is the same year I was born, so I had to have it! I'm having it framed in the wonderful muted green, to hang in my kitchen!Yay!

Hot Iron....Cool Art!

In October, I was able to help out again with the OWU Iron Pour; even after I graduated, I tried to assist as often as I could. I am normally the timekeeper; ever since Jon Quick built a new cupola, the iron charges are a bit heavier than I can handle!

Anyway, the weather was perfect this year, and I was able to get 4 molds of my own poured.....I used foam vaporization in green sand. Here are views of the cupola and my molds, smoldering! As soon as I get them cleaned up, I'll be posting pics of the finished products.

I like helping out, it's an exciting process, visceral and elemental. I keep track of the time and charges: when we load a bag of coke (coal) and when we throw in 40lbs of scrap iron, when we tap out, when we've loaded enough TO tap out! I give the heads-up to the ladle team, because if you don't tap out in time, the iron will flow regardless!!

You can see the bright orange flow of the molten metal as it is tapped from the cupola into the ladel....very exciting!

Equestrian Success!!

I know it's been ages, but let's get updated!!


Dear Daughter Ana has been on the College of Wooster Equestrian Team since her freshman year, and this fall participated in her first 2 events!

The first was held at Oberlin College. Ana rode twice in the Beginner category, and got a Fourth Place ribbon on her second ride! Yea!!

The second was held near Akron, the University of which hosted, and Ana got Sixth Place on her first ride, THIRD place on the second!! Woo-hoo!!

Big Gay Art Show at Junctionview!

Two of my pieces, Shroud I and Shroud II, will be included in the Big Gay Art Show at the Junctionview Studios this Saturday, October 3rd!

The show benefits Kaleidescope Youth Center, which provides a safe environment for LGBT people age 20 and under.

I'm very excited to be included, so if you're in the Grandview area, stop by!

Knitting at the Beehive

I can't believe I've not updated since August 4th, but there it is....life, getting in the way again! Not really, but I'm sure I'm not the only one to be amazed at how fast the days go by.

Each month, I host a Knitting circle at the Beehive Bookstore here in town; we meet on the 2nd Thursday from 10am - noon, and again on the 3rd Thursday from 6pm - 8pm. That way, I know I'm going to knit at least twice a month, and with the different times, hopefully everyone has a chance to get out!

The Beehive is a great independent bookstore, and I love the atmosphere there. Yesterday, Trista(left) and Lynn(right), as well as Donna (my mom!) and myself all sat and worked on our projects, sipped coffee or tea and cracked each other up.

Feel free to join us!

Lots of knitting and sewing!

It's been a busy, productive time here lately....I've knitted and re-knitted several sweaters, a pair of socks and a shrug. I've sewn 7 (that's right, SEVEN) tops this past weekend for me and my daughter! I've had my dear friend Phyllis visiting from New York and shopped like a crazy woman!

I finished this lovely sweater from some MCY yarn, and still have 2 skeins left, so I'm trying to decide what else to make. It only took 1.5 skeins for this sweater, the Organic Tee pattern I bought on Etsy. I also frogged the first sweater I made in this pattern and re-knit it 2 sizes smaller.

I tried out this cute pattern, but after the first test, decided the pattern makers were insane to ask you to HAND sew all these pleats around the front neckline, in a knit fabric, no less. Maybe the gold paint on the fabric made it so difficult, but I just don't see the point in handsewing them on a knit. So I re-cut it to take elastic, and made 6 more over the weekend. Here's a few of them!


I also had some cotton voile I bought in Brooklyn, I added side seam slits at the hemline to make up for the fact that it doesn't stretch like knit. I made my daughter the white T with owls, plus a Pink shirt with smaller, more numerous owls. For myself, I had some lovely knit in white with Lavendar TOILE (I love toile!), and I made another T in black ponte with teeny skulls and tiny pink cupcakes all over. Lots of fun! I think I'd like to try elongating it into a cute little dress, too!

Art quilts at the Art Loft

For the month of July, the Art Loft in Delaware is featuring Fiber work, including 6 of my quilts! There are 3 from my Italian series, including Shroud I & II, and 3 from my watercolor series, including Contemplate!

