Welcome to Saturday's sewing round-up for the week! I finished the painted lady, made with last week's scraps!
Metallic mylar threads, a mix of horizontal and vertical lines, free motion sculpting...
Make it fit, make it work, add a bit, subtract a bit... then when it's all done add beads!
click on images to see close ups. Star sequins in hair,
twisted bugle beads along top an bottom of painted lady. She was painted with oil sticks a long time ago.
Everyone likes a floral necklace!
After she was finished I went right to this month's 12" square challenge quilt, and I'm doing a pink rose series based on one of my paintings.
time to quilt!
more on this piece later, but the applique, the piecing, the quilting is all done! After that was done, (and it came out very pretty!) I turned on a book
took out the little blue scraps, and white strips, and started on this month's color challenge of dark blue at RSC and started the improv log cabins.
they are not even remotely done, many layers left to piece in, but I wanted to have something to show the RSC people this week so I put the unfinished blocks up for a picture.
I painted this week, that was on Friday's post, and sewed a lot. I also almost finished my knitted socks out of bamboo yarn, doing that in the evenings while watching tv.
Thursday's "I LIke" post lists the other things I got up to this week. On Sundays I do the 20 questions post. I know some of you only come in for Milo, and he kept Mama company on my studio time this week.
Milo: I prefer sewing sessions I think, altho we sit outside to paint!
this week I wanted to put color on paper, then turn it into a landscape...a dash of this, a dot of that...
they are all 4" X 6"
and more vibrant in person... it's the process that was fun. Color running into color, metallic gold throughout for shimmer, then details turned it into a landscape
for perspective, I offer my finger
after walking one morning, I wanted to capture the light on the golf course with morning glories in white dotting the landscape. This came out of it
yesterday I was looking at some studies of how things in close proximity take on the same vibrations, and the image caught my eye, so I tried to paint something to capture the word vibration
It grew, and got crazier and I just kept adding more! Back to the dots, paint, ink, tombow markers, posca pen!
Silver gel pen spirals
and I realized it would be easier to do in acrylics... only that's not what I do...
I took it out to the patio, to see it in natural light, and began to see it differently. I began to see mountains, and native American symbols, I added in the white posca dots.
It's wild, and colorful and uncontained! I began to really like it, and think about printing it onto fabric.
For those of you who don't follow me for my fabric art, here is a detail shot of the finished painted lady I worked on this week... she was painted long ago with oil paintsticks on muslin
see the star and flower beads in her hair? bugle beads on the top and bottom?
I'll show the completed work on tomorrow's fabric art post.
So I am still intrigued with vibration. We all vibrate, studies of NDE's tell that the more spiritual (not religious) you are, the higher your vibration level. Purple is the most spiritual color and violet vibrates at the highest frequency. Colors vibrate at the same rate as a musical note scale.
I need to learn more.
Do you have a favorite color? It says something about you... I used to love purple most, then moved to coral, and now seem to love turquoise a lot. I also love dark pink...
Linking to TAD with Rain https://paintpartyfriday.blogspot.com/
welcome to this week's list of likes...it's not that I'm always positive, it's that I spend time each day looking for something to like to balance the rest...here we go!
Reading/listening
1. I finished the middle book in Jude Deveraux's Medlar Series and it was wonderful. I didn't know who "dunnit" til the last sentence, and even then it was questionable. It was on E book and they just come and take them when your time is up, so I had to stay up til the wee hours to finish it. Then I wondered when the next book (A forgotten Murder) would be available.
The "like" part of this? It came in the same day the other one was taken! How often do things work out for me? Not often so this was astounding! I had been reading this latest one when they took it and gave it to one of the many people in line, so I went back and read the book before so the timing worked out well.
Now I just have to remember the story line in this latest one! And hurry up to read it before it's gone.
2. I checked out a couple audio books too, and only have a few days to hear them. I foolishly checked out Giver of Stars before I was finished with Child's Play on actual disc from library BC (before covid) so now I only have 3 days to listen to the whole thing.They don't allow simple renewal... it's a big production to check any thing out electronically now.
