I Like Thursday # 114

 Welcome to this week's list of likes!   I guess I enjoyed how pretty the 4" of snow was in the back yard on Sunday. (I can't believe I got the series number wrong! It's #115 but can't change it now!)

Luckily we went to a craft show on Saturday. I'll show you a few pictures, and although I interviewed several people about their inspiration, I forgot some of it.. I laughed at this booth of crocheted hats...

the maker said her favorite one was a gray one for an older woman! Her friend dared her to wear it to church so she did!

I liked this booth of barbed wire items...

 Bob's barbed wire. Check out the Christmas tree! The owner's sister was booth sitting, and said he used what he had to make stuff with! 

He also makes these horseshoe flowers! And Angie... a horseshoe Moose you need for your new digs!

This little guy welcomed the crowds in to the show
DH bought a thin wood book mark. There were about 40 varieties, so it took a while to decide and the maker knew each tree's name. I chatted to him about his work... I asked how he chose to work with wood. His wife carves boxes. He told me his great grandfather was a wood worker, his grandfather was a pattern maker, his father worked with wood and made patterns and he works with wood.
A pattern maker carves an item from wood, to be used to form a crevice for metal tools to be built.
He says, wood is available, you don't need too many tools and they last a long time, and well, he's always been around wood.

I bought a thin copper bracelet made by a woman who lives fairly near me. She likes to work with metal in her basement but also weaves beaded jewelry upstairs. Her studio gets very messy in show season but she tidies it up in the winter. I got her card and hope to visit her studio and do a post on her work.

I loved seeing this bird in the snowy berry tree... you have to really hunt for it. It's near the white frame of the garage.

In person, the berries were brilliant red, the bird had beautiful red on it too. The moment was lovely in general... that kind of quiet that happens in snowstorms.

Earlier that week when it was Fall, I noted this yard with spotlights that looked like the yard was looking back at me!

I liked quilting the borders of my web quilt and getting the binding and sleeve on this week

I liked finishing a little flamingo quilt (post HERE) this week

I liked getting a lot of the unboxed stuff out of studio 2 so I can move around. I even found some stencils, not all of them but some. Now the guest room is awful but I need space to organize the supplies back in.

I liked my Sunday Story this week, and would love more people to read them Post here

I liked that the garage door, that has broken twice in a month, possibly got repaired. The repair guy this time said they put the hinges on wrong (for 13 years) causing it to catch on the house. Now it smells like chemicals in there but hope springs eternal that it will eventually stop smelling.

My heart goes out to the people of California, who despite a certain leader's comments, did not cause nor deserve this natural disaster. I LOVE California, it's food, it's movies, it's wine, it's flowers and beauty, especially it's people.

Milo's Moments

 HUH? It's Thursday already? 

 Heh, heh, well I was doing one of my favorite things... helping Mama!

I noticed she had put all the sparkle water in the fridge and the empty box was there waiting for recycling... and... that's where "Party Poodle" comes in! 

Yep, I'm the best there is at making quick work of a piece of cardboard. I managed to spread it evenly across the family room too... so Mama would notice I helped! And give me Poodle Points!

Just between us, I'd do it for nothing!

Oh and I liked playing with little Murphy this week. I spied him down the block and took off running to make sure Mama didn't get confused and want to go home

Please visit these people keeping it pawsitive this week too!

 https://canadianneedlenana.blogspot.com/
 maryinpeoriahandmade.blogspot.com
.http://littlepenguinquilts
  
 http://sonotorganized.com/ 
  .http://homesewnbyus
http://3poodlesandanana.blogspot.com/
https://tentoesinthewater.blogspot.com/ 

http://imworkingonaproject.blogspot.com/
https://grammasquiltingroom.blogspot.com/
craftscaviescontras
https://whataboutrheema.blogspot.com/

http://sandysnowden.blogspot.com/
Minou's Minute 
https://quiltingreadersgarden.blogspot.com/  

