Bits & Snippets

I haven't been up to much lately.  It's been hot and muggy and the energy level hovers around zero.  I'm not motivated to start anything that takes any thought, whatsoever.

I made two postcards yesterday:

And started a wee bitty "Art" quilt:

I intend to embellish it, but I kind of like it just the way it is, too.

Last night our neighbor came by.  He had a stray in his backyard and, as he said to my husband, "Well, you're a vet!  Of course I thought of you!"  Little did he know that I am the bird whisperer, not the vet.  Anyone missing one of these?

He/she hasn't eaten anything yet, but seems to be feeling okay.  Little bird is definitely better off than if Edgar had found him first!

***addendum.  Apparently Edgar, or somecat did find him first.  Later that day, he fluttered to the cage floor and passed away in my hands.  It was as he was gasping for breath that I noticed the puncture wound under his wing.  At least he knew someone had tried to help him.

Where Am I?

On Monday, I was in Santa Cruz.

On Tuesday, I was with Adam, at Westside Auto. Adam...
Westside Auto...

Me...oh wait, I need to smile...

Here I am again. I don't remember holding the camera upside down, but apparently I did. I could blame it on the sun, but on second thought, the photo looks better this way...more balanced. ;)

On Thursday, I finished up my BOTV website submissions, most of which have been posted. Our 2012 entry form is now online, along with pictures of the 2011 winners.

On Friday, I drove to San Carlos, to babysit. I thought Penny (or her mother) might like this quilt.

I was right, Penny did.

Penny also liked her rice cereal.

She's starting to take over the living room. (I couldn't resist the drool...)

On Saturday and Sunday, I finished embellishing this little piece. Blogger tipped it, I did NOT hold my camera wrong this time!

I added some beads and shells and silk ribbon embroidery.

And although I was disappointed in my failed attempts to make a shell fringe, I am quite pleased with the shell & bead border. I used light-weight fire line to hold them in place. The trick to sewing on shells is to use a needle to go through the fabric, and then remove it to string the shell, and then re-thread the needle and stitch through the fabric. It's a tedious process, but I really like the result. The beads came from a shell necklace that I purchased for a dollar at a secondhand store.

And that's my week in review. Hopefully I will have more to post about during this coming week. Stay tuned...

Playing For an Hour

Thank you, everyone, for your positive comments regarding the quilt-for-hire. I'm glad to know that my fiddling with the quilt was a desirable action, not one that would offend. I've finished pin-basting, and it looks terrific. I know this quilt will quilt quickly, in that I know exactly how I'm going to quilt it, it's just finding the time to get it done.

This morning was guild, and we enjoyed a trunk show from Peggy Martin. Her work is quite bright and lively, and maybe I should have brought my camera along. I thought about it, and then forgot about it. I seem to be a bit distracted these days. Maybe it's all of my looming deadlines?

When I got home, I had a couple of hours to burn and a huge mess on my sewing table. Rather than start in on the for-hire work, I thought I'd sew up some of the mess.

Remember those scraps I'd trimmed from Fish Dance? They've been repurposed into a new little (very small) quilt.

I bought the large ceramic fish button in Long Beach in 2008. The stick is from Hartland, I believe the raffia was from a package I received for my birthday. Now if I could only find the copper wire that I bought to hang these stick-mounted quilts....It's around here somewhere!!!

Cute Purse!

Last week I mentioned the lecture in which Melinda Bula urged us to "make art."

Art is something I struggle with. I took Art in high school, but it was only the slide identification in the Art History portion of the class that pulled me through. I took an Art class in college. When my Prof examined my final portfolio, he looked me in the eye and said, "You are NOT an artist. (You can click on "prof" and see an example of his work. He was right. I'm not that kind of artist.)

Anyway, he encouraged me to visit the Design Department, but who had time to do that? I needed to graduate, not find a new distraction.

Since that time, I've struggled with the whole concept of being an artist. I'm definitely not an artist with a capital A. I'm probably not even a small letter "a" artist. But I LOVE to quilt. I love fabric and texture and embellishment and all the things that together tend to light a spark of creativity deep within me.

I've had a small block in my UFO pile for quite a while, and I added some triangles a few weeks ago, giving it an elongated shape. I'd even wondered if I might be able to turn it into a purse. Well looky there! I could! Melinda told us to "make art," "make something to please yourself" and I decided to just go with it. With such a small project, I couldn't get in too far over my head, and I did feel like being "creative."

Oh, guess what. Blogger is feeling creative too. It flipped my pictures. arg!! I'd try reloading them, but I suspect it will just give me more of the same. We'll just have to work with it...

This is the front of the purse. It's got a raw-edge appliquéd fish, a wooden fish, and a few glass beads for embellishment.

I used velcro to close it. What do you think of the feather quilting? It is unmarked free-motion quilting. Since I knew it wouldn't show, it was a good opportunity to practice...


This is the back. I think it is particularly cute. sigh. Too bad it's all tipsy in the picture. sigh.


I haven't used it yet. It measures 6" x 8", and is big enough for ID, plastic, and a couple of tissues...and maybe some keys. It's small, but I like it anyway. Is it art? I have no idea. But it IS pretty cute, even if I do say so myself...