3.31.12

This quilt detail from Dana Marie Design Company shows little batik frog patches made in Java. I had three sets and spent yesterday putting big sloppy borders on them so they could be trimmed to the same size. Some of those little fellows were less than 4.5 inches square, some were more, and some did not understand the concept of square. Now I have to decide what to do next. I have 27 of them.

3.30.12

Take a look at Scrappy Hen and her Scrappy Eggs. No, I did not make her yet. She is a pattern by Happy Heart Patterns. I think she AND her eggs have potential...

 

Did I show you how I enhanced Ned's purpose? He was a sponge holder, now he holds pins and needles. I filled his sponge hole with a fabric covered batting ball. Now he is Needlesome Ned.

3.29.12

Chicken Scratch! I love all-cotton gingham in EVERY COLOR and EVERY SIZE. In fact, I love just about every woven plaid.  What makes Chicken Scratch so great is the needle worker gets to hold GINGHAM and do some embroidery at the same time!!!!!

If you like it, too, you can find out how to do it HERE.

Look HERE, HERE, and HERE to see some elaborate chicken scratch work. I think a couple of carefully planned pieces would make lovely borders, cornerstones, or featured block centers.

3.28.12

Cleaned some more, the piles are smaller.  I looked at the calender and realized I need to start up again on applique.  That is fine with me.  The last piece of base fabric is attached on on of the three central panels on the crazy quilt. I will spend the morning on the little flower ring applique and possible yon the Sue and Sam applique blocks. Then off to yoga.

3.27.12

Sorry, not much to report today. I keep cleaning the studio and it explodes before I get completely finished. Today, I have Crazy Quilt all over the place. But--I HAVE corralled most of the hand embroidery for other projects and put away a few other "works in progress"!  All the pins and all the needles are pretty much where they belong.

3.26.12

This I found on a Russian site right HERE.  I have always liked cherries. I remember one time in either kindergarten or first grade, the teacher had a clear plastic tree with cherry candies on them for us for Washington's birthday. I remember asking her if I could have another and she said it would not be very nice because there were not enough for everybody to have a second one. I do not think I said anything but I STILL think she should have let me because no one else was smart enough to ask.

3.25.12

What ever could I do with only one sample block? I wish I had seen this quilt at the Pigeon Forge Quilt Show before I put batting and backing on my one lone applique wreath. It has something like 17 borders around it. That makes it a sort of Medallion quilt. I know you can see at least seven pieced and applique borders. Can you see the plain slim ones in between? I agree that this one deserved to be a ribbon winner.

3.24.12

This beauty from the Pigeon Forge Quilt show surely does appeal to me. It has geometry and saturated colors. I will bet you are wondering why it did not get a ribbon. I learned two important lessons when I looked at this one up close. You will have to email me, text me, or ask me in person if you want to know what I learned.

3.23.12

Look! A Hexagon Quilt! I have been toying with the idea of making one. I have a block made as a trial to see how difficult it is. Not that hard. I was able to complete it in an afternoon including finding enough scraps, cutting them to the right size, basting them to the templates and assembling the hexies into a block. I definitely see one in my future.

It is the perfect carry-along. This quilt is by Cynthia Johnson and I shot the photo at the Pigeon Forge Quilt Show last week. See how tiny her hexies are? Yes, that is my gloved finger. I wonder if some of her fabrics are vintage feedsacks.

I would like to have seen her quilt sleeve run across a flat side rather than a pointed part. Then, a second sleeve across the center back for a small dowel would have kept it hanging in its intended form. Most shows do not let you turn your quilt in with a dowel in it, though.

3.22.12

My daffs bloomed! I have 12 and if you remember from last year, I posted pictures of what kinds they are. They never bloomed last year, so I never found out if the bulbs I bought were really what I thought I was getting. Only four of the 12 go at a time or I would show you the whole line of them.

