fiddling with filigree

it's getting closer

the right hand side is almost finished -- just that last little bit at the top edge remaining to be beaded, then it's on to the left hand side

I'm getting impatient to get this finished because I have an idea for another piece that I want to get to

the quilting on the dinosaur quilt is all finished -- WHOOT! today I'll be trimming the edges and getting the binding stitched on

another something for the Christmas project box

I'm making up more of these hot pads (I heard that someone is in need of some new ones)

I'm almost out of cotton yarn -- so I'll be watching for a sale so I can pick up some more to do more of these

rolling along on beads and a finished hat

it's looking good

I got the 2 additional metal filigree pieces stitched down and started more beading around them

moving along, moving along


yesterday afternoon I did the quilting of the second corner of the dinosaur quilt -- if I continue to do a corner an evening I'll be applying the binding on Wednesday -- YES!

I also spent quite a bit of time experimenting with some techniques to use on the Hoffman -- the first vase attempt was a success, so I'll be moving to the big piece today

this is the first in a planned series of 12 hatz

the past few years I've knit mittnz, but this year I'm starting with hatz

this only took a couple of evenings to do

then in September I'll ship them off to the Cheyenne River Indian Reservation

these will be wool -- a good way to use the wool yarns I have on hand that are too small for other projects


time to get to the laundry

a finished project and progress reporting

actually it took less time to create the finished object than it did to create the fabric to make it out of

this is a cover for my daughter's Cricut machine made of a custom created quilted fabric

and there is a bit more of this fabric (I created a whole yard of it and didn't need that much), so if she needs a cover or envelope or whatever for some other small tool, I can accommodate that -- nice

more rows of beading being done on the filigree piece

I think I'll be adding some more of the silver squares (I bought a whole package of them)



last night I finished one corner of the dinosaur quilt -- three more to go then it will be ready for binding ---

and the experimenting for techniques on the Hoffman quilt has begun as well

humming right along here

old, new and oddments

stitching has begun on the filigree piece

the two silver diamonds are actually metal filigree pieces and they are attached in the corners by using a size 15 seed bead as a "stop" on the thread through the holes in the corners

once that was done, I've started stitching beads around them

and then on the right hand side I've started working a row of beading around the glass filigree piece

working over the lame surface is interesting -- it stretches a little bit, so I have to be careful about not getting the piece out of "square"

the fabric I've been quilting is all finished

and here is the first piece for the Cricut cover -- a rectangle that has bias binding on three of the four sides, all ready for the next step

which I hope to do today

doing the quilting was a good refresher for the machine quilting skills




while the DH has been recovering from his shoulder replacement I've been in charge of cooking

last night's entree was a chicken

prior to putting it in the oven, I wanted to drain as much of the liquid out of the inside as I could

somehow this just struck me as "photo worthy"

it makes me laugh -- sort of the legend of sleepy hollow from the kitchen

(oh, and a quite tasty bird it was too -- keeping it simple -- salt and pepper on the outside, roast for half the cooking time resting on the breast side, roll it over and roast breast side up for the other half)



and one final oddment for the morning

at Christmas I knit for my daughter a winged monkey -

complete with vest and hat (he has chenille sticks in the arms and legs which make it easy to pose him)

she already had the sign

yesterday she sent me this picture which was taken in her cubicle at work

I hear she gets a lot of comments about this

this makes me smile too

have a good Saturday, I'm off to work in the studio!

bunny tracks and daffodils

we had snow yesterday -- actually we woke to quite a bit of snow, which mostly melted -- or blew -- off during the day

then we had another little bit last night after we went to sleep

this morning, when I went out to get the papers there was a trail across the corner of the driveway of these little foot prints

the little cottontail that lives in our neighborhood had already been out and about
and while I have been out admiring the photos of daffodils in bloom on other people's blogs, you can see in this photo that there will be daffodils here in a while

these had been there for a few days I'm sure, but until they had a little snow around them I just didn't notice because they just blended in to the mulch around them

by the way, my neighbors probably think I'm nuts -- these pictures were taken this morning when it was about 15 degrees out there -- and I was still in my slippers -- but I was wearing fleece gloves


another dinosaur!

this one is definitely a toy

and it's all finished, ready to go in the box with the baby quilt as soon as I finish that -- hopefully about this time next week
almost as soon as I finished the last bracelet I started working on the next one

one of my beading groups is working on a challenge to create something that includes a filigree element

