Finally

Spring Patchabilities is done.  What was the holdup besides my natural tendancy to procrastinate and to overthink a process, you might ask.  Well I had a vision of daffodils dancing in front of the embroidered gate and I finally made got some time to play.

First I tried coloring the recyled Tevlar (sp?)  mailing envelopes to hold onto the color.  That was a bust.

So I then  cut out diffferent sized circles to heat shrink it.  Thinking I would paint them afterwards with an acrylic paint.  Some shrinkage did happen but I wasn't satisfied with the end result so ditched that option. 

May have to try that out on another project with more shapes baked in molded cups before using the heat gun.

Then I thought, perhaps I could fuse 2 fabrics wrong sides together to make my imagined dancing daffodils and use some of those Shiva Paintsticks and the other brand of fabric markers that I bought at Michaels to blend more colors.  So I played around with that for quite a while.  I couldn't manipulate the fabric to come out like I envisioned, so ditched that.

Then I thought perhaps some silk flowers could lend their way into helping me to create those daffodils.  Natta!

This is her, SPRING PATCHABILITIES.

That's when I called it done and proceeded to quilt, bind and hang it on the wall. Now you know why I am slow to finish things. I am my worst enemy for finishing as I always am thinking more and what if I tried that scenerios. Seems like I start with a baby quilt and before you know it I get a king quilt done.

 

Despite having thatunseasonal 80 degree weather several weeks ago the gardens and landscapes are really looking like Spring is here. These two pics are where I tore up my garden and transplanted , weeded and mulched last year. Can't wait to see how much better this will be. Crossing my fingers now.

Next gardening focal point will be to revamp that section  that sets behind the gas tanks and the garage.

Jane

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A bit more done.

It feels wonderful to be finishing up some UFO's I've had going for a bit. Between the Counted cross stitch, quilting, and beading hobbies, many times I feel like my creative endeavors are just running amok!
But Whoo!whoo! several more projects have been finished this past week.
My UFO#6 through Judy Laquidera's UFO challenge, Bird house wallhanging or Waiting for Spring, finished.



There is art glitter glued onto the fleece that I used for the ice and snow. I also changed a bit of the design by also creating some ice spots on the branches. To me it was unrealistic that the bird house was snow and ice laden while the rest was not touched. I know here in the Adirondacks, when something is encased by the elements, many things are encased too so I made it more reflective of that.
Besides the white fabric changed out for a lustrous fleece batting, I also changed some of the fabrics in this kit I got from Nancy's Notions years ago. The birdhouse and branch colors were all brown and too close in color to be visible. So I did some stash diving to come up with a higher contrast values. The pattern is actually "Waiting for Spring" designed by Lake View Quilts adn I am glad that Vince pulled No6 UFO. Just in time for Winter in these parts.

Next are the beaded earrings I finished last Sunday while playing with friends. The "Read and Bead" group I belong to gathers monthly to bead, eat and share lives. Each month a different person will share their technique for a project when we can. At December's meeting, Michelle taught us how to do a dodecahedra (aka: Chinese Pearl Balls). Usually I am not so thick headed but I had an awful time trying to grasp this concept. Poor Michelle actually did one of my beads since it was too difficult for me. Each step that I would do and she'd check it and it was wrong, so she'd correct it. Ye gads! When you work on this bead you need to use 2 needles of thread at the same time. One of the ladies mentioned it may be better to try 2 different size needles to help keep you straight with which needle should be at whichever orientation per row since with each row the needles would change positions and making notes while beading it. So when I got home later that night, I pulled out all of the necessities and I actually was able to finish another bead. Of curse not correctly, but I could tell where the next spin off design was needed and then would work my threads to that area. Close enough I say!
Anyhoo, I made them into festive drop earrings and they are DONE! And I'll never tell that one bead is correct and the other one is a very near miss. LOL



This next photo is of a counted cross stitch design I finally picked up from the framers. Shhhh! it's a gift for a stitching buddy when we gather for our late Christmas party. I know she doesn't read my blog, so it's safe to show here.



It's a Calico Crossroads pattern designed by Linda Connors called "In Stitches". It's just purrrrfect for my bernina and cat loving friend. I even stitched our initials into the outermost border of it with a tiny heart in between as a token of our friendship. I hope she love sit as much as I loved doing it for her.

The last photo is of the pet bed I finished in a gridded pattern for a community project that our guild does for the local animal shelters. This pillowcase bag has been hanging out under my cutting table for the past year. Any snippets of trims not large enough for my scrap bins, found it's way into the bag. Ingenious way of utilizing the scrappiest of scraps. It was finally full enough that I realized I needed to finish what I had in mind. Grid off the main area to stop the shifting of the stuffing.



When assembling the pet bed, it also was a trip down Memory Lane of past projects and felt great to reminisce about all the "love" sewn into projects this past year. Since we don't have any pets currently, but remembering trying to wash the different animal beds from the past, I found it difficult to keep the stuffing from shifting whilst trying to be neat, clean and sanitized around here. So I tried a "grid" of stitching for this bed to help facilitate against the stuffing from shifting where ever it lands up. The most difficult part was trying to keep the stuffing equal in the parts, Of course I used my zipper foot and chalked pencil lines which I needed to continuously re-draw after rubbing off the previous lines by stuffing it. But now it's done and I'll need to cut and sew another bag from upholstery fabric to hang off my cutting table for another bed next year.

