Stop and smell these roses.....

I have only one more block in this series and the closer to the end I get, the more gold I use... Perfume bottles were the theme in this set of blocks... Many of the trims I used here were "Holiday Traditions" brand available  during the holidays at JoAnn's fabric store and even at the dollar stores.  They have both ribbons and braids and are quite cheap if you watch the sales.  I used some of the goldwork leaves from my thrift store sari..  It took a little experimenting getting them appliqued on neatly...  I just love them.

Here is the original sketch... You can see I made some minor changes but followed more closely than I usually do... Maire's blocks arrived today but I will catch up with my CQJP first.  She requested a Wm Morris theme... "strawberry thief" a bird...His work is so art nouveau so you know that I will love doing it..   How appropriate as I started with a bird on Janet's block and will finish the series with another bird..

Button Button and more Buttons

I'm always on the lookout for extra large buttons on which I can paint cottages, barns, haunted houses etc. and they're not that easy to find at a price I can afford...

So when this batch of buttons came up on e-bay last weekend I bid because it looked like it had a lot of extra large buttons in it.  I won the bid and am anxiously awaiting the arrival...  Not sure what I'll do with all the rest.  Some I can use in crazy quilting and some I'll probably take to a retreat in September to share...

When it comes and I sort it out, I'll let you know if it was a good buy or not... If I can get 12-15 buttons that are extra large (1 1/2" up) I'll very happy...

Progress report

Today it is raining buckets but since it will probably be our last good rain for 2 1/2-3 months no one is complaining... Except for making a meatloaf for dinner, I have a good part of the day free to stitch.. I have been digging through my gold stash finding ribbons etc. to use in the floral spray on this block..  I want to use some of the gold work from the sari I bought earlier this spring also..

I had planned to use some color in the floral arrangement but have decided to use white satin cording, crystals and pearls instead... As usual my vision is too ambitious for the space available but I'm forging ahead. Having visions too ambitious for space and time available has been a lifelong problem...  On the positive side I do get a lot done but on the negative side I'm always frustrated at not getting all I had planned done.

I mentioned in the last post that I used a little glue on the ends of cording to control the fraying....then once attached I can cut the gluey part off.  I'm going to need to do that with many of the braids as well...especially the tiny ones I'm using on the bottle...  The pieces are so short they disintegrate before I get them on. Another thing I figured out is that if I start a braid in the middle and work towards both ends, it is easier to NEATLY turn the ends under..  Fraying is a big issue with both braids and cords..

Choices and favorite tool and a little progress

Just a quick post today as we'll be gone most of the day.... (celebrating DH's birthday)  I had many many cording choices  for the fronds. I chose the 3 cordings on the right... one matte, one satin, and one shiny metallic.  I have  applied a little E6000 glue to the last 1" of each and worked it in... When dry that will make it MUCH easier to work with and I cut off the glued part when finished.  Later I'll show various tips on dealing with endings.  In fact eventually I'll probably do a tutorial on using cordings as I have come to really love them...

I chose the fabrics for the perfume bottle... a gold taffeta, 2 different glittery gold tulles and a gold netting.  Although it does not show in the photo, when stacked a moire pattern starts to appear because of the different textures. It's a lovely translucent effect and shifts as you move the block...  Notice the one tulle has a exquisite salvage edge which should be fantastic for flowers.

I just completed the chain stitches around the stack of fabrics and now I can trim the layers of fabric right up to the edge of the chain stitches and couch two rows of cording around it.  There are no edges to turn under or worry about. Cording has opened up a whole new world of clever concealment that will forever be useful for me.


Next to my needle and my scissors, my favorite tool is this tiny 3 1/2" hemostat.  It has been phenomenal for maneuvering cording through awkward spaces and openings... besides being a great needle puller. I am going to order a couple extra so I can keep one on my chatelaine and another attached  with a scissor holder to my sewing bag..

Disease free roses that love serious winter, shade and drought..

I post a picture of this super hardy Alba rose every year.(variety "Alba Maxima).  This is ONE rose bush and it is at least 20' across and you can barely see the top of the barn roof behind.  The quirky thing about this very small class of roses is in order to thrive, they have to have a strong winter dormant period.  This same rose grown in California would always be puny.  Of course they love my garden... They are hardy zone 3, drought tolerant and disease free....

A couple pink Alba "Blush Hip" in the forground and a huge white one "Semi plena" Alba in the back...  Even though they super hardy. shade tolerant, disease free, and fragrant, their only drawback is they get huge.  These are not your wimpy hybrids available at nursery chains.. But any garden should be able to handle one...

