a soft rainy spring morning . . .

i've been away for a couple of weeks and have appreciated all of the comments that i received for my scheduled/auto posts. will be replying to all comment's during the weekend as i catch up with things.

in the meantime, wishing you well.

  Twas the night before Christmas . . .

slow sunday stitching ~ August 11, 2013

 

 


i've been thinking
about my hexie project a lot lately and wondered if i could get it out and figure out where i was quickly enough to make it my slow sunday stitching project. it was surprisingly organized. i had a pin in it where i felt the next flower unit should go and i even had it all picked out. everything was ready in a matter of minutes so i sat down and began stitching. 


and now the piece is just a bit bigger than it was.

i think that this might be the next hexie sewn in . . .







  i'm once again linking up with Kathy at Slow Sunday Stitching. it's always fun to see who else has linked up and what they are working on.


i'm also linking up with Our Beautiful World. i like the friendly atmosphere there and i can share my world as seen through my lens with others who want to learn, share and inspire each other.
there is a prompt each week and this week it is "wonder".
when i look that word up in the dictionary one of the definitions is "exciting amazement or admiration".
that's exactly how i feel when i see things through the world of macro photography.

 

last week i was asked about the way that i hang my prayer flags and so i thought i would share the backside of this one and talk about it a little.

i follow the basic instructions on making a prayer flag from the prayer flag project blog.
i should say loosely follow those instructions. sometimes my flags are a slightly different size depending on what i find to make the flag out of. i enjoy making this an intuitive process so i keep my rules minimal.
 i do make the flag longer than necessary as i fold the top down in the back to form a little sleeve. i invisibly stitched this one and then embroidered a feather stitch over the top of the seam.

i like to add a patch onto the back that has the prayer of serenity printed on it.
stitching a bell onto the bottom of my prayer flags makes it an auditory reminder as well as a visual  one. 
btw: if you know where i can find more bells similar to this please let me know. i just happened to have a few and a they are nearly all gone.

i add my initials and the number of the flag on the back. the capital T that you see after the number indicates that this flag has a twin. i'm not sure why i do it this way . . . but it seems right.

currently i hang mine at the entrance of our home. i have a sort of clothes line thing going on there right now and i fill it with a variety of things that i enjoy. sometimes seasonal. i created this for the prayer flags in particular but until it's full of prayer flags i'll continue to add other bits.
i have also seen the prayer flags hung using a branch from the garden. i think that's a great idea too.



 
recent gifts include:

• breathing fresh air
• clean running water. hot or cold or anything in between!
• seeing colors 

 

i've created a banner/bunting in celebration of my wonderful daughter's homecoming. we knew she was coming soon but not the exact dates . . .

we'll be picking up our grand-pup from the airport tomorrow evening and then WD on friday. the poor girls are both going to have need of some winter wear as we're getting our typical mountain spring snowstorms and they're coming from a two year acclimation  to a tropical climate.

anyway, i've managed to complete this welcome home gift just in the nick of time. i'll share a few details with you.

 i began with a very tattered antique cutter crazy quilt piece that i purchased off of e-bay several years ago. i have managed to create some Christmas stockings with this piece and still had some bits left. enough to cut out some triangles as the base parts for my bunting.

do you recognize the bird? it's one of those fabulous dictionary images that i posted a while back. i did some cropping and printed it out on vellum. then stitched it into place.
both plain and fancy embroidery as well as other mixed media embellishments have been used.
i attempted to stick to a "home" theme while also trying to make it something that she could use decoratively later on if she chose. not too celebration specific but definitely festive and suitable for this occasion.

 i may share more photo's of it at a later time. these were all taken in a hurry and, as you can imagine, i'm in fits of excitment so they aren't the best.
but all in all i'm quite pleased with the outcome and can only hope that she will be as well.

if you notice me absent from the blogging world for a few days it's because i'm happily gathering them up and enjoying my little family's reunion~!!~

: D

the soft light of a dawning day

early morning pleasures

home sweet home

~HAPPY HALLOWEEN~

it's been a fairly productive weekend. i got my donation quilt back from the machine quilters a few days ago and so proceeded to get the binding and label on.


oh happy me~!!~ it's done and even a couple of weeks before the deadline~!!~



i worked on and finished another Christmas postcard for my daughter . . .


and i have two more ATC's (artist trading cards) finished. i think these are the last two in this particular series . . . but they sure were fun to make. this one (laugh) has already been requested for in a trade. i've also had a request for the "joy" card that i posted previously. i'm pleased that others like them and want to trade their beautiful cards with me. i can hardly wait to see what comes in the mail over the next week or so . . .

;-)

this second XOXO card is no longer available for trade.

the cauldron of treats (with obligatory faux bone stir stik) awaits, for all of those little ghosts and witches who will be out and about this evening . . .

i hope you have a fun (and chocolate) filled Halloween holiday.

for a good bit of the afternoon it has been snowing. heavy grey skies, cold wind and winter snow~! not a lot of accumulation (yet) but . . .
outside my window it's all golden confetti with white sprinkles.

what a great day to get out the king size quilt that i'm quilting and resume the stitching. it feels quite cozy to snuggle under it with my needle in hand and watch through the window as the winter blows in upon us from over the mountain.
the progress is slow but oh-so-comforting~!!~

it's a good day for making and eating a warm vegetable soup . . .

but i think the pepper i put in the pot has mixed feelings about the whole idea.