linking to these parties!
Thankful Thursdays pet parade

http://goodrandomfun.blogspot.com
http://itsasmalltownlife.blogspot.com/

Hawaiian Flamingos an impressionist quilt

It may be small but it represents a lot. ( 10" X 12.5")
My friend Sonja in Hawaii, is an artist who also teaches painting on fabric, and got the great idea to send me some scraps. Tiny pieces, odd pieces, strings that tied the sweet soap she included

all that in a little bento box with two ti leaves!
I pressed all of it, even the little strings holding the soap, and arranged it to make myself see a landscape.
I have found if I think about a certain thing in nature while making an abstract work, it comes out looking like it, in this case, tropics.

It took some play to best use all the fabric, sew this to that, then the next one to the union, then those three to another... then I saw a little dot of random color on the peach fabric, and cut a flamingo... then another... and...
then it was time to over-quilt it.

I used cotton threads this time, variegated on the sand, added in a little piece of blue left over for a small eddy in the sand, zig zagged some legs on.

see the palm tree quilted in? The pink blob looked like a feather so that's how I quilted it. I put the tiny bit of green scrap left over for a leaf as that area seemed to want some green. Look how tiny the red strip is when pieced in... finishing about 1/4"

I just put the applique's down and stitch over. I do not like fusible, I do like texture in an art piece. I would turn edges in a bed quilt or one to enter in competitions. I love the rough immediacy of these.
Look how the little eye shows up from the splatter. I also like the tan thread I was going to just baste them on with until I saw how painterly they looked with it.

note the french knots in the sand

I like repetition in quilting lines

thank you Sonja for providing a wonderful prompt for me, I needed to lose myself in a project, and to stretch my imagination, to use my thread and machine, to remember how to play.

I painted with fabric that Sonja painted.
Spirals, waves, pebbles, feathers... layers... can't you just smell the ocean?

linking to these parties


myquiltinfatuation Thursday
Esther's blog Wednesdays 
Let's be social Wednesdays 
 Free motion by the River Tuesdays    

the week ahead # 10

Looking at another week... and welcome to it!
don't those two spotlights look like the lawn is looking back at you?

  The weather in Aurora CO

it was like Fall all week,
then it was like Winter on Sunday

 and if weather predictions are true, back to fall-like temps later this week

Breakfast yesterday
much more interesting than today... turkey bacon, lettuce and tomato sandwiches while watching the snow come down

On the to do list
How come the to do list never gets shorter? Or more fun?
The usual maintenance items but I finally mopped the wood floors and cleaned the FR carpet. That is the good news. The bad news was the reason it got done.
Milo had a playdate, his friend pooped 4 times in our yard, his mom picked it up but also got it on her hands and unknown to us her shoes.
Yep, we realized it after she walked through the family room to wash her hands in the powder room. I never actually saw the evidence but being a germaphobe, we totally scoured the kitchen and FR floors.

We have to get the furnace worked on as it has a nasty burning smell, and I sure hope the repair guy can help with the problem.

 I have PT this week, and I have an art quilt meeting this week. Yea! I am the new member.

I still haven't set up the studio but I've been sewing more anyway. I still have that on my to do list.

I will brag that I finally took off my chipped fingernail polish and repolished them... that was only on my list for 5 days!

Reading
I listened to Rhys Bowen's book on cd while sewing and finished it. I love her Molly Murphy series.
I need to get the art quilt group's book to study from the inter library loan, I have nearly all Jean Wells' art books but not that one of course.

Watching
I've had a great time watching the BBC Victorian Farm show on youtube this week (6 episodes) and learned so much. I gave that link in Thursday's "I Like " post) All you homemakers out there have probably (like me) have  no idea what laundry meant back then. How cooking mean hunting gathering, plucking or gutting, firing up the stove, back breaking efforts to just make a meal.

