A Spring Gallery: Postcard Magic Two

A Spring Gallery: PostCard Magic One



  Twas the night before Christmas . . .

a rare quiet day.

creating my own magic.

 

wishing all of my blog readers their very own

 magical christmas holiday

bursting forth with laughter, love and beauty.

slow sunday stitching ~ august 4, 2013

 today i've been finishing up my current set of prayer flags. i'll send one of them to my mom and hang the other on my front porch. i always make two very similar flags at a time; it seems like a good way for me to remember the other person in my thoughts and prayers.

i'm joining up with Kathy at Slow Sunday Stitching where she has a gorgeous hand pieced and appliqued block posted. there are other slow stitchers with beautiful work to show if you are interested in checking it all out.

this is my wonderful daughter's july postcard.  i included bits of garbage that were collected while she was home for the fourth of july holiday as well as some alphabet brads, a stitched felt watermelon, and a smashed ginger ale bottle cap  (from our own holiday table) with stitched sunny "rays". all placed onto a background woven out of skinny red, white and blue fabric strips. i randomly embroidered the strips to hold them in place and there is a blanket stitched edging around the whole thing. i used the "spine" of the blanket stitch to add more embroidery stitches around the outside of the card.

i mentioned to her that i thought this card was a bit chaotic/busy looking and she responded by saying that  that was also a good demonstration of the fourth of july holiday.

:-D

 

 

 

 

recent gifts include:

• this weekend quietly spent with my daughter; pleasant chatter and some time for identifying the resident humming birds
• playing peek-a-boo with a cicada. it seemed very interested in hiding from me until it heard the clicking of my camera lens
• numerous white lilies blooming on the surface of the pond
• the gold fish willingly eating from my hands
• the taste and look of heirloom tomatoes
• homemade vanilla bean frozen yogurt

a juicy slice of watermelon for Slow Sunday Stitching

 

the community fireworks display just about goes off in our front yard which is very convenient for us and beautiful to see but some of the people who view it don't remember to take all of their trash home with them when they leave. the morning after the event the wonderful daughter, grand-dog suki and i went out and did some neighborhood cleanup with the intent of keeping an eye out for bits that might work into her postcard for this month. i also had put aside some other bits of this and thats from packaging, etc.
i wanted her july card to be a memory card of the great holiday time that we shared.

it's almost finished and i'm not going to reveal the whole thing just yet but i would like to show you a stitched felt watermelon slice that i added to this card. yes, we did eat lots of watermelon on the 4th and with our recent weather being so hot i have been craving some more. besides being a traditional food for the summer holidays it always tastes so good and is so refreshing on a hot day.

this is my offering for Slow Sunday Stitching. it's a macro shot and this tiny stitched bit is actually only about an inch and a quarter from edge to edge and three quarters of an inch from top to bottom so you are really seeing some up close detail in this shot. i stitched a seed for each person that was here for the holiday including one for grand-dog suki. it was fun to make and i hope that it makes you smile and reach for a slice of this fun summer time treat.
if watermelon isn't your idea of cool summer goodness, share in the comments what makes you feel refreshed on a hot day.

for some more slow stitch eye candy join in over at  Kathy's Quilting for this weeks Slow Sunday Stitching event.




while i'm on the subject of wonderful daughter's postcards i will also show you the completed june card.

if it seems familiar that is because she really liked one that i made recently for her uncles birthday. i decided to make another one that used some of the same elements within in it for her.
hers  has a bit of embroidery worked in as well as a stitched edge treatment. mostly paper but some paint and brads found their way in along with some stamp art.
that crane cut-out comes from the Audubon Society. i love getting their magazine and this crane shows up a lot on their solicitations.   companies spend a lot on advertising and sometimes it's really beautiful so i hoard it away (oh yes, i do have those tendencies) for future projects.

some recent gifts include:

 

~ice water. LOTS of ice water.

 

~communicating with my mom on a nearly daily basis

 

 

~a frilly pink hollyhock debuting in my garden

 

~bunches and bunches of daisy's and black eyed susan's in a riot of summer bloom

 

~enough energy to make a little bit of daily progress on a path project within the garden that i have been thinking about for a long time

orchids and postcards

this is a shot that i took of the orchids five or six weeks ago. due to the long term staying power of their flowers, i'm still enjoying them and they look even more beautiful than depicted within this photo as the buds that you can see on the second stem have completely flowered out now. in addition, there is a companion orchid planted in with this one and it also has a stalk of opening blooms; slightly different but equally sensational. i will try to get another shot of them very soon so that i can share these plant's ongoing beauty with you. i'm very pleased with their "performance" this year~!

