Graffiti Doorway and my scary story

I spent a few days with my sister, my son and DIL, and at the Duck.

I thought i might be done with graffiti, but still had some stuff left, and had a sheet of luan left. so, i decided to do around the doorway between the kitchen and dining room....on the kitchen side. this is more in a 'hall' or 'pass through' than the actual kitchen, but it is seen from the kitchen.

This is the left side of the doorway. i still have to do the right side....after i collect more graffiti stuff. i am about out of black, red and white.....main colors that i need. i want the right side to match the left....color-wise.

This is 20" wide and 90" high.  I will put trim around the doorway later and on the other side of the graffiti to sort of frame it in.

Here are some close-ups.

Whoever this action hero is...he is now tamed. haha

I found another bag of yellow duckies....i love them. haha

The yellowish stars and design in that square piece are glow in the dark. i won't need night lights at the Duck. haha

The yellow piece that looks like duck lips is actually a whistle type thing that sounds like a duck when you blow it.

See the teeth?....where the goofy tomato is sitting.  i think those came from some game. i used the other half of the teeth on other graffiti in the past.

Now...for my scary story..

I went to Illinois on thursday, my DDIL's birthday. we had some fun and hung out for a while. friday my sister and i went to the duck and to the beast.  hung around there a couple days. on saturday afternoon went back to the kids and spent the night there. planned on going home on sunday. well, hubby says there is a big snow band coming through saturday night, so you might not get home on sunday. well, ok...then, i'lll just spend another day..no problem.

i get up sunday morning....no snow...no ice...no nothing. it is just COLD...about 20 degrees.  so, about 8am i pack up my truck and head for home. i get about 10 miles down the road and it starts snowing...well shoot...well, it's not too bad....so i continue on.  in another 10 miles it is blowing like crazy, i can hardly see, we are all doing about 40 mph on the freeway. the roads are all slushy and slippery. 

my truck is a lightweight ford ranger so it slides around easily. i had slid a couple of times but it wasn't too bad....the cars were all staying far away from each other....for once.  it was the 18 wheelers that were a bit scary.  the stuff was coming down so fast and furious that you could not see any markings on the road... wipers weren't helping much....there were 2 'lanes' where vehicles were traveling. i usually stay in the right hand lane. the guy in front of me was going slower than i wanted to....so i started to pass him. i started skidding and sliding....back and forth...back and forth....across 2 'lanes'.  i couldn't stop it and i simply slid around about 90 degrees and headed for the concrete barrier between the east and west lanes.  

i was praying at this point.....the truck stalled....in a snow pile....facing the concrete barrier.  the 18 wheeler that was behind me simply went around me like i wasn't a problem. i'm glad he could get around me...if he had hit me, i would be dead. he would have been right there in my door.  

it took 2 tries to get my truck started again....backed up, sliding...and turned back the right way and proceeded on...heart pounding out of my chest....praying to just get to the next exit where i knew there was a motel. 

got off the freeway, got to the gas station and filled up and went to the Holiday Inn across the road and got a room for the night. by morning, the roads were clear and dry like nothing had happened.  i'm staying home till spring....maybe summer. lol  i have never been so scared on the road in my life....i'm sure i have more gray hairs.

Small progress...

In spite of freezing temperatures here...i have still been going over to the studio for a few hours in the morning .... until the furnace decides to quit for the day. lately it has not warmed the studio above 50 degrees.  and that is too cold for the longarm ...it wants at least 60 before it will function without sounding like a sick old man. LOL

Today i made another block for the Shop Hop quilt

The yarn shop ... wouldn't that be a cool building to visit?  how would you use your walls if they were rounded.

This little thimble building is named Needle Works.    love that little pincushion outside.

I've also been piecing some 10 inch red selvage blocks.  i have about 50 of them so far. i am going to keep going until that selvage box is empty. probably be able to make at least 20 more. then i'll just have smaller pieces left. 

I'm off to the Duck tomorrow. have 3 pieces of graffiti to hang in the hall. i'll show you pics when i get back next week. and i am taking my sewing machine with me....never know when you might get snowed in. haha   my project to take with me are more selvage blocks. this time 6" blocks....orange and purple....not together. those were the 2 boxes that had the least amount of selvages so i figured i might be able to finish those off while i am gone.

Have a good weekend.....stay warm and safe.

More Famous Buildings of the World

The last couple of weeks i have constructed a few more buildings. i think i might be getting faster at putting them together....but not any more accurate.  although, i did actually do one of them without any problems. 

Sydney Opera House...Sydney, Australia  This building is used for many different performance types including: Opera Australia, The Australian Ballet, The Sydney Theatre Company, and The Sydney Symphony Orchestra. I'll bet this is amazing in person.

