Flamingos and penguins and mittnz -- OH MY!!

Just when you though the onslaught of birds was finished .....

MORE!!












This is the latest of the flamingos

I've been doing variations of these funny birds for several years, and just about the time I'm thinking "ok, we're DONE!", someone comes along and buys one and I decide to do "just ONE more"

this particular bird is the best of the bunch I think (evidence that continued practice improves the product perhaps)

Occasionally I get a remnant of feather finish mohair that is actually an appropriately pink color, but not recently, so the pink of this one is a hand dyed piece (would you believe I used Wilton paste food color for this one? -- that actually makes a GREAT dye!!)

His beak is made of two colors of upholstry velour. Prior birds had a lighter yellowish piece instead of this very burnt orange color, and I like this much better.

there is a joint where the neck meets the body so his head can be turned to get the cute pose I did here in the close up shot

Glass eyes and stiff, self supporting legs complete the package

I think he's rather fetching!!














For about 3 years I have done a penguin named "Bill" -- he was short, had little wings and a very long beak, each one of them wore a hand knit scarf. Cute, but after making quite a number of them, I'M DONE! (turning the long very thin beak was a royal pain in the butt every time!)

But penguins, just because they have that cute black and white formal wear thing going on are a great eye catcher in the booth, so we decided we'd try to design a new one.

Well, this little birdie took us almost 6 months to figure out!! For one thing, a bird with an open beak is a whole new challenge (and I'm still not totally satisfied with this one, but its pretty good)

As you can see, he has very long wings that are attached just below the neck joint, and they have a very stiff floral wire inside that allows them to be posed in a number of cute positions

This one has those expressive bright yellow eyebrows above the glass eyes -- the yellow was hand colored with an alcohol based ink marker -- and I've already decided that the next one will have larger eyes

Something about penguins just says to me "I need something draped around my neck", and while the last design had long fringed scarves, this one wears an 8 mm crystal "ice cube" on a string of smaller crystal beads. You know -- penguin -- ice cubes -- hmmmmmm

We'll see how this is received at the next show




Pair number 5 of the Mittnz!

Don't you love the almost floresant blue of these -- a lovely soft wool -- like silk, wool just seems to glow in some colors

So, now I'm working on pair #6, and closing in on the 8 pair goal!!

Last night I put the last quilting stitch into the quilt and removed the last pin. Now its on to the binding!! This means I will have 2 large Christmas projects completed by the end of April -- HURRAH!!

time to get busy

Toucans!

As I mentioned yesterday, more birds were on the runway!













This is number 5 in the series of toucans I've been making

these have all been bright colors with black bodies, no two of them alike

this one is mostly greens and yellows

and has the lovely, self supporting wire feet (and sharp toes!)














and this one is the rare Royal Purple and White Toucan

a sort of experimental bird, just to see if anyone thinks this color combo "works"




There will be a brief pause in the studio work until Monday as we are heading out to Utah for a family funeral.....these things are not totally unexpected as we get older, but its just not possible to schedule them at our convenience! At least the weather forecast is not for big storms which is a good thing.

Dodos in the Aviary

It must be spring....

the studio door is open

the aviary is filling up!

You may remember that about 2 weeks ago I finished up the puffin. Well, more birds have joined the show!



this is Darcie

soft mohair
"feathers"
upholstry velour beak and feet

steel shot in her fanny (she's much heavier than she looks!)



and this is Darkwing

same sort of fabrics
much bigger attitude!

notice how they are both cross-eyed?

guess that's why they're extinct -- couldn't see where they were going (sort of like me in the wrong glasses!)


Today we have shopping to do, so I probably won't get as much done, but there are 3 more birds on the runway, so this fascination with feathers obviously has not run its course!

feeling purple?

obviously purple was the color theme in the studio yesterday!



After working on the beading of this for about a week, yesterday I was able to sit down and finish it up

Like the teal and chocolate one I did a while back, this cuff bracelet is all glass beads -- grapetini and pink lemonade bead mixes mostly

I decided on this one to use a muslin backing, and frankly, I don't like it as well as the pelon, so I won't do that again unless I run out of pelon!




and the finished critter de jour is wearing purple too

Stella the alpaca sheep -- ok, now you know why each and every one of these MUST have a hand knit WOOL sweater vest -- its that whole IDENTITY CRISIS issue otherwise and there's nothing more ornery that a pissed off sheep




and then there were these lovelies

#4 in the series of MITTNZ -- wow, that means I'm now half way to the goal on these -- and so far, purely painless!!

today's excursions include putting eyes and wings on dodo birds, and beginning a new piece of jewelery which is entirely an experiment -- this should be fun!

