Drops design cardigan

This is really a lovely sweater.  There is just enough decorative detail at the waistline to make it interesting but not difficult.

Drops Design 119-34

I'm not sure how well my 3 year old would do as photographer so I'll have to post photos of the sweater actually on my person later.  :)

feelin' like fall

 toasting piggie toes in the evenings

 a chill in the morning air

 time to finish up some knitting.   Maybe I'll wear this before spring this year?

have an ugly sink?

I do.  At least, I did. 

I have an old house, built in 1937 but from what I can tell many home improvement activities occured in 1967 or so.  Including the stapled-in drop ceiling and make shift closet in my downstairs bath, and several uniquely placed cabinets.

This upstairs bathroom cabinet had some minor surface damage in the interior and was just plain ugly. 

So Pinterest to the rescue!! 

from this before......

add 6 stick down floor tiles and get this

Simple things make me happy.

Another baby quilt!

Inspired to really get something fun accomplished just for myself, I dug around in the fabric bin for a different color combination for this baby quilt.   The parents to be are waiting for the surprise at the birth, so no pinks and blues here.   Instead I picked out some golden yellows, aqua, and peach just to see what I could come up with.

First, a little strip piecing....

then I split the top and flipped the stripe around in the other direction for an accent.

(ignore the strings!)

 

one more pieced accent stripe on the back and it's all ready to sandwich together.

I think I'll use the peach color for a binding to set it off.




What do you think of the color combination? 

finally summer

I have finished my summer grad class requirements and received a grade.

I have just submitted my big paperwork write up for my second 'job'.

I have washed, folded, and put away all the laundry.

My house is clean.  (notice I didn't say tidy - there's some lego issues)


Summer can begin!

Wait - Oh crap, it's August.    


Fall grad class starts 20 Aug.

School starts 23-24 Aug for me.




Ok, so summer for me will be 10-20 August.    Woo.

My big news (finally)

I submitted a sketch to my Wing for a Nost Art competition and my sketch was picked!

This design will be painted on the side of a military air plane!!

Topics in Fiber - Paper intensive

What a run of days I've had!   I do not think I have been home for 15 hours on 2 consecutive days since June 20th and I am wiped out.  Here's a brief post on my class!

Let's talk about the paper :)  This was class number five in my graduate degree journey was an 8 day intensive down at the college in the ceramics/fibers/paper studio.   As I mentioned, I haven't been in a studio class since I graduated in 1995 and I really missed it. 

Many of the fibers we used for the class were in the form of linters.   Sheets of fibers ready to be rehydrated and beaten into pulp. cotton linters from Twinrocker
 

   We also processed several fibers from their raw states.  Straw, hemp, kozo, and flax were simmered for 5-6 hours, rinsed until the water was clear, then placed in a Hollander Beater

 

or could be processed by hand like this.....

(beaten to a pulp has new meaning now)


Once our pulp was ready, it went into large bins with water.  Using frames stretched with window screen on the bottom, and a deckle frame on the top, we pulled papers from the pulp.

After the water drained from the bottom, you pressed the paper onto wet felts, and when you had a large stack, it all gets pressed to remove most of the water.

I learned more than I could have imagined from taking this class.   Paper has new meaning now!  I still have a large group of papers due for a final project, that will be presented in about 2 weeks.

Color!!!

This contraption...

is called a Hollander Beater. Think rubber ducky carnival game where the ducks go 'round and 'round but with a metal cylinder in the middle that smashes the ducks into little tiny pieces of pulp.

Work table

Wet felts, mold and deckle boxes, and at the end of the table (top of photo) my post of paper under felts.

Attractive, I know.

Should have seen me in the rain boots and goggles.

My view for the next 8 days

This is the ceramics/fibers/paper studio I'm working in for the week.

What I'm doing this summer.

Incidental inspiration

Where does your inspiration come from?

 

Don't you just love polkadots?!  I do!

I find myself being inspired mostly by color combinations.   Random combinations in my flower beds, color on clothing, or piles of toys in a basket.

Pinterest, of course.   But that tends to put my brain into overdrive at times :) (-you can check out my boards from the link to the right)

Other times it comes from news - someone getting married, or someone having a baby.  Then I find I often say "Oh congratulations!" but my brain is churning with "Oooh!  Now I can try that new quilt pattern!"

This is what I worked on this weekend.  Just some sneaks til I can get it delivered.   I like baby size projects very much!  So cute, sweet, and quick!   This pattern is called Hidden Stars from a book by Pam & Nicky Lintott - Layer Cake, Jelly Roll and Charm Quilts

I cut all the measurements in half for my project so I could get a nice small quilt. More photos to come....

still completely enamored

My quilt - red and white completed

It's finished!   A quilt just for me :)  how often does that happen??

I did not like stuffing a queen sized quilt through my little Brother machine.  I had some puckering at the top (in the photo above) but nothing would stop me from tossing this on the bed right away. :)

 I used a simple off white with dots for the backing and added a bold print for the binding.

 

The pattern - from Quiltmakers Cottage in Hershey, Pa.

There are 2 different reds and 2 different whites that make up the blocks.

This quilt will get a lot of use! 

Here's the previous posts on creating this one.

(piecing) progress

this-may-take-awhile

red-and-white-piecing-weekend-project-2

red-and-white-quilt-top

red-and-white-progress

I have performed a miracle.

Bobs on the grill. That all three monkeys ate. AND liked. Even the sneaky middle one.

Total. Mommy. Win.

Team RED WHITE BLUE

I'm a runner.  It took a year to finally be able to say that and truly believe it.  I may not be the fastest or be able to run the longest but I get'r done.  :)

I'm proud to say I've just become a member of Team RWB of Philly.  

Here's the link - http://www.teamrwb.com/

 "Team Red, White & Blue has a vision to transform the way America supports its wounded veterans when they exit their position. Our intent is to create a community of veterans, their families, and American citizens, bringing them together so they can spend time with one another. We believe that the American people can best support our TeamRWB veterans through authentic social interaction and shared experiences in communities all over America."

To be able to combine my love of running to support veterans is a cause near and dear to my heart.  I'll proudly wear this eagle to every race I enter and  tell anyone who asks why I do.