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CARLA’S ‘QUILTS’ – THE SPECS – PART THREE

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carla-tied-back-quilt-0609

Here’s what the back of one of Carla’s completed, hand-tied afghan quilts looks like.  This is exactly the same technique used by ‘conventional’ quilters to make hand-tied quilts.  The quilt is always a ’sandwich’ consisting of the pieced (in this case crocheted squares joined together) design, the middle layer of batting (fleece, fiberfill, an old blanket, toweling, or just another piece of fabric), and the backing which is either quilted in a decorative style or tied like this one.  A crocheted ‘quilt’ is has much more stretch than a quilt made from woven fabric, thus the wrinkles in the back of carla’s quilt will disappear when the quilt is in use.  There must be excess fabric on the back to allow the flexibility of the crocheted front.

For the most part, Carla uses a 2.5 mm hook with DK weight yarn to make squares that measure from 5X5 cm to 10 X 10 cm.  Using these sizes of squares, Carla is a talented artist who creates these lovely, unique afghans. Each blanket is almost 7 feet square and weighs about 5 kilograms – a whopping 11 pounds!  That should keep anyone warm – from his toes to the crown of his head.  I have a son at home who’d love to receive an afghan this large AND with this much weight AND with no holes.  A dream come true for my 25 year old son.  Maybe I should ship him to Amstelveen near Amsterdam, Netherlands where Carla resides…..

Some of Carla’s intricate designs are made using an embroidery graph as a guide.  This is the case for the wonderful orangutan afghan picture in Part One of this series.  Carla likes the work of Elizabeth Bradley in the UK for these graphs. http://www.elizabethbradley.com/



Finished back of Carla’s completed afghan ‘quilt’.

carla-loose-ends-0609Here’s a picture of the back of one of Carla’s completed afghans, before she has added the backing.  Anyone like loose ends??? Here’s Carla’s DEEP DARK SECRET:  one of the reasons Carla applies the backing to her quilts is so she won’t have to weave in all these loose ends.  Smart lady!

This prolific artist also has a nature blog – and her photos there provide a lot of the inspiration for her crochet.  She’s as good at photography as she is at crochet.  Check it out!

http://www.carladebruijn.nl/#

Although the text is in Dutch, we can ALL enjoy photographs no matter what language the photographer speaks.

To view more of Carla’s work, please visit her website:

http://www.carladebruijn.nl/

I’m so happy she offered to share her artistry with the rest of us!  Thanks, Carla.




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Hanukkah Unit Studies for Kids

Learning about Hanukkah is important for people of all faiths as a reminder that December isn’t just about Christmas and that their are many other important holidays that happen during this time. Hanukkah unit studies can give you ideas for incorporating the holiday into your holiday studies that happen in December, or to use at home for learning about people of different faiths.

Homeschool Superfreak has a lot of basic ideas for how to build a Hanukkah unit study, as well as FAQs about what Hanukkah is and why it is celebrated. This list is a good stargint point but doesn’t include all the details you’ll need. For example it says you can play the dreidel game but doesn’t explain how to do that or why it’s important. (If you need that information, this post from Mama Smiles is a good source.)

Teachers Pay Teachers has lots of great lesson plans and activities if you’re willing to pay a little bit to get some good content. Two I really like are this Hanukkah PowerPoint presentation from Shelia Melton, which provides a good overview of traditions, food and the history of Hanukkah; and a virtual field trip to Jerusalem from MagiCore, which includes lots of videos showing the city and activities like playing dreidel, drawing a menorah and making latkes. It’s a Google Drive folder and also includes writing activities and more for kids in second to fifth grade.

Kids Activities Blog has some simple printables with facts about Hanukkah and things kids can color in like a Star of David, sufganiyots (jelly doughnuts) and a menorah. These are great for learning the basics.

Homeschool Giveaways has a printable ebook about Hanukkah complete with questions kids can answer after they read. This would be a good one for older kids with good reading comprehension.

NurtureStore’s Hanukkah unit study includes a printable mini book, tons of crafts, as well as math and writing activities. I love the dominoes game that’s part of the unit.

And check out our previous posts for more Hanukkah crafts and learning activities!