It's All About Timing

Daylight.  P.M. daylight. Date Stamped.  Clock correct.  Camera not.  From my chair.

Somehow my first collection of Fur-Felt  Bits got misplaced.  

So I started over.  This time I am more experienced. I had a Plan.

I put a piece of plain fleece (sweatshirt kind, not batt) behind the gauze-y fabric.

Much better.  Still a WIP.

The center bit with reddish in it is from a throw rug that got caught up in the fur.

From my chair I can see this "design" wall.  This section really does look like a WIP area.

I usually have little bowls around, with the threads and stuff that go with each project. If they go into the ottoman-storage-stool, I add a note to them to keep track of what they go to.

Valori Wells elephant screen print

Currently, there is a grandgirl who likes to explore through those little dishes. She likes to change things up a bit.  I don't mind, I love that she wants to explore fibers. (this is the youngest, the 2 yo who also sews sequins on the Fish, Goldie)

Unfortunately, I don't remember shit these days. I look at the jumble of things she has 'collected' and wonder what goes to what.  So I am resorting to adding the threads to the wall.  Am also thinking it's a good thing to look at and mull over...do I like that thread combo?

Good example....I found a fabric I want to use on the back of these Macaws, instead of the teal it's on now. But I Can't Remember Where IT IS.  Bah.

(i will cut the teal out from under the green batt and place this on the new fabric choice....when i find it.)

Freebird is coming along nicely.  

I have ONLY that much left of the yellow-gold. So I want to finish the outlining before doing more satin stitch on the branches.  This thread is from the Christmas package my mom gave me while I was still in High School.  I hope I never forget that gift, it has been a long time favorite!  I am adding those threads to various projects for my family. 

Including this bird.

Now, for other things....Rhiley, GD #3 was here Sat. with mom and sisters.  She quietly asked me if I would show her how to use the sewing machine. She has asked before,  this time I was able to spend the few moments with her.

We stood at the machine, her in front of me, I set the machine to super slow stitch time, and let her put her foot to the pedal.  She loved it.  She will do more next time she is here.

I noticed the Forsythia is blooming outside the sewing room window.

Happy July 4th

...the holiday at least....i am no longer a fan of the fireworks part...it's noisy, smelly, frightening, dangerous, and environmentally hazardous.

as a kid, we would have a block party and make ice cream, bbq hot dogs and do our own fireworks. and all the clean up.  the fireworks were a little less spectacular, but a lot of fun.

when we moved here, we discovered the gathering of others, and their fireworks, along the water areas here in puget sound. but as i watched these displays, i noticed all the trash being launched into the water.  ]well....over it[  i didn't care for that.

then we got a little dog who HATED the noise of the fireworks.  she trembled in fear with every explosion.  and now my cat has decided she doesn't like it either.

so i will enjoy the gathering of children, adult and grand, and then send them off to watch the fireworks while i stay home with the dog and cat.

i know many many places outlaw them, and that is good, but i also know that the making of the fireworks themselves gives people jobs....so it's a case of 'you can't win for losing'....unless the trashy parts of the fireworks can be made bio-degradable? or eatable to wildlife?

Mojo is Slo jo

My time spent with this piece has kinda been stalled.  But I did find a Vera scarf among mom's things...that's the pile of torn strips on the right...yes, I ripped up a Vera.  

On the left is some purple pearl cotton dyed for me by Dyed Fiber, to go with this piece and she did a yellow/purple skein after seeing this piece, so of course I had to have that one too!

 Closer up, the threads and some buttons I also found in mom's things.

 in the sun, but not done.

Now this is the start of a whole other piece....I don't really want to call them projects....more like cloth's

foot added for size ref, super bright yellow

close up of the natural fabric 

It's A Painting...

Ben's friend said, "That's not a tat on your arm, dude, that's a PAINTING!!....I want one"

Ben worked on his tattoo yesterday, adding more color to the sky and lots more blue water....and check out the ferry!!  He did that free hand...drew it on his arm, then tatted over it....it's not done, but....

Invention Idea

One of the ladies over at Glorious Applique does the freezer paper method for applique, but puts the paper on the top of the fabric pieces.  She wishes she could see the fabric under it, to make sure it plays nicely with the other fabrics.  That got me thinking about clear freezer paper.....then heavy tracing paper with sticky stuff on it....then it a to me that you could do that with the spray stuff [505 isn't it?].  Get heavy tracing paper or even plastic maybe, trace the pieces then spray the back and stick to the fabric.

On the home front, CollegeGirl just found out that she has Mono.  Ugg.

Hows This For a View?

This view is for sale!  Ok, the land is for sale and includes this view.

I have been there, provided this is the place I am thinking of, and this is even better in person!  I wonder if the sale price includes the gold mine under it?? 

Mom, Quick, Figure Out What....

bird this is in the tree outside my dorm room window.

I did my best, and Stephanie is sure this is it, the Western Tanager. I did find a site that seemed to be pretty good for hunting down birds. It's called WhatBird, and you can hunt by color, or body shape, or....or....

this and that

Look how much this hanging plant covers! Ben picked up 2 of them for me.

So after giving Dad [on left] a buzz cut, what do you do? You [son on right] give the dog [furry thing in middle] a buzz too. [a bit less furry]

So when you have a new deck you need a new banner too. A banner for birthdays. The squares will have the letters on them, when I figure out how I want to do them.

the shadow really shows how the banner looks. I used 2 Charm Packs for this. A Kona Cotton, solid colors, and a American Jane Pin dot pack.

