Finding time for little projects

Small projects seem to be all I can fit in these days. I need something I can pick up quick and work on for 10-15 minutes and then tuck away.

This little bead project is one I have been wanting to try based on a project from the book Bead Romantique. It is not quite done, I will be adding some fringe to the lower left quadrant to balance out the design. The most difficult part was getting the links of beads to stay around the face. I ended up taking a few stitches through the holes just to make sure it wont come loose. I am not sure if it will become a necklace or an embellishment on a quilt.

Strata quilt...

This little gal has been keeping me busy. Here she taking her morning nap at work with me..

These days I spend more time thinking about project than actually doing but I did find a few moments to actually do something creative. I made a design decision on how to proceed with the various strata of batik fabric and cut each up into 6 inch squares and now I am playing with with how to arrange the blocks.

Ace of the Cake

I love watching all those cake decorating shows that are on TV. I could totally get in to decorating cakes. So I thought I would challenge myself with a Spiderman theme cake for Alex's third birthday.

I is a chocolate sour cream cake with butter cream frosting, all homemade. I thought I would try out the decorative icing a few times on a cutting sheet before I attempted it on the cake.

And here is the cake with the frosting. Much harder that I thought. I did not have too many problems with the top, but if you look close, some of the lines on the edge are a bit wiggly. I seemed to get the hang of it just as I was finishing up.

And some final touches of a Spiderman candle and a 3....

Happy Birthday Alex......

Getting back to embellishing...

I knew this year would be busy, a new baby and a 3 year old, I decided to try not to start any major quilts this year and focus on completing some of my UFOs. I have been slowly working on hand quilting a double wedding ring, which does not make for very interesting blogging. But the next quilt on my list should prove to be a bit more stimulating. It is the Spring CQ.. I took a good look at my progress to date and I am not too sure if I like what is going on, but I will persevere. I sewed all of the blocks together and started adding some larger elements.

I found inspiration in some of the dimensional flowers Allison over at Allie's in Stitches has be creating for her Spring CQ. I used 2.5 inch ribbon for my flowers. I have a sprig on the right side of the quilt and I think I will balance that with one on the left.

The used tiger tape is to plan the placement of the embroidered stems.

Two Tone Triangle Purse

This past weekend finished sewing up a knitted the two tone triange purse I have been working on for ages and even found time to toss it in the wash to felt it.

New stash

My mom added some great items to my stash this past week while visiting her newest granddaughter. She and my dad went to an auction of a former egg decorating business and picked up some fabulous items. Just look at the bag full of goodies..... Many of the items are Sworski crystal embellishements.

These flowers are about the size of a nickel in diameter and about 1/4 inch high...

I have a bunch of these small 1/4 inch rings of crystals...

There are also a great selection of metal motifs. I really like the sprig of leaves.

A few different crystal flowers and pearl beads.

The one on the left looks like a crown and is about 1/2 inch tall.

I see all sorts of possibilities to incoporate these into a crazy quilt.

Finished and in the mail.

Taking care of our new bundle of joy has taken over much of my time and I have not started anything new. Mostly a little knitting.

My piece for the Alliance for American Quilts Crazy for Quilts contest is completed and will be in the mail this week. I added the label and sleeve along with a beaded beetle on the back.

Family

Abigail Charlotte
Born April 28, 2009
7lbs 6 oz
20 inches

Finishing touches

I am finished with beading the block for the Alliance for American Quilts, Crazy for Quilts contest. Which is also a fundraiser for the organization and all blocks entered will be auctioned off on EBay.
I have named the quilt Crazy for Beads and the block is 12" finished with a 2" border. I decided not to do any beading in the border and will add a beaded picot biding to the edge. I think the motifs and border fabric that I added to the block created a subtle Asian feel to the design that is quite pleasing.

What I did add over the past few days are some bugs. ever since I picked up a copy of Jane Nicholas Sumpwork Dragonflies and The Stumpwork, Goldwork and Surface Embroidery Beetle Collection and I have been wanting to incorporate some of these fancy bugs into my crazy quilts.

The bugs were a great way to fill in some of the empty space with out being too busy or another flower motif. Bugs and flowers go so well together anyway. First I added these little lady bug beads I have had in my stash for a few years. I used the gray beading thread to add the legs.


Next I really wanted to add a beetle. Jane creates some very realistic beetles in her book using leather and bead and various embroidery thread. I went for a generic beetle using a size 11 matte gray delica bead for the wings, size 15 beads for the red tail area, then some size 11 silver lined beads for the body and three size 11 iridescent beads to form the head. Again I use the gray beading thread to create the legs and antenna. I just love how he turned out.

The last bug I added was a bumble bee. I started by searching "bumble bee" and "honey bee" on google to check out some images of bees. I found a line drawing of a bee and realized it was the stripes combined with the shape of the wings that really identified the bug as a bee. This little guy was created using size 11 silver lined gray beads for the dark strips and a size 15 opaque pumpkin colored bead for the other stripe on the bee. The head is a size 6 black bead with the size 11 silver lined beads use to create the eyes. For the finishing touches I used black thread to create the wings, legs and antenna. The antenna are finished off with an iridescent purple delica bead on each tip. Again I am very pleased with how he turned out.

This block came together so beautifully and I am very excited to see where this treasure ends up.

Bootee Pattern

So many of you asked....

The baby bootees in the previous post we created using Simplicity pattern #2867. A reprint of a vintage pattern. My mom thought they needed some additional stitching and added some of her own embellishments.

Baby bootees

I thought my knitted bootees were cute, but my mom created some bootees that are absolutely adorable...
Hand embroidered with silk ribbon ties, I cant wait to seem them on her cute little feet.

