inching along

the very first block of the baby quilt I'm making for my daughter's baby

the inch worm is actually block number 4A on the "quilt map" for this project, but it was on top of the pile, so it got done first

started work on the turtle, which is block number 1, last night
that pattern I bought a few weeks ago is getting a real work out

my daughter wanted a pair of pj pants that she could wear now and continue to wear through the summer

my solution was a pair of pants that are over sized now with a draw string to keep them up and they will "expand" as needed

couldn't resist using the fabric that says "Cabbage Patch Kids" for them -- and there is enough of the fabric left to make a footed sleeper for the baby (I think)

one quarter of the Wild About Flowers quilt has been quilted -- whoo hooo -- there are some down sides to making a multi layered piece then trying to hand quilt through it, which is why this one is taking a while to get quilted

the seahorse on the commissioned baby quilt has been quilted -- moving right along

the Christmas sweater is all complete except the zipper, which I hope to get this week so I can mark that as a finished project before July 1

today the DH has a doctor's appointment then well do our monthly Costco run, so less studio time, but these are necessary things too!

time to get movin'

actual finished objects!

the last two pair of scrubs are now complete for the DH

he should be good for the summer now with four older pair that he can use to do work in the garden or the garage and three brand new pair that he can wear out of the house and not feel like a slob

I especially like the zebra pair, but then I'm rather partial to zebras



see?

here is another one

heh, yeah, well I finally finished the bead work on this project yesterday -- so now I can do the "sandwich" that makes up the bracelet -- beaded piece on the outside, leather on the back side and a brass cuff sandwiched in between
and the quilt top for the commissioned baby quilt is complete!!

today I will press it and and backing fabric and get it pinned for the quilting


so to celebrate having this one this far, I started stitching on the first block of the baby animal quilt I'm making for my daughter's baby

cool!! (yes, yes, there will be pictures!!)


today's plan includes the usual laundry, a quick trip to the store for milk then on to the projects

triple treat holiday

we're celebrating three holidays at our house today

we have Father's Day

and it's our wedding anniversary

and the big black dog that lives here is five years old today -- or at least this is the day we celebrate her birthday -- since she's a rescued dog, we're not certain of the exact date of her birth, but we were told when we adopted her in August of 2005 that she was 8 weeks old, so we decided this was a good day

here is the most recent picture of her -- I took it the day before yesterday while we were working in the garden and she was on squirrel guard duty

she's getting a little silver around the muzzle -- it shows on black dogs sooner
and we added to her guard duty yesterday

the DH spaded up the rest of the garden area and I planted two packages of wax beans

this morning the squirrels were all over the area -- until the guard went out and barked at them

GOOD DOG!!

I really had in mind that we would get to eat the beans -- not the squirrels!


my plan yesterday was to take it easy since the muscle spasms in my shoulder had returned

even so, I did actually finish some projects!

this is the final center block for the commissioned baby quilt --

I thought it would be done earlier in the week, but when I started to put together the original body part, I just didn't like the look of the block

we spread it out on the table and did some redrafting of the pattern, and we like this version much better

so now the applique blocks are ready to be stitched together, which I hope to get to either today or tomorrow


and the last of the crocheting is done on the Christmas afghan -- who knew that would take so long!!

then it took me about an hour to weave in and clip all of the connecting threads too

the finished size is 48 by 77 -- not exactly standard, but its a good size to curl up under on a chilly night

when I do the washing tomorrow it will go into a load then it will be ready to be entered in the state fair

and in December it will go off to it's intended owner

that means that a new knitting project will be taking it's place in the daily work rotation -- I started a pair of booties when I was last at my daughter's, so they'll probably fill that spot for a little while anyway

and another afghan square is complete too

in fact, this is the last one I needed to fill the latest box, so I'll be getting it ready to go sometime this week


time to go have some breakfast!

if at first you don't succeed

plant, plant again

green beans have never failed me before

this year, however, after my efforts on my knees planting many, many bean seeds -- a whole TWO of them came up

pfffftttt!!

