Silk ribbon embroidery

We are learning some silk ribbon embroidery at class these days. i am working on a crazy quilt heart that will be the center of a neutral crazy quilt.

This might help to see it a bit better.

There is a white ribbon that i couched down with lazy daisy stitches.

And some gold lazy daisy stitches here. i think i will add some flowers of french knots with this.

This is one of the blocks. i did a yellow rose with leaves. i made the foundation of the rose a bit too large....you weave under and over the foundation to make the rose. i ran out of yellow ribbon so i put leaves over the foundation stitches that were sticking out. LOL    hey...i'm new at this.

And above the rose are some petals with a french knot in the middle of it.

We did these little rosebuds with leaves.  which are actually a lazy daisy stitch, too.  easy enough but i can't seem to get them all the same size.

And under those you see a white curvy line that is just a stem stitch.  nothing exciting.

But it is kind of fun and i like it. it takes a bit of time though. and finger dexterity. last night i worked on an aster...you have to use a needle in your other hand to hold the ribbon flat to pull it properly through the fabric. it takes a little getting used to. i need a third hand.

I don't know how these stitches will hold up on a quilt that will be put in a washing machine so i guess i better now get too fancy with it.

On another note.....we got a 'new to us' stove the other day.

The oven on our old stove finally died and it wasn't cost effective to fix it. but we have had this old stove for 10 years....and we bought it used at a yard sale for $50. so it has lasted well. it is now sitting outside waiting for a guy to come pick it up and junk it.

Here is the new one. to me...it LOOKS even older than the first one....not sure. we got it used for $125 from someone who converted to an electric stove. hope this one lasts 10 years, too.

We had to change the conversion from natural gas to propane and adjust the flames down. but the oven works and dh can now have his biscuits. .. as you can see he left one on the top of stove. LOL 

Gotta go do some physical therapy today and visit Wally World. will check in with you again in a day or so.

Later

Piecing some tops

Since i can't stand long enough to be at the longarm i have been piecing stuff at home. that is really not a good thing.....since it will just add more tops to the quilting cabinet. but, what can i do......i can only nap so much in a day.

This is a take 5 pattern that is actually the challenge quilt for December. but at least it will be pieced....we'll see about the quilting.

It is just hanging over the picture taking frame. it is about 98x103. hopefully i can quilt it in time for december's challenge.

I also found some pieces of fabric all cut out in a box so i put those together, too. i think these fabrics were leftovers from another quilt.

I used a wild batik for sashing.

And the batik piece hanging next to it will be the binding. it's a good baby quilt size and bright.

I've worked on Dear Jane blocks, too, and have rows A through F finished and stitched together. i have about 6 row G blocks done, too.

Progress is slow on everything.....i take multiple naps during the day. the drugs keep putting me to sleep. i guess i can dream about quilting. LOL

Later

November Monochromatic Challenge

This is my monochromatic challenge top for November. it was to be black and white and one other color. i chose yellow.  i had some fabrics and a pattern from Nancy Rink using the Mellow Yellow fabric line.

This one was fun but i am afraid i won't get it quilted this month because of the pain in my knee.

This will be the binding when i get the top quilted.

I have too many quilts scheduled for November and i'm afraid none of them will get done. not a good thing but all i can do with a bum knee.

But hopefully i will catch up soon.

Say a little prayer for me to the physical therapy gods so they can fix me up soon.

Later

I'm in pain

The Duck has done me in. LOL

While trying to pry plywood off a porch wall last Friday at the Duck, i pinched a nerve in my back. you don't have to try that....just take my word for it....it hurts...BAD!  doc says it is the sciatic nerve. it runs from the back....down the outside of the butt...down the outside of the thigh...to the knee. it can also go to the leg and foot....but mine stopped at the knee.

Monday i got 2 hip xrays and 4 knee xrays.

Tuesday Doc says hips have arthritis....i knew that. doc says knees are ok. but i get 3 prescriptions...an anti inflammatory; a muscle relaxer; and a narcotic for pain. i don't really get any pain relief from these....but the narcotic knocks me out for a few hours. so i am pain free then but am not awake to enjoy it. sucks!

Wednesday i get 5 back xrays.

Thursday i go to physical therapy. the therapist works on my back...she says i am not aligned. my back has not hurt through any of this. but she says there are 2 discs in my back that have severe arthritis and seem to be fusing themselves together. and the 2 dics above and 2 below are out of alignment. and the pelvis is turned. how come none of that hurts?  but she realigns me and pronounces my back better.

She also tells me that my hip is twisted and my kneecap is stuck and not where it should be. she pushed and pulls on my leg and sort of fixes the hip. when she tries to mess with the knee i just scream with pain. she put me on a leg press machine to loosen up the muscles. then i get back on the table and she adjusts some more.

She never got the kneecap back where it belongs. she says i cannot relax enough for her to do it. but relaxing in pain is really hard for me. so my homework is to walk straight and don't limp; walk as much as possible; and try and move the kneecap around to see if it can center itself.

