3 weeks out

its hard to believe that just three weeks ago Miss Elphie was having surgery on her knee

this photo was snapped this morning as we prepared to take our morning walk

when we go out I tuck a couple of plastic bags in her harness to use for "pick ups" if needed along the way

this morning's placement just looked like a pair of wings  -- I sense a sequel to the "couch puppy" quilt design coming

yesterday I spent a lot of time out of the house -- a lengthy shopping trip (I needed to price out a project for my folks) in the middle of the day and a quilt guild birthday party meeting last evening

today I need to get with it and get some work done!

more progress

both of the seahorses are beaded now -- on to the back ground

can't show you the big Christmas knitting project, but this one is coming right along

hard to tell what animal it is right now -- be patient -- all will be revealed!!

time to vote and the beginning of the jigsaw puzzle

you may recall this piece

it was created for the Etsy Bead Weavers Team challenge on Summer Flowers

the voting has begun!

you can see all of the pieces that were entered and vote for your favorite by going here  

looks like giant fiber jig saw puzzle pieces

these are the first pieces of the next big quilt project -- and this batch are just the top left corner of the sky and cloud pieces

last night I started cutting those out and stitching the reverse applique places in this group

I think this will be fun

today's projects includes totally clearing off the table I work on so I can start pinning the quilt sandwich for Mr Cute's quilt -- this will be a pretty big project too

time to get busy so I can get to that

still thinking about Mr Cute

we gave him the tricycle for Christmas

and gramma made him promise to ride only if he was wearing his helmet (knowing full well that his most excellent parents will enforce that!)

originally there were "booster blocks" on the pedals so he could reach them -- he doesn't need those any more

he's looking good here!

and I love this shot too!

work continues -- one sea horse is entirely filled, and I'm starting on the second one

meantime, I'm just trying to survive the heat -- it is 87 degrees at 10:45 am as I write this -- ick!  hoping for some rain to cool things off

Playing catchup

it's time for Mr Cute to have a big boy bed

his mama decided he needs a big boy quilt to go on it

so she put together this quilt top -- it's a classic split rail pattern with some great "boy" prints

she finished up the top on Saturday afternoon while we were there

so now I have it to do the quilting --- the hardest thing will be wrestling it under the arm of the sewing machine!

this is moving along nicely -- I started doing the "fill" work yesterday afternoon  -- coming right along!

here is some photographic proof that Mr Cute does have a maternal gramma

there are not many pictures of me with him -- he's adorable -- me -- not so much!

my daughter snapped this picture while we we doing the alphabet flash cards


need to get moving -- laundry to finish, errands to run and I want to get to those projects!
 

beading along

just the outline of one of the sea horses is stitched, but I like how it looks

the next door neighbor had some fireworks for his little boy last night

we went over and chatted with them for a while and enjoyed their display -- and appreciated how prepared he was with a bucket of water and a hose at the ready just in case

meantime, we saw the local sheriff roll down our street (where he asked about what was being set off) then he went around the block to have a less friendly discussion with the folks a block over that were setting off stuff that went air borne --- as dry as it is, that is just stupid --- not to mention something that will get you a $1000 fine --- geesh!

need to run a errand or two today -- a trip to the grocery store is required, then back to the projects!
 

jumping through hoops

or at least the dolphin is!

did the bezel around the cameo last night -- looking good -- today I hope to get some of the first work on the sea horses done

and I'm stitching on the circles -- there are 29 of those, and I have 9 stitched -- this is the slog along for that piece

and as I look at the picture I'm thinking about using some white paint and the bottom of a mason jar to create more "rings" on the surface -- need to figure out how to "test drive" that idea before I actually do it



time to get busy

finished work, re-work work, new work

Finished!!

and it came out pretty well -- I especially like that three bead edging I created for this piece -- I plan to use that again

even got this listed in time for the Etsy Beadweavers Challenge --- as soon as the voting starts I'll post a link here

and now I'm ready for the beading to begin!

got the backing prepared and the resin cab glued down yesterday afternoon 

 transformed?

yesterday I used a number of kitchen objects and a compass and created different sized circles to use as patterns

then I did the unthinkable -- I cut up all that hand pieced stitching and created something entirely new

I'm now working on stitching down all of the edges -- all of these are fused to the black, but the edges still get stitched

and I'm much happier with this

yeah!  progress!!

time to get busy -- things need to get done!!

on to new projects!

yesterday afternoon I finished up the roses bead piece --- I need to take some pictures of it today so I can show it to you

but since that was complete, I moved on to this project -- finished up the drawing for the seahorse bracelet

I'll be doing this as bead embroidery and I plan to use a magnetic clasp that I can cover with beads and "hide" in the crown at the top of the horses heads

looking forward to getting into this!

under the category of projects that will be torn apart again

when I got the second row of blocks stitched on and started pressing I discovered that it was no where near square and would require major taking apart and putting back together to get it to something even close