3.21.12

This is my name badge for my second quilt guild. I have taken over as secretary and found out lots of different things about the inner workings of a guild. The little bear pin is one I think I got from Auntie, who used to work for YMCA as a secretary for 50 years. Our name badges are supposed to have mountains, a bear, and a tree. I did not know about the tree part. I will have to edit one in and move the bear a little to the left.

3.20.12

The chair was finished just after class on the last day of OASIS, winter term. The new term starts this Thursday. I did not buy a vintage chair to refinish since my Husband signed us up for the morning Yoga class. I will enjoy that very much, I think. We still go on Wednesday afternoons and like our teacher very much. This will be a new (to us) teacher.

I will also be in Diane Simonsen's afternoon basket class.  I have one to finish and I do not know which basket I will do next. Maybe another apple basket. I made one of those several years ago. They are very handy since they have a lovely handle that folds out of the way when what you really might want is an apple bowl.

3.19.12

Another cute teapot. It is called Babar Teapot. I never really cared for the Babar books but this elephant is so cute it makes me want to give them a second chance,

3.18.12

I was asked to do a quilt block for a traveling quilt belonging to The William Breman Jewish Heritage and Holocaust Museum .




My new quilty friend, Pat, organized the first quilt which is already on tour. Now Pat is organizing a second. 

 Those of us participating were given artist's drawings representing courageous women who made a difference. Mine is Roz Penso Cohen who set up thrift-type resale stores. She had three sons. I wanted the family group to stand out so I did all the clothing in the same colors as the walls and floors. I dressed Mother and the Boys in blue tones.

If you look at the first picture, you can see that I used a Micron Pigma size 005 to draw hair for the boys' heads, then I used a felting needle and some merino/angora yarn, shredded to finish off. How do you like the tiny hangers? They were fun to make. 

The part I like best about in this project is that I had a stash of silk ties I had bought at thrift stores and I was able to use one to make a blouse for the hanger that Mrs. Cohen is holding. It was one of my favorite purple ties and reminds me of blouses from her time period. This was fun to do and I spent a lot of time thinking about Mrs. Cohen and her family while I was working. I thought my block looked pretty good but you should see the other ones! If I have a chance to photograph them, I will.

3.17.12

National Quilt Day. What are you doing to celebrate?

Here is what I did at 8:00 a.m. I want to work on at least two more projects--maybe three--by the end of the day.

This is the March lesson for the Free Motion Quilt Challenge. This month's teacher is Ann Fahl.

See my computer open to the two files of practice patterns while I stitch out a practice piece in the picture below.

My "Cadillac" Bernina's zig doesn't zag so I have put it away until it can be serviced. In its place, I am using THE WORKHORSE--my (used) Bernina 915 which my husband bought me in 1986 so I could sew clothes for Away Son when he was born.

I used whatever needle was in there (probably a 70) and I grabbed up some cheapo thread, did not even look at the bobbin and went to town.  I have no idea what the bobbin thread started with except it was white. It ran out part way and I changed to Gutterman all-purpose weird blue.

I LOVED it! I enjoyed every minute. It took about two hours. Here is a flower vine. I practiced the January leaves.

A close up of the bee, flower with February feather-style leaves, snail and spiral flower; and I attempt PUMPKINS!

Add caption

Hereafter, I will use my WORKHORSE machine. Even though the twist and the sheen of the rayon content of the thread make the tension appear ragged in these pictures, it was very nearly perfect before I even adjusted it. I am beginning to understand what all those Featherweight people are talking about--the old mechanical ways are best for some machines and WORKHORSE is definitely an oldie but goodie.

3.16.12

See what we found in the trash? Blacksmiths throw out the greatest stuff. We took these treasures back to the classroom, used "found" fabric and vinegar from the dining hall to encourage stains one would ordinarily avoid. It was important to keep the fabric wet with the vinegar and weighted down so as much fabric was touching the rusting metal as possible. 

This next piece was a fairly beige, boring piece of cottonish upholstery. It was happy to keep itself soaked with the vinegar.

In the piece below,  I tried to use a shibori technique where the fabric was pleated and then tied around a long piece of waffled rebar.

