More Cards

Since I had everything out, I decided to make more cards.

 I added bling centers to these.

Now I should be set for a while.

Quilt

A friend gave me the Japanese silk piece quite a while ago. I stabilized it by hand quilting around the motifs with batting behind. The buttons just wanted to be on it.

At least I could show her at quilt group that I'd done something with it.

Holiday

Merry Christmas to all who celebrate it. I hope Santa was good to you.

Quilting

 I had a cotton Yukata print and decided it was time to use it. It seemed to need a quiet setting, so I used the cordless piping to set it off and a simple border.

The hand stitching is done with my hand painted threads.

Cards

I was running low on cards, so I made some more yesterday.

I decided that since I had a Xyron and a Sizzix Big Shot, I should use them. I learned a lot about which worked for this and which didn't.

I'll add text when I know what the card will be used for.

Knitting

 I'm taking the Sweetheart Shawl class at www.craftsy.com and this is the first one I've knitted. Kristin Omdahl has designed 3 for the class. Hers has 3 ruffles but I stopped at one.

I used a machine knitting cone yarn that I have, so there are no joins of thread to worry about. It's as soft and light as a feather.

Stitchery, Beading

I took Christen Brown's Reticule class at www.joggles.com and this is one side of the purse I made.

The color is better in the side photo, but I'm a terrible photographer and can't seem to get enough interest in it to learn how to do it right.

 

It was a fun class and now I have a new addition for my purse wall.

Knitting

My husband wanted a knit hat that was extra long, so he could double it up over his ears. The decreasing is a method I learned during the knit hat class at www.craftsy.com

Crazy Quilt

I took Christen Brown's Crazy Quilt class from www.joggles.com   Her geometric piece appealed to me. I've always done an irregular background.

 As the details show, I like to stitch.

I also like to bead.

This was a good project to do by the wood stove.

Now I have to decide what to do with it. I'm a process person, so that's what is important to me.

Bead Journal Project

The last Bead Journal Project piece matches the weather and my feeling cold even though it's not that bad in the Pacific NW.

The stone is a polished slice that I bought at a rock show. I tried to echo the lines in the piece out into the background. The two fabrics I used are batiks.

Quilt

This quilt is based on a pattern using a focus fabric and surrounding it with strips. The strips are my hand dyes.  Vicki Welsh put the plan on Three Creative Quilters website when it was still running. I really like the idea. Those special prints need to be featured. It has gone to the nursing home.

Knitting

These are the wristlets I knit from the www.craftsy.com class on Broomstick crochet. They have broomstick lace as the insertions and the top edge and reach the elbow. I knit them to match a hat. They are acrylic but look and feel like wool. Dealing with all the animals around here, my clothes have to be washable.

Art Squared

The word this time for the Challenge was Element. The site to check the others out is

 http://artsquaredgroup.blogspot.com

To me it meant the elements on the periodical table(my minor is physical science). The circles means elements joined together to make various compounds.

The detail shows the shisha and beading on blue wool. These were applied to the batik and the edges beaded. The quilting is irregular to show how element and compounds fly in every direction.

Knitting

Here's the end of a scarf I knitted that was a pattern and yarn given to me by a close friend. This shows the pattern of lace and cables. It was fun to knit but a challenge. She's a beginning knitter and was told by the clerk that this pattern wouldn't be too hard for her!!! The pattern is very pretty; the yarn was lovely to work with even though it took size 3 US needles.

Purse Wall

 I had a request to show my purse wall again. My studio is in a daylight basement,  and this is the stairway to it.  I really need to expand to somewhere else!

 One of the quilt group ladies made necklace holders for all of us. I used mine for purses.

My California friend sent this one, as we are an animal farm here!

Another friend gave me this vintage one. She knows I love dogs.

This one I found in a garage sale. I don't go to many of them, but this find was worth the stop.

Gift

A friend was cleaning things out and found these purses which she gave to me to add to my collection. They are on my purse wall. What a wonderful gift!

Quilt

I finally got to work and quilted one of the tops that is going to the nursing home. I love to plan and piece them but not so much the quilting.

The prints are screen prints that I bought in Florida more years ago than I'd like to think about. It's good that they finally found a home. The quilt is about 40" by 48".

Collage

http://branchesbudsandblossomsfabriccollage.blogspot.com/

 

The link  should take you to the site of Deborah Boschert for an online class in fabric collage. 

I really liked her method of doing collage and am pleased with how mine turned out. It a method I will try again.

 

Quilt

I had so many blocks left from the last 4 patch top(25) that I made another top. To make it big enough for a lap quilt for the nursing home, I bordered it with the leftover fabric.

Now looking at it on the computer, I like it better than the main top. The grid seems to float on the background.

Beads

 Portland Bead Society had their annual sale the beginning of the month, and I went with a friend. It's a big sale with lots of vendors. Unfortunately, there weren't as many shoppers as other years.

I just buy the things that catch my fancy.

Bead Journal Project

Here is November's Bead Journal Project. The year is almost over.

Here's the center. In my picture file the beads are blue like they really are-don't know why they look red here.

Arat and Soul

The last class I took at Portland's Art and Soul was the Safari Book taught by Barbara Rainey. What fun since my totem animal is an Elephant.

The black animals are T shirt transfers. The stamp I made. I used up an assortment of beads that have been sitting around here waiting for the right projects. Some are ones I made in class, some wooden, some glass.

Beading

I tried a bracelet in Right Angle Weave and am not sure I like it. It seems too delicate. Right now I'm into jewelry that makes a statement. The closure is a button and a bead loop.

Quilt

I tried that quilt formula from Joe Cummingham's class at www.craftsy.com using 4 colors this time but only a little of the bright yellow.

It will be a great charity quilt, if I only get around to quilting it and all the other tops that are around here!

Art and Soul

Jill Berry taught the Sea Monster class at Portland's Art and Soul this fall. Her idea was for us to try as many different types of paper with as many media as time allowed. She put together these books are part of the kit-lots of work I know but very appreciated by me.

This is one looking through various sheer papers to see images in the different layers.

These are just a few of the pages in the book.

After the page is decorated, the top is cut around the sea monster, so it stands above the page and multiple ones show at once.

Another good class.

Art and Soul

The first class I took this year was from Ingrid Dijkers and called Twirly Swirly for all the swirls we put in.  

This is the back cover.

The Swirl comes off the page as you open it.

The foldout is a swirl too.

This one is a pocket made from a special piece of decorated paper. Four of us used to visit a friend in a retirement community and sometimes do projects with her. This time we did something to paper for 5 minutes then passed it to the next person. At the end we divided all 5 pieces up, so we each had some from everyone. The page is memories of Judy.