I was at the "toss it in the trash" stage

then I had another idea --- that involves taking those pieces blocks, some MistyFuse and using some plates as templates

stay tuned -- permutation number 3 coming up (but I need to make a shopping trip first)

we made a trip to the hardware store yesterday to look for some odds and ends of things 

when we came home I discovered that the big black dog had been working on an escape plan to get out of the cone of shame

my guess is she did this in one of her demolition derby style encounters with the door frame or the kitchen table

I took it off her and repaired it with duct tape (I should note here that I did a complete washing of the inside and out first)

starting today she doesn't have to be in it all the time, but we're not quite ready to be totally free of it (well, she obviously is, but the incision isn't totally healed yet!)

who knows what adventures we will have today!
 

morning has broken

 the dogs at my daughter's house are used to being up at 5

while I was not really ready to be up then, I did get the chance to see one of the most beautiful sunrises I've seen in a while --- the defined glowing pink edge to the clouds was just amazing

(now, how can I reproduce that look in a piece of fiber art?)

for whatever reason, she just doesn't want to sleep on the dog bed -- next to it is fine with her, but not on it -- after a busy day with Mr Cute and the dogs on Saturday, she slept a lot yesterday

nap time for the terrier too -- I was sitting on the couch working on a quilt project and the smallest dog decided she needed to nap on the couch

this is the "fourth dog" -- Jeri is a beautiful pionus parrot -- caught here in one of his naps (this shot taken with the camera and a zoom lens so the "click" wouldn't wake him

yup, all's quiet on the western front here --- the critters are all doing well and I'm chugging along on projects

Recovering after the fire

during the Black Forest Fire, we were pretty sure (as were the owners) that my favorite fiber store in the area had been destroyed by the fire

we were so delighted to learn that they had not been!!

but of course, now that they are back into their building, they are holding a fire sale, and on Friday morning we took a trip

these trees, which are burned up quite a ways are right behind their studio building where they hold workshops (and the back of that building is blackened all across the back)

this picture was taken from the footbridge that goes from the main store to the studio building

right in front of the studio building are a row of big gas burners and the propane tanks that feed them

the underside of the footbridge is scorched

the fire was that close to those propane tanks -- which would have probably resulted in the total loss we thought had happened

the firefighters did a wonderful job!!!

 this trip was not all about a fire report though!

I went looking for fiber

there are these, for instance --- two skeins each of some awesome variegated feltable yarn and a cool little book with some patterns for creating some neat little bags (one of my favorite things!!)

the plan here is one large bag (the blue/purple yarn) and one smaller bag and possibly to do some needle felting over the wet felting 

should be fun!

and there was this group from the "smoke sale" which I plan to use to knit up hats and mittnz for the Indian reservation I make things for

I also picked up four of the grab bags --- each of these is make up of several yarns of similar fiber content in smaller, partly complete skeins or skeins that ended up being "one of"

the one at the bottom left is wool and will also end up in charity hats and mittnz, but the other three are cotton/bamboo/ramey/hemp/silk blends which I have a whole other project in mind for since they all blend together well in terms of color

I was briefly tempted to pick up a skein of yarn that had possum fiber in it (yes, you read that right, POSSUM!), but since I did not have any clear plan for it, I decided to put my budgeted spending into things that I got the most "bang for my buck"

looking forward to all those new projects!!

yesterday morning we loaded up and headed off

here is Miss Elphie and her satellite dish in the back seat of the van -- she was not at all sure she wanted to take a ride since the last one had resulted in something that was not very fun

riding in the car meant some knitting time for me --- another afghan square complete!

we are house/dog/bird sitting while Mr Cute (and his folks) go to visit with this other grandparents 

should be a fun week!

 
 

a bit 'o beading

the gusset has been attached on one side

I'm using the same technique that I use when I edge a bracelet, but because the base of this piece was a thicker piece of felt I needed to use 3 beads over the edge

and when I figured that out, I decided I might as well use it as a design feature and use a red bead in the center of the edge

I like it!

still need to attach the back to the gusset using the same technique, then stitch this to the frame and put in the lining

 

 and here we have the first version of the next beaded piece

the theme here is "sea adventure", so I decided to use one of the dolphin resin cameos that I got recently

the plan is to have another sea horse running the other way to create a total frame around the cameo

there will be more drawing (dragging out the tracing paper so I can have the sea horses match) and then the selection of materials

cool

 I have not been doing a lot of knitting this week

a couple of evenings I have worked on the Christmas project (which is progressing VERY slowly), but somehow when it's hot I just don't feel like knitting

I did finish an afghan square yesterday afternoon while I was talking to my daughter on the phone



today marks one week since the surgery on the dog's knee -- she is not happy about the enforced restriction of her activities, but she is doing really well  -- starting tomorrow we will be taking longer walks out of our own yard -- that should help!

time to get to those projects!

about that square color wheel

the first strip  of blocks has been stitched together

you need to think in the round -- red, orange, yellow

which means the row below it (from left to right) will be purple, blue, green

except when I started working on putting the purple block and the blue block together I discovered that the blue block is not quite the right size --- modification in process!