3. I've done some fun historical research on the tudors, following lead after lead... fascinated with the shenanigans of his sister Mary this time. This reads like a novel! https://englishhistory.net/
youtube
5. baby elephant videos of course. I watched another BBC British Museum show, and they're wonderful.
I also watched a documentary on Marilyn Monroe that was better than all the others I've seen, and made her very approachable. Also, a documentary on the Little Rascals and what became of the actors in those movies. Yes, I fell right down the rabbit hole of videos.
tv
6. We are watching the latest season of The Crown and I love it. I learn so much and am entertained at the same time. The actors are terrific, I thought I'd mourn the loss of last season's actors but no.
not much on tv but that doesn't stop me from watching... I'm watching real housewives of Beverly Hills and NYC, 90 day fiance franchise, world of dance, some Acorn shows like Time Team and comedies, a few movies on netflix. PBS has quilting arts on tv that I can never find so I tasked the DVR with that job. 800 words is starting Friday night on UPTV
Fine dining
7. dh found a recipe using Thai curry coconut milk. We got two cans, used chicken and lots of fresh vegetables to make a stove top casserole over brown rice. Really good, and aside from all the prep on veg, pretty easy
We tried a couple wines, nothing spectacular... we really miss Goose Watch winery out of NY and can't find it here
dh was able to find sparkle water at Target for delivery, so we have raspberry seltzer again!
Social
8. I zoomed with Joy (thejoyfulquilter) again last week and yesterday. It feels good to visit with a friend, sort of in person. I like our little emails daily to mention something we're doing, it feels very connected.
Today I plan to e-meet with my local artist- friend Rose, and compare notes on our recent work... knitting
9. I found another ball of bamboo yarn in the blues, so I'm making a pair of socks for me this time
sewing
close up of recent work
10. My sewing round up is on Sat but I've enjoyed finishing my painted lady quilt, and making the latest in my pink rose series this week. This one is appliqued as well as pieced work.
painting
11. one day I just had to interpret the field of morning glories I saw on our walk, and did one more abstract that turned into a landscape. I do a painting round up post on Fridays and would love you to visit! I have three for this week! farming
12. The bean stalks continue to grow at a snails pace. The wildflower seeds are sprouted and I hope on their way to making a lush basket.
glamour
13. In one weekend I managed to groom Milo, including the dreaded feet shaving. He fought me on it this time, and hurt my neck and back... grrrr... then he pops off the table happy as a clam, and I'm left with pain...
Next day I cut dh's hair. Now I've done a superlative job the last two times, but this time got the top too short... note to self... trim the sides next time and leave the top.
the like portion of this is that it's done for Milo for one month, and done for husband for two weeks.
Meanwhile, I trimmed the bottom of mine too, and it looks awful... the proportions changed and now I look like I'm wearing a helmet. The like bit? none.
MILO"S MOMENTS
help! I'm in jail! I was framed!
I am ticked off at my people. I bark and bark to get them to come see the dangers, and they continue to ignore the warnings.
Yesterday, I woke up and had NO IDEA where either one of my pawrents was... I ran around the family room barking frantically til the Mama stuck her head over the catwalk and called to me.
Well, I ran up and was going to lecture her but I was just so stinkin' glad she was there I forgot, and just petted her for a long time. Why can't they tell a dog when they are going out of the room??
after, I was so tired I took a nap!
Forget the daddy who's always in his little office with the door shut. All I want to do it go in, look to see if he's still there but he keeps me out!
Milo likes his outside toys arranged just so... in a line
I lost a good ball this week too... I took it on the nightly walk, and laid it down for just a second while I sniffed something, and then it was all gone!
(editor's note: it was so busted up, it was basically just a shell of itself, so we kept walking)
Milo: I miss him! the services will be this weekend, no need to send flowers, just send treats to make me feel better.
Mama: Milo! don't beg!
Please visit these wonderful bloggers, to read their lists of Likes this week.
Let me know if you did a post, I'll include your link too!
1. What's your favorite movie from your childhood and why? A: Wizard of Oz... the imagination the music, the colors and the sense of characters finding people to belong with... I always wanted that. And sparkly red shoes. 2. What is home to you? A: comfort. A place to hold items you love. A place that reflects your personality. 3.