Falling Water...Stewart Township, Pennsylvania   I have also included the picture of the building, as my piece isn't exactly the same. Frank Lloyd Wright designed the weekend mountain retreat to sit on the falls. It was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1966

Woolworth Building...New York    Who doesn't remember the five and dime stores of childhood, Woolworths.  This is corporate headquarters and one of the 50 tallest buildings in the US....60 stories. Listed in the National Register of Historic Places. 

Torii Gates ... Miyajima Island, Japan   A Torii is a Japanese gate traditionally located at the entrance of a Shinto shrine. This one is sitting in front of Miyajima Island, which is a small island about an hour outside the city of Hiroshima.

Hall of Supreme Harmony .... Beijing, China    The Forbidden City, home to the Hall of Supreme Harmony, was the imperial palace of China for almost 500 years. The Forbidden City was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1987 because of its important place in the development of Chinese culture and architecture.  I didn't have any problems with this one...because of the name?  haha

30 St. Mary Axe  ...  London, England   This is a 591 foot tall skyscraper that sits on St. Mary Axe Street in London's main financial district. Even though the building seems to have a curved glass shape, there is only one piece of curved glass in the building: the lens-shaped cap at the top.

These are all coming along....and i now have faith that i can finish them all. 

Shop Hop

I'm working on the next embroidery CD blocks....called Shop Hop.  this one will take a while...there are 27 blocks.....i think the most in a CD that i have seen.  and there are sashing strips, too. i am going to use them, too. they are really cute.

Here are the 3 i have finished from today and yesterday. the blocks are 6"

The Notions-n-Stuff shop.  i like the wonky windows and the clock sign.

The Stitches shop.  cute 'open' sign and i like the scissors on the door

The spool house. haha   a little strange....is that a staircase going around and up?  

I work on these first thing when i get to the studio. i don't leave the heat on at night....and it takes at least an hour for the heater to kick in enough for the longarm to want to work. so, i do embroidery first.

But i did do some quilting today for several hours. it is slow going...lots of SID.....a larger than queen size crazy quilt.  broke 2 needles so far hitting things....today was tiny beads in the seam that i didn't feel.  sigh!
But it will be awesome when finished.

Last 3 Primitive Christmas blocks

I finished embroidering the last blocks from the Primitive Christmas CD.  they are applique...and i like that. i used the same fabric in each block but one (the house) ....it was a piece that i found somewhere. kind of like burlap, but softer and looser. 

In these blocks, it is the horse body, star body, and trunk of the flowers

The blocks are 6" so this will be a rather small wall hanging

But if it is displayed only for Christmas, you might not want it to be too large.

My sister is interested and has laid claim to them. i'm not sure i want to get rid of them. her solution......you will have to make 2 sets. LOL

Now, on to something else for the moment.

12 Friends Go West

This was a batik kit that i bought .... somewhere.....years ago. finished piecing on April 3, 2013....and, about 3 years later....it's a quilt. haha  

It's 72x88"   It is going to my daughter-in-law...she was admiring it when she saw it last week on the frame....and next week is her birthday. i think she will be surprised.

Trying to show the panto. 

This panto is called Echoed Swirls and was designed by our own Jo Ann Gruber. it is pretty dense....one bobbin sews about 50".

Top thread was bright blue Glide, bobbin was a So Fine grayish brown

I need my wheels changed desperately, as you can see on the back. i have little control and the machine is all over the place. i keep looking for someone who knows how to change them. ... and lives close enough to me to come and do it for me. 

Embroidery AND quilting

Today i actually quilted...hahaha.  i figured out why the quilt has been loaded on the frame for the past 2 weeks and i haven't touched it. i decided i didn't like the panto that i had chosen, so after switching that out....i quilted 2 rows. 

i am using a new panto called Echoed Swirls.....designed by Jo Ann Gruber.  it is very cool and i like it a lot....but it is pretty dense and i used more than 1 bobbin to go across the quilt. my bobbin lasted about 50"....and my quilt is a bit over 70".  i dislike having to watch so i don't run out of thread in the middle. i made a notation on the panto, so it might only get used on quilts that are less than 50" wide.  i know....i'm just lazy. haha

This is the quilt i am using it on. it was a kit i bought some time back called Twelve Friends Go West. it is all batiks.  i THINK i added the horse fabric in with it. this was pieced a couple years ago but is finally getting finished. 

And you know i had to embroidery a few blocks from the Primitive Christmas CD.  i made 3 of them today.

The christmas tree with stars. i love the little purple hanging ornaments.

And little birdie. his legs just crack me up

And a duck...this took forever...EVERYTHING was applique. haha

But i believe i only have 4 more blocks to do for this embroidery project. i hope to do Missouri tomorrow from the 50 states CD.  well, maybe not, i am going to town to check out thrift stores....and probably eat lunch at Subway. haha   it's a 'get out of the house' day.

Later