Cat In The Batt

Year of the Dragon

2012-01-27T14:48:00.000-08:00

Grace commented that this rather spooky snowflake/father frost thing Megan and I made, looks like a Dragon for this Year of the Dragon.....I so agree! Thank you Grace!

found on google

Clothes drying rack. It can open up as far as I want, or I can 'shut' it with everything hanging still. [lily wanted to be in the pix too]

Dan made it for me. All the 'store bought' racks go out. I wanted to go up too, to hang dresses, besides other stuff. So now the dresses can hand down the middle, or off to the end where you see the hangers. The sq. thing is a foam block toy to keep Dan from poking his eye out.....

When It Snows...

2012-01-22T11:51:00.000-08:00

Family gathers together.

Rhiley, Lily, and Megan found sticks to poke snow with.

The guys getting cars out.

I just kept clicking the camera to get a pic of all 3 girls outside and Meg took the pic of the one girl who stayed inside....

Daddy wonders what Meg is taking pix of...

This arrangement of toys kept Meg busy for ~~hours~~ quite a long time.

We lucked out and the power stayed on for us, but getting around was not easy. Ben was our driver, getting one to work, home, the store, the moon....hah! We had ice after the snow, and when it warmed enough to fall from the sky in big chunks, the Narrows Bridge was closed for hours!

Transparent Snow

2012-01-16T14:05:00.000-08:00

look, it snowed side ways...

even blurry....it's sideways....

and snowman's are transparent....day 1

...and on day 2....welllllll....i didn't mean to make snow....er...balls....

i prefer my snow to be gender free.

Free Saturday

2012-01-14T12:41:00.001-08:00

So we don't have the girls today. Or tomorrow.

But last weekend, we did. This is what Meg and I did. She cut out the Snowflake....I saw a 'face' in it and added a few bits off the table.

Dan and Ashley both say it's scary.

But it was fun to do!

{the snowflake i made? yawn}

{lily's snowflake? flake-ets. Vacuum suckage}

MoonMilk...

2012-01-11T23:18:00.001-08:00

Good for the soul.

I am still quilting the X's and O's on the Pink, Red and Chocolate quilt. They go pretty fast.

Duck Do, Color and Quilting

2012-01-07T19:51:00.000-08:00

Walked past the table and noticed the Rubber Ducky had been to

Megan's Beauty Parlor for a new do....

...did you know Play Dough comes in black and brown colors now?

Now for some colo......cat, please get out of the way....

...come on Precious...please let me get the shot....

.....Cat Cloud {$#%%^T%*&}....

Anyway, the girls were getting low on useable pens, so I decided to get some new ones.

And then it happened....the 64 box of heavenly crayons is joined by a box of 64 Pip Squeak Markers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! .....and there was no way. No. WAY. I could pass that up.

I noticed we needed some new Sharpies too, the last few years I have only gotten them for College Girl, not myself. The paints are for other ideas I have, they are acrylic, not

fabric paints.

Quilting.

I would like to get this Red, White and Chocolate quilt done for Ashley, especially since she still wants it! The yarn thing....on the safety pin....that's a block marker....I don't use a hoop, which is an ideal way to find your place. So I made up a marker because I spent valuable stitching time trying to figure out where the hell I was.

I use the small washable pens on fabric...for marking them for quilting.

X's and O's.

Took down X-mas, but left a few wintery bits out. This is an igloo I am making from a soda bottle.....if it ever gets finished.

Updated to Picasa 3 the other day and noticed a few additions to the 'edit' choices....

Grrrr

2012-01-04T21:55:00.000-08:00

I have been trying to fix my header...my blog title area....and I keep getting an error message....seems I have exceeded my free photo storage...who? Me. Me use up to much space?? Gah....or Bah...if I could find the right key....

Happy Happy

2011-12-31T12:43:00.000-08:00

Happy Last Day of the Year everyone.

Today is my birthday....has been since the day I was born.....I was due on the Solstice, Dec. 21, but waited until I was an even better tax deduction. Thank you mom.

Before the End Of the Year

2011-12-30T10:14:00.000-08:00

thought I'd better get a couple more pix in...These are from x-mas day.

Ashley dressed her girls in color coordinating outfits, Rhiley and Avery.

{and Gup above}

Santa needed a wagon this year!

But Rhiley was able to pull it.

And the next day was rather peaceful for a while as the girls, Megan, Lily and Stephanie were playing with electronic games. {Lily does 'cupcakes' on the iPod} Megan is holding a Leap Pad daddy got the girls, plus extra games that of course involve spelling, math, etc. Lily, 3, is really getting good at computer-ing, but I noticed she needs to work on pencil/coloring skills. Megan,6, has moved in giant leaps with her reading and writing skills, though her penmanship is falling a bit behind and her teacher wants us to encourage her to write more. But when you watch her, you can see her brain is moving way faster than her fingers...so do we ask her to slow her brain down??? Her coloring skills have vastly improved too, she keeps within the lines {she has plenty of time to explore outside the lines later} and when I commented on it she said, "Yeah, I learned to do that with the dot things...know what I mean Gup?"...I, of course, first pictured the old computer cards we used to have to fill in...then the other tests we took using a no. 2 pencil!

Yes, I know what you mean Megan.

Stephanie is playing with the ninetendo DS that I got for x-mas. I like to have it in my purse for when I have to wait for something, like at the doc's office. My old, way old, one died recently, so Dan got me a new one. I don't have a cell phone to play with like most people...

Seeing Yellow Spots.....

2011-12-24T14:11:00.000-08:00

See that yellow thing below the puppy??? Do you know what that is?

Duct tape is so fun!

I had a small box...

...that I cut a few holes in....

...added a chimney and painted....

For a little gift for a wonderful next door neighbor!

The ~~tree~~ wreath area is looking festive.

I really must do something about that smoke alarm....maybe I can paint it the wall color...???

Steph made some goodies.

Advent ~~ Day 24

2011-12-24T00:30:00.000-08:00

I can't remember where I found these...but I got a kick our of them.

Merry Christmas!!

Comment on Spirit...

2011-12-23T12:45:00.000-08:00

spirit cloth has a beautiful cloth to see.

last couple of days i have been wondering if i am

simple or complicated?

fickle or deep?

i truly enjoy the cloth that comes from learning from jude.

i truly enjoy the cloth i create from my own soul.

i truly enjoy tearing cloth and blending it with other cloth.

i truly enjoy sandwiching 3 layers and quilting them together.

one thing that has never ever changed within me.

color.

how i love to gaze upon colors.

box of crayons. selection of threads.

a jar of markers.

