Wednesday WOW – March 28

You all will be glad to hear that I actually know what day it is . . . for today, anyway!  And, being Wednesday, I have some pictures to show you what I’m working on.

You’ve seen some of this project before.  It’s called “Disappearing Nine-Patch” and I now have all the nine-patch blocks done and have started on the “disappearing” part.

I really like these pastel colors.  I think this is going to be a very pretty quilt!  I got a lot done today and I’m hoping that next week I can start assembling rows.  Won’t that be fun?

Splendid Sunday

Today was a really interesting experience, because today I played with . . . METAL!

This is a craft metal, about 40 gauge I think (whatever that means!).  It was fairly easy to mark and cut and even sew, but firm enough to hold shape.  On the piece above, I marked a grid and then stitched in alternate squares using a free-motion pebble-ish stitch.

This one started out as a candy wrapper.  It was already pretty crumpled, so I straightened it with my fingers and rubbed an emery board over the surface.  You can just see a few of the places where the red color was sanded away.  The silver pieces are kitchen foil, stitched with green thread, and glued to the larger piece.  That was an easy one!

I used a stencil to draw these leaves and stitched the vein lines.  The process is getting more involved at this point.

I decided that the stencil worked so well, why not try stamps!  These are three that I chose and they provided varying levels of success.

Unfortunately, it’s hard to get a clear photo of how dimensional these pieces are.  And it took some experimentation to find an ink that wouldn’t rub off easily.

This “report” wouldn’t be complete if I didn’t show the failures – and there were quite a few!  That gold foil was beautiful, but very thin and the stamp rubbing was so fragile that I couldn’t even lift the piece without losing some of the impression.  I used the 40g metal on the  two in the center and the stamps were either too detailed, of not deep enough.  That’s supposed to be a fish there on the left, and the right hand one was the name stamp.  The piece on the bottom is not really too bad, but the stencil was way too fine and intricate for this material.  That one will remain a paint only stencil!

This is from the piece I chose as a background.  I actually made this piece back before I starting posting about the journey through this book. 

And here is the completed page.  I really like the way the black felt behind each piece contrasts with the reds in the background and highlights the metal pieces.  Very pretty!

Overall, this was a successful adventure and I learned a lot about what tools work best.  Now, I’ve got a major mess to clean up!

Does Anybody Know What Day It Is?

Because apparently I don’t!!  All day yesterday I thought it was Monday.  I don’t know why.  This morning as I was sorting laundry it occurred to me that today is Friday!  (laundry = Friday in my house, otherwise I’d still be on Monday!)  Next question was “Did I post on Wednesday?”  Aaargh!

I’m not going to try remembering what I did on Wednesday, but this block was made for a quilt guild project – and guild was on Wednesday.  So there you go.  Wednesday WOW – even if it was just for a few minutes!!

Boy, I really need to get my act together one of these days.  Although if I’m happy in my little fantasy world, why change things!  LOL!

Sunday Shine

It’s a good thing we are nearing the end of this book, because I’m beginning to run out of ‘S’ words!  I’ve got my trusty dictionary handy, though, so never fear.  It might be interesting to see what I find there.

Moving on with this week’s technique.  This one was quite easy.

These are Hot Fix Crystals.  I’m sure there are other names for them, but that is what my package says.  They have been quite popular lately and I seem to see them on a lot of different styles of crafting.  I’ve not been very interested in using them, but after a little play this afternoon, I may take another look at the idea!

The crystals – which are available in a wide range of colors – have a heat-activated glue on the back.  Applying them is as simple as placing the crystal in position and using an iron to set it.  Voila!

I think this was probably the quickest project I’ve done so far!  The flowers were already finished from a previous chapter and I just stenciled in the butterfly and added crystals.   Although, I do wish I’d masked off the area around the stencil!  Well, now I know and that annoying blue line will be my reminder for future projects.  You can learn from my mistake!

You’re welcome.

Wednesday WOW – March 14

I managed to remember today is Wednesday and actually took pictures!  Yay!

Today I was back at the quilt shop and sewing a storm of blocks.  I know, this shot doesn’t show very much of anything.

So how about this one?  There is the top of a pile of 9-patch blocks.  Today I finished that step and started working on the next one.  But you will have to wait a bit to see what that looks like. 

