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.

Monday, May 30, 2011

quilts....

This past weekend our local quilt guild had their big show and I took a few pictures of some of my favourites to share with you.  I'll post some today and will post the rest later in the week.  The guild has well over 200 members and is quite active in the community.  I was a member for a number of years, but finally gave it up in favour of having more time at home to create.  Hope you enjoy seeing some of the show...





Saturday, May 28, 2011

Art Doll - Coolaberation - 'Onoma'

I just finished working on the last doll in the 2010 Coolaberation and I'm sad that the fun is over.  The last doll I received is 'Onoma', a being from outer space who just happens to be suffering from amnesia.  Onoma never did have a specific gender and I assume is neither or perhaps is both!!

This is Onoma...


Onoma arrived pretty much complete, so it was hard to know what to add.
After much contemplation and some prompting from Onoma,
I decided to emphasize the width of his/her shoulders and
added the silver-covered doweling, along with the
metal 'tassels'....

Onoma has a very interesting waistline so I
added some copper embellishments...

Finally, Onoma spied a set of glasses
in my stash and was quite sure
they were ones that were lost
on his/her last visit to earth.

Who am I to argue?

Then, it was on to work in the
journal...
Page One....
The quote I found is by Marcel Proust and reads "When nothing else subsists from the past, after the people are dead, after the things are broken and scattered, the smell and taste of things remain poised a long time, like souls, bearing resiliently, on tine and almost impalpable drops of their essence, the immense edifice of memory."   The reason I chose this particular quote is because the story line that goes along with Onoma states that she/he keeps smelling a particular odor which is a reminder of something just outside the memory.

Page Two (above) and Page Three & Four (below)


As I said before I'm sad to have this round robin end.  It's been such a great learning experience to play with such talented artists and to have to stretch my own creativity to try to keep up with the talent this group has. A big thank you has to go to Gail who organized us and kept us on track and also to all my fellow artists who have taught me so much. 








Thursday, May 26, 2011

Crazy quilt book available!

I'm happy to announce that
my friend Pam Kellogg  has
just made available 
Volume 2 of her
'ELEGANT CRAZY QUILT SEAM TREATMENTS'!!

This volume is just as great as Volume 1 and I am happy to say I have downloaded my copy and can't wait to play with some of her wonderful charted borders.  Pam says there is a third volume in the works too, and I know I'll be ordering a copy as soon as it becomes available.

Go to her site HERE
for further information!!

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Mumblings



  Our house is now on the market so we are having to live like we're in a magazine spread at all times in case we need to clear out for a showing.  Not the funnest of occupations, but necessary if we plan to move.  Several people have commented that we won't want to leave now that it looks so nice - hah - it's going to be a huge relief to get out from under all the WORK!!!

 Yard sale is planned for this Saturday - anyone want to take odds on whether or not it will rain??

Monday, May 16, 2011

Proud Mother of the Groom!!


Our handsome son and his beautiful bride



It was a beautiful wedding.


Our family,
Jack, Julia, RJ, Winnie, Shawn and me.

Congratulations Julia and RJ
may your lives be long and happy!!

Monday, May 09, 2011

ARGHHHHHH!!

Do you know that old children's song that starts out with "I am slowly going crazy; slowly crazy am I going; 6-5-4-3-2-1; switch"? 

Yep, that's me.

Called in the real estate today to start the process of selling our house and, as we feared, we were told that we would get much better offers if we were to cover up the fact that the hardwood floor in the living/dining room is worn with a nice new carpet. 
ARGH!!!!!!

So, we hared down to the carpet store and picked out some cheap carpet and they will install same on Wednesday.

I can hear you saying, well, what's so bad about that?
 
What is bad about that is that new carpeting means that the quarter round has to be removed.  AND, that, in turn, leads to having to repaint the baseboards....again.  

AND, to make matters worse, I've already thrown out my painting clothes!!!!!!!!

W-A-H!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!




Wednesday, May 04, 2011

Veil for a bride

I'm not sure this is what Julia was envisioning or even if it is going to fit but, for now, this is the veil!

Monday, May 02, 2011

Something fun!

I'm switching gears for a little while this week and concentrating on something I love doing and that's creating something in crazy quilting!  Most of you know that both our boys are getting married and one of the weddings is May 14th and I needed to get busy on the crazy quilted clutch purse I'm making for Julia.  Today I sat down and actually finished it and had a totally good time doing it too!

Here is the front....





and the back...




Clicking on the pictures should embiggen them for you!

Now I'm on to making a birdcage veil (wish me luck).