We are coming to the end of  800 Words, sad. I love it. And we are on season 2 and latest season of
Striking Out. It's so engrossing I hope they make another season. Don't you hate getting way into a plot line and the show is cancelled?

I've been watching Romanov's on Prime... holy cow! It's intense, different each episode, different plots and actors. Very weirdly fun to watch.

making
I finished the quilting on my Web of Fun quilt and need to bind it. With some really annoying shot gold fabric. Ought to be a challenge.
I made a quilt with the great hand painted fabric my friend Sonja sent from Hawaii... I only used fabric bits she sent but love the composition., That should go on the blog tomorrow.

I sculpted Milo's hair yesterday, does that count? He was not amused, and kicked me in the chest at one point trying to get off the table.

Accomplishments last week 

I met my challenge finish deadline with Poodle with a Pearl
I wrote a short story on Sunday
We went to another town for a craft festival over the weekedn
We got Milo bathed and groomed!


He's not this sweet ... he looks like a clean cut black poodle who's mama's back hurts now.

Lessons learned this week
I stood in awe watching the geese flying south this week.

I've seen birds fly south but not thousands of geese at a time, day after day! It was so loud, and so striking a view that Milo and I stopped in our tracks on each walk to look up and watch the move.

They are really brilliant to be able to coordinate the trip, know which direction, decide who will lead, when to stop for meals, when to rest, how high to fly. I watched smaller groups catch up to the big ones of approx. 600 to 1000. When the small group of say 5-10 caught up, they blended in, the vee changed to include them, shifting happened and straight lines became chaotic til order was restored.

They never stopped, they let the stragglers join it, made room for them, included them into the group, moved forward or back in line to adjust but kept moving. They sing as they go, calling out cadences and encouragement to each other.
They have a common goal, and a strong social need to be part of the group.
Safety in numbers

Acceptance and belonging

being able to lead when called upon, being able to follow.
Working together.
 Fitting into the group because life is better when you're not all on your own.

Giving in or taking charge... knowing when to do which.

If you lead, be darn sure you know where you're going and that others trust you to care for the entire group welfare. A good leader keeps the group together.

Geese, people, tomato, to-mah-to

My heart goes out to the state of California and it's citizens. They provide all of the USA with food, drink, entertainment and beauty.  May the fires be put out soon.

Linking to
Wednesday around the World
https://abcwednesday.com/
https://peabea.blogspot.com/
happy homemaker monday

Sunday's stories... on Saturday

This week's writing prompt by Sunday's Whirlagig includes these words to use in our prose...

first, write, name, help, white, page, anything, letters, outside, senteces, written, by

 

She knew this was going to take a while... and observed as he struggled to hold the pencil at first, trying to control it.


Her heart broke with love for this one... so sweet and sincere. They both looked down at the blank, white page together.


She wrote his name on her sheet, with capital letters. Easier to copy. She was careful not to write anything too complicated as it is easier in the beginning to understand and master  block letters. She so wanted to help  but she was new at this teaching business.


She remembered learning to read and write, how it felt like magic to finally unlock the key to the written page.


She grew up sitting on her mum's lap, listening to stories, and following her mum's finger trailing over the words as they were read. She longed to be so powerful!


She remembered singing the letters, sometimes as one long word, elemenohpee! then she remembered the feel of that thick paper tablet, the one with the two solid lines and a dotted line, the way the letters looked growing on the blackboard as her teacher formed them. The aha moment when she realized the sound they represented went together to make the words in her story book! Yea!

Magic.

Now she could teach others to do that. What a gift! A gift to her to see them excited about it! Forming sentences, then paragraphs, and next stories and reports. "Written by.... fill in their name here!" Budding authors and poets. The magic of words!


First they had to control their fingers and pressure on the pencil as they carefully traced over her letters ...




Yep, it wouldn't be a quick process but Mr Johnson would have the same pride at relearning to write after his stroke as he did when he learned the first time. She would be just as proud of him too.

I Like Thursday #114 Quilts, shadows, books and a poodle

look at my old phone... my Barbie phone that's great for a purse!