I have to admit, however that we had a long spell of unseasonably cool weather right after that planting, so it's possible there just wasn't enough warmth for the seeds to sprout

so, yesterday afternoon, the DH went out and spaded up half of the area (by hand!) and I replanted with these

I put them close together and didn't plant very deep, and I'm hoping this batch comes up

today he's planning to spade up the other half of the area and I'll put in wax beans there

then we'll be back on squirrel and crow patrol, trying to give the seeds a chance to germinate

I did the final bind off on the Christmas Sweater last night, so now its on to sewing in the sleeves and installing a zipper -- whooo hoooo!

and I'm working on the last row of the border of the Christmas afghan -- also very cool

yesterday the mail man brought the post card from the Hoffman Challenge folks letting me know that they had received my entry -- yippee!

and I'm almost done with that center block for the commissioned baby quilt -- just doing the embroidery of the seahorse's eye and mouth then I'll be stitching all the blocks together

the International Fiber Collaborative is sponsoring a very cool project to wrap a replica of a Saturn V rocket -- you can read more about it by using this link --after thinking about it for several days, I've come up with an idea for a panel (24 inches square) to submit and this morning I reserved my spot, and we'll start working on drawings and ideas --- I'm seriously thinking this is the place to do fusing and machine quilting since this is an outdoor venue -- kind of awesome to be part of a 32,000 square foot endeavor!

well, time's a wastin' -- yards to mow, beans to plant -- into the fray!!

gardens, quilts and unexpected gifts

we're growing some different plants this year than we've ever had before

the one there in the metal tomato cage is a tomatillo -- we had never even cooked with these things until the last couple of years when our son-in-law introduced us to them

he had grown some in his garden last year, so we decided to try it this year -- if all those blooms set we'll have lots of them!

the plants along the fence are potatoes -- the fun thing about potatoes is that you don't have to go to the garden shop to get the plants -- nope -- just pick out the potatoes in your 'fridge that are starting to sprout a bit, cut them into chunks with an eye in each chunk and plant them

they took a while to come up, but they're looking great -- and the leaves are really pretty

so far our garden looks great -- we had about 5 days of cool damp weather that really gave the little seeds a jump start, and now we are supposed to have several days of 90s which should really send them on their way

now we're doing the "NO HAIL!" chant on a daily basis
the quilting of the flower piece continues

it's not really clear in the picture, but there in the center is the first of the stems of the sunflower

moving along but slowly!


yesterday morning I had a doctor's appointment -- just the usual get the prescriptions for the blood pressure meds and review the tests from the health fair sort of thing -- oh yeah, and take a look at the sore foot (which she says is probably a stress fracture and if I had insurance we'd be talking x-rays and possibly a soft cast, but since I don't we'll just be dealing with it)

while I was sitting in the waiting room I was working on afghan squares -- I always take along some kind of handwork when I'm going to have to wait anywhere -- there was another couple in the waiting room that asked me what I was working on and I explained about Close Knit Hugs and the good work we try to do in disaster areas -- after they left, the young man who had been working on his Ipad asked me if he could give me some money to buy yarn to make more squares and handed me $5 -- seems his grandmother used to knit and he had fond memories of going to the store with her to pick out yarn for afghans (one of which he still has) and he thought it was something she would approve of

wow! it's amazing what can happen when you do knitting in public!

taking the flying leap

remember Cabaret?

there's a song in there with a lyric:
"It's got to happen, happen sometime
Maybe this time I'll win"

which is what was running through my head as I handed the postal clerk this box yesterday morning

inside is my entry for the 2010 Hoffman Challenge

the last time I entered a piece of art work in a national competition, it made the first cut into the finals, but didn't win

maybe this time (reminding myself to pay attention to the quote at the bottom of my email signature -- "trust your instincts, close your eyes and leap!")

I went to the store yesterday to get the quilt batting for the commissioned baby quilt -- since I'm nearly done with the applique work on it, it's time to think about that sandwich and I didn't have a bat in the house (except me, of course)

this bundle of bright colored fabrics just seemed to jump right off the rack into my basket too

got to love the swirly bright colors (yeah, like I needed to add to the stuff to go into the laundry!)

as promised, a picture of the back of the Wild About Flowers quilt that shows the quilting so far

fencing running in parallel lines up and down and across

big sunflower leaf there in the center

its moving right along!

some of the areas in the leaf were a bit more difficult -- when you have five or six layers of appliqued fabric then the bat and the backing it can get hard to keep the stitches small and even

I know there are a lot of quilters that turn over the whole project to someone with a power machine at this point in things, but I've always had this issue with -- it's my work, I should finish it -- and I kind of enjoy the whole process of doing a piece from beginning to end


finished another afghan square last night

and worked 2 rows of k2, p2 ribbing over 320 stitches around the front of the Christmas Sweater

and I'm now in row 4 of 6 around the afghan

whooo hoooo!


so, today there will be mowing and shopping then back to the sewing machine for a while before the quilting begins again

onward!

