Margreet's Art Nouveau Owl

Margreet's blocks arrived today and they are such warm forest colors.. I haven't read her booklet yet so not sure if she had a preferred position for her block and I won't be able to get started until Monday...after granddaughter visit....

When I had been looking at Art Nouveau images this owl item kept turning up at different sites with different names....book rack, letter holder, book ends... but I loved the owl and the wonderful art nouveau details...especially the pine cones which Ritva used.. So since this is my bird summer, Margreet gets a bird also...



I'll have to ask her if they have owls in the Netherlands... Cobi says they have no brightly colored birds... Owls have so much symbolism associated with them..insightful, wise, protective, mystical. I will have to come up with a drawing from this that I can do CQ and keep in rhythm with Cathy and Ritva's symmetrical layout ... It will adapt well to texture so will try a variety of materials and a little stumpwork.. Should be fun...



Addendum: I checked on the Internet and the Netherlands not only have owls...they have barn owls which we have also. They are my very favorite owl.. In the Netherlands they have a protection program in progress with cameras in barn owl nesting boxes... The unique physical features of the barn owl will lend itself beautifully to a AN design... Let the fun begin...

I'm IN... WOW

Pat Winter commented "I hear that separate bedrooms are "IN" right now." I checked Google and she's right... The trend is for 2 master suites in new homes for separate bedrooms.... I don't think I've ever been "IN" in my life. No one in our senior social circle admits to separate bedrooms but I know many who one or the other uses the spare room or guest room but don't actually label it as the other's bedroom.. Well onward... Oldest granddaughter is here for a whiz-by visit tomorrow... She's reads my blog everyday and likes it... Surprised me! Will post her pictute. Off to look for neighbor's missing cows...

Incompatible Sleep Habits

Somehow in the throes of new love the compatibility of sleep habits received pretty low consideration... But DH and I are about as incompatible as it comes... I need 5 pillows and lots of quilts...he wants a small thin pillow and an electric blanket.... I love the windows open and fresh cool air...even in winter... He likes the windows closed and the room warm... I love to read in bed and listen to a soothing CD as I fall asleep... He likes it quiet AND dark.. I've always gone to bed early and risen early and prone to wandering in the night (especially if I've have a creative brainstorm) He goes to bed late, sleeps late and if his sleep is disturbed can't go back to sleep... And the mattress is another whole area of differences..

So our morning conversations usually consisted of grumpy, heated discussions... So after about 20 years we opted to try separate bedrooms in the search for matrimonial harmony and a good night's sleep... Some 17 years later our morning conversations go something like this... Morning dear! How did you sleep? Marvelous sweetheart and how did you sleep? Just fabulous honey... Well maybe not so many dears and honeys but you get the drift... Not only do I sleep better, I love my own retreat decorated with all my special treasures... Of course we each have our own dog to keep our feet warm...

I should add in spite of these idiosyncrasies, he is terribly charming and witty and, by far, the most handsome 76-year-old man I know....and I love him dearly....

Lace cottage II

The big decision today was the lace for the cottage and I went through a lot... If it had the right pattern and texture it was too heavy... If it was the right weight the pattern was too large for the small cottage... The one perfect piece was really too small (see arrow).... It was a tiny remnant of very old lace which was gifted to me by Cathy Kizerian during my visit last winter... Because it was the perfect weight and texture AND a gift from a friend I was determined to make it work...



It took some creative piecing and may need a vine to cover a spot or two but I am soooooooooo happy with it.. I can see right now finding perfect lace for cottages will jump to the head of my list... and there will be more cottages as I do love them and have a large file of pictures.. The lace for the thatch (roof) was easier and it needs to be tacked in place more. I also picked out laces for fences, gates and maybe an arbor... I will put a blanket stitch along the roof ridge and satin stitch the chimney...On my first lace cottage I put the lace on and then tried to put the windows over the lace and it didn't work well.. This time I put some bonding tape on a piece of black silk, cut out the window, ironed them on the cottage before I put the lace on and it worked much better... I basted the lace around the windows, edged them with a chain stitch and then cut out the lace... Next time I will use a piece of dark grey or blue for the windows....the black is a bit harsh... All in all a good start....

With all the mess of finding the right lace and other CQ stuff lately I've fallen down on my "good wife" intention that I promised last fall... that of keeping the table cleared enough that DH could eat a meal sitting down... Luckily I didn't feel too guilty because it was cool enough tonight that he could eat outside.....

