It's Begining to Look a Lot Like Christmas.....

I just realized it's only ....... 25 DAYS UNTIL CHRISTMAS!!! I still have gifts to conceptualize, buy, bake, stitch and wrap -- yikes! Who am I kidding -- I love it (and so do you!) This is when it gets fun. The hustle - the bustle - and the time when the true spirit of giving kicks in. Needless to say -- but I, like most of you, have been a bit too busy preparing for and clearing out after Thanksgiving to do any sewing. But no more excuses -- it's back to business to get those gifts from the heart completed in time to find their way under the tree. My last post of projects was a WIP post - and those are still - Works in Progress, albeit almost complete. However, I received this lovely little Blue Jay from my cyberfriend Jan, just last night. This was in response to a "block with a twist" challenge for one of my Yahoo Groups, Surface Design. It is a wonderfully pieced Blue Jay with crystal beaded wintery leaves. This little bird is perched on the wall by my desk. Thanks Jan!

Pay it Forward..... (Give Away!!)

Feast your eyes on these!!! Much to my delight -- as a result of the promise I made to Phllis to "pay it forward," I received three stunning note card prints made from three of her absolutely gorgeous watercolor paintings. Not only is she a painter -- but she's a fellow fiber artist and "real" North Carolinian. There is a link to her blog over on the right (Phyllis). Be sure to pay her a visit. But on to more important things here... Now I am putting out a call to Pay it Forward. Here's how it works:

I will send a handmade gift to the first 2 people who leave a comment on my blog requesting to join this PIF exchange. I don’t know what that gift will be yet and you may not receive it tomorrow or next week, but you will receive it within 365 days, that is my promise! The only thing you have to do in return is pay it forward by making the same promise on your blog.

Work in Progress Sunday.....

I love Sundays - coffee in bed with my honey, a great breakfast, church (most Sundays!) and at home "family" time. Since it's the weekend before Thanksgiving -- we have been working around the house like maniacs in preparation for the arrival of my husband's sister and her husband. But today -- we're taking it easy and that means WIP Sunday!!! Woo hoo! I'm taking a break for a few hours from Sabrina's quilt - which is nearing completion. I have the top all sewn together and am cutting the borders and hopefully going to start quilting this evening.

Here are a few things I have in the works....

This is going to be a 6x6 piece. I still need to bind it and bead it. It started out as a challenge piece for one of my art groups - a 6x6 traditional quilt block with a "twist." This began as a "square within a square" block I made out of crumbled and sponge painted paper and fabric, stitched, embossed, covered with organza and heat blasted. A bit more work needed still.


This is another 6x6 piece. It began as a square within a square within a square within a squard of turqoise and camel silk dupioni and, painted paper towel that has been stamped with metallic Lumiere paint, embossed, and stitched with metallic thread. I'm going to bind this with copper foil and bead it with abalone and turqoise as this is for a special friend.


These are just a few pieces of "stuff." The pink piece is Lumiere painted Tyvek that has been hit with a heat gun, and the turqoise piece is a piece of soy silk fusion I made a few days ago and then painted.

Finally, these are two of my favorite fiber experiments of late. The orange and hot pink is a piece of soy silk fusion, and the little square piece on top of that are some heat treated angelina fibers that I fused between two sheets of teflon and then cut into a square to make an embossed medallion for a journal I'm making.

I've got a bunch of stuff "in progress," but until I get Sabrina's quilt finished I am not allowed to play with these! Hope you have a great WIP Sunday - and as we say in North Carolina -- "Git 'er done!!"



Not sure what to do with this yet!!!

Purple Looks Even Better with a Little Fall Color....

Here is my purple table enjoying a blustery, yet vibrantly colorful fall day, and my favorite tree in all of it's golden glory!! I love cool, breezy, overcast days (could do without the rain, though) It's a great day for a yummy soy latte, a wonderful movie (Children of a Lesser God is on) and some sewing. Cheers!

Silk and Wool Deliciousness....

Okay, now what???? I bought this gorgeous silk/wool blend yarn because Sabrina wants me to make her a hat for her ski trip. The other day I was watching Knitty Gritty out of the corner of my eye and they were making this cute ski hat (love the hat, hate the colors) so I decided to give it a go. I've never knitted with circular OR double pointed needles so this should be interesting. I'll keep you posted on my progress. If all goes well, Santa will be leaving ski hats and socks for everyone under the tree this year!

