a finished pin cushion...

Back here, towards the bottom of the post, are some images of my play with mother of pearl mosaic tiles. I tried several different things and decided that 6 of the tiles would be the center of a pin cushion. It measures 6" x 6" x 1".

click on the images....

finished pin cushion 6" x 6" x 1"

weaving, grass, french knots, bullion knots, mosaic tiles

some embroidery done on the prairie points

spider web trees and piped edge

the back of the pin cushion

We are making Sally Dolls in knitting class to learn how to do color work. We didn't meet this week because of inclement weather so I moved along with mine because I do want to make more than one. I'm going to do the legs and arms out of fabric. I followed the argyle pattern for one side and just did a checkerboard on the other side....mine will be a two sided doll and a bit smaller than the pattern size.

blocking both sides of the doll. each side measures 5½" x 4"

Creativebug.com (the link is here) is featuring a Calligraphy class and I decided to play along. I learned Calligraphy many years ago but this class is teaching it a bit differently with pen nibs and ink. If you are interested, you can see a preview of the class here. I chose to order the kit they offered rather than trying to find all the inks and papers.

some of the things in the kit

I just received my kit so I hope to start practicing this weekend.

We did have some below freezing temps this week so school in all the surrounding areas was delayed by 2 hours because of freezing rain which made for dangerous road travel. We are not prepared for that kind of weather here and thankfully, it doesn't last very long. Due to warm up by the weekend.

Wishing you a fabulous weekend and creative times.

a new pin cushion

i saw a wonderful vintage pin cushion on facebook that inspired the start of a new pin cushion for me. it involves some wooden parts that i haven't managed to put together yet but this is the start...i made that little bear head many years ago and stitched it onto some of my grandmother's crochet. the ball measures about 3" in diameter. click on images for close-ups.

3" diameter ball made with kimono silk cloth. hand made bear head on grandma's crochet

in the last post, i showed you some fabric wrapped cording. the basket is now complete and this one will be mine. all the others were given as gifts.

fabric coiled basket made with cloth scraps

and still working on samples for my Alchemy class journal with Karen Ruane.

an old family photo...a map-like collage in cloth...some musical notes with names of operas. my mom loved to sing opera.

have another great week. i'll be back soon.

My First Blog Giveaway

I have reached my 200th post and am so grateful to all of you who visit and comment and give me so much encouragement. I wanted to give away something that most of you would find useful so I decided on this pin cushion that I made back in November. It measures 5" x 5" x 1".  You can read about it here. If you would like your chance at winning, please leave a comment on this post. I would like it if you told me what craft you would like to learn more about. Or if you had a chance to learn some new craft, what would it be. I will  put all the names in a hat and post the winner on Friday, April 1st. Wish I had one for each of you. Here are some photos. Click on the image for a closer view.

the pin cushion measures 5" x 5" x 1"

made with a light weight upholstery fabric

loom and silk ribbon used for center weaving

Good Luck Everyone.

Weaving becomes a pin cushion...

My goal for 2011 is to finish more of the projects I start as well as the works that are already in progress. I'm starting early and I actually finished something I started just a few days ago. I had fun with the old weave-it loom I found in my closet. It is in the previous post if you missed it. I didn't have the instructions at the time so I just did my own thing, first with a linen thread and then with silk ribbon. I later found the instructions and the website is on my sidebar if you need them. Maybe you have this old loom as well. Anyway, the weaving has now become part of a large pincushion. I like that it is square so that I can easily separate different kinds of pins and needles. It measures 5" x 5" x 1¼".  Click on the images for a closer view.

woven with linen thread and silk ribbon
stitched onto upholstery fabric with piped edges

all around view