There are only about a dozen varieties available and the ONLY place I recommend ordering them is  Pickering Nurseries in Canada. You must order now though for next spring..  

On the other hand do not be tempted into purchasing "Darlow's Enigma" which is also had disease free etc.  It overwhelms even my garden which is over an acre.  This year some handy hired help is going to cut most of it away and eradicate it..  Where you are looking in this photo there is supposed to be a path.!!!

I did take more pictures of some other good hardy roses and will post them later.

Remember that two of my favorite word pairs are "hired help" and :handy man" and I had both in the one person Thursday..  This is my "clean green" pile at the start and at the end of the day...  Our county accepts clean green, chops it up and it is used as mulch..

Cut-away transfers--another option

So far when I've demonstrated doing a cut-away transfer it has always been an image that you could cut around and then cut bits away........such as the frog on Cathy's block or as the perfume bottle on Arlene's block.  But sometimes I want to transfer something that is not a confined area and it works just as well. In this case it's all the swirly fronds going up and over the the perfume bottle.. I love the look but it is all overlapping the not easy to track with your eye... But with cut-away I can quickly and easily transfer the fronds in 3 easy steps... Again I do this because I don't want to mark on the block and I don't want to work through tissue paper.

As usual I did the preparation steps by putting the tricot fusible interfacing on the back of the block.  I clearly defined the 6" square on the back and marked which was the top edge.  The I REVERSED the design and made 3 copies..

When doing this method where an image is not actually cut out you have to leave an area that can always be used for registration so each copy can be placed in the same position.  I always left the lower left corner to line up with the square on the block each time.

Then I cut away the paper along just one of the long fronds.  To make it easy to differentiate  I traced along that line in red...

I repeated the process cutting along the next frond.  I positioned the paper on the square and traced it in green.

Finally I did the last one and traced it in blue... When I baste I will actually use 3 different colors also.

Here are the 3 sheets of paper when I finished.

Then I did the perfume bottle and the leaf cluster in the usual way.  I cut out the images, traced around them and then cut away bits...

Once you get the hang of using this method you will be absolutely amazed at  how quickly and accurately you can transfer a motif or design to your needlework.

I did use three different colors to baste the swirly fronds and as you can see it will now be easy to start couching the cording...

The dragon is done and see what's next!

Impossible to not get glare on the sequins... He's pinned now to have a good blocking before he's off to Arlene in Australia...

I used as many different materials I could from my stash..  I especially like the Krienik gold bands of satin stitch on his neck... One tip I forgot to mention last time is to use clusters of beads to hide a difficult transition... I did that here with the finial on his tail... And folding a braid in half along his spine worked well also.. I took him along to work on several times this week and he always got lots of attention....

Here is my rough sketch and a few thoughts for my "perfume block" for Arlene in Australia...I'll try as many techniques and materials on this block as possible at it will be the next to last block.

I'm loving the layering of fabrics and cutting away so will do that on the bottle. This has been a new technique for me. It's a nice alternative to working off block and appliqueing a feature on.  I'll add more detailed photos as I do the layering this time.

I'm doing the bottle and flower cluster larger that I usually would but I want things to be large enough to try many things... The "A" initial may or may not remain... I can hardly wait to start with the gold ribbons as I have used very few so far in this goldwork challenge...

I'm ready to go back to regular crazy quilting but I know all this experimenting with gold materials will definitely make a change in my work.......

Time to face the music...but all is not lost!

One thing about putting all your thoughts and ambitions out on a blog is that sometimes they come back to haunt you...  Last fall I wrote that I had wanted to do the the Hoffman Challenge for years and I was doing it this year NO MATTER WHAT!!

I ordered the material when it was announced and bought additional coordinating fabric in Los Angeles in January... Then it seemed July was eons away...but here it is.  I got so involved with the CQJP and the gold work RRs that I let the time slip by and now it is too late to do a proper job.

But all is not lost.  I signed up for a Victorian women RR that will begin in September and I can use the fabric for the blocks... I plan to use advertisements    for corsets as my theme... I have a large file of these which I have been saving for some time... This seems the perfect opportunity and the fabric will be just the right colors..

Peek at dragon and a couple tips

Work is progressing on the dragon... I will finish up the head and tail tomorrow night.  He need an ear, an evil eye and fearsome teeth and then I'll start on the leg and feet...  I hope to have him in the mail by the end of the week...