I'm back

from the weekend at my daughter's










it was fun to take a couple of days to relax and just "hang out" with her

since they live at a lower altitude, its already spring for real at their house

when we left home on Thursday, there was about 4 inches of heavy, wet snow on the ground at our place, and it was still "flurrying"

At her house, the dogs got to play outside and it was warm enough to walk around in a short sleeve shirt -- yippee!!



One of the things I wanted to do while we were there was have her take some pictures of me with the new "hair do"

(or perhaps we should call it a "hair don't")

Anyway, here is a shot with the 1/2 inch fuzz -- don't you love the widow's peak!!




This picture I like!

Very cool hat and all that

this will probably become the "about me" picture on my blogs, etc, for a while anyway





As you may recall, I have been working on a sweater for the DH.

He wanted what he called "an old man sweater" -- a wool (or at least partly wool) cardigan with pockets and a shawl collar

After only minimal trips to the frog pond (there was an issue with pockets that could have been stuffed with kleenex and been "falsies"), it is complete!

This was actually a really fun sweater to make, and didn't take all that long

So now its on to other knitting projects -- like the annual Christmas knitting I do for my daughter!



Being in the car for several hours to and from my daughter's gave me time to knit.

This is the 3rd pair of MITTNZ for the challenge, and I have the 4th pair about half done! Its amazing just how quickly you actually can produce a pair of warm, attractive mittens.

One of the other things we did while we were with our daughter was take a trip to a nearby town to view a quilt show. I took LOTS of pictures, and I'll try to get a "review" posted here soon.

today its back to the routine -- laundry and working on projects!

more stuff on the sticks soon?

this arrived in my mail box yesterday

its my "sample" issue -- and just full of wonderful projects that I would like to try -- I may have a few more projects in the que soon

I can report that our toilet issue has been mostly taken care of -- $150 later -- ouch!! But it no longer rocks or leaks, so its a good thing -- no seat yet as when we opened the box of the new seat it was damaged, so today it will go back to the store for exchange



As much as I dislike the cold and gray of winter, these are a big problem too

the weather channel is reporting that the tree pollen count is HIGH

this would explain why I feel like there's a little man with a hammer pounding beneath each of my eye sockets and I woke up with a dry throat

gotta love allergies -- ick

so, today and until the season is over, extra vitamin C and zinc and LOTS of fluids -- experience has taught me that this approach keeps those irritated tissues from succumbing to what ever nasty virus I might come in contact with!

After weeks of thinking about a new bead project, I pulled out all of the materials last night to give it a try. This may be one of those "well THAT didn't work" things, but unless I actually TRY it, I'll never know. This one entails working black and white beads (with an occasional single row of RED) in peyote stitch over wooden beads and rings to create a necklace. I've done some of this kind of thing before, but never exactly what I have in mind here -- we'll see how this all goes

well, time to go get some tea or juice or something

Spring time -- or not?

lookie here -- daffodills!

yesterday it was warm, sunny, lovely spring weather

today it will be more like summer and tomorrow we may get snow again ---

oh yes, the joys of living at 6000 in the Rocky Mountains!!



meantime, we spent a lot of yesterday with a doctor appointment and doing laundry, so aside from finishing this pair of mittnz for the 8 pair challenge, not a lot got done here.....

today we will be having a visit from the plumber who will take care of the leak under the downstairs toilet -- so, probably not a lot will get done today either -- oh well, there's always tomorrow!

all the king's horses and all the king's men...

well, it actually was just little ol' me with my scissors and a fresh roll of scotch tape, but the angels are back together again

You can see the lines where the individual blocks are, but that's ok, especially since this is just the color mark up (full size) to guide me as I put the thing together

next step -- create the black and white full size line drawing that will help me create the actual pattern pieces --- maybe today, maybe not



Elphie is the chief supervisor for this project (and every other project that goes on too!) I loved this -- it looks like she's creating a bit of jewelry of her own -- note the fabric "bracelet" around her right "wrist" -- cute Elphie, very cute!

meantime, yesterday's activities were interrupted by a trip to the hardware store....more about that in "random thoughts" later

after thinking about the bear face overnight I came up with a new idea that I hope to test out today -- think wizard.......

onward and upward!

Mittnz!

As I've spoken of several times here, I do quite a bit of knitting for charity.

Thanks to a VERY generous sister who is trying to clear out a large stash of yarns, I have been able to knit lots of afghan squares for Close Knit Hugs, and several hats for Warm Woolies.

Last week I stumbled into a blog titled Sheep Shots, which right away had me laughing, and she has this wonderful project going to send 1000 pair(!!) of mittens to the Cheyenne River Reservation in South Dakota during the last week in September.

