One step forward....and one step back

I don't know about you, but I often consult the color wheel (or a version thereof) when I'm stumped with where to go next with a project.  Oftentimes I haul it out when I want to know what fabric to use to border one of my landscapes and this time is no exception.  My favourite is the 'Ultimate 3-in-1 Color Tool' by Joen Wolfrom.  (published by C&T Publishing, ISBN 978-1-60705-235-7) and from it I learned (quite surprisingly!) that orange would be a great color to put against the blue sky in my landscape.  Orange??  Really???  I would never have come up with that idea on my own!!  So...a perusal of my stash of orange-ish fabrics turned up one what looked pretty good for creating a narrow inner border.  That worked.  And then.....then.....I did this.....

.....and thought adding a navy blue (and somewhat shiny) wider border would be perfect.

Not.  

Don't like it.

It's too safe....too predictable. 

(Resident Chef doesn't like it either)

So I have hauled out the stitcher's best friend

(better known as a ripper!) and we'll

see what happens next. 

- Beautiful embroidery (and an interview with the artist) HERE.

- There's a great tutorial HERE for adding beads to your knitting.

- Sometimes the simplest things turn out to be the best, as THIS little tip will attest!

- Some of THESE made me smile - hopefully you will enjoy them too.

- THIS is a rather cute idea - serviceable too. 

Today's quote..."Your life is your garden, your thoughts are the seeds.  If your life isn't awesome, you've been watering the weeds"

Some progress

There has been a small amount of progress on the latest landscape which I rather doubt is going to be too obvious in the photo....but....because I have nothing else to show you, this will have to do!  

The wall on the right side looks wobbly here,

but it IS straight!

- There's a great article HERE regarding cleaning old linens.

- I thought some of you might like THIS cute little tutorial - it's not for me though - lavender makes me sneeze.

- There are some fun ideas HERE for making projects using placemats.

- And HERE is an idea to recycle/upcycle a beloved t-shirt into something useful.  

I know it's a tad late to be making New Year's resolutions, but I came across this and thought you might enjoy it..."My 2019 New Year's resolution is to finish all my craft projects from 2018 that I should have done in 2017, after I started them in 2016 after buying the supplies for them in 2015 with the patterns I found in 2014"

Grateful

I hope all the mothers out there had a lovely Mother's Day weekend.  I was blessed to receive a beautiful bouquet of flowers, was taken out for breakfast, and the Resident Chef made me a special loaf of bread.  Pretty spoiled!

- Those of us who are on a diet will definitely appreciate THESE!

- HERE is a great tutorial for recycling (or upcycling!) a leather coat.  

- THESE fall under the category of just plain awwwwww.  

- One of THESE would be handy for in your car (perhaps to make for Father's Day??).

Today's quote..."One small crack does not mean that you are broken.  It means that you were put to the test and you didn't fall apart"

And......the obsession continues......

I really don't think my obsession is going to stop anytime soon because there are just far too many great buildings out there that want to be immortalized.  So....

The start of attempting to do this...

Original photo by John Phillips and used with his kind permission

- THIS falls under an 'oh wow' for eye candy!  Be sure you scroll down.

- For those who have family or friends that use walkers, perhaps making them one of THESE might be helpful. 

- HERE is a handy dandy (and cheap!) helper for machine quilters.

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY

TO THOSE WHO CELEBRATE
THIS WEEKEND!

The quote is from Mitch Albom... "Behind all your stories is always your mother's story, because hers is where yours begins"

For a little change of pace!

I really don't know what else a grandma is to do when confronted with evidence that her grandson just so happens to be in like with dinosaurs at the moment.  I don't know how a grandma wouldn't spend considerable time scouting out patterns to make one....or how a grandma wouldn't then spend time searching the internet to find a copy of the pattern.  Yes, how can a grandma NOT make one of these...

Pretty much every little boy likes T'Rex's, so this is my version, from a now out-of-print McCall's pattern # 2577.  Oh....and this guy just happens to measure just about two feet tall.

- If you are thinking about putting out yarn bits for the birds to use as nesting materials, perhaps you should read THIS post first.

- THESE would make beautiful additions to so many things!

- If you struggle with making neat corners when you're binding a quilt, check out THIS very comprehensive and well-illustrated post.

- Oh my goodness, feast your eyes on the astounding creations of THIS artist!!!!

Your quote for today..."You often feel tired, not because you've done too much, but because you've done too little of what sparks a light in you"

Kinda yeeewwwww....at least the process.

Sometimes my stash just does not yield what I'm searching for (really a surprise because most times it does!).  Anyway....I need some storm-ish looking sky for my next landscape and decided perhaps I could create my own.  I remembered playing around with shaving cream dyeing a number of years ago and thought it might just work for this.  A trip to the dollar store yielded the shaving cream and some more folk art paint.  Alas no 'proper' fabric dye available here OR in my stash.  So I goobered a bunch of shaving cream onto a garbage bag, mixed some paint with some rubbing alcohol and smeared it about on the cream using sponge paintbrushes.  Ever so scientific!!!

Shaving cream, awaiting paint

Forgot to take photo of paint, but this is the fabric lightly pressed down on top

The end result.

- THESE are a cute idea for any season of the year.

- Great information HERE for blocking your knitted (and crocheted) items.

- THIS is a cute wee pattern for a little one.

- I rather like the look of THESE.

- THIS link leads to over a hundred wallet patterns - several pages!

Another anonymous quote for you today..."When thinking about life, remember this...no amount of guilt can change the past, and no amount of anxiety can change the future"

Mystery solved!

And the mystery is solved!  Here is what I made using those two round robin crazy quilt blocks I showed you the other day.....

These two little zippered bags (using 11" square blocks as their base) are handy for so many things.  I recently purchased some nice short sock-knitting needles which I have discovered tend to go AWOL on occasion, so I decided a nice little bag to carry my sock project in might be something useful.  Not only did I get a couple of nice little bags but I used up two blocks that had been lurking in storage for far too long.  Definitely a win/win!!!  Even better?  Everything came from my stash!

- The San Francisco School of Needlework and Design has announced their new stitch-at-home challenge called 'Talismans' and you can find out more information HERE and the rules are HERE.

- It might be advisable to pour yourself a cuppa before you begin to peruse the links found HERE to at least 1200 bag patterns.  Have fun (and don't shoot the messenger!).

- Be prepared to be awed by the sheer teeny-tiny knitting found HERE.

- THIS is an interesting process to use up your tiny little fabric scraps.

Today the quote is from C.S. Lewis..."You can't go back and change the beginning, but you can start where you are and change the ending"