let the stitching begin

from the drawing of yesterday to some actual stitching 

 while the grasses on the Warning Sky piece were actually cut out of the fabric in the shapes I wanted them to be, this piece will be made up by using only 3/4 inch strips of fabric cut on the bias 

 just a little work on a different technique 

when I get finished doing that part, I'm going to play with a little pearlized paint that I've had in my studio just sitting around since it was given to me at an art conference I attended in 2011 --- (insert here the discussion of "what are you saving it for?" and if you don't use them, they will just dry up - especially in this climate!) 

doing this first swirl actually went much quicker than I thought it would -- a good sign I think! 

meantime, the quilting on the Warning Sky piece is moving right along -- I've done all of the outline quilting along the edges of the foliage, and now I'll be doing the "ghost quilting" between them
 
one corner of the bead work is now done 

 I should add here that I'm really glad I decided to tear out and begin again as I am MUCH happier with this look than all that "pattern" 

putting the slice of shell in there to take the photo gives me a good look at what it will look like when the finishing is done  









here is where I'm happy to have programs on my computer that let me play with graphics - and I spent a lot of time yesterday playing 

a good look at the first two layouts made me decide to take the whole thing apart -- while I may like the way those pinwheels just seem to whirl, they are also reminiscent of other things that I don't want to go anywhere near 

in the end, I like the individual blocks set with the solid color blocks, and that will also mean I end up with two tops out of this little experiment  
about a week ago I started working on another knitting project and after three tries, I finally figured out that the yarn I had in hand for the project simply will not do 

so for the first time in a long time, the only knitting project I have going is the ever present afghan square -- another finished one here 

 need to spend some time in the yarn stash and the pattern stacks!

maybe it's not going to stay this way

I spent some time yesterday working on a quilt top that I plan to give to my local quilt guild for our charity 

it has some issues 

 for one thing, it's square 

and it's small 

which means it either needs borders (as in pretty good sized borders) or I need to take it apart and try a different setting 

there is one section where (quite by accident) the dark blue pieces come together like a pin wheel, and I kind of like that look 

which would mean taking the whole thing apart except for those four blocks and rebuilding 

I'm thinking about it

meantime, since I'm now into the quilting of the Warning Sky piece, it was time to get started on the next assignment for the Visioning Project 

the next one has to do with lines -- where you create an entire piece with nothing but lines






 





along with the Visioning Project, the local art group I belong to is working on  a project that is inspired by this piece of art by Klimt


I can do both assignments in one piece here

cool!


time to get moving --- laundry is calling!

why doesn't it smell like melted wax?

or at least that was the question from the DH --- observing that the fabric I chose to use for the lining of the bag looks like I've been melting crayons 

 my sister commented that the fabric goes well with all the disparate parts that I had to work with in the beginning 

sometimes my little "color brain" just goes crazy and decides that with all that color already in play you might as well throw in the whole box of crayons! 

 I'm kind of stuck on this project now -- I ordered some cool cat charms to use as zipper pulls and "buttons" on the bag, and I've reached the point that I need to have those in hand before I can continue -- since there will be no more mail delivery until Tuesday, I'll be doing other things at the sewing machine until then

 I did a good bit of frog stitching here (a phrase usually reserved to tearing out of knitting projects, but appropriate here too) -- rip it! rip it! 

new beading has begun, using a mixture of blue beads in some closely related shades of blue, but some beads are matte finish, some are shiny, some have rounded edges, some are tubes, and there are a variety of sizes 

to take this picture, I added the three slices of shell that will fill those openings so I can get a better feel for what it will actually look like 

better I think 


 
 the stitching on this is complete 

next step is to put the "sandwich" together

of the pieces I've done for the Visioning Project, I like this one the best

and I think that it's a good sign -- it means that each piece is progressing


we woke this morning to a very fine sprinkling of snow on the ground --- so far this year that's been about the extent of our snow storms -- but it is a lot colder than that shirt sleeve weather we had on Friday!

Delivering the work

yesterday afternoon I delivered seven quilts to the organizer of a show that will open on Nov 25 

 this is part of the one piece that has not been seen in full by anyone 

and on November 26, I'll show you the whole piece here  






worked on this piece some more and I look at the many patterns that have evolved here, I'm not sure I like all of it --- it seems too "busy" 

in all the patterning of the bead work, the focal piece of the mermaid is getting lost in "the noise"

I sense that I may be taking out a lot of the patterned parts and just filling it with the blue  



most of the last week it has been very warm here

in fact, yesterday afternoon when I delivered the quilts, I didn't even need a sweater over my t shirt when I was out and about

this morning, we're much more aware that is is actually November!

it is considerably cooler, and the wind had been blowing during the night 

when I walked out the front door to pick up the paper this morning, this enormous cottonwood leaf was laying on the front step

I carried it into the house and took these pictures of it from various sides and angles --- leaves are an seemingly endless source of patterns and ideas for my fiber art, and I have a large file of images on my computer --- you never know when they might become part of another piece of art!

more sewing

time at the sewing machine yesterday 

more pockets on the inside of the bag are taking shape --- this one gets a flap over the center section 

it's coming along 







 last night was a meeting of my local quilt guild

we had a member bring in several tubs full of fabrics that had been collected by a friend of hers that had recently passed on

I brought home a bag full to use in making up some more charity quilt tops

this batch has already been through the washer and the dryer --- lots of ironing and cutting into strips to be done


time to go get those errands run!

