Sixty five days to 65, day #52

3" square, appliqued circle , embroidery

Sixty five days to 65, day #51

6" square, appliqued circle, embroidery

Sixty five days to 65, day #50

3"square, beads

Sixty five days to 65, day #49

3" square, appliqued circle, embroidery



The past week.

More projects done!

I've finished and mailed my SAQA donation 12"square. The auction isn't until September, but it sure feels good to have it done and gone. I took several pieces of cottons, silks, and hemp; raw edge pieced them, washed them to shrink and then dyed the piece in golden brown. The silk takes the dye differently than the other fabrics so there's variation in the color. I added a bit of hand stitching.



My next project was another thats not due for awhile, but it's almost done. The APWQ show that's held in Tacoma, Wa in August has a fabric challenge every year and my friend Barb and I decided to participate this year. I haven't participated in this type of challenge in many years and when I got the fabric my first thought was "what was I thinking???". This is the fabric, a Laurel Burch print.



This fabric is not "me" at all. But hey, it's a challenge and I only have to use a recognizable amount in the eighteen inch square top. So I cut some circles out of the fabric, some more out of other fabrics, appliqued them on a black background and called it a quilt top. Then I started to quilt the black with black thread, oh my, my eyes are not as good as they were when I was younger. My sewing machine sits in front of a window, there is a window high up above my left shoulder and I have a light on the table. This was not enough - I had to put a free standing light directly in front of the machine so I could see what I was doing. This is how the set up looked.



Here's a close up so you can see the recognizable amount of challenge fabric.



Barbara's quilt is totally different from mine, hers is quite whimsical. When they are both finished I'll get a photo of the two together. I'm not sure if I'll put black binding on mine or a facing. It's currently 20" square so I'll cut about an inch off all around.

Sixty five days to 65, day #48

3" square, appliqued circle, beads

Sixty five days to 65, day #47

3" square, embroidered circle

Sixty five days to 65, day #46

3" square, appliqued circle, beads

Sixty five days to 65, day #45

3" square, appliqued circle, embroidery, beads

Sixty five days to 65, day #44

9" square, appliquéd circle, embroidery

Sixty five days to 65, day #43

3" square, appliqued circle, beads

Sixty five days to 65, day #42

3" square, appliqued circle, beads



The past week.

Sixty five days to 65, day #41

3" square, appliqued circle, embroidery

Sixty five days to 65, day #40

3" square, appliqued circle, embroidery

Sixty five days to 65, day #39

6" square, appliqued silk velvet circle, scattered beads (very difficult to photo)

A big circle, socks and more

I know the only things I've posted lately have been my "sixty five days to 65" circles, but I've actually been getting other things done! I finished quilting the large white background for my big circle(79 1/2" x 84"), quilted, washed, and bound. Then it hung on my design wall for a week. During that week I cleaned up the huge pile of fabric scraps in the corner of the studio, putting away the bigger pieces and separating out groups of scraps that went together. Then out of the groups of scraps I pieced four quilt tops that will be donation quilts. As I was piecing the fourth top it finally hit me - I was in avoidance mode!!! There was some fear simmering below the surface, I was afraid to get out the black paint and get the circles on the big white background. So the only way to get over that is to just do it! I had to use the garage floor because it's the only place big enough to lay out the quilt, so here's how it looks on a 7' x9' tarp.



It took a few days for the paint to dry, it was very cold in the garage so with help I was able to carry the piece into studio B and drape it across the print table and turn some heaters on to help dry it out. I do plan on entering this piece in some shows so the picture below is only one small side of it, and the two smaller ones I made a few months ago for scale.



I've also started knitting another pair of socks. This time I'm using sock yarn instead of worsted so they're not so bulky. I have large feet and a ball of sock yarn is not quite enough for a pair, so the toes are going to be a different yarn. This is the yarn I'm using.



My favorite yarn shop and the only one anywhere near here, is closing the beginning of March. I'm very sad about it, the owner has been extremely helpful with this beginning knitter and I'm going to miss that help. She has been having a sale, so I have done a bit of stocking up for future projects.

When I started going through my scrap pile (see first paragraph) it was to find some pieces to make valentine postcards for some very special young people in my life. I did get them done and mailed in time.



I do find I'm really enjoying my daily circle on a square for the 65 project. In fact I've been thinking about starting another one after my birthday, probably a bit different format, but a daily type thing.

Sixty five days to 65, day #38

6" square, appliqued circle, embroidery stitches

Sixty five days to 65, day #37

3" square, appliqued circle, embroidery

Sixty five days to 65, day #36

3" square, beaded circle

Sixty five days to 65, day #35

3" square, french knots



The past seven days

Sixty five days to 65, day #34

9" square, 2 appliqued circles, french knots

Sixty five days to 65, day #33

6" square, appliqued circle, embroidery, beads

Sixty five days to 65, day #32

6" square, appliqued circle, embroidery

Sixty five days to 65, day #31

3" square, appliqued circle, beads

Sixty five days to 65, day #30

3" square, embroidery stitches

Sixty five days to 65, day #29

3" square, appliqued circle, embroidery stitches

Sixty five days to 65, day #28

3" square, appliqued circle, embroidery



This past weeks group

Sixty five days to 65, day #27

9" square, appliqued circle, embroidery

Sixty five days to 65, day #26

6" square, appliqued circle, embroidery

Sixty five days to 65, day #25

6" square, whipped running stitch

Sixty five days to 65, day #24

3" square, appliqued circle, french knots