Hammering, Sewing & Knitting

That's what I'm doing today. I will have to cram in some cooking at some point too I guess. I just finished a crocheted hat and I'm knitting the matching scarf using giant needles. I've had these a while but never used them, they feel very strange to knit with. 
I played around with some metal this morning and tried several new things like brass. I'm normally into copper but the brass was fun to work with. I was trying to do some things with my little torch and asked hubby why it wasn't working and he said my torch was just too wimpy. Then he brought out his... instant fear! It's big and the flame makes a whoosh noise. But I did it and - I liked it!

Hammered Brass with Hammered Copper

Double wrapped copper on copper

Here are my reading glasses for scale, those are big honking needles. 

But I love the way it looks.

And here is the cute little hat that Stefanie helped me to make on 

Friday for sweet little Ava. Can't wait to see her with this on. 

Thanks Stefanie! I have pattern issues and Stefanie had to take me 

threw this the first time. 

And my sewing projects are a new swap I'm in called

Think Spring! The hostess sent fabrics out to each of us

and we have to use these and can add another few fabrics and

what ever else we want too. 

I think I have a plan for this, but I have a plan B just in case. 

See, tough fabrics to use.

And here is the back of the fish quilt.

I have the front cut out and ready to zip into.

This is kind of a mixed up post, but really kind of an average day for me. 

Hope your day is good and your with family/friends today. 

And Sew On

Been working on several different projects at one time - now a good idea for me. So today I'm going to try to finish up one that has been lingering around for several months. Yesterday I completed a small piece for my Etsy shop. This is a little different in the fact it is a usable item - not just a pretty face. I figure I'm not the only person who has vanishing keys.

Faux leather, sheer fabric, wire, screen and a big key accent. 

I'm really liking this screen mixed with the wire. 

I used a wire coiler to make the coils. 

Back To Normal

Well with most of the trees cleared from the roads you can now get around the neighborhood like normal. And with electric back on I can return to sewing and doing fun stuff. I did get this wall hanging finished.  It's 15.75" x 25.75". I used both my Sashiko and Phaff to quilt this. This was also the first time I've used metallic thread to quilt with. 

I have class today at JoAnn's and afterwards I plan on getting back to sewing. I want to start cutting out my paper piecing for a table runner. Grandmother's flower garden. This will be handwork for the evening TV watching time. Also have the back finished on my "fish" quilt and need to get that front started. Have the bulk of the fabric cut out and almost ready to start sewing.

Another Day With No Power

Well yesterday was another day of no electric. We had to toss all the stuff in the frig this time. Hopefully the storms will stop for a while. So many big trees down in our neighborhood and several houses damaged, some to the point families had to move out.  One big tree fell after the storms were over. I guess I always think after the storm has passed the danger is over too, but not in this case. All in all we were very lucky again. Sitting in the hall in the dark with the puppies is stressful, but always so glad when the weather radio announces the storm has passed, and I've heard no loud bangs. My thoughts are with the families who were not so lucky. I can't even image how devastating this could be to have your home destroyed and family killed or even worse missing. 

A Unique Day

Yesterday followed bad storms here in my part of town and left about 20,000 folks with no power. Many big trees down and roads closed and sadly many homes damaged. We were lucky and our home is still intact. One of our good neighbors came by and cut the large limb hanging over the driveway down so we could get in and out and all the other limbs were small enough for us to drag to the alley. Yes very lucky.

Just next door thou a big tree went threw the roof and into 

the upstairs living area. No one was in the room.

I was unable to watch the news and see what was going on - so spoiled with TV and internet. After the shock of waking up - yes I slept threw the whole thing - and finding out the house was OK I made some coffee on top of the stove in tea bag fashion. Gotta have coffee. 


Not being able to sew I figure I'll do some jewelry making and got several pieces done. I made 4 necklaces yesterday and these are my 2 favs. They are both on Etsy now. 

This one I'm still trying to determine if I want to keep or not...hum. 

This is the sample for the metal stamping class I'll have on 6/4.

Today I'll enjoy the electricity and run the dishwasher and vacuum. 

I'll even enjoy the house work today cause I've got AC!

Beads, Quilts and The Sweetest Face

Here is my loot from the bead show yesterday! The brown and

white beads are nuts from Brazil. I know they are pretty huge

but the texture and color just won me over. The deep red ones were

my big purchase they are amber - so pretty. Of course copper got

into the mix and some 24 gauge sheets of metal for stamping and texturizing. 

This new wall hanging is ready for the hand work on the binding. 

Will do that tonight while watching TV. 

 Here's a close up of how the inchies are attached and the quilting. 

A few weeks ago while I was in the doctor's waiting room 

I made this little hat for Ava. 

Yes she's pretty much that happy all the time. 

It was just a small bit of left over teal chenille, 

from a hat and shawl I made for myself. 

Isn't she just too cute!

Mission Acomplished

This morning Edna and I went to the bead show and of course saw many wonderful things and brought just a few of them home with us. After I dropped Edna off to do her quilting I took off in search of a camera. Just 3 stops later I had camera in hand and was one happy girl. So hopefully after reading all the instructions I'll be snapping away by tomorrow. 

Good Day For Sewing

Had a good day of sewing today. Paula came over and we had fun. I worked on a wall hanging and she worked on a pillow made from men's ties. I'd share what we did, but my little sony finally passed on. The auto focus is no longer working...so sad. I think thou I've had that little thing for over 6 years so I guess I have no complaints. So tomorrow I'll go out and see if I can find a good replacement cause I sure can't function without my camera. I wanted to take photos today of several versions prior to sewing things in place. It always seems easier to look at the different versions on my computer screen. So a shopping I will go. 

A Sale I Couldn't Resist

Yesterday this big box arrived! Yea! I was so excited. 