I go back Monday....in fact every Monday, Wednesday and Friday for the next few weeks. i hope she can give me some relief from this knee thing. i cannot do anything in pain.

Although i have been piecing when i can....there won't be any quilting going on around here for some time. and my demolition days at the Duck are over for the year.

But don't give up on me....i'll be back. in the meantime i'll just have to show you things that i have pieced rather than quilting.

A little bit of Duck progress

Since the majority of demolition on the Duck is completed....it seems like progress is really in baby steps these days. but i hadn't been out there in almost 2 months so that didn't help. but this weekend i had a few plans.

First off....i finished pulling off the rest of the red asphalt shingles from the top walls of the back porch. it is now ready for paint scraping and new paint.

And i replaced the brown paper that i had on the windows that face the street with actual curtains. they are not exciting but are a step above the ghetto paper that i had in the windows. LOL

My sister tells me that i am the only person she knows that has curtains but no walls. hey....it might be a new fashion statement. LOL 

I also pulled down the wood that had boxed in the area above the kitchen cabinets.

It makes the room seem larger. i might want to put something decorative up there....don't know yet. they also boxed in the area above these windows...which is above the sink....so that had to go, also.

And there was a cabinet in this corner....a small one all by its lonesome and i decided i didn't need that there, either. it limited the height of the counter space under it. so it came down, too.

Now there is just more plaster that i have to knock down off that wall up there....but that is ok. i can do that.

I did get my carpenter out on Saturday and he put in my other 4 windows and the last door i had to install.

Here are the bedroom new windows with their new curtains. this faces the side where i have actual neighbors and i figured they might like looking at curtains instead of brown paper and pieces of paneling...covering broken windows.

I got the door put up between the kitchen and the garage. we closed up the old door opening and moved it over into a more accessible spot. here it is looking from the kitchen.

The steps going down to this door are 3 steps that are very high...like about 12 inches. i am going to take them out and put in 4 steps....which will be more user friendly. they will go closer to the door but that is ok with me. at least my short legs will be able to get UP the steps.

Here it is from the garage side.

The old door used to be on the right....now covered by the piece of plywood. to the right of the plywood is a hole that goes into the basement....that will be covered up. you can still see the old red asphalt shingles on part of the wall. those will come off, too.

So, i have new doors and windows....and curtains.....but no walls. LOL

There probably won't be much more progress till spring. got to save some money. then the plan is:


1. electricity
2. blown in insulation in outside walls
3. moving inside walls to make new walls
4. batt insulation for inside walls
5. save more money LOL

In the 'save more money' stage i can be scraping paint from doors and woodwork in preparation for prettiness.

My yard guy did take out the bushes from the front of the house for me....and some stumps from trees and bushes. so the yard is looking cleaner, too.

In my attempt to tear out more plywood on the walls of the back porch i pulled something and had to stop. i got xrays yesterday of hip and knee but probably need to go back for an MRI. believe it to be nerve damage. dang it.....it just get healed up from surgery and have to lay around again to heal up again. i need a younger body. good thing winter is coming....it is easier to lay about when the weather is bad outside. but there won't be any standing and quilting for a bit, either.

SIGH!!!

Later

This is a test

Is it blogger that is not working....or is it my computer system?

Neutral Crazy Quilt

Last night in class we got a heart pattern to make a crazy quilt block for a pillow. i am not a pillow kind of girl but i am working on a neutral crazy quilt. so i decided to make this heart the center of my quilt. our homework was to get the pieces put together and put on the lace or embellishments that were to be stitched into the seams. here is what i have so far.

This is on a 12" piece of muslin. i stitched the pieces together and hand stitched it to the muslin. i put 2 pieces of lace into seams. then i added rickrack on one seam and a ribbon on another seam. i also pinned that lacy design onto 1 piece. that is probably as far as i will go until next class (in 2 weeks), where we will be learning some new silk ribbon embroidery stitches for embellishment and other stitches.

Here are some of the blocks that i have made so far that will go with this heart.

These blocks will finish at 8" and that size doesn't 'fit' with the heart block but i am thinking i will put a crazy patch 'border' around the heart to get it to the size of 2 of these blocks. then they will fit together. although i don't intend to put other embellishments on these other than thread....so it can be washed....those little flat pearl beads just HAD to go on there. LOL

All of these blocks have the same pattern pieces...

And the plan is just to do stitching on them and not add buttons, beads, etc so it can be easily thrown in the washer. some of these stitches have been done by machine and some by hand.

The plan is for queen size....hopefully that will happen.

This is just a hand work project for evenings in the recliner. better give up reading for a bit and work on this baby.

I have a pile of fabrics that i am using on these blocks and hopefully have enough for the whole thing. if not, then Plan B will come into effect. LOL

After next class will show you the middle heart again and whatever new blocks i might have.

In the morning i am traveling to the Duck for a few days. it's been quite some time since i've been out there so looking forward to a bit of work and checking out how the yard looks since the yard guy pulled out my bushes.

Later