Critter BOM

 So here we finish Madame la Herssone from

last years Block of the month from Sue Spargo

I had her background and environs finished 

but not the knotty problem of her Prickles

Not wanting her to be boring, I decided to cover her with little drizzles, instead of the occasional drizzles as laid out in the instructions

A close-up reveals she is made of very densely packed drizzle stitch, you must admire them, they took for F%*king ever!

3 different kinds of thread and some brassy colored tinsel type thread, like krenik but not them.

Because again, YBboring? And I had a little left for a little project,  it wanted using up. So I paired it with a dark brown DMC size 8 twist

and randomly drizzled away

Then there was the med brown/purple/grey Finca size 8 twist 

and last but not least the brown variegated that came in the BOM 

The blocks are about 6" square so she's not a big 

Hedggie but still that was a lot of drizzling

Good thing I had this car trip to see the eclipse

so I could finish her coat on the way when I wasn't driving.

Here she is Madame la Herssone!

I might give her butterfly another pair of wings though

The eclipse was wonderful BTW.

Critter bom

Madame La Herssone isn't quite finished yet

I decided her prickly's should be a close drizzle stitch 

so.....she's going to be a while

I also want to give her butterfly another set of wings

My additions to the piece beyond the pattern are 

more spots on the mushroom cap

bullion stitch for the gills

and a woven ring with cast-on frills for the stem

Critter bom

Miss Birdie was made during my trip to my moms last April

I can't make up my mind weather she looks like 

a redbellied woodpecker or a house finch

and looks pretty much like the pattern 

only with more feathers in the wings

I had 2 weeks at my mom's

I got bored 

 

Critter bom

Ribbet has no other pictures and neither do the next 3-4

I do like his green hide and blue belly

He also is as drawn out

I will try to do better but it's been a year so......

not everything is finished

I got side-tracked with the seasons applique quilt

I was sewing on these in the evening, during family time 

but that comes and goes, depending on what we are watching at the time

Critter bom

Next up is the Squirrel from last years Block of the month from Sue Spargo

He looks pretty much Like the pattern

I wussed out on this one but then I think I was tired

AAAANd hes done

I should have made his til fluffy at least....

I still may, it depends on what is left over 

from all the other  blocks
 

Critter Bom

 I got a Block of the month last year from Sue Spargo

It was a fun one!

Now if you have ever taken a class or gotten a BOM from her 

you know she doesn't like it if you share anything anywhere 

until the BOM is over,   

And since it's a year later, 

I'm going to start sharing!

< First up is Monsieur le Trash panda!

Now if you ask me, he looks NOTHing like the Raccoon pattern I was given, 

The raccoon pattern I was given looks nothing like a raccoon!

so I honestly fee like this one is all mine.

Go ahead fight me. I dare you.

I also decided that a bunch of the patterns look not like I think they should, 

So I will be "Fixing" them too.

Crazy Quilting Journal Project 2023 Block #1

So here we are on another CQJP adventure!  Yay!

This part is going to start with the 5 panels for a 1920's style Lapmpsahde box.

And, hopefully, finish with a few blocks for a tumbling blocks quilt 

Sharon Boggins has started her own challenge to follow along with and shes making patterns available each month. so there may be some of that too.

Here is my block so far in the planning stage.

The bird motif in the middle is one of my own, I think,

 It's in one of my sketchbooks

I try to draw out an idea first but sometimes the idea comes after I sew a block and have a better idea of where the seams will go 

That is subject to change at anytime as well

 

as what i draw doesn't always fit on what I have sewn, c'est la vie.

I have learned it's best to be flexible

The bird so far

and one seam mostly done

The block so far

Crazy quilted Book cover Tutorial

This old thing started life as a 2014 Crazy Quilt International, Spring Fling challenge piece hosted by Therica Burrows

Where you bought the 7 fabric scrap, lace, motif and charms package and made a block with it 

the rules as I remember them were you had to use at least 5 of the fabrics and could add as many as 2 of your own and you had to use all the motifs and laces. I think I used everything in the package but one of the little blue birds

 So I finally decided what to do with it!

