FNSI

Wow, it is Friday morning and I'm already posting!!  I have the day off of work, and I actually stitched last night with my friends on the other side of the world.  It is always fun to dream of a different time zone in a warm place when I'm sewing and freezing here.

I worked a little on this January Jack Frost project from Kathy Schmitz.  I just have a few snowflakes left to embroider and then I can piece my quilt.

I also found my OLD (circa 1999) hexagon project.  I'm still planning on finishing it someday. It would be lovely to have it finished so I could keep warm on these cold winter evenings (I'm VERY ready for spring).

It is off to the sewing room for a fun day of sewing.  I have some old movies chosen to watch and a lot of fabric cut to sew.  Happy Stitching!!  --Kristen

Inspire Your Heart With Art

When asked how art inspires my life, I had to take a step back and think about it for a minute.  I guess I never realized that art is and has been included in every day of my life for most of my life.

My grandfather was an artist.  He learned at a very young age that he could draw anything and people enjoyed it, especially the other children in his art class at school.  He would do everyone's drawings for them, for which they would receive an A, and he would get a C at best on his.  He was a character  (as you can tell from his photo), and I gather from stories he told he was in trouble a lot in school.

Fast forward a few years and he was teaching art class at my school.  He taught us all about vanishing points and horizon lines and how to draw bowls of fruit...well, he taught everyone in the class except me, you see, I cannot draw a straight line.  You have no idea how frustrating it was for him to have one of his grandchildren not be able to to do something that was so easy for him.  He was a great teacher, I just wasn't into art...that is until my grandmother gave me a needlepoint kit.  Now that was an art form I could understand!  I had tried embroidery at the age of 6 and loved it, but needlepoint, that was like painting with fiber and it opened up a whole new world.

Here I am 30 some years later and there isn't a day that goes by that I don't have some art form in my life...it can be crocheted hearts or some other holiday ornament, quilt, or decoration that helps me celebrate the season.

It can be a quilt that has been made with tiny little pieces or hand stitched together to form a covering for a bed.

I can dream for hours looking at fabrics deciding what colors to use for a certain pattern or finding the perfect pattern for a favorite fabric.

But it doesn't end there.  I love all different kinds of threads and yarns.  Who would have thought I could spend hours making doilies or punching thread through a fabric to create a picture that looks like...ART.

My grandfather didn't live long enough to see me loving art, my form of art, as much as he did his.  Even though I don't use oils, acrylics, or charcoal as my art form, I use thread, fabric, yarn, or wool to create something that brings me as much pleasure as his forms brought him.

I was fun to ponder how art inspires me on a daily basis.  If you would like to see some amazing ornaments, check out Patience Brewster Ornaments, they are inspirational!  Happy Stitching!!  --Kristen

Time is Flying

Here it is a week into February and although I've been sewing plenty, I've posted nothing.  Not that I haven't thought about it, time has just gotten away from me.  I have enough for about four postings, and I keep signing up for more sew alongs, so I need to sit down and share a little.

This is a Gail Pan design from her book "Patchwork Loves Embroidery."  There is a sew along for Gail's Designs here the last Wednesday of the month if you are interested in stitching along, or just checking out what everyone else has been working on.

This is a free design from Anni Downs you can find here.  This was my January assignment for another sew along, and although it is stitched, I haven't decided how I am going to use it yet.  I am considering either making it into a quilted bag or a wall hanging.  I was very happy to have the stitching done January 31, at 11:59 p.m (just under my deadline).

I have plenty more to share (hopefully tomorrow)...but my taxes await me, and since my appointment is this week, I had better be prepared.

Okay, I had to add a sneak peak, it has something to do with this hot pink mess.  Happy Stitching!!  --Kristen