I got some really neat turquoise colored vintage glass filigree pieces to use for this project, and yesterday I got the bracelet started

because there are openings in the glass that let whatever is behind them show through (DUH -- filigree!) I needed something other than the usual stabilizer behind the beading --- so I cut into a piece of fabric that my daughter gave me about 10 years ago -- it originally was a silver lamé halter top that someone had given her -- I think this will be a good surface to show through behind the beading on this

the stitching has begun

since I have now finished the Seasons piece, the applique work on this year's Hoffman challenge has been started

just hoping this piece comes out as nice as the Seasons piece did




time to get busy

finished work -- including a Christmas project!

the first dinosaur now has eyes -- I used white yarn to create a raised oval surface in the right place, then used some dark blue at the bottom of those ovals

the picture doesn't really do him justice -- he's much cuter in person

and now this one goes into the Christmas 2012 box


and last night I started stitching together the new dinosaur -- so it's coming right along


this piece is all finished now and listed in my Etsy shop

it's pretty amazing that that hinge that I envisioned actually worked exactly as I hoped it would --

and now I'm considering some ideas for some other pieces that use this whole hinged idea to do a bigger free standing art


and the four seasons art quilt is done too -- I need to set up the photo area and get some good pictures of it and two other pieces that I want to enter in a show -- soon

and now the putting together

the pieces are all ready

so the next step is to install the hinges and the clasp

and I confess I'm still not totally sure what the clasp will be -- partly because what I use will depend on how long this is after I get those hinges installed

these pieces did come out pretty much the way I envisioned, which is pretty cool

last night I started sewing together the sweater I've been knitting for myself -- because it has many, many different colors it will take a while to get that part done -- I did the center back seam last night and I'm pretty impressed with how it looks --- pictures soon, I promise

the binding is on the seasons piece, I just need to add the label

and I started quilting the fabric for the Cricut cover

all that and the laundry finished yesterday too!

so today some shopping, then back to the projects!

ok, back to work!

the center panel of the bracelet is all backed and edged

still have to do the two side panels

and this took a bit longer than originally anticipated -- I did the edging with some of the rounder beads that I had used in the center embroidery, but those didn't work well because they didn't line up smoothly

I switched them out for delicas

much better!

this morning I listed the necklace on my Etsy page -- it's part of the Etsy Bead Weaver Team challenge for March -- the voting on that challenge will take place on our team blog, http://www.etsy-beadweavers.blogspot.com between March 9-15 where you can vote for your favorite entry.

my daughter is an avid scrapbooker

and she has one of those cool Cricut machines

she also lives in a rural area where there is a lot of dust

so she has asked me to create a cover for her Cricut

this is the patchwork fabric I created to make that cover

I'm going to sandwich it together with a batting and do some machine quilting over the surface before I cut out and sew the cover (just keeping my machine quilting skills sharp here)

all of the quilting on the Seasons piece is complete, and the binding is ready to be stitched down

I wanted to make sure that it is even all the way around the edges

so yesterday I made a visit to the local fabric store and picked up a seam gauge -- I know I used to have one of these little items, but who knows what has happened to it, so I decided just getting a new one was the way to go

the stitching has begun -- hope to get this finished in the next couple of days (and this piece will be in the Mancuso show in Denver in May -- details to follow!)

I've started a new dinosaur

the first one will become a Christmas gift for someone a bit older

so far so good with the new one



yesterday morning the DH had a follow up doctor's appointment -- we're pleased to say that he is now out of the sling and is doing really well -- lots of physical therapy yet to do, but he's making good progress

time to get busy

a Saturday visit

Because the DH had surgery shortly after Christmas, we have not been able to go and spend a weekend with our daughter -- which is our favorite way to get to visit with Mr Cute

yesterday the weather and our son-in-law's work schedule cooperated and they came to visit us

of course a visit means there is food

and these pictures are important to us for another reason

the wood high chair he is sitting in is over 70 years old

it was originally purchased for the DH when he was an infant and here is Mr Cute, the third generation to use it

sometimes family connection extends to some of the physical objects around us


here's a shot of my daughter sharing some time with Mr Cute

they are reading a kid's cook book that I originally bought for her

it will be going to him

I love the way he points at the pictures -- I can tell by watching that he's going to give us all a run for our money keeping up with that sharp little mind!




and here he is with the big black dog that lives here

I love how their heads are at the same level here as they are looking out the front window

(and no, I have no idea just what they found so interesting out there, but I'm good with them looking!)


I just want to say thanks to my daughter and son-in-law for making the long drive for a "day trip" and giving us a chance to see all of you!


now it's back to our usual stuff, but feeling more refreshed

too scary for a little kid?

