Fusing and Stitching

I love how my color scheme project matches Connie's giant amaryllis. This scheme is a little different for me but I'm enjoying it quite a bit....it feels so springy. We just got a second foot of snow within a week...so spring seems like a long way off.  

Once I had the basic plan I started fusing and stitching the foundation pieces.

Folt Bolt's February color scheme.

And because most fabric projects benefit from top stitching I outlined most of the pieces as I fused.

I fused and stitched some stems that will peak out a bit. The green cancelled stamp is part of a postcard that belonged to my grandmother that I copied onto muslin. 

Next I fused fabric leaves and circle flowers.  I kept laying down the buttons during the planning to help with placement of the fused parts.

I added a two inch border all the way around that I will fuse to a 6 x 6 wooden paint panel. Only a 1/4 of an inch or so of the stripe will show on the front...the rest will wrap around the frame. A few of the leaves will wrap just a bit...I thought that would make it more interesting. I hope it works. 

Now it's time for handwork.  I'll add the buttons, a few beads, and maybe even a little felt....but that will be another day.

Color Scheme

It was another snowy, blustery day today...a good day to be puttering around inside. I started with some organizing and cleaning in my craft room but it didn't take long before I was distracted by a project...I enjoyed watching the snow out the window while I worked played. 

I was inspired Folt Bolt's "show and tell" pink and green color scheme this month....so I started a little fusing, and mixed media project that I might submit.

Folt Bolt is an online site featuring artists from all over the world. You can read about my first experience with them here  and you can see all my Folt Bolt posts here.






I gathered some fabrics in the color scheme and decided to make a happy little vase of flowers.





I did a lot of fiddling....I'll share more of my progress tomorrow.

Energy

"Be the energy you want to attract."  

photo found on Tumblr  
quote found on Pinterest

WWMD

I am quite fond of my niece Clarke. I got to know her better while she attended college in Boston and she is the one who helped me start this blog. She wrote the first post and her pen and ink drawings have appeared here several times. She's now on a new adventure as an AmeriCorps volunteer and just began her program in Sacramento, California working for FEMA. She has started her own blog called Ten Months in February on Tumblr chronicling her adventure and I look forward to following her journey.

It cracked me up when she posted this on her blog the night before she left home:




Here are her supplies....love the Q-tip brush! I wonder what she would have come up with if she shopped my house.

Way to be "hands on" Clarke! ha ha
And way to be resourceful!





In case you are interested...this is her blog post that explains her interesting title.

Snow Day

I love a snow day! I loved them as a kid...I loved them even more as a teacher...and I love them now.

I'm glad that Paul doesn't mind shoveling....

...I stayed inside and made our favorite chicken noodle soup. The recipe calls for noodles and potatoes....I use one or the other but never both.  It has great flavor and the evaporated milk makes it creamy.  I've made it without the milk...and it's just as good.

Orchids

Today was mild....almost spring like and tomorrow we're expecting a nor'easter that might bring over a foot of snow. That's the wonder and beauty of mother nature...each season...and sometimes each day is unlike the one before.

It's no different in the courtyard of the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum...the colors and blooms are are constantly changing. February and March feature delicate orchids. 

Maybe one of mother nature's most dramatic displays in the courtyard happens around Easter with the hanging nasturtiums....Connie's favorite.

These photographs are compliments of the museum website.... where I've been exploring the colors and blooms, the art, and the fascinating history. I hope to get back there some day....there's so much more to see.

How Long....

...does it take to stitch the signatures together on a planner for Connie?...

...from Lexington to the New Hampshire border. I had the signatures ready to go and took it along last Friday when Paul and I went to Maine to look at a few houses. Time in the car is good for visiting...but it's also good for a little hand project. It's not often I'm sitting still for 2 hours.

But I will admit that I also enjoy a good nap in the car once in a while too.....💤

I chose this funky indigo batik fabric for the cover...which I finished today. I'm way ahead of the game on this one because it's not needed until until June. I'm giving it to Connie tomorrow...on her actual birthday.   Happy Birthday Connie!

Sanctuary in the City

Isabella Stewart Gardner

Connie's 84th birthday is this week and her only request was to go to the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston. So her daughter Becky and I granted Connie's wish today...scooped her up and took her to one of her favorite places. I had never been there so it was not only a treat for her but also a treat for me.

The museum houses Isabella's amazing collection of art from all over the world and also offers concerts, lectures, and community programs. Per Isabella's will a discount is always granted to anyone wearing Red Sox attire and is free to anyone name Isabella. You gotta love that!








We spent quite a bit of our time enjoying the amazing courtyard....a sanctuary in the city on a blustery winter day.

Warm Glow

"No dark fate determines the future. We do. Each day and each moment, we are able to create and re-create our lives and the very quality of human life on our planet."  The Book of Joy

Yesterday when I set up my little treasures shadow box I also moved this little stained glass lamp to the hallway shelf.  It has been in my bedroom in a spot where it never got turned on. So a side benefit of the uncovering treasures side benefit of the focused fifteen project is how much I'm going to enjoy the warm glow of this lamp in the evenings.


And...the lamp goes really well with these little old school cross stitch heart pieces I did way back....they are from mauve and blue"country decorating" days.

Uncovering Treasures

One of the side benefits of my "focused fifteen" organizing project is uncovering treasures that weren't necessarily lost but certainly forgotten.

A few days ago I cleaned out and organized the lower cupboard of my dining room built in and found a box of treasures I had forgotten about. It's a bit of a mixture...but mostly fun little things from my old doll house.

That got me thinking....

I acquired this rustic shadow box a while back and thought I could use it to display the tiny treasures. So I searched my house for a spot and spent an hour or so today pulling it together. This dollhouse "mini- hold" was helpful...it's a putty like substance that helps keep things in place.                                                                       

All of these things are tiny....but the little farm animals on top of the coke box...are really teeny tiny. That adorable little train is only 2 inches long and less than 1/2 inch tall.  I've love the little "Grandma's Trunk" and the box of "Dorothy Dainty Ribbons."

I hung it in the upstairs hallway....I walk by it every day.  I moved this shelf here a few months ago have been filling it with handmade things including felted acorns, paper stars, and my treasured shared art projects and journals. The whole thing is still a work in progress but I'm having fun puling it together.