Southwest Embroideries...

I have been playing with embroidery today.  It's been quite some time since I have attempted any embroideries, but these patterns look to be a perfect fit for the recipients I have in mind for them.  The transfers are some that I picked up at the quilt show a few weeks ago.  These are tea towels, flour sack towels, or dish towels; whichever you prefer to call them.  The first is finished here...

The second is begun...I am growing braver and attempting some shading/dimension utilizing colors and differing the stitches to achieve some level of depth here...not completely convinced as to the effectiveness, but it keeps me entertained while working at least...

I have several more of these I would like to complete over the next few days, we'll see how it goes!

Tatting Tea Tuesday...

My current tat, Flower Bookmark by Rachael Mohler, and my current favorite tea, Chocolate Mint Wuyi Oolong by Stash Teas...
 

 

The threads are Lizbeth size 20, Ocean Turquoise Dk. and Island Breeze. 

Made for a Thread Junkie...

 Well...of all the things to find at a quilt show (part of my afternoon's "busy" schedule), here was not one item...but THREE...that will make any unrepentant thread junkie absolutely obsess...the perfect accessory really...

 

 

This one was sold already...Phew!

 

 

Ummm....this one was not and I really really wanted it...but check out that price tag, Yikes!  (There is a 5 after those first two numbers you can read...and not pennies either)  Probably worth every penny though, if you had it to spend!

 

...and this one...oh my goodness.  My threads would be so happy housed in this beauty... 

 

 

Enough said!  Enjoy the pictures, and the knowledge that these exist...I do have the gracious lady's card if anyone is more financially able to obtain these beauties than I...and three lovely metal tatting shuttles I did purchased from her that I will share here tomorrow.

Piecing Progressing...

The piecing was progressing, a bit over half way there...but then it was time to leave, its story time at the library you see.  The schedule for the remainder of the day is quite full...so it will be evening before more progress can be made. 

 

However, tatting is more portable and story time gives me a little time...so here is a peek inside...think I'll just empty a shuttle for some flower clips as I have spent 15 precious minutes sharing here...

 

Matryoshka Doll Quilt...

Over the past year, I have been thinking and reading about quilting quite a bit...it is an art form that appeals greatly to my love of color and fabric and design.  At this point though, it seems about time to actually make one. 

 

Here, I have the pieces cut and the layout decided upon for my first venture into quilting since some rather unsatisfactory attempts back in high school.  Those resulted in a covering...but were not anything of which to take pride in.  I had absolutely no idea how to go about it at that point in time.  Since that time, I haven't attempted anything larger than a dolly blanket as it was fairly discouraging. This will be a crib size quilt, nothing too fancy, but enough to make it a valid first attempt... 

 

 

Hopefully, knowledge is power in quilting too, and this will go well...I certainly know a lot more about the process and methods than I once did.  Tomorrow, I hope to piece the top of the quilt. 

 

 

All stacked and ready to go in the morning...really, really, really hoping it's not like the old joke "been walking long or just reading about it?" just in this case it's "been quilting long or just reading about it?"...we'll soon find out...because outside of playing with a few small things, I HAVE just been reading about it! 

Blog Lovin'

Since the impending demise of Google Reader was announced, I have been debating what to do in order to keep up with all of the wonderful blogs I follow.  It seems that BlogLovin' is winning out so I am in the process of switching over...and must "claim" my blog on the new reader as well...here is a link so that you can follow me there as well:

<a href="http://www.bloglovin.com/blog/5074137/?claim=j48henvkxd9">Follow my blog with Bloglovin</a>