I've been working on this knitted dinosaur for a while

last night I got the legs all attached

the DH has proclaimed it inappropriate for a baby

hmmmmm

guess I'm looking for a "cute-sy" dinosaur pattern today ---- maybe this one is destined to be given to Mr Cute


despite feeling pretty lousy yesterday (and spending a lot of time snoozing in my recliner), I did finish the beading on the first side panel for the bracelet

and here's a picture of how this will go together with the center "eye" panel and the beaded hinge

today I hope to get started on the other side panel (which is also an ankh)



the quilting on the four seasons piece is almost complete -- I hope to find something appropriate for the "frame" in my stash box today -- if I don't have something there I'll have to make a trip to my local fabric store to find something that will work

time to get busy!

still working on Egypt

this is one of the two side panels for the bracelet

the beading went really quickly on this -- should have this panel done with just one more beading session



woke up this morning feeling under the weather -- I'll be progressing slowly today

progress on projects -- and in the house

at Christmas time my parents gave us a check that we had decided we would use to replace our aging TV -- and a couple of weeks ago, we found a suitable replacement at a sale price (they put these things on sale just before the Super Bowl) --

the new TV was light enough that I can easily lift it and carry it around -- but the old one's case was much bigger and heavier, and I couldn't manage it alone -- and for now the DH is operating with just one "wing" while his shoulder heals

last night friends came and helped move the old TV out to the garage (it's sitting on a trunk clear out by the door where I can have the local Goodwill folks come and pick it up) -- so now we have the new TV all set up -- it's great to be able to read the lettering on the screen during the newscast!

the center panel for the bracelet I'm working on got finished yesterday afternoon

I coated the back of it with Fray Check, so it's ready for the backing

but I have two side panels to embroider first, and I'll be working on those starting today

I'm pretty pleased with how this looks




I've finished knitting 2 of the 4 legs and feet for the dinosaur toy

cute!

the toes are a little tricky -- 2 stitch Icord --- while trying to keep the other stitches for the other toes from slipping off the ends of the needles --- ACK!

the second one was easier though, so I'm guessing the next two will be easier still -- I hope

my daughter sent me this picture of Mr Cute playing in the snow

he doesn't look real thrilled with it

just wait until he figures out how to make snow balls!

he's wearing the hat I made him

nice!

if the weather cooperates this weekend, they may come for a one day visit with grandma and grandpa --- we're doing a "NO snow" dance


time to get to work!

Happy Valentine's Day

I made cards for a select few folks this year -- and for the first time ever I actually got them sent off to Loveland, Colorado where they put a special stamp on the outside of the envelope along with a special hand cancelling of the stamp (a tradition they've been doing since 1947 -- see more here)

this was one of them

my daughter also did handmade cards that she sent out from Mr Cute

actually this tradition of making valentines by hand began back when my daughter was about 10, and our friend in San Jose, CA, started it when we spent a Saturday afternoon doing this as a mother/daughter activity and we've continued doing this, both together and apart, ever since

yesterday, while I was searching for something else, I found this piece of mixed media art that I did a while ago

I'll be adding him to the Etsy store soon


yesterday I got the envelope telling me it's time to renew my domain name -- which reminds me that I need to do something about revising the website (in my own defense, I was thinking about doing that this time last year then we had some major computer issues and I just never got back to doing it)

guess it's time to think about it again

here's looking at you

more work on the beading

this is moving along nicely












the dinosaur's body and tail are all done

now it's on to the legs (which include icord toes which should be interesting)


after the laundry

and a trip to the grocery store

bracelets and dinos and quilting (Oh My!)

since the Eye of Horus necklace is complete, I'm starting on the bracelet I designed to go with it

the glass "eye" has been attached and the beginning of the bead embroidery started

the plan is to create 3 bead embroidered panels -- the center one with the eye and the other 2 with embroidered ankhs

and I wanted to connect these with a hinge at each side, but I didn't want to use any metal pieces -- so those pieces of bead work in the other picture are the hinge loops (gold) and the hinge pins (blue)
more knitting happening on the dinosaur toy

I've finished the neck and the body and now I'm working the continuous decreasing rows that create the tail

after that the legs are knit separately and attached


oh yes, the quilting of the accompanying quilt is coming along nicely too


finished quilting the autumn panel of the four seasons piece

and both end strips are quilted too, so all that is left is the stripping at the top and the bottom

and the binding

I think I will have this finished this week




and having that piece finished is a good thing because the first cut has been made for the Hoffman challenge piece

let the stitching begin!!







my daughter took this picture of Mr Cute in his high chair with paper and crayons

we're encouraging that artistic spirit!