Advent ~~ Day 23

2011-12-23T00:30:00.000-08:00

kiss. kiss. found here.

Been Working On...

2011-12-22T22:13:00.000-08:00

Older projects. The Mosaic Blocks quilt. First I needed to add more lines for quilting along. I can't sew a straight line ....let alone hand quilt one! So I was marking this quilt with Crayola washable pens...

...I love the Pip Squeaks! Have my own set...for me...but I see they make them in a 64 color set....hummm....SANTA!!!!!!

Where was I...??....oh yea...this is the whole quilt to refresh our memories...

I also sat at the sewing machine to work on this pink quilt.

The top is all assembled now and am working on the backing. I am sewing FQ's, and other pieces from the construction of the top, together.

It's been nice to sit at the machine again. And to quilt too.

MoonPath sits waiting for just the right inspiration...Probably until next year...We have the girls all next week, so I will be too tired to think.

Advent ~~ Day 22

2011-12-22T00:30:00.000-08:00

I need some heavy felt! found here

Advent ~~ Day 21

2011-12-21T00:30:00.000-08:00

Elephants. Sure. Why not?

found here

Advent ~~ Day 20

2011-12-20T00:30:00.000-08:00

2 for 1...found here

Decor De Ginger.....

2011-12-19T16:04:00.000-08:00

Doesn't everyone lounge in the bathroom?

This was the weekend to decorate the house's....Megan's was quite the fashion this year.

That's Rhiley back there checking out her mama's A-frame.

When Steph picked up her Kit, she didn't notice the words

"Pre-Built" so she was a little bummed..she really likes the challenge of holding the walls up....

Do I tidy up before this knowing pix will be taken? Sure.

That look Steph was giving Lily...hummmm

Rhiley says, 'take my pitcher' gaaama...then moves! Lily's look behind her...????

Ashley's A-frame...see her garden there on the side?....did you know you can get rice crispy treats in a large flat?? Not just for Food Network stars anymore!

I love her pink door.

Advent ~~ Day 19

2011-12-19T00:30:00.000-08:00

pine cones...love them

found here

Advent ~~ Day 18

2011-12-18T00:30:00.000-08:00

So .... leaves..... they can be christmassy....right??

found here

Advent ~~ Day 17

2011-12-17T00:30:00.000-08:00

more fun trees. found here

Advent ~~ Day 16

2011-12-16T00:30:00.000-08:00

I love the look of Christmas pudding. More attractive than fruit cake. Not sure if it tastes better....I did like the pudding , my sister in law made one once long ago!

found here

Advent ~~ Day 15

2011-12-15T00:30:00.000-08:00

love these trees with the rabbits...they could be any animal you know...like squirrels....or cats...or snowmen, but snowmen aren't animals....

found here 12/06 post

Advent ~~ Day 14

2011-12-14T00:30:00.000-08:00

Happy Anniversary Ashley and Danny!!

and....

elves

found here 12/06 post

Advent ~~ Day 13

2011-12-13T11:48:00.000-08:00

for those with a blue tree!

found here

MoonPath

2011-12-12T12:04:00.000-08:00

I finally figured out a way to blend the 2 blues...just lay down bits and stitch them on..super simple, which is really what I was looking for. But....the yarn you see in the middle pic will be used to add more to this piece...I think...I have a few ripples in the fabric to smooth out. The moon piece is thick, as I had originally made it to sit ON the fabric. {it's pieced crazy fashion in lame, which is thicker than general cotton. Plus I backed it with cotton to keep the lame from frazzling completely!

Advent ~~ Day 12

2011-12-12T11:46:00.000-08:00

Birthday Shout to Danny....Happy

Birthday!!!!

ho ho ho, go get dressed, yo

found here

Working on This

2011-12-11T20:32:00.001-08:00

When I first made this storybook quilt, seen here, we only had one granddaughter. Megan. {there is an M on her in this picture}. I recently decided to include this picture in my holiday cards....but it needed to be updated for sure!

So I did some quick drawings of the other three girls....when you don't have to add faces or hands, it's super easy to draw!

So there are now 4 girls around/on the couch with me reading...at least in this picture. I really need a love seat instead of my chair so the girls can continue to sit with me. With the girls growing faster than any weed on the planet, we now have to sit on my bed to get cozy....but the priceless part....Megan can read parts of the book to US.

Oh...and it wasn't until I was taking the pix that I noticed the 'giving' word above us, for The Giving Tree. I tied it in with the picture too. Here is the shot without the added letters....

P.S. the other storybook quilt I made for my brothers grandsons is here...

Advent ~~ Day 11

2011-12-11T11:44:00.000-08:00

Deer

found here

12/06 post

Advent ~~ Day 10

2011-12-10T11:35:00.000-08:00

For those with the cream tree....

found here

Advent ~~ Day 9

2011-12-09T11:34:00.000-08:00

For those with the red tree...

found here
on the 11/06 post

Advent ~~ Day 8

2011-12-08T11:31:00.000-08:00

This would be fun for the kids to make...at least those who can go near scissors...

found here

Food Coloring....Coloring

2011-12-07T11:43:00.001-08:00

So on Monday, while I was doing KP duty, one thing led to another...

and Lily and I spent some quality time painting paper plates with food colors.

the Neon colors. We used them straight, at first, but then water got involved, and then playing in the sink...Lily is 3 after all.

Advent ~~ Day 7

2011-12-07T11:29:00.000-08:00

For the lover of all things bacon....

found here

Advent ~~ Day 6

2011-12-06T11:26:00.000-08:00

Not exactly felt...but wouldn't this be cool done with felt on a round ornament? Or maybe just put your continent on there.

found here

Advent ~~ Day 5

2011-12-05T11:23:00.000-08:00

The Pinecone. I love them.

found here

Advent ~~ Day 4

2011-12-04T11:15:00.000-08:00

How about letters for each person in the family....or make enough for the kids to spell out words on the tree, or a garland....

found here

Advent ~~ Day 3

2011-12-03T00:30:00.000-08:00

Trees. Yup. Trees.

found here.

Advent ~~ Day 2

2011-12-02T00:30:00.000-08:00

Birds. Need to have birds. Bright birds.

Found here.

I can see Megan wanting to add 5 or more colors to the tail.