Do you get emotionally invested in stories? (I'm asking about movies,
books, tv shows, whatever medium you like your stories in.) A: I have a good imagination, so yes. I go deep. I get so into books being read to me on disc that I will stay in studio longer than needed to hear the end of a chapter. I speak like I'm Scottish after reading an Outlander book, I have trouble going to regular life after reading a few chapters in some novels. 4. What
is the most physical damage you've ever received without needing medical
intervention (so no stitches or splints or anything)? A: I don't even want to think about it 5. How much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood? A: another senseless lifetime of annoyance from being given a bad name! 6. Do you have any obsessions? Like Tv shows, or cats or something. Not addictions. A: I collect things... flamingos, poodles, cows, Betty Boop. I collect blank notebooks, colored pens, fabric, beads. I will hold on to old clothes out of style and don't fit, because I loved wearing them once. I seldom get rid of something if it could be used again somehow. 7. What question or question would you like God to answer? A: what do you want me to do? why do I have so much pain? How do I reach people who choose to hurt others? 8. Do you bite your nails? A: I did til a beloved high school English teacher walked by my desk one morning, picked up my hand while a student was reading their part in MacBeth out loud, and whispered, stop that!. I never went back to it. In one moment a lifetime bad habit stopped. 9. What do you like about the place you live, I mean your housing, apt, house, mobile home, etc A: I like that our current home is large, with tall ceilings, neutrally painted, open floor plan. 10. What do you like about the city or town where you live? A: nothing really. It's mostly a collection of 'hoods. I miss Annapolis so much. 11. Is there one place you have visited that you wish you could live there? A: Santa Barbara or San Luis Obispo, Old Wethersfield, CT, or Lake Placid NY, and I'd like to try living in NZ for a while but I've not been there in person. 12. What's your favorite cookie to snack on? shortbread 13. Are you a Apple person or PC type person and why? A: I'd like to be an Apple person with my computer, I like my IPAD, but for cost I use a PC. It is so very annoying...apple products are safer but don't interact with software I use. I had a mac for a while and liked it.
perspective
14. What's your favorite things about the Zoo? A: everything. I could stand and watch animals for hours. I could be one of those people who watch and take notes all day. I like to see how they move, I like zoos that have better natural seeming areas. I love to see animals I've not seen, the Denver zoo is pretty good. I like being outside all day there. I like taking photos at a zoo, and I like the giftshops!!! 15. Did you grow up in the country, city or small town and what did you like about it (or hate about it if you didn’t like it?) A: I grew up in Tampa, it was a quiet town then. An easy town to go into for hair cuts, lunches and shopping. People were very nice, it was safe. I rode my bike to the library, the pool, walked to my schools all thru high school. The kind of place where your mom pushed you out the door on Sat. and said come back before dark. As I grew up I liked the closeness to beaches. 16. What kinds of things were you into and do when you were growing up? A: always puzzles, Sat. cartoons, old movies, new movies, playing outside, bikes and skateboards, dolls including a lot of Barbies and friends, imagination... I could take a box of costume jewelry and give each one a personality and build a city for them to interact in. I loved TV and crafts and books.
I played clarinet in band, I wrote stories, excelled in schoolwork but felt alienated from kids because of bullying. I kept 3 best friends and was loyal. I liked going to fairs and riding rides, going to NC for summers on vacations. I hated baths and getting my fine straight hair brushed.
As a teen I belonged to interest groups, was in a small group of 5 kids in advanced classes plus band plus French 2 so we were special scheduling kids who went together to classes. I worried about what to do in college, started and ended at the local U of S FL. In between I went to a church college for one year and learned I didn't belong there but learned a lot about myself. I had been adopted and was abused by them, and was shy of people but longed to be a performer/actor. The two sisters, natural kids to them, married and left by the time I was 5 so I spent a lot of time alone. At any given time, I was the youngest, the only kid, and then when the sisters had kids when I was 6, I was the oldest as they were often at our house.
