zebras and cone flowers in the rain

yesterday morning the DH and I decided to split up the yard chores -- I mowed the front yard while he did the weeding in the garden -- twice as much work done in the same amount of time -- sweet!

so then we went off to the grocery store to pick up eggs and fruit -- and when we came out of the store it was raining!

lovely, cool rain --- without lightening to start new fires and without "hard rain" (aka hail) to ruin our carefully nurtured garden plants

wonderful
and so it was definitely time to get into the studio and get some work done!

the beading on the zebra bracelet

it is now about 75% complete -- which means that very soon I'm going to have to figure out what I'm going to back it with ---

oops! I just hadn't thought about that part yet -- I'm pretty sure I have either some more black suede I can use or some soft upholstery velvet -- I'll be checking that out today

since I had the strips all cut for the charity quilt I figured it was time to set up the machine and get some work done on that project -- heh, I think I have enough strips to actually create TWO quilts of these fabrics -- so that dozen quilt tops I had planned for may become a baker's dozen -- the first series of seams is done and the pressing and cutting the other way as well -- back to the machine today
progress on the cone flower piece too -- the next layer of color has been added -- the deep rusty colored "petals" that are at the very back and in the "shade" of the top level of petals

today I need to press the yellow fabrics and get started on the next layer

so far this is moving right along, so I should get to the fussy cutting and appliqueing of birds and butterflies by next week

looking very good!

some outdoor work and a new project takes off

at least on day a week this time of year we spend quite a bit of time outdoors working on things

like mowing the yard, which was what I was doing yesterday while the DH installed this lovely gate between the little shed next to the house and the new fence of last summer's building escapades

nice looking gate

now we're having the debate about painting it

we need to paint the shed before the cold weather comes again, so we could do that then

or not

for right now I'll just admire how nice it looks

once the mowing was done I made the resident Labrador very happy

I pulled out the new wading pool I bought for her

(we have had one of these in the past, but a couple of years ago the old one died and we just never got a new one for her last year)

she hadn't forgotten

as soon as I put it on the patio, before I even had the hose turned on she was sitting in it

it's fun to see her having a good time -- the old dog playing like a puppy

after the mowing the entire yard got watered

it takes the better part of the afternoon to water the entire back yard

after that was done, the robins came in to feast on the worms that come to the top

this one was sitting in the grass for quite a while during the time the DH was grilling our dinner

the robins in general are pretty tolerant of us being as close as about 3 feet away and long as we don't seem to be a threat (which means we tell the dog to leave the birdies alone!)




last night's dinner included the second harvesting out of the garden -- and the first off the broccoli plants

this is a different variety that what we can get in the grocery stores here, so even though it looks like it would be too strong to be tasty, it wasn't

I just put it in the steamer while the DH grilled the meat and everything was ready all at once

YUM
even though I had spent quite a bit of time in the yard, I did get a lot of work done in the studio too

the zebra bracelet is rolling right along as I'm working the alternating black and white beads up the other side of the piece now

and I confess, I'm getting close to that "are we there yet" thing that happens with every piece that is going well -- even though I'm enjoying seeing it come together, my brain is already thinking about the next piece I want to work on!

since the printing out of the flower sketch in giant poster size was successful yesterday morning, I spent time taping all the pages together and creating the pattern for the cone flower piece

by the end of the evening I had attached the first layer of pieces to the base

because these are the "background" this required just basting the pieces to the base along the edges

today I'll start adding the next layer of color -- the very back layer of "petals"

I need to keep myself on schedule with this piece if I'm to have it finished in time to be turned in by August 15!

today I need to get the front lawn mowed (which fortunately doesn't take as long as the back) and we need to pick up some groceries and a prescription, but I should be able to get back in the studio this afternoon

if I go get busy now!

more great work progress

the applique work on the Hawaii piece is finished

since I'd been concentrating on the Hoffman piece for the last few weeks in order to get it done before the deadline, I didn't realize how close to finished the stitching on this was

