Saturday, February 1, 2025

Creativity this week.... pinwheel joy, hand knitted socks, paintings and Valentine quilts

 

This week, the prompt for Stay at Home Round Robin is " pinwheels"  

I love color, and also love feedsack reproduction fabrics. Of course I have a collection of them, and have used them in many quilts over the years. I even have a big baggie of little scraps of them I pulled from to make these pinwheel blocks

I had enough scraps to make all my blocks only pulling one half yard out of orange to round out my colors! I had such fun mixing and matching the prints.

Bubbles on red, hexie's on yellow

I inserted a bit of black and white on two sides for definition (all the way around was too predictable

Bunnies on black, posies and beach scene on pinks

scotties on B&W, lillie of valley on lavender, posies on orange

I found these itty bitty YoYo (s) in the scrap bag... they MUST go on the finished quilt don't you agree? 
I didn't feel like the brain drain of drafting the perfect size blocks, and sure enough at the end, I fell short on the sides so I added in a little strip of green. 
shrug
Make do or do without as Granny would have said
I like the effect a lot even though it is totally a lot! But it's all so happy right? 


continuing  the Mary Englebreit theme, my pincushion on the cutting table is by her. 

A little story about my delight in feedsack style fabrics. I was in a large traditional guild when I lived in Annapolis Maryland. I made a predominately yellow but with a lot of the colors quilt and several people angrily said, "those are not like you! You use bright saturated colors!!" 
not being one dimensional, I said, it's SO like me to like the silly little fanciful prints and soft colors! 
My sister shared with me after seeing the lovely finished quilt, how much she hated feedsack retro fabrics. (er, okay) 
that quilt is one of my all time favorites, competed in many national contests and won ribbons. 
It's SO me... maybe I'll find it and share a pic here soon. 

I started the fun embroidery project my husband got for me

it has directions for unusual work I've not done much of, and I've already done many of the stems in green after this pic...

One sock is complete and the cuff is still to come on the other, it's fun to keep the project in my new knitting basket finished last week. 

One small painting done this week, the colors are kind of dull to me, but the gold ink heart saves it

this watercolor plus ink doodles heart is older but I just love it. it lives in a photo holder from a big box store 
one of my 30 Valentine quilts, one from each year of our marriage, this one from the year we moved to Colorado. The tree is hand embroidered in chain stitch, the flowers are paper, the word trust is from the scrapbooking section of Michaels. Around the self binding is a red beaded trim hand-stitched on. 

I've been showing some of them on the I Like posts, Thursdays. I used to do a trunk show of all quilts but haven't been able to run workshops or do speaking engagements. 
that's it for this week except for RSC color of the month blue
some feedsack scraps



Posted by at 15 comments:

Thursday, January 30, 2025

I Like Thursday # 437 books, art, and a Danish

 

welcome ! 
Time for another list of likes for the week, starting with one of my Valentine quilts...The gold and white bit is textured paper, sewn with gold thread, the is a bracelet under it, hand beaded. 

I did a post Saturday with my finished basket for Project Quilting challenge, here it is holding one finished sock, and the second one ready to have the heel turned tonight

I love making stuff... don't you? It's never tedious to me, and it's soothing to my spirit. 
Paiinting
I tried an easy tutorial this week, 


I don't love the colors but after it was done, I got out my gold ink with eyedropper, and scratched on a gold heart. I wrote in a word for one of you in the top right corner ... Shewhoseeks

happy surprise

 I am happy that DH's haircut, came out perfectly this time... I'm okay at the job but not consistent! 

DH says neither is the hairdresser he pays, so.... and his hair grows fast. I learned from watching lots of videos on how to cut men's hair. 

Books of some form

I am enjoying both my audio book, a woman mourns the loss of her husband and holds a woman's weekend with good friends from stages of her life...and it's really good


and my E Book continuing my Fortune in Louisiana series. I LOVE to find a series to tuck into


fine Dining
Cherry Cheese Danish

my pic isn't good but the pastry is REALLY good. We use a puff pastry that is smaller than others but doesn't have chemicals or soy in it. Basically sweetened cream cheese, almond extract, Cherry preserves, bake. 

yum! a cherry danish with puff pastry sheet recipe: 

https://thatlemonadelife.com/easy-cherry-cream-cheese-puff-pastry-braid/

Prompt do you like ice skating, either watching others or yourself? Tell us about learning to skate, if you go now, indoor or outdoor. 

Our family used to go to NC regularly when I was growing up. There was an indoor rink there where I tried to learn as a pre teen. When I lived in Canada I skated outdoors, but it was so bumpy for my skill level. I took a beginner class where we were indoor. The problem was there was a mens hockey practice that went on after our lesson and they looked like wild animals skating around us at high speed if we didn't manage to get to safety before they were released! 

