This is what I've been working on for a couple of weeks. The pattern is called "Prairie Paisley" and it is from Suzanne McNeill's book, Simply Strips & Squares. And now it, too, can go into my pile of finished tops.
However, before I get too full of myself . . .
THIS is the stack of projects yet to be done! I think I will be busy for the next several months, don't you?
Feeling better than a week ago, anyway. Every little bit helps!
Adding borders to this quilt. That means it's almost a finished top! They are starting to pile up. Time to think about the quilting part I guess.
All year long I've been sharing progress on the Thimbleberries BOM. I finished it a couple of weeks ago, and showed you a picture here.
There's this one block that is not in the quilt, though. The heart was a bonus pattern one month. If you make the queen size version, there is another border of blocks which includes the heart motif.
I'm not making the queen size version. Yeah, I know. I wimped out. It's all about preserving sanity, ya know?
Anyway. I decided to add a row of hearts to the back of my quilt. I plan for this quilt to be used as a lap warmer and as such, both sides will be viewed. I have to say that I really like how those hearts came out! And . . . I used up some of those gazillion scraps!
I'm sort of leaning toward quilting this myself. That will take some thinking about.
I received word that the last of my Traveling Pages arrived safely, so I guess I need to catch up on sharing them with you.
In September I made a page for Juliette in the UK whose theme is The Seashore. Unfortunately, the one I made in September did not arrive! So, I set about making another one.
I am not very big on doing anything more than once. You won't find me doing numerous "variations on a theme". I'm more of a "been there, done that" kind of gal. So I had to think pretty hard about doing another seashore page. In the end, though, the page turned out to be the same . . . but different!
This is what the first page looked like . . .
and this is the second page. I used the same layout and mostly the same fabrics. But, I learned from my mistakes and I think the second page turned out better.
I had some slubby yarn that I glued down to create water foam. A few french knots and pearls added even more texture and will ensure it all stays on the beach! Fortunately I have a fairly decent collection of sea-themed buttons/beads and there was plenty to choose from.
In November I did Cobi's page which is Art Nouveau. We were watching a TV show one evening about chrome and one example illustrated was the Chrysler Building in New York City. I knew right then I would have to use that for my page.
I had a piece of thin metal in my stash that was meant to be this building! I searched the internet for pictures of the building and chose a view that seemed to be typical. I padded the white fabric to allow the metal to be embossed and stitched over the top of it. Then shapes were fused and embroidered to represent other city buildings.
The interior of the building is as much a classic as the exterior, so I printed a photo of the Art Deco elevator doors onto fabric for the back of the page.
My last page was for Elizabeth and her theme is Windows. This seemed an appropriate way to end the project as my second choice would have been windows. Elizabeth tells me her second choice would have been doors! Are we on the same page, or what?
Anyway, choosing which style of window to do proved to be the hardest part. I've been taking pictures of windows for several months and sketching ideas.
Finally I decided to use my imagination and create a “fantasy” window. I imagined a forest dwelling that is as much tree as it is cottage. Tree limbs form the window frame and a colorful flowering vine twines up and around.
I started by “painting” an interior fireplace scene onto muslin using Shiva Oil Paintstiks and Micron pen, plus a fusible cat on the hearth. Then I fused fabric with a window cut out over the top. I arranged a few twigs from a wild plum tree in our yard around the window and embroidered the flowers liberally.
Whew! That was the last of the pages I made for others. Now, I must consider how to put my "doors" together into a book and start working on a cover. This has been an fascinating adventure and I've learned so much! Researching and creating pages for the various themes has been so much fun. And the pages I've received from all over the world have been soooo interesting!
Don't worry. I'll show you my finished book.
Well, I had all kinds of fun things planned for this week. But then The Cough got me! Sarge has had it for awhile, so I guess it was inevitable.
So, it has taken four days to put a beaded edge on these shoes! We made shoes during our doll club meeting on Saturday. That's about as far as I got.
So, what am I going to do with them? Beats the heck out of me! Something will turn up eventually. I'll be happy just to be able to breathe!
This year is moving right along, isn't it? We've got quite a bit of snow on the ground, so I stayed home to play today.
Half-square triangles . . .
and sorting out leftovers from the Thimbleberries quilt. There must be something I can do with all this, yes?
The men in my life played Santa this year - and it was a good year!
Sarge is usually tuned in to my feelings and what kind of things make me happy. He gave me this stained glass dragon:
I'm a major fantasy fan and enjoy doodling with dragons of various types.
I've wanted to put a dragon in my blog header for a long time and this guy was just what I needed to get that done. I plan to have lots of fun playing with photos - and watching him "fly" in my studio.
But wait! There's more!
A day or so after Christmas, a large box arrived from Number-One-Son. We already got gift packages. Whatever could that be? I was surprised speechless when I opened the box! And it takes a lot to make me speechless. LOL!
A Singer Model 66 "Red Eye"! Manufactured in 1914 and used until recently to sew quilts. It has pressure feet, needles, and bobbins. And it works! Well, the motor runs. I haven't threaded it to see how it stitches, but I've been told it does a fine job.
I can't get over how beautiful the painting and ornamentation is - and how well it has taken the years.
Even the wheel is decorated!
Thank you, Santa - Sarge - and Number-One-Son. I raised him right. Yes, I did!
Just a few hours late. But it was a busy day!
First of all, I finished the Thimbleberries top. Woohoo! Here is the completed top hanging (crookedly) on the wall at the quilt shop. I need to pick out backing fabric for it.
Then, I started working on a new quilt. This one is from 2-1/2" strips that we exchanged at guild a year ago or so.
I can sure get a lot of stitching done at the quilt shop. The time just flies!
. . . she's a troll! This is Oakra, from a pattern by Ute Vasina
I made Oakra way back when I was just learning to make cloth dolls. I learned a lot of things while making her and I've learned a lot of things since then. But I still think she is a favorite.
Normally, Oakra stands sweetly on a shelf in my studio.
Recently, we had some plumbing issues and Sarge and various workmen were in and out of the basement. Oakra's shelf is right next to the sewer pipes. I believe that might explain what I saw after the work was all finished. . .
Oh my! Doesn't she look like it was a really hard day at the office? My guess is that she got knocked off her shelf (those pipes I mentioned are the fuscia stripe you see in this picture) and a male someone put her back up. It takes some finesse to get her to stand properly - something in short supply about then I'm thinking!
Well, it made me laugh!