 

It was not very successful showing the waffle pattern but that is because I did not have very much vinegar or a way to keep it from drying out. It is a synthetic fabric and was very good at drying itself.  It started out a bright white and became a rich, creamy ivory.  This and the other rusted even more when I came home and hung them on the line. Maybe they did not rust more but the patterns blurred and the rusty parts expanded as the moisture wicked away from the main design.

 I think this has some potential, do you agree?

3.15.12

Our second pieces have a more finished feel.  Mary Ann brought in her Crazy Quilt piece she was making for her brother that featured a picture of their father and some items that would remind her brother of his childhood.  She was looking for a real, old-fashioned Coca-cola bottle cap to flatten and attach to this pretty sampler.

Lisa was inspired by children's books and one in particular moved her to make what I think the author called the lady with the umbrella? Maybe.  THIS lady has the cutest purse and shoes of the tiniest pieces of felt you ever saw. They were clearly smaller than the scraps she was looking through when one got lost.
I started some work on a second sampler. I practiced some stumpwork with the acorns and a background of Sashiko oak leaves. I also practiced weaving over laid threads and some couching of a weird little eyelash yarn also in my newly discovered favorite color combination.
 This is my favorite color of variegated thread, #4130, called both Chilean Sunset and Pumpkin Spice, depending on which website you are tracking. I have not bought any for myself yet but I am still hoping to get to a "real town" and go to a JoAnn fabric if I can not find a needlework store near here. I will look for it in all the sizes it is available.

My final project is a pin. Do you see what is going on in the picture? It is a dog delving into a trash can.  Dee Dee had some fabric filled with pictures of dogs in a nighttime city scene.  I loved this guy immediately.  I did a little embroidery enhancement, and then used needle felting to make him scruffy looking. I discovered that if I matched the embroidery exactly to the surface it was too subtle and melted into the background. The embroidery on the trashcan is much more effective.  Dee Dee suggested I add the flash of yellow/green to reflect the light from a neon sign that was somewhere "off stage".  

It will always remind me of the nickname my roommates gave me--Backpack--since I was always digging around in the bottom of the backpack to find that one thing I had to have at that moment. It also stands for the time our embroidery class went to the blacksmiths' refuse can, looking for metal to rust onto cloth. Since my return, I have taken a second look at a lot of things around my studio to see if they can be used in new ways. Come back tomorrow and look at my iron treasures.

3.14.12

I have shown you a lot of work my Folk School teacher made but you haven't seen pictures from our class work. These first samplers we made took us the better part of three days.  Here is the sampler Lisa made. See how orderly and neat?

Now look at Mary Ann's. Also easy to follow and organized. Have a look at mine. What do you notice?  I chose yellow as a challenge because I rarely work with yellow and I thought it might stretch me a little. It sure didn't restrain me at all!

I made an attempt to fill in an egg shape and enjoyed seeing how to make the stitches follow a curve.  

I tried out the shisha mirrors and had so much fun I am looking around to find something appropriate for mirrors. Maybe I will work them into some kind of piece for the bathroom. If I could adapt the round shapes into water drop shapes, I might have something. I have the start of a beach theme going in the downstairs bathroom so maybe these mirrors will work.

I found rings to try "off canvas" work and then I attached them to the work. They are in the lower right corner below the mirrors which are attached in lavender and purple. I really enjoyed that and I am also looking to find some things that need rings. Come back tomorrow and see our second pieces.

3.13.12

Last of the color tests. This one is from http://www.testcolor.com/ This test is OFFICIAL. Know how I can tell? It has PIE CHARTS and came in an ugly sans serif font, thus it must be written by GEN-U-WINE SCIENTISTS. Also, you will note a smattering of poly-syllabic words.  Unfortunately, I cannot get the pie charts to show up here.

Result of your test :
Your results present a correlation ratio with our model superior to 89 % .
( In a general way, a result can be taken into account if this ratio is superior to 30 %.)

You are 53 % extrovert and 47 % introvert.
Independently of any order of importance :

You are charismatic and good in communication, you know how to attract and manage people.