MoonCloth and Pathways

2011-12-01T12:40:00.001-08:00

Here is the whole piece of MoonCloth and boat. Moon is actually stitched down, just no pix of it like that. I am pondering how to blend the 2 blues in a bit more...some bits are pinned on above the boat....

My magic cloth, Pathways, is almost complete....I think. I will have to wait until a really bright day to get a good picture of it. This first one is of Dan holding it up, then 'rotated' to publish.

These 2 pix are of this hung over a rod in a window.

Advent~~Day 1

2011-12-01T00:30:00.000-08:00

This year I thought I would find things felt-y.

I thought I would start this year with a candle.

Candles are used in all celebrations, or so I have noticed.

This one is fairly simple to make.

While Re-Organizing....

2011-11-30T10:08:00.001-08:00

I came across this moon I had made a few years ago. I think it's done in a crazy way to either make it more interesting or to use small pieces of lame. Not because I like to do crazy quilt blocks. I don't.

A peek of the cutting mat behind to show you how I just cut into the blue fabric.

This awesome little boat was in with the moon. Perfect. Made by Dorothy during a block swap long ago.....thank you D.!

I ~~tore~~ trimmed the fabric around the boat to mix the fabrics together.

The back side of the moon....

and the boat weave...

And for the holidays....LED lights behind batt makes a starry night....

2 of 4 granddaughters

my youngest...College Girl....

An experiment...softened in water package things, glue added and shaped like a tree.

Still wet after 3 days. Trashed.

Revisiting my Crow Piece

2011-11-26T13:33:00.001-08:00

Story of the Crows

{originally done in early 2010}

This quilt came about recently when I read of a contest on/at Lark Books.They wanted at least 3 of 5 things on the quilt.

1-birds

2-mountains

3-silver things

4-re-purposed things

5-beads

this brought on an ah-ha moment for me.

With the recent interest in this piece, I sat looking at it this morning.

[ok, so it's on the bathroom wall...]

I learned a lot doing this.

The hand stitching. The effects of them show up really well in this shot, ripples in the fabric. I stitched the mountains north/south. If I had stitched them east/west, the ripples would go north/south

and look more mountain-y.

The yarn birds. I really like how they turned out, done with the wool yarn.

The larger birds. I had stitched through paper for the original outlines because I didn't have another way to transfer them, the lines, to the black fabric. Now I can see that adding more stitching would enhance them, whether by hand or machine.

The moon side of the mountains. Really should have used a darker fabric to represent twilight.

Hopefully I will remember all this when I get back to one of the projects I have started, waiting patiently in my footstool. Maybe the tropical one.

T-Day

2011-11-24T12:53:00.001-08:00

The turkey is cooked, but forgot about the parade.

The ham is in the oven, but we aren't watching football.

The fresh cranberries have popped.

The potatoes are being pulverized.

The yams are in the oven, fresh whole buggers.

All 3 of our children are here at the moment.

2 of 4 granddaughters are here now, the other 2 come later.

Ben, son, has to work, but then he plans to go shopping at midnight.

Son in law worked last night, so he sleeps for now.

We are thankful for every damn thing!

For Mo

2011-11-23T21:05:00.001-08:00

Mo asked to see close ups of the crows...so here they are. I used copyright-free pictures from a coloring page site, put the fabric right side up with the printed paper on top, then machine stitched through the paper on the lines. I used yellow or white thread so it would show and then left it on there, so you could see the lines of the feathers, legs, etc.

I did hand applique them on the background. The one above is Dad, this guy below is the middle fella, the young one, and he is supposed to have something fiber-shiny related in his beak....

This is the female....

I added some stitches of white thread between her beak...lips???...and her legs to make them show up better.

Hopefully you can click, enlarge and enlarge again...

For Arlee

2011-11-19T12:17:00.001-08:00

arlee wanted to see the crows close up, so here they are. they were super easy to stitch, even though they are made with yarn. they are only done on the top fabric, before the batt and backing where added. i used a felt piece as a 'pattern', that i stitched over and pulled out towards the end and reused for the next bird.

Bits Of Bits

2011-11-18T12:14:00.001-08:00

I got the T-squares put up in the bathroom, they are great for magnets! I need some heavy duty mags, though, for the wallies. Right now this one is clothes pinned, as are the curtains on the window. I am hoping that stick you see in the corner will become a curtain rod.

That is the crow quilt, with the 'murder' of crows in the tree,

that I made with yarn, arlee.

Steph gave me this itty bitty kitty mags last year...

my blurry bits can hang here too. {very small rotary cutting ruler on a key fob.}

Back when I showed you the dyed linen tablecloth, I meant to point out this...area....

tuning fork? dowsing rod?

Are You a Flixer?

2011-11-14T16:50:00.001-08:00

I am. My granddaughters are flixies.

We watch a lot of Netflix offerings.

I love watching tv shows this way....a whole season at a time!!!!

Rescue Me, Saving Grace, and others.

Now Vampire Diaries, because Steph is hooked too.

I also like everything AMC is coming out with....Breaking Bad, Hell On Wheels, The Walking Dead....

I am the same way with books...gotta find authors with many titles so I can keep the series going!! Game of Thrones, not the tv version yet, just the books. S.M. Stirling books. All of Neil Gaiman's even though he doesn't write in series'. I love reading a book I don't have to rewrite in my head as I go.

Just so you know I do have other interests in my life. Hah.

squirrel antics

the felt tree is stitched down. not sure what else i want to do with this,

so i will leave it for a while.

back of the felt tree

My Magic Diary cloth is finally seeing my hands again. Water for butterflies.

added the thread and it's label in case you want something original too.

these pixs are kinda on the dull side, no sun for days here....

steph was home so we threw some fabrics into a dye pot. the above piece goes perfectly with magic...

this is a linen tablecloth...looks a little better than this in person.

Change of Mood and Direction

2011-11-09T09:54:00.000-08:00

But first for your funny bone...this box was very popular with the girls last weekend...and it held up with all that play. I happened to notice this on the side....I love this! art by Megan.

For the second bit of random...newly dyed towels. They were green and yellow, to 'go' with the old bath colors. So into the washer they went with 1 package of Firey Red, 1 Goldfish Orange, and 1 [other name] Orange, all Dylon dyes. The yellow towels, bottom of pile, could use a little more....well something to darken them a bit. But the green ones....I got rust/paprika/dark terracotta....just what I wanted!!!

And from the green base color too.