I really like the way it looks so far

so now its time to pull out the water color pencils and do the "painting" that I plan to do as the first embellishment

looks like this one will be finished soon


worked on the zebra bracelet for a while yesterday afternoon

it's about half finished now

zebra is looking good (listen, you can hear it saying "cooooool")

the Christmas sock that I started for Mr. Cute is 20% complete!

this pattern has been pretty easy so far

the next section that I'll be doing will be a row of penguins around the sock

now that should be a fun section to work on, but I don't think I'll be finishing that section on one evening like I did the lettering

yesterday I finished the stitching of the label and the sleeve on the Hoffman Challenge piece -- today I hope to get some photos taken and of course there is paperwork to do -- I want to have the box all packaged up and ready to go to the post office next Wednesday

since I knew I was so close to having the Hoffman piece finished, a couple of weeks ago I ordered the challenge fabric from Keepsake Quilting

this is a competition I've not done before, but the theme sounded interesting, so I decided to have a go at it

this is the challenge fabric



along with the challenge fabric were some coordinates

the rules are pretty simple -- create a quilt that is 30 inches square, use at least four of the fabrics from the package (you're allowed to add two more fabrics) and get it back to them by August 15

after fiddling with the fabric for a while yesterday I did this sketch

and this morning I used the "poster" print capabilities of my printer to enlarge that drawing from the 4 1/2 inch square of the original to a multi-page print out that I can tape together to get that 30 inch square pattern I need

this giant cone flower is the "background" (some influence of Georgia O'Keefe here) and then birds and butterflies will be appliqued over it

looking forward to getting into this project!


I also cut the strips for a charity quilt yesterday, so I need to get the machine set up for that project in the next day or so

this morning I need to get the back yard mowed before it gets too hot, then I can get back into the studio and get to work!

one more Christmas present complete

I wove in all the ends and sewed on the buttons last night

one more completed project!

(and its a Christmas gift too --- whoot!!!)


which means I can start swatching that green yarn that arrived last week for the Christmas projects its going to become



work has resumed on the zebra bracelet

this just rolled right along yesterday afternoon

sometimes with these projects once I get a couple of sections done it just seems to go faster, and this one seems to be working that way

rolling right along!
having finished the facing on the Hoffman Challenge quilt last week, I still need to attach the sleeve and the label

this is the sleeve -- all ready to be attached, and this morning I created the label, so probably today this will be a completed piece, ready for the photo taking

a new small knitting project begun

Mr Cute needs a Christmas sock, and I've been working on the lay out of the charts for a while

last night after I finished the vest I cast on and started the ribbing at the top of the sock

love this color!


so today's plan includes finishing the Hoffman piece, working on the Hawaii piece and maybe starting on the July charity quilt as well as working on the beading

work to do!

vicunas, decking and Mr Cute

we took a little mini vacation over the weekend

packed up the dog and took off for our daughter's house early Friday morning

on Saturday we headed off to Estes Park for Wool Market

we had heard that there would be all kinds of animals as well as the actual fiber vendors on hand

on the way, Mr Cute was entertaining himself my making faces at that kid in the mirror

last fall we had gone to the Alpaca Round Up at our end of the state, which was a pretty low key event (you can read about that trip here
one of the things we learned during that trip is that there are two kinds of alpacas --

the huacayas which look very much like big, long necked poodles because their fleece is fluffy (in fact at the Round Up there were some that had not had their heads shorn and their heads looked like big tootsie pops on top of their slender necks)


the other variety is a Suri

and their fleece looks like a corded poodle -- or dread locks

this little beauty is the first on of those I had ever seen -- adorable!

and notice these animals are not just in stalls on the dirt

that's a pretty nice looking rug this little Suri is laying on!


the barn over there were more traditional animal pens

and a number of goats

but not just any kind of goats

these are all Cashmire goats -- they have really interesting hair -- an incredibly soft downy undercoat and a coarser guard hair -- when the fiber gets spun you have to pick out those guard hairs first


and then there were these lovelies

these are paco-vicunas

like the llama and the alpaca they are camilids -- in fact they look very much like small alpacas (the one with the rust colored rump and the white head was born on March 30 of this year)

and if you think alpaca is soft and light, vicuna is even more so -- just a step or two short of qiviut