I really like the colors in this quilt and the fabrics all came from my stash!  Well, except one.  I came up short on the blues and had to buy a fat quarter.  That’s the great thing about sewing at the quilt shop!!!!

Sculpting on Monday

I had so much fun today that I just have to share!  In some of the Wednesday WOW posts, there have been hints of heads and hands.  They are still a ways from completion, but I’m so tickled with the direction they are going.  Well, mostly!

These are the first two heads I made while taking an on-line class.  Aren’t they a pair of characters?

I have plans for this guy, but that will come in its own time.  He needs more neck and (although you can’t see) more shape to the back of his head.  Then he will get painted.

The painting is one of the things that have not been going so well.  Fortunately, I “practiced” on the other head first.  I’ve done some research and I think I know what to do.  He doesn’t look as bad as I thought a couple of days ago.  Amazing what a good night’s sleep can do!!

Today, I worked on a third head!  I wanted to experiment with working smaller and try for a different look.  On this guy, I baked the clay between each of the major steps – eyes, nose and cheeks, mouth and chin, etc.  He still needs a forehead and a neck, but I can’t help but smile every time I look at him!  This one is definitely a keeper!

And this guy?  We had something of an ear mishap today!   As I was adding to the top and back of his head, that right ear snapped off!  No problem.  I now know you can add clay and bake it again, so I set about “stitching” it back on.  But, feeling so proud of my solution, I forgot one little thing.  Thin pieces need to be shielded when baked more than once.  All it needed was a little foil tent . . . and I forgot!

So, now I’m thinking I’ll probably use a dark skin-tone for this guy.  Yeah, that ought to do it!  Stay tuned to see how that turns out!

Simple Sunday

The next lesson in the Fabric Embellishing book calls for some supplies that I don’t have yet, so I skipped ahead to the next one.  We’ll come back and pick up the missed technique later.

Today was a very simple technique . . . using brads!  I don’t think I have ever thought of using brads on a fabric project, but it’s super easy and with the wide assortment of brads available, it can really perk up a piece.

Adding brads is a one-two process.  One – poke a hole, Two – insert brad!  Brads can be used alone – like the picture above – or you can use them to attach other items.

Things like ribbon or another piece of fabric.

And things like charms or other embellishments.  I had to poke a hole in those hearts, too, but that’s not hard.

Here is the page I added them to.  You might remember this from the lesson on using Tyvek.  I layered this page with the page from last week and added binding.

So there it is.  I can see I’m going to have to look for more decorative brads the next time I’m shopping for crafts!

What About Wednesday?

As I was getting ready for bed last night, I realized – hey, it’s Wednesday!  For the next 20 minutes anyway.  Hmmm.  If it’s true that the best laid plans can go awry, then my half-a** plans don’t have a chance.  LOL!

So what I planned to do was this: we had some medical appointments to go to, but I would take a photo of my worktable when we got home and have plenty of time to write up a nice little post.  Except.  The appointments took much longer than I originally anticipated.  And since we were driving and walking and waiting all day, we were both exhausted when we finally got home.  Plus, I forgot!  I don’t know why . . . maybe Old Timer’s disease, maybe my natural airhead state, maybe the alignment of the planets are working against me.  Whatever!

After all that blathering – if you are still reading – there is a reward for you after all.

Yay!  It’s a picture of my worktable!  I do have one – and I’ve been using it.  There are some polymer clay heads and a set of hands on it.  I’m still working on them, so no close-ups yet.  That will be another post in the not too distant future.

And maybe next week I can remember when it’s Wednesday!

Sunday Scumble

Today’s technique was a lot of fun.  I got to delve into my beads, sequins, buttons, and all kinds of goodies to work on this piece.

Specifically, this section deals with Sequins, Charms, Buttons, and Found Objects.  As you can see, I went a little crazy with the sequins!

The found objects were old earrings mostly, although some of the sequin-looking things could be considered “found.”  The leaves, butterflies, and tiny hearts were actually confetti that I poked a hole in.  So I’m counting them as both found objects (well, I found them!) and sequins.

Lots of sparkle here!  By the way, the background is two sheets of Color Catchers.  As you can see, one “caught” more color than the other, but that’s what I like about this media.

While I was gathering pieces, I realized I have an awful lot of charms and sequins.  Guess I need to do more of this kind of work!