Ok, this is where the mood and direction change comes in. I was sitting here yesterday mulling over the FrankenStitch pieces...and decided I didn't really like them. I enjoyed doing the stitching, I just think they look like samplers. Not into samplers.

In came Ben. "You need a new project, Mom."

So this piece came to mind....

The one I tried to do a tree on and didn't like.

The one I was gifted 2 beautiful pieces of silk chiffon for....But while trying to find it in my footstool storage, this piece of brown [wool?] felt looked up at me...and the rest fell into place far faster than words can say....

The bits of extra tree are stitched onto the trunk, but not the background, the yellow/green silk is stitched down, as you can see, and the blue is partly pinned. Not sure yet where this will go after attaching the tree...

I am happy again!

Stitchy Things

2011-11-04T13:44:00.000-07:00

Recently arlee showed us how to square up our cloths in the FrankenStitch class.

I ended up with a few ridges....this one, above, should be interesting to work on the lacy area.

I finished the bridge over this area, but I think it looks more like a ladder.

come on over!

The whole thing so far....

...I twisted the snaky tie thing, tucked it under the tie-dye silk, and created a mole eye under it. The pins kinda show where it's hiding under there. This may not be done, but that snaky tie thing is finally tamed!! It kept getting caught on anything it could...I even ended up stitching it to the back and had to rescue it.

Costumes, Toilets, and Frankenstitch

2011-11-03T22:15:00.000-07:00

My what big teeth you have Lily!

Don't let your babies grow up to be cowgirls...

So, where did you say milk comes from Gup?

See mom, her hair is getting longer...{which got a snort from me/mom/gup}

Where's the cropped version of this? At least the tv had something suitable on it.

Oh...that's Megan with the big teeth this time.

The only pic we have of the girls before trick and treating. Lily was going to be a ghost, changed her mind, wore the giraffe costume again this year, but added some white makeup...she was the neighborhood hit.

Dan spent all day yesterday getting the flooring in...well half of that time was spent going up and down the stairs to the shop where the table saw is.

Then he put in the toilet....which I love!!!!!

So why is there a heater and fans going in the room??? See that little plastic pipe trying to hide behind the toilet?? Dan accidentally bumped it, so of course it shattered because it's plastic!! I am sure we had similar facial expressions as we passed each other,[OH SHIT] him to go turn off the water, me to go try to stem the flow.

The flooring is laminate, and so far I lovvvvvve it.

I did a little Frankenstitching this last weekend.

and did I show you the torn bit? where I tore the fabric to fit the snaky silk thing in, and because it was an area of big blahness.

I came up with the idea to bridge it. This is a 'so far' pic.

I had a day of half full fuckus interruptis.

Had to wash the clean sheets and towels I had used to contain the flood.

Ran the DW half full because plasticware stained with tomato sauce, don't fit nicely together.

Moved the fans and heater around many many times.

My Daughters Bday

2011-11-01T16:50:00.000-07:00

Today is Ashley's birthday.

HB sweetie pie!!

She is usually at the back of the pack, so this year I felt the need to fuss over her more.

Knowing I couldn't hang the HB banner in her house as a surprise, I decided to make her one. So first I tried it with string and duct tape....yes the is duct tape my dear friends.

That worked ok, but....I thought about the felt I used for the big one....so I broke it out, a thread color to contrast and stitched it up in about 3 seconds! Seriously, it didn't take long at all, the letters are linked together with the thread instead of doing one at a time.

I still had my thimble on, so added it for size ref, because I do that a lot....

Close-ups of the letters.

I got a package of trees for holiday decor at Home Depot, so I glued magnets to the bottom of 2 and stuck them on this 5 x 7 piece of alummmmmium we got for an idea for the bathroom....anyway, I also cut out Ashley's name from generic mag's that you get on phone books [remember those?] and such. No pix of that though, sorry, I forgot my camera, Dan had to use his phone. I wanted to use the ABC letters, but we couldn't find them easily. Ashley liked the generic ones, so all is good.

Normally I call the kids first thing, and sing HB to them. I didn't do that this time and Ashley was like, "WTF mom?" We made up for it by taking her cake, a giant balloon and gift cards.

Rhiley loves the balloon.

Happy Birthday my dear first daughter Ashley!!!

We love you!!!

From Paint to Fuss Fuss

2011-10-29T14:37:00.000-07:00

bathroom colors, besides the ceiling, there are 3 wall colors in this pix

FrankenStitch is coming along....newest additions are pictured below this...

this lacy bit done in a beige-y green...

...this 'lace-up' bit, both done in buttonhole stitch, but this lace up one...I think I should have taken the needle below the fabric, instead of above, for the 'next pass', so only the 'bars' would show.

I boro'ed from Magic Diaries and tore a hole in this spot....

...and the 'tie' goes from being confined completely to just being gathered a bit...so far at least...

Speaking of Magic Diaries, here is my magic cloth today. I worked on it yesterday, and it felt good to hold it again, because it's been many days. The cat? She just stepped out of nowhere as soon as this floated to the floor....

the above pic also shows you the outside edge that is getting tamed, finally.

The blue is water that flows in and out of my pathways.....

....and down around leaves...

....and from under the magic feline...

Boo!

Water tends to find it's way through anywhere....

College Girl called last night. The sky is falling! In my room. In the basement!

There was water dripping from the middle of the ceiling. Turns out it was from the flooded kitchen upstairs....the sink had backed up, but the dishwasher didn't care and just kept draining it's water.....which found it's way downstairs through the floor.....I told Steph to keep testing the spot because if it got mushy....[i am guessing it's sheetrock] YUCK!

Only 2 more days until our middle child's birthday. In the years past, as she was the 3rd bday in a month, she got the short end of the energy stick/string/mommy. So this year I am making more of a fuss.....

Fuss! Fuss!

There you go Ashley!

[child #3, Stephanie, managed to be born 3 weeks before #2 on the calendar, and with Dad in the #2 spot for the month, that put Ashley in the back of the class. Child #1, Ben, is a different month completely]

A Little Bit-a S*it and a Little Bit-a That....

2011-10-27T17:44:00.000-07:00

Cute Car with me for size ref

New pots with Page for ref.

Even dog shit grows fur to keep warm...

FrankenStitching some more....

I forgot to take pix of the other stitchery that I am working on, so tomorrow.