You are also a manager and a structured person, you know how to take into account the needs of each person while leading them towards the set goals.

Finally you are able to have an in-depth thinking, you think before acting, and you know how to communicate your knowledge.

I mostly agree but I am not so sure about the "think before acting" phrase. Maybe that IS true.

Your understanding of your environment :

At first, at 37%, you are centered on your thoughts and your actions are determined by your knowledge and your experience.

Maybe that IS true for EVERYone.

Then, at a ratio of 32%, you are attached to moral values and feelings, and you have an emotional relation with the environment.

That IS true. The sight of the mountains and the tees around me is so uplifting, I can not imagine living anywhere else.

Finally, at 29%, you are focused on the facts and on the reality, and your decisions are determined by your perception of facts.

Are there any people anywhere whose decisions are not based on their perception of the facts? I guess I will have to agree with this statement despite its potentially broad application.

How you assert yourself :

In your relations with others, the dialogue and exchange of views with others influence your own ideas and points of view at 55%. Your knowledge, your personal learning and your preset convictions interfere in your decision-making at 44%.

Hmmm. I think I am influenced less by others than 44%, but what do I know--I am not a scientist.

Also, the bonds that you created with your family and friends represent 58% of your core emotions. Your creativity, your openness and your need to open up to renewal in your life have also an impact of 41%.

What on earth does that mean?

Finally, your actions and behaviour are determined by your sensibility and that of your partner at a ratio of 58%. Then you are driven at 41% by own will and personal goals.

Well, I guess that is broad enough to be true.

The qualities that characterize your personality at this time :

21% Your contact abilities. you are open and good communicator, you know how to attract people and engage them.

Maybe that IS true but I really do not like to be with groups of people. I enjoyed it while teaching as long as the groups were my students or very, very small groups of teachers.

20 %Your leadership. you are a manager and a leader, and you know how to organize groups of people and how to give them your energy.

When I want to.

20 % Your dynamism.  you are dynamic and active, you are determined in your actions, you know how to communicate your ideals and your energy, and thus, you know how to boost people.

Maybe that IS true, yes, when teaching.

19 % Your management skills. you are a manager and a structured person, you know how to take into account the needs of each person while leading them to the fixed goals.

Yes, this is true also. Maybe this little test IS scientific.

 18 % Your insights. you are a manager and a structured person, you know how to take into account the needs of each person while leading them to the fixed goals.

 --WAIT, what? Isn't that what I just read?

Finally, you are attuned to others and you show a good emotional intelligence, which allow you to give support to people, You are intellectual and intelligent, you wonder and you inquire before taking any action and setting your values.

Does this seem right to you? Or is it sufficiently general, yet positive? Or does it really just sum up everything? Were your results similar?

3.12.12

Can't you just imagine warming your hands around this little mug? I like this color very much but if I had unlimited disposable income, I would get it in the lime color also. It used to be sold by Stash Tea but not anymore. That tells me I missed their *SALE* to destock this item.

3.11.12

The color test I wrote about yesterday seems quite simple in application as well as result compared to this one http://www.colorquiz.com/quiz.php

I will directly quote my assessment. You will notice the switch in pronouns from "his" to "her" and a couple of other grammar issues. Makes me wonder where they found the text for the results.

Your Existing Situation

"Creative and emotional, looking for ways to further expand those qualities. Looking for a partner who enjoys the same activities. Seeking adventure and new and unusual activities."

Well, who IS NOT looking for a partner to enjoy the same activities? Seeking adventure? Hmmm...I might enjoy travel but I am not the adventurous type. Not if you compare me to a sister-in-law who plans vacations around where the most difficult white-water raft courses run.

Your Stress Sources

"His stubbornness and will-power has become weakened due to current difficulties. Feels overworked and emotionally drain; as if all her work is for nothing and she is getting nowhere. The situation is very real to her and she wants to escape, but has no idea how to do so or how to even approach the situation rationally."

