Sunday, July 15, 2018

Making a nest part 2..............

Here is my nest after I added the fiber and tacked down the stray ends. My husband drilled some holes in the plastic eggs so that I could sew them on rather than gluing them. Much more secure.

I Googled to see what type of bird lays beige speckled eggs and I found that sparrows do and we get them in abundance in our backyard. They seem to nest mostly in the hedge we have along one side of our garden. It's quite a substantial hedge well over 8 feet high and very thick. We once had a cardinal nest in there that was washed out by a heavy rainfall. We rescued it and put it back as both mum and dad cardinal were freaking out very loudly. Luckily they weren't bothered by our intervention. After that peace reigned.

Here's a nice image of a field sparrow's nest.
Source Unknown
So a beginning. I'm not sure what I will do next with this block.

Take care:)

Saturday, July 14, 2018

Making a nest.......

.........or attempting to anyway....LOL

So this is what I'm trying to do....
Find the directions to make this here .....link.

I was super lucky in that I had most of the suggested embroidery colours.....642, 840, 3781, 3782... with the exception of 611. I substituted  611 with 640...and then I added some green....370. I added the green because against the fabric I was using the above combination looked a bit too beige.

I followed the instructions but I wasn't all that happy with my results...sorry I forgot to take a picture. I didn't like the satin stitch in the middle. I thought my attempt looked messy.

So I decided to omit the satin stitch and started building the nest from the center outwards rather than just around the edge.

I merrily went allong and made my center bit and then built up the sides. It was too small.....RATS!!!!!!!

 Second attempt.......
Getting there but I'm still not all that in love with it. Too perfect. I thought about adding a bit of fluffy knitting wool fibre. It looks more like a nest in a way. 
Maybe if I tidy up some of those loose bits....hmmm.

I will  return. Take care:)


Thursday, July 12, 2018

TAST 2018 and TUSAL 2018

I've been keeping up with the stitches. Not hard as my sampler isn't that big. Some of these stitches I will never do again...ever...LOL  I'm right handed but I was taught to sew left handed so sometimes it's hard trying to get my head and hands sorted out. A few beads need to be added too to tart it up a bit.

The Full Moon in July is the Buck Moon, named after the new antlers that emerge from the  foreheads of male deer around this time of the year. It is also called Thunder Moon, Hay Moon, and Wort Moon.

It should be called the Weed Moon this year as it so dry the only plant life that seems to be thriving are weeds. No one is cutting their lawn as the grass is dead for now. Once it rains it will revive. As a result everyone seems to have a lot of Queen Anne's Lace, Bellflowers and Wild Chicory in their gardens. Even along the roads where there are grassy areas. I don't mind as it means the wildflowers are starting to come back now the city stopped spraying weed killer along the road verges. Some call them weeds but I guess it's really a point of view. It's been years since I saw so much Wild Chicory...usually only way up north.

 Well since it is a full moon today and therefore TUSAL time here is my ORT jar...lots of colours.


Take care:)

Thursday, July 5, 2018

How to make an embroidered nest.....

I found these directions on a blog called "The Floss Box". So sweet :)


Go here.

I tried to leave a thank you and let her know I was sharing her post but........."Comments on this blog are restricted to team members.You're currently logged in as Mary Ann Tate. You may not comment with this account." Erm....I have no other account and I'm not a team member so I can't.

Oh well :(

If you don't want to go to the bother of making the wee eggs you can get mini eggs at a local doll house store or even some craft stores such as Michael's. Here's a pic. They may look like little potatoes but the are supposed to be speckled bird's eggs...honest.

I have no idea why I have these in my stash of stuff but I do. Now I have a use for some...three or four anyway.

Take care:) 

Sunday, July 1, 2018

It's a hot one today................

It is about 4:00 p.m here and it is very very hot.....about .....32C/89.6F. The humidex reading says it feels like 42C/107.6F. We are getting extreme heat warnings so thank goodness for air conditioning.

Just as an FYI for my non Canadian friends.........

The humidex (short for humidity index) is an index number used by Canadian meteorologists to describe how hot the weather feels to the average person, by combining the effect of heat and humidity. The term humidex is a Canadian innovation coined in 1965.

Some of us know how to relax on a hot day. Deva is lying at the end of my sewing table getting full advantage of her pile of cat blankets and the air conditioning.  She has been out cold for about four hours....sheesh:)

Anything that is soft and looks like a possible cozy surface is hers. She's like the Princess and the Pea. Her bed keeps on getting higher. Ah well she is getting on in years. She will be 14 years old this month. Hard to believe.

Take care:

WIP.......and Happy Canada Day to my fellow Canadians.....



Source


I've been re-reading the whole "Realm of the Elderlings" series of books by Robin Hobb.
I just finished her "Rain Wild Chronicle" books....The Dragon Keeper, Dragon Haven, City of Dragons and Blood of Dragons.

I've also just finished watching the seventh season of Game of Thrones on blue ray. OMG eeeeek!!! The ending!!!!

So of course now I really want to make a dragon

I'm using a pattern by Melinda Small Patterson.

I've noticed that some doll makers add arms in addition to the wings but I'm leaning towards making it as Melinda designed it. Her dragon is more like Smaug from the Hobbits or the dragons from Game of Thrones. At this point I haven't decided if I want to make it with the mouth opened or closed.

I found some batik fabric at my local quilt shop with a print that looks very dragonish. I think so anyway.
When finished this dragon will be about 28 inches long and a foot high. Sorry I still don't use metric in sewing. Old habits etc.

My online doll club asked that we post pictures on their site of our sewing rooms. I thought you'd like to see where I sew too. I have got rid of a ton of stuff over the last few years as we are planning to sell this house and move closer to my son....and most importantly....my granddaughter :)

I have a small front bedroom with a window that looks out on the street. It's nice to watch people passing when I sew.

My laptop, TV and some upright storage drawers on wheels.

My bookshelf full of books on doll making, embroidery, doll house, crazy quilting and so on. My cutting table with two mini storage boxes that hold my scissors and other necessary tools. My sewing machines and one more upright storage unit. 
Two big shelves built into an alcove to hold my fabric, stuffing and WIPs. Underneath those big bins hold larger bits of fabric and fake fur etc.
That bin on the bottom left usually has a cat sleeping on it.

I try to keep my room as tidy as possible because I'm not very creative if I have a mess around me.

Hoped you enjoyed my mini tour. Take care :)