Just when I felt like giving up

I went to the computer this morning and found that I had sold a piece of jewelry from my Etsy store 

it had been several months since the last sale, and I was beginning to wonder if it was still worth the time, cost and effort it takes to keep it updated 

uh, I guess so which also means that analysis exercise that I was thinking of doing to try increase sales will actually need to be done --- I'll be spending some time doing spreadsheets! 
 

actually got to the sewing machine yesterday! 

it now actually looks like a tote bag so now it's on to the lining -- which means the building of more pockets first --- fun!  












one spiral done, another spiral started 

the field is slowly filling up










 yesterday I took the van to have the oil changed, and since that is only about a half hour job, I just took along my knitting and waited 

another afghan square is complete 


tonight is a guild meeting -- time to get to the work so I'll be done in time to go

Baking as art too

sometimes it helps the brain to do something unrelated to whatever art work I'm creating 

yesterday's "brain relief" was this lovely loaf of zucchini bread 

and I would add here that it was truly wonderful to bake in an oven that has an accurate and even heat --- for the first time in years the loaf came out of the pan without ripping a big hole in the bottom of it! 

(we replaced our stove in mid-October when we got down to only having 2 burners that were fully functional) 

if you'd like to whip up a loaf of this lovely bread for yourself, I've posted the recipe here  


more beading! 

trying here with the blue and white seed beads to replicate the swirl of the petrified shell that is the center "stone" in this piece 







 progress on this too 

I didn't ever get to the sewing machine yesterday --- we had other errands to do, so it just never happen 

this morning I'm taking the van to have the oil changed --- time to get moving!!

chugging along

after the laundry and the trip to the hardware store yesterday, I did get to spend some time at the sewing machine 

the second side part of the bag is complete, and while doing the first side with all those layers and zippers meant I broke two sewing machine needles, the second side went really well, with no needles lost 

and that side piece went so quickly that I went right ahead and prepared the bottle pocket pieces for the sides of the bag 

I know, these look somewhat like parts of an odd corset, in fact, the DH came in and held them up over his chest and ask if I thought they would fit -- but these actually are designed to hold a bottle of water (or whatever you prefer to carry for drinking) so they won't slip out -- the original pattern called for cord and cord locks, but for our purposes, the elastic in the top edge works just as well and will launder better when the bag gets washed  

the next step is to attach these pockets to the side panels and start putting the pieces together


this has to qualify as the best picture of this project so far 

the scalloped edging on the sides is complete now, and I've started doing some textured fill there on the right hand side at the top












 this is the progress made so far on the next visioning piece 

when I pulled out the fabrics, I was not sure this would convey what I was thinking of when I did the sketch, but as I've worked on it, I'm more and more enthused by the colors and the idea itself 



 

one last note

about this piece, that is

I finally got a better picture (and it wasn't in my original plan that I would be working on my photography skills along with my design skills doing the visioning project, but there it is anyway) 

in a comment yesterday, Alison said they reminded her of musical notes on the lines 

perhaps there was a subconscious thing happening there when I did the design 

all I can say is there was a persistent ear worm playing the whole time I was working on it  
  
"black bird singing in the dead of night, take these broken wings and learn to fly, you were only waiting for this moment to arise"

some time at the sewing machine yesterday afternoon resulted in this much work done on the bag I'm making 

this is one of the side/bottom sections -- the original pattern had one zipper pocket, but my mother likes having pockets, so I did two of those zipper pocket sets and there are actually FOUR pockets on that outside edge -- two without zippers and two with 

when I get back to the machine, I'll be making the other side/bottom panel -- which has a whole other pocket configuration  




beading continues here 

the scalloped edges on the sides are slowly being created, row by row

it occurred to me as I was working on this last night that I'm not sure what I will use inside this piece to stiffen it --- I have been using pieces of gallon milk containers in the smaller pieces, but this is too big for that to work (and don't even go there with the idea of cardboard --- it doesn't "wear" well, in that if it gets damp it molds or attracts insects, and that is just not an appetizing idea inside a piece of jewelry)

I'll keep thinking about it while I'm finishing the beading -- I'm sure I'll come up with something


It's Monday -- laundry needs to get done, and there are other chores as well -- best get to it!
 

