lots of decisions to make...

but not much progress has been made. I did manage to make the last 6" corner block for my Fun Times cloth.

a combination of cutwork and a yo-yo embellished with hand stitching

I'm starting to make decisions about assembling the daily stitch project. I don't want to leave it all for the end. I think it's best to start putting it together as I go...or I'm afraid it will never happen.

it's growing in size quickly

I did a bit of lace work with the bits left from the cutwork done on the vintage cloth...

free motion embroidery on vintage silk net with bits of vintage embroidery

after doing some hand stitching....I once again cut it up to use it in some more cutwork.

fme lace in the background

and then there is the knitting. That was my focus this week. Lots of experimenting and making some more decisions. If you read my last post, you will recognize this yarn that turned out to be very chaotic for what i had planned...so I tried a granny square with a dark green border and some plain stockinette stitching ...but I'm not happy with it yet. Thanks to those of you who made some suggestions. I think I will try some weaving, this week, with sections of this yarn. It's that bright pink that really bothers me.

still too bright and chaotic for my taste

but, I did get the Noro yarn for that scarf with the leaf edging and I love the way the sample turned out, so now I can start on the scarf pattern.

you can now see the leaf created on the edge

and I am still knitting the Downton Abbey coat. The back is finished and one third of the left front. It's hard to be knitting so many different things at once....always having to choose one over the other. Eventually, it will all get finished.

It was Springlike here this week, leaning toward Summer with some days in the 80s (F), but another cold front is expected by the end of next week and that will probably be it for Winter, here in Austin.

Have a great week.

Here's a Ted video you might find interesting... using your limitations to create. Embrace the Shake

a bit of Spring in the air...

We are experiencing some unusually warm, beautiful days this week. It hit 86 degrees yesterday, after being in the 30s the morning before. It feels wonderful to be able to be outside without a coat and to take in the sunshine. I'm sure there are more cold days coming before winter ends.... This is the last of the Amaryllis blooms (indoors).

click on the images for close-ups.

the last 4 blooms

That beautiful yarn I showed you is just not working out for the scarf I want to make. The color changes are much too close together and too bright. It just looks chaotic when knitted. I will have to find another way to use this yarn. I'll be experimenting with different knitting and crochet patterns to see what works. Suggestions are welcome.

looks beautiful on the swift but when made into a 'cake', it looks so different.

i worked a small swatch of the pattern and you can see that it's just 'chaos'...but notice my new Caspian green needles. i love them. they are from Knit Picks.

I've continued to work on my daily stitching project...

trying to use different combinations of stitches

I showed you the bird applique block awhile back that will be the center of the duvet/blanket I hope to put together with all the daily stitching pieces. I have started adding to that and did some embellishing....trying to use all of the vintage pieces of cloth I have in my stash.

the pink up top is the edge of an old pillowcase. the x-stitch piece is old and was never completed so there is an incomplete section that i will leave that way.

I have been working on some other things but I can't show them yet...so that's all for now. Wishing you a week filled with creativity and most of all, good weather. I know some of you have really been hit with some really bad weather.

finishing up...and something new...

I did finish the paper work I showed you last week with the manipulated Amaryllis image. It started out with this first one. I didn't like some of the areas I did in watercolor so I cut them away and filled those areas with cloth.

---click on the images for a much better view---

manipulated Amaryllis image, watercolor, colorpoint paint, fabric

 I printed another image, used some paint and then did some free motion embroidery with some hand stitching. Those 5 pieces in the bottom right hand corner are the watercolored pieces cut away from the image above.

manipulated image, watercolors, colorpoint paint, fme, hand stitching

Here is another image I played with in PE....this one is more like a sketch and when I turned it around and added some pencil marks....it looks to be a dancing goat to me. You might see a horse or a deer or...

amaryllis image manipulated in PE

my dancing goat

The Amaryllis bulbs are on their second round of producing flowers so there may be more playing when those bloom.

Amaryllis will bloom again

I have never had any formal training in Art or Art History so when I read about this class on Facebook, I just couldn't pass it up. We studied Matisse the first week and now we are studying Gaudi. I am so happy to have found this class. I have already learned so much and have really gotten into doing the exercises demonstrated. Check it out at this link. If it interests you, you can still sign up and I believe the class will be available online for 2 years so there is no rush to keep up. You can work at your own pace. There are 9 teachers...a different one each week and each presents a different artist. It is so worth the cost. The name of the class is STUDYING WITH THE MASTERS and you can read all about it here.

some of my art supplies and a book recommended by Jeanne Oliver

in the style of Matisse / a new journal started

collecting patterns in a journal

I've been continuing to work on my daily stitching project and the blocks are adding up.

just a bit of my own embroidery in each already embellished block

an appliqued bird block for the center surrounded by vintage cloth

A very full week. Went a bit backwards with the Downton Abbey coat this week. I found a mistake at the armhole so I had to back out 7" but I'm almost back to the top again.

We had a freeze this week with some very icy streets that looked like snow but created havoc on the roads with lots of accidents despite the fact that all the schools and some businesses closed for the day....but we're back to normal and expect tomorrow to be in the 70s. I just love the variety.

Hope you're all safe and are having a wonderful weekend.