W.I.P.

the hard thing about the way I work on projects, is that I can work steadily along for days, or even weeks and have nothing really to show in pictures -- especially because for the most part I only take pictures at important "milestones" in a project or when one is finished

and yet I'm busy

yesterday, for instance

I cut out the other two pair of scrubs for the DH -- and if the red with the black print didn't make me crazy sewing on it, the green with the black "crackle" or the zebra print should! I've even started sewing on these -- since both of them will be stitched with black thread, I figured "manufacturing style" is in order -- so the patch pockets (3 per pair of pants) have been prepared for being attached

and while I had the iron turned on to do the pocket prep, I went ahead and ironed the fabrics from last week's acquisitions -- after I'd done 5 loads of laundry!

the quilting on the flowers piece has begun -- since I'm doing the quilting to give texture to each section of the quilt, I'm using thread that basically matches the fabric on the top of the quilt -- and because the back of the quilt is an off white fabric, the back of the quilt looks like a thread painting in all the appropriate colors -- this is one of those serendipitous things -- unplanned but really cool (and I'll take a picture soon!)

the commissioned baby quilt is progressing well -- I'm about 1/3 finished with the big center block, which means that probably by Friday I'll be doing the machine stitching of those blocks and I'll be ready to put that sandwich together for more quilting

and having two quilts in the quilting stage at once is a new thing -- it also means that the work on the blocks for my expected grandchild will begin -- yeah!

knitting projects are moving along too --

after stitching the top of the hood together on the Christmas sweater, I spent an entire hour picking up the 300+ stitches around the front for the band -- wow!

and I started border row number 3 of 6 on the Christmas afghan -- each of those rows takes over an hour to crochet -- partly because I'm not as fast at crocheting as I am knitting, and because the afghan is BIG, and because pushing the whole crocheting motion makes my wrist hurt (that's why I don't do much of it any more) {did you know that after you type the word "crochet" that many times, it starts to look wrong? or it did to me!}

after several days of cool, gray, cloudy, rainy weather, it looks like today we will have sunshine and be back in the 70's -- yippee!

maybe I can get the front lawn mowed!!

progress, finished object and announcements

the "mat" border is on, and yesterday afternoon I did the backing, batting, top sandwich, so today the quilting will begin

it's looking good, and I've decided to use the quilting to add depth and texture to each element, so the only area that I will need to figure out a "pattern" for is the sky -- maybe something that looks like clouds

this is pretty exciting!



the first of the three pair of scrubs for the DH are complete

don't you just love that RED!

I've added a cargo pocket on the left leg just below the standard side pockets on these because that keeps him from sitting on his wallet when he's driving

while I was making these he kept saying "are you sure they are long enough?" -- and then when he put them on I had to hem them up and extra 2 inches -- heh, yeah

he looks pretty happy with them
or maybe that grin is for the same reason I'm walking around with one

and why there has been a marked interest in making another baby quilt here

don't I look like a "gramma" to you?

I think I do, and now that my daughter is safely through the first trimester and has announced it on her Facebook page, I can babble on about how happy we are for her

December will be a VERY busy month -- Christmas and a new baby in our family

sooooooo exciting!

can I count them again?

I had already marked these as finished projects

but when the quilt guild asked me to do a demo of using beads, I didn't have enough time to whip up any new finished pieces to bead on, so I pulled out these two pieces to work on

I didn't do a whole lot to the leaves -- just a few beads that look like water droplets added in strategic places on leaf tips

looking at this one again also reminded me that I really would like to create a pattern for this one to possibly sell on my Etsy store, so I'm back to "fiddling" with it in my head


then there is the fish

originally there were only big pearls as "bubbles" for him, but during the demo I added a whole string of smaller pearls as secondary "bubbles"

and I added a few shiny green "pebbles" in the clam shell bed at the bottom of it too

okay, this is now REALLY finished


work on other pieces continues --

3 of the 4 sides of the picture "matting" have been sewn onto the flowers quilt

the tail of the seahorse block is progressing nicely

the pockets have been stitched onto the first pair of scrubs for the DH

decrease rows on the hood of the Christmas sweater will be done tonight then I'll have only the front bands left to knit

row number 2 of the crochet edging on the Christmas afghan has been started

yeah, I'm working, just don't have anything to show for it right now

soon (and very soon!)

