Well begun is half done....

....or so said Mary Poppins. So here's some projects that I have well begun.
We had a heart swap recently on CQ for Newbies. I got two done and sent in, and these two were in the works but didn't get finished in time. Oh well, there will be another swap in the future.
This heart stalled out because I ran out of the thread I'd dyed for the flowers (also used on the gimp). So it won't be finished until I drag out the dyes again and play around with getting the colors right. The cute little oval motif is a bit of cotton print fabric I got at the retreat last fall, during the stash dash! Just that one little motif...

This one is done using only two types of thread. Both DMC pearl cotton, but one is #115, a variegated red to deep burgundy, and #890, deep green. There are some beads thrown in there too.

More work on my sheep sides. I added the button, bead, and stitching motif to the upper right, which is the sheep's right shoulder area.

On the left side, I added a spider and web, and finished (maybe) the vines. They might bloom yet, I don't know....

In the afore mentioned heart swap, I received these two beauties. The orange one is from Holly P. in Arkansas. She does very nice bullion roses. And the pink one is from Linda M. in MS. It's got some delectable pink tatting.

Fool's Gold and Scarlett in blue

Here's my latest block from the Fool's Gold RR. It belongs to Kerry L in Canada. She pieced all her blocks in bridal fabrics and asked for soft romantic colors to be used along with the gold.

I just love how this RR is making me see things in a different light. I found some dance-wear fabric at Walmart that is gold, shiny, beautiful, and stretchy, and doesn't unravel around the edges when you cut it. It's perfect for applique work for this RR. I gave this block a name: Kerry Has a Heart of Gold.
The little gold butterflies are metal wings that I found in a Ben Franklin craft store, and their bodies are a bullion knot. Right now they lay perfectly flat, but when Kerry gets this home, she can bend them slightly so that the wings lift up off the block.


And an online friend is going through a health challenge and mentioned that she would try to piece some blocks to have on hand for when she was not feeling well during and after treatments. I suggested that she piece some blocks and tuck them into individual baggies with color coordinated (or contrasting) embellishments, so that when she felt like stitching, she'd only have to pick a bag and sit and stitch. To that end, I offered to piece a block for her, and include with it some embellishments from my stash.

Then, I "overheard" her and another online friend talking about Gone With the Wind and their love for it. So I found a photo of Scarlett O'Hara (this is Scarlett's portrait) and printed it on fabric, then pieced it into a fairly large block. I'm still finding bits and pieces to add to the baggie, but I hope to have this in the mail to her this week. And I hope it brings her some happy moments during her treatment.

Fabric, sheep, toasted dog....

I recently bought these two fabrics online. Aren't they just delightful?

I bought them with tote bags in mind. We'll see how that works out.

Here's the progress of my springy sheep project. Side B in progress....

...and side A possibly done (we'll have to see about that).

And no, "toasted dog" is not a recipe. It is a dog who loves his fireplace. He watches intently when one of us builds a fire. I'm sure if he had thumbs he'd be doing it himself by now.