Create your own umbrella

I'm trying to bring my camera along when I walk in my forest so I can share bits with you... At the same time I planted the forest I planted about 1000 shrub seedlings provided by the department of wildlife... One variety was elderberry.... As they started to grow the deer grazed on them mercilessly and it looks weird to see all the stems growing devoid of leaves...but they persevered and eventually the stems were taller than the deer and started to branch and leaf out until now they look like this... The deer continually munch on the underside to get any new growth...thus creating this umbrella-like effect.

And as if they knew what they were doing they now use them as resting area in the heat of the day... You can see all the tall grass is smashed down where they have been. How comfy is that? Your own cushion in the shade of your own umbrella... Later this summer these huge plants will be loaded with gorgeous purple elderberries.. hence a very fruity umbrella...

p.s. on the dessert front this week I'm batting 0 for 2... My lemon cream pie turned into a pudding in a crust... This one I can salvage tho as I will scoop it out and add a lot more whipped cream and freeze it and serve it as a lemon mousse on Friday..

And also yesterday a Heloise reader said she hated plunging her hands into hamburger and sausage to mix them for meatballs and used her mixer... Not my favorite either so tried the mixer bit this morning and it worked great... Hooray for Heloise...

Cottage Tote

This "Lace Cottage" is from a 2008 landscape RR... I had trouble with the perspective on the cottage and couldn't resolve it without starting over before I sent it out.. Debbie Smith, Lyn Gaskill, Janie Jones and Leslie Erhlich did the work and it was lovely when it came back and the work on it was delightful.. You can see what it looked like going out here http://olderrose.blogspot.com/2010/07/lace-cottage.html It is going to be the pocket on my "Sunday Best" tote... As I do with many things I do it again and sometime three times trying different techniques and approaches... Yesterday I put a thin layer of batting under it and backed it with cotton and quilted it... and it has a very nice feel and weight to it... I'm going to a posh garden luncheon next week and wish I could have it done but not likely.

I wanted a smaller "cottage" pocket on the other side. I started by sketching a cottage scene on a piece of fairly heavy white silk. I am not going to piece this as it is going to be very heavily embellished and textured like the RR cottage and since it is quite small...6x7" the piecing would be lost... I will back it with white muslin and do the whole thing on a hoop...

So the next thing I did was color it lightly with alcohol inks.... and I shall begin... It's not like I don't have other things to do but one of the nice things about getting old is I often blur the line between what I should do and what I want to do....

Although while I am working on this and waiting for the next RR block I am going to try to get my BJP back on track...

Yet another happy fisherman!!

Received a new batch of pictures from my son's lodge and posted some on his blog last night... http://alaskafishingclub.blogspot.com I need to go back today and enlarge them and do some editing.. I couldn't resist the grin on this fellow... Is he happy or WHAT??? Even I would have a happy grin if I caught that halibut and I don't even like to fish...but I love to eat halibut!

I need to edit out the date and that darn green hose that always sneaks in there... They hang the fish and then hose them down good for the photo opt. and then forget to remove the hose... Looks like there is a smudge on the lens...can't do much about that.

Bee Fore and Bee After

Here is Ritva's little bee... bee fore and after...I do the legs with bullion stitches...

Everyone loves and does dragonflies but none compare to Pat Winter's dragonflies and I believe it is because she always adds those long, elegant, delicate legs.. I always refer to the dragonflies in the her book which I love but there's a lovely one on the sidebar of her blog... BTW this is my newest favorite type font... "Birmingham" Art Nouveau to be sure....

I wanted the detail on this bee but it was so little...Here's a little tip I use sometimes... When an image is quite small on a website and I can't click it larger....and I want it bigger without getting a bunch of pixels, I get as close as I can to the screen and take a picture of the computer screen itself... (be sure to turn off your flash) When you download the picture to your computer you get a much larger image... Sometimes this tip really comes in handy....

Here are some example of Art Nouveau insect jewelry... It was always embellished with precious gems.. My favorite is the bee below carved from amber.

Thanks..Can't win them all....and Wil and the car.

First thanks for all the comments and emails about Ritva's block... I often feel so isolated with no fellow CQ stitchers here that when you leave comments, it is like having a friend with me... So thank you, thank you, thank you!!!

Some days you can't win them all and not even a few... Here are my sour cream-lemon tea breads. I must have added the baking soda twice as they just exploded in the oven... I couldn't even salvage them to make a pudding...6 eggs and 3 cups of sugar into the trash... Thank heavens they were on a cookie sheet or I'd be cleaning my oven for days.. Morris did like the crumbs tho...of course he eats dead mice, bugs and snake skins so he hardly qualifies as a critic of what's gourmet.

