Saturday, August 23, 2025

creatively speaking this week, dragonfly blocks a bike and yet another hexie project

 

here we are again, to chat about living the creative life, and share a love for color! 

This week I've been using AQUA (and all it's tones) scraps to make dragonflies!! 

I have them on top of a batik on the design wall but do not know for sure what I want to do with them
I made 3 --12" blocks, and 6  ---- 6" blocks. The pattern is a free one from Moda. 

I believe ironing the batks was what caused all my migraines. Oh I prewash all batiks 3 times in hot water, but... some of them still outgas when pressed. It's one of the reasons I do not teach since so many people brought unwashed batiks to class.... this developed over the years and now limits me a lot. 

anyway....we won't dwell on all the ways I have to cope these days, LOL

Here are some close-ups of the little ones, ( the block is a fast one to make) that finish at 6 inches

I like all these fabrics! 


it was fun to choose pairs of prints




my design wall is so pretty right now
I finished the center of my improv piece and wanted to make a lime green Piping strip but I still only have my Janome Gem and can't move the needle position on it. 
OY
I think I'll finish it somehow next week, and put a flange of lime next to the chosen border ready to go, and stuff the flange after sewing. I plan to enter it in Joy's challenge "hot flash"

not to waste any fabric, I made these wee pinwheel blocks with scraps cut off the dragonflies

I try to notice AQUA in everyday life when on my walks... Loved this vintage bike at a neighbor's house
loved this birdhouse at a neighbor's
I have a placemat in those shades

I also finished a sock this week, and just started a few hexies in turquoise sceaps to make a journal cover or mug rug
and noticed my little bin (from container store) is also aqua!
and the spool of thread I'm using too
so this week held no finishes except one sock of a pair, but it was full of creativity and that's a worthy goal. There is a painting workshop coming up next week, and one on drawing/sketchbook work to do daily.... so.... that should keep me busy... what are you doing this week?

linking with
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Thursday, August 21, 2025

I Like Thursday # 465 Colors, stunning skies, ice cream treats, and more

 

Welcome to this week's list of likes starting with this pretty bird house in the RSC color of the month

AQUA

I make note of anything in that month's color as I go on walks.... 

speaking of birds, we came out for a walk, looked to the left at the street light post and I saw a bird on it

Okay, kind of cool like a finial
then before I could get a second pic I thought it disappeared but saw this on my camera after
Wow, love this take off
saw a t-shirt with this on it this week... yep...


uh oh.... no rain in the forecast but we saw this....

then this

the weather here is so mercurial forecasts are seldom correct. We could get 8 drops or storm with hail the size of golf balls. Temps could drop 60 deg in an afternoon, or go up 20 deg in 15 minutes. 

it got sunny near the end of our walk, making this grass glow with sunshine at 7 pm

Nothing much to note... no dog for us yet, all the possibles were just taken.... 
It's horribly hot, dh is still coughing from throat irritation (likely wildfires burning in Colorado), not much on TV 

But on video....

heart toast  small things mean a lot


I'd like to go here, women's only chateau retreat

Our Prompt this week.... did you grow up going to Dairy Queen and what was your favorite treat to get? Do you still go there? 




I was the latecomer to the family both sisters married off by the time I was (5   and 7  ) so we went to the walk up ice cream place often enough. . I always wanted a butterscotch dipped cone with the swirl on top. 
Biting that butterscotch fragile coating and the melted swirl in it, was a pure pleasure. 

Then as I lived in Tampa Florida, it began to melt immediately and drip and get all over me, the cone becoming a leathery sopping mess in my little hands. 

some times I got a dilly bar, a flat ice cream disc coated in milk chocolate. 
I haven't been since I was an older teen but have fond memories. 
One time (only) I got a banana split.... three swirls of vanilla ice cream with different toppings on top of a split banana in a little flimsy plastic boat. I hated it actually, it all ran together into glop, and I mostly ate the whipped cream and cherry on top. 

Later I found out why I was always sick after... allergy to corn (and corn syrup) 

I have been sewing this week, and knitting... and those weekly creativity posts are on Saturdays
dragonflies in the studio


Wish me luck in finding a slightly older non shedding dog to join our family





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Saturday, August 16, 2025

creatively speaking this week colorful blocks and painting

 

It's got Aqua scraps, and one of my signature flower pins

creatively speaking this week, I overcame 4 migraines and a chiro appt to sew this hat,  some dragonflies in two sizes, my second color block of the month for RSC and onto my ongoing purple and green strip piece. 

AND

painted a watercolor again too. 

(I ran into a fellow poodle lover too, and she's looking for us to have a new love in our lives) 

on with the show

On a daily long walk I look for the color of the month, and this time found these two daisy sculptures in AQUA... making the house look like it was looking at ME  heh heh

little owl sculpture between them

I did the scrap strip block in aqua to teal shades for this month, I mean, 4 blocks 



you choose two strips, sew them together... here are the four of them on my table, ready to cross cut...

resew, then cut again and resew as these blocks

so fast and easy, a bit of matching... the hard part will be when I put all the blocks together into a top!!

my friend Cindy sent the jellyfish fabric to me for my B-day in May and I'm using it! each fabric chosen for this block is fun to see.  one is the Jenny Beyer fabric for a shop hop in Md/.VA one year, one is from a challenge, the others were in scraps 

worked on this one and thought Maybe long stems to the print at the top looks like growing gardens??
the dragonflies will be for next week, I'm loving making them with turquoise scraps

the painting...
was another color study using inktense inks.... wet paper, drop colors, spread with brush sideways to create some horizontal movement
I didn't like it, but then looked closer and saw a face in shadows,,,, yep, lips, neck, cheek.... I rushed to sketch in the face
oy! the light was different downstairs than in the studio, but I sort of saw it.... 
husband's comment? : "I liked it better with the abstract colors, they were just calming" 

well, I gotta go with what I see.... 

