A Finish and a WIP......

For those of you who do not follow my doll making blog or my Facebook page I thought I'd show you my latest effort. This is the first doll I've made since last August 2014. When I looked back and saw that I was a bit shocked.

I made this doll for an online challenge with a Facebook doll club I belong to called Cloth Doll Artistry. The challenge was called "Diamonds Are A Girl's Best Friend".

We were to make a cloth rabbit at least 20 inches tall and dressed for a charity event.

I used a pattern by Teresa Pietras called "Lilly: A Fantasy Rabbit". She turned out much better than I expected as I was a bit rusty in the doll making department.

A tiny bit of bling:)

I've also started another CQ block for CQJP2015. A tad behind schedule but I hope to get caught up and finish all 12 eventually.

This one is in shades of brown and peach/orange primarily.

Today I thought I'd participate in The Needle & Thread Network WIP Wednesday link up. I haven't done that in ages.

Come on over and visit.  Take care:)

September 1st....Eeeek!!!

I cannot believe it's September already. Is it just me or has this summer flown past so quickly that I missed it?

Aw well....here is a bit of summer:)

My husband took some pictures of the hummingbirds that visit our trumpet vine. Almost impossible as they move so fast. The flowers are full of nectar which the hummingbirds can't resist.

I thought this one was interesting as you can see it's feet so they actually do land on some of the flowers though it's hard to tell just watching them.

Tail up coming in for a landing...so cute:) Look how fast it's wings are going. You can barely see them

The dead flowers are the ones that the hummingbirds took nectar from the day before. Trumpet vines are difficult to get started and it takes about seven years before a newly planted vine flowers but once it does it goes crazy. This one reaches it's full flowering season by mid June and continues to blossom prolifically during the warm weather. I can't remember when we planted this one but I think it's at least 20 years old.

Take care:)

It was a close call:)

Smokey is no more.....

He was a great cat and I'm really going to miss him:(

6 months old:)

July 2004 - August 2015

I'm back.....

I want to thank everyone who sent me well wishes. I survived the surgery :)

What was supposed to be a simple procedure with a one night stay in hospital got a bit more complicated. I ended up with major surgery and I was in there for three days. I was on clear fluids the whole time. That was very hard when my roommate was eating lasagna, salmon and steak....sigh:(

Now I'm back at home with a four to six weeks recovery to look forward to. My doctor and the nurses were impressed at how fast I bounced back from the surgery. I was out of bed on the second day. I guess this old lady is a lot tougher than she looks....LOL

Take care:)

Summertime and the living is noisy......

Hello:)

I've been very quiet lately as I've been busy doing family tree research. I usually like to sit outside and enjoy the weather but the weather hasn't been all that great and it's way too darn noisy.

The construction has been going on full tilt.

Before....

...and, now.....
 It's hard to see with the trees in the way and I didn't want to seem too nosy obvious....LOL

There is one three story house now and another on it's way.

The road has been dug up for pipes and stuff and no one can walk on the sidewalk because of the mud. Right now it's quiet because it's early but when they get in full swing it's deafening.

My next door neighbour moved out on Monday. The good news it that they are not taking that house down right away. Someone will be living there for awhile. I'm not sure I like all this change:(

I've also been dealing with some medical issues. Nothing life threatening just inconvenient. I have to go in for surgery on the 28th and will have at least 4 to 6 weeks recovery to deal with.

Life goes on.

Take care:)

Happy Canada Day !!!!!!!!!

Some More Crazy Stitching.....

This is my third block for CQJP2015. I'm a wee bit behind schedule.

I found the template for this block in Foolproof Crazy Quilting by Jennifer Clouston. She has a blog if you're interested......Sew So Crazy. 

Only four seams so not a lot of work and I left empty spaces.....eeeek!!! That was so hard for me because I always want to cover everything with stitching.

I covered some small plastic curtain rings with variegated thread in blue, purple and rust red. I don't know if you call it a cast on stitch, buttonhole stitch or blanket stitch...whatever...LOL It looked pretty so I added them to one of my seams and used purples and rust for the rest of my seams.

I used couching on two of my seams. I also used the detached button hole stitch to make the "flowers" on my vine.

Boy does my camera hate shades of red and orange. Then again it could be the user who has not as yet read the user guide...hee hee. 

Take care:)

A Wee Bit of Stitching......

I've been trying out some of the stitches from TAST in a bit of crazy quilting.

Mostly Fly, Feather, Chain, Detached Chain, French Knot and Cast On stitching.

I tell ya it ain't safe some days......

It was a really nice day and I thought I'd sit outside for a bit on the back porch. My son came out to check out the weather too.

Beside the chair I was sitting on is a big plastic storage box that we keep stuff it. Ususally garden books and magazines that my husband reads occasionally....fly swatters...garden candles....ya know...stuff.

My son and I were chatting away and just for the heck of it I decided to look in the storage box. I have no idea why I did but.....EEEEEK.

Staring at me was this big fat male raccoon!!!! It hissed at me and I dropped the lid.

My son looked at me and burst out laughing. I guess my face must have been picture.

From the SMELL...YUK...this raccoon had obviously been stuck in the box a couple of days. It probably was able to lift the lid and get in but it couldn't get out.

I'm sorry I didn't take pictures of the racoon but it seemed a bit annoyed at me for disturbing it.


Needless to say the men of the house had to eject said raccoon from the box. All the contents had to be thrown out because either they had been chewed or pooped on......sigh.

I think it was a good thing I discovered it when I did. Can you imagine the pong if it had died in there? Geez.

Of course my family thought it was hilarious as these types of things happen to me. It's like I have a sign around my neck.

We are finally in spring mode here. The construction across the street has started in earnest as the weather has settled down at bit. Yesterday they poured the cement for the basement floor. Quite entertaining :)

Take care:)

Neat idea......