Welcome to this week's list of Likes... Short list this week folks but I'm here. First of all I've written two posts already this week: Monday Happy Homemaker and Tuesday's Poodle with a Pearl reveal of my challenge piece.
That post is HERE

I liked finding Marshmallows made with tapioca instead of corn starch at Trader Joes! Got several bags for recipes then got home and noticed the soy protein... uh oh... I'm allergic to Corn and Soy.

I liked the sun we had several days, balancing the cooler weather. I took this cool shadow shot showing off the sun

I cannot say I enjoyed the time change, I do not like darkness but we've had some spectacular star shows lately. Adding to the sparkle one evening was 7 visible airplanes flying over at once!

I am enjoying this show on youtube, about Victorian Farm life. Three historians agreed to live as people on that farm might have in 1850, have to renovate the farmhouse and handle crops with horse drawn plows, deal with the new miracle COAL, and all the thousands of things a woman had to do. There are 6 parts so I'm not embedding it, this is the link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sJ_C3Ja4awg

Usually I think of Victorian homes in a city, full of bric a brac and velvet. Farm life was of course quite different. People fought the new-fangled  thresher as it took jobs from workers.

Times change, jobs that were needed in one decade are no longer needed, one has to keep up, not hold on and fight progress, even in 1850.

I love the aqua super narrow rolling cart I ordered at Amazon, to fit between my cabinet and sewing cabinet!

I am liking my new novel,

I like Honey crisp apples

I like packing away the Halloween fabrics and being nearly finished with this year's quilt

I liked being able to, as they said when I was younger, "letting out" Milo's jim-jams. I made this sort of long t-shirt when he was younger, and it fit. Then we put it on one night during a cold snap, and it was too small now!
My baby's growing up!

So I carefully folded it in half matching the leg holes, cut down the back to make a Poodle Cardigan, found a scrap of the fleece and cut a 3.5" strip,

finishing the neck edge with a tiny scrap of the existing neck fabric, hemmed the end, and sewed it into place. 

Voila! It fits perfectly and is ready for a baby to snuggle up on the big bed between his pawrents, all cozy and comfy!

Milo's Moments

Hi Y'all.
I've had a great week of fun with my pals. First of all I noticed three of my buds are named Murphy... then I began to wonder if Murphy means dog?

It's hard when Mama says I've got a playdate with Murphy... which one?? Well, two of them this week! Little Murphy the Welsh Terrier and Big Murphy the golden doodle.

I also ran into my new girlfriend Onyx one night. She was out walking her mama, and I saw her across the street and stopped! I was not going to move til we had a chance to run together so we both had to convince our pawrents to let us. They know we'll stay right there in the grass, but we ran and ran and that girl can run like me! Whee! I sometimes had the ball, sometimes she had the ball, but it didn't matter who had the ball as long as it wasn't her Mama!

I like the new kibble Mama has been giving me with Salmon in it. I'm also taking fish oil capsules.

I like snuggling on Mama's blanket when it's cold at night

Mama tries to get it from me, saying she's cold too, but I want it so I close my eyes tight, and pretend to sleep... I can't hear you I'm asleep!

Gotta rest up for any playdates !
While I pull the wool over Mama's eyes, you just take your time and visit these people keeping it pawsitive this week with a list of their likes!

 https://canadianneedlenana.blogspot.com/
 maryinpeoriahandmade.blogspot.com
.http://littlepenguinquilts
  
 http://sonotorganized.com/ 
  .http://homesewnbyus
http://3poodlesandanana.blogspot.com/
https://tentoesinthewater.blogspot.com/ 

http://imworkingonaproject.blogspot.com/
https://grammasquiltingroom.blogspot.com/
craftscaviescontras
https://whataboutrheema.blogspot.com/

http://sandysnowden.blogspot.com/
Minou's Minute 
https://quiltingreadersgarden.blogspot.com/  