I made it into a book cover

I mounted the block onto a heavy card stock 

by first basting it taught 

When doing this I recommend having more than 1/2 an inch of turn over though!

I then glue the edges down to keep it there and stop any fraying from getting any worse!

Fabritack, aileesns Jewlit, or Gemtac work well for this.

Now for the inside, I measured out a piece of fabric the same size as the original block added pockets to each corner by folding a square 1/2 the length of the side.

I embroidered them because of course I did....

made handles and ribbon enclosures if you want to take a pencil for notes with you.

I then cut out 3 pieces of  card stock for the backing and it should all measure 1/4" smaller all around than the front. This part It should fold like a book so these pieces need to accommodate that.

The middle spine should be at least 3/4" wide and the sides should be 1/2 the size of the whole less 3/4" for the spine AND 1/4"for movement

I then glued the cardstock to the backing, there needs to be room for the whole thing to fold around a book so you want to accommodate this movement by leaving 1/4" on either side of the spine.

Let it fully dry before you take on the next bit 3-6 ours depending on your glue choice 

I positioned the pockets, handles and the ribbon closure & pinned it

I folded over the edges 1/4" and sewed it all down along the edge, as close to the edge as possible, so everything was firmly attached to the backing and the cardstock.

I think this gives you some extra firmness as well, you don't want your book flying out because the handle came loose!

Last step is to glue it all together

I do this by squeezing glue around the outside about 1/2 an inch from the edge and then spiraling in to the middle

Take a scrap piece of cardstock or a craft sponge and spread it evenly across the card 

When you get to the edges be very careful to spread the glue thin because you don't want glue squeezing out to the front when you set it together

It's always easier to put more on, much harder to take it off.

Put the back onto the front smoothing down as you go being careful to not get glue on the business side of the piece

I keep a wet cloth or paper towel around so I can wipe my hands between steps

Pace clamps around the edges &/or put a heavy book on it to set the glue.

I have used binding clips, hair pins, and on one occasion a hemostat and tension pliers because it needed just one more!

And Bobs you're uncle, a book cover! 

Fooling around with watercolors

there is a lot of doodling one must do 

with watercolor paints to get them to work right

There is also a lot of brushwork 

and water distribution

It's that last part that has been giving me the most trouble

to little and the paint skitters over the paper

 leaving skid marks and empty spots

To much and it leaves puddles of color in odd places

that pool and dry with hard edges

to much water will also thin out the pigment 

to almost invisibility 

in an already transparent medium

Then there is the paper itself to worry about

mixed media paper is good to practice brush strokes

and color mixology, which is completely different than color theory 

and your initial water retention on

 

but not good enough for actual pictures

because the paper will suck the water right out of your brush  till it gets pilly and weird

and any attempt at finesse will go right out the window

the leaning curve between too much water and not enough is

proving difficult 

But rewarding

and it tickles my colorbone

I will leave you with a cat 

or two

RSC Yellow

Here is what I have gotten done for this month

It's not for a lack of Yellow scraps though

just no time to sew

I did do 4 spools in total I didn't get pictures

but you get the idea, spools are easy and usually done last to use up the inch or less Striping scraps from the ends of things

There will be more but the will probably be finished next month

mostly because i haven't gotten around to cutting anything for the other patches

I could go spelunking in stuff I have already don and store away till I need them but that would be cheatin,g wouldn't it.

I was able to get a bunch of geese off the ground

Have I mentioned how much I like sewing geese?

there are a whole flock of yellow

and then there are the birds

I have more but they too are parts yet to be completed

I still have no Idea what these will become 

but they are fun to make

Little Brown Jacobean update #3

the full back

I thought I might do a thing, not many embroiderers do

and that is to share the back of my work

I find the backs of things have a messy beauty all their own

I do use a combination of burying my ends and starting with knots

so there is a fair number of both these techniques on show

the big blue flower

I also do a lot of laddering in my satin stitch instead of covering, 

especially when I haven't got a ton of the thread in use

So there you are. my back is just as messy as everyone else's back

It's ok to have a messy back

Here is the finished circle spray made with ribbed filling stitch and a very variegated thread

And the whole of big blue flower at the top

I finished this first but had it rolled up already by the time I remembered to take photos, oops!