a little bit of everything...

i managed to put some more scraps together for another coil wrapped basket. hope to stitch it up today.
click on the images for close-ups.

a real variety of color

my focus has still been on the journaling  class with Karen Ruane. here's another glimpse of pages i'm working on.

that's mom and dad in 1939. i gathered bits and pieces of lace and put them between water soluble stabilizer and did some stitching to hold them together before washing out the stabilizer. and that's mom in the bottom picture. she loved to sing opera.

while looking for something yesterday, and being frustrated because i couldn't find it, i decided to clean out the closet. so lots of things for goodwill this week. and the thing i was looking for wound up being in another room, but it's got me started. today another room will be cleaned out and i know there will be lots more for goodwill.

filling up bags and boxes for goodwill

hope you've had a good weekend.

Gathering...

i'm still going through my accumulation of things through the years...and there are dolls...so far these...

all made at different times for different reasons

i must decide what to do with them. i'm determined to do something or they will have to go to someone who will... i'm sure there are more around that have not yet been unearthed.

haven't done much this week other than work on my journal in Karen Ruane's Alchemy class. each one of us has chosen a different theme so i'm learning so much as each person gathers and posts info that will find a place in their journal. my theme is Family so i've been going through old albums and letters and papers that i've accumulated through the years. here's just a clipped view of what i've been working on so far.

my dad and my grandmother have been the focus so far

wishing you all a good week. stay warm and stay safe.

having fun...

the days seem to be flying by at record speed these days. funny how time flows in accord with our state of mind. doing lots of experimenting...as usual.

i'm playing with some spun silk hankies. they are so delicate and fragile. i needle felted a couple to a piece of felt, layered it with bits and pieces of lace, embroidery, etc. and did some free motion stitching. now for some hand embellishing...

click on the images for a close-up view.

delicate spun silk hanky

layering, stitching and then some hand embellishment

Jude talked about fringe---one of my favorite topics---over in Diaries so i did some experimenting with my drop spindle. i could become addicted to creating fringe.

the cloth was ripped so it has created lots of texture (more fringe) on the edges

and Karen Ruane's Alchemy class started on Monday so there's lots of gathering and collecting of materials and ideas to include in my journal. we were to select a theme and mine is 'family' so i've been going through old pictures, handwork, etc. i'm finding things i forgot that i had and am enjoying the process. here are just a couple of pics showing some of my gatherings...

family photos and an old pattern book

looking through old family handmade items for design motifs to paint, sketch, stitch. and found this photo that i had forgotten all about. my dad took the picture in 1947 and wrote a letter on the front and back to his sister who was living in Israel. hard to believe how much info he included there...lots of family gossip. it measures about 2 1/2" square. my aunt gave it to me when she visited in the 1980s.

hope you're all having a good weekend.

moment to moment...

2 days ago, my design wall just fell straight down to the floor. it's been hanging on the wall with the heavy sticky back tape for many years. i think i just had too many things pinned to it and it gave way. so now i'm trying to remove all the cloth pieces and find a place for them before i attempt to hang it back up on the wall. one of the heaviest pieces was my magic diaries cloth that i haven't worked on in a long time. i'm thinking that the back of this old chair might be a good place for it when it's finished with some solid colored pillows in front.

click on the images for close-ups.

magic diaries cloth not yet complete

i've also been emptying one of my scrap baskets just to see what is there. once it's half filled, i lose sight of what's on the bottom.

most of what was in the basket is now somewhat organized into color categories

still more scraps to play with

there were lots of good sized strips that i've started sewing together. i guess another coiled basket will be made with these.

some of you are already into the new year and some of us are just a few hours away......

my goal will be to continue trying to live in the moment

what i've been working on...

my posts are getting farther and farther apart...aren't they. i am working on things but quietly and with much thought about lots of things. a few more baskets have been completed with what was left of the clothesline. this will be it for awhile. some have been gifted and were well received. the ones here were done with a zig-zag stitch on the machine.

click on the images for a close-up view.

made with whtite dotted swiss organdy fabric and a bit of lace

cotton fabric and both are about 5½" in diameter. the covers are attached to the base.

 i'm also taking a self-study watercolor class by Carla Sonheim. you can read about it here. the watercolor is done on t-shirt iron-on transfer paper and then manipulated and ironed onto paper or fabric. here are a couple of things i've done so far.

watercolors, ball point pen, water soluble markers ironed onto watercolor paper

painted t-shirt transfer cut up and parts ironed onto watercolor paper...the beginnings of a face

and a few posts back i showed how i was enlarging blouses that were a bit too small by adding fabric to the sides from the wrist edge to the hem bottom. well i have this very old sweater that i cannot part with. it was a bit too small after washing it in the machine so i'm knitting sections and adding them to the sides. i couldn't match the ecru color so i'm using a lace weight variegated yarn that matches the embroidered flowers. i tried it on last night and it will fit perfectly when finished. still have a bit to go and it needs blocking. the added pieces really don't show much at all when it's on the body.

knitted additions from the wrist to the hem bottom. still needs blocking.

Revise and Renew...

a white eyelet jacket has been hanging in my closet for a few years. i got it at a thrift store and it was just too white. i wrapped it around a tin can with some leaves and dropped it in the dye pot. the color is much better now. a couple of pockets and a bit more stitching and it will be wearable.