Floor Show

we did most of the finishing work on the family room floor yesterday

 which of course meant moving all the furniture around again 

the biggest problem we had with the finishing work was that the tile in the kitchen area had been added to the house, so the sub flooring between the two areas was at different heights 

our solution was to install a narrow beveled piece of trim along the wood size of the joint then install the T-molding that is available to use when the two sides are the same height 

it looks nice, and it makes the transition from one room to another much more "finished" 

 the edge at the patio door needed a trim piece too, and because of the many levels of trim at the edge, none of the stock pieces that are sold to use with the laminate flooring would work

so we bought a piece of trim stock that had one beveled edge and one straight edge to use there 

we still have the trim around the hearth to do, and we're still considering which of our trim options will do the best job 

 progress comes slowly 
 piece number two in my on going series of small quilt pieces is complete 

its just as hard to photograph a dark piece as it was to photograph the white piece!

 this one is titled "Blackbirds in the dead of night" --- it is the "static" design from the static vs motion exercise 

I'm now working on the motion piece -- under the working title of "warning sky"  






additional progress on the beading 

I finished the scalloped edge at the top, and now I'm echoing it on the sides 

looking good 


didn't spend much time yesterday working on anything else -- I needed some "recovery time" after shoving furniture around all over the room

maybe today

like we needed to start another project here

well, yes, as a matter of fact we did 

 there is still a long list of sewing projects that need to get done before Christmas so yesterday I began another of those 

when my daughter was pregnant, she asked me to make the diaper bag she used because she wanted one that was custom designed with the assortment of pockets and slots that were important to her 

 this was not unnoticed by my mother, who recently asked me to make a custom bag for her -- she even had some fabrics that she was interested in having used to make this bag 

I've collected up a few other fabrics from my personal stash to coordinate with her pieces, and yesterday I started on the bag 

 the pattern that I've used begins at the outside and works in, so the first thing you build is a zipper pocket for the outside 

I cut carefully so the whole cat is on the bottom of the pocket --- I don't think cutting it's head off would be a good thing 

this project will take some time -- it took me about a week to do my daughter's because it works well for me to do a bit each day along with the other things I'm working on 

 this looks like a good start
and those other projects are things like this which is also moving along nicely 

the bead work around the mermaid cameo is filling in -- at the top edge I will be working a sort of scallop curved edge with those off white beads 

I'm pleased with this progress



yesterday I finished the quilting on the blackbird piece, so today I can trim it and start the binding


for the past few days the DH has been preparing the molding that will be the finishing touch on the family room flooring project, we're going to do the installation today --- then I can put the rest of the furniture back into the room -- at some point later I'll probably be removing it again to paint the walls, but that is down the road a bit on the list of painting projects --- I'm looking forward to putting the room back together

time to get busy

finished and begun

and here is the finished bear 

back when my daughter was little, I made dozens of this style bear

when my friend ask if I could make one of these for her new great grand daughter, my biggest concern was could I find the pattern --- after all, I can build one of them practically in my sleep 

 I used to make these out of robe velour, but apparently that is a fabric that is no longer available (at least it wasn't available in my local stores), so this one is made out of fleece 

 pretty cute --- totally baby safe, washable --- just a good kid toy all around 

I don't make bears much any more, but I'm guessing I need to hang on to this pattern

 the beading continues

the openings in the backing are where I'll add the slices of shell in much the same way I added the big oval ruby glass in the chocolate cherry piece

this is a new technique for me and it's been fun finding ways to use it

the DH says the outline looks like one of those animal skulls on the desert -- I'm working on transforming it


yesterday I entered the mug piece in the contest I made it for --- I ended up titling it "Full 'o Beans" --- now I just have to remember to check their blog on Dec 12 to see if I make it into the finals

I've been doing some research the last couple of days, and I'm sure there is an answer out there, I just haven't been able to find it yet. 

At the recent doctor's appointment, the doctor changed some of the DH's medications.  Because his insurance mandates a mail in pharmacy, we had already ordered and received the next 3 months of one of these medications.

My first call was to the mail pharmacy to see if I could just return them -- they are all still sealed.  Nope, they won't take them back.

Next I called the doctor's office to see if they could take them and pass them on to someone in their practice.  Nope, I was told if I brought them in they would just flush them down the toilet (WHAT!?  I know that is a BAD idea!!!)

So now I'm searching for someone that can use this medication, still in the packaging sealed by the manufacturer.  It just seems wrong to just throw it away. 

Cuteness alert!

