of crystals and mittens

after fiddling with many layouts of the crystals (got to love having a digital camera -- do layout, take photo, repeat) and studying the pictures this is the one that I liked the best

so today I will be stitching it all together

the photos for the contest have to be in Oregon for judging by Monday, so I need to get a move on -- so to speak

I do think this is going to be a really nice looking necklace




finished the first of the mittens for the commissioned job -- I think

this one just looks too long to fit a little kid (size 5 girl)

I'm fussing about it --



meantime, work on the oak leaves continues -- the first one has been totally quilted and is ready for binding and I'm ready to start in on the next one

I cut the stripping for the holly leaves and hope to get that stitched on today so I can get the quilting done on those too

yesterday's sewing project was to finish up the curtains for the nursery -- scratch one more item off the "to do" list!!

today I need to mow the back yard before I get back into the studio and get to work --- movin' right along!!

let the fiddlin' begin

FINALLY got the big crystal surrounded with a bead bezel -- and it only took 3 tries -- hurrah!

so this is picture number 1 of the arranging of crystals

my plan is to keep arranging and shooting pictures then I can print out all the pictures and decide which arrangement I like best

I'm hoping this will do away with the whole "stitch it, rip it" thing

we'll see

but I don't have a whole lot of time to get this done -- the pictures need to be mailed Saturday


the next bit of fusing is complete on the blue planet

one more colored fabric to add then all of the "clouds"

it amazes me how well this has gone so far


I finished stitching the curtains for the nursery yesterday -- just need to do the tie backs and press the valiance and that project will be all complete -- rolling right along there

so today's schedule includes a doctor's appointment, a trip to the office supply store to pick up some printing, groceries and then hopefully, back into the studio!

stitching up a storm

finished up the fox yesterday

and here he is on the fantasy quilt layout

there are now only 2 more blocks to be completed before I can begin the great layout puzzle

that should be fun on its own -- lots of measuring and re-measuring and re-re-measuring! before doing the cutting and stripping and I liked to get all of that done before we go to my daughter's house for the week of charity auction prep so I'll have some quilting to work on
the next little pieces of the blue planet got fused yesterday

this is a very time consuming process -- think of cutting out the most detailed edging of a ruffled dress for your favorite paper doll and you'll get some idea of how "fussy" this cutting actually is

but I do think that the results will be wonderful

and after all this cutting doing the figures that I plan to put around it should be a snap!


the embroidery on the holly leaves is finally finished

now all of the fabric tubs need to get pulled out to search for the fabric to put around the edges as borders

the DH is saying it should be gold --

I'm also thinking a black/red/green/gold Christmas plaid

we'll see what we have on hand


the pillow for the nursery is all finished

and it came out pretty well

the little squirrel panel was once part of the valance for the window

some trimming (to make the valance work on the window); some stitching (to make the squirrel panel fit the pillow) and there you are

and I really like the chocolate colored fabric

so now it's on to the curtains!

work on beading continues too -- the encircling of the largest crystal piece is frustrating me, but that is sort of normal -- the bigger the circle the more rows it takes to get the netting correct

and I'm almost to the thumb on the first of the 8 mittens I'm knitting

progressing on all fronts

so today there is laundry and lawn mowing and then more project progress to do

into the fray!!

more progress pictures

down to only one more of these to encircle with beads -- that big one there at the bottom of the picture

should be able to finish that one today and start on the layouts






the oak leaf pieces have all been sandwiched and are ready to be quilted

(actually last night I started quilting on the red leaf)


still working on the embroidery on the last holly leaf piece, but those are nearly done too, then I'll have to find some kind of fabric for the borders around them

started on the first of the mittens for the neighbor's grandchildren

got this much done of one last night

mittens I've done a lot of, so this is familiar territory!!


yesterday afternoon I got the pieces all cut for the curtains and the pillow for the nursery, so today there will be sewing on those

and as I type this, the dryer is running with the latest felting pieces inside -- we'll see how they look when they come out