Post # 1501~~ Whew That's Large

2011-10-20T20:56:00.000-07:00

On FrankenStitch this week we have some laced buttonhole....that green stuff you see between mole hills. The fabric under it is not needle friendly, AT ALL. Nope. So to get around that, I tried this version of BH.....buttonhole, peoples.

I don't think I did a very good job of it, but...moving along here, I did more buttonhole in this corner, in pinks....

and added some, say it with me, "buttonhole" stitches here, in the brighter green thread.

Now...I like the way it wraps around a wrinkle in the fabric. Yes. I do.

And again, moving right along....we have fungi.

Don't know what kind, but I had never seen this shape before, in person, and because the camera just happened to be in my hand....seriously, it was.

And this? Well how often do you get to wish someone, in this case my husband, a happy...anything, by painting it on the floor?

And how many times have we told the cat NOT to walk in the WET paint!!

In her defense, she only put 2 pads in, but left 3 sets of prints.

{yes that is the toilet in the picture. we are going to put in flooring, finally, which means i could paint on the floor first! and we will paint the walls again, and exchange toilets, and...and...all in our bathroom}

Babe Show Off

2011-10-18T15:31:00.000-07:00

Ashley and Danny took Avery, below, and Rhiley in for pro pix.

I saw this one and started to laugh...she so looks like the baby my brother once was.
{holey cowly...this is post #1500}

Update on FrankenStitch

2011-10-17T10:43:00.000-07:00

Did I mention how much I loved doing these circles?

I wanted to see how things would look if they encountered another circle...

...and how they would look in different stitch lengths and widths between rows...

...and then go back and fill in between rows and pull the threads tighter....

...and then it was time to move onto another stitch.

Buttonhole/blanket stitch. Done with perle cottons, which I happened to have in different oranges....the last one is really a rust color....

And how the whole base looks right now. Prolly should have been the first picture.

This is base #1 with a few new things also....blanket stitch additions...

...and peek-a-boo spots....

...and...and...things around the circle. Silica? Fur? Legs?

Sadness yesterday. My granddaughters other great-grandmother, GG, on their mommy's side, died yesterday. She had been in the hospital for a couple of days with an infection, where she had a heart attack. GG was in her late 80's like my mom, but she never got dementia, so she has been with it for many more years than my mom was.

We have the girls today and maybe all week.

Birthdays and Stitches

2011-10-13T11:50:00.000-07:00

So this is Steph the day after her 21st birthday celebration. Her sister took pix of
Steph praying to the Porcelain Goddess, but I don't have those...*smile*.

So what we have here are the awesome cupcakes Ashley made for Steph, and Rhiley.

And below we have the rapidly growing Avery sporting the Johnson Do, as we call it. {bald babies run on my side of the family} Daddy Danny's family all have hair from conception}

I started yet another base for FrankenStitch...

...for mole hill making....

from one end to the other.

CollegeGirl's Birthday!

2011-10-11T14:29:00.000-07:00

stephanie, rt. in wh.

My baby is 21 years old today. Twenty-One!

Yes I called her and sang HB. As much as they may dislike my singing, they would not give that up for anything!

Forgot to Add This....

2011-10-11T12:51:00.000-07:00

The strange guy Dan discovered was mowing our lawn....wait...I think I recognize that guy...why...that's my son Ben....OMG

Franken-Circle-Love

2011-10-11T12:11:00.000-07:00

Worked on my FrankenStitch project last night....

I am in love with this circular 'mole hill' stitch, named by me, as opposed to the 'boob' stitch, which I am sure we can all agree is overused! 'Boob', that is.

That 3-stitch group above....wasn't quite sure how I wanted to tack down the silk 'tube'....as you can see, I ran with it...'running stitch'....get it? ....

and, above, this is for those who like to see the back side....

and this corner...well...the silk was triangular so I gathered and anchored it into a puffy spade shape.

Another, closer look at the groups of 3.

Love this mole stitch. Love it! The blanket/buttonhole stitch around it is just for affect, not sure which effect yet.

Just a Little FrankenS.

2011-10-08T20:12:00.000-07:00

I was able to indulge my inner stitch today. Even with the grandgirls here, and Ben and Dan and the neighbor kid and the dogs. Dan came in a one point and told me a strange guy was mowing our lawn, did you take a picture, says I. You bettcha, says he.

and as soon as he sends it to me, i will post it!

More Magic Pathways....sorta

2011-10-06T18:05:00.000-07:00

So...the stepping stones I was trying to create must'a been made from logs because they turned to worms....or would that be the other way around?, the worms ate them....

eye see you...

click the pix to enlarge

FrankenStitch Has Begun

2011-10-05T21:38:00.000-07:00

The running stitch, simple, but able to take large leaps in a single area. This pointy area was up to the challenge.

This added bit of silk needed gathering, below, then couching, then french knots to really show off.

The piece on the right is still loose enough to get messed with later. {pic above and below} I basted and tacked down the other pieces of fabric just to get rid of the pins but not to glue them down because they still need to be....

FrankenStitched!!!

close-up of the knots.

Something New and Moth'y

2011-10-05T16:59:00.000-07:00

I happened to glance at one of the pictures on our wall.....yes, I do that now and then....but this time there was a moth on one....it was in the sky....of the Washington Wheat Fields, a picture taken by my dad back in the early 1980's.

I thought it rather ironic that it was resting in the sky....and I really wish the close-ups I tried to take weren't all wibbly wobbly....sheesh.

For the new. Glasses. For moi. I was so sure there wasn't any lens when I first put them on, I could see clearly!! For the first time in 4 {?} years!!!!!

Good gooly...er...golly....who is that old lady? Moth'y for sure!

Granddaughters Are So Right

2011-10-05T12:12:00.000-07:00

yesterday's weather: clouds and rain.
Granddaughter Lily's comment, said many times during the day,
"the sun is still sleeping, Gup"

Family, Pumpkins and Fabric

2011-10-03T14:18:00.000-07:00

ben holding his lily, who is holding her cousin avery

pumpkin carving....look at that hair! so shiny

meg didn't mid the sliminess of the pumpkin innards.

but lily wasn't having any part of it after the first touch..."yuck", said she.

the blurriness is not photoshoped, just me...steph carving out the goop, megan singing into the top

dammit, someone let in a pumpkin slug.

fashionable pants don't always hold up, so we added a knee-hi sock to hold it all together. thanks to jude's invisible stitch, steph was quite pleased! machine stitch would have shown up more.
did learn though, that stitches going across the grain, showed up and those going with the grain, sunk in/blended.

