We don’t normally go around leaving coffeepots on the bed, but this is a special coffeepot. It’s from the now-closed Winterling chinaware factory in Schwarzenbach an der Saale in northern Bavaria. My great-grandmother, Lina Schödel, worked there. One of Winterling’s patterns was the blue and white Zwiebelmuster or onion pattern.
This coffeepot became a vase in my TextileFusion wall hanging, Winterling. But this isn’t the first time the Zwiebelmuster has inspired me: the Perspective Daisy and Curly Curlicues designs in my book Crochet Garden were inspired by the china, as well as the Leaves and Berries Spray (free pattern here).
So back to the coffeepot on the bed. I photographed this scene to help me see how light and shadow would play in my wall hanging. Sometimes I use photos to create patterns for my wall hangings. After manipulating the photos in Adobe Photoshop Elements, I print a full-sized final draft.
Orange was the best color to contrast with the blue and white pattern of the coffeepot/vase. I sorted the orange yarns into light, medium light, medium, medium dark, and dark qualities, and set to work knitting orange yardage on my Ultimate Sweater machine.
After blocking and stabilizing with fusible interfacing, the knitted yardage was smooth and even.
It was time to cut up the knitting! For the curtains and vase, I used my paper pattern. For everything else, I cut patches of knitting freehand and fitted them together to form light and shadowed areas. After pinning the patches in place, I sewed them to a foundation fabric which wouldn’t be visible in the finished piece.
I couldn’t wait to try some flower arrangements. At the International Quilt Festival in Chicago, Spring 2016, participants in my Open Studios session arranged flowers. My first idea was to use blue, violet, and yellow flowers as a contrast to the orange. They soon convinced me that more colors were better.
If you’re thinking the vase in these pictures looks funny, you’re right. It’s because I was using my paper pattern as a place holder. But before finalizing the flower arrangement, I needed to create the vase with knitted fabric. That took a while.