 


As a couple my dh and I went to Lake Placid every year where I spent part of every afternoon watching Olympic hopefuls taking lessons in the Olympic rinks. I loved it, and wrote stories about it while I sat there. Nowadays I watch competitions on TV. 

I don't know why but I've been crying missing my beautiful boy. Was it the allergy pills we gave him? he was just 5, and so many dogs die early here. But the loss is real. 



Posted by at 15 comments:
Labels:

Saturday, January 25, 2025

Creativity this week... two challenges met and knitting socks

 

Project Quilting prompt for this week was "ombre" which is a shift from one color to the another. 

I am knitting socks with an ombre affect at the moment. Purple to turquoise

two of my favorite colors! I like to put my own spin on a prompt so I thought I'd graduate from purple to turquoise with fabric PRINTS instead of solids. I wanted to make something I could use too, so an older pattern for a "keeper" fit the need

Now I have a non Christmas colored keeper to hold sock projects in the family room


I arranged prints from turquoise to purple strips and sewed them together. cut out the pattern in the strip set and in the lining fabric, sew it together and turn right sides out
The biggest pale purple fell on bottom of the bag but it's the final purple in the gradation.
 Top stitch the upper edge and it's done! 
I got the pattern from a workshop so there is not one to link to here, so sorry. 
embroidery stuff, and knitting stuff ready to use while watching tv
I'm aware that the colors shift differently from solids but I'm glad I explored the effect with prints

Next up is the Stay at home round robin prompt to use a King's crown block
I wasn't aware of that one so I googled it. SO many ways to interpret the angles and lines. I considered my quilt center.... I thought the one on the right looked like crowns. I drafted out a little pattern of just the section that looks crown-like
Mary Englebreit has an image that says "Queen of Everything" and 
princess of quite a lot  

Originally I planned to do 4 crowns one for center of each side but this one above isn't good, and I kind of like the quilt with just one on the bottom. Maybe I print out Queen LeeAnna of the house and use just one this round. 

Rainbow Scrap Challenge color of the month is PINK

I thought this little embroidery was done with the pinks but this week I made light and dark pink improvisational flying geese and like it here. 

By leaving things on the design wall, I often make changes over time, and this little embroidery is growing now because pinks ended up being a terrific color for the piece. 

Posted by at 18 comments:
Labels: , ,

Thursday, January 23, 2025

I Like Thursday # 436 snow and valentine quilts, memories of childhood

 

welcome to this week's list of likes.... not too many, life isn't so good right now around here, but there are a few things to mention and like. I have been going through my 30 valentine quilts and hanging them up around the house. The one above is a close up of "in my heart of hearts" 

it's interesting to see an older piece hanging next to the TV, so I can just let my eyes linger on it, really seeing it. 

I made oven baked buritos this week... take flour tortillas, fill with a mixture of (can of) chicken, refried beans, chopped jalepenos, cheese, sour cream, tomatoes, roll up brush with EEOO and bake for 30 min or til burbling. The tortillas get crispy and the filling gooey.

TV 

We went back to the Bridgerton series as we missed the last few episodes. I just loved this series in books and the current show is AWESOME. Costumes are gorgeous, settings lush, photography great and acting wonderful. 

We finished Virgin River for the season, sad... but Hallmark has Home, the time travel series on now. Also thanks to PBS for Miss Scarlett and for All Creatures current season. As a young teen I read all James Herriott's books and fell in love. 

Note: I took an improv acting course from a woman from the Dales.... her accent was lovely

Of course I am also watching our current season of The Traitors... I LOVE it  and watch the Housewives of NYC and Beverly Hills... again, it's a fave

I finished another embroidery kit and am doing two online challenges in quilt making, I share those on Saturdays. I love challenges with prompts. PQ this week challenged us to make a quilt in ombre colors and stay at home round robin challenged us to include crown blocks.

I spent time looking at rescue dogs online but am not in a position to adopt (physically) right now. I miss my beautiful boy always
mama loves you



Snow

I grew up in Florida and there's a reason you don't see pics of snow on palm trees. When I was about 3 or so the city brought in a truckload of snow and put the snow downtown at Christmas. It was amazing to one so young but kids were enthralled in general. 

My family had a second home in NC up in the Smokey Mts, in Maggie Valley. Sometimes we went up for winter breaks and I got a chance to need snow boots and a coat. I might have been 11-12 ish so this was fun! I couldn't get enough. I would stand on the back porch of the lodge and break off long icicles from the roof. I also probably foolishly made snowcones with what looked clean snow, and syrup. 

