Scattered

I feel like my attention has been scattered in a lot of different directions!

I've been asked to teach a class on collage animals.  The patterns by Laura Heine (Fiberworks) have been very popular in this area.  So I had to give it a try.  It is not on a background or quilted yet, but my collage cat is together.

Next up is what I call "playing with Grandma's scraps".  I have a box full of scraps that came from my grandmother.  A while back I came across them and wondered what I was saving them for?  I have a love of free-form scrappy blocks, so, with inspiration from Victoria Findlay Wolfe's 15 Minutes of Play, I made four propeller blocks.  First it had a much brighter yellow border.  I was stuck for a while, then changed to the gold shown here.   

This afternoon I added half square scrappy triangle blocks for another border.  I'm not finished yet, but will think about the next step for a while.  I still have plenty of  Grandma's scraps.

The last item in today's SHOW-AND-TELL is a fidget mat that I made for my neighbor.  Her mother is an Alzheimer's patient and nurses had suggested this.  It was my first try, but I think it turned out OK.  It was kind of fun to find a variety of textures and baubles and sew them on VERY SECURELY. 

I continue to work on the small quilt with striped squares shown previously.  It is being hand quilted as we speak!  And I cut out to sew a bunch of Cathedral Window tree ornaments.  They'll appear here soon! 

Not a Quilt

It is a rainy Sunday afternoon and I headed upstairs to the sewing/craft room to play for a while.  I hadn't done any jewelry-making recently, so I sat down to see what I could find to do.

First I found a pendant that I had started.  Some wire wrapped around a (shell?) disc.  It was pretty plain and the wire wasn't stabilized very well.  I added some wraps with finer gauge wire and also added the dangles at the bottom.  I think it looks better now!

Next, I found a zip-lock baggie of brass "rice" beads.  I had to go to 22 gauge wire to get through the beads.  I made this dainty little bracelet.  As I was cleaning up, I came across the little turtle charm, so I made a jump ring and added him!

I  also found a bracelet that I had started a while back, with green  glass beads.  It didn't take too long to finish, but I'm not 100% certain that I used the same gauge wire.  Next time I won't leave an unfinished project for so long, or I will at least make a note!   

When I have a few more pieces ready to go, I will clean them all up and add a patina, which will darken the copper and make them look more finished.

Inpiration

I found the inspiration that I mentioned in the last post.  It was on my phone, not on the other computer!

I saw this at the Metropolitan Museum of Art when I visited NYC last April.  Epic fail - I failed to note the artist.  It was in the area of Picasso and other 20th century artists.  If you can provide me with a name, I'd appreciate it.

I started playing with the colorful strips of fabric with this in mind.

I sewed until I ran out of red and orange.  So that's how big it will be.  Since I like strips and strings so much, there may be more in the future.  Now, back to the machine to sew it up!