Baby Blankets for Twin Girls

It has been a while since I updated my blog. So much has been happening in my life, including retirement and monster snowstorms! However, I was able to finally finish a pair of baby blankets for a set of twin girls who were born last summer. I can't believe it took me that long to get the blankets completed and mailed out. Where on earth did the time go to? I did have several challeges with the blankets though. For some reason, I had an awful time with the binding because I wanted to use satin fabric and no matter what I tried, I couldn't get it to look just right. I finally settled on purchasing the packaged satin blanket binding and stitching it on them. Turned out okay, but I would have preferred to have my own binding as I had originally planned. Guess I need more practice with slippery fabrics!

My New Mousepad

I have been wanting to replace an old dilapidated mousepad that I had at work and decided to see if I could refurbish the old one rather than buying a new pad. I had recently purchased a package of June Taylor computer printer fabric sheets, and I thought it would be fun to see if I could adhere the fabric sheet to the old mousepad. I'm happy to say that it worked perfectly. I placed a sheet of Steam-A-Seam 2 between the computer printed fabric and the rubber mousepad, applied a hot iron, and presto, the fabric adhered perfectly. I probably should have changed the settings on my printer so the colors would have been more intense, but I actually like the softer colors that came through on the sheet just as well. I did not spray any protective coating on the surface, so I'm not sure how well the fabric will hold up under intense mouse movement, but I'm going to put it to the test.

Nature Walks

Recently, my son and I have been going on nature walks whenever possible on the weekends. This past weekend, we went to a local park near home and I remembered to bring my camera. This particular photo is one that I really love...not sure what it is (perhaps some form of fungus growing in the woods?), but the shape and colors remind me of sea shells. This would make a lovely wall hanging. I just need to figure out how to capture the beautiful colors and delicate shapes.

Up the pathway, we happened upon a tree that had a lot of green moss on the ground nearby and the sun was shining on it so brightly that it became illuminated with a bright green glow (it almost looked nuclear!).

The photo below shows a close-up so you can tell it's not really nuclear...just brightly-lit moss, but has a nice look to it.

Here's a very interesting tree...wonder what critters live inside?

After walking for what seemed like hours, I came back home feeling refreshed and inspired. I was exhausted, but did manage to create a mousepad for myself using that first photo of the fungus design.

Swarovski Crystals

Oh, the joys of having a three-day weekend! I finally had a chance to try out my crystal setting tool that I had purchased a few years ago at a quilt show. I decided to stitch out a plain peacock design in silver thread and then accent different areas with the Swarovski crystals. After much trial and error, I was finally able to figure out a way to get the crystals to stick longer than a few minutes. The tool that was designed to be used with these did not seem to work, but I finally attached the flat head tip and just rested the heated tip on the crystal for several seconds and presto! the stones are now affixed. However, no matter how many attempts I made to get a good photo of the shirt, including taking the mannekin outside on the patio, I still couldn't get a clear shot that shows off the pretty crystals. At least you can sort of get an idea of what it looks like. It was lots of fun anyway, and I hope to do more designs soon.

Successful Auction

I am happy to say that the "Hearts for Anna" auction was a great success. There was an incredible response and it's great to see that so many items were sold. As I mentioned in an earlier post, all proceeds from this auction go into a fund to assist a fellow artisan battle cancer. In addition, the website, Artful Home, is donating 5% of all future sales to the Hearts for Anna fund. That's wonderful, and I know this will help her out. It's heartwarming to see how the art community pitches in to help others in times of need. I'm proud to be a part of this.

Still Learning...

I have spent so much time this weekend trying to figure out how to set up a gallery of my work and, after many hours, only a few of the photos have made it through the web of connections that the computer has to go through. Of course, being a stubborn old Capricorn goat, I will prevail! It may just take me a while yet, but please bear with me as I learn all the intricacies of setting up a blog. I guess if all else fails, I'll read the tutorial! I usually save that for later. I guess I just enjoy the challenge of figuring it out for myself.

Hearts for Anna

Today I am posting a photo of a small (5x7) wallhanging that I will be submitting to the Hearts for Anna charity auction to be held between August 12-16, 2009. (https://www.artfulhome.com/HeartsForAnna) Anna Millea, a fellow artisan, is fighting a recurrence of breast cancer, and this time it has hit her bones, which will require a full round of chemotherapy. Unfortunately, Anna does not have health insurance (due to her pre-existing condition), and these treatments will be terribly expensive. All proceeds from the auction will go to Anna to help pay some of the medical expenses she will incur in her battle against this awful disease. My prayers and good wishes go out to her and may her guardian angel watch over her.

Monday Mornings

Ah, yes...the Monday morning blahs. All of the bus passengers on their way to work this morning were rather somber. Everyone except for the fellow I sat next to. He proceeded to tell me how excited and happy he was that he had learned how to make blueberry waffles over the weekend to surprise his girlfriend. He said he was a terrible cook and wanted very much to learn so that he could impress her. He was very happy that the little wafflemaker he had borrowed from a friend worked out great and the waffles tasted just fine. Needless to say, one exchange of conversation led to another and before I knew what was happening, we were discussing all kinds of breakfast foods that he could easily prepare for her. Soon, the people sitting in front of us turned around and said, jokingly, that we were "killing them" with the descriptions of waffles, omlets, breakfast casseroles and, the strawbreaker...grits. The guy said that was the part that did it for him and that he now needed to stop by someplace and get some breakfast after getting off the bus! We all laughed, and it was a great mood-breaker for everyone sitting nearby. I guess sometimes we need interesting conversations or some small event to occur to break up the monotony of our daily lives. With very little effort, we had managed to communicate with one another and share some smiles. It was wonderful.