Snagging an idea

 I was at an art center recently and noticed a very cool jacket hanging in the coat room. Yes, I will borrow the idea. The patterned fabric was on the inside with the "quilting" showing on the exterior.  Nice!

On a "Roll"

 I started a little stitch piece to use in my Peru travel book. Since it is a long and narrow piece that will eventually roll up on a stick, I am just calling it a "roll".  My random thoughts:

Found a way to start using the old fabric calendars that have been given to me:

Am I using enough pins? 🤔 

Rusted fabric is so difficult to stitch through 

Seed stitch reminds me of little ants

Trying to use my solar prints

Old quilts make a great base for my wild stitching. Recycle what you can!

For the love of old

 I'm not even sure where these pics were taken. Maybe Bishop Hill? Pretty good chance of that as it was the day after Thanksgiving.  Tradition to head there for some Swedish heritage each year.  Anyway - I'm on a mission to clean up my phone. So many pictures! With many travel plans for next year, it's time to clean up!

Leafy Bits

 The quilt I'm currently working on (#earthfragments), seems a bit boring to me. The idea of adding another layer of contrasting work seems like a good direction to run. I have until January to get this piece completed (show deadline). I'm sure I can fit in stitching some abstract leaves between now and then!

Dyeing with acorns

 A few weeks ago, a friend gave me 4 buckets of acorns. Most of them will be treats for the squirrels this winter. I was more interested in making dye! I needed some brown tones for a needle felting project I am developing for a class I'll teach later in the spring. The acorns did not disappoint!

I soaked the acorns overnight and then simmered for an hour, leaving them to cool overnight. After removing the acorns from the liquid, I added wool and slowly heated to just below a simmer. It took color, but I wanted a wee bit darker.

 After adding 2 iron pill tabs to the pot, the wool turned much darker. The picture doesn't do it justice.

My finished felting project:

The center is the acorn + iron dye. Very VanGogh, don't you think?

Travel

 No doubt, travel is on my list of favorite things. While looking for photos to use in an upcoming library art program,  I came across this delightful image. The woman in the middle is my grandmother Helen. She and her two friends attended high school down in the cities, living there during the weekend and traveled home on the weekends. 

 

She loved her hats! And that bag! I want one like that! 

Smorgasbord

 A while back I saw a fun idea for creating a bird smorgasbord. It is now an addition to my bird feeding center. My husband spends hours watching the birds from out dining room window and I'm determined to make our bird feeding areas as arty as possible! I wonder if the birds will like it?

House? Tree?

 Maybe I just call it a "treehouse"!  

Since my body and brain don't understand setting the clock back, I had an extra hour of stitching this morning before the sun came up. I didn't have a project set aside for this morning, so I opted to pull a few scraps and challenged myself to use them.

Fun way to jumpstart a project!

Vegan: a health choice

 Today is World Vegan Day, a lifestyle choice I embraced 6 years ago after medical issues demanded a change. Vegan isn't always salads,  but look at this! I already have 4 servings of fruits/vegetables in before 9 am!