Sanity-Saving-Stitching

Greetings Monday! What a difference a week can make.
Today I woke up and was able to sit at my new computer and feel quite at home -- my morning ritual of coffee and checking what is happening -- seeing familiar screens and having them work... makes me feel very grateful.

Last week the bulk of work bringing in new pcs in to replace recently crashed systems began in earnest, and it was right around Wed. when I knew I needed some Sanity-Saving-Stitching.

A design recently worked up was kind of tucked into my bag as I left the house. A quick trip to the depot & the design was enlarged, ready to go -- awaiting only that stack of yummy fabrics.

The process began and little by little the time was taken to cut, stitch and trim my way to this quilt top. It was inspired from my Caribbean trip --- way back in March, and some fabrics purchased then along with others found closer to home. I can hardly wait to start the quilting and embellishing!

Hope you enjoy the quilt top - process pics & a few of the trip photos that left me wanting to have some of this wonderful color around me always.

 

..and yes, this is all being typed up on my new laptop!

Stitching On!
~Rose

Infinite Possibilities

Bouquets of sharpened pencils...

a line from You've Got Mail that always strikes home.
Admittedly I am an office supply junkie -- I love walking the aisles and finding all the new & old favs tucked away on the shelves.
Infinite Possibilities.

Last week as I shopped for new computers I was held captive in the school supply section.
So much color,
so many fun designs -
empty notebooks, with untold blank pages waiting to be filled!

 

 

 

these are the ones I just couldn't live without!

With stuff calling my name from every direction I still managed to get out pretty clean.

Though, there was an item that just screamed -
take me home --
turn me into a 'BACK TO SCHOOL SPECIAL'
for ... all of YOU!

So, stay tuned --
the BTSS will 1st be making its appearance in my August Newsletter!

'til then

Beyond the 5-Minute Drawing

Welcome to Monday! A new week...
I'm ready for a clean start this week, for last week was filled with techno ups & downs.

My phone, seemingly on it's last breath was resurrected...
Then Friday my desktop computer refused to start - turned out to be DEAD,
This changed a play-filled weekend of fabric transformation, with tech shopping.
While I love 'the stuff' shopping for new 'stuff' just has never been fun. Luckily things came together and somewhere in the house (as I type) a new desktop is finding its home.

The fabric plans for the weekend --
they'll be slowly worked in to bits of time over the next few days.

I did manage to get to creating the drawing that I envisioned from one of my 5-minute drawings.
Boardwalk - from a couple of weeks ago - got me wandering along in the Caribbean
I had purchases some fun fabrics while cruising in March --
and found perfect (really perfect) fabric to go with it from Cherrywood in April......

well, you tell me --
do you think I might be on the right track
Here's my more extensive drawing --
and the fabrics!

Next step -- enlarge and prepare the pattern.
(I think I can sneak in time for that)

Wishing you a creatively, productive week!

~Rose

Summer-Words 5-Minute Drawings Part 3

Hi All - Happiest of Saturdays to everyone!
The plan was to have these drawings posted yesterday, but sometimes a day has its own plan.

What started out as just a short run for a chore turned into a day long hop here, there, and everywhere.And, at the end we had BIG boxes arrive - needing unpacking, and a dead computer. (this means sharing - ikkk -- and computer shopping ahead).

Today, is a new day, so...
Here are last weeks drawings!
I'm really enjoying this, thought the word HOT made me sit up and think --
but, I just started writing down words that I associated with it until images came to me.

I'm sure your own associations might be VERY different:

hiking

hot

sand castles

waterfall

tilted

Turned Fabric Raven Embellishment - Tutorial

Happiest of Mondays to you all!
Here, the sun is out and it's time to get the day going.
After spending time last week building a whole bunch of garden totems I can report that they are now installed in their new home. That means more time for fabric and stitching opportunities.

There are two quilts that I have been stitching on since last summer. I had them all ready for stitching on the cross-country road trip we took for our move to Kentucky, but I discovered early on that I don't like to stitch in the car. I'm more of a look out the window and take it all in passenger.

It feels pretty good to pick these up again. The one in hand is a raven-pattern I blogged about ages ago, and I thought I would share how to make the raven itself.

CLICK HERE -- visit the blog posting
for the voting for the favorite raven

I like to stitch my background quilt and add the raven separately - as an embellishment and this is how I make them.

You need the pattern...top fabric, bottom fabric, and thin batting for the middle.
Here we go!

copy the pattern onto freezer paper

press the freezer paper pattern on to the back of the bottom fabric
then stack it with the top fabric-right-sides-together
stack these on top of batting & pin stack together

stitch along the outside edge of the paper-pattern

pull off pattern, trim to about 1/16th of inch & clip curves
then put slit in the top fabric & turn right-side out

press - embellish & when ready pin in place;
then hand applique 

Hope your week includes so stitch opportunities!