17 .Do you enjoy receiving letters or postcards more, and why? A: Letters... long handwritten letters feel special. I used to write so many and get so many, then we went to email and it feels impersonal to me. Good to be immediate but sad that I can't touch the letter sent to me, with sealing wax or smudges, that a friend touched too. 18. Do or did you know any of your great-grandparents? Tell me about them. No 19. Do you like to be outdoors? What is your favorite thing to do there? A: I LOVE to be outdoors, at a lovely park, or walking around Mirror lake at Lake Placid, walking around historic Williamsburg, going to a craft show outside, sitting on a safe patio or deck watching the critters going about their lives. I love to sit outside to read, write or paint. I like to go outside with a glass of wine, and chat to my husband at the end of the day. I like seeing the light near sunset when it comes in from an angle and is golden. I loved waking up in Lake Placid, getting a coffee and sitting on the balcony overlooking a misty lake and hearing the loons call, hearing the soft sound of boat paddles dipping into the water as a one person boat slid by my sight, smelling the first suntan lotion being applied, hearing the murmur of soft voices as people woke and came out. 20. Have you ever broken a bone or been badly injured? A: a cousin pushed a heavy rock off the top of a bench I was playing under when I was 6, and it fell onto my little hand and broke it. I remember having to go to first grade unable to write because of the cast. As a high schooler, I was playing basketball by my self, jammed my finger dribbling, and broke it, requiring a splint for weeks. Breaking a little toe is awfully painful too. I have a lifetime injury from a car accident, to my spine causing nerve pain. It happened when I was about 25.
What a question to end on... well I am just playing along with these, to get to know people better. Isn't it interesting to hear things from other people that they wouldn't normally remember to share with you? It is to me. It's like conversations you'd have with friends on retreats, sitting together at the end of the evening, watching a fire, or just talking to avoid having to break the connection and go to bed...
Saturday 9: Flipper (1964) from http://samanthasaturday9.blogspot.com/ Unfamiliar with this week's tune? Hear it here. 1) Flipper ran for three seasons, from 1964 to 1967. Are you familiar with the show? Were you a fan?
A:I watched it! As a young pre-teen I would have loved being a part of the group and it left me wanting to study nature. I went on to major in biology at uni until I changed at the 3 year mark to social work.
I'm cute right? right?
2)
Brothers Sandy and Bud consider a bottle-nosed dolphin, named Flipper,
their pet. Do you currently share your home with any animals? A: We currently have a standard poodle named Milo who shares our space and lives. He is one of us, very interested in all life and nature too. 3)
Bud and Sandy's dad was Chief Warden Porter Ricks of the fictional
Coral Key Marine Preserve. In reality, the show was filmed in Miami and
Key Biscayne. When were you last in the ocean? Which ocean was it?
A: I grew up in Florida, and we went to the gulf of Mexico beaches, seldom going over to the Atlantic. When I married, we moved near Annapolis Maryland, and lived a block from rivers to the Chesapeake so we went to Atlantic beaches along the coast of Delaware.
I suppose the last time I was in the ocean was at Rehoboth Beach.
4)
There was no one single "Flipper." In close-ups, the role was played by
a dolphin named Susie. While Susie was good at interacting with people,
she had trouble with stunts, and sometimes a male dolphin named Clown
was brought in for action sequences. Do you consider yourself more
social, like Susie? Or are you more athletic, like Clown? A: easy answer, social. I love to visit with people, and can talk to anybody, anytime, anywhere about anything. Not athletic at all. It brought down my GPA back in high school 5) Without looking it up, do you know the difference between a dolphin and a porpoise?
A: I seem to remember it's something about the nose visually, but they are different species genetically...
6)
Flipper wasn't just a TV pet. He was an industry! During the show's
run, Flipper comic books, coloring books and puzzles were very popular.