World Wide Knit in Public

not that I've ever needed a set time period to do this in!

as far back as I can remember I always took along something to work on when I was going somewhere that I might have to sit and wait

the rest of the world has finally caught up with me!

ok, this is the "official" week -- beginning today (June 12) and running through Father's Day (June 20) --- {which is also my anniversary and my dog's birthday -- weird!}

go on out there with your pointy sticks and knit something --- even if its only an afghan square for charity (Close Knit Hugs would be glad to have those!)

won't you join me??

scissors case, fish block and guild meetings

when I was at my daughter's house over the weekend, she asked me if I could put a "flap" on the case I made for her scrap booking scissors

seems the original design was not secure enough to keep them from slipping out of the case when they were in her bag

I finished up this little job yesterday afternoon

(this entire case is made up of fat quarters, which is pretty neat!)

it's all ready to go back into service

the fourth corner block for the commissioned baby quilt is finished

(nothing like a good movie on TV to keep those hand stitches rolling!)

the fishy was completed to the sounds of Judy Garland in Summer Stock -- a movie that has particular importance to me because my daughter used the famous tuxedo jacket costume for a high school musical review performance (I got to re-make the used tux jacket for the purpose), and it just has happy memories associated with it

today I'll be doing the pattern drawings and starting on the big center block -- the sea horse

it's definitely looking like I'll be working on the quilting of this piece by the 4th of July

last night was guild meeting where we were having "demo night"

four different special demonstrations, and I did one on using beads as embellishment on quilted objects

the time was broken into 15 minute segments, so I got to do my little "spiel" 4 times -- with slight variations depending on what the group wanted to know about

it went pretty well -- in fact, I had several of the group ask if I would consider doing a Saturday workshop on some of my techniques

WOW -- now that was a mind bender
at guild meetings we have a "put and take" table -- items are brought in and "put" on the table by members who have no further use for them

then those items are "take"n by members that can put them to use

I picked up the three fabrics on the right side in this picture -- the small sort of beige-y one I want for using in some art quilts, but the other two I plan to use with some other fabrics that were recently given to me to make another charity quilt -- or two

the fabrics on the left side were in the door prize I won last night -- some of those might end up in charity quilts too -- we'll see
this is the quilt our guild is raffling off this year

it is 90 inches by 100 inches

the picture does not do it justice -- it's truly aMAZEing (heh, yeah, and that's what it's called too!)

anyway, the money we raise with this helps fund programs, allowing members to have hands on seminars with nationally know quilt folks at a price our members can afford -- something I hope to take advantage of in August

so, if you'd like to have a raffle ticket for this cool quilt, just drop me an email and we'll work it out

last weekend I ripped a page out of a newspaper I was reading for this picture

the entire idea of this "arch" intrigues me

now that I have the scanned file of it I'll be filing it under "possible future design ideas" -- along with that fig leaf


yesterday's heat and wind was not good for us getting the back yard mowed, so perhaps today -- or not -- we'll see

meantime, there are projects to work on!

new projects and old projects

during the summer the DH wears scrubs because they are much cooler than jeans or most anything else

not just any ordinary scrubs however -- nope, custom made by me scrubs

and about a week or so ago I bought that red fabric to make him a new pair (since the last pairs were made about 2 years ago and they do wear out quicker than jeans)

then I couldn't find the pattern I used to make them

over the weekend, I decided not to make myself any crazier and just bought a new pattern (now the old one will probably show up) and I found a couple more fabrics that will make good scrubs for him too -- after all, it's just about as easy to make three pair as it is to make one pair!

the green and zebra fabrics are in the dryer as I write this (along with all the other goodies I got on my mini-vacation), so I should be able to get to this soon

