May 13, 2009

The Nitty Gritty

Yesterday was sweltering. It was so nasty sticky hot. That being said, allow me to continue. That means it's not a good day to try and glitter something. But I'm one of those people that when I put my mind to doing something... Not to mention it's Florida and when it it ever going to "not be hot"? I think I would like to add a second layer of the white to make the snow on the rooftops pop a bit more. This stuff is amazingly flexible. You look at it and think wow that must be crusted on, right? Nope I keep poking it because it blows my mind too. When I'm certain I'm done there is a heat set process in the oven and I will type up my final review then.

That glittered Winter Wonderland land theme is for Lori's quilt top, which I have for the Row Robin this month. I also made the scarf you see below. When I looked all that beautiful quilt I thought, everything is here, the snow cap, the mittens, the ice skates, but no scarf. I googled Applique Quilt Block Scarf and all other combinations, but didn't find what I was looking for, so I did a sketch which turned out fine, so I free form-drew right onto the fabric. Two layers of flannel later... The dark purple creases are hand stitched - when I couldn't make the sewing machine behave I just did what Serena would do. The tassels are a technique called couching, which Shelly told me she thought I'd like doing the last time I did detail work. Couching is where you take a thick (thicker than your thread) thread, embroidery floss, yarn, or cording, and you zigzag stitch with the machine right over the cord. In my case I used embroidery floss at full hank thickness. Honestly I think it looks nearly as cool on the underside of the piece as the top and will be keeping it in mind for future projects. I have sent out all but one of the invitations for the Mum's the Word Party and the end of the month. I'm holding back on the last one just so my co-hostess can see what they looked like before I mailed them all away.

It should be a great time, we're planning on having Tacos and Sangria's complete with Corn Chips and a variation on my friend Heather's Cheese Dip Sauce. Mom and I can't eat peppers (I know how awful is that?!?!) so I do things a little differently. For those of you who started reading in the middle of this party planning we're also going to be painting Ceramics, the proprietor is wonderful to work with, and I'll be giving her a huge shout out after the party.

Today is the day a huge 24" X 24" X 24", yes 8 cubic feet of baby stuff is supposed to arrive to Mary, a friend I had send two boxes of Jessica's baby things prior. I didn't mail it sooner because there has been so much sadness around my house over the past couple of months I didn't feel up to hauling what turned out to be 55 pounds of baby things off to mail. I told her it was on the way a couple of days ago and so far haven't heard anything, I hope no news is fine news.

Sometimes computer loves to share photos with you, and sometimes it's selfish, after all it had friends who knew dinosaurs, and how many pc's can say that? The past couple of days that was the rut mine was in. So I hope you enjoyed all the photos today. I'll leave you with a photo of second side of the purple quilt (yes I'm quilting them together in one quilt). The lighting did stupid things, and the fabric calculator lied so I ended up changing things which lost the ribbon look a bit, okay completely. As always anything you'd like to see closer up go ahead and click on it to see the nitty gritty details.
Jessica woke up shortly before I was finished with the wonderland village, so she did a bit of glittering on her own.

3 comments:

Shelly said...

Your glitter villiage turned out perfect! I wish I was half the artist as you. I did click to get a closer look and I LOVE how the snowflakes from the fabric come thru on the roofs!!! Maybe you should just send it to me instead. :-)
Glad you got some use out of the couching idea.
The purple quilt is beautiful. A two sided quilt is great. That way you don't have to keep flipping it over to see the pretty side!

Anonymous said...

Love the glitter and your daughter is just so adorable!

Heather Landry said...

The purple quilt is fabulous! The glitter is fantastic, and I really am impressed with all of your plans for the Mum's the Word party. I'm feeling quite sad that you can't eat peppers. They're some of the best stuff in the world. LOL

Awesome about the box of baby stuff you're sending you your friend. You so totally rock chickie.