Suddenly the books I read made more sense in an experiential way, and my love of the seasons began. 

My sister and her family moved a lot while I was growing up... She spent time in VA, with a bit of snow, in Maine with a LOT of snow, in Indiana with snow, and Michigan with lots of it. I got to visit on Christmas breaks often enough to experience snow in many forms. I always liked it. 

As a young woman I moved to Canada for a bit, was a nanny, and learned what the word snow means. And cold, as Edmonton dips to minus 40 degrees. My nose froze shut when I breathed in, and our cars had to be plugged into block heaters. The good news was we knew where our cars were from the small melted circles on the hoods. 

I had a boyfriend that was sporty so I tried things like cross county skiing, snow shoeing, outside ice skating. We would walk to town in the cold but they were awesome about plowing. I had a full length down coat bought for me my my sister in Ann Arbor. I put on so many layers I looked like the Michelin man! I knew if I fell I'd be a turtle unable to get up! I was stunned to learn it snowed in May

After I met and married my now husband we  moved within a few months to Maryland. The mid Atlantic states get some cold and snow, but it's in bursts not sustained over a season. One massive snow was something like 2+ feet, and our standard poodle at the time refused to do anything outside that involved privates touching the snow. 

Uh Oh.... we shoveled a corridor along the sidewalk but still he refused. DH shoveled a path to the next door neighbor's and glory! Cole peed near their driveway!

Now we live in Colorado where we thought there would be a lot of cold and snow. Climate change has caused much shorter duration and snow amounts, temps are also warmer. Today we have snow from the last storm because we had cold temps. Our sun at high altitude is intense through, and once it's above freezing the snow often melts to form icebergs that stick to roads. Our part of the state does not seem to think plowing is important.

Cole in happier times
please visit these folks to see what they liked this week

Posted by at 16 comments:
Labels:

Saturday, January 18, 2025

my creative week stitching, knitting, hand embroidery framed with quilting

 

I'm between prompts on SAHRR and PQ, so I sorted and cleaned up the studio (when it's small that's very important to do)  The above image is the hand embroidery I finished a week ago, up on the design wall

the color of the month at the rainbow scrap challenge is pink, (love...! ) 
the pink scrap bin held some tiny triangles which I freely stitched higgeldy piggeldy into the strip on the right
and I sorted through my collection of 2" squares for the rest of the border

for ones in lighter tones of green/pink/blue
for the other three sides. There's a cat in one square! 
so this will be a good start on turning the embroidery into a little art quilt! 
I finished the second kit, the beaded dragonfly, this week and what fun it was! although Bucilla didn't include enough beads... kits often come up short on materials to use
I got this project hooped up ready to play with different color combos and textures of threads
I started another pair of wooly socks for me using the Kroy brand I love. I'm having trouble keeping my toes warm without socks pulling on the toes so I'll just knit the footbed longer. Washing them shrinks them a bit. I LOVE the color mix on these skeins


I'll finish with a quilt I hung up this week for V-day. 
I have made one a year since we married, so have 30 so far and need an idea for this year's quilt. I love the soft pinks on this one, the mix of prints, sheers(the heart) hand dyed leaf  and hand dyed script fabrics. I copied the picaso print and the quote onto fabric through the printer
My sister got married when I was about 7, but before that she had this picaso print hanging on her bedroom wall. It's so romantic. 

linking with
Posted by at 12 comments:
Labels: ,

Thursday, January 16, 2025

I Like Thursday # 435

 

another week of likes, thanks for joining me! 

I like having a lot of quilts to change out during different seasons. The sweater quilt stands for January, which luckily has given us several snows that remain covering our lawns like white blankets. 

I like flax and oatmeal on cold days, with some peanut butter mixed in, and a cup of coffee, 



One of the hundred times a day I think of Milo and miss him.... mama's beautiful boy

Who's gonna lick that peanut butter jar clean?  

I loved this book this week, and the reader had the best accents

It is a YA story I think but with so much for adults. Magical in it's way, the way families are odd and loving and funny all mixed together. I give it 5 stars and two thumbs up. It's not too long and so full of life. 

I'm watching escapist TV
Deal or No deal island, Real housewives of NYC, The Way Home on Hallmark (love me some time travel) The new season of Virgin River on Netflix (so much to love here)

I love Plantain chips but accidentally ordered the salt free version. They need salt

I finished the Project Quilting for this week in 3 days learning more about that spare machine along the way, and happy that DH could read the online service manual and fix the feed dogs for me
I started the second embroidery kit a couple nights ago and it's a good way to not think of pain. 

Posted by at 16 comments:
Labels:
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)