i realize that "take time to smell the roses" is such a cliché but i do notice that when i really take the time to enjoy a flower i feel so much wonder at not only that particular flower but with the natural world in general. feeling that "awe" puts so many things into perspective for me.
i hope that there has been lots of floral beauty (and wonder) being enjoyed in your lives as well.

besides the flowers from the orchids which i grow in the house, i've been outside doing some summer gardening. i hope to resume with my habit of photography soon so that i can share that with you as well.
ongoing computer issues and fussy computer to camera connections/communications have been discouraging me for a few weeks but i hope that will no longer be a problem. 
anyway, in the off chance that there is anyone out there still interested i thought i'd do a quick update on a little of what has been going on since the last post.
 
i never did get the april fabric postcard that i made for my daughter posted and so i'll start with that.

the background is another remnant of that same hand embroidered dish towel that i used within my MIL's birthday card (shown in my last post). i appliqued some three dimensional flowers and leaves and then added a small metal butterfly . . . then a few more embroidery stitches to bring it all together and voilà~!

and the may postcard . . .

i found another towel that i did some cross stitching onto approximately 25-30 years ago and since this one had never been used as a towel (i felt it was too small) i decided to cut out the stitched bit and then added some hand dyed pink fabric as well as a small piece found in the scrap basket. i embroidered a flowering vine over the seams, a few straight stitched stems of grass under the quilts and then added three tiny gold metal dragonflies.

here it is the backside of june and i have yet to even start on this month's postcard for her . . . 
i better get to it~!!~

there is also a set of prayer flags being created and hand quilting of the small random sampler quilt is coming along.

 

recent gifts include:

• enjoying the flowers as they appear within my garden as well as within the houseplant population
• the taste of really cold sweet red grapes on a hot day
• the cool summer morning air as i sit on my front porch and wake up to the day
• the cool evening/nighttime breezes that blow into the bedroom as i sleep
• being able to meet and chat with my daughter over lunch occasionally 

slow sunday stitching in the garden

there has been a lot of gardening done here over the last couple of days. it's too cold to plant flowers yet but some of the vegetable gardening can be done so the cold frame has been erected and tomatoes planted inside as well as sugar snap peas, onions and potatoes planted into the larger outer garden plot.
the wonderful husband is also back to work on crafting that beautiful wood fence. it's going to be a busy spring and summer season.

all of that gardening means that i deserve a bit of a rest so a day to sit and enjoy the garden is a good idea. the sun is shining, the temperature is warm without being too hot . . . a slight breeze blowing . . .
and so i declare it perfect for some outdoor slow sunday stitching. it's been a few weeks since i linked up with Kathy at Kathy's Quilting for this event but i've missed it.

it's always fun to see what the other participants are working on and thinking about on a sunday of slow stitching. i hope that they are getting a little sunshine and fresh spring air while they stitch too.

i'm working on a doll sized random sampler. i started it weeks ago using some smaller bits and pieces that were orphaned or left over from other projects. it came together really well and even rather quickly but then after i basted it up for quilting i decided that it needed a little more applique (blending the outer borders with the inner body) and although there wasn't a lot of applique it seemed that the project slowed down a bit. this  was more a result of being occupied with several april postcards than the actual applique itself.
this a.m. i managed to get a bit more done on that piece and hope to do even more this afternoon. once that's finished i'll be at the point of quilting it.

 

 doesn't that dappled sun look yummy~!?

i'll show more of this project as it gets closer to being done.

 

i forgot to post a photo of the fabric postcard that i made for my wonderful MIL (her birthday)  in april.  

 

 i used a fragment from a hand embroidered dish towel that i made more than 20 years ago. i actually used this towel to dry dishes with and in fact, used it to the point of literally being able to see through it. recently i decided that it would be a good idea to cut it up into other projects.

i "reinforced" some of the embroidery, added  a few stitches as well as some fussy cut fabric to a couple of the spots on the butterfly and a few sequins and ta-da~!!

 

i am also showing the paper collage postcard that i created in april. this card was made for another special april birthday that i like to recognize.

  i enjoy working on the paper cards just as much as the fabric ones . . . scissors, glue and odd bits of paper are just as fun to create with as fabric, lace and thread.

 

i'll be able to show you the wonderful daughter's april postcard soon . . .