The Art Loft is an awesome space, run by Sue Ann Goings and Phyllis Catania. They've done an amazing job with a great space. Every month is a different exhibit, plus they teach lots of classes! You want to go! Hit the link and see what they're up to!

World Wide Knit in Public Day! or, Guerilla Knitting in Delaware, Ohio

I've been neglecting my blog, but it's not because I'm lazy!

June 13th was World Wide Knit in Public Day, and the Beehive Bookstore in Delaware, Ohio hosted our get together.

The day started off at 11:30am with me knitting by my lonesome, but I was soon joined by Vicki, then around 1:30 the rest of the crew started coming in! It was a lovely day, not too hot, nice breeze, and we sat at the cafe tables outside. Vicki and I took the opportunity to place some "tags" around town, too!

May Wrap Up

Well it's nearly the end of the month....where did it go?

Lot's of things have been happening....dear Daughter is home from college, having successfully finished her freshman year, YAY!

I'm basically done for the summer at the museum....now I need to find a part-time job!

Sherri at Go Figure Consignment has already sold 2 of my tops, and I'll be taking her some summery fashions this week!

I'm currently featured in an Etsy Treasury West (I didn't realize there were more than 1 Treasury site!) You can view it HERE the lovely curator has included my Boston Fern top!

I'm premiering with a new musical group Wednesday evening at Espresso Yourself Music Cafe in Powell....it's called popCasey, and features the music of the late, great Brian Casey. We'll be playing at Comfeest in June, so this is our very first gig!

Go Figure Consignment Grand Opening!

My friend Julia and I went to the Grand Opening party at Go Figure last night, during the Gallery Hop in Columbus. (for those of you not familiar, the Short North area of Columbus [read trendy] has a gallery hop on the first Saturday of each month)


The weather was perfect, cool and dry, not a cloud in the sky! There were musicians playing on the sidewalks and parking lots every 50 ft, everyone was in a great mood.

Julia (that's her on the far right, the pretty blonde in the Black shirt) and I ate at Surly Girl first, then wandered down to Go Figure Consignment shop to join the crowd there. I was excited to see my clothing featured, and the lovely Sherri (that's Sherri in the middle of the last photo, in the pretty Pink shirt) was working the crowd, plying us with wine. Her husband and friends were so nice, it was such a pleasure to meet everyone!

I liked how Sherri hung the Red Panty clothing way up high; they looked so pretty up there I had to take a photo!

Don't forget, the new collection will premier May 16th in Delaware!

Spring Collection of Red Panty Clothing!!

It's that time again! The Spring clothing from the Red Panty line will be out!

There is a NEW shop carrying the R.P. label; Go Figure Consignment in the Short North area of Columbus! The shop is open now, but the lovely Sherri, who owns it, will have her Grand Opening this Saturday, May 2nd during the Gallery Hop. I'll be there for a bit, too, and hope to see if anyone likes the line!


Closer to home, the wonderful Linda at Corner Framing Gallery here in Delaware will host the newest pieces for the Delaware Arts Festival on May 16th and 17th.

In June, Go Figure will get the latest Summer pieces, so it makes sense to check back in!

Here's a sneak peek at another new top I have just finished!

The cute floral skirt had the wide green trim at the hemline, so I cut bias from a lime green linen shirt that I used for the back, and trimmed out the neckline and armholes. And a scrap from the skirt adds a pocket in the back! Voila!

I do love simple patchwork!

I've been cutting 4" squares from the bitty pieces of scraps left when I cut out my recycled clothing, and sewing them together to make more tote bags(see previous posts)

I've got these 3 pieces ready; I want to get a few more sewn up so I can do a whole batch at one time, but I think you can probably pick out some fabrics and match them up to photos of the new Red Panty clothing from the last few posts!

Yay! my First Red Panty Etsy sale!

I'm so excited....I woke this morning to find that the Appletini Top had sold on Etsy! Very thrilling, although now I will bite my nails until the lovely person who purchased it has received it, and told me if she's happy with it. What a great Easter gift! This weekend has been very positive! My baby brother Michael came to my gig with Lucey's Maze last night and brought his girlfriend and work friends, and guess what?? The work friends thought I was the youngest! What a hoot - I'm 9 years older than Michael! It tickles me, and of course is a huge ego boost!