Well, I do not think that is me at all. Not even a little bit. I am a very happy person and I take a lot of satisfaction in my hobbies. I do NOT want to escape!

Your Restrained Characteristics

Current events leave her feeling forced into compromise in order to avoid being cut off from affection or future cooperation.

No, not really.

Your Desired Objective

"Highly optimistic and outgoing personality. Loves to learn new and exciting things, and craves new interests. Looking for a well-rounded life full of success and new experiences. Does not allow herself to be overcome with negative thoughts or self-doubt. Takes life head on, with enthusiasm. "

I completely agree. Since these statements seem like compliments, do you think most people would agree? Is it a case of newspaper astrology?

Your Actual Problem

"Feeling tension and stress brought on by situations which are out of her control, leaves her feeling helpless, anxious, and in adequate. she escapes the situation by throwing herself into new activities and insisting she get her own way. Appears to be in control of himself, which she isn't, leading to outbursts of anger."

 

Hmm. Not so complimentary, but I have to say there is a kernel of truth here. Did you take this test? How did you do?

3.10.12

I took some color related "personality tests". I read The Noble Wife blog and she mentioned that she had taken some of these tests. Now, I don't want you to think I believe these to have any solid scientific foundation, but as with most personality tests, I found it fun and the results interesting. Kind of like the way I feel about newspaper astrology. Which, I have not been following because I do not take a daily newspaper.

Anyway, here is the first test. 

By accident, I pressed enter before I did any of this test and it assigned a result to me--PINK. Not my favorite color but I AM a glass half-full person.

Your Results: Pink

Pink is your personality color. You see the cup as half full rather than half empty. Playful, intelligent, and somewhat shy describes your personality. Pleasing others makes you happy and you may become sad if you feel others do not see you in the pink glow of happiness.

I did go ahead and "take" the test and came up with a color I do like very much, blue-violet. They got the color right, but I do not find myself to be laden with so many negative emotions. And, I think I might be a "jump right in" person. What do you think?

Your Results: Blue Violet

Blue colors your world with emotion. You seldom jump right in, preferring to stand back and watch people and situations closely. Blue people are calm, but can also spiral into sadness. With so much emotion, tears of happiness, sadness, anger, or frustration are quite common.

This site provided a break down of the participant results. I wonder how many of these were results of people who accidentally pressed the ENTER button too soon. How did you do on the test? Have the cumulative results changed since I took the test?

18% Pink     60% Blue Violet      22% Green       0% Red

I took two other tests. Come back tomorrow to see which one I took next and view my results.

3.9.12

Two books I added to my library a couple of months ago. Scarlett Rose has a unique look at applique. 

When spring gets underway, Misty Mountain Quilters Guild will be offering a Celtic style quilt.  The teacher, Dolores Knight,  has won award after award.  She is recovering from pneumonia right now so I hope she will feel well enough to teach in the spring. We missed her at the last guild meeting.

Here is the quilt I believe we will be making. 

It is called When Irish Hearts are Smiling and it looks very intense. I will be pleased to complete one block.

Dolores also mentioned teaching this cute little quilt, which, of course, with its tea theme immediately caught my attention.

 

3.8.12

In keeping with the theme of Dee Dee Triplett and some of her bags, here is her tool kit. It is a canvas bag purchased at Harbor Freight Tools and then tie-dyed. Colors I love!

3.7.12

Dee Dee's velvet strawberry sewing bag. Imagine being asked to design something for a major publication! Sampler and Antique Needlework Quarterly, volume 2 but all the back issue copies are sold. Maybe someday I will be in a magazine, too.

3.6.12

My very kind sister-in-law sent me a surprise!

 

I have hot tea in it right now.

AND...

My TERVIS cups arrived. I love them. I only wished I had ordered the next size up. I DID remember to order a lid for the dots--I got ORANGE. I intend to used the dots for coffee and the hyacinth for water. I was disappointed to find that the lids are not spill-proof. If you turn them upside down, they DO dribble. They are so pretty I do not think I will mind.