Click on the pics for a close-up view.

still working on fabric coiled baskets...this time with covers. pics on the next post.

have a great week.

watercolor books and finished baskets

i've been taking a watercolor class through Joggles.com for the past 4 weeks. i'm trying to get more comfortable using watercolors and this class helped teach me some new techniques. during the last lesson we were to take some of the pages we produced, make them into a book and we added bits and pieces of other pages on the inside. i did some stitching and stamping in my books as well.

Click on the images for a close-up view.

2 small books made from watercolor pages

stamping

stitching

other pieces inserted in book

i finished 3 of the fabric coiled baskets i was working on. 2 are made by hand and 1 by machine. i added some embellishments to all 3. they will be gifts.

basket made by hand with a cloth fabric insert

basket made by hand with ceramic turtles stitched on the inside

basket made by machine with ceramic bead stitched in the center

wishing you all a good week.

and the winner is....

                   ELS of fiberrainbow is the winner.

Els, I have sent you an e-mail requesting your address so I can put it in the mail. Hope you will enjoy it. Thank you all for participating and there will be giveaways in the future. Wishing you all a great weekend.
deanna7trees

mixed and picked with my eyes closed

a sweater transformation...

this all started with a lovely pair of knitted leg warmers i saw on Facebook. Lyn suggested making them from the sleeves of an old sweater which i had in my stash. it was purchased long ago from the thrift store and felted. each sleeve was long enough to make a leg warmer and a wrist warmer. i crocheted edges with some yarn that belonged to my grandmother. the body of the sweater was big enough, with some patching, to cover one of those inexpensive cardboard buckets that are sold in the craft stores. i lined it with some of my hand dyed silk and even make a plush inner base by adding some batting under the silk cloth. another bucket for some much needed organization around here.

click on the images for close-ups.

sweater bucket, wrist warmers and leg warmers

wrist warmers crocheted on upper edge and leg warmers crocheted on both edges

leg warmers

hand dyed silk base and lining...some dyed velvet peeking out from the open collar

AND A BLOG GIVEAWAY....
a friend shared this DVD with me. some of you might know about it. it came out in 2011 and is quite interesting. i've seen lots of the quilts in person, that are talked about here, at the Houston quilt show in 2009. you can read more about this DVD here. i have watched it and thought i'd pass it on to you.
if you leave a comment, you will be included in the drawing. if you'd rather not be included, just say so in your comment. i know some of you might have already seen it.
i'll do the drawing early Thursday morning, November 29th.

have a great week and thanks for stopping by.

back into baskets...

this time i'm making some fabric coiled baskets. i've never done them by hand before. i've made some by machine in the past. i'm getting better at controlling the stitch with each one i make. they will be gifts.
Click on the images for close-ups.

fabric coiled baskets

the lace shawl is finally finished. i learned so much but i don't think i'll ever make one with lace weight yarn again. it's really not something that will keep me warm. it's too light weight. it's really shades of brown, not orange as it appears here.

the pattern is 'Skywalker' by Nelkin Designs

this would probably dress up my dark brown velour dress. it's not really orange as it looks here but shades of brown.

 and i'll leave you with this cute idea for a little thread bowl. it would be perfect for tatters or if you are working on a project where you're just using one type thread. you can hook it onto your belt or purse. i had to make one immediately.

a thread bowl

WISHING YOU ALL A GREAT WEEK AND A HAPPY THANKSGIVING FOR THOSE WHO CELEBRATE.

loving the light...

that comes through the kitchen shutters this time of year during the afternoon.

did a bit more embroidery on this blue scrim-like shawl and am feeling much more comfortable creating bullion knots.

bullion and french knots on lace

in my quest to find better ways to organize, i uncovered some of these hanging pockets that i've had for years. it might work to catch all the bits and pieces lying around from projects being worked on. we'll see if this works. i'm willing to try anything to get rid of the chaos on my cutting table.

all these little things just get lost on the cutting table

and finally...the shawl. it's almost finished. the scalloped edge is worked perpendicular to the shawl and each scallop is 24 different rows. it takes me about 30 minutes to do each scallop and there are 25 in total. if i lose my place in the pattern, i'm in trouble.

5 scallops completed. that blue thread is a lifeline that i told you about in the last post

this week i learned a new way to join a new ball of yarn. it's called a russian join and works like a charm. here is how it's done.

Click on the images for close-ups.

Wishing you all a great week and hopefully some calm weather.

another experiment---partial success

in a post a couple of weeks ago, i had stitched some scraps of cloth and lace to used color-catcher sheets. well i did some dyeing with eucalyptus leaves and rusty things. the color-catcher sheets picked up the leaf images really well but the bits and pieces of cloth...not so much...so i removed most of them. i know now what i'll be doing with all the used color catcher sheets i've collected.

bundle just opened...the white circle is where a can cover was clamped

top square was the only one where attached cloth had some imprinting

i mentioned, in my last post, that i've purchased some new knitting needles that are specifically for lace knitting. they are really wonderful to work with.

the tips are a bit pointier than normal

the cable and the joining sections are perfect

here's the lace shawl so far. will not look like much until blocked...maybe by the next post.

i was so glad to learn about knitting lifelines in my craftsy class. it saved me from having to start from scratch quite a few times already. this yarn is so fine that it is hard to remove mistakes stitch by stitch. i have really learned a lot about lace knitting and am feeling much more confident.
CLICK ON IMAGES FOR CLOSE-UPS...

I KNOW THERE ARE MANY OF YOU OUT THERE WHO STILL DO NOT HAVE POWER. YOU ARE IN MY THOUGHTS AND AM SENDING GOOD WISHES. STAY SAFE.