New Red Panty business cards!

Aren't they cute?? I love them...and I have Postcards to match! Now I can keep everyone posted as to where, when, etc!

Red Panty Designs - new Spring clothing!

[click on the pictures to see them bigger and close-up!]


I promised to show you some of the new pieces I'm working on for the Spring collection of Red Panty Designs, so I snapped a few quick pictures of the first finished tops.

I found a great embroidered tablecloth at the thrift store, and was able to cut 2 tops from it. The straight pins mark a few little yellow spots, as so many vintage fabrics have. I plan on appliqueing over them with extra scraps of embroidery from the tablecloth, so it will be all good!

I also found several rayon batik sarongs, and I always feel a little silly trying to pull that look off, but I think they work great as tops! The super assymmetrical one is bright orange and the other is bright pink.


My favorite so far is this last one; it started out as a pair of J Jill linen pants and a nice linen print skirt. The skirt had a great bias ruffle at the bottom, and I salvaged some scraps to add the applique on the front. The bias really makes this swing!

BAND SWAG!! or Screen Printing T shirts

I promised pictures, and I like to keep my promises! Last week while on break from my job at the museum, I spent some time screen printing T shirts for my brother's band, Honk, Wail and Moan. I combed the thrift stores for shirts and tees, washed everything, then Stephen helped me screen and heat-set everything.





I'm also making tote bags from T shirts that already have printing on them; I turned them inside out and printed on the plain insides, but you can still see the original writing on the insides! I'll do a very basic hem on the cut straps, sew across the bottom and make a box pleat, and voila! Recycling!










I got new labels, that say Band Swag, and proclaim them to be hand screen printed on recycled clothing. What can I say, my brother loves being green!

March Madness!

Whew! It's been a whirlwind this month, with my dear daughter home for 2 weeks on break from college, and the general insanity!

I've been busy creating new pieces for the Red Panty line of clothing....look for pictures in the next few days. I've also been screen printing t shirts and tote bags for my brother's band, Honk Wail and Moan...again, look for pictures in the next few days.

I attended the first 2 of 6 great workshops run by CCAD (columbus college of art and design) for artists...on networking and marketing. As a result, I've ordered fabulous new cards for the clothing line, and am very excited to be working hard on promoting it. I also joined Etsy Team Columbus, a group of people who all sell on Etsy.com, which is the site for hand made items of all sorts. To that end, I've added some new pieces to my own etsy shop,
quilt7metal

I created these back in 2007, when I had a huge burst of creative energy. I produced 12 large quilts, then about another 12 tiny quilts. These are the miniatures, that are matted for framing. I had them in the local gallery here for a bit, and sold a few, but I've been holding on to them lately. I guess they are almost like children, and I'm a bit sad to see them leave the nest at first. I guess now I want them to go out into the world and share themselves with everyone!

Fabric for Knitters

I got this super cute Michael Miller fabric online.... too cute!! Great fabrics for knitters and sewers...and the skull and scissors fabric totally matches my tattoo!!


The Turquoise fabric is called "quilt pirates"



The Chocolate brown and pink fabric is called "Knitmare on Elm Street"










The Black and Lime Green fabric is called "That's Sew Wrong"


Somebody out there has a wicked sense of humor! I think I'll quilt the fabric and make up some tote bags and zippered accessory pouches!

and a Hat to Match!

I had originally used the leftover handspun yarn from my Neck Warmer to knit up a bowl that I intended to throw into the washing machine and felt/full. Sort of an Easter basket, I was thinking. BUT....both my husband AND my mom thought it looked like a matching hat for the Neck Warmer. And truthfully, when I plunked it on my head, it didn't look half bad! It was a little big, and the edges were curling up since they were just knit plainly. After thinking about it for a day or two, I ripped it out last night, and re-knit it as a proper hat, with ribbing at the edges and the whole thing is a bit smaller than the bowl!

And now I have a spring color ensemble!