I put that fig leaf in the scanner and got this awesome picture

like with most things that inspire me to make new pieces of art, the shape and color of this is really neat --

still not sure exactly what I will create, but I'm realizing that botanicals are a real source of ideas for me

perhaps there will be more cutting of rubber stamps, but I'm thinking more about trying a resist technique -- trying to find a source for soy wax to try out something I just read about




and because I spent a bit of time in the car I got two more afghan squares complete


today we need to mow the back yard, then I will start collecting the things I need to take with me this evening to quilt guild -- I'm doing a demo on adding beads to a quilt

time to get to it

more shopping

did I mention I've been on a little mini-vacation?

and vacation means souvenirs -- right?

my version involves visiting places that sell fabrics

yesterday's visit included a stop in a place called Thread Bear Quilts, where I picked up these fabrics -- they are not exactly batiks, but more like some of the fabrics my friend and I created last summer when we had our week long create-a-thon with the mottled splotches of color
thing is, they will be perfect to create something that includes this very interesting leaf

which I also picked up in that store -- it had fallen off of one of the potted plants in the place, and I think the shape and color will be fun to play with for another wall hanging

(the day before I was in the store called the Fig Leaf, which you might have thought would be the source of this leaf, being that it IS a fig leaf, but no, I got it at Thread Bear -- interesting)

so now I have another smaller wall hanging working in the back of my head -- it's good to have designs being worked on that way for times when I'm laying awake looking at the ceiling at 2 a.m.!

I've been working on the fish block for the commissioned quilt -- it is about 1/3 done --

today will be taken up with the unpacking (including taking a close look through 5 boxes of things my mother gave me to either keep or sell), doing laundry from the trip and trying to get myself organized for the demos I'm doing at tomorrow night's quilt guild meeting --

never a dull moment!!

stitching and shopping

I have finished two more blocks for the baby quilt commission

one blue whale

one purple octopus

these were a lot of fun and relatively easy to do

I've been working on these blocks in order of complexity -- the star fish had one big piece to applique, the whale had one big piece and one little piece, and the octopus had six little pieces and one big piece

next up is the fish which is striped orange and white, so there are a number of pieces all about the same size

well, it made sense when I thought about it originally!
yesterday we did a bit of shopping

this very cool stash of fabrics was acquired at a place called the Fig Leaf

we have a definite plan for the "Dorothy" fabrics, as well as the light blue fat quarter

the red and green fat quarters were to add to my "stash" -- they were just a few of the many I would have like to have, but the budget does have a limit!
these goodies came from the store I set out to visit

it's called Lambspun, and because I have read six of Maggie Sefton's novels, I felt like I knew the place from when we pulled into the parking lot

I went in to pick up a donation they have generously given for the charity auction I'm chairing, but I did a little bit of shopping too --

three skeins of cotton yarn for a very reasonable price

and I finally broke down and bought stitch markers that won't snag the yarn -- I've been using regular safety pins for about 50 years now for that purpose, so I guess this proves you can teach an old dog new tricks!

they have some yarns I would have dearly loved to have, but right now I need to finish some other projects first! (and there is that budget thing too -- oh well)

time to get busy --

Ready for "framing"

I have declared the Wild About Flowers piece to be DONE --

at least I'm done adding flowers or leaves

I still need to get the "mat" and the "frame" borders stitched on to this before it's ready to be quilted

and I'm planning on adding some beads that look like water droplets in various places, but I'd rather do that after the quilting is done

and there is the honey bee to be attached to the biggest sunflower too





here are some close ups of the morning glories

you'll notice they are all sort of blue-ish purple

that's because here in Colorado anything that is this general size and shape and has white flowers is a WEED (communarius vulgaris as they say in Alice in Wonderland)

and I'm not having any weeds in this little garden (since I can control that here, if not in my yard)

I do find it very interesting that the photo that this whole piece is based on was a picture taken of the back fence in my yard -- the very fence that blew down in the last big wind storm and we have now replaced with the ever lovely zebra fence

good thing I took those pictures

meantime, the next block of the commissioned baby quilt is almost complete

and more rows have been knit on the hood of the Christmas sweater

and the back yard got mowed, the laundry finally competed, the cake baked plus some other extra cooking for my dad

so today there will be cake frosting and packing of food to take to my dad

we're going to do a "work party" in my parent's yard tomorrow, so I'm taking along the goodies for dad as well as the lunch for the workers -- taco bar (which has become our standard, go to meal -- even for things like Thanksgiving gatherings!), watermelon and birthday cake for my daughter

time to go mow the front yard and pack some tools

TWO complete projects and a good beginning on another

we finished planting the last of the garden yesterday

about 10 days later than we thought we would

first we had to fix the fence

and remove lots of pine tree limbs -- and a rose bush!