Stitching On,

~Rose

Happy Friday - Summer Word Challenge

I started out the day at the eye-doctor and am only now starting to be able to see again.

The week has been filled with catching up with projects left hanging over the last few months, but there was always 5 minutes to pull a word and come up with a sketch or two. Last weeks words left me with one design that I think will make a good start on a quilt -- sooooo, I started to pull some fabrics that I think may work perfectly.


These are the fabrics --
can you tell which drawing from last week
may be done up with these colors?

Amongst this weeks drawing there is also that has my 'quiltify' wheels spinning....

ice cream

sea

daylight

fan

boats

wishing you all a wonderful weekend!

Recycled Glass - Shapes in Shapes

Happiest of Mondays!
The suns out and I'm feeling a lot better --
feeling pretty accomplished too, for I have managed to put 2 new glass totems together.

I had taken a class over at the Ephemera Paducah shop last month and made a couple of totems that are now sitting in the garden -- both my husband and I agreed though that they looked pretty lonely.

Only one way to solve that --
MAKE some more!
So off to the Goodwill store to pick up some glass and mix it all up.

They are built in pairs (kind of like quilt patterns) and
As I worked on these I really got into creating shapes within shapes -
probably because I had found the larger clear glass globes.
On the next ones I will be try to hang things within the shapes.

Here is a shot of the two this morning - one more day of drying totally -
then its off to the garden.

 

One of my favorite artists builds his work from shapes within shapes...just not glass.
Check out the work of Rex Ray -- totally fun!

Have a grand day!

Cave-in-the-Rock Wandering

Happy Sunday!
I hope each of you have been enjoying this long holiday weekend. My own 4th was spent quietly - seems like the summer bug caught hold of me - left me with broncitis and antibiotics:
But, I seemed well on the mend yesterday so David & I set off on a bit of a wander.
We have been treated to amazingly cool weather (70-80s) and really want to take advantage.
(sorry to all my friends in family enduing the HOTs - stay cool!)

We planned the day to go in a bit of circle - leaving Paducah, heading across the river to Illinois and taking the backroads to Cave-in-the-Rock, IL. There we went climbed down to the waters edge and into the cave. The cave and the area have quite a notorious history and the rock formations along with the fissure letting light naturally into the back of cave were intriguing.

Climbing our way out we headed to the small ferry that takes about 10-12 cars across the Ohio into Kentucky. It was fun & fast and left us right in the middle of the Amish area just outside Marion --

Using a map provided by the Amish farmers we worked our way through the small roads and narrow lanes. It is quite beautiful -- all decked out in summer green with creeks, ferns and cows taking a laydown in the middle of a wooded area. Having been just beating out the rain all day, it caught up with us as we traveled here, but it came and went quickly.

Today - well, suns coming up
- who knows where the day may take us.

Summer Words Challege

Hi All,
I'm really happy to be checking in with you today --
I had let a bug sneak in and knock me for a bit of a loop. Doc said it was bronchitis and put me on a course of antibiotics. Has kept me under covers for a couple of days, but there were still moments of playtime. Summer  words was one of the things I could keep on doing, and today I get to share the words that came out of the hat for me this week.

The 5 minute limit --
and for me just pencil produced some interesting possibilities.
These are straight out of my sketchbook --
nothing has been prettied up.
& I just taped the word pulled to the page.

I'm feeling a lot better today and think David & I will be taking a short day trip --

Caves & a ferry ride across the Ohio --- maybe a ride through an Amish community where

there are nurseries, foodie opps and of course lots of buggies with horses.

We'll see how far we get.
Have a grand weekend!

Making Fabric Beads : Playtime Begins

Yesterday was quite a busy day -- got to lots of things on my to do list including a bit of playtime.
I've been wanting to make some fabric beads for a while -- and happily I made it happen.

I've included the step-by-steps here:

you'll want to have a piece of foil - strips of fabrics
anywhere from 1/2" -2" wide by 4" long
some tacky glue; container to mix glue, paint brush, straws
and some hand cream

mix up some of the glue 1 part glue - 1 part water

put a bit of hand cream on for it will keep the glue from overtaking everything

brush glue on -- then lay straw as above; fold it over straw to begin

roll it up!

keep adding more to straw & keep on rolling

let dry on straw then slide each bead off

decorate as desired

Hope you can find a use for these fun beads.
or try making them with you kids or grandkids.

Happy times!