Thanks for stopping by. I appreciate and look forward to all the comments from your visits. I'm off to the sewing room now, enjoy your Sunday.

TTFN,
Jane

What do you think?

Hopefully the binding will be sewn on the #6 UFO project of the bird house quilt tomorrow. But I'm in a quandary, which binding should be used? Initially I had planned on the Brown fabric shown on the left of the above photo. It's the same fabric that I used for the branch hanging down and usually I tend to make sure the binding used is also somewhere on the quilt when I go to finish one. BUT the deeper blue one used on the backing of this looks great with just that little bit of black piping. Which one do you think works best?



Also am thinking of this style of embellishment, Art Glitter to add some life to the icicles. I did try to capture the sparkle, ut it's lost in the photos, trust me though, it has plenty of shine to the naked eye and I think it will be perfect!

While blog hopping I stumbled across a cute idea. PGD#1 and I fixed it this afternoon for her treat after school.



The recipe came from cheeky kitchen and it's called snowman shooters. Of course I adapted it to fit her likes and my dishes. We made a bed of snow out of whipped cream first and then I scooped different sizes of vanilla for the snowman. She decorated the face out of a part of a candy corn and the top parts of 2 hershey kisses. Then she thought about hair and made some out of the cream and used the remnant chocolate piece for a top hat, all her own idea. She had a ball!



Well actually make that 3 balls. She had a lot of fun and she didn't wait too long to scarf it up either!

Jane

Progress on UFO#6

How I spent my day....










Very enjoyably!








#6 is coming along ...

Smilin' here
Jane

Goodbye 2010 ~ Hello 2011

Recently, well actually the day after Christmas, DH & I went to my sister's house in Vt. to deliver a quilt my Mom made for her and reconnect with her and her family. I actually found myself stumbling over words at the dinner table. WOW, how did that happen? Not sure if it was the residual effects of my illness, but I seem to think it's spending too much time with my youngest grandchildren and DH and I'm not getting enough adult stimulation. What to do?
*I rejoined a book club that I had belonged to years ago. I left it because I found it a struggle to attend and to get the reading done in time, besides the difficulty in obtaining the book through our public library system with other members of the book club. After signing up, I mentioned to the organizer that I'd be willing to be the liaison for the book club and library. Making sure we'd have enough copies of whichever books were needed at the scheduled months. (Now why didn't I think of that 3 years ago I'll never know!)
*I also figured I'd call up friends and reconnect with them if their schedules allow(ed). It'll be great to get out of the house more besides being mentally and creatively stimulated, a great way to spend the day too, with friends. So that is what I did on New Year's Eve Day. Trudy is always an inspiration and the conversation flows freely, besides of course our love of the needle we have many similar thoughts and philosophies of life.

Anyhoo, after a pleasant visit with Trudy, I decided to go further afield and visit my friend Carole at her shop Fibre Junction. Uh hum... look what I came home with me.




















Beautiful fabrics right? It jsut so happened that she was having a spectacular sale, thanks Carole! To stay honest with my stash reports for 2010 is another matter. So I need to add in that 36 yards..... the last stash report for 2010 is:

To date's Stash Report is:

Used this week: 0 yards
Used Year To date: 57.25 yds

Added This week: 36 yards
Added Year To Date: 124 yards

YTD is a gain of 66.75 yards





I have given this some serious thought. I do plan on tracking my stash for 2011 and also perhaps to track my craft expenses. Scary thought! But I do need to keep it real. Perhaps I'll use an excel spreadsheet or just a plan notepad that I hope to revamp. Stay tuned, I 'll share whichever way when I decide.

The next couple of photos are what I currently am working on.



















It's the bird house quilt that I numbered 6 and that is the number Judy Laquidera pulled for her UFO challenge. Now mind you, this actually was a pig (project in grocery sack) but it's been in my house for several years and I've been wanting to get it done, but there are usually too many other projects that I am focused on and UFOs to finish that I wouldn't allow myself to start it, so I am so happy Judy's husband picked out #6. Thanks Vince! Here is a little snapshop of my Janina doing the machine applique. (That's my Bernina's name and the one she's had since I adopted her many years ago, a blend from her origins and my name, goofy huh?) Here's a link to website for her UFO for January. Gorgeous isn't it.










Since having this kit in, I am using most of the materials given including the pellon fusible. Can I say I don't like this stuff. It's not fusing like I think it should. It also is allowing little bits of a fringing effect on the edges of the applique which don't happen when I use the Steam A Seam Light that I normally use and now know that I prefer. Now that stuff works great. No hairy edges on your applique and when you fuse it down.... it stays down, not like this pellon stuff. The changes I made with this kit are with the fabrics I'm using. I changed out the kit's brown for the tree branch (1st pictured) and also the white for the snow and ice (which isn't pictured). Why did I put this off for so long? It's really an enjoyable stitch.

Usually near the first of the year I also have tried to recap the previous year's projects. I will be getting to it but not today, check back another day, perhaps I'll find the time later this week.

Stay well and enjoy your endeavors,
Jane