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

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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’.

Here’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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Trees are an essential part of nature, both for the oxygen they produce and the habitats they provide to animals. But if you don’t live near a forest you might not think about all that happens within them very much.

The Secret Life of the Forest: Trees, Animals and Fungi, by Klára Holik, Ivi Niesner and Jana Sedlácková explores the inner workings of the forest, from the biggest trees to the smallest parasites, answering questions about the forest and sharing basic information about different kinds of forests, the water cycle, how to visit the forest and more. It’s aimed at kids ages 6 to 9.

It starts at the beginning with information on where seeds come from, how pollination happens and different creatures (and mechanisms like wind) that help move tree seeds and other seeds around in different forests. It talks about photosynthesis, how trees communicate with each other, tree rings, layers of the forest, how tree seeds move and how fungi and trees help each other.

Readers will learn about the oldest known fungus in the world, how ants help other animals to reproduce and what plant and animal parasites make trouble in the forest.

The book also covers decomposition, an overview of forest types from around the world (including the heaviest living organism), how fire affects forests, animals of the rainforest and swamp and ways people use wood.

Information is presented in bite-sized segments, with cartoony illustrations that are somewhat accurate to nature. You can check out some of the pages and watch a flip through on the publisher’s website.

It also includes forest experiments kids can try, such as building bird houses, looking for springs and checking ingredients on snack foods for palm oil, which comes from the rainforest. There’s also information on the best way to visit the forest to be respectful of the organisms that live there.

In the back you’ll find a glossary of some of the important words included in the book, and there’s a QR code teachers or parents can scan to get more information or learning resources.

This book provides a nice overview of life in the forest and how the plants and animals work together to keep it growing the way it needs to. It also covers a little bit of what humans can do to protect the forests we have left.

About the book: 64 pages, hardcover. Published 2024 by Albatross Books. Suggested retail price $18.95

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