I exercised pretty good restraint when we went into the fiber vendor tent

two skeins of alpaca yarn -- from two different vendors

and I have plans for each of those skeins -- and I'm looking forward to working on those soon




Sunday afternoon's project was a little more like work

now that there is a little guy who will be walking soon in the house there was a need for that deck with it's 3 to 4 foot drop to the ground below to be enclosed

so the DH and the son-in-law took our van off to the hardware store and got the necessary materials to get that enclosure started







they did such a good job that by the end of the afternoon the entire deck was enclosed

and a very nice looking enclosure it is too




and while they were working just outside the kitchen door, my daughter and I were working on scrapbook projects at the kitchen table

my daughter has a cool machine that cuts shapes and letters out of paper or card stock

and I'm working on something that will be a Christmas present

as with all projects there was lots of clutter (both ours and out on the deck) before the project work was done, but the results are awesome

Mr Cute is starting to eat solids now

(although the pureed veggies hardly look "solid")

over the weekend he was trying out peas

he ate them, but not with nearly as much enthusiasm as he had for sweet potatoes or pears

he's just so adorable

and such a happy little guy that when he does fuss you know there is something definitely needing attention in his world

he'll be six months old tomorrow -- WOW, time really flies!




one of the other things that my daughter and I worked on over the weekend was tying a comforter for one of her friends that is having a baby in August

the tying part was all finished by Sunday evening

and yesterday afternoon I finished stitching the binding (which was done by rolling the backing around to the front)

we're about ready to put this in the mail







and of course, since I was in the car another charity afghan square is all complete

so today it's back to the usual household chores before work in the studio

laundry and groceries today (I've already watered the lawn)

time to get moving!

let the Christmas projects begin

the box arrived yesterday

once again this year my sister is contributing to some Christmas projects

after I had selected the pattern to be used, she ordered the yarn I wanted and had it shipped to my house

for the next little while the "big" knitting project will have me singing Kermie's song (it isn't easy being green)

this is really nice yarn -- I'm looking forward to getting started

yesterday I finished the hand work on the facing for the Hoffman piece -- hopefully by this time next week I'll be talking about sending it off -- it went to my quilt guild meeting last night where it was admired --- nice

time to get moving -- lots to get done

First Harvest

one of the nice things about planting two big packages of onion sets is that you can start "harvesting" little green onions early on

and its actually a good thing for the plants to thin them out and let the ones that remain in the ground get bigger for the next harvest

last night I was doing a stir fry, and needed a few

you can tell by the picture that we planted both red and yellow sets (and no I didn't put them in separate rows -- they're just all in there together)

these were quite tasty -- and because I know what the soil was they were planted in and what the water source is that has watered them I wouldn't be afraid to eat them raw if I wanted to drop some in a salad -- if you're wondering why there is an uptick in people doing "urban homesteading" the recent food born illness in Europe should give you some clue

and as I look at this photo on the blog I can see that this would be something to consider as a piece to be turned into a quilted multi media piece --- hmmmmm, think the photo file needs to get saved as possible inspiration

this morning it is cool and cloudy -- mowing the front yard will not be as hard as I thought it would be -- yippee

and I'm hoping to get it done quickly so I can get some work done in the studio before I head off to my quilt guild meeting this evening

onward!

doing a happy dance

the quilting is done!!

when I finished the stitching I sat and looked at for a while

can't believe it is almost done

then I had to figure out the next step

which is one of the parts of doing quilts of any size that I've struggled with for a while

the edges are uneven -- the batting and the backing extend out beyond the top (and that is even worse after the "aggressive pressing" that I do before I trim)

the challenge is to make it look like a nice neat finished piece


more like this


there are some tools available to quilters for doing this

I just don't happen to own any of them


I have an inventive DH however

as I was mumbling about trying to do this trimming he asked if I could use a carpenters square

he just happened to have two of them in the garage, and he was willing to let me have the cleanest, least rusty one




he brought it in -- I cleaned it up with my favorite all purpose cleaner -- Windex -- and put blue painters tape over the entire back surface so no rust could escape onto the quilt top