As an adult, do you entertain yourself by reading comics, coloring, or
completing jigsaw puzzles? A: then and now... always loved puzzles, comics, coloring books...and as a pre-teen I was susceptible to advertising! I now do most jigsaw puzzles online and it's still fun. 7) The Flipper lunchbox was also a big seller. It came with a Thermos topped with a red cup. Do you own a Thermos? A: I owned a flipper lunchbox! Getting a new lunchbox each school year was very important. I think we now own thermos mugs more likely than an actual thermos, but being a bit of a "keeper" I probably still have a thermos somewhere here... 8) In 1964, when Flipper premiered, it was up against The Outer Limits and The Jackie Gleason Show. If
those were your only viewing choices, would you watch the family show
about the dolphin, the sci-fi anthology show, or the comedy-variety
show? (Or would you rather flip through a magazine?)
A: I watched all three shows at some point. My older sisters watched outer limits and it scared me to pieces as a little kid, so not that! The father watched Gleason so the family watched Gleason... pow to the moon Alice... oy vey...he was gross to me as a kid. I'd watch flipper.
9)
Random question -- Which would you be more comfortable explaining: how
a car engine works, the current IRS tax brackets, or the rules of
baseball? A: as a fan of facts, and truth, I wouldn't even begin to explain any of that!!! It would be pure fiction!
For this week's sewing round up, I am showing my lozenge blocks, in dark blues for the color of the month at RSC. I prepare the rectangles cut from scrap bins, and 2" white, and black, squares and sew them all at once
Pretty fabrics right? All scraps in the bin, ready to showcase in this simple block
When I sew the squares onto the rectangles, I sew on the other side of the line to give me tiny 1.5" HST's. My goal has been each month to use these in a new way.
I had a hard time deciding what to do this time... pinwheel's with four of them, or another block. I went to my "parts dept" and found a painted lady to become the center, and did some pinwheel, some other blocks, and cut some extra 2.5" blue fabric squares to go with them, and made them work to go around the face
so cute! But... I had to make it all work, add a little here, a little extra there, finish painting her shoulders, sew it all together with a tiny border and now it's ready to quilt with some sparkly metallic thread.
See the hour glass blocks form a star
the blocks sewn with black corners on dark blue don't show up well but you can see them here, a mix of hourglass, and pinwheels.
On the list to make is also an applique pink rose for my artquilt challenge this month...
For the painting round up this week I have flowers and faces!
Inspired by my friend Mary's image on this post, to use glorious
golds, yellows and greens
Funny, how I was inspired by the image yet didn't stay true to
the colors and shadows.
Seeing it in these photos I see where I went wrong in shadow and
color but... it was lots of fun to make!
on the mantel
I really focused on dots of color. I initially painted a sea of
gold/yellow, then shadowed with other colors and got the center
proportions off, but... I liked making it, and love all the dots
of colors on top of the watercolor
thanks Mary!!
next flower was done last Friday when my friend Sonja in Hawaii
sent some glorious photos of her own garden... with a tropical
hibiscus blossom. It was a lush shade of palest pink, and made me
want to try to capture the delicacy in paint
I'm having a lot of trouble capturing true color in my camera
right now, then the new computer software is not user friendly in
editing as well.
I notice little details when I go from photo to paint... don't
always have a lot of control over it but I try to do an impression
of the image, while pulling in little details, like the orange
bits above.
now for some faces... I want to try bead embroidery, like beading
around a cabochon. I wanted to use a moon face and had trouble
finding one to purchase from a place I would be comfortable doing
that, so why not combine painting and fabric???
a sketch on paper, after looking at google images for ideas...
now to sketch it on fabric....
Speaking of fabric, this week I wanted to use some tiny sewn
blocks, and found this painting in my "parts dept" of old projects
put aside...
and am working on making it all fit together... so far I added in
shoulders so it's a little different. She is painted on fabric
with paintsticks and embossed over templates in places. I do NOT
use Shiva, I do not like the smell and they don't hold up over
time. I add details with marker and prisma color pencils.
I went to a zoom lecture by Elizabeth Gilbert last night, and
someone asked how she deals with being judged as an artist and
writer. She said, we're always being judged... walk into a party
and people inwardly think of how your hair looks, what you're
wearing, how thin you are... When you do anything someone is
judging it... so why not just create and ignore the judging?
That resonated with me... yes... if you're going to be judged
anyway, why not make something to have after the judging is
over?lol
Linking to https://paintpartyfriday.blogspot.com/
