I made something!

 Wow.  I actually bestirred myself and made something!  Remember me sending you to THIS in my last post?  Well, I made one and here it is, holding sock yarn that is earmarked for a special request for four pairs of socks for next Christmas....

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A message for Sherry of Creatology...
the email address I have for you no longer
works.  Could you contact me? Thanks!

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- If you have need of a quick baby quilt, perhaps THIS design might be perfect.

- THESE would be a cute make for Valentine's Day!

- THIS made me laugh!

- You know those little silica gel packets you sometimes get?  HERE are some uses for them!

- THIS made me smile too (scroll down for some more cuties).

- THIS is really pretty.

Pondering....

 Further on the higher and deeper pile of landscapes, I'm toying with having a half price sale on them to see if I can move a few out of my storage.  My issue with that, however, is how to receive payment.  Awhile ago I set myself up with a PayPal account and used it a few times.  Sadly it was always a huge fight with them to try to get my money out of their hot little hands.  I resorted to using the money I'd received as payments towards things I wanted to purchase - all through PayPal.  But....they didn't want to let me do that either.  It was a battle royal through and through.  

Has anybody had experience of setting up an online bank account and accepting payments via that avenue?  E-transfer  I think it's called?? I have NO clue how to go about such a thing and quite truthfully am leery about online banking in any form (to say nothing about the fact that the RC would be chirping about how unsafe it is and is dead set against me doing such a thing).  

What say you?

- I found THIS interesting, but that could be because I've always been fascinated with miniatures.  Have you seen the book nook designs out there?  I might just succumb to one, but which one is the question.

- For some reason THESE caught my eye.

- If you'd like to make a quick project for Valentine's Day, perhaps one of THESE might be what you're searching for.

- I think I might make myself one of THESE.  And I like THIS by the same creator.

- Those of you who might be interested in paper piecing might find THESE designs interesting - and a big challenge.

- I was mesmerized watching THIS artist at work.  How simple and yet how incredibly beautiful.

Today's quote..."You have a choice each and every single day.  Choose to feel blessed.  Choose to feel grateful.  Choose to be excited.  Choose to be thankful.  Choose to be happy."

Dissatisfaction....boredom.....

 Here at Chez Magpie life goes on with nary a blip in the creative radar.  I'm boring myself.  I love making landscapes but I'm in a rut and fear that I'm backing myself into a creative corner with much of what I'm doing being the same ol' thing.  I've always tried to challenge myself with a new technique somewhere on each landscape but they still come out looking much the same as the others.  Yawn-worthy to the extreme.

The pile grows ever higher and, after over two years of not a single sale, makes me truly wonder if what I'm doing is worthwhile.  Over the past year I've done a number of trunk shows and some teaching gigs and there IS money to be had there...but....the necessary travel to get to the various locations is not something I'm able to do at this stage in my life.  And...before you say it....no, teaching online is NOT something I'm even remotely willing to consider.  

Bottom line is - if I don't do landscapes, what should I do instead.  Quilts are not something I have the space to either do...or store.  Wallhangings, although doable size-wise, are just going to pile up on top of the landscapes.  I'm not a painter so that's not on my radar either.  I don't have room to add more stash so can't consider getting into something like rug hooking or anything done with wool.  Perhaps I need to consider making smaller landscapes.

Yep, Magpie is in a funk.  

The Resident Chef, however, is having fun
playing with jigsaw puzzles.  Our oldest 'grandie'
gave him this one for Christmas...

- Some of you might find THIS block-of-the-month to be a fun project to undertake for 2025.  

- HERE is something that looks like it would be fun to make.

- Have a peek at the incredible work of THIS artist!

- I'm sorry I can't find the origin of THIS but I think it's a great use for old books.

Today's quote..."There is not enough room in your mind for both worry and faith.  You must decide which one gets to live there"

A goopy mess?!

 In case you're curious about how I do my shaving cream fabric dyeing, here's a wee tutorial on the process I use...

- you need some white fabric - some would say it should be the 'Prepared for Dyeing' stuff, but I don't bother.  I just use white fabric.

- shaving cream - the cheap foaming kind from the dollar store

- paint - I use cheap acrylic folk art paint from the dollar store - several colours that are indicative of a moody fall sky (maybe 3 different ones)

- plastic to cover two different tables

- a large paint brush

- a straight edge, preferably plastic (I use a 12" ruler)