I found this idea on Pinterest. The site it's on has no instructions except these pictures. Seems like such an easy way to knit some slippers. Or crochet?

Maybe even I could do this :)

Link

That's me :)

The Sounds of Spring and Summer.......

We live in an area of prime real estate. The two houses across the street and the house next door have been sold for a very nice chunk of change. 

The two across the street were sold to developers to rebuild. They have already taken down one house and will be starting on the second one soon I guess.

The sounds of a back hoe digging up a foundation....IS NOT....music to my ears :(

The view from my sewing room window......

They are building mega houses. The two that are going in there are ugly in my humble opinion.

One around the corner sold recently....it had a nanny suite, a 400 bottle wine cellar, a 7.1 movie theater, a gym and a built in office. You get the picture at how large the new houses are. The neighbourhood is really changing fast. We've lived here about 38 years and the neighbours that sold next door even longer.

We get realtors are our door and on the phone asking us to sell...it's tempting:)

I think it's going to be a long noisy dusty summer.

Take care:)

And Then We Set It On Fire........

I found this interesting blog yesterday and I thought I'd share. Here's the description.......

"A TECHNIQUE DRIVEN Blog dedicated to mastery of surface design techniques. First we dye, overdye, paint, stitch, resist, tie, fold, silk screen, stamp, thermofax, batik, bejewel, stretch, shrink, sprinkle, smooch, fuse, slice, dice, AND then we set it on fire using a variety of heat tools."

Sounds like fun doesn't it?

Here's the link........And Then We Set It On Fire

Happy Easter Everyone!!!!!!

It is April isn't it? This is what we woke up to this morning.....

Ermmm..... Mother Nature......IT"S SUPPOSED TO BE SPRING!!!!!!!!!!

Basic Quilting Course........

Kathy Shaw has just posted details of a new session of her Basic Crazy Quliting course. The registration is open until March 22nd.

For more details go to this link.....here .

Take care:)

Using beads in Crazy Quilting.....

Here is a video using beads in Crazy Quilting. The camera work is a bit annoying but I think you'll get the idea:) Nancy has more videos on YouTube if you're interested....link.

StitchMap Class Done!!!!

Last summer I started a Traditional Redwork class with a Yahoo group called StitchMap. For various and sundry reason I couldn't finish it and had to stop at lesson 3.

I joined a new session of the class and I'm proud to say I stuck to it and finished all six lessons. Most of the stitches covered are ones that everyone knows but it was really great to sit down and learn to do them correctly.

At the end we took each of the small embroideries we did and made sewing weights and a bag to put them in. The weights are to hold down your pattern when you are cutting it out. I'll be honest I'll probably never use them but what the heck.

Here are my weights and the bag I made.

Yes there is blue and green...these colours became popular in "redwork" embroidery in later years as the dyes they used for the thread became colourfast.

The bag even has a lining!!!!!

Before I took this class I did the Color Theory class on StitchMap as well. It was quite interesting. Here are a few of my samples for my workbook.

I think I'm done with classes for awhile....I'm pooped.....LOL

Take care:)

Untitled...... because I couldn't think of a title :)

Intermediate Crazy Quilt Course (ICQC) 101-Piecing Crazy Quilt Blocks

Kathy Shaw has just announced open registration for her first Intermediate Crazy Quilt Class.

Here is the link to find out more.............Shawkl

Take care:)

Joyful Embellishment .......

Valerie Bothell.......co-author with Allie Aller of Quilting..Just a Little Bit Crazy!...... has started a Facebook group called Joyful Embellishments. The purpose of the group is to discover new crazy quilting seam and motif ideas.

To find it just do a search for Joyful Embellishments on Facebook. 

Valerie will be posting a new stitch idea Monday through Friday of each week. They will be based on variations of standard stitches such as the Herringbone Stitch. By the end of the year you will have tons of new stitch ideas to use on your crazy quilts.

Everyone can stitch along and post their work. So far there has been some amazing eye candy to see.

If you're not a Facebook person Valerie has also created a Pinterest board where she has posted pictures of her daily stitch ideas. So far there 38 ideas.

Pinterest board.....you can find it under Joyful Embellishments...https://www.pinterest.com/valbothell/joyful-embellishments/


Take care:)  

Crazy Quilting Journal Project 2015 - January Block

I finally got it finished. It seemed like a never ending project. It's not what I expected to do at all. I was trying to work on the principal that less is best but I sort of forgot myself....LOL

It's a bit busy.

I like the hare and the tree but then it went downhill from there :)

I started to stress out that I wouldn't get it finished in time and of course as fate would have it.

I didn't. Ah well.

I have also learned a lesson too. The block I chose from Pintangle may not have been the best for a newbie like me.

Hello........

Hello everyone :)

I haven't been around for a bit as I've had influenza since the end of December. I still have a lingering cough but I'm finally on the mend.

I borrowed this video from another Blogger....Plays with Needles....as I thought it was lovely. All the amazing hand work. Sigh.

I have some deadlines I have to meet sewing wise for the end of January so I better get BUSY!!!!

One thing is the CQJP2015 challenge. Fortunately I took the time to put my 12 squares together before I got sick.

Thank heavens I did because I don't think I could face that at the moment. My enthusiasm and energy level is at a big zero :)

Looking at them now I must have been in a beige frame of mind. Never mind. I'll bling them up :)

I have a new little camera and we aren't friends yet. My old point and shoot died after I dropped it...twice :(  My new camera is not as intuitive as my old camera.

I'll just have to read the instructions I guess. What a concept.....read the instructions...har har. Oh I shouldn't laugh because my ribs hurt from coughing...ouch.

Ah well:)

Take care I'll be back soon to show you what I've been up to.