Since April....

You might wonder what the heck I've been doing since April when I last posted. Well, I have been busy with multiple things; work, stitching, relaxing, etc.  One new fun thing in my life is this little guy. His name is Hagol (hoggle) and he belongs to our daughter Trystan and her husband Matt. They were told he's half pug, but they're not sure what the other half is. I suspect as he grows it may become more apparent who his other parent might have been.

 

 It's really hard to get a photo of him, as he tends to be in constant motion or asleep. Not much in between.

 He's mostly still here; just the mouth in motion!

 Some cards I have for sale at Grand Valley Books....

 I am just starting a round robin this month with 5 other crazy quilters, with the theme of Birds, Butterflies, and Bees. This block belongs to Pat Freeman.

 I covered a clutch-type purse thing that I bought at Salvation Army. Not sure if it will be a needle book, a purse, or maybe I'll sell it. This is one side....

 ...and the other side.

A Yahoo Group that I belong to had a block swap with the theme of summer. This is the block I sent in. The fence and arch are made of crocheted lace.

Contest

I won 3rd place in an extended seam* contest on CQI this month. This was my entry, which has since been made into a notecard and is for sale at Grand Valley Books. Both the pink and green threads are variegated pearl cotton in size 8. I started with the herringbone stitch base, then added straight stitches for the stem of the rose, detached chain for the leaves, chain for the "handle" that swoops over the rose, and straight stitches for the cross. I added tiny feather stitch "trees" between the roses, and made each leg triple with added straight stitches. French knots made the blossoms on the trees. The roses are done with a large French knot center and 6 cast-on stitch petals circling it.

*Extended seams are elaborate seam treatments done with multiple stitches in thread (with the possible addition of ribbon, beads, etc.). By my count, I made 6 passes across this short seam.

Cards and more cards

If you think all I've been doing is cards, you'd be right, in the sense of crazy quilting anyway. These little blocks are so much fun and so addictive. I can put together a tiny block in a few minutes, using any color combo that appeals to me, and then the embellishing is so portable. I really do need to get into a round robin to do something different!

More cards...

....all of which have sold!

Quilt show in Battlement Mesa

More cards for sale....

This card on the left has already sold. I love using lavender and orange together for fall.

My super hero alter-ego

I have given this a lot of thought (well, as much as my short attention span will allow) and I'm pretty sure I have a super hero alter-ego. Her name is I Wonder Woman. She goes about her life saying, "I wonder where I left my glasses," and "I wonder what I did with my good scissors." Almost daily it's, "I wonder what I should make for dinner," and "I wonder if I'd like my hair really really short....or red."
I'm sure I'd get a lot more done if she'd just go away.....oh, look, a chicken!

More cards, Dexter, dyeables....

A few more cards that are or will be for sale at Grand Valley Books.

Dexter sometimes sits with his front feet between his back feet.

Lace and trims that I dyed recently. They all started out white, and through the magic of alcohol inks, have been transformed.

And five more cards. Someone needs to teach me how to move photos around on Blogger. I used to be able to do it easily, but since they  "improved" it, I haven't figured it out.

Tomatoes!

We actually ate 3 cherry tomatoes a few days ago. There are two more almost ripe and one large tomato, too.

More cards for the bookstore

Two more cards for sale at Grand Valley Books.











And two hearts sent off for a swap on CQ for Newbies.

Just try it....

....just try getting out the back door.













But first you'll have to fight your way into the front door.

 

Crazy Quilt Journal Project 2015, part 2

I am woefully behind on this project, but still plugging away. I originally pieced the first 3 blocks for January, February, and March at the same time, and thought I was so smart to be ahead of the game. So far I've only embellished 2 of them and part of the 3rd, but I'm happy with them.

I love the silkies I bought to use, and while the blocks may not all get a "saying" on them, I hope to do the little thread sketch for each. We'll see how that pans out.

Green thumb?

I'm the first to admit I don't have one. But the things in my yard that I mostly leave alone and just provide water do okay, like these red hot pokers. They are more plentiful and more intensely colored this year than ever. They always bloom around my birthday; a little early this year, but that's okay.

I'm not sure if the camera captured it or not, but the first of the moon flowers have had a distinctly lavender tinge to their outer edges.

These pansies seeded themselves from a hanging pot I had last fall. They bloomed into early December and started up again in February.

 More pansies. This year I bought orange and purple violas and an orange variety called "whiskers".

I have great hopes for these two tomato plants. One is a husky red and the other is husky cherry tomato. I've had good luck with the yellow pear tomatoes in the past, but my family doesn't think they're as flavorful as the red ones.

Zack, Corbin, and Dozer with the red hot pokers.