Squirrelly indeed

for all that Thursday's activity seemed to be a blur, yesterday's is totally documented in pictures!
this is the fruit that is developing on the plant that the squirrels planted for me

for a while now I've been trying to figure out just what the plant was -- obviously some sort of melon or squash from the shape of the leaves

then when the fruit "set" I thought at first it might be another pumpkin

no, I think now that we've got cantaloupe

now I just have to keep the dog away from it because she loves cantaloupe, and this plant is growing outside the garden fence
and these are the mystery plants in the old compost bin

they're getting bigger and again I'm thinking some sort of melon or maybe cucumbers

unless they actually get to the stage of setting fruit I'll never be sure

and at this point in the season when the nights are now getting down in the low 40s I'm not sure I'll ever know

baby bunting number 2 for grandson number 1

(heh, love that)

this one is a sort of teal color with little duckies printed on it in pale yellow

I have 2 more to stitch up -- one that is bright blue with bright yellow duckies and one that is just baby blue

I'll be working on the curtains for the nursery next in the sewing projects tho'

these are the Swarovski Crystal Rivolis that I've been encircling with seed beads for several days

I've done 10mm, 12mm, 14mm and 16mm

still have 18mm, a 30mm and a 45mm one to do before I can start playing with the layout

after doing this many I actually have figured out the pattern of how many size 11 and size 15 seed beads the first round needs to have to make the encircling work properly -- math! -- who knew I could figure that out?

the first land masses on the blue planet have appeared

this is the first time I've actually done something with all those tiny little curvy edges, and I decided that fusing first and stitching after was the best of both worlds (so to speak)

this is moving along quite nicely

I have all of the patterns drawn on the Wonder Under now so fusing the rest of this piece should go relatively quickly


while I was talking to my sister on the phone yesterday (got to love those headsets!) I got all of the borders stitched onto these oak leaf pieces

so today I will be making the sandwiches for quilting -- backing, batting, top, repeat! break out the quilting pins and get 'er done -- got to iron the backing fabric and press the batting first

and let the knitting begin

this morning my neighbor, whom I still owe money to for the new fence that was built on our shared property line, came over with an order for items to be made for her 4 grandchildren for Christmas -- which will help defray the cost of that fence

ya knitting!

yup, art work for medical bills; knitting for fencing -- bartering is a good thing!!

crazy on quilt night

a visit to the put and take table yielded a full yard of this lovely stuff

purple/orange/black/white with cool block print/resist patterns

another addition to the Out of Africa fabric stash



and in other news -- yes, I did work on some projects yesterday -- I think

it's all a blur

ok, shopping happened -- and working on a beading project I'm trying to finish for a competition -- and some stitching on the holly leaf pieces -- and the package of supplies arrived and still needs to be added to the inventory

hopefully today I can actually Get.Something.DONE!

one can always hope

of mousies and sweaters and canning

one of the remaining blocks to be stitched for the baby quilt is a mouse

the first drawing that was done (its the one on the left hand side) is just too complex for how small the block is going to be -- all those toes!

so yesterday, the DH did me a new drawing -- which looks a lot like a little mohair mouse we made not long ago

so now that I have a new, simpler pattern to work from, the mouse will be the block I work on as soon as I finish the fox (I've already started on him)

yesterday we made the trip to the State Fair grounds to pick up the entries (and the ribbons)

while I'm riding I knit

so this little project that I started on Tuesday is moving right along

it is the first official sweater being knit for my grandson (ok, I'm working on getting used to the sound of that word!!), and since his mama is such a fan of hooded sweaters, I'll be making this one a "hoodie" too

I'm "improvising" this pattern, taking a piece from one and a part from another then improvising the hood entirely -- looking good so far

after we returned, the growing pile of tomatoes on the counter that I had been picking got canned

1 quart jar, 6 pint jars -- and half a jar that went into the refrigerator

time to go out and pick some more


tonight is our quilt guild meeting, and I'm looking forward to showing off the quilt I made for my daughter last Christmas -- it had been down at the fair (won a blue ribbon!), but I'd never had it in hand after it was finished to take to a meeting -- nice timing!!

