Progress and my hummingbird experiment

I backed the Christmas blocks with rigid Peltex as I want them to stand up. I used double sided fusible to attach the gold ribbon binding. The next step will be using wide velvet ribbon (probably meant for holiday wreaths) as the connecting element..  Doing it on the grid of the cutting mat will help me keep everything all in line... hopefully.

 

I tried a green and red ribbon for the binding as well as the gold but much preferred the gold.. After they are all attached I will do the "over the top" gold embellishing with more gold cordings and braid.  It will all go on with a hot glue gun as stitching through the Peltex is too difficult.    Now where is that glue gun which I have not used for 10 years at least?

 

Remember my discovery that clustering hummingbird feeders is the solution to hummingbird territorial wars?  Well it works... I have seven feeders on my little sitting porch and not only is there a minimum of aggression, I have many, many more hummingbirds.  I have also had many types of hummingbird feeders over the years but this type by First Nature is by far my favorite.  It is the easiest to clean and refill of all I have used.  I disposed of all my others and use these exclusively... I ordered them from Amazon but I've seen them at Walmart also.  Next year I will add a couple more.

My morning rant... It is a week until the 4th and already this morning I can hear fireworks.  We are in  extreme high fire danger now with a heat wave.  Fireworks are illegal in the state but people can go on the Indian reservations and buy them...  idiots.

Santa and gift from the birds

Now that I have a plan I'm so sorry that I have waited so many years to do something with these blocks.  They are really extraordinary.  I will have to see if I can find out who was in the RR.  The upper right is my block and I added the ballerina, soldier, Raggedy Ann to the others, but the rest of the work was RR participants. I mounted them on Peltex (a rigid fusible interfacing) and now going through my thrift store stash of Christmas ribbons to finish the edges.



I only know of only one other farm within a 5 mile radius that has flowers and it is at least 2 miles away as the crow flies...... but yesterday these fabulous poppies appeared in a patch of weeds near the old sheep pasture..  They are at least 6" across and you can bet I'm going to save the seed.

Christmas past...long past!

While I'm assembling my Morris book and waiting for my eye to settle I'll share a couple of my favorite RR Christmas blocks (6") I did about 5 years ago...

I love doing "pictorial"  seams.. You see the trees and stars right off but I love the presents seam on the left.  I always forget about using those block seams... I embroidered the bear right on the block....now I would have done it on felt and appliqued it on.... much easier and neater.

Since the candy cane fabric was so graphic I chose to keep the imagery  really simple on this piece.  Anything less would have been overwhelmed by the fabric... Actually I believe it was the frustration of doing satin stitching directly on these blocks that was the impetus for me to start doing it off block on felt.

To get to town we have to travel one of the most dangerous roads in the county... At the end of the road leading from our house is a stop sign that people are always sliding through when it's icy....  I did it myself  years ago before there was so much traffic out this way...  Someone did it yesterday about the time I was returning from the doctors. Unfortunately they were hit broadside as they slid  out... The vehicle that hit them was totaled also... There were still 3 paramedic vehicles there as I came home.