Rose Anne's Star Goddess!!

I did a star goddess as one of RoseAnne's celestial blocks. It will be part of a wall hanging to match a new quilt for her bed.
The gold mesh ribbon did not photo well...looks almost silver.

Water, water everywhere and not a drop to drink!

When we came home last night the water pipes in the upstairs bathroom had frozen and burst and water had been flooding through the ceiling who knows how long. The water is shut off at the pump house and every towel, blanket , and tablecloth is spread out upstairs and down to soak up water. I have been unable to reach my favorite plumber..... he's probably vacationing in Texas where pipes don't freeze..

Since I can't do anymore until I can get a plumber here I might as well stitch on Rose Anne's block...

2010 Challenge Block

I finished my block today to use for the 2010 challenge.. I'm trying to get as many blocks done this month as I may be having surgery on my shoulder soon. I did do some planning for this block because I wanted it to be able to to handle all challenges throughout the year. I wanted to do as Leslie suggested and choose a color that stretched my comfort zone and this jeweled aqua is it... Thank heavens Nicki sent me a bunch of it.

Then we needed to have curves so I added a lot of them because layered seams is one of the challenges.. Since landscape was another element I used a simplified landscape approach.. I don't want it to be a "landscape" block as such, but I do want aspects of the landscape to show through. It is an 11" square


This fabric swatch was my inspiration for color combinations and because of it I also chose to use an Asian theme. Fans and cherry blossoms fit beautifully. I am soooooooooo glad we are doing fans as I love doing them... I added the silkie to frame and it should be easy to work in blitz, buttons, spiders vines and goldwork etc. and for the birds I will do peacocks and swans...

This is part of a peacock with a paisley wing I did on someone's RR block and I want to explore it more on this challenge block... It'll be great with no deadline or pressure and just let this block evolve month to month....

2nd BJP block and last "Faces" block....

New project... I sketched the quail for my second BJP as, along with the magpies, they are one of our favorite and most numerous year-round birds. Since they are year-round I'm choosing to bead in fall wheat and spring wild roses with it.

If you're able to watch them over a length of time, you'll be amazed at their rituals and group dynamics... The whole courting scene involves elaborate dashes and dances between sexes and skirmishes between males. Once the chicks are hatched they are grouped communally and maybe 40-50 chicks will be guarded by 3 or 4 females. When they are brought out to the feeding and water areas "advance" guards secure the area and take up positions and the all chicks are ushered out....

I am totally addicted to #15 beads and ordered a lot from Out On A Whim.com.

I was going to make a face for Rose Anne's star goddess but found this lovely face pin at the thrift store last Monday.. I used butterscotch alcohol dye to soften the harsh white and will add more color to the eyes. I've gathered ribbons, beads, cording and threads and will start tomorrow.. This is my last block in this series...

Oldest granddaughter turned 21 today and is celebrating her birthday in Las Vegas....When I turned 21 I was married and had a child.... her dad.

What's for dinner this winter!

You can bet if it's blue and edible it is long gone... Some of the favorite summer blues/blacks include black currants, blackberries, elderberries, mulberries, junipers, mahonia, bird cherry trees (prunus padus of which we have hundreds.) Tasty summer reds include red currants, early crab apples, early quince, apples, pie cherries and raspberries to name a few.

But to be around for winter requires that it be a little less tasty or not available until needed....First there is a huge English walnut that litters the ground with nuts in the fall. The seeds of our numerous lilacs are a favorite and of course the myriad of nutritious rose hips for a start ... And there is an endless supply of pine cones, acorns, and seed heads from perennials, vines, grasses and weeds. What has to be the least tasty must be the pyracantha because birds will exhaust all else before they eat it... Just a few of the trees holding fruit are below but I couldn't possibly get everything photographed... So even if we didn't put out sunflower seeds there's plenty for dinner this winter......and I planted it all.