Felting, Gifts

Here is a photo of a Hybiscus that I took when we were in Hawaii. I love flowers and take lots of pictures of them for inspiration.

I decided to felt a piece similar to it then add details in Machine Embroidery. This year my Bead Journal Project pieces will have a felted background with Machine Embroidery on them before they are beaded. This just didn't fit with the other two I've made, so into the drawer for now. I don't care for this, so that's part of it-too folksy for my taste.

Lynda http://www.purplemissus.blogspot.com/ sent me this as part of the http://calendargirls2008.blogspot.com/ exchange. I just love it. I'm no good at doing figures and can appreciate when one is done so well.

She also sent this ATC and post card. The ATC has the techniques used listed on the back. Thank you Lynda.

Thank you everyone who suggested a name for Monday's quilt. They were all good. I keep a list for the future and will add them: Come again, Envy, Come and Go, and Return to Center.  The piece did remind me of Boomerangs too. I've decided to call it Return. It was one of the projects I organized before surgery, so I would have plenty to do after. Little did I know-never having had any before-that you aren't up to a darn thing after!  It's so good to be back in creative mode. The blog and my followers spur me on.

Quilt, Postcard

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday. We spent most of Christmas on the phone with far flung family.

This is a small quilt I just finished. It is a design that is a variation on one I did years ago. The center is hand stitched in back stitch and seed stitch. My problem is that I can't think of a name for it. Ideas anyone?Look at the lovely postcard that came from Debbi for http://calendargirls2008.blogspot.com/

Block of the Month

Here is the next Block of the Month for http://threecreativestudios.com/  It's the site of a lot of interesting things. Be sure to visit it. This one really appealed with the half square triangles that could be done quickly.Terri posts the pattern in the middle of each month.

Thanks to all who visits and especially those who comment. I don't always get back to you like I'd like to. The computer seems to be slowing down, and I loose patience-rather be sewing.

Collage

I was fooling around in the studio one day and decided that using some paste paper to make a geometric collage would be a quick way to test out some quilt block ideas.

This is the results. The last one is the one that I think has the most possibilities.

Gifts

We went for a live Christmas tree yesterday that will be planted in the yard afterwards and look at what my husband bought me. It's a Phalanenopsis Orchid and very small.Each flower is about 1 inch across. It's on the dinner table where I can see it often.It was a good week for gifts. Here is my haul from quilt group. A silk scarf, a bookmark, a padfolio, a thread catcher, a basket with candy, and a shoe bag that will be used for a project-much to nice to put dirty shoes in.

Quilt

I did the quilt top for a challenge for an Art group years ago. It was a fun challenge of piecing odd pieces randomly and applying them. I decided they needed the circles on top and then yarn couched to the edges with a zigzag.

I finally quilted it heavily using colors to blend with each piece and leaving the circles unquilted, so they stand out. The binding method is a faced edge so that none of it shows on the front. Sorry that the flash washed out the detail shot.

Quilt

Here is the mushroom piece finished. It was a photo of mushrooms I took in our yard and printed on fabric. I added net, cheesecloth, and hand stitching to the center. Then the strip piecing was done and finally the quilting with a variegated rayon thread to echo the centers of the mushrooms.

Now I'm heading over to http://fiberactions.blogspot.com/ to tell about my second discarded attempt at making a quilt to represent Initiative.

Knitting

Marie at http://zquilts.blogspot.com/ has been making fingerless gloves. They look cool, so I decided to try a pair. She told me that the pattern is at http://www.knitty.com/  It was a fun one with the cables but easy to do.

Winners

Micki and Jacq, I need your addresses to mail you the postcards. My email is sjandik@tds.net

Gifts, Class

Here's my final piece from Susan Sorrell's Fiber Collage class. It was a lot of fun. I had never whipped stitched a binding before but like the effect. Beads and stitching I always like to do. Yesterday a group of us got together and a dear friend gave us the little book and the card which is her original watercolor. I just love them.

Winners, Gifts

And the winners are:.....1. Vicki W.
                                    2. Micki
                                    3. Jacq
If you ladies would send me your address, I'll get the cards off to you this week. Vicki gets first choice, Micki second.

I was a winner too on C & T's blog and received the filagree pieces which will be perfect for altered books, journals, and jewelry. A lady in Ohio sent me the stamp block of the vintage looking Santa. I can hardly wait to try him in a book.

Crazy Quilt

For a change of pace, this is a purse I just finished. One of the first jobs I had in fiber was making people's needlepoint into a useable object. There was a petit point piece done in roses that I attached to a purse frame. The work was exquisite; the frame also had roses. That started me on the trail of finding purse frames and collecting purses when I could afford them. While in California, I often went to one store owned by a special lady. She gave me this frame. We have been back in the NW for 13 years, but I finally did something with it.The lace was white, so I painted it to blend into the piece better. It is hand embroidery and beading. I always have a crazy quilt project going with a block, threads, needles, and a scissors in a bag for grabbing when I need to go somewhere.

Remember on Monday I will draw a name for the postcards. Thanks to everyone who commented.

Calendar Girls, Gift

This is the calendar page Neki picked for our December inspiration. It looks like outer space to me.I used the Embellisher to felt down some wool roving, then machine embroidered a spiral in metallic thread. The clear beads are added by hand.

Yesterday was such a pleasant day. The sun was shining, I shopped at Michael's and then met a friend at Fabric Depot-Portland's store that is an acre of fabrics. Of course, I bought a couple of books-my obsession. We had a nice lunch, and she gave me a gift "just because...". It's rovings and silk tops in our favorite colors. I think I will use them for a background for a Bead Journal Project next year.