thinking about rain...

I'm no longer remembering what rain sounds like, feels like... The tropical storm that was going to somewhat save us this weekend fizzled out and we got nothing. I put out more pans of water this morning for all the little creatures after I saw a bird feasting on the water from the a/c drain in the backyard.

I've been searching for an inexpensive hassock, ever since I saw this and I found one at Hobby Lobby yesterday that was on sale.  Another project to work on but usable as is until then.

I started a bobbin lace project, with beads, a couple of months ago and it's finally finished. I was not happy with the color and size of the beads I chose, after starting, but decided to finish it anyway just for the experience of working with beads. I made a purple velvet purse and decided to use the lace piece as a decoration for the flap. The flap is trimmed with a green rope and I will make a twisted strap with the same rope. It's kind of dramatic looking but not at all something I would use. I was encouraged to enter it in an exhibit that will be at the Austin airport from August 17th through September 7th. The Austin Lace Guild will be exhibiting their bobbin lace pieces. I've also submitted three lace trimmed pouches that I made and some fancy bobbins I purchased last year. I hope to have some pictures of the exhibit when it is on display.

a much deeper purple in person. it measures 8½ x 7½. not yet completed.


July 31, 2011 --- UPDATE ON THE PURSE: it is lined with brocade fabric, the strap has been added and it is now complete.

we need a miracle or some magic...

Went out early this morning to do some yard work and was very sad to find this skeleton of a frog. There just isn't any water around for all the little creatures. Heard a news report that shelters are taking in baby squirrels and hand feeding them because they are being abandoned by their moms for lack of food and water. I try to keep some water out in the yard but it evaporates very quickly in temperatures over 100 degrees. It's day 42 of over 100 degree weather and not a drop of rain here at my house in over a month. There is a glimmer of hope of some rain this weekend. I need to conjure up some magic.

i can see the suffering in the expression

just a skeleton

the fun has begun...

I think this is my favorite part. Having all the elements and deciding how to put them together. Well, I really don't have them all. There are more beasts to be made but they will mostly be embellishment. I put a thin 48" square cloth on the design wall and I have started playing. After most of the decisions have been made, I will take a picture and remove most of the pieces and start invisible stitching from the center out. This thin background is not THE back, just a way to assemble all the elements. There will be a backing added at the end and maybe a thin, flannel middle layer.

48" thin cloth and begin placement of elements

this will be the center--there will be beasties added here

 I'm still experimenting with making black and white sewing thread.

3 strands of floss marked with a permanent marker

And I was thinking that all this magic (Jude's workshop) called for a new pincushion. So I made one last night.

a special pincushion for the Magic Diaries Workshop

Moving along slowly but now it's getting exciting. Any ideas, suggestions, comments are always welcome.

still making decisions...

I dyed some silk gauze with onion skins and love the way it turned out but was not happy with the way it looked over the orange cloth I was trying to tone down. So I decided to break up the orange cloth into smaller blocks and took one of the blocks and dropped it into the onion skin bath. Well, I like the way it turned out so I think I will continue doing that with the rest of that cloth.

the onion skin dye has toned down the color

I also found a couple of other things I might be adding to this 'magic diaries' cloth that I'm working on through Jude's workshop. Just couldn't pass up the thrift shop this week. I think the two pieces I found will fit into this cloth somewhere.

silk gauze dyed in onion skin and 2 thrift shop finds

Also did some weaving on the goat piece and made the whole piece a bit smaller.

did some weaving on the left side

On a completely different topic, I decided to try and do some writing of words using the sewing machine. I've been practicing in my head for a couple of weeks. I tend to do that when I want to try something new. It seems to help me to get a better start. I think I did pretty well for the first try. All was done free form except for the bottom right where I wrote out the quote in pencil and stitched over the lines. This was done on a sandwich of 2 pieces of cotton with flannel in between. Next I will try it with just the 2 layers of cotton---and maybe in a hoop for easier maneuverability.

practicing free motion writing on the sewing machine

So things are moving along now and the magic cloth is in its early stages. At least I now feel like I know in which direction I am going.

wandering...

My mind is wandering today. Can't seem to focus on any one thing. Trying to start on something for the Magic Diaries workshop but cannot settle on one thing. I unearthed some more moon pieces that I forgot about and really want to work on those but can't get started. I said that already, didn't I.  I guess I'll wait until some one thing settles in. It's just one of those days. I don't have these type days very often. Wish I knew why this happens so I could avoid it.

Hope your day was more productive than mine. Even the picture is out of focus.

and we're off...

Jude's Magic Diaries workshop started today. And, as usual, I'm off in a different direction than I planned. I did want to work on my moon quilt but I don't have as many pieces for that as I thought. I pulled out all my pieces and decided to go with the beasts and the very bright red/orange/yellow background. I'm hoping I can get all those pieces to work well together and plan to make some more beasts to add on. Also hoping I can tone down that bright background with lots of embellishments. If you want to join in, you can still sign on for this fabulous 6-month workshop here.
I'm back in here to say I just decided I'm going to onion skin dye that bright red/orange/yellow background before I do anything else. That should knock down that color.

the pieces I have so far

I came upon some silk scraps and just started playing with them and some cotton that was leaf bundle dyed. I was disappointed that the cotton was very hard to handstitch through so I wound up using the sewing machine for some of the stitching. I'm thinking the cotton and silk pieces will make a nice pouch and the nine-patches (hand stitched) will probably be used in the lining.

silk and cotton

The July/August issue of Piecework Magazine has a couple of great articles on Oya Lace with some instruction. It's a type of needle lace. I'm trying to learn. I'm using the edge of a vintage napkin.

the second one is a little better than the first.