and the winners are.....

...chosen with my eyes closed. I have emailed both Christine and Jane. Congratulations to them. Wish you all could have been winners.....maybe next time.

Have a great weekend.

My latest interests....

We had a paper folding play day at Quilt Bee a couple of weeks ago and since then, nothing in my house is safe from becoming a little folder. They are so much fun to create and are nice to have in your purse to carry papers, lists, coupons, business cards, etc. They each have six pockets and I've added note paper to some of them.

If you would like to have one, leave a comment and I'll choose 2 names next Saturday and mail one out to each of the winners. Not sure yet which ones I'll mail out. I might even make some new ones.

The instructions for making them were in the Winter 2015 edition of Pages magazine put out by Cloth, Paper, Scissors.

click on the images for close-ups....

paper folding play

all different sizes depending on the paper size you start with.

I printed on watercolor paper, used maps, napkins and wrapping paper.

an iron on transfer on newsprint, napkins, album page and moire fabric with lace.

the magazine with the instructions

I've also been playing with the light that comes through my kitchen window during the afternoons at this time of year.

shadows on the kitchen table

playing with a small prism and the light from the window

There are more images on Instagram. click HERE if you're interested.
Wishing you all who celebrate a Happy Thanksgiving. We have had our first really cold days this weekend and it feels good. Stay safe and enjoy whatever it is you are doing.

it's been awhile.....

since I posted but I have been stitching, lacing, crocheting, knitting and doing a whole lot of experimenting. I've been creating a lot of small scraps and hate to throw anything away so I've started a scrap scroll that is attached to a wooden spool. I'll have a scrap scroll library someday as I have quite a few wooden spools to fill.

click on the images for closer views....

scrap scroll on a wooden spool

The triangular shawl I was making for my knitted coat is finished so I'm ready for winter, if it ever arrives.

crocheted triangular shawl....goes over my head like a cowl

The bobbin lace tree is finally finished. The finishing was a nightmare...trying to manage all those hanging threads with knots in them. I did think I would be able to hide the knots but didn't do a great job of that. I finally gave up and tacked it all down after spending hours trying to make neat braids. Not a perfect ending but I am pleased with it nevertheless. It is in a glass shadow box frame.

this is what it looked like before braiding

after auditioning lots of backgrounds, I decided on this green wool felt. The color is much more vibrant in person.

....And I've been having lots of fun making all kinds of paper and fabric samples in Karen Ruane's class Sampling for Stitch.

an accidental happening ... letter over fabric and doodled circles

There are more images of what I've been up to over on Instagram. So hop on over there if you're interested to see them.

Have a great weekend and see you again sometime soon.

Another pouch....

which has already been put to use. Not sure when I'll get tired of making pouches but that seems to be my main focus these days when it comes to stitching. This one is all blue and white and started out with an almost square, cotton, vintage doily edged in lace. It just grew from there and developed into this tall slim pouch which now holds all of my white and beige tatting and bobbin lace threads.

click on the images....

it measures 4½" wide x  12" tall

a ruffled cloth added between the edges to enlarge the diameter and separate the lace edges.

it stands up on its own.

a 4" steel ring is stitched into the base.

a 4½" jewelry wire ring is stitched into the top. a gingham lining.

a perfect fit for all my white and beige tatting and bobbin lace threads.

another view...chicken scratch on pocket

I've also been practicing the art of Armenian Lace which is a needle lace, after seeing this video on Facebook. I'm getting better at it and would like to incorporate the stitches in some of my embroidery work.

Armenian Needle Lace

There's been lots of inspiring work going on in Karen Ruane's Sampling For Stitch class. Here are a couple of my latest paper and stitch design sheets.

paper, stitch, fabric grid, gimp, stencil work, tile

watercolor bits, newsprint, stenciled letters

My bobbin lace tree is completed in terms of the lacing but I have not yet had the time to pull all the pins and form the trunk shape....hopefully next time.

Hoping you all have a great, creative weekend.

moved into creating something a bit strange.....

Last time I showed you a hand quilted piece of muslin where I started using some inktense pencils with textile medium. I wanted to give it up several times because some of the colors were just not the way I planned them but I was determined to make something of it.

click on the images for close-ups...

hand quilted muslin with inktense pencils and stitch

completed color work and stitch and marked grid where no stitching was done with micron pen. piece marked for cutting into sections.

used binding to finish off all the sections.

joined them together with hand stitch.

formed into a basket shape with a fun cow lining.

it is a very strange shape.

made a small pouch and scissors keep with the leftover pieces.

and a small pin cushion with that one lefter over triangle.

It is all a bit strange looking but very usable as a basket.

Pulled out another tray with UFOs and finished up a small triangular pouch. There are several more to do but waiting to receive the zippers I ordered.

velvet pouch with silk print lining.

bottom side. the fabric was purchased that way in patches so easy to put together.

....and a new class has started over at Karen Ruane's place...SAMPLING FOR STITCH. I'm already having lots of fun with this one. Check it out here...

Here are my first two design sheets...

Lots more going on with knitting, crochet and another pouch but I'll save that for another time. Some of you might remember the bobbin lace tree I was working on here. It's at the bottom of that post. Well, it's almost finished and I'm hoping it will be finished and framed by the next time I post.

Hope you all have a great weekend. We finally got some rain here yesterday after no rain for a couple of months.....so all the plants are happy.

these were purchased....not from my garden.

More Pouches and Pockets.....

We are at the tail end of Karen Ruane's class Embroidered Pockets but I can see I'll continue to make pockets and pouches until the cows come home. I started out with some broderie anglaise and doodled a sashiko design with micron pen and then did some stitching with hand dyed thread. I added some bumpy bits and just folded it up and laid it to the side. The next time I looked at it, some of the dye from the thread had bled onto the white cloth. I had nothing to lose so soaked it into some oxi-clean and most of the dye came out so the piece was once again usable.....but I really didn't like it.

click on the images for close-ups....

hand dyed thread bleeding into white cloth

washed in oxi-clean

 so.....I cut it up into pieces and started some patchwork with the fabric used for the bumpy bits.

cut up and did some patchwork

lots of embellishing

I created 4 panels and edged each with lavender piping.

only used 3 of the panels and made a circular base

I wanted the top opening to be rigid and circular.

stitched in a steel ring covered with binding. it measures 6" across the base, 25" around  the middle with the poufed out sides and it stands 9" tall. it's lined with white cotton cloth.

I now had one panel left over so another pocket was in order.

more embellishing and doodling....

for the back, I stitched all the little scraps left over together, made some patched bumpy bits, added some more doodling and it turned out looking like the face of a robot....to me, anyway.

and here is the completed front with a green cotton lining.

and the back with that funny looking patchwork piece stitched onto some white embroidered cotton.

I've also been playing with my Inktense Pencils and a hand quilted muslin piece that was done years ago just for practice. It's 2 layers of muslin with cotton batting in between.

I colored with the Inktense Pencils and applied textile medium over it to make it permanent. You can use water but the textile medium prevents the colors from bleeding to other areas of the cloth.

Once it dried, I added some stitch. More on this one next time.

Have a great weekend and do something creative for yourself.