I have signed up for another online class, this time FrankenStitch with Arlee Barr. We will be learning how to create works de artee with simple embroidery stitches, some fabric, and lots of imagination. Here is the base I came up with today...not sure if this is what will be used, but I sure do like the flow of it already!

The pink is flannel, the next layer is silk, the next weird shape is cotton left as I found it in the scraps, and the final piece is a long piece of cotton that I made fit in the boundaries of the silk.

Class hasn't actually begun....but I think I am ready!!

I Made a Ca-to-Vie

2011-09-29T14:48:00.001-07:00

I finally got my Magic Cloth out in the sunshine...well, with the sun coming through, so you can see the hidden parts...the magical parts. I hung it on the clothesline and snapped pix through the window!

flying geese emerging from the fork in the road

one of the first weaves I did was on another fabric, so there are many layers here, not sure I like it that way, but it is that way now.

the really bright area is the reflection on the window back onto the cloth.

the really bright green is from Grace and came along with the Hawaiian flowers, so they are either summer leading to autumn, or fall into summer....depending on how literal you want to be.

many paths....the top one in the middle is the newest...I think it's done now....

a fly came by, i don't know why, perhaps he's sly.

Cat on Duty

2011-09-29T11:46:00.000-07:00

from dans chair

from my chair to the right of dan

first zoom through window

zoom zoom...zzzzzzzzzz

alert

A cats job is never done.

This and That

2011-09-26T20:06:00.000-07:00

Lily had no fear riding on the back of the bike with either me or her daddy in front.

College Girl was home all r!ight.

A leather purse for me!

There were many museums she went to, she is starting a life list. The assignment was to paint what caught your eye, so bugs it was.

Other assignments.....

including a panoramic of Florence.

It seems I was the easiest to find gifts for....including personalized scissors. Steph couldn't convey my personal stylized Capricorn symbol,VJ, to the Italian man who did the etching.

This is the outside cover of the little book shown above. They learned the marbling on paper from a...master? Not sure what his 'title' would be, have to ask Steph.

This is a cloth she brought me, hand dyed. I am looking forward to stitching it to something...or maybe wear it as a scarf like it's intended for.

More Pix From Our Vacation

2011-09-25T11:01:00.000-07:00

Later Edit....So I need to add that some of these pix were repeats...sheesh....

do you see the alien? it overlooks the Painted Hills area of the John
Day National Park

I really love a good stack of rocks....

taken so as not to forget the name....this rock formation is before the painted ones.

Painted Hills

there is even green in this one

like i said, i love a good rock.

When On Vacation...

2011-09-21T15:37:00.000-07:00

found on a blog, click picture to link

click picture to link

so....I ID'ed the bird I saw in Crane Prairie Reservoir, Oregon. A Townsend's Solitaire. I found the first picture here, but I needed to see it in different positions to be sure it was the same. When I saw them, a grouping of 5 or so, they were moving through the trees, doing bird things. Turns out they were all after the chunk of hotdog I tossed away from the table for the meat bees. Once the bravest of the group swooped in for the morsel, the rest of them all flew off after him/her. Another bird I heard, but never saw, was possibly a Raven. It sounded 'larger' than the crows sound here at home. I saw chipmunks, including the fellow who climbed the screen door. Squirrels, small, like the chip's. A deer, female, and her twins. And ducks across the lake. I don't remember seeing animals, other than the dead skunk, anywhere else.

CollegeGirl

2011-09-19T14:36:00.000-07:00

is coming home today from her adventures in Europe...well, mostly Italy. She should be boarding her plane in Philly [had to change flights from EU] right now and flying backwards...well....time wise she will be coming back in time....

CollegeGirl on a Canal

2011-09-15T17:38:00.000-07:00

So College Girl sends an email that just exudes energy! The Biennale. I can see that museums will be like a birders life list* for this child of ours....wait til I show her this exhibit at a local spot...a jy-nor-mas** Rubik's Cube!

Mom! Venice is beautiful! Love the canals and boats and gondolas and water and everything here! We went to the Biennale today and I spent over six hours there and that was only one half of it! Next half tomorrow and then Murano (glass making island) sometime this weekend. Look up the Biennale, it's huge. Pronounced bee- en-all-ay.

*i have a bird to look up for my list, so glad i thought of it. one i saw in oregon.

**trying a new spelling.....

College Girl Still in Europe

2011-09-13T16:21:00.000-07:00

Got this message a few days ago, so she leaves in a few hours for the city of canal's...wonder what it's real nic name is?? Or is Europe above that?? They are a bit older than we are...

The beach is good! Pisa today and we leave for venice on Wednesday!

Have Trailer Will Travel...

2011-09-12T17:46:00.000-07:00

We went on vacation.

My backseat companion, Lily.

My feet up on an improvised foot stool.

Sewing in my lap.

Son driving.

Pin cushion behind husbands head.

The Sisters mountain's in Oregon.

Our first campsite at Crane Prairie Resort.

Totally modern camping. No more plugging the hair dryer into a tree.

Lily wasn't too sure about the fire.

Husband getting his relax on.

Wake Butte.

Back to Crane Prairie...this is the lake.

Off to the next item on the half assed travel plans.

The Painted Hills. Fantastic!

The next campground was awesome! Called Clyde Holliday State Park. Every site had bushes and trees and grass. But no real water to play in, the John Day river was a bit shallow. And it was hot hot hot.

Looks like a double exposure with the camera reflected in the window.

Since it was so hot in the eastern half of the state, and we weren't having good luck with campgrounds, other than the first one and the looks of the second, we decided to head back out to the coast. Since it was supposed to be a nice weekend out there, the Oregon beach campgrounds were full. So we went back to WA and ended up in Westport.

So here is what we found there....

look closer at this cop....

He was a fake! Sitting right outside the city offices. Slick.

Lily wasn't going to get those giant waves get to her...no way.

All in all we learned a few things about our older travelling desires...they aren't the same as they were 10 years ago. Duh! We should have stayed at the first place in the first place. That was where I got to enjoy one day of 6. The truck backseat area is more comfortable than the front, thank goodness, or I would have been bitching, not just sighing. Did I mention it was HOT!!!??

Little Miss Megan...

2011-09-07T11:23:00.000-07:00

Posed for a picture.

To show off the gap where once was a tooth.

Miss Megan starts First Grade today!

[provided i post this correctly]

Have a wonderful day, my darling. I look forward to you telling me all about it!!

