Permission to Play...

Although I have literally dozens of WIP's that need to actually be finished,  I find that lately I would much rather play around and experiment with my scraps and solids….
This weekend I chose to play with orange.  This time of year I see so much orange in the fruit market, and it is such a fun, bright spot of color in what has become a very long and white winter.
I played with the idea of intersections, slash and Insert, and quilting with bias applied on top.
These are just a couple little rough sketches….and I'm sharing a peek with you.

Im not a fan of the fluorescent lighting I have in my workspace.  It makes for some terrible color distortion.

So that's that.  Just a little peek.  Not sure where I'm going to go with it…or where it will lead to next, but I'm having a good time and frankly, that's all that matters to me right now.

Today's 5-7-5

Frigid, Windy day.
Sub-zero, shockingly cold.
Takes my breath away.

A Little Experimentation

A trip to the library allowed me to check out the book Quilting Modern by Jacquie Gering and Katie Pederson.

I enjoy the work that both of these talented women produce, and I'm a fan of the whole modern movement.  

While I have many projects on the wall (and the floor, and in bins and drawers) I wanted to play around with something different without making a huge commitment to a full size project.

So I got out my trusty black and white fabrics and decided to try out the slice and insert technique.  It's not a technique that is totally new to me, but the book inspired me to Just Do It and so I did.

 I used 5" squares of white and 1" strips of the black…..

 And my quilting lines are very close…about 1/8" apart.

 From the backside you can see that I quilted some of the black strips ……and didn't quilt others.

I like the way the un-quilted areas stand out.  I think it has a lot of possibilities.

I'm going to get this bound when I find the right fabric…I'm sure a hunt through the stash will turn something up.

I have another new project to share…it's not that new to me but it will be new to you.

However…I have a little work to do on other things before I will be able to share.

Stay Crafty!

I Don't Know About You...

But it's too damn cold outside!

I'm doing my best to stay busy indoors (because I cannot step foot outside).

I'm on Day 2 of a 5 day Yahoo dishcloth KAL…..

I love working on these…Just a few rows of knitting each day for 5 days, wondering all the while what the final outcome will be.

I made myself a new rice bag.  I zap it in the microwave for 2 minutes to help sooth my sore muscles from snow shoveling and marathon sewing……

And I have 27 Scrappy Trips blocks sewn…and a few waiting to be sewn together…..

So that's all I have to share right now……Stay warm.  Stay Crafty!

Santa Came Early!

 I found this tucked in the front door this afternoon.

Thanks Santa!

Off The Needles

It's hard to post anything this time of year.  Sewing for Fun and Sanity is postponed, and all the projects that Ive had ALL YEAR to work on suddenly have just days to be completed.
And so, with that as my excuse for not showing anything lately, I will share this cowl that I made from the Turn Three cowl pattern from the Creating Laura blog.

It uses about 80 yards of Super Bulky yarn and size 15  (24") circular needles.  I didn't have 15's when I made this one…I used the 13's (36")  that I had…and had to cast on 50 stitches instead of the 40 called for due to the length of the cord.  Size-wise it turned out just right….not difficult to pull over the head and didn't mess up my hair or drawn-on facial features.
(I used Lion Brand Hometown USA yarn in Oklahoma City Green)
The best part of this project was how quickly it knit up…in just about 2 hours from cast on to bind off including weaving in the ends.

That's it for now.  Lots left to get done…..ttyl!

Something from Nothing...

Some windfall branches and twine kept me busy for about 15 minutes on Sunday…….