and dig up some iris that I didn't even know where there

finally yesterday the DH was able to do the tilling and I planted the corn and the sunflowers

forget about "stoop work" this was crawling around on my hands and knees in the dirt work

later in the day I saw a squirrel out there DIGGING!! I went right out the back door yelling -- I didn't do all that crawling just to make a "dig it yourself" snack bar for the squirrels!!

here's hoping some of them survive the squirrels and the crows, and that there isn't any big hail this year -- if all goes well, we should be eating corn the end of August
after all that outdoor activity, I did get to the studio to work on stuff

this hat was started for the DH about a week ago, and it has just been sitting in the flat waiting for me to return to it

what needed to be done took hardly any time at all once I actually got back there

now that I've successfully done this bug embroidery, I'm thinking about making up a bigger chuck of fabric with bugs all over it to make a hat for my daughter to give to my friend's son -- my daughter thinks of him as her big brother and they have long had a teasing relationship -- he'll say to her "I'm not done not bugging you"

a "buggy" hat would be quite appropriate (just add one more project to the "to do" list!)
the first block for the commissioned baby quilt is finished (well, except for the pressing, which I'll do all at once before I get ready to set the blocks together)

this went really quickly, and I'm very pleased with how it looks

the whale is next


progress is being made on the Flowers quilt -- last night I did the cutting and shading of the morning glories, and started stitching them on -- they look pretty good too


today there is laundry to do and mowing the back yard and baking a cake then hopefully back to the studio for more work on projects!

Beginning a new project

remember this stack of fabric?

yesterday it got washed

and dried

and ironed

and a lot of it got cut

last night I started the applique of the starfish

(just keep swimming, swimming)

when I took the receipt for the deposit to my neighbor (she had dropped off the money with the DH while I was in the tub), she told me she's been talking this up at work --- go ahead on!!

lest you think I didn't do anything else yesterday, guess again

we're clearing out an area in our back yard where rose bushes and pine trees had just gone wild -- lots of hauling with leather gloves on -- rose thorns and pine sap are NOT your friend -- today we hope to get that area all plowed up and planted with corn

I worked on the flower quilt -- attaching leaves for the morning glories -- hopefully flowers today!

and the hood of the Christmas sweater has been started -- picked up the stitches and did 3 rows last night -- 93.659%

today we're going to the grocery store and doing yard work then I'll be back at the projects

you guys fooling with the fence -- stop it!

heh, yeah --- much faster than I thought it would be, too

finished putting up the slats in the two open panels of the fence yesterday

(hey I thought this was Memorial Day, not Labor Day!!)

and I do love my zebra fence -- one new slat, two old slats, repeat -- until you're running out of slats then you do one and one and finally one old, two new

really, REALLY, happy to have this all finished because now we can trim the big evergreen that is to the left just out of the picture and rototill the rest of the area and get the corn planted!

I got the green light to do this quilt yesterday, so I decided to take advantage of the fact that I had a "10% off entire purchase" coupon at my local store, so I went and got the fabrics to start in on the project

(oh yeah, I got some fabrics for the other quilt I'm getting ready to start too!)

this morning the fabrics got washed and dried and the blow-ups of the drawings that I will turn into patterns have been done, so this afternoon I can start kitting this up to work on

whooo hooooo

since this project was getting close to ready for borders and backing, I decided to take advantage of that sale to get those things for it

I want to make this look like a picture in a frame, so I got a sort of cream on cream patterned fabric for the matting (and the back too), a batik gold for the piping, and a wood grain looking deep brown for the outside "frame" and the binding

laying it out on the table gave me a chance to see what it will look like when I get those things stitched to the edges, and I'm really pleased




one more afghan square complete -- number 37


and the sleeves of the Christmas sweater are now finished!! next step is to put the sleeves into the sweater, then pick up stitches around the neck for the hood


about half of the Christmas afghan is sewn together

moving right along on those Christmas projects!!


time to get to it -- fields to plow, fabric to cut