Sewing...Yipeeeeee

2011-09-04T11:32:00.000-07:00

So I finally picked up a needle the other day....tore some fabric up and added another element to my Magic [Diaries] Cloth.

This one is 'where seams meet and paths cross'.

the view from the front

Above is how it looks with the sun shining through and below is how the top really looks.

The sheer fabric on top hides it....I am sewing this from the back, for now, to follow seams and cross paths.

the back area

Road Trip this week. Eastern Oregon. Taking this with me.

Another Museum

2011-09-02T12:58:00.000-07:00

So, CollegeGirl is in week 2, of 5?, and her latest missive is....
Went to the Galileo museum today instead of the beach. Pooey. But it was still really cool haha

CollegeGirl likes the beach. Hope she gets to go another time soon. She might be a bit museum-ed out by the time she gets home. But, isn't that what an 'art abroad' class would include????

As for PathWoman, that would be me, given to me by Grace, I actually got to sew a bit last night!!!!!! On the Magic Cloth that has many paths. No pic at the moment, not really anything to see.

First Road Trip in 5 or 6 Years

2011-08-31T12:42:00.000-07:00

The Narrows Bridge, the beginning of the trip.

A rest stop on the way.

A gas and fruit stop in Thorp Washington, on the way also.

A fantastic view of Mt. Rainier, on the way back.

That's it? Yup. Not a single campground picture. As soon as we got there, the guys, hub. Dan and son Ben, noticed a tire going flat on the truck, so the trailer was unhitched and the girls and I were left in camp while they, the guys, went back to town. The town of Vantage WA. Not a large town by any means!!!!!! [But the burgers from the RESTAURANT restaurant were very very good!] Luckily the sprinkler was jetting water around and around or I would have melted and blown away. It was hot and windy and got windier!

If not for a really really Nice Guy who happened to pull into the only gas station, my guys were up a creek with no tire changing materials. [not as much planning went in this trip as was necessary] The Nice Guy had all the tools they needed, including bolt cutters to get the spare off the belly of the truck.

The guys and the girls did get to go swimming in the Columbia River later in the afternoon. I stayed at camp and tried to relax. Sewing was not even an option.

Honey, I'ts Home.

2011-08-25T15:43:00.000-07:00

the sky was so colorful last night...this picture does nothing for it.

Recently we decided we would get back into the travel mode. After much chit chat, we decided to go with a pull trailer, so of course we had to get a truck...I call her the Beast. I need an extension ladder just to get in.

Honey I'm Home with the home.

You know....it didn't look that big on the lot....among all the other trailers....

We plan on going to the beach soon....I mean, the coast. Around the Puget Sound here, there are beaches everywhere....Every. Where. But the coast is still the coast. The weather man says our weather here on the west coast will be nice while Hurricane Irene drenches the east coast. So, even though we are thousands of miles apart, Mother Weather brings us closer together.

Art Assignment 1 from CollegeGirl

2011-08-24T10:51:00.000-07:00

Assignment 1: watercolor experimenting. Cinque Terre tomorrow and watercoloring on the beach. Fun fact: UW girl got drunk and fell off a cliff there a couple weeks ago.

unfortunately it's a crummy picture here, but, say la vee. i hope she brings this home! as for MY UW girl, i suggested she keep her drinking and cliffs far from each other!!

this is a google image i found of cinque terre

More Stitching on Magic

2011-08-22T15:06:00.000-07:00

This weave looked rather like a windmill so I had added a sun-mill top to it.

Every garden needs one, right?

I used long strips of the red to weave, so I just wove it back and forth.

the fork in the road....

can be a crooked one....

College Girl in Florence, Italy

2011-08-22T14:45:00.000-07:00

Girl of few words.
Got into Firenze today! Amazing and HOT. Gonna be an awesome trip :)

She's There and Safe!

2011-08-20T16:02:00.000-07:00

CollegeGirl send a quick note.....

Here safe and it's amazing! Kinda hectic and stressful, but the Eiffel tower sure made up for it :D louvre today and whatever else we can find!

She is 9 hours ahead of us, so I am not really sure what day it is for her...

Sometimes a Mountain Just Wants to Glow

2011-08-19T12:06:00.000-07:00

Mt. Rainier

She's Off

2011-08-19T10:57:00.000-07:00

College Girl Steph is off to Europe. First stop is Philadelphia Intl Apt....Wah? That isn't Europe. Ok. SECond stop is Paris Charles De Gaulle Apt. In France!!! All that was yesterday/this am. By now she should be visiting the Louvre with her travel buddy.

Now for me. I have been sewing...between granddaughter demands.

With the thought of garden paths, came the thought of 'forks in the road'....wonder what I will quilt in that gap?? Will I forget? Maybe. For the moment there are flying geese in the path....course, if they are in the path they must not be flying....

And this....well this thing of safety pins is another path idea...

I was trying to hold this up to let the light through AND hold the camera. So you could see the geese under the path of sheer.

Oh there's those geese....their bottom side at least....

another attempt from the front...

Paris....France!

2011-08-12T13:43:00.000-07:00

College Girl Steph got these from the Brown Truck Guy.....2 of them....for herself and her Travel Buddy. Why? Because she is going to Europe!!!!!! She leaves next week, flying to Paris first, so of course, when in Paris, "Do The Lou"vre. Tacky. I know. But way WOOOWHOOOO

After a couple of days in Paris, where they will see the Tower of Eiffel, of course, if not go up into it, they will then travel by Euro Pass to Italy!!!!!!!

Florence is the final destination.

They are taking a 'study abroad' class, art no less. Steph's major is art history.

A Funny Thought

2011-08-09T11:51:00.000-07:00

Daughter Ashley has frogs in the grass of their new home.Teeny tiny frogs. Something about a wetland close by. Anyway. Rhiley in her 2 year old fearless way, was holding a frog in each hand, and Ashley thought, "what if she bites one?" She didn't...

Update...it seems Rhiley DID put a frog in her mouth. She just told me she gave the "frog a kiss" and then made smoochy mouch...

Distractions

2011-08-07T16:00:00.000-07:00

I don't think I even looked at a needle all week, let alone held one in my hand!

Why? Because of granddaughters. Their pix are below, me first.