It's a Great Weekend to Stitch.....

While I've been hard at work on her quilt, Sabrina has been playing with our Janome Expressions. We were in one of our favorite little shops yesterday (Panopolie - in Raleigh) and Sabrina spied amongst the felting supplies this cute little red felted ring. We picked it up and brought it home and, after pawing through our basket of roving she commenced to felting and created these two rings -- which came out great! Her next project - finding outfits to match the rings - of course!

One Step Closer...

The entire quilt is up on my design wall (72 blocks) and I think I'm ready to start sewing the blocks together. Dilemma - how to quilt this thing? I hate to just do an echo quilting or meander as I'd like to do something a little more artistic -- but what to do, what to do??????? I'm asking for a little help here -- particularly from my bee buddy (and you know who you are). Oh, the blocks once sewn together will be bordered with a teeny weeny white polkadot on a black background -- presumably 3-4 inches wide, with a hot pink batik piping around the perimeter. So - the black border will be a nice showcase for some quilting, too. I'd love to do a scalloped edge -- but I don't think I'm ready for that yet. HELP!!!

Hearts, Hearts and More Hearts!!!!

I am currently working on a pattern from Lynda Milligan and Nancy Smith's book "Hearts A Plenty." Sabrina picked out a really cute black, white and pink quilt that originally began as a "lap" quilt and has now grown to monsterous propotions as she informed me that a "lap" quilt was not large enough to cuddle under. So 81 black, white and pink squares later I am now ready to start thinking about sashing, borders and binding. The goal: to get this puppy bound and quilted by Thanksgiving. We'll see!

Doodling- the springboard for creation!

In the car, on the metro, in bed (????) - everybody's doing it - fiber artists, painters - poets and writers. Doodling! I am a huge lurker of art and writing blogs. I find them extremely entertaining and inspiring. It's become a hobby for me. I find that I am as interested in "why" they are doing what they are doing -- as "what" they are doing. And Recently I've noticed increased buzz about doodling as a practical exercise. So, always interested in trying things that are going to expand my horizons -- I grabbed a sharpie and my journal gave it a go. Sabrina tried it too -- and it was fun. Here are some links to some of my favorite doodlers - visit Andrea's blog AND Susan Sorrell's gallery on her website to see what they do with their doodles - it's amazing!! AND, if you are interested in giving it a try - visit http://www.zentangle.com/index.php and check out the gallery. It's really fascinating to see what these artists are doing with their doodles -- from watercolor paintings to intricately stitched designs -- they are really cool and the possibilities are truly endless. I'd love to try stitching a series of saturated doodles on a piece of linen or dupioni silk.

So Much Thread.... So Little Time.....

O.k. - it's official. In addition to my fabric addiction - I now am certifiably addicted to thread -- I can't get enough - silk thread, rayon thread, polyester thread, braided thread, twisted thread -- and my favorite - metallic thread - I love them all. Since begining my experimentation with free motion embroidery I have discovered that one can never have "too much thread!" Adding fuel to the fire has been my discovery of Threadart.com where I can find all my favorite variegated threads, rayon and silk threads at a fraction of the cost if I purchase from my favorite local specialty shops. I am really getting into free motion embroidery - it's like "painting" with thread. In fact, I just bought a book on "thread painting" and am experimenting on landscapes and doodling. I'll be posting on this in greater detail. Anyone who has done any doodling or threadpainting -- e-mail me privately and send some pictures.

January 20th - Under the Lights - Me AND Barry!!

Okay - I'm going to come clean right here, right now -- I LOVE BARRY MANILOW -- and have ever since I was 14 and heard Mandy for the first time and I'm NOT ashamed to say..... I'VE GOT AN "ALMOST" FRONT ROW SEAT to see him on January 20th - Woo hoo! Notice I said "seat" and not "seats." "Why is that?" you ask. Well I'll tell you why - it's because I COULDN'T PAY ANYONE IN MY FAMILY enough money to go with me!!! So - instead of not going - I'm going alone -- and I can't wait. There -- I feel better and can now get back to work. Thanks for listening! P.S. Bon Jovi - when are you coming back to Raleigh????