I also see a heart in that sun color back there.... 
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Thursday, August 14, 2025

I Like Thursday, vintage cars, pretty lawn ornaments, and creamsicles

 

time to share our lists of likes for the week, I'll start with the harvest so far! 

This is the most vegetables I've ever gotten and there are little green bits still on the plant.... they are small but no less amazing to make it this far. Two plants, in two big pots, watering twice daily through the extreme heat and sun here making these the most expensive tomatoes anywhere!

I see a face on this one, do you? from minerals in our water

Time to show images from my daily walks starting with the delicate color on this tree


ornaments at the community garden caught my eye, made of pots

what a healthy beauty this is! 

nice colors on potato bags, and good hanging support system for vines

a neighbor's display is gorgeous every year
not a lawn ornament but still striking as a land yacht

beautiful grapes growing on a neighbor's fence

met on a walk

On the way back we met a neighbor with two gorgeous dogs and talked about having two at once, and rescues, living here and surviving, and I learned this husky is happy with everyone and barely sheds, the aussie mix however, sheds handfuls daily, and is too smart. Her pawrent said she learned early how to step on the trash can pedal to allow easy access to eating! 

They then got one you have to wave your hand over to open, and next thing they knew, she was hovering over it, and moving sideways to open it for easy dumpster diving. 

we had such fun comparing stories, and learning about local rescues, and he said it's okay to just get one dog as they may not even want another dog bothering them, like their aussie here (who barely tolerates them) 

fine dining

we had one more normal summer temp day, so we baked some bread, hamburger buns, banana muffins, and 3 frozen entrees while the oven was hot

we had to do muffins because the grocery delivery decided to send 3 big bunches of bananas instead of bananas, apples and peaches to us..... in this heat? gotta use them fast


Painted and sewed this week during studio time

this was another color play turned into portrait this time

I was disappointed with the abstract color play til I saw a face in it... more on Saturday's creativity post

Hallmark made a trilogy of movies from Jude Devereaux's books, we've now seen two and I'm listening to the final book on audio this week before #3 is shown coming Saturday, Love her works

On short videos this week

How about this cute dessert??
link here

this melted my heart.... aweeeee
https://youtube.com/shorts/TYXaD2Ja_OM?si=DxpoIp3uEJDNMjVl

and funny, new to me commedian, historical women as millennials


Our conversation starter this week

 I just saw recipes for Fudgecicles would you want a fudgecicle or orange creamcicle? 

want to make these easy creamcicles

 https://www.chocolatemoosey.com/orange-creamsicle-yogurt-pops-small-batch/

How to answer??? This is Sophie's choice! I love both of them so much.... but if I'm pressed to make a decision, like someone is holding one of each and I am not allowed to gobble both down, 
Fudgesicle wins. That milk chocolate cool creaminess is a life pleasure. 

I was on an extreme diet and caught sight of what was called "low calorie" fudgesicles at the store. 
I had one and passed out on the sofa.... they still contained corn syrup that I'm so allergic to so.... it was a parting of the ways. 
Til now, when I found that recipe ..... 

now check out these fine folk to see  what they liked this week
(let me know if you wrote a like post to include in our list)





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Saturday, August 9, 2025

creatively speaking.... watching paint dry and sewing fabrics together by hand (and by machine)

 

This week I spent more time in studio sewing, but also painted again. Above is my finished hexie spiral block in aqua/turquoise/teal 

the color this month at rainbow scrap challenge is Aqua and my scraps hold  blue green colors but not a lot of aqua itself. I picked the best of the bunch and love this block. Here are all the blocks done so far

they will not be laid out like this at the end but they are so pretty!
Blue-green plays well with everybody!!

so you can see some individual fabric choices...

I sewed these components together this week, from the parts dept. I love the way these colors play together, yellow, turquoise, fuchia, purple

looks like a journal cover to me!  

I made some more random squares too, not fussing about the exact sizes but they came together



I arranged them on my design wall, then sewed pairs of two that were the same basic size.
When it was time to sew pairs together I sometimes needed to trim but not often. Then a strip set fell off my table and I put it in this line up
what do you think about this pop of pink to go with the prints that also have pink? I kind of like it in person but it stands out more in this image

I think a border or two and it will look good on the family room console

aqua pen holder
I got this pen holder/mug at our local plant store when we first moved here, and not a day goes by but I smill at the happiness of a little ceramic whale! 

As I walk the neighborhood I look to see the color of the month... and noticed this in the road
It stands out in person!
While I chatted with Joy this week, and it's always so good to share my life with her, I mentioned not painting or drawing.... to me painting is mindful and goal oriented more than scrap sewing. 
I often sew to quiet my mind and to see one color next to another, then make something out of it. 
Joy said, can you do that with your watercolors? 
huh.... so I wet the paper, and dropped in inktense colors 

and this one came next
colors all around Aqua 

then I took out markers to doodle on the top one....just because.... no goal in mind other than enjoying layers of color appearing
ahhhh I do love painting....


The world seems upside down lately. Chaotic, valueless, lonely. 
 
when I  make art, I can watch colors blend whether on paper or in fabric. 
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