TAST week 39 & 40 ~ the 15 minute challenge ~ Photo Art Friday

the prompt for Photo Art Friday is "liquid" this week. i took some shots early in the morning when the dew was still quite frosty and loved how the lowest 'branch' on the left side cradled perfectly that bit of melting frost. i also thought that if ever the sunshine could be classified as liquid this would be a good example of that.
join in on Bonnie's blog Pixel Dust Photo Art if you would like to involve yourself in some photo art fun. i'm really glad that i started to play along as it brings my photography into more active creative play. there are some very talented people joining in and i LOVE seeing what their working on too.
this is another shot that i thought demonstrated "liquid" very nicely. it's straight out of camera other than a square crop.

i have been busy helping to build a fence around our yard for the past couple of weeks and this weekend while working hard at getting more boards sealed i completely forgot to do my 15 minute challenge for two days (!!). on the third day i woke up with a start realizing what had happened. it's been such an important routine within my day since the beginning of the year that i really didn't think i could forget. apparently too busy + too tired = whooops.
if you are interested in joining others who are committed to making 15 minutes of sewing a daily part of their lives consider joining in with Kate at Life in Pieces and link up with us every tuesday.

i did manage to get my newest TAST stitch done despite my two day lapse and both it and the previous weeks photographed to show you within this post.
the TAST challenge hosted by sharon b at pintangle is all about practicing and learning new embroidery stitches. i am making my family new christmas stockings and most of the stitches from this challenge have been placed onto those. they're coming along really well. 

week 39 ~ knotted buttonhole stitch: i worked this stitch with a dark blue medium weight thread onto the toe of my wonderful husband's stocking alongside a previously worked cable chain (week 25) stitch. i chose to position the 'prongs' of the stitch in slightly opposing directions which gave it an inverted v formation.

week 40 ~ beaded hedebo edge: i worked this stitch on my own stocking and instead of a bead i used small buttons. i used a white pearl cotton (size 8). i've never worked or even heard of this stitch before and i  was hoping that it would look a bit whimsical within my stocking and am pleased with the results.

one of the other things i've been working  on during my 15 minute challenge time over the past few weeks is a small quilted piece. i had hoped to have it finished and already gifted by now but the quilting has taken on a life of it's own and progress is a bit slower than planned . . .
 

 

the fabrics within this piece are all (except the white piece you see above) fabrics that i have hand dyed myself.

it's a contemporary styled piece which isn't what i usually choose to do but i have enjoyed it a lot.

 

 

 i will be able to show you a shot of the completed piece very soon (i hope).

 

i have other projects that i rotate around during this daily 15 minutes (minimum) of sewing time and will be showing them as there is compelling progress to report.

 

 

 

 

~!~i'm a winner~!~
little woolen pillow
by Big Lake Quilter

 

recent gifts include:

• a surprise hot air balloon in the morning sky
• winning that cute woolen pillow made by Cathy
• enjoying the unusually fabulous fall temps during our new fence construction project