Update on black crazy quilt project

I'm stitching away on this project and here you can see the progress so far.  The cat was, at one time, an earring.  I had Jack drill a tiny hole in each eye (ouch!!) so I could attach it with beads.  The 'Prada' metal tag was from a pair of jeans I picked up at the thrift store.  The gingko leaf was a to-my-stash-from-Arlee's-stash giftie from awhile back.  Thanks SIS!  ***updated to add:  I lied, the 'Prada' tag wasn't from a pair of jeans!  It was from a second-hand purse I was gifted with.  oops.***

As usual, you can click on the image to embiggin if you so desire.

Very weird - in more ways than one!

I have been struggling with trying to get Blog-grrrrr to load pictures and after much trial and error I have managed to get these two to work (I hope).  

Problem is - I have NO earthly idea of what I've done to get them here!!

Anyway...

Firstly - the second part of the 'weirdness' of this post....

What do you suppose this might be??

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And, below is the picture I was trying to load yesterday.

Some of the goodies I might be including in

my black crazy quilt project.

grrrrrr.....

Blog-grrrrrr is having 'issues' and won't let me post pictures today. 

Hopefully the powers-that-be 

will fix it?

Please?

Crazy quilting and duct tape

Yes, this post is all about crazy quilting and duct tape!

One has absolutely nothing to do with the other,

but it's what I feel like talking about today.

First of all, a discussion about mannequins came up on Arlee's blog the other day and I remembered having seen this tutorial online for making your own life-sized version.  It would be perfect for those of you who are dressmakers, but also for the artists who would like to use it in other ways.  Go  HERE 

Today I waffled on a couple of different projects I have been wanting to start.  I wanted to play with white, but instead....

OOPS!

How did THAT get started???

Oh well, you'll just have to stay tuned to see

what on earth I'm busy doing now!

Done, done and would you believe....

DONE!!!!

It ended up being larger than I expected, but not quite enough to cover the entire bed.

I had planned on it being just a 'throw' to go across the bottom

(there's a name for them these days, but it escapes me).

Anyway...

Used up all but a few little pieces of the velvet 

AND also a large length of flannelette I had

residing in my stash.

Definitely a win/win!!

Growing....

All I can say is that the throw/quilt is growing bit by bit. 

New project...and boxes of food

Yesterday I started on my next project, which is to make a quilt of sorts to throw over our bed using up a box of velvet scraps I was gifted with.  A number of the pieces were already cut into 3 1/2 x 7" pieces so I chose to continue with that sizing and cut up the rest.  Now I'm just sewing them together into strips and building the quilt as I go.  Here's an example of what I'm doing...

Not bad, for something that hasn't cost me anything!

The backing will be leftover pieces of flannelette, most likely pieced together to 

fit the final size of the blanket.

We recently discovered that our community has a wonderful program whereby people can purchase a large box of local produce (or at least in-season) for a really reasonable sum.  We miss the goodies we used to get from our garden, so we decided we'd try it out.  Yesterday we picked up our first box...

 

Not a bad haul for $15!!

And, it comes with recipes too!

White cloth - part three

 There you go, 

the end of posting about cloth # 1!

Hope you're not TOO tired of it, 

because, guess what?

I'm soon going to start another one!!

Yummies and a hackin' good time

Yesterday we had a family get together and these were a couple of consumables that we oinked out on...

Carrot cake and raspberry cream pie.

Definitely an oink oink moment!!

 

I spent my day today hacking this big box full of velvet scraps into 3 1/2" x 7" pieces with the thought in mind of making a throw for the bottom of our bed.  The box of scraps was gifted to me so the price is certainly right!  I refuse to spend any money on this project so will have to see what my stash might yield for the backing when the time comes.  It may just end up being pieced too!

And now, for something radically different....

First of all, I missed the proper TUSAL posting day (what else is new!!)....so here is mine...

and here's my jar to date...

Don't forget, if you want to know more about TUSAL,

there's a link on my sidebar.

AND,

here's the something different...

I saw a picture of one of these and decided it would be a perfect

addition to sit beside my chair and hold my knitting

supplies.  So enter my friend, who has a very handy-hubby.

He created the wooden frame and I did the

crazy quilted bag out of (what else) denim.

There are a couple of things I would change if

I were making it again, but all in all,

it's pretty darned perfect!

I will return on Monday with part three (and the final installment)
of the white cloth.

 

Part Two of Done, Done and Done....

They're all clickable to embiggen if you'd like...

Today is a stay-at-home-and-look-outside day....this morning when we got up we couldn't see out our windows because they are totally covered in a sheet of ice.  Methinks that much ice on windows must translate into pretty treacherous conditions outside. Did somebody forget to notify the person in charge that it's SUPPOSED to be spring??  Good thing I planned to stay home and sew!!

DONE.....DONE.....and (are you ready for this????)......DONE!!!!!!!!!!!!

My white cloth is done!

My white cloth is done!!

Let the bells ring out!!!!!!!!!

This afternoon I put the final stitch into my white cloth

which has been over a year in the making.

A HUGE, LARGE, GIGANTIC

thank you to Karen Ruane 

who taught and inspired me

in the 2012 Embroider, Embellish, Create class

and on a daily basis on her blog.   

Here is the end result...

   (isn't that a HORRIBLE picture?  but the light is awful today)

And here are a few close-ups
(click to embiggen if you so desire)...

These pictures are all from the left side of the cloth.

Over the next couple of days I will show you more.

Now I can't wait to start another one!!!!!!!!!

Points of the prairie sort - and swelled heads

Today, after a week of non-stitching activity around these parts, I managed to find some time to get back to working on my white cloth and these pictures show the results...

There's a section of seven prairie points on one of the outside edges of my cloth and I'm working at decorating them.  For those of you who might (key word is *might*!!) be interested, the stitches I've used here include the Pekinese; Pearl;  Up and Down Blanket; Basque; and Armenian Edging.

As for the swelled head part of this post, I was just at the local library and was stoked to find that my book was shown in a special 'local authors' display.  I was totally surprised and feel quite honoured.  For those of you that don't remember, I typed and had published the daily diary of my 3xgreat grandfather and gave a copy to the local library in case some poor soul might happen to be interested in reading it.  I'm currently working on the diaries of my 2xgreat uncle with the plan of having them published too. 

Asking for help!!

I'm wrestling with a dilemma here and I need some input and hopefully some guidance towards what I'm looking for.  What better folk to ask than my loyal reader(s)???

Anyway....the issue is this.....I'm searching for embroidery stitch instructions.  Yes, I know....I have lots of books that have them BUT (and here's where I am running into a problem) I am unable to copy and use them because of copyright laws.  I have been asked to teach a workshop on embroidery in the near future and I really need to come up with a good, clearly illustrated handout to teach from.  There are plenty of places on the internet to downloud stitch instructions (some of them legal, and others not-so-much) but I want to be absolutely certain I'm not breaking any laws. 

I know there are great instructions from generous souls like Sharon B and Mary Corbett and I have no doubt they would willingly give their permission, however I want something that is concise (perhaps two or three pages of instruction at the most) and inclusive of the basic stitches.

Anybody have any suggestions??  Thanks in advance!

Edging on white cloth

The white cloth is almost finished, but I'm not going to reveal it all until it is.  In the meantime, here are some closeups of some of the edging I've been putting on...

It's a good day to stitch, because outside it's alternating between sun and huge and heavy flakes of snow...at times I can't even see the river for the snow.  It's the first of April so bring on spring!!