Just a tip or two for hiding braid etc... I use ruched ribbon to cover the awkward area on the neck... and one of my favorite tricks is folding the cording and making a little looped fringe to hide awkward transitions...

I used the same technique at the base of the petals on Kerry's flower for her block....

Unexpected Inspirations

While I'm finishing the dragon and sewing mannnnnnnnnnnnny sequins, my mind is wandering ahead to Arlene's block... I know it has a Paris theme and Janet said everyone put a perfume bottle on their block... Hmmmmmmmm!
How to make a perfume bottle from as much stuff as possible? (Gold stash is not diminishing at all) Sometimes inspirations just appear out of nowhere................ literally.

I  had a booth at another garden event on Saturday and found myself staring at a woman's chest.  She was wearing an "I love Paris" T-shirt and the designs were drawings of the ironwork of Paris...it is everywhere there... gates, stair railings, grills, balconies, etc. and I loved it when we were there.... I looked for examples in old Dover books and then ran across this picture of an urn and immediately thought "PERFUME BOTTLE"

Just looking at the picture I can see using lace, braids, cording, tulles, beads and jewels to make a similar bottle.  So a woman's t-shirt and accidentally  running across this urn while looking for iron work has inspired me... My little brain cells are exploding....

I'll have only one other block after Arlene's and I still have lots of  things left that I wanted to try in gold and won't get to them all... But one was flowers done with gold ribbons and beads and how perfect with perfumes...  I'm envisioning something along the lines of a very Art Nouveau poster...

Also on the Internet I found this photo of an antique French perfume bottles... How lovely and appropriate with all it's gold swirls and flowers.  I can hardly wait to begin and the blocks aren't even here yet..  I will use much more color on this project....

The scaling has commenced.....

The  scaling has commenced and some things change as problems arise... Hiding and working with braids and cords that fray is always a challenge but I am developing a bag of tricks..  My initial thought had been to use rickrack along the spine but even though I have various sizes and shades of rick racks none of them pleased me.. All the braids were too wide, not flexible enough or not the right shape...  I finally decided on one that I can fold in halve and it is just barely long enough..  It will go on after I finish all the sequins...which will take a while

The front leg and foot I will do on felt and add later... the other feet will be embroidered..

I was surprised at how easy it was to transfer the dragon to the back of the block...  As you can see I only had to cut it into 3 pieces... Then I was ready to baste, chain stitch on the front and cut away excess gold fabric...

Doing sequins is so repetitive that I've had time to ponder on Arlene's block which should arrive any day now... I found a great inspiration today and will post it tomorrow.. I'm especially looking for ideas that will utilize things from my gold stash I haven't used yet.

Important aid for those needing assistance! Please share..

If you or a friend has anyone in assisted living, using a wheelchair or using an electric scooter....make a copy of this post and share it....  My mom is in an assisted living facility.  She can get around in her room with her walker but if she goes down to the dining room etc. she must take her electric cart... The door to her room is heavy and closes automatically and it was only with great difficulty that she could get her cart out of her room... She even had trouble getting her walker out if she had something she was taking with her. So I devised this clever aid...and it solved the problem so beautifully that I have made more for other residents.

While in her walker she can open the door, push the wedge in place to hold it open and hang the leash handle on the door..  As she drives out with her cart she grabs hold of the leash and when she is safely past the door, she can give it a tug and pull out the stopper and the door closes behind her... Slick as a whistle.  Coming in is no problem as she can open the knob and push the door open with her cart...

When I have her out in her wheelchair I have to struggle with doors or wait until someone happens along to open them for us... Now we keep one of these aids in the pocket of the wheelchair.  I can open a door, put the stopper in to hold it open and I hang onto the leash.  As I push the wheelchair through the door I can pull the leash and let the door shut behind us..

The beauty of this device is that it is so simple and cheap to make.  I buy all the parts at the dollar store... You need only a door stopper, an eye bolt, and an inexpensive dog leash... all available at a dollar store. I drill a hole in the fat end of the door stopper and insert the eye bolt... then hook the leash into the eye bolt..

So make a copy of this post and share it please... give it to a friend or drop a copy off at an assisted living facility..

Last spring's lambing drama.....

I am missing baby lambs this spring....and often think of all the drama of last spring with the lambnapping...

Here is a repost of March 25, 2012

"In all the years I've had sheep this is the weirdest lambing... maybe because I am preparing to leave... When I first got sheep I took a lambing clinic at a huge sheep operation south of town so I'd be prepared. And they never have needed me as they just popped babies out, cleaned them up, and proceeded like super moms..but this year started with the lambnapping. pregnant Ruby stole one of Topaz's new born twins to keep as her own.