I'm interrupting my usual art progress report for a full on dose of cuteness 

my daughter posted a bunch of pictures on her facebook page, so I've "appropriated" a few of them here

when we did the flooring in the family room last weekend, Mr Cute was quite fascinated with the tools we were using

here he's got the rubber mallet and the piece of scrap 2x4 that we used to pound each piece of flooring into place 
 
these are some of the cutest shots ever! 

my daughter took these one afternoon when she arrived to pick him up from daycare -- where he was outside with the lady that runs the daycare and one of his little friends playing in the leaves

his joy in such a simple pleasure is so contagious!

 and here is a shot of him doing trick or treat last night 

I was not at all sure that he would actually wear the hat (and neither was his momma), so I'm please to see the picture of him with it on

(and it's always fun for me to see him wearing stuff that came from my sewing projects!)










 and just a little art today

we have a blue spruce tree that is taller than our 2 story house

earlier in the week I found an undamaged cone resting on one of the lower branches, having fallen from much higher up

I brought it in and took a whole series of pictures to add to my "inspiration" file

since trees seem to be an ongoing theme in my artwork, these might be useful at some point

 

new piece, finished piece

the bracelet is listed, so it was time to start a new piece

for the last year or so I've been collecting sea themed objects with the idea of making a piece of jewelry with the collected pieces

yesterday I started working on that piece by putting bezels around the two objects that will be the center piece of this necklace 
 
 this piece is finished! 

more than a full month before the deadline

still need to take the photos that I will use to do the entry, but I'm real happy to have it finished


quilting on the black birds has begun, and I hope to get the fabrics selected for the next piece


the DH has a doctor's appointment at 9 this morning --- time to get breakfast so we can get there on time

just a little progress

the piecing and applique are  all done on the blackbirds (and apologies for the poor picture)

I got the last of it done last night

so the plan for today on this piece is to press and make the sandwich so I can do the quilting on it  









since the black birds are getting close to being finished, I've been thinking about the piece for the next assignment

I did this sketch last night

the last assignment was supposed to be a "static" view, while this one is supposed to convey movement

does this work?

I'm thinking about some unusual color here too --- we'll see how that works out


yesterday I got the bear all cut out, and all of the quilting on the mug piece is done so I can get it bound

progress!

time to get to it again

resting and working

I was resting physically yesterday, but still working on some things

like quilting on this piece, for instance

the quilting of the beans is coming along nicely


other quilting projects are moving along too -- I have only two more birds to applique on the black bird piece, and I've nearly finished the quilting in one of the eight blocks on the Alaska quilt








this piece is done

and I really like the way it came out

I'm hoping to get this listed in my Etsy store today or tomorrow




usually at this time of the year I'm really having to ramp up the knitting time to get Christmas knitting projects completed

this year I started so early, that all of those are already done, so my knitting time for a while has been just making up more afghan squares

so in the last few days, I've finished two more of them

I'm going to be taking a look at the stash and the pattern stack and see if there isn't something else I can be working on too


today we need to run some errands, and I'm doing laundry, but I'm hoping to get some other projects done too -- last night I got the pattern for the bear I'm making drawn on the fusible interfacing so I can iron that on to the fabric and start the cutting

rolling along

Project survived -- mostly

I'm recovering 

on Friday morning the work began 

first all of the furniture from the family room had to be moved out of the room --- chairs, lamps, couch, entertainment center, bookcase ---- everything to other parts of the house for the duration of the work

next step -- the carpet was cut into strips and we pulled it up, rolled it and tied it so it can be put into the trash can for haul away --- and the padding underneath pulled up, stuffed into big garbage bags and moved out to go into the trash --- as I was working on those two parts, my son in law was using a crow bar to pry up the tack strips that had held the carpet

then came the tedious step of either pulling up or pounding down all of the staples that had held the padding in place, followed by a good vacuuming of the entire floor

finally the installing of the new floor could begin

first we laid down the foam "underlayment" material, then we started in the corner, cutting and fitting as we went

the DH did the cutting while my son in law and I placed and tightened each piece and marked for any needed upcoming cuts --- meantime my daughter entertained Mr Cute (she took some adorable pictures of him trying out the tools he had seen his daddy using, which I'll show you when she emails them to me)

because of the age of the house and the previous owner's changes to the kitchen floor (which is the ceramic tile there at the bottom edge of the picture) we couldn't use the transition strip that we had on hand, so that edge between the tile and the flooring isn't finished yet, and we still have the quarter round trim at the baseboards and the trim around the hearth to do, but we were able to return the chairs, couch, lamps and TV stand to the room on Friday evening so we could all sit down for a well deserved rest

it looks a lot different -- cleaner, brighter

but like I said, I'm recovering ---  I don't usually spend a lot of time squatting, kneeling on bare wood and pressing pieces of wood into place, so the muscles in my legs and arms  are still sore, and I'm discovering I have little bruises in various places -- like the back of my hands

all that said, I'm please with our efforts -- there is a certain sense of accomplishment in getting such a big job so close to finished

so for the next day or so I'll be recovering and we'll be working on the finishing work --- and I'll actually do some art work too

cool!