forget those plastic square thingies -- I'm sold on this

it's heavy enough that it doesn't move around -- the blue tape actually adds to the "non slip" factor, and because it is steel, I can use the rotary cutter right against it and get a clean, sharp cut

so today I need to cut the facing pieces and attach them to the top -- that is machine work that shouldn't take too long

after I finished getting the quilt trimmed, I spent some time working on the beading piece I'm doing

four of the black sections are complete and the white beads have been run around them

ready for some more black beads

since I have two blue pieces that need to be re-fringed, yesterday I went through the boxes of beads and pulled out all the things that I might be able to use to do that --- just planning that next project!
yesterday afternoon the DH had his last appointment with his surgeon -- he has now been officially released after the surgery on his shoulder -- told he can do whatever he wants (ok, that might be a dangerous thing to tell him), but it is very good news

while we were sitting in the waiting room I worked on this and last night as I was watching the news I finished the square -- one more out of those two pounds of yarn skeins (have I mentioned I'm kind of tired of this color combo?)

today there is weeding in the garden and mowing of the backyard to be done before I can get into the studio --- time to get to it!

Conspiracy Theory

I'm convinced

there is a conspiracy afoot amongst my technology products

over Memorial Day weekend my laptop (and the DH's!) both crashed

the good news is that my Computer Doctor, aka my brother in law, has determined that the issue of my laptop is that the hard drive died, and he will install a new (and much bigger) hard drive and he will be able to retrieve much of my data that was on the old one (that is a HUGE relief)

we're not sure yet what happened to the DH's laptop -- it's still in the diagnostics area

so for now I'm still working on a loaner and being very careful not to leave any files on the desktop

ok, so far so good

but yesterday, when I was trying to print some proof sheets of some new photos I had just taken everything printed out in shades of red

huh?

to be honest, this was a used printer when I got it -- my daughter had just purchased a brand new one for her house, and the one I had then was on it's last leg, so she gave me her old one (which was identical to my old one)

and these were not real expensive printers, designed as "home" printers, and truthfully I use a printer a lot more than the average home user

so this morning I ran all the diagnostics, and did as much "tweaking" to the printer as I could within the software

the prints are at least in the right colors now, but there are still lines through them unless I print in "PHOTO" mode (which uses a lot more ink)

this just means I'm going to have to look into replacing the printer

and I'm thinking about going with another Epson -- but this time not a "home" printer, but one designed for a small business -- and one that has a scanner/copier feature too, since my scanner is also old

time to do research --

are we there yet?

I've been working on the quilting of the Hoffman Challenge piece

trying to get it finished enough that I can take it for the guild meeting on Thursday evening, because after that it will need to go off in the mail

after fussing for a while about how to quilt the sky I went with the "random doodling" approach

as the DH pointed out the rest of the top is pretty closely quilted, so to leave that area almost unquilted just didn't work

but I'm definitely ready to be done with this piece -- other pieces crowding into my head demanding to be worked on!



work on the zebra bracelet continues

another whole section of black is completed and another started, and the white area between them is complete

doing zebra patterning is always fun because I usually have black and white thread in needles to work back and forth without having to pause between sections
I've been going through my cases to pull out and list jewelry on my Etsy store

last week one of the pieces I had done went from the "list it on the store" tray to the "rework it" tray

yesterday afternoon this one made a similar trip

I like the basic style of this piece, and the really nice pieces of lapis I used in it

even like the slightly different way I made "bails" on each end and attached the "chain"

but that fringe? eh, not so much

so while I have all those blue beads out to work on that first piece I might as well make this one really awesome too

the sky is still orange

I took this picture about 5:30 pm yesterday

when I can look right at the sun at that hour of the day there's definitely something icky in the air

this morning is no better, and we'll continue to have this issue until Arizona gets the fires under control or the upper level winds shift

our plans for doing heavy outdoor work have been modified to doing little pieces of things and not over exert while we're breathing all that smoke

today there is a planned trip for fabric to back that baby quilt and to get some fruit at the grocery store, and the usual Monday laundry needs to be completed before I can get back to work on that quilting

time to get busy