These Charm Packs are so fun! I don't have to spend forever trying to cut fabric for a project. {I don't have a table devoted to cutting, so getting the stuff out...blah blah blah....}

I folded the Pin dot prints in half and doubled the sq.s so I can have the words on both sides. I am also making a quilt top/tablecloth from the sq's.

I didn't buy this, but wouldn't this print be a great Stack 'n' Whack print???

hello blog, how are you?

i see you haven't been added to recently. whats up with that?

I Am Urrkk't

irritated. bothered. maddened.

I thought I might need another spool of the Oliver Twist thread I am using for the stitching on the mosaic blocks.

After searching for a decent deal, I figured I would get the spool from eQuilter where I got the first spool.

14.50 $. For 3 spools? Ok. Shipping = 5.95 sheesh.

What came in the mail was 1. One. A single spool.

I wrote them a note suggesting they change the wording. I was nice about it, didn't make waves, didn't ask for anything. So I got a reply thanking me for the suggestion, sorry you were bummed, have a nice day.

Guess I should have bitched, might have gotten something for my 20 bucks.

On a completely different note.......

WM commented that her eyebrows were getting a hint of grey/gray in them, and thought maybe she could use Just For Men on them. But I am concerned she might start growing facial hair....better to use a permanent marker.....

Meet Rosie and Dale

This couple has moved into the wooded area behind the Rosedale Market where my daughter works. Ashley is amazed at how Dale takes such care of Rosie. I am hoping I can show more pictures in the weeks to come.

A sure sign of Spring!

Don't Pinch Me!

Google looks green today.

thanks to a teacher i had in 1st grade, back in the 1960's, i have always made sure my kids had green on somewhere. i even made a pin-on button like the sample above. what did the teacher do? she called me up to her desk, asked if i was wearing any green, which i wasn't, then pulled out her lonnnnnnnnnnnnnnggggggggggggggggg red fingernails and pinched me on the back of my hand. my kids were not going to have that happen to them!!!!

so much for st. patricks day, huh?!

Mom came up with a ditty for that teacher...

"I may not wear green

but you will always be mean."

Give A Girl A Sharpie....

And she colors with it....

This canvas bag came with the super pack of Sharpies I got for Steph to take to College. So she colored it. I thought the blast of color on UglyChairFabric was more like what I wish the chair looked like.

So here is the Batt Tree all outlined. I like it this way! I think I will put it on the design wall and let it roost for awhile instead of painting it.

Did you reach out and touch...

Haiti? I sure am happy to see how generous we can be!

Our daughter works at a little corner grocery store in our area, along with a fellow employee who knows someone working at an orphanage in Haiti, so donations collected at the store are going directly to the orphanage. It's not much, but it will put cash into the hands of those who will know what is needed. {my daughter also knew, and had worked with, another young woman who didn't survive the quake in the orphanage [building] she was working in.}

Needle work? Yes I have been working on the "Crows" piece. I will take a picture later...see, that didn't take long....

Megan was here last night, with daddy and sister, and started playing with the log cabin. She said she was making a design and got very upset when Lily crashed the party. Lily was just doing what little sisters do. I can't believe all the 'people' Megan found around here!

Crows. this is the one I needed to 'negative the positive' space.

Luckily I hadn't quilted the whole thing before adding the 'dirt' for the crows to stand on. I am using yarn, like I did for the crows in the tree and it didn't like going through the layers.

The Mountain. In our case, Rainier.

For the lower part of the mountains, I broke with tradition, and kept my stitching up/down, vs. my normal way of following the lines in the fabric pattern. [did that in the sky part] But....stitching that way makes the fabric go sideways....wonder if stitching sideways would have made the fabric go up/down??? {yes I know words like horizontal and vertical, but my brain doesn't compute them as well, maybe a dyslexic thing, maybe just laziness, but it's my blog so I will cry my way}

Christmas Card College....and another Shout Out

Happy Birthday Danny!!!

{thats the shout out}

I kept holiday related ads from places like Pier 1, Target, LLBean, etc, from last year and this. After cutting them all up, I glued them to this striped bag the girls got from some store at the mall last year. I had a lot of fun making this! Then I cut it all up for cards....but the cards didn't quite turn out as great as this is. But that's ok, they are made with joy! How's that for re-use??

But It's A DRY Cold....

I try not to swear here like I do in person....which isn't often.... *loud snort* .... but baby it's F--ING cold outside!!!!!!!!! I had to laugh last night, the weather lady said, "But it's a DRY cold!"

Which is a good thing, us Washingtonions don't drive well on icy roads!
For something different. A wooden shelf with lights....woooowhooooo right? I like it. Dan and Stephanie made this several years ago and it occurred to me that using it for holiday display might be a grand idea. So I stapled LED lights to the 'back' and now need to dig out the decorations.
The neighbor raided his mom's storage shed for Xmas display things and has a good start on them!
Here they are looking through my own icicle lights. I need to actually go OUTSIDE to take more pix of the lights and night now that ain't gonna happen!
Here is another shelf for display that I finally got put up. Driftwood. The 'hangers' are the door knockers I spray painted recently. I can't use them on the door, the holes don't match up in the steel door, so I got to looking at these things from a different angle. No they are not placed evenly on the wall, not if we wanted the 'shelf' to be level! Dragonfly on the left and trowel on the right. Oh, and a Xmas card in the middle.