 

recent gifts include:

• morning birdsong
• slow sunday stitching
• seeing that the grosbeaks have returned

• digging in the warm dirt of the garden





the creeping thyme has started to creep

 

 

 

 



linking up with:

 

  

 

 



crocus and a march fabric postcard

 

 

a purple spring crocus peeping out of a small rock wall in the garden. 

i love my crocus. they are a welcome sight in early spring and i am finding that they have begun to multiply themselves nicely. i have many colors including white, purple orange and yellow.

did you know that they are part of the iris family? and that there are about 80 species? this group of plants  can tolerate the earliest spring temperatures and even snow due to a special natural "waxy  cuticle".  to read lots more about these early spring beauties follow the link that i provided to "The Plant Encyclopedia". LOTS of great info~!!~

 

the green leaves that you can see to the right of the crocus is a tulip coming up. i wonder what color it will be?

 

i have been out of town just about every other day since my last post. around here that means a minimum of an hour drive in one direction. almost two hours if i go north and almost three if i go east. over the past few weeks i've been in every direction (more than once) and it makes for long days. i'm not as resilient as i used to be and so my blog is neglected as i regain my energy and try to catch up on other stuff. dang the laundry and dishes and vaccuming anyway~!

i have things to share and posts within my brain but just can't summon the time and energy to make it happen. i hope to get better about this but am not sure just how to go about doing that. do i need a special blogging calendar, am i unorganized? lazy? or just plain crazy?

if you have ideas to share with me in regards to being a more regular blogger? i sure could use them~! in the meantime, i'll just appreciate a dose of understanding from you.

 

the good news is that since it's something that i have had to do for all of my adult years i have gotten smart about using the driving time to stitch so i manage to keep a few hand projects moving along.

 

today i'll show you the finished postcard that i made my wonderful daughter for march.  

 

 

i went with a green on green color scheme and lots of stitched texture for this card. see that tiny little shamrock within the glass bubble? i've had that since i was in early elementary school. it was on a chain at one time and i frequently wore it as a necklace when i was young but unfortunately i don't remember where it came from. anyway it's been hanging out in my jewelry box for quite some time so i decided that it must have been waiting for just this occasion to be seen regularly again. on the back there were tiny letters engraved into it spelling out various phrases such as mazel tov, good luck, etc. 

i also tossed in a few beads (the largest wooden green one from a trip to Honduras), sequins and even a couple of washers that i stitched around. 

this card ended up being extra bulky so i mailed it in a padded envelope. normally i mail them in a 4 inch x 6 inch clear plastic sleeve.

 

i'm well on my way to getting april's card completed as this Slow Sunday Stitching shot shows. this is a detail of an edge stitch that i am embroidering (a taylor's buttonhole stitch) onto a leaf. the fabric is a leaf printed batik that i fussy cut. i want the leaf to remain (mostly) unattached . . . sort of an experiment but it seems to be going well. i like the way that the edge of the leaf is beginning to curl a bit . . . it seems more natural to me that way. i have to say though that frequently i have an idea of where i'm going visually and as i sew it changes so be prepared for a possible different outcome once finished. that is one of the joys of slow stitching for me: lots of time to consider and work and 'intuit' just what the piece is whispering into my heart.

 

i recently mailed a birthday postcard to my MIL. i'll show that one to you in the next post.

 

i am also currently working on a small doll sized random sampler and have just a bit of applique (more slow stitching) to finish up and then the hand quilting will begin (more slow stitching~!). LOVE that slow stitching~! for a really good summing up on more of the benefits of slow stitching as well as a linky show and tell, visit Kathy at Kathy's Quilts.

 

can you believe that i'm still mending socks~!?

they make a great take-along project on those trips that i  mentioned. you'd think i'd have every sock in the house mended by now but nope, not quite. partly because it's, yep, you guessed it, slow stitching, but i have to admit to actually seeking out socks to mend . . . a stitch in time, saves nine and all that. and yes, i'm still loving doing it. one can only imagine that there is something seriously wrong with me in that respect.

are there other closet sock darners out there? maybe a secret sock stitching society/club/guild or something?   hhhmmmmm . . .

 

 

 recent gifts include:

• getting outside with my camera for a fun spring floral photo shoot around the yard/garden
• the taste of sweet juicy california strawberries
• discovering how much i like the taste of fresh grated ginger in my breakfast smoothies
• opening up the windows on a particularly warm spring day for fresh breezes through the house.