Here's my helper Wil with "the car of his dreams". Actually for $300 it's a very nice little car. I was afraid with a car he'd not have free time to work but then the price of gas is a mitigating factor.....
The back seat had a few problems and he solved them with some creativity and colored duck tape....

Ritva's Art Nouveau Block finished....almost

Invariably I think it is done and then I see it on the screen and see something that needs to be done... First I forgot the legs and antenna on the bee.. Insect jewelry during this period was very popular.... especially dragonflies, butterflies and bees... Next I had some wonderful antique buttons I had laid out to add and forgot... Then it will be done...

All the talk I do about directional elements and then I have the bee heading right off the block but it was the only way it was going to fit. I really like the hummer and will pin some of that thread to the drawing and repeat it on something for myself..

You can see I added a lot of seam work and tried to repeat the circle (or arc) shape as often as possible. Also I loved the blue patch in the lower left and tried to use it in almost every seam to carry it around the block..

This hummer is a "humdinger"

I am so happy with this little hummer.. That variegated silk thread is just perfect for the colors of Ritva's block. I'm just starting on the seam treatments now... I've signed up for a seams-only RR which start Sept.1 so I'm beginning to practice on this block... Please don't ask me what this flower is as it is just "smooch, smash, and scrunch.

This design was inspired by a vintage Art Nouveau tile... Oh I did put just a little batting under the hummer as I finished appliqueing it down...just a little poof!!! And the silk thread on his head is Gloriana "Cherry Tart". The bee will go into the upper right patch..

Art Nouveau is ultra-embellished... Look at any Mucha poster and there is not a single quiet spot....I just love his work and have 2 of his large posters hanging in my kitchen.

Jean Wilson

I was working on a CQ block at the senior center and Jean had some questions... I gave her my e-mail address and she soon wanted to know how to construct a block. The next thing I know she had made and embellished a block. I had her out to the farm for lunch this week and she was starting on another block! She browsed though a lot of my CQ books and I gave her an extra book I had on stitches.

She loved the fan blocks and I bet she does one of those also...

Hummingbird and Wil

The color is off as the muslin is actually white... but I wanted to show that I had used alcohol dyes to color outside the edge of the hummingbird to make it easier to applique... also I have all my directional guides inked to help me keep on track...

It has taken me 2 days to do the tail and one wing so it's looking like a 4-day bird.. I'm using 1 strand of variegated silk thread..."Waterlilies" I believe is the brand but the color name is gone. I love silk thread....

At this point I just realize I have the feathers on the other wing "fanned" the wrong direction... Glad I caught it before I stitched it...

Also Wil has found the car of his dreams.... a 1986 Subaru and is he excited... I'm glad because I am running out of funds for help... But I am so grateful to have had him this last month..

We finished up the new shelter for the rams today.. I should qualify the word "new" as it is all 2x6s repurposed from the old lath sales area that Wil dismantled. I will put wire on the sides and some more lag screws to firm it up but I can do that on a cool evening with no problem... Cost $0.00

The other big chore was putting a new cover and shade cloth on the greenhouse...at least 50' of it... The poor dear really needs a coat of paint but it won't happen this summer.. I use it now for the ewes to lamb in the spring and to winter them when we get a lot of snow and feeding and watering is difficult.. In addition Wil's hauled a lot of heavy stuff and did a lot of pruning... The rest of the things on my summer list I can handle if I have to. Hired help that is a handy man is a good thing!!!

Comments on my forest!

Thanks for your kind comments and emails about my forest. I should have added that our land had been cultivated for almost 100 years with some pretty poor husbandry.. It had been deluged with tons of chemicals over the years and, although it does not show in that photo, the land slopes to the north and was becoming badly eroded... Saving it was one of my better life choices.... It has a covenant attached to the title and cannot be clear cut for 80 years... It's comforting to know that if I drop dead, someone can't immediately buy it and log it...which is exactly what happened to my grandfather's farm in Idaho....

The forest is 80% Ponderosa pine (native to this dry area) and they grow 12-18" a year once established.. This photo was taken a couple years ago by the Dept. of Conservation and you can see some of fir and tamarack trees as well as the pine. I will be doing a whole post on how it came about as part of my BJP...which is woefully behind...

Lemonade not my first choice....