So as I looked at that glaring white spot in this D shaped 'window', I pulled out the rest of the scrap of shirt from Grace...there in a seam was this 2.5 inch long snippet in the facing area, so there were really 4 snippets...so I snipped them off the shirt and stitched 'em down. Kinda looks like they are tentacles reaching out for the butterfly...how ever you look at it, the problem spot is no longer a glaring white spot.

This is half of the whole of this cloth, with the butterfly showing where it sits in the right half...the sun shining on this shows off the stitching rather nicely...thank you Sun.

Must not forget the other half of the whole. The "distorted" weave is all stitched down. Mo Crow commented that it looked like a path going through the garden...I hadn't even seen it that way at all...duh! It sure does! Thank You Mo.

and the big D from the other direction.

3 of the 4 distractions of this last week.

I just kept clicking the camera til the battery gave out [they were ready to be replaced anyway]

Rhiley, 2, and her 2 month old sister Avery, and their 3 year old cousin, Lily.

My Gulls.

MD Distortion Ideas

2011-07-28T14:05:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I pulled out quite a few fabrics from my stash to add to my magic {diaries} cloth. I had left this one to stitch down today, and as you can see I hadn't pinned it very well to the whole cloth.

So when I swung it open {had folded it last night} and lay it down in front of me, I suddenly saw IT. Distortion. Jude has been talking about it this week in the class, but I have felt rather stumped by it. Until now. I couldn't see the forest for the trees. I couldn't see the 'distortion' because almost all of my pieces are already 'distorted', cockeyed, crooked, whatever.

So bending the weave to fit this area between the print on the top fabric was exactly what I needed to do with this simple 'weave.'

Below is a prime example...I had made and stitched this one yesterday. There isn't a straight line anywhere! {click to enlarge} This fabric had been chewed by a dog, but I had saved this scrap anyway because I really like it. So I just included the hole.

Now this section is disturbing me. The flowers are from Grace, her bright ass orange shirt she had shared a bit of with me. It's the white part of the "D" shape on the right side...I will have to fix that somehow....

Family History

2011-07-26T21:38:00.000-07:00

Turns out my son in law has an interesting ancestor also! Jose Antonio Yorba.

memememe

2011-07-26T19:58:00.000-07:00

this amazing looking place is in China...can you imagine having this for a view?? i can!

So on Sunday, we went to a GD [that's GrandDaughter, not god damned] birthday party. Not either of these 2 GD's, this is Lily, GD#2 and Avery, GD #4. The party was for Rhiley, GD # 3. I took the camera, but no batteries, so this is the only picture I got.

I have done some stitching, but don't have pix. Last week was a 'have the girls' week, so this week I am having a ME week. Laundry? if you insist. Dishes? use your fingers.

MD Cloth By Day

2011-07-19T12:46:00.000-07:00

My magic cloth by day reveals some hidden things. Things you don't see at night.

like butterflies...

flying geese....

'rusty' spots....

In this yellow spot above there is a rusty looking shape of...pliers??? I want it to show up, but only if you are looking for it.

Birthday Week Begins Here

2011-07-19T10:23:00.000-07:00

Birthday's today are Ben's, my oldest, and his youngest, Lily, who was born the same day and almost the exact same time...missed it by 3 minutes!

Ben and his Lily holding niece/cousin Avery

Who is this? This little girl is Charlie. Ashley and Danny really wanted a dog, now that they have a house, 2 kids and a garage....isn't that a song??

My mother in law holding Avery.

The 2 youngest for the time being, Charlie {canine} and Avery {human} and their parents chins....

a little girl and her little pup.

Rhiley has a birthday this week also, she will be 2!

In all the chaos of family gatherings, someone said, "I hear Avery, she's awake." Next thing we know, Grandpa Dan is coming out with Avery. First time he has held her!!!

{Avery was pretty delicate as a newborn, which was a bit scary for Grandpa, so he just waited until she was stronger. She is nearly 2 months old now}

He Did, He Did

2011-07-16T14:23:00.000-07:00

I got a special little package in the mail, from Grace. A bit of a thrifty shirt. I had told her that my Ben would wear that shirt in a hot minute, and he did! *with much laughter*

and of course lily wanted to wear it....

....and Megan....

We all thank you Grace!!!!!

and the 2 extra pieces are so colorful too, thank you for those too!

Don't Dye

2011-07-15T13:55:00.000-07:00

J. asked if I had dyed the yellow piece that I am using in my Magic Cloth....no J. I didn't. I can't seem to get the hang of dyeing fabric, though I have tried. My tool of choice is a needle and other tools just don't fit right.

More more more

2011-07-14T16:21:00.000-07:00

Magic cloth. Weave.

close up

Today I found yet another fabric in my stash and O.My.Golly.Willikers. The whole piece is perfect with this cloth. {2 more pix at the bottom of this post} So I took a large part of it and maneuvered it into place...it will look better when I can get a see-through shot. Wonder if there will be any of the gauze backing left when I am done???? well..besides the parts scattered around on the floor...because of course I cut away more of it today.

I also found these two geese sections....they might get worked in too.

the back

With the Girls Away...Gup Does Play

2011-07-13T11:37:00.000-07:00

I am Gup {grandmother} to Meg and Lily....Lily started it, it stuck.

I had tossed this weave on top of the whole cloth and loved how it looked, so I found a place for it and stitched it down. I couldn't hide the butterfly though, so I cut out a window.....and folded back a corner to show the leaf beneath.

I added the satin stitch to this area because it needed more stability.

I stitched a leaf shape in by hand....

....looks more like a star....but I had to satin stitch around it because the sheer is not a tight weave, so it frayed fast!

there is a spot there where the added weave to the back didn't quite fit the section I cut out of the gauze....I rather like it this way.

And of course, here is the back to that area.

Way Fun. Way.

2011-07-11T12:30:00.000-07:00

Up to now, or last night really, I have done my cloth weaving on a background fabric. I decided to try doing it without the backing to hold it all together. It worked!

So the front......

....looks pretty much the same as the back....

I had not a clue how I would do this until I actually began. I tore the fabric into strips, then lay down a gold piece. Then lay the brown ones in the opposite direction, under and over the gold in a weave. Pinned those, stitched across the gold strip, stitching over all the brown end bits too, of course. Row 2, added another gold strip, over and under the browns.... I should have taken pix of the steps.

Today I am working on Magic Cloth again...I suddenly had ideas coming faster than fast.

We don't have the girls this week, so that's the reason for so much creativity. I have time to spend in that part of my right brain. I get ideas when the girls are here, but they are scattered in with child-stuff.