Sunday, February 22, 2015

Living in a Snow Globe

A book I'm currently reading used the phase "living in a snow globe," and immediately I thought, that's what we are doing.

Six more inches last night. Today is a beautiful day, the warmest in a while, but the cold arctic air is due back on Tuesday.

Thank God for rug hooking, weaving, and embroidery. I think I'd lose my mind otherwise! I'm working on a African bird embroidery pattern right now. I'll post a photo when I'm finished.

For some reason the snow doesn't show up too well in these photos, but believe me it's coming down!



Tuesday, February 17, 2015

Winter

What can you say about this winter? It has been loooonnnnnngggggg! And it is still February. Ventured out a few days ago to take some pictures which I'll share here. Glad I went out when I did. The days after were well below zero with the wind chill.


Walking out to fill the bird feeders.


Snow covered bush in the front yard.


Our weeping cherry tree nearly covered in snow.


The house. So much snow!


Geraniums wintering in the garage. Can't wait for spring!


 Here's the dresser my husband refinished this past month. Ready to come into the house. A good hobby for winter.

Keep warm and keep crafting!

Friday, February 13, 2015

Latest

I'm not sure I'm cut out to be in the blogging world. Although I love reading blogs, and usually have ideas for my own blog, I don't seem to devote the time necessary to properly maintain my musings.

My hooking friend Mary O. has been asking me when I will get around to updating my blog. So today, I'm going to spend some time and jot down a few things. It's such a cold winter day, it seems to be a good time for doing just that.

HOOKING:
Accomplished several projects in 2014. Here are pics of a few of them.


There are six more of these to come. I take class with Julie Smith, and she challenged us to do a rug a month in 2014. I have seven done. Here are the first six, all biographical mats.

Next is a rug I started with Deanne Fitzpatrick in one of her online classes. Just finished this yesterday.



WOOL APPLIQUE:
I completed two wool appliqué pieces. The first was based on a Group of Seven painting. Here is the finished piece.


It uses my hand dyed wool, embroidery thread and a variety of beads.

The next photo shows a swan appliqué that I just recently completed. The angle the photo was taken at makes the appliqué distorted a bit. It is a rectangular piece. It uses my hand-dyed wool, silk that I hand dyed and a variety of threads and beads. I love the three-dimensional quality of the plants.




SASHIKO:

I bought a kit for a pillow with an owl motif. The stitching is the Sashiko form of embroidery. A fun project and easier than I expected.



QUILTING:

I completed a small quilt from a Craftsy class that I took. The quilt used pre-cut pieces and was fairly easy. I've not done a lot of quilting, so I was pleased with the results.



So, although I have not been blogging in a long while, I have been busy. Will try (fingers crossed) to post more often.

Have a great week ahead!