Beading update

I have the borders on and a few more beads added.

Filling in the blanks…

I have spent the past few evening filling in the beaded block.  I hope to get the border sewn on this weekend. 

I added some “dots” to the fern seam the two flower motifs in the lower right area and the spider on the far right. 

I also added to the Cretan seam in the upper right corner.  I have found I like creating the basic stitch out of size 11 beads and then using a smaller size 15 for the details. 

Crazy for Beads…

I have been adding to the beading on my block that I hope to have completed for The Alliance for the American Quilt, Crazy for Quilts contest.  I have 3 weeks until my due date and my goal is to have all of the main block beaded and then after the baby concentrate on the border. 

I still have quite a bit of space to fill but I am finished with most of the major seams.  Of of my favorite seams in the one to the top left of the center rose, the blue sprigs of foliage.  This seam was done with all size 15 beads, the stems are a yellow green foil lined bead and the leaves are done with a matte bead in a soft turquoise. 

 

I finished up working on the flower motif on the top left corner as well as adding to the blanket stitch. 

 

I am currently adding to the pistol stitch seam which is in the lower left area of the block.  I am using a size 15 bead in hot pink to add petals to each stitch the resulting motif reminds me of a spade shape.  

Blizzard

We awoke this morning to just over 11 inches of snow and it has continued throughout the day. The forecast is for upto 4-6 more inches. Here is a peek out of our front door. Check out that drift on our roof and we still have a pile of snow from many previous storms.
Here is the view of our deck and back yard shortly after my husband shoveled the deck but the snow is coming down so fast it is already covered again. We had a threat of flooding last week and now look forward to a tense week ahead with more flooding possible. With a baby due in 4 weeks I really don't need this kind of stress.

So rather than venture out, I decided to stay home and do a little baking......mmmmmm pumpkin scones.

paired with a cup of coffee, the perfect mid morning snack.

I have also been able to sneek in a little time to work on my beaded block. I have been stumbling a bit and not liking anything I have added lately. So I have been doing alot of ripping out.

Weekend Projects…

I love to decorate with original art but cant always afford my expensive taste.  So I am always seeking out unique sources for art to decorate our home.

I finished up a few projects this weekend that I have been wanting to do for ages.  And it helped that Hobby Lobby had frames on sale for 1/2 off this weekend. 

The first is a piece of vintage embroidery that I shared in an earlier post.  I really like the look of the framed textile,  I think I will be digging through my linen closet to see what else I have stashed away…

This is our dining room that has many pieces of the vintage arts and crafts textiles I have collected.  I found a pillow cover this weekend that I think will look perfect on a bench that is on the other side of the room.   

 

The other art is from a 2007 Calendar that I picked up on sale from Barnes and Noble last year.  I spent a semester of college studying in Florence Italy and just loved the graphic vintage travel posters in the calendar.   My husband and I picked out 6 to frame up and hang around the house.  Here are the three that I hung in our bedroom.   

And here is one more bit of inexpensive art that I framed up.  I picked up these lovely art nouveau note cards when I was in Washington DC at the Museum of Modern Art.  I would have loved to buy some of the tiles they had on display but at around $150 each,  the $15 I spent on the note cards was much more reasonable.  The frame is a basic one from Target where the art is between two pieces of glass,  no matte board cutting necessary. 

French Market Bag

Here is a felted bag I completed sometime ago and just got around to snapping a photo.  To be honest, I hate the shape of the bag. I think I felted it too much (if that is possible). Maybe with a button to hold it closed it could be salvaged.

The next purse I am knitting is from this book that I recently added to my stash. I just love the purse on the cover, it is on my to make list.

But I decided to start with one that I have both the needles and the yarn already on hand to create, the Two Tone Triangle Purse. Here is the finished version since knitting in progress is not all that exciting to see.....

We will see how it turns out.

Feathers

I have been doing some thinking about machine quilting and sketching feathers.... An opportunity presented itself to purchase a long arm quilting system and I thought long and hard about the possibilities of the major purchase. In the end, I decided although the price was right, the timing was not. With a baby due in just six weeks, I don't think I would be able to devote the time I would want to hone my machine quilting abilities.
But I have been thinking about machine quilting patterns in particular feathers, which I always love to see on a quilt. I am not all that great at doing them free hand. So I decided to take my sketching to the next level and do some machine quilting. I have also been inspired Patsy Thompson, who does some phenomenal free motion quilting using multiple colors of thread in one pattern. I started with a fat quarter of fabric along with a piece of extra firm batting (like the kind used in fiber postcards). I ironed in some diagonal guidelines and penciled in the curvy line to follow and went to town.

I chopped the fat quarter into 4x6 postcards and now am adding some more machine stitching. So they are turning out a bit more machine embroidered than simply quilted.

More Adorable Baby Bootees

I cant stop knitting these little bootees. The latest pair have an added crochet flower (I got the idea from another knitter on Ravelry). So far these are my favorites. I love the orange wool and purple combination. For all of the bootees I have been using my leftover yarns from other projects, it is a great way to use up those tiny bits of leftovers.
They are so tiny and cute.

As fun as the previous bootees are, a good friend emailed me this link to some knit Robeez.....and now I see myself knitting up several more of these as well. The pattern calls for size 5 needles with a medium (worsted) weight yarn (made to fit and 11 month old) I use a size 2.5 with Plymouth Galway wool yarn in green heather (worsted weight) and I think they should fit a 6-8 month old.

Valentine Postcard

I received this beautiful Valentine from my mom this year. She has a Bernina Embroidery machine and is using postcards to learn how to create and manipulate the designs.