time to get rolling -- work to do

a whole lot o' stitchin' goin' on

butterfly block -- complete!

and this one I did in reverse applique -- like a Mola

I had not used that technique on any of the other blocks, but because of the size of the design with it's tiny little circles, I decided to give it a try because it's easier (for me anyway) to do those little circles by cutting the top layer to expose the under lying piece of cloth

and there on the fantasy quilt you can barely make out the little butterfly up there in the top right corner, but it looks pretty cute

today I plan to start on the fox that goes on the bottom right -- there above the polar bear

as I mentioned, I've been working on some panels for the upcoming show

last night I finished the embroidery on the three oak leaves

the Sulky thread that I picked out to do both the embroidery (using 2 strands together) and the quilting that will come shortly is called "Maple" -- it is the most yummy looking stuff

still need to do the embroidery around the stamping on the 2 holly pieces I'm working on and since I'm sort of working on these production style, that embroidery will probably happen today

meantime, this morning we're off to the State Fair grounds to pick up all of my entries -- I have plans for most of those!

time to get to it

Recovering from Labor Day

heh, well, we took that "labor" part of labor day pretty seriously here this weekend - my daughter and her husband came on Saturday afternoon, and Sunday morning the work began --

set new stepping stones around the side of the garage -- check
pour new concrete for the back step to the patio -- check
remove dead tree from the front yard -- check (oh yes, and trim the tree on the side of the yard to the neighbor's satisfaction too)
install new ceiling exhaust fan in the downstairs bathroom -- uh, not so much -- the electrical wiring is just too weird -- we'll be calling in someone from our local licensed handyman service -- electrocuting the son-in-law is a deal breaker!
along the way I also finished some more projects

the chicken part of the hippo chicken block confusion is finally finished

and there is his picture in the fantasy quilt too

last night I started on the butterfly that goes way up there in the top right hand corner -- its nearly finished too

so only a raccoon and a fox and a mouse left to do -- looking great!
a completed hat -- finished over the weekend too

and I've already been digging around for supplies to make another one as my daughter expressed a desire to have one of her very own

this was a fund project, so I don't mind repeating it




and another baby shirt too

we're just whipping right along on these projects!


I have finished the applique on all of the holly leaf panels and started on the embroidery of the fall leaf panels and of course simply spaced out taking any pictures --

tomorrow, I promise!!


one more afghan square - this makes 60 since January 1


today there will be laundry and a couple of errands then on to some sewing projects


rollin' along!

another finished shawl

I've been working on this one in the car as we went to the State Fair and to the Tut exhibit this week, and finished it up this week

while I had more of this yarn by yardage than I had of the red yarn I made the first shawl out of, this yarn is softer and lighter, and in the end it turned out to be exactly the same size as the red on even though I had expected it to be bigger

hmmmm, well

it still came out very nicely and will fit a small/medium petite person, which is acceptable

meantime, yesterday there was cleaning and cooking (a whole gallon bag of chicken wings all pre-steamed and ready to be baked, as well as two loaves of chocolate chip zucchini bread) and airing out of rooms and doggie kennels -- yup, I think I'm ready for my daughter to arrive

this morning just a quick run to the hardware store then I can actually work on projects for a while -- WHOOT!!

3rd time's the charm!

this is the third oak leaf panel

and I think it's the best one

there is a sort of "glow" about this one -- partly because the fabric I used for the big leaf has a metallic look and partly because I finally figured out how to get the look I wanted with the rubber stamping

yesterday I went to my local fabric store and picked up a spool of thread that I plan to use both for the embroidery around the stampings (I'll have to use 2 or 3 strands) and for the quilting -- it's a Sulky thread and the color is "maple"

beautiful stuff! and I'm looking forward to working with it since it gets such high praise from other quilters

a while back I started thinking about how to make this necklace (which the post office damaged) into something else

so I'm out looking for purple things (on the web, of course!)

if I can get this done quickly enough, I can enter it in a competition at Fire Mountain Gems



today there is baking and cleaning on my "to do" list -- then more working on these things

Onward!