There was a bit of assembly - 9 screws and

it's ready to rock.

Got this on a big sale, but it's still a little chunk of change. 

So I'll be getting dies - one here and one there. 

Looking over all the options now and will order my first one

this weekend...just not sure which one yet. 

Had a wonderful lunch with my sister today at one of our

fav places - the weather was great - 80's.

Hope to get back in the swing of creative stuff this weekend. 

I have no classes and hope to sew all weekend and also

need to get the sample done for my next Wire Workshop. 

New Quilting Goodies

After looking at this little piece I did just for free motion practice I thought it would make a cool little wall hanging. So I whacked into it and this is what I've come up with so far. 

I've not determined the background fabric yet or how I'll attach the inchies - want to do something I've not tried before - just not sure yet. 

Yesterday I got to see my dear friend Janice who is in town visiting her mom/family.

She had a wonderful bday present for me! I'd wanted this book for a 

good while. I sat down and gave it a cover to cover quick look last night. 

It has some great patterns/ideas.

This is another present from Janice. 

These punches will cut thin metal/leather etc. I can make round inchies now!

Yesterday I came up with an idea for a new postcard, 

these will be part of the background layer of textures. 

Free Motion Practice

Every once in a while I feel the need to have free motion practice sessions. In my normal quilting I get in a rut of using the same free motion patterns and often need these practice sessions to wander outside of my normal comfort zone. So today before I jumped on to the civil war quilt I thought I'd play a little with some FM. After doing the white on black I heard my Sashiko yell - "hey I wanna play too!" so out she came. 

 Dueling Machines (Sally and P2)

Sashiko (Sally) work done in white and metallic copper and

back to P2 (Phaff Expression) for the small circles and the teal feathery flames. 

Madera/Sulky on Moda grunge with heavy stablizer

Did this one first as a warm up - Madera 

on Egyptian cotton/bamboo batting.

Well now back to the quilt I should have been working on. 

Play time is just too tempting thou. 

I know several people who have named their sewing machines. 

I did name my Sally, but the Phaff's are just P1 and P2. Kind of

R2D2ish. Do you name your machines?

Getting A Grip on the UFO horizon

Well they are circling the sewing room. I normally only have 2 quilt projects going on at a time. One quilty quit (that's a usable quilt - lap size normally) and one art type project. Somewhere along the line thou I lost grasp of things and now I have 3 quilts going plus some art stuff. How did that happen! Well I have to get a grip on things and NOT START ANYTHING ELSE. Stop it right now! 
So I have 2 UFO's on the cutting table and have made notes as to what needs to be done and I'm going to be single minded about getting back on those projects. First thing to get finished is a lap quilt for my sister that is Gone With The Wind inspired. It's a lap quilt and I WILL finish it in the next 2 weeks. I have it all planed out and all the fabric is here so no need to delay any longer. 
One bad thing is my camera is acting up. I sure hope I don't have to replace it. It's a little point and shoot and it's about 6 years old. How long do they last? I'm so used to it I'd hate to learn a new one, but it may be the case. I'll take it to the camera shop next week and see if there is any life left in it. As of now it's working part of the time. 

Visited a new quilt shop on Saturday and got this assortment of goodies. The Moda solids were just $5.50 a yard! Yea! Always need that off white and black you know. 

Dragging Back Into The Real World

I've spent the last week pretty much in bed with some nasty thing I picked up while on vacation. So after days of mindless slumber tomorrow I'll venture out and step back into reality. I have a Wire Workshop class tomorrow where we'll be learning how to make repetitive shapes. This is the necklace we'll be making. I think I'll make my next one in copper with amber beads. 

I've wanted to play with all my new goodies that I got at the quilt show, 

but should be able to get back to sewing next week. 

So for now I'll get some extra ZZZZ's tonight and be ready for a fun class tomorrow. 

The Winner Is...

There were some great names submitted for my wall hanging. It really made me re look at this fiber piece when I read over the names. How others see your work is so interesting. It gives me a whole new outlook on the piece. Here are the names that were sent in.  

Frets Afire • Copper Aflutter • Copper Flourish • Weaving A Mystery

Memories In Time • Spirit Dance • Spiritual Warrior • The Eve of Retaliation

Sacred Fire • Sacred River of Fire

This was quite the decision. I'll admit there are 2 favorites and between those it took me a while to make up my mind. 

The hanging must have a name thou and it's.....Frets Afire! 

So Miss Mary I've sent you an email with the what's next. Thanks for your cool idea. 

Last week 4 quilt ladies took off to the quilter's mother ship of Paducha for the Quilt Show. It was touch and go for a few days with the really bad weather and fear of the flood gates going up around the town where we were staying and the Paducha area. The show was moved from it's original location and large parts were moved to the near by mall, in empty stores and a local church. With things as spread out as they were I did miss some things, but considering how last min the changes were made it was pretty organized. The vendors lost about half the booth space they normally have so were not able to display all their goodies. I did find one vendor I'd bought from the last 2 shows thou and dug around in her limited space and found some very nice Japanese Panels. Here are some of the goodies I picked up. 

Basket from Ghana

 Fabrics from Japan the thread is for scale. 

Stencils, big bag of Angelina and the book of all the

Quilts at the show

The Curve Master Foot - After you see this in action

you will have to have it. 

Had wanted this pattern for months. It made my jaw drop

when I saw the finished quilt in a quilt shop in Franklin TN. 

Yep spent too much money, and I'm not feeling any guilt at all. 

I also got a queen size roll of black batting for a quilt I've just started. 

It was a good trip, we lucked up and got a cabin over looking the Ohio River and

were able to cook dinner each night. I ate too much, we shopped till we were 

just worn out, but we all had a great time.