living life

Over the weekend I made a couple of necklaces. This one is similar to one I  made earlier and wore to our quilt guild meeting. It was suggested that I make one to donate to an upcoming event and this is the result.

The temperature has started to drop and I've been harvesting herbs:

basil

a tiny bit of lavender

a tiny bit of lemon verbena

rosemary

A quote from a speaker at a "Lunch and Learn" I attended last week:

"I can't do anything about it right now so I'm going to live my life!"

looks similar

to "swirls and twirls"
but this is much smaller


a journal quilt
8 1/2 x 11


more of an abstract floral experiment using layered raw edges and coiled colorful wire

"Earth laughs in flowers."  ~Ralph Waldo Emerson, "Hamatreya"

flea market friday

For Flea Market Friday:
a pretty little tin that actually seems fairly new

but filled with an assortment of 

• vintage notions
• buttons
• watches to be taken apart for steampunk creations
• some junk jewelry

and a pair of long black gloves.

This was my most recent flea market find.

Not really very much.

But all of it was only $2.00.

swirls and twirls

For Amy's fourth Blogger’s Quilt Festival, I'm highlighting a quilt I made that was originally inspired by a challenge to make a quilt representing "swirls and twirls."  I never entered the challenge and had put away what I had started until I recently returned to it.

What inspired me to continue with it was that I love working with spirals and I enjoyed the liveness of the fabrics I had selected. Measuring approximately 22" by 20" this piece is totally handpieced and handquilted, as are all of my quilts. 

What was particularly fun about this quilt were the embellishments, including a variety of beads,  colorful wire, trim, yarn, and tulle. I also added a toy wheel!

Click below to see quilts by the other participants.

it has a name

not the pumpkin, the quilt.

It actually has progressed a bit more since this photo but I realized I forgot to mention that my husband looked over as I was working on it and started describing how he saw it.

Low Tide.

Waves and bits and pieces washed upon the shore.

It also has a very different (for me) finishing technique. I liked and wanted to keep the raw and unraveling edges of the top intact, yet also was interested in a somewhat more polished finish. So instead of folding the back to the front and sewing it over the top to form a border, I'm sewing it underneath the edges of the top.

Well, the pumpkin probably does have a name but I don't know what kind it is. It caught my eye at a local produce stand and I had to bring it home. This year I seem to have accumulated several varieties of little pumpkins and have them scattered throughout the house.  

still alternating

between beading and stitching.

let the embellishment begin

• beads
• buttons
• blueberry/coffee stained cheesecloth
• paper beads secured under produce mesh
• yo-yo's
• fabric strips
• yarn

the best of both

A small fiber piece with rows of layered pathways.

A glimpse of sunset in the city.

The best of both: some autumn color 

 yet some blossoms from summer remain.

Kabela at MLBS

Beth and Tom Botak of Kabela Design joined us with their "Vintage with a Modern Twist" wares at the  MLBS meeting last Tuesday night. They also demonstrated Gilders Paste, which was great fun to play with! We had a surprise beading challenge for which they generously provided most of the materials as well as the opportunity to play with the array of colors of Gilders Paste.

 

Lorelei's challenge results

Lorelei's challenge was a lot of fun!

Using the materials selected by Lorelei

I added a few beads from a strand of African beads purchased at a show a few years ago and created this necklace. The focal is a Tim Holtz sprocket gear with attachments including beads from the selection, African beads, an Industrial Chic element, and a donut-shaped component from a deconstructed earring.

I had so much fun I created a second necklace:

This one also includes the materials selected by Lorelei as well as an Industrial Chic focal, an African bead, and soapstone beads.

Check out the other participants:

Mary Harding
Hilary of Fryestyle
For My Sweet Daughter
My Life Under the Bus
Kristie of DreamSomeDesigns
Linda Landig
Copper Diem
Andrew Thornton
TyneBodenNecklaces
Raida of HavanaBeads
Erin of Treasuresfound
Molly of BeautifullyBrokenMe
Beading by Malin de Koning
AuntieAnnie
Gr8Findings
Deborah M Purdy
Spirited Earth
My Critical eye
beads by breul
Beads for Busy Gals
Cynths Blog
Nayas Organized Chaos
Crafty Hope
Rosebud For the Love of Beads
Jamberry Song
Peacock Fairy
Elysian Studio Art
Designs by Debi

momentum

After a few reworkings, the resulting necklace using some of my favorite colors now includes:

• moss agate beads
• peridot and aquamarine-colored glass beads
• smoky quartz colored beads
• a turquoise-looking chunk
• one of the newest Industrial Chic components
• a Tim Holtz chain and latch component to which is attached a stone bead from a strand purchased at at gem show several years ago
• copper and brass findings.

While I'm enjoying the momentum of continuing to put together pieces using items collected over the years as well as recent purchases, I now realize I need a better system of recording information about the materials I'm using. 

Sunshine is a bonus today. It was supposed to be raining. We haven't seen much of these guys lately but they did appear a couple of weeks ago.

last month

This is a quilt that was shown at our quilt guild in September. It was made by a man in Georgia and the woman on the right is in the process of adding the binding. The quilt belongs to her sister and she doesn't know the name of the man who made it. Our guild president is helping her to display it. It really looks amazing in person, much like an exquisite Persian rug.

 A few of the handful of bracelets I made for our beading group that donates them to breast cancer patients.

sixteen and thirty

A small piece with sixteen blocks comprised of strips of varied widths and textures. This is the first one.

Monday was our 30th wedding anniversary.  

 Of course, Dalla thinks the flowers are for her.

Lorelei's challenge

This is one of the projects I've been working on lately. Lorelei has organized a challenge in which participants use the same selection of beads plus a couple of others of their own choosing. These are the beads she selected.

apples

What we did this weekend.A family tradition. 

a sampling

Lately I've been doing more visiting than creating and here is a sampling of some blogs I really like:

• Kecia on being brave
• Cheryl's creams with spectacular sculptural lids
• Eva's sofa that is a "museum of modern art"
• Mary's glazed pieces

• Abigail's short cloth
• Karen's just because