TOP TOGETHER

It didn't take long this morning to get the other borders cut and sewn on.  And, as a bonus, there was no picking out any seams.  Everything went together quickly and easily and I was done before lunch.

It was a beautiful morning, but a little chilly.  It snowed in the mountains yesterday.  We really enjoyed our walk and seeing the beautiful Olympics.

And squirrels...

I wonder what's down there...oh my.

SETTING TROUBLES

I decided to