Then Wednesday morning Pitiful Pearl had a still born lamb... my first ever. Pearl bawled non-stop all day long and I was so sad for her....

Although Topaz is my prettiest ewe, Pearl has always been special.. Being a tiny bottle baby herself, she had a hard beginning and bawled the whole summer we got her... When she's out of the pasture she follows my husband around like a puppy when he's pruning...He just says "Come Pearl" and she trots right along behind him

Then yesterday Ruby finally had a lamb and I was there... Since she has Topaz's twin I snatched up her new baby before she had a chance to clean it and penned it up with Pearl (who was still bawling). I toweled the lamb down with Pearl helping and sat on a stool with them in the pen for a couple hours until the lamb was nursing well. Now everyone has a baby and all the drama is over..."

Finally I get to a dragon.....

I knew I couldn't finish this gold work experiment with including a dragon... probably the one image done the most in gold work... Since Karen mentioned in her booklet that this is the year of the dragon...she wins my dragon

It's not easy to make a long dragon fit a 6" square space and be formidable...  This was my initial drawing and it is too small and too wimpy looking...  I want a fierce dragon that fills the space...    So besides being larger, I need to tilt his head, change his eye, add teeth and do something about his feet for sure..he walks like a duck.....

I did make him larger to fill the space.  First I tilted his head up but he looked like a rooster crowing... I fill out his chest and then started a final version with good old pencil and paper.

And here is what I came up with....this is no wimpy dragon...  I will work him directly on the block but will layer some gold fabric and tulle on top and then cut away...

Again I will transfer his image to the back of the block...and even though he looks complex, it should only be about 4-5 steps. 

The possibilities of using all kinds of goodies from my gold stash are endless.  I'm trying to get it transferred tonite so I can tote it with me tomorrow to do the basting and chain stitch....

Ribbit

This little frog is totally stuffed and is really rolypoly but unfortunately it doesn't show up in the photo...

I have toted him hither and yon this week to get him done and on his way...

Cathy was so clever to include a circle on every block.  This simple repetition of shape unified the whole series of her blocks...

I was able to use 2 kinds of gold fabric, 3 kinds of gold tulle, gold netting, 2 kinds of gold braid, gold rick rack, 2 kinds of gold cording,  2 kinds of gold lace and gold beads and findings... cheap cheap cheap stuff

Just a little reminder for those who haven't tried it... use paper cut outs to help with placement....

The transfer of handsome frog - step-by-step

How I got from A to B..... I started with 5 layers of fabric plus interfacing and put them in a hoop.  Getting the frog image on the lace would be the biggest challenge.  I used my cut-away transfer method and put it on the back.

Before I can even start there are two absolutely crucial things I always do..

1.  I always apply tricot interfacing to the back of the fabric to prevent fraying... It MUST be tricot...and this tip I learned from Allie and will forever be grateful.


2.  You MUST make a reverse copy of your image so it will appear correctly on the front of your piece. If you look in options or preferences all printers can do this... Sometimes it is referred to as a "mirror" image.

The last time I tried to explain this process I was asked "How do I know where to start?"  And now I think I have the perfect analogy..... "The cookie approach."  If you give a child a bunny cookie, most children will bite off the ears first...  Maybe some will bite off the tail first...

But they will bite off parts in bits.....and it really matters NOT where they start... The same is true of cut-away transferring.  It matters not where you start as long as you do it in "bites" of bits.

1. I cut out my reverse image of my frog and trace all around.

2.  My first bite I cut away will be his foot.  I put the footless frog back on top of my image and trace the line where I cut away.

3.  I keep repeating this process of removing bits.  Next I removed the large part of his back leg... Put it back on the image and trace the cut away area..

The next two will be his front leg and then his belly area.  So in 5 quick steps I have added my image to the back of my piece.

Once I have it traced I baste it  and the correct image is on the front of the piece.

I then start doing a VERY TIGHT chain stitch around the  basting lines with strong thread.  I use a cobbler's thread or a strong quilting thread.  This chain stitch secures all the layers well and will enable me to cut the frog out without fraying...

After the chain stitch is done I could cut away the top layer of lace and start adding the cording... Once the cording is stitched on top of the chain stitch and the beading is done, I can cut the entire frog out (all layers) and applique it on my project.

You can use this technique to apply an image to the front of your piece as well but it would mean making marks on your fabric...something I am always hesitant to do...