Back into my routine

It actually felt good to get back into my work routine. And I had a very productive day. Quilted this client quilt.
I stitched the stripes of the flag in the ditch along with the borders and the perimeter of the blue part of the flag. and used the circle lord "Starz" template to make all the stars. I did randomly placed stars in different sizes. So quick and easy with the circle lord. The lighting is too bright, so it's hard to see on the front, but shows up well on the back photos.

I especially like the wreath of stars in the blue part of the flag.

The batting is Quilters Dream cotton and the thread Superior "So Fine".

After getting this one off the frame, I even got the next one loaded...a sampler, and got a little of that one started.

A good day. Have a great night!

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New class samples

I will be teaching a class on Fiber postcards at the LQS later this summer. So this weekend since things were a little more settled, I thought I'd work on some samples. This one the water and sun are Angelina. This one, I may have posted before...the background is one of my hand dyed fabrics, and the flower,stem and leaves are felted wool. The center is beaded.

This is simply scrap booking letters and brads on a plain background.

This background is hand dyed red dupioni silk. The grid is stitched with silver metallic thread, the white heart is fun foam stitched to the background with a small heart brad in the curl. And hot fix crystals on the grid intersections.

This background is also one of my hand dyed fabrics. The tree trunk is felted wool, the nest is thread trash, the eggs are 1/4" pom poms that I painted with Dye -na- Flow. I couched some yarn for the 2 large flower stem, the large flowers are sequins with round brads thru the centers. Then i filled in with small flower brads in the "grass".

This fish was fussy cut from fabric and appliqued on. Then I couched some eyelash yarns for sea ferns, and used a crystal for the fish eye.

Then I had an idea...peltex faced with fabric on both sides would make a good bookmark too! And why not make a pocket in a postcard and include a bookmark? So that's what I did. This one I made for my granddaughter Samantha.

And this one for granddaughter Kara.

And this one for mother. Our family swap for June is "summertime" So swimming frogs should work for that.

And then Don though he needed a bookmark too, so this is his.

And that's it for today! Tomorrow, it's back to work in earnest on that mountain of waiting quilts.

Sleep well.

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It's been a while....

But I'm still kicking...for the moment, anyway. Life has been busy these last couple weeks. Happy to say though that Don is much improved and moving around....long as he doesn't have to bend over, we're good to go! Other life issues aside, I am getting back to work as normal this coming week(I hope).
I got very little done since my last post. A small amount of work on Mary's quilt, and this one for the LQS owner. her Mother pieced it...her first. She did a very nice job...nice and flat!

Now to update my postcard tally. The last 2 weeks, these are the cards I have received. This first one is from my cousin Heather for our family swap the June card. The theme is "summertime". It's really cute, and the beaded flower on the flip flop is just gorgeous! Thanks, Heather!

The rest are from my latest MQR swap...the theme is "recycle" This one is from Michele in Australia. She recycled a pair of jeans,yarns, bobbin thread, and a cardboard box. Thanks Michele!

This one is from Janet in Oregon, fabric scraps and thread. Love the colors...thanks, Janet!

And this one is from Becca in Alaska, she recycled a tape measure and beads...too cute, thanks Becca!

And this one is from the "birthstone swap from Karen in Canada. Very pretty purple fabric with beautiful feathers quilted. Thanks Karen!

And this one also from the birthstone swap, from Jennifer.She beautifully embroidered the fish and words. Thanks Jennifer!

Thanks to everyone who e-mailed asking if I was OK. It's nice to have friends who care.

Have a great night!

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A little work done today

We had a lot of thunderstorms today. I got a little quilting done before they started, but only about an hours worth. Here in Florida in the summer, we have storms every day...not all day long, but every day. And we on the west coast are in the lightning capital of the world. So once the storms for the day get started, I unplug the longarm.

Actually, that is a good thing. It gives me time to work on my own stuff. And today I worked on this woven background. I love the look. I actually finished the weaving and got it all fused to a sheer weight interfacing. It measures about 45" x 36". During tomorrows storms, I'll get the the edges stitched down. Then I'll figure out what I'm gonna applique on this funky background.

And, best of all, I got new pictures of our sweet Fiona! This little girl has quite the independent personality emerging!

And this is Fiona and her dad.

In just a few weeks, they'll be here for a visit....and I can't wait!

Hope you have a great night!

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The doll challenge

I have never made a doll in my life. So whatever possessed me to join Gayle's challenge, i can't tell you. But I have to say, this really is fun. I decided to do a mermaid. My torso is together, with the tail and fins on. I even put a wire inside so she could be posed. And here are her arms and her head. I remade the arms 4 times. Then I quit. I'm still not happy with them, but they'll have to do for this first effort. The hands and fingers are wire, so they will be poseable too. The torso, limbs and head are made from pimatex; a high thread count cotton...this one happens to be PFD (prepared for dyeing).

Here I have colored the skin.

I used Tsukeniko inks. to get this skin tone color I mixed the following colors; sand, banana cream, Tuscan beige, and a tiny bit of white. I mixed them together in a little pure aloe gel. These inks dry very fast, so I use the aloe gel to keep them wet and blendable longer.

The next step will be to sculpt, then paint the features of the face. This is my first practice.

Pretty hideous. Guess I'll practice a while longer before trying it on the real thing!

Have a great night!

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I'm back..did you miss me?

Where to begin...I guess with why I've been silent. My husband does intense bike riding (cycling). The group of guys he rides with does 20 miles a day. Last week, he had an accident and fell, injuring his back. So I have not gotten much done since. He is OK, but still in a good bit of pain...won't go to the doctor. But at least he is up out of the bed and walking again (sort of).

Well, then over the weekend, having cabin fever he wanted to go out to dinner. So we go to this Italian place. He wants clams, I say don't get clams here....wait till we go to a seafood place.

Well, he got the clams....and guess what else he got? Food poisoning..yep, the clams were bad! Shoulda listened to his wife! So, now you see what my week has been like....thankfully, I think it is almost over and he is on the mend.

now to catch up.... First the postcards, then work. These are the postcards from the latest MQR exchange that I have received. The theme was "recycle". this one is from Vicki. She wove selvages for the background and made the flowers from old tee shirts.

This one is from Michelle. She used an old silk scarf. The stitching she did around the flowers is great. And then she embellished it with crystals.

And this one is from Gretchen. She used a beautiful marbled fabric for her background and then captured shredded paper under tulle. Very cool.

And this is from Shirley. She layered an old doily rescued from a thrift shop over a pretty fabric to create a window. Wonderful texture.

And this one is from Kay. She made the chick from an old soda pop can, and the nest from thread. Very clever.

And this is the one I sent. A recycled skirt from my days as a "flower child". Are any of you old enough to remember those days?

And if all the postcards weren't enough great mail, I also received a gift from my MQR secret sister! Look at all these wonderful goodies!

And all of this came during a trying week and really brightened my days. Thanks you all!

And then to the last work I finished before Don's fall. This is a quilt that my client made to donate to a breast cancer fundraiser.

And this was a top my clients grandmother made in the 1930's. She wanted it quilted, but with no batting. It did have some piecing "issues". I used my circle lord giant zig zag template to do perfect crosshatching. Once I lined up the row, I actually stitched it from the front so I could control and work in the fullness as I went. It worked beautifully, and she was thrilled.

And I actually have more stuff for another post, so stay tuned!

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