Linking to these great parties!

https://comedy-plus.com/ Awe Mondays
sunday selfie day for pets                                
https://magicalmysticalteacher.wordpress.com/
https://llbinourbackyard.blogspot.com/
http://backroadstraveller.blogspot.com/
Thankful Thursdays pet parade
http://goodrandomfun.blogspot.com
http://itsasmalltownlife.blogspot.com/

"Poodle with a Pearl"

"Poodle with a Pearl"  12" X 12" 
Today I am sharing my challenge piece for Art with Fabric Blog hop hosted by Alida at
 ( Art with Fabric Hop )

My quilt was inspired by Vermeer and his painting Girl with a Pearl earring. I saw an exhibit at the National Gallery of Art in DC a few years back. I've done almost 20 STAT quilts (see more here) over the past years, all interpreting a famous painter but in fabric with emphasis on texture.

I start by researching what made that Artist's work so outstanding. I try to learn from each piece I do.

Most of my STAT quilts have a poodle on them, as my muse for this project. This time I studied Vermeer and his capture of light and shadow. I used a photo of my poodle Milo so like the painting to me. Painting his portrait would have been easier! It's so much easier to mix color with paint than fabric.

I built the applique out of tiny shards of fabrics from the scrap bin in blues and blacks. I built it onto shirt tailor stabilizer because it's lightweight yet stable to do the embroidery on before auditioning backgrounds.

To be like Vermeer's painting,
1. I stayed in his color family of black, blue, shade of brown/tan with a strong blue (hat for him, ear in same kind of shape for me)
2. He used layers on layers of transparent paint to achieve shading, and I used layers and layers of different shades of fabric colors
3. I kept to the strong lines in content
4. I had a strong light source

I started on it Friday afternoon, and finished it Sunday afternoon... lots of adding of color and layers of stitching, layers of threads in metallic blue and silver, and black cotton. I added in a tiny bit of white pencil to form contrast of my black fabrics.

I liked how the fussy cut stars looked as eye highlights and hair highlights. I loved the way the blue ear color reflected her hat, and I pulled in bits of blue around him to repeat the color. I liked the challenge of doing it.

I did not like how it photographed, and how there could have been better contrast between shades of black if I'd had access to my whole stash. I tried to capture Milo's sincere little face but am not totally happy with my effort... still.... I love it. I learned, I sewed, I got lost in the process and it was fun.

I had some trouble finding my beads, but the largest pearl is real called a potato pearl for it's shape. The ones on his collar are a mix of real and faux. I made a dangle of the pearl on wire, twisting the top and bottom wire into what I hope is an artistic shape. I left fabric to ravel, and layered it without fusible so that edges would lift up creating more texture.

I loved this batik to represent the window (sliding back door) with it's view of nature and light. I quilted it in straight lines, unevenly placed to remind me of reflection on glass, using silver mylar thread for serious bling you probably can't see.

The floor was a brown hand dye from the scrap bin, so I had to make do with the size scrap and piece it together to have enough for the angular piece

I stitched increasingly farther apart straight lines to indicate a wood floor

In general, I do not draw out a pattern, I sketch rough lines on the stabilizer, and free hand cut shards of fabrics to fill in. I like to work in an additive way. Place fabric, stand back and cut another sliver, add that stitch, step back, repeat.

It all blends well when you see it in person, and my husband said the photos make the blue stand out more than in person... so come on over to see it! Or invite me to your guild for a presentation sometime!

linking to
 design wall Mondays at smallquiltsanddollquilts
lovelaughquilt.mondays  
http://emsscrapbag.                            
oh Scrap Sundays 
sewcanshe Saturdays
off the wall Fridays
can I get a whoop whoop Fridays  
myquiltinfatuation Thursdays
Esther's blog Wednesdays 
  Midweek makers wednesdays
http://tweloquilting.blogspot.com/
sew stitch snap share
 Free motion by the River Tuesdays