Her challenge? Knit 8 pair of hand warming goodness -- send her pictures -- mail off your mittnz the last week in September

The picture above was my first pair for this effort (and she posted it on her blog!)

Anyway, care to join me? I think I've got enough patterns for mittens, wrist warmers, etc., to do every one of those 8 pair from a different pattern -- which should also be fun for a knitter that has enough problems doing 2 that match, never mind 16!

I had actually finished this pair a few days ago (it took me a while to get the photo taken), and I'm nearly done with mitten #1 of the next pair -- WOO HOO!!

Progress on the quilt continues -- not so many pins removed yesterday, I spent a lot of time quilting scales in on the dragon -- time consuming stuff that

The sweater for the DH is all knit. So now its on to the dreaded "stitching up" -- I'll be spreading it out on the table for matching and pinning.

I made an attempt at putting a nose on a bear yesterday -- I'm trying to do something a little different on this one, and I didn't like the way it looked, so I picked it out. I do like the look of the needle sculpting I did on this one so far, tho, so that's progress!



Yup, its those angel parts again -- only bigger!

This morning I did the final increasing of 150%, so now I will be cutting the new pieces and pasting them together to create the master color mark up. Then its on to the pattern making, which is always a challenge

time to get started!

quilter's puzzle

the subtitle of this could be: why I can't create my fiber pieces without my computer!
















If you read yesterday's post, you might recognize these as yesterday's angels all cut into pieces.

The original drawings were 5 inches wide. Each of the 3 finished panels needs to be about 15 inches wide.

Since I don't have the technology to take the whole picture and increase it 3 times and print it out, I cut them into pieces

this morning I increased each piece by 150% -- or half way to what I need -- later today (after I'm done at the computer) I'll cut those pieces free, lay them together (see jigsaw puzzles!) and make additions/changes/improvements -- then tomorrow when I'm back at the computer I'll make the final increase

someday I'll have a studio arrangement that allows the computer, the cutting/work table and the sewing machine to all be in the same room -- maybe -- anyway, for now this works, but it does help explain why I work on several projects at once!

Quilting on the dragon quilt is moving right along. The compass design which fills the center and has "arms" that extend to each edge is done, one of the four quadrants is complete and I'm moving right along on the next quadrant. I've finally got a good callus on the second finger of my left hand so I can quilt for a longer time each day without having a sore finger! YEAH!!

so today, who knows what I'll work on -- the angel patterns, the dragon and the sweater (on which I'm now doing the decreases for the second sleeve and will be sewing up soon!), but who knows what else --

time to get to it


PS: the answer to yesterday's quiz, from left to right: Michael, Gabriel, Raphael

Triptych of Archangels

This is sort of the way they will appear when this piece is done too

The DH, the wizard of being able to draw something that actually looks like a recognizable figure, did the original line drawings for me a while back, and the last two days I've been using my colored pencils to create the color renderings. (think adult color book folks!) This is the first place where these pieces start to come alive. The next step is to start creating the full size drawing so I can make up the pattern pieces.

Originally my idea was to make this as a beaded piece (and that idea is not totally dead, just deemed "not do-able right now"). The main problem with that was the difficulty of getting enough detail into a small space -- after all the smallest seed beads readily available are 15s and even that might be too big for this one.

Anyway (digression is a way of life here!)

The idea now is to make this into a quilted wall hanging that measures about 3 foot tall by 4 foot wide -- more or less -- lots of space to do detail stitching and texturing on hair and wings and armour --

I'm thinking of using mostly batik fabrics for this because they have those lovely color variations that look like marble and renaissance painting strokes.

This is a "first" for a quilting project here --- it is NOT a piece intended to warm the body -- instead I'm hoping for warming the spirit here -- feeding the soul with beauty perhaps -- at any rate, I'm hoping for that affect while I'm working on it and perhaps for others when they see it after its finished.

So here is your quiz for the day: Who are these three archangels?

Ok, I'm going to send it in......

I spent some time writing the required narrative for the 5x5 quilt square and I think its ready now for me to put the package together and get it in the mail

{I rediscovered why I do most of my writing on my computer keyboard -- after writing about half a page, even using my fountain pen which requires no "push", my hand and wrist start feeling like they are being attacked by an entire pin cushion's worth of pins -- not so conducive to doing much writing. I guess when I decide to take myself somewhere to do some writing I'll have to consider toting the laptop.}

Anyway, I'm happy to have finished the narrative. It actually sounds pretty good.

