Time of Day?

You Are Midnight

You are more than a little eccentric, and you're apt to keep very unusual habits. Whether you're a nightowl, living in a commune, or taking a vow of silence - you like to experiment with your lifestyle. Expressing your individuality is important to you, and you often lie awake in bed thinking about the world and your place in it. You enjoy staying home, but that doesn't mean you're a hermit. You also appreciate quality time with family and close friends.

What Time Of Day Are You?

Dog or Cat?

You Are: 50% Dog, 50% Cat

You are a nice blend of cat and dog. You're playful but not too needy. And you're friendly but careful. And while you have your moody moments, you're too happy to stay upset for long.

Are You More Cat or Dog?

Lace Packet

Have a look at the contents of the packet of lace being offered by Lesa on the CQ for Newbies list from Judyth. This photo is of a 10 x 16 cutter's mat, and as you see it is simply full. Lots of variety and quick arrival!

TAST IV - Cretan Stitch

Last night I did a little stitching on the Cretan stitch for TAST, still working on the Travel Quilt blocks. It is one of my favorite stitches. I found some great examples in Dorothy Bond's Crazy Quilt Stitches! One thing I think is so neat is that it's pretty in its simplicity, but it can be embellished to no end!

Art Meme

I received my surprise from Susan today for commenting on her Art Meme challenge. It is a needle cushion that has the most delicate stitching and beautiful colors. Susan is such an inspiration in many respects, one being she gets so much done! Thank you Susan for this neat surprise, and for being a friend!

New Threads

I received new hand-dyed threads from Vikki Clayton, and they are so pretty. These are the type threads used on the peacock that you kind folks left so many nice comments about. I love stitching with silk thread, especially on the fancy fabrics!

I need to pull out something and get working on that cretan stitch for TAST... I do love the cretan stitch.

Peacock Block

Today was a real stitching day. I made a block with the peacock from the TAST chain stitch. As with the peacock, most of the threads used were hand-dyed silks.

TAST III - Detached Chain

I saw a beautiful peacock while looking for a motif for someone, and decided I wanted to use the detached chain [not buttonhole] to adorn the beauty! I printed the photo and used it as a pattern to sketch my design onto the silk. The threads are primarily Vikki Clayton's hand-dyed silk (ordered more yesterday) and a few seed beads for the tail feathers.

Due to cold temperatures and freezing precipitation my work was delayed two hours this morning, then I got a call saying we would be closed all day, so, I got to finish the project.

More TAST

Followed the lines using Carol Samples' templates



Slanted

Circles

Tatted Basket

I made a few adjustments to the basket pattern, and it is coming along. I wanted a tatted basket that I could add SRE or embroidered flowers to use for CQ. 8

This Crafter’s Dream

Reminiscent of great grandmother’s parlor combined with the place where grandpa gathered with his friends to drink coffee, play checkers, and chat away the hours. The doors open to everyone who LOVES needle crafts.

There are the sane quilters with their cotton, batting, rulers, right angles, frame, and of course a long arm to share.

Those who crochet, knit, embroider, and tat have yarn, floss, needles, patterns, and shuttles. Let’s not forget punch needle, ribbon embroidery, and other special talents.

Then we have the Crazy Quilters. They may be harder to recognize since they flit between all the other groups… getting ideas, learning a new stitch or craft, deciding how to incorporate that special talent into their latest project.

The entire studio is brimming with nice, comfortable furniture, tables for spreading materials, machines, great lighting, demonstrations, and a library for every topic. Of course there are baskets of floss, buckets of beads, reels of lace, and barrels of fabric stash!

Perhaps there will be a store front for consignment offerings to support the life of the studio, and to give knowledge and experience to those who want to sell their projects.

And for my personal use, a loft home above the studio. So, when this crafter wins the lottery, I’ll be sure to post a notice that the dream has become a reality. I do hope you’ll all stop by to craft for awhile.

Tatted Baskets

I finally got the basket tatted - not the best, but better than before!

Pink flowers with tan basket.



Yellow flowers in brown basket.


Brown trim motif

TAST II - Buttonhole Stitch

I've started with a few basic buttonhole stitches, again using one of the Travel Quilt blocks.

Computer

Well, things are back in order here - decided to try again, and this time it was successful. Gateway was helpful, and backups are made!!

Computer Woes

What have I done? I was being 'good' and started to shut down my desktop computer. That was the end of it - now it won't boot start. I did everything I could think of, then called Gateway support. They determined that I need to reformat back to factory issue. Man - I just got the computer a couple of months ago, and lost everything on the original hard drive. Like most typical users, I hadn't backed up my data in months - take a hint here, friends, backup your stuff. Especially those photos that you haven't already stored someplace else! So, I'm waiting for Gateway to send me those installation disks. My last resort is to take it in to work and let the techs there see if there is anything they can do, but I'm thinking if I can't get to the hard boot, they won't be able to either. Maybe they could do something with the hard drive to get my stuff off, but I'm not overly confident.

Of course if any of you have been through this and know something else I could try, I'm happy to listen.

More Herringbone Stitches

I took advice from Susan to use Carole Samples' templates for practicing more herringbone stitches.

More Herringbone

A few more herringbone stitches for practice this afternoon.

Take a Stitch Tuesday I - Herringbone

I spent a while this evening working on one of the Travel Quilt blocks, doing the Herringbone stitch. Mine still feel a little ... loose ... I love the delicate, smooth look of all you other stitchers' examples - practice, practice!!

With all the problems and issues with Sharon's site, the Take a Stitch Tuesday has started!

The first stitch is the versatile Herringbone. I have recently used it on a heart, but will continue to build on it to see where it can go.

Stitching Again

This is the heart with a piece of the Oriental fabric I had been saving - for what, I'm not sure. That SPECIAL project? During one of the Newbies Challenges of sorting and organizing, I forced myself to distribute them into the other fabric colors, thus using a bit for this heart.

I think it fits perfectly, and gave the inspiration for embellishing.

The motif design is from Motifs from Crazy Quilting, J.Marsha Michler.











Planning ...










Thanks for your kind comments, ladies. The butterfly sitting on the heart is from M. Michler's Shadow Embroidery transfer book.

It seems so long since I've done any stitching, but yesterday brought out the needles. Not finished by far, but had to post the little progress I've made.

A bit of tatting

This little motif was just what I needed to busy my hands last night - getting back into the groove. A simple picot and chain trim with beads filled the bill.