Artist Books

Another sample for my "Artist Book" class with Karen Ruane. It is not to late to join in on all the fun. You can learn more about the class here . I am enjoying the process of making loads of small samples for my book. Hope to see you in class.

Bead Sale

Hobby Lobby had a half off bead sale this past week and I added some beads to my stash. I use a lot of beads in my crazy quilts and now in my other work as well, so need to keep a supply on hand. I always try and buy my beads when on sale. I also found a few more rings to use in the "Year of Stitches" project. Some new beading needles as mine are so bent and I actually broke one last week. I also picked up a few sheets of paper to use for the new class with Karen called "Artist Books". I also picked up a few low volume prints for another project that I have. All the goodies are wonderful, but the time spent with mom going through Hobby Lobby and finding great things was the best part. Hope your day was good.

This is a page for my sampler book in the last class I took with Karen Ruane from here . I am still working on this classwork as well. I have several pages finished and will be adding more as I go along. Hope to have this one finished soon.

A Year In Stitch

My "Year in Stitches" project is moving along nicely. I am up to date with all my stitching. I added the three hearts and a field of french knots, which took me a couple of days to complete. This represents up to day 118. I decided to post weekly about the daily stitch as that is a better fit for me at this time. More to come soon.

Working in paper, cloth, lace and stitch for the new class with Karen Ruane called "Artists Books" these are the start of my samples that will go into the book/s that I make for class. Although, I have been thinking of making some samples to frame for the entry of the new house. I may have to make enough for both.:) It's not too late to sign up and join us for the class. There is some beautiful samples being made in class. You can find out about the class here . Hope to see you there.

Year of Stitches Update....

An update on my year of stitches project. It is coming along nicely and I am up to date with it. Some days I stitch more and other days I have to catch up. I've added the leaves and yellow french knots to the anchor. I will leave it like this for now, but may add to it in the future. I am enjoying stitching everyday just a small amount to help me relax especially on stress filled days. More to come...

Happy Mail

 

A few weeks ago I won a drawing on Anthea's blog here. It arrived today and I am so excited. An armchair caddy for my stitching chair. Already for use on tonight when I stitch. Look at the cute extras that she sent out. A really sweet pin cushion pattern and some pins along with a pair of scissors. She also included two packets of hot chocolate, but they are gone already. Again, thank you Anthea I will enjoy using these.

An Old Work In Progress...

This is an old work in progress that I wanted to pull out and start working on again after being re-inspired by one of my favorite quilters from here. I believe her hearts are smaller than mine though. My hearts measure 2 inches in size after being stitched down with the whole block finishing at 3 inches total. I was making these at the same time I was making the klojes ( which I need to work on as well). I started this in 2012 I believe, but put it down due to it being so fiddly. Not only was it fiddly, but my experience with applique was very limited at the time. I now have a bit more needle turn applique under my belt and it is much easier for me to do these tiny hearts. You can tell how skewed some of the hearts are on the previous blocks! I have about 20 hearts already appliqued down in my wip box. I decided that I would bring this project to life again and see about completing it this year. I don't know if I will make the original size (a king size bed quilt) I was going for at this time, but it has great potential. I'm not fast at appliqueing, so may take a while on these. My original plan was to do five blocks a day for the year. Now, I plan to use these as a fill in project for dr appts with my mom, car travel etc. This way I will still be working on this project, just at a slower pace than I originally had planned. Slow and steady wins the day.

A Doodle...

I seemed to have forgotten to post this doodle I made at the first of the month.

Spring Break....

This week was spring break for schools in our area...my sweet Jazmine was here for the week. She wanted to make an Easter tree, so of course I let her decorate an outdoor tree with Mardi Gras beads to make it. That's what she wanted to do and Monkey was glad to let her do it.:)

Mobile's Mardi Gras

Vernadean the Dragon

My brother throwing beads to the crowds

a closeup of the dragon

my brother and his youngest daughter

My brother is really big into the Mardi Gras scene in Mobile, Alabama. He is part of the MOT's which is Mystic of Time...they had their parade on this past Saturday. Here are a few shots of him with his dragon float that he rides on. One pic of him and his youngest daughter, who went down to be with him during Mardi Gras. Also a bit of history for those who may not know about Mardi Gras being celebrated in Mobile. " Before New Orleans, there was Mobile, Alabama-the birthplace of Mardi Gras in America. Mobile, was founded by Roman Catholics from France in 1702 and was home to the first mystic society or "krews", which held America's first Mardi Gras celebration in 1704, 14 years before New Orleans was even founded."

More Stitching....

Worked a bit on my sample, which may turn into a small pocket, still undecided at this point. I have added silver thread french knots and added some glass bugle beads as well as a seam of gimp.