Strolling through Costco Monday I had a craving for something lemon and grabbed a 5lb bag. Then when I got home I vaguely recalled I've done this before and how much baking I had to do to use up a 5lb bag because I'm not a fan of lemonade...

So yesterday afternoon I started with this recipe....Crisp Lemon Sugar Cookies. Of course I had to add a cup of finely chopped pecans and 1/2 cup of oatmeal whizzed in a processor. So they became "Crisp Lemon Pecan Oatmeal Sugar Cookies"

They are a great cookie but not as lemony as I would like so next time I will up the extract and lemon zest...

Ingredients
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup shortening
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon lemon zest (or more)
2 teaspoons lemon extract
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
Optional My additions:
1 cup of finely chopped pecans
1/2 cup of oatmeal whizzed in a processor.
Additional sugar
Directions
In a large bowl, cream butter, shortening and sugar until light and
fluffy. Beat in egg, lemon juice, zest and extracts. Combine the flour, salt and
baking soda; gradually add to creamed mixture. (opt: Stir in oatmeal and nuts)

Shape into 1-in. balls or drop by rounded teaspoonfuls 2 in. apart
onto ungreased baking sheets. Flatten with a glass dipped in sugar.
Bake at 400° for 9-11 minutes or until edges are lightly browned.
Immediately remove to wire racks to cool. Yield: about 5 dozen.

Note: I baked them at 350 degrees for 15 minutes instead....

Last night I made a double batch of lemon curd and a Lemon Sponge Tart.... Used only about 1/3 of the lemons... For sure I'll want to make some Lemon Gelato and mini-loaves of Sour Cream Lemon Pound Cake...(recipe here http://olderrose.blogspot.com/search/label/recipe ) You can make a lot of stuff with 5 lbs of lemons....

Oh no, not another hummingbird.....

Well I'm afraid so....almost embarrassed to admit it but the colors in Ritva's Art Nouveau block just said "hummingbird" to me... I had wanted to (and still do) stitch AN animals and insects on these RR blocks and will get in a rabbit and cat somewhere on the coming blocks....a cat for sure for Cathy. I'll do a jeweled bee on this block also... Cathy did a heart on her Ritva block and I'll try to pick up on that in some way...

I love the "bands" of designs in circles,arches etc. in so much of Mucha's work and have this circle one in progress. It needs the gold rows and beads around it yet. And it needs to be pressed. The hummingbird and a flower will go over the circle...

Lace Cottage

In 2008 I joined a landscape round robin with Debbie Smith, Lyn Gaskill, Janie Jones and Leslie Erhlich... This is the block I sent out and I called it "Lace Cottage" and it was indeed a lace cottage... I had problems with the perspective which I was unable to correct but those problems were barely noticeable when the block returned... The fabric was a twill and I used bleach to create the clouds.

I invariably add to RR blocks when they come back but this one needed nary a stitch... but I did reduce the sky area....

Leslie did some spectacular work with trees on this block.. The cherry tree on the left has an unbelievable amount of french knots. The trees on the right are pieces of dyed suede and edged with knots... very effective technique and worth remembering.. The trees behind the cottage were painted on the fabric and outlined... Debbie Smith did the precious little sheep for me.

I agonized for a long time over what I wanted to do with it and decided I wanted to use it on a tote for my needlework and this block will be perfect as it is all tight stitching and no embellishment that would catch or snag on anything.. I also wanted to do another lace cottage for the other side of the tote... Unfortunately I've never gotten that far so I decided to go ahead and make the tote with this on one side and piece another block with a cottage and see if another landscape RR comes up..then I can add it as a pocket on the other side... I really treasure this block....

Is she cute or WHAT!!!

Edited a bunch of fishing pictures for my son.. This is the daughter of a client.. Check out those wading boots...it's a wonder she can walk at all.

And the one commenter is right...the hat is to die for... I would definitely wear a chicken hat that covered my ears in the winter...

A Walk in My Woods

It has been two years since I've had a dog to walk with in my woods.. Fritz just wasn't up to it his last year... Because it has been a bad year for ticks I waited until June to start Morris... The first couple weeks I kept him on a leash so he realized this was a TRAIL activity we did as a team and not a "chasing through the woods after rabbits" activity.. Molly will follow about 100 feet into the woods for a few good sniffs but then she goes back to the house. Here they found a particularly good spot and practically buried their noses in the ground.

Morris has found a balance between wanting to be in the lead and stopping to sniff. The vetch is in bloom now and it's so gorgeous. My woods are 20 acres and I made the trail to loop around the outer edge and then another loop in the center..... a mile total...