I'm getting excited about having this piece ready to be quilted!

 the putting together of the latest bead piece is going nicely

that means I'm thinking about the design of the next piece already

 which explains why I'm thinking about this little drawing and what I can do with it

it will be something very different than the usual stuff


time to get to work

 

rolling along

the last of the big blocks all complete!

now it's on to figuring out how to put all these pieces together --- I'll be fiddling with some ideas to work this out

the taping together is all finished, the interfacing has been pressed --- let the drawing of the "quilt by number" grid begin!

and all of the beading on the black piece is complete too -- I'm waiting for the fray check to dry so I can start on putting it together

remember this?

I'll be doing the paperwork and shipping it off in the next couple of days

yup, the Doodle Bird will be flying off to the competition --- keeping my fingers crossed!

she is sitting in her "waiting spot" the doorway between the kitchen and the dining room that she likes to hang out in when one of us is cooking
we did better with the sleeping last night (YEAH!) and the bandage finally came off (I pulled the last inch or so of tape)

things are looking up!

a week from today we should be cone free -- that will be another big milestone!!

until then we have the creepy alien look going on

 

inching along

working on the gusset

and when I played with fitting the pieces together last night, discovered that I will probably have to add some more beading at both ends of the gusset -- typical

another block complete

which means I'm now down to the last one -- and it's purple

and then there will be the arranging and figuring and trying to decide where this is going next -- how do you create a square wheel?

 the next step in the big quilted piece I'm creating has begun

once I figured out the technical issue with printing out the pattern, the next step is to tape the whole full size thing together

and after that I'll be tracing the pattern onto a very thin, non-woven interfacing type material that will be the "quilt by number" guide for the placement of all of the pieces

I got the top half (in two pieces) taped together -- and because the fabric I will be tracing onto is only about as wide as these are, I'll be doing that drawing on each individual quarter then stitching it all together 

this is a BIG piece -- the finished quilt is going to be about 5 foot by 7 foot -- lap quilts need to be big enough to be actually used!



last night the big black dog did a lot of pacing around, wanting to go out into the yard in the dark, keeping the humans in the house awake --- it's not exactly totally unusual behavior considering the weather and the smoke load in the air --- I saw some of this behavior last summer too --- but I'm not letting her out there in the dark --- too much wild life wandering the area (last year we had bears in the neighborhood during the fire season) -- so now she's sleeping and I'd like to be but there are too many other things that need to get done

time to get to those

it's NOT the big moon

yes, I know the big thing in the sky this weekend was the larger than usual moon

I have to say I was not outdoors to see it

I did see this yesterday afternoon, however

that is the sun

through a cloud that is mostly smoke

weird, eerie, orange sky (and the coughing and the itchy eyes to go along with being exposed to smoke particulates)

we really could use some rain (a storm without lightning please!!)

our patient is doing well --- this picture was snapped after she had her 3 minute walk, range of motion exercises, massage and pain meds -- icing is the last step in the rehab plan -- which she doesn't seem to mind

now if she would stop backing herself under my recliner while I'm sitting in it so I can't get up we'd be set!

got another block for this project done --- each of these blocks has been different, largely because I'm trying to make sure they AREN'T alike

my daughter has suggested that this might also make a great bead embroidered bracelet --- an idea that I like!

along with working on this block, I printed out the full size pattern for the "couch puppy" piece and found an appropriate found object to use as the dog tag --
 
so now I have six quilted pieces in process -- ACK!

the beading is coming along nicely on the gusset piece for the roses, after I finished the back of the piece, and actually added an additional row of beads around the outside of the front -- and my search for fabric to use for the lining was successful too -- I found a piece of shiny shot woven fabric in my stash that is perfect since it is black and red (shot woven fabric is woven with the warp threads being one color and the weft threads being another) 

I also need to start working on the "chain" for this roses piece -- I have already figured out how to reinforce it with beadalon cable through the center

I posted this picture last week when I was talking about my daughter working on a quilt for Mr Cute

I've been thinking a bit this week about this project  and why we make things

I'm a firm believer that we are hard wired to create --- if we watch our little children we see them build with blocks, sculpt with clay, draw with crayons --- we instinctively express ourselves in "art"

somewhere along the way many of us have that creative spark squashed by either well intentioned folks ("you don't want to study that, you can't make a living that way") or just by meanness ("that's ugly", "horses aren't purple", "the sky isn't that color"), and we internalize that criticism 

in the long run, however, if we pay attention to our inner selves, that drive to create is insistent

a few years ago, when my daughter started hand making greeting cards and acquiring the tools for scrap booking activities, I joked with her about those activities being just the beginning 

I'm happy to facilitate the creative process --- I'm encouraging my daughter to keep at it --- and I hope by writing here I can encourage someone else to return to those creative endeavors 

 

 create!!