MAGPIE'S MUMBLINGS

A blog about my interests, which include fabric landscapes and various and assorted other artsy pursuits and sometimes known to contain mumblings of a random nature.

Tuesday, March 28, 2017

More fillers



Above you can get a better look at the flower beads
and below you can see the word I choose for this
block.




Today your quote is from Budda.... "What is the difference between "I like you" and "I love you"?  Beautifully answered by Budda...When you like a flower, you just pluck it.  But when you love a flower, you water it daily.  One who understands this, understands life"




Monday, March 27, 2017

Filling, but not fattening!


Over the weekend I started working on the fillers for Block 5 of the courtship series...







I can't share these patterns with you because they aren't truly mine.  As you can see from the picture above, I've stuck to my plan of having a rose on each block, and from the picture to the right you can see that I've also included the heart.  
You'll see the word I used in my next post.



Today your quote is from Mandy Hale... "You don't always need a plan.  Sometimes you just need to breathe, trust, let go and see what happens"




Friday, March 24, 2017

Little seams

Today I finished up three little seam areas on Block 5....




And here are the patterns... (cross stitches and straight stitches made up each of these).  





Mumblings...

- If you are attempting to crochet in the round and have problems getting your project to life flat, there's a very helpful chart regarding increases HERE.

- Although THIS is geared towards crocheters in the link, I know knitters will find it useful too.  I'm always searching for an easy way to join yarns and this one might just work.

- I know we're coming into spring in this part of the world, but there are places that are contemplating winter, so I thought I'd give you the link to a cozy warm shawl pattern HERE.

Today your quote is from an anonymous source..."Treat everyone with politeness, even those who are rude to you; not because they are not nice but because YOU are"


Thursday, March 23, 2017

Just one

Today I have just one seam treatment completed to show you (and at that I'm not quite sure that it IS complete - jury is still out!)....


This one is straight stitches (black); lazy daisies (green) and I used flower beads and seed beads to finish it off.  You could use French knots if you like.


Today your quote is from T. Gaskins..."You teach people how to treat you by what you allow, what you stop, and what you reinforce"





Wednesday, March 22, 2017

It seems there's more seams

I finally got back to stitching on my courtship blocks and completed two more seams to show you...


This one is cross stitches (black and red; straight stitches (yellow); and lazy daisies (green).  





Cross & Straight stitches (black and green); rice and seed beads.







Today your quote is from Rumi...."Yesterday I was clever, so I wanted to change the world.  Today I am wise, so I am changing myself"






Friday, March 17, 2017

I'm late!

Yes, I'm late to post today but better late than never (or maybe you think never might be preferable?).  Anyway...

Here's another seam treatment for whatever number courtship block I'm currently working on...





I have NO idea where that line appeared from!!





For reasons unknown, Blog-grrrr has decided to be a pain, and will not let me do anything I want it to do, so this post is going to be a crap shoot I fear!

As I would have liked to say above, the seam treatment is done using blanket stitch (black); straight stitches (green) and is woven with a metallic thread (pink).

The quote of the day is from Sandra Kring..."The next time you decide to unclutter your life and clean up your space, start with the things that are truly useless:  Like regrets, shame and anger"


Wednesday, March 15, 2017

Toast.....


....kaput, expired, done for, cadaverous, lifeless, departed, bit the dust, finished, obsolete, terminated, snuffed out and downright dead.

Yes, my beloved Janome sewing
machine has expired.
The dearly departed died of natural
causes after an unfortunate accident
involving a sudden contact 
with the floor.

The departed is resting in pieces.

We will now have a moment of silence.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

On the bright side a lovely box came home with me today - inside was this....


She's a lovely little Bernette 20 by Bernina.

and just have a peek at this...


There are sixty (60!!!!) different stitch
functions on this little beauty - at least
twice as many as my dearly-departed
Janome.  

Even better?  
She was on sale for a great price!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Today's quote is from Oliver Wendell-Holmes:  "Take your needle, my child, and work at your pattern; it will come out a rose by and by.  Life is like that - one stitch at a time taken patiently and the pattern will come out all right like the embroidery"


Tuesday, March 14, 2017

On cheese and whine



Who was to know that my much-beloved Janome sewing machine would decide that it would be fun to take a nose dive onto the floor and bounce around a bit?  Who was to know that said machine really wanted a holiday and decided that doing push ups on the floor was too much and flatly refuse to work?


Cuss.

Who me??



No matter - I have a back-up machine.  Wrestled it onto the table and cleaned it up.  Watched in utter amazement as the belt shredded itself before my very eyes.


Cuss.

Who me???

So - as I said - a little cheese with 
my whine would be welcome.

Thank you.

And just to prove that I've been doing something beyond breaking sewing machines, how about these...


The dress pattern is from HERE and the hat is from HERE  (I added the flower).  It still needs buttons for the back closure and I think I'll add one to the middle of the flower too.

Monday, March 13, 2017

Knitting content - who knew?

Yes, something else besides crazy quilting does happen here at Chez Magpie, and here's some proof....


These little charmers are going along with two baby gifts I've been putting together - one for a wee boy and the other for a little girl.  They're knitted using sock yarn and the pattern can be found HERE.  

We're battening down the hatches and laying in supplies - the weather man (rot his socks) is insisting that the biggest snow storm of the season is headed our way.  I'm so done with winter!!

 My current project on the needles is to make one of these...


 It's one of the Mary Maxim kits made from super bulky yarn and is a special request from our #2 son.  Of course he's the one that's 6'8" so there will have to be lots of extra length added!

Today, instead of a quote, I have this...



Friday, March 10, 2017

Block 5 begins


Finally got some time to stitch and completed a couple of the seams for block five...


Straight stitches, lazy daisies, cross stitches and either French knots or beads.



Straight stitches, cross stitches & lazy daisies. 







Today's quote is from Marjorie Pay Hinckley...."The trick is to enjoy life.  Don't wash away your days, waiting for better ones ahead"






Thursday, March 09, 2017

Mundaneness reigns supreme

And yes, I know that 'mundaneness' is not in any version of a dictionary, but it fits so I'm usin' it.  So there.

Why would one want to see pictures of sock mending,  Ancestry researching, car riding and lunch and coffee.  Yeah...my life was on SUCH an exciting trajectory the past few days.  

Tuesday, March 07, 2017

This is the final filler section on block four...


And here is the completed block...




Mumblings of the day...

- THIS tutorial shows  a mini-ironing board that looks like it would be a great addition to a sewing space.  HERE's one that's even less work to create.

- HERE's a really interesting shawl pattern that would be perfect to use up some stash yarns.  And HERE's another really pretty one!

- Baby shoes should ALL be THIS cute!!

- There's a great post HERE about how to set your sewing machine up for thread drawing.

Today the quote is from George Carlin..."Trying to be happy by accumulating possessions is like trying to satisfy hunger by taping sandwiches all over your body"







Friday, March 03, 2017

Final fillers for Block 4


Each block will have a rose, a heart, 
and a word reflecting courtship.





Today your quote is from an anonymous source..."These are NOT grey hairs!  They are my wisdom highlights.  I just happen to be extremely wise."


Thursday, March 02, 2017

More fillers

I'm now working at the 'fillers' (for lack of a better term!) for Block Four.  







Today your quote is from Maya Angelou..."My mission in life is not merely to survive, but to thrive; and to do so with some passion, some compassion, some humor, and some style"