Fall is coming

when I woke up this morning it was much cooler -- which I like a lot

the wind was blowing, moving the aspen leaves on the tree just over the fence in my neighbor's yard from my back door

it sounds different than summer leaves

fall is coming -- the aspen leaves are starting to change in texture if not color yet

and I picked the first pumpkin out of my garden yesterday -- cut little sugar pie, all beautifully orange
nice
I forgot to mention one of the other things that was in the envelope from the Hoffman folks

the sheet of paper announcing the 2011 competition that also shows what all of the fabrics will look like

I've seen the actual challenge fabric, and the picture doesn't do it justice, so I'm already thinking about ideas to make next year's entry

the judging sheet was also in the packet -- all very useful information for making the next piece even better

one more afghan square completed this week too (and another one started)

I'm working on other stuff more and afghan squares less right now -- have Christmas things and show things to finish!!


today I'm doing laundry and starting in on the house things that need doing before my daughter arrives on Saturday -- changing the sheets, airing out the room, hosing out the dog's kennel -- the usual stuff

the mundane goes on and hopefully this afternoon time in the studio to do some more stamping and painting and stitching!

Two whirl wind days

wow! the last two days simply FLEW by
on Monday we made our trip to the State Fair to see how the entries had done in the judging

these six items earned blue ribbons!

there were also a couple of red ribbons and 3 white ribbons

one of the special prize categories had not yet been judged, so I'll just have to wait until we pick up our stuff next week to find out how that one did

after we had looked at all of the items in the Creative Arts building, we went over to check out the Fine Arts building

this year there were a number of fiber art pieces in the Fine Arts building and I've been thinking about entering something there, but really had no idea how to do that

after we had looked at all of the items I went to talk with the lady that was acting as a combination greeter and "no food or drinks" monitor at the front door -- turns out she is the assistant curator of the fine arts exhibit for the fair, and after talking with her and letting her see the pictures I had of some of my Out of Africa series, she encouraged me to apply next year

I'm pretty excited about that possibility, so I'll be working on some ideas!

when we got home, the package from the Hoffman Challenge was in the mail box

the promised Hoffman fabric is awesome and the spool of Sulky thread matches it beautifully (I would have been really surprised if that hadn't been so!)

the cool pin (which says Hoffman Challenge 2010) is the color of the challenge fabric and has the main pattern image on it -- that will go on my quilt club badge!

oh yeah, and the book of the collection? I'm on page 17 --- whoot!!

yesterday, to celebrate the DH's birthday, we made a jaunt to Denver -- he wanted to see the exhibit about King Tut (having seen the one that came to California in the 1970s), so I got tickets specifically for his birthday

the exhibit was cool -- not as much about Tut as about the whole Egyptian culture, but we got to see pieces we had not seen before

after the exhibit we visited gift shops -- first the one for the Tut exhibit (they always end the exhibit in a gift shop!), then the general Museum shop -- where I had a conversation with the shops buyer about having some of my work there -- it would be wonderful if that could really happen
meantime, in the evenings I have been working on some new stuff

these two pieces are intended for the Lambspun show in November

so far I have rubber stamped over the background print and appliqued the big oak leaves over that

I plan to embroider around the rubber stamping next, but first I have to get some rayon thread that is the right color -- think I'll be experimenting with some of the cool colors that Sulky has out now

I have more oak leaf cut out, but I didn't like the way it looked against this background, so I'll be cutting a new square for it

the hippo and the chicken pieces did not co-mingle! (imagine a hippo with a beak and chicken feet)

I did finish up the hippo with his bunch of flowers -- very cute

and here he is on the fantasy quilt layout

I have only 5 more blocks to do on this piece, so it is really rolling right along

so today I need to mow the front lawn and do some grocery shopping -- my daughter and her husband (and their 2 dogs) will be here over the weekend to help us with some projects we can't handle on our own, so I need to have groceries in hand and there are a few housekeeping items that must be handled before they arrive

but I'll be thinking about lots of art possibilities while I'm working on the mundane