it's October~!!~
we've had an unexpected warm spell for the last couple of weeks and our fall weather seems a bit delayed which somehow makes October an impossibility in my mind . . . time races on though and it is indeed Autumn. within the last couple of days we've had some cooling off and the wind is blowing colder . . .


once the season/weather turns i catch myself being drawn to the visual warmth of this 9-patch quilt that i made for my husband. not only does it make me feel warmer on the inside somehow but it also echos the riot of autumn colors that are growing brighter by the day.

this is one of the few quilts that we have in our collection that are of my own hand. it seems they get given away before they're even finished~! i'm sure that many of you quilters out there know how that goes.
it was a gift for him on the Christmas of 2002. it was started and completed in a relatively (for me) short period of time (approximately 9 months).
although not a bed sized quilt (app. 47.5 x 56 inches) it is actually showing quite a bit of wear and has a wonderful cozy feel to it.
if folded in half lengthwise it fits perfectly on the back of our small leather sofa. it's gained a permanent sort of "home" there as it looks quite nice in that space. we currently have this sofa in a reading nook and it really doesn't get the same sort of use that it used to get when it was part of our living room furniture and i believe that that is where this quilt received most of it's "wear and tear". it was quite handy to snuggle under on cool winter evenings.

i'm a huge fan of the Amish style of quilt making and decided to try it using fabrics that i had hand dyed myself. the fabrics were, for the most part, dyed in small batches which accounts for the color variations that you can see within this piece. that was exactly the look i was trying to achieve and was pleased with the final effect. i did not attempt to make all of the 9-patches the same throughout the quilt and sometimes went out of my way to create blocks using "non matching" squares. i like the look of make-do that happens when choosing colors/fabrics in this somewhat random way. the 9-patches measure 5.5 inches (sewn) and i set them on point because it adds a dynamic element to what would otherwise be a somewhat static pattern. within each of the pieced blocks i quilted an "echo" 9-patch.


i did decide to use a batik fabric for the back which is not in keeping with the Amish style at all. i liked the warm tones of it and those leaves begged to be incorporated into the quilting. i created a stencil from a tracing of one of the leaves and used it within the main body of the quilt as well as throughout the first (dark charcoal colored) border which measures 4.25 inches (sewn).


i liked the way that this choice subtly tied design elements to both the front and the back.

to dye a true deep dark black can be difficult and mine ended up being a dark charcoal. these photos don't quite capture the depth of that color very well as the camera flash washed it out quite a bit. but the quilting/leaf pattern can be seen nicely in this shot so i included it within the group of photos. i used the same variegated cotton thread throughout the quilt. it was similar in tone and color to what was within the fabric/batik back.

within the widest outer border i quilted a feathered cable. this border, which is a wonderful rusty brown, measures 7.25 inches wide.

i found this pattern in one of my books by Pepper Cory called Quilting Designs from Antique Quilts. i used it at the size that was presented within the book (pages 46 and 47) and i, once again, cut my own stencil/pattern.

the quilt uses a 100% cotton batting and is bound in a narrow dark orange fabric/color (also hand dyed).

i used this same fabric to cut a leaf silhouette from. the leaf is the same as the one used for quilting and "floats" gently on the back acting as the quilts label.

i hung this quilt on my bedroom wall in order to take the shots.

notice that i've painted the wall in a wind blown, color on color, leaf pattern . . .

hhhmmmm . . . maybe i have a thing for leaves . . .

a very good friend brought me some flowers for May Day and not only are they gorgeous to look at but they smell Divine~!~

a tiny peek inside of the tulip . . .

my heart is filled with gratitude for friends and for spring flowers in a reused blue glass bottle sitting within the morning sun showing me just how i'm supposed to greet the day; full of faith , light and celebrating every beautiful moment . . .

my apologies for not being very attentive to my blog and it's readers over the last few days. i've had an out of town doctor visit and since it's a 3 hour drive (one way) it knocks me off of my feet/schedule for a few days after. i'll get back on track very soon i hope. while out of town to see the doctor i also got to go and see the new Alice In Wonderland movie. in 3-D. at an IMAX theatre~!~ and it was TOTALLY ENCHANTING in every possible way~!!~ it's rare that i go to a movie with such high hopes and not only have those expectations met but actually exceeded. i am head over heels in love with this production~!!!!!~!

Tim Burton is one of my very favorite directors and he did not disappoint~!~! the characters and cast were beautiful and the story itself captured my heart completely. Alice returns to the strangeness of the rabbit hole and learns she is more than she imagined herself to be and full of "muchness"; not just in her dreams but in her "real" world as well. this is a beautiful movie and in my opinion a rare gem when it comes to young strong female characters with heart. Alice certainly won mine~!!!~ GO AND SEE THIS MOVIE~!!!~! and tell me what you think.
in the meantime i'm going to be re-visiting the original Alice In Wonderland story . . .

we still have snow outside of our windows but it is quickly melting away. the sun has been brightly out and i see more of the lawn by the hour i think. the indoor plants are convinced that spring is already actually here and they are all spurting out new growth of all kinds. i have a zebra aloe that is sending out blossoms on loooooong stems heading right for the lightest and brightest spots. i sympathize; i too want to seek the full on spring sunshine and find myself moving around the house in search of the sunniest, warmest, and brightest (happiest) places to perch myself.

i've also begun to move things about within the house . . . spring fever, spring cleaning and just plain spring seeking . . .

this season holds so many promises . . .