Quilting on a Rainy Day

On this day of continuous rain, there is pressure to finish a number of things so I can get out into the garden.
But with all my commitments it'll be two weeks yet!

After another guild member binds this donation quilt, it's off to the local hospital.
Just a simple meander variation.

March is Truly the Cruelest Month

Well it's Wednesday, The first day of Spring.


I spent the last 3 days rescuing my workspace ....AGAIN.😟
I woke early Sunday morning to the sound of running water. Never a good thing. It wasn't the dishwasher (it's leaked twice) but the water heater that had finally given way. I had suggested replacing it many many months ago when it started leaking but hubby's philosophy was 'it ain't broke so don't fix it' 😠

He has been on the receiving end of many a dark glare and sharp words these last few days as I scrambled again to lift and rescue my materials.
However, he humbly scouted for a replacement and it was installed yesterday. (Great, another appliance I'll never trust again.)

Why the builders placed the floor drain at the highest point of the basement floor....?

After using every mop and towel in the house (the shop-vac is still buried by the snow blower) and running the furnace fan and dehumidifier for three days now, I felt confident I could put things back.
Needless to say, I'm tired and cranky.
Some day I'll get back to my fabric.

Everything including the floor was picked up or moved onto any available surface.

Finally everything is back in it's place (plus a little more purging)

😅

A Dragon for Davyn

I came across this adorable guy on the internet. The pattern is free and though diddly, very straight forward and easy in its parts. I really enjoyed working on this for 3 Days, but I sat in front of my window and watched the snow disappear.! 😉 Double joy.

https://www.amigurumitogo.com/2016/06/crochet-free-dragon-pattern.html

Here's my finished guy.
He stands  little over 20 inches, and took one whole skein of Bernat Super Value (7oz. skein)

He balances quite easily by flexing the materials into position. I did leave off some of the 'fru-fru', extra head scales and intricate eye lids etc.

Waiting for Spring - Reworking a Sashiko Style Vest

I like to think of it as Spring Fever rather than Winter depression. But it's robbing me of energy and ambition. Even the news that our composite piece, Naomi's Boat was juried into the the CQA show in Ottawa this June left me feeling even more tired, end of the marathon tired. ( They requested a social media blackout on the accepted pieces, so After the show I'll post our experience. The girls and I are going on a road trip!)

I decided to rework a vest I had made back when the Sashiko craze hit our area. At the same time I was coming out of a Baltimore blocks obsession. I decided to combine the two. Well I wore this vest for many years but decided last week the Baltimore blocks had to go. They were competing with the embroidery work I had done on the back.
I spent several days removing the Baltimore block without disassembling the vest and stitching four Sashiko style blocks. It was great you tube video and evening TV work.

I haven't decided how to fasten the front. I removed some big clunky wooden buttons and haven't found a replacement yet. No hurry.

Here are the four 9 inch Baltimore style blocks I removed. I have no idea what I'll do with them but....

This is the back with the embroidery that I really love. These new blocks (which BTW are stitched on fabric I salvaged from Hubby's discarded shirt) are more appropriate.

Yes I know the motifs on the front are Celtic but I imagined them, at the time, as an OK substitute for Dragons. I haven't looked into that issue because the background stitching frames them rather tightly.

Much better, softer composition.

Northern Lights - Final

All that remained to finish was the quilting of the snow and the sky.

Lots of fun!

Finished Bear

Northern Lights - 3 hours of Thread work

Tomorrow should finish this.

The Bear Went.........

Using a straight forward freezer paper collage, this guy came together in about 3 hours.

This is the same guy I used in the needle felted bear.

There were about 4 layers here in this photo shopped version.

Using the last of my 'shadow and pink light' on snow fabric, he fits right in, under the lights.

All that needs to be done is some thread work.

Northern Lights

I've long thought about fashioning a piece with the Northern lights. It's a nice change from an ordinary sky and it's a means of adding colour and interest.

I have tried an number of things over the years, but they just haven't done it for me. A few Inukshuk (2014) left me baffled and disappointed

I started having some interesting results last year with paint but the weather just discouraged a lot of work so I let it go.

After a face book photo showed up with a picture of the 'Dragon" in the Northern lights over China I knew it was time. I decided to try abstract.

Deceptively easy, it really depends on your fabric. I'm getting low on this intensity of colour but I used what I had.
This is quite small, about 18" sq. so I finished everything with Satin stitch.

Now what to place on the ground beneath the sky?