grey challenge

 this is how the grey study started off looking.
I soon decided that that shiny piece was too shiny and must be muted!
just putting something over it didn't seem to work
so I took that seam out and re-worked it a little.

 this is what it looked like after I fixed it and added a little bit of trim.
the dark lace toned down that shiny piece nicely.

for me the challenge has been to keep it all in just one colorway and not let it spill out into all the others. though I did turn up an amazing array of greys in my stash!I really didn't have to buy anything!

t a good start I worked on this while Pat, Donna  and I had our first ever Crossroads CQ meeting.


we meet in front of the Jo-anne fabrics.
Wednesdays at 3:00pm.
everyone who can come is invited.
the more the merrier!

 I like how this seam treatment turned out.
the ribbon is couched to keep it from curling up on the edges
but otherwise its threaded through that cheepie plastic silver trim.

 I found a few greys in my stash!
do you think I have enough to finish?
Ok, so I cheated, I bought some beads and the grey silk ribbon,
but I had the rest!

i will also finish the mourning heart for Hideko since it is in the same colors anyway.

some of what I've been up to

here is some of what I've been up to lately.





i got inspired to make up a whole bunch of new base






pieces for boxes and small wall hangings.







got the fft #16 RR pieced, marked , packaged
and sent out Tuesday, too!








I also re-worked the grey study.
I didn't like the shiny, shiny at the top of the piece so I made it smaller and worked in a piece of dark grey lace to cover most of it.
now the shiny is muted and not the only thing that catches your eye.




I made up a mourning heart for Hideko





and a Navy piece for my son who is taking his ASFAB
(don'cha love military acronyms?)



I've started augusts BJP but I can't seem to get motivated to do much on it.
It will probably languish until the last minute.
the monthly journal aspect is starting to loose a
little steam with me but I want to finish it.
the BJP stretches me in an unfamiliar way and I like that!

big hawaii

Finally finished this wall hanging, it's only been like 3 years!





boy do I know how to procrastinate or what?





some of you may recognize this from a CQ for newbies RR



way back in 2008 this is how the block came back to me.
this is what they looked like before I really got to work on them
And this is what they look like now

I have added a lot of details from each of the blocks taking elements from the other pieces and adding a few more of my own to blend the four parts into a cohesive whole.

I think I did an ok job what do you all think?

I'm getting ready for the summer invasion of kinder,
my girls are coming to visit for the whole summer!
one is coming to visit and the other my oldest girl is coming to stay!
to say I am excited is a vast understatement!

she has had a rough time adjusting to her father and then there was
"the Rumor"
this was an anonymous tip someone called into the school, accusing her of sleeping with a teacher. not the teacher slept with her mind you, she slept with him. this was my first tip that the whole thing was BS, aside from talking to her and getting "EEW! hes like 28!" and "I have a boyfriend" I know my girl, she may be boy crazy but she's not an idiot!

anyway, this prompted an uncoordinated DCFS, CPD, CPS investigation that took 3 weeks of bumbling and harassment  interviews and "observation" only to come up with nothing ( i could have told them that!) 
and they never found out who called it in either!
you would think making false accusations and causing 3 weeks of resources to be wasted on a bogus investigation would have prompted them to at least find that out and get back their pound of flesh.


my darling ex, who loves to make mountains out of molehills, decided she was guilty until proven innocent and grounded her, instead of listening to her and trusting that she wasn't involved in what they said she was.

this is after 2 years of treating her as though she were a mini version of me.
to say that she has had enough is putting it lightly!
and if that weren't enough the "rumor" got out and is making her life miserable at school
she was ready to burn down every bridge she has there and run away from home!
I told her to put down the torch, take a deep breath and start fresh here.

so lucky me I get my girlies back! at least for the summer!
here's hoping the weather cooperates or at least gets warmer!

BJP whatever a moon has meant

I started this piece in december it was one of the first pieces I envisioned for this years project and was one of the many visuals that lead me to pick the poem to use in the first place.

Junes poem phrase is "and it's whatever a moon has meant "

in nature based religions the moon holds a very important place. she is always female and always changing.

maid, mother and crone are very important cycles in the human experience as well.
we all hit most of these stages in our lives at some point.
the moon points out that even though it is a constant in our night sky it is always in flux just as we are.
the moon helps us count the days and lights our way in the night.
despite science making it possible to walk amongst the stars and on our moon it's self, it has lost none of it's magic and wonder.

WTF is up with the weather???

DBF on the deck friday

It's flooding in the midwest,
burning in az and boiling everywhere else
and here its 50* and raining, AGAIN!

this past weekend we had 3 days in the upper 60's with
beautiful sunny breezy weather (I even got a little pink!)
and now I'm freezing my butt off in 2 sweaters and
wooly socks and the furnace just kicked in.

it's freaking JUNE!

so I ask in all honesty WTF is up with the weather!!!!

I'm thinking of building a fire (and pouting)

Butterfly purse

got another purse done and out there.
this one was a little bit of a challenge as parts of it were too white.
did i do a good job of toning it down or does it just look muddy now?

Big Island

I mounted the little Hawaii piece that I finished last year
and named it "Big Island".
I love the way it looks and I can hang it or show it this way!
Gerry is right it's very convenient!

I also finished another box, this one is a small round papermache` box with a bead embellished moon and goddess on the top.




I liked the pattern so much from "whatever the moon has meant"
that I did it again, only a bit larger this time.
I'm also working on finishing the big "Pineapples and palmtrees" piece.
I know, I know that one is so old it should have finished itself by now!
but I mean it I'm gonna do it! and mount it too! you'll see!

Look what I found!

 Look what I found!
we stopped at an estate sale on the way back from dinner one night and they had these in a box with a few more. I wish I could have gotten the others but they only took cash and I only had $10 so I got these aren't they lovely?
only a little yellowed and frayed but you can see the name of the cigarettes they came from.

this is my naked block for the grey challenge for CQI
It's not 12x12 but other than that i followed all the guidelines. 
they wanted 5 different textures and they want you to use glass metal and fiber. otherwise everything should be in shades of grey only
I need to find some silk ribbon in grey tones, everything I have is coloriffic.
grey shouldn't be to difficult considering the weather around here lately! Rain, rain, rain!