Morris stays on the trail through all the trees but every so often there's a meadowy part and he loves to run and roll in the tall grass. In years past the elk have wintered in these areas scraping away the snow for the grass.

But where the trees are thickest and the trail bends out of sight, Morris stays real close. Here he is waiting for me to catch up because a wild turkey flew out here the other day and put on a terrible ruckus to distract us from her young...really scared Morris.

And I finally got a good profile shot for his puppy book... He has lost his puppy face.

Afterthought!!! The woods looked like this in 1995 when I planted the 5,267 trees. High school kids came and helped on Arbor Day... Of all the things I've done...... I love my forest the best... In fact my tombstone should read "she loved her dogs and her forest."

Karrin's Stumpwork Finished

Today was one of those days that I spent most of the day waiting on this person or that person. Thank heavens for needlework which help fill those hours... I did add greenery to Cobi's hydrangea and added a little daisy trail to fill in and carry through the garden... Have mixed feelings about the daisies but they'll be easy to rip out if Karrin doesn't want them... They looked so much more effective in my head!!! LOL.. Only one more block in this RR. One thing this block REALLY needs now is a big old happy face sun.....

Karrin's Stumpwork Block

I definitely had an attack of the whimsy on Karrin's block... I used the art work from my old logo for the nursery. As I mentioned in a previous post, I designed it and posed for it using a couple mirrors...

I thought it would be a fun motif on a stumpwork block because of the 3D potential.... Instead of felt I did it on muslin on a hoop and used mostly chain stitches...(like my friend Laurie) In the future anything I do on muslin I will color in the muslin before I stitch to make it easier to applique it on the block without bits of white muslin showing. The bloomers are stuffed with batting and the hoe is actually wood.

I repeated the color of Diane's lovely sunflower in the check of the bloomers so it is balanced... I added a tiny bit more of that color under the birdhouse post.. At this point it really needs something to carry the eye around the block and I'm not sure what I'll do about that... First though I will add the greenery to Cobi's hydrangea.. I'd like to get this mailed out at the first of the week to Arlene in Australia...

Photos of Finland from Ritva

Ritva sent me the following information and photos about the area she lives in Finland... Don't you just love the yellow church... I was amazed by how similiar it is to the part of the US where I live... Our rape fields are also in full bloom now..

Exerpt from Ritva's email:

Hikiä is a little village with about 1200 inhabitants and belongs to the municipal Hausjärvi near Riihimäki where I am working. Main occupation is agriculture but nowadays here comes lots of young families who are working in the towns nearby or even in Helsinki, the capital. It is easy and fast to go to work by car or train.














The big landmark is RAUTAROUVA the Iron Dame, an electricity line which goes through Hikiä to different directions. They grow here barley, rye and turnip rape(yellow you can see around the Iron Dame)\
This old picture is from the railway station which still stands near my house but is now used as living house. Only the local trains stop in Hikiä.

Here is a picture of the wooden yellow church which is quite monumental. Farmers did build it two hundred years ago.
Some pictures are typical landscape about province Häme we belong.We have lots of forests and main trees are pine, spruce, birch, aspen and alder. Here nearby are no lakes although we have tens of thousands of lakes in Finland. I miss lakes and often go to Central Finland to my childhood`s homevillage by lake.

There is also a picture about the armorial of province Häme with lynx.I appreciate a lot your interest and will answer if you have anything to ask.





With kind regards!Ritva

Poppies and Finnish Stone Church...

I should say almost done because I still have to seal and gilt the button but I like to let the paint "cure" a few days before I seal it... I was embarrassed by how little I knew about Finland so all the while I worked on Ritva's block I was doing Internet searches on Finland. What a diverse and beautiful country... I was looking for a farm or landscape to paint on a button but fell in love with this stone church.. Pyha Olavi in Sastamala... If I ever get to Finland I would love to see it in person...

Another interesting fact I learned was that many of the round barns in in the US were built by Finnish immigrants. This one is is in Wisconsin and was built in 1917 by Finnish master stonemason Matt Annal. But there were Finnish-built barns in Idaho, Montana and other parts of this country and Canada... Expertise with log construction and stone masonry were skills they brought to this country..

Ritva live in Hikia in southern part of Finland, north of Helsinki... I couldn't find one picture of where she lives on the Internet so I'm hoping she'll send me some as I am next to work on a block of hers in another RR....