Lots of pins removed from the quilt yesterday as I got the main design in one of the quadrants all quilted and now am working on the "fill". So far the effect of the quilting from the back is working out pretty well -- I just have to check frequently to make sure the top (which is the bottom as I'm quilting) stays smooth.

So, who knows what will get done today (besides the laundry!)

into the fray

Good enough?

The Quilting Arts magazine is sponsoring a contest right now that is titled "GO GREEN! Square Quilt Reader Challenge"

The point of the contest is to create a 5x5 inch quilt square WITHOUT buying anything, using whatever materials are already on hand.

The main "prize" is that they will print a picture of your square in the magazine. (I'd like that!)

So, here is my attempt, but as is often my problem, once I've completed the thing first I say "look, its finished!" quickly followed by "but is it good enough to even submit?"

So, since the deadline is still a couple of weeks away, I'm trying to decide exactly that -- is it good enough?

new doodles and goodies on the doorstep

Here then is the latest beginning of a paperdoll series --- can you imagine it?

Costumes for Easter Bunnie, Beach Bunnie, Snow Bunnie, Dumb Bunnie (maybe not) and EVIL BUNNIE!

the paperdolls I made my mother at Christmas time started off this way, so who knows what might happen next!!




This box arrived on my doorstep yesterday from my sister......

wonderful assortment of wool yarn to be knit into vests and mittens and hats for charity

and, yes, BLUE KOOLAID!!! lots of blue koolaid -- oh and notice there is white yarn in the box, the better to play with the koolaid -- this will be a lot of fun!!

time to get busy!

mail box goodies and finished objects (SHOCK!)

When I went to the mailbox yesterday afternoon, I found the most amazing package!

not just every envelope arrives with a bright orange lable and glowing pink and green tape on it.....and inside were lovely treasures!

Check out the apron -- its that thin, floaty fabric that reminds me of my childhood when the women on TV wore this kind of apron (starched within a inch of its life, of course) and stayed in their perfect homes to bake cookies for their perfect children -- please note I said "on TV"

Anyway, the apron is destined for a Mama Hattie Rose make over which will include paint, glitter, etc., etc

In the pocket were three packets of Smarties -- how did Rice know? These remind me of Halloween even as recently as when my daughter was young enough to go trick or treating.....

And then the lovely razor case -- which is also destined for a make over here in the studio --

Yes, on the whole it was definately worth the trip to the mail box!!



This is Stella the Flying Sheep (or the DH refered to her as Sister Mary Lamb)

There's just something about those ears that reminded us of Sally Fields and the Flying Nun I guess

Anyway, Ms Stella is made of a lovely thick black mohair and has merino wool felt feet and face.

Having learned my lesson about cranky sheep made of goat hair a while back, she is wearing a hand knit vest made out of some of my hand dyed homespun yarn -- 100% wool of course

Pictures of Ms Stella will be winging their way to a lady in California who asked for a black sheep -- we're hoping she'll make the cut



And this is the latest of the birds from the studio

We've been "dinking" with the pattern for this critter for over a year, and well, I'll still make some more changes, but this one is acceptable for viewing

Meet The Puffin -- you can tell how new he is by the fact that he has no name yet -- just what do you name a Puffin? Actually the Latin name for the genus means "Little Brother", so some appropriate monastic name perhaps.....

Unlike the penguin, puffins do fly and in the water (their main feeding "ground") they swim as if they were flying -- a very interesting thing indeed

This bird is a first for a some things from our studio

-- for one his feet are on longer, supportive legs and the fabric of the body comes part way down the legs -- the other birds I've done have had the feet inserted by cutting a little hole in the proper place through the fabric and inserting the wire feet

-- this is the first animal I've built where the glass eyes were set first and the eye trim applied over them, giving the trim a sculpted look around the eyes

-- there is a lot of needle sculpting in the face of the bird, creating a little "shelf" where the eyes appear to rest

-- the black around his eyes is actually a shiny paint that also gives it some depth and texture

On the whole, I'm pretty pleased with him, though I will be making some minor changes to the pattern for any future ones

Oh yes, pictures of the puffin are also going to California to a fellow that has purchased many birds from me -- I'm hoping he'll want one of these too

And so folks, you can tell that work in the studio has resumed -- in fits and starts, but I'm getting there

Yesterday the DH created a whole new bear pattern, laid it out on the fabric and cut it so its ready for me to stitch. Its a sort of golden yellow swirly mohair with a very different body and head shape, so this should be quite interesting

time to get to it

Bracelet fiesta!

After about a week of these sitting in the tray all laid out, I finally got them strung up yesterday.

So, the results of my bead making Sunday of a couple of weeks ago all made into these nice bracelets!

onward!!