 

 linking up with:

 

 

12-12-12 and a christmas wish

December 12, 2012 or 12-12-12 will be the last date of it's kind when all three numbers in a date are the same. The next time something like this will happen will be on January 1, 2101. According to popular belief, 12-12-12 is a lucky date that will bring good fortune.

i hope that your holiday is a reflection of this good fortune.

within the above image you will notice that there is a sweet little flying geese quilt. i received that from Maureen of Pursuit of Quilts. she made four small wonders using some left over flying geese that she had after working on her "October Surprise" quilt (shown within this post). October Surprise was a beautiful quilt and each of the four smaller pieces were just as wonderful. she gave the first two away and did a give-away drawing for the other two. i was thrilled to be one of the lucky recipients~!!~ this little quilt has so many lovely reproduction prints within it and Maureen's work is absolutely perfect~! THANK YOU so much Maureen. i love it~!!~


i haven't actually sewn much of anything since just after thanksgiving.
the carpets were all cleaned a few weeks ago and moving everything was lots of work. i decided that since i was shifting things around (and then back again) i would take the opportunity to do some other cleaning as well as some sorting out of things no longer needed and/or wanted. this slowed things down a bit but feels good to be doing. i've also been working on a bit of face-lift magic in the studio as i go; more shelves, more sorting, more folding and organizing of the fabrics and hopefully more clean surfaces by the end of it all. i guess i have spring fever a bit early this year . . . so-o-o not a lot of sewing.
no progress on TAST at all so i have a lot of catching up to do when i get back to it.
the 15 minute challenge has been designated to studio planning and organizing as i wade through these tasks.
even my photography has dwindled down to a trickle . . .
however, i was able to snap a few still life shots using some pomegranates and that new little quilt that recently came into my life. i layered my favorite with a shot from my archives of some spiderweb that had a heavy frost on it, did some blending, added text and then added a couple of festive borders to it all to create the above christmas "card". 

in addition to all of this cleaning and sorting i've been doing the same sort of thing mentally. thinking about the past year's activities and accomplishments as well as considering various challenges and tasks that i would like to line up for the next year. still mulling all of that over but i'll have it all figured out soon.

this past week has brought me a broken heart. i had to find a good home for River to move away to. i've been in denial for quite some time about my inability to manage two large and very active young dogs. i thought that if i just kept trying and hung in there until my health would give me a reprieve, than things would get better. unfortunately that's not the way it's gone and so with the wonderful daughter's help, River is safely into a new home. i just received word yesterday that she is doing well. she now lives where she is the one and only dog which means that the attention that she craves will not have to be shared with any other dog. she will like that. there is a cat but that has never been a problem with her and in fact, she seems to enjoy their quiet company so i expect that will work out well too. the adoptive owner seems very prepared and has experience with rescued dogs so she understands that River is dealing with abandonment issues from her past as well as the loss that she feels from leaving us. River and i had a special bond and this whole thing has been much more than difficult but i am sure that the right thing has been done and that she is being well looked after. my wish is that the new owner and River will forge a bond that is just as special and that it will last for the remainder of her life. she deserves it.

meanwhile, i will continue to love and care for my grand-dog until the wonderful daughter can take over the task. life is noticeably simpler and quieter which i need it to be in order to deal with my health issues. such a bittersweet ending and so many tears but life goes on and all will be well.

i promised to share photo's of the contemporary/modern piece that i created for a good friend's birthday. it's now been happily received and i can share those.

the piece is runner sized but could also be hung on the wall as skinny art. i think the picture is a bit overexposed so the colors are somewhat washed out but the detail shot does give a little bit better idea of the color.

when i was cutting and pasting the shot of the whole quilt (within photoshop) i didn't completely crop the bit shown in the detail, which is one of the reasons that i have included it. feel free to look at any of the photos in a larger format by clicking on them.

i think i still have a lot to learn about modern quiltmaking and i'm grateful that my friend happily receives experimental pieces from me. there are so many nice examples out there of this style and clearly i need some practice with it in order to achieve those kinds of results.

i am really in love with all of that quilting though~!!

 

 

 

i also have the november postcard that was made for the wonderful daughter. btw: those edges are straighter than the border/edge treatment would lead the eye to believe. i was happy with the results and she seemed happy to receive another card. 

i have begun work on the december card which i will show you within my next post. however, i have decided that i will take a holiday blog break and won't be posting until after the new year. with any luck, i'll have caught back up on my TAST stitching/christmas stockings and have some progress to show you.

i will find time to visit your blogs once in a while as i do still want to keep up with those of you who are blogging throughout the festivities. 

i hope that your holiday season is wonderful and that you are looking forward to what the new year will be bringing as much as i am.

recent gifts include:

• finding an outstanding home for my sweet River
• the smell of hot apple cider simmering on the stove
• a mug full of that apple cider on a cold afternoon
• twinkling christmas lights
• a new little dolly quilt  :-D
• christmas party visiting