- paper towels and a large garbage bag

Cover both your table surfaces with plastic...I like to tape down the edges here and there with some masking tape to keep it from moving too much.  Make sure your fabric is good and damp (not sopping wet but really damp).  Cover one plastic surface with shaving cream and spread it around.  You want it to be between 1/4 and 1/2" thick.  Squirt paint here and there, varying the colours you use.  Then, very scientifically, use the large paint brush to move it around so that it looks like it might look like sky.  Don't worry about leaving a few white areas. (see, told you it was a scientific process!!).  Carefully lay your damp fabric on top and press lightly with your hands to make sure it has connected with the paint.  Pick it up by one long edge and move to your other plastic-covered table (be careful here because walking too fast means the fabric will plaster itself to your clothes...and don't drop it either!).  Here's where a second person might be handy to help you lay it flat onto your table.  Use the straight edge to scrape the surface to remove as much of the shaving cream/paint as possible.  Use a paper towel to clean the straight edge into the garbage bag.  Allow the entire thing to dry.  Rinse carefully and allow to dry.  Press with a hot iron to set the paint.  That's all there is to it!  Sometimes I will rinse it once again, dry and press.  When I get time to muck about, I'll share pictures.  

- I thought THIS was rather pretty.

- If you have a bunch of leftover yarns, perhaps THIS design might be a great use for them.

- THIS might be a fun project too.

- THIS is wonderful tuturial for a beautiful project for yourself or for use as a gift throughout the year.

Today's quote..."Sometimes the best thing that you can do is not think, not wonder, not imagine, not obsess. Just breathe and have faith that everything will work out for the best"

Just a stitchin' away

 I have unpicked all the embroidery on the border of the landscape and am in the process of re-stitching it.  Rather yawn-worthy to show you another picture of basically the same thing  you saw in my previous post.  Even my evening knitting is boring because I'm working on another pair of socks.  More of the same.  

My fabric order arrived and there's now some white that I can hopefully turn into 'winter sky' for landscapes.  I anticipate a day of pretty big m-e-s-s as I squirt shaving cream and paint all over the table and then slop it onto fabric.  Very scientific process overall.  Good thing I don't have to do it very often!

- If you're interested in seeing a big list of possible quilt challenges for 2025, have a peek HERE.

- Sharon Boggon is once again running her free TAST (Take A Stitch Tuesdays) and if you're wanting to either learn some new embroidery stitches or brush up on ones you don't use often, perhaps you might like to join in.  Go HERE for further info.

- Those of you who are drowning in UFO piles, perhaps reading THIS article will spark an idea (scroll down to get it all).  The adoption plan sounds promising!  And while you're at it, perhaps there might be some tips HERE that would be useful.

- THIS might be a fun design to think about for Valentine's Day.

Today's quote..."We live in a time where intelligent people are being silenced so that stupid people won't be offended"

Sometimes even I am aghast at how anal I can be

 Remember the landscape I was working on waaaaay back in October?  Well, I've picked it up again and am currently working on embroider/quilting the border.  For some reason I had a wild hare that it would be a smart idea to hand stitch an embroidery design using waste canvas.  The embroidery part isn't so much...but....now I have to remove all that canvas, thread by thread.  Just to refresh your memory, here's how it looked back in October....

Since then it's been quilted and I've added embroidered grasses around the tractor and the trunk of the tree.  Also spent far too many hours painting and fussy cutting maple leaves which have been added.  

Terrible picture!  You can just see
the waste canvas along the edges 
and perhaps can see some of the stitching 

And.....just to prove how anal I can be....and after hand stitching 2 1/2 sides of the border, I'm thinking about tearing it out and starting over.  I'm not happy with how I centered the design.  Will I...or won't I....or will I figure a go-round.  Only time will tell! (UPDATED:  I thought about it and ended up tearing it out and will begin again).

- I need to make one of THESE!!  Our door has a gap at the bottom that lets in the cold.

- THIS is an awwwww -worthy thing!

- I've seen THESE made of paper but not fabric...interesting.

- There are some fun ideas HERE for using paper bags (some Christmas-y but most are not).

Today's quote is a Turkish proverb..."When a clown moves into a palace, he doesn't become a king.  The palace becomes a circus"

('nuff said)

The Grande Hat Caper of 2024

 I am pleased to announce that my stash of bulky yarn is practically nil and the end result is these hats destined for donation (two are made using worsted weight)...

I refuse to admit that the space that once was taken by bulky yarn has been replaced with loopy yarn that will ultimately be turned into kitchen scrubbies.  No, I won't admit to anything of the kind.  

- Many of us undertake to downsize our 'stuff' after Christmas and I must admit I have read more than my fair share of organization how-to books, none of which have really proven to be overly useful.  However, I have discovered one approach that really does work (I've read her books as well) and thought I'd point you to THIS blog post from her that I find to be exactly what I need to hear.

- Although Christmas is over there are lots of gift ideas HERE that would be useful any time of the year.

- There's tons of amazing eye candy if you go HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE, and HERE.

- THIS is something you might like to take part in over the next few months.

- If you're contemplating doing a 'temperature' project over the next year, perhaps one of the designs found HERE would be what you need.

Today your quote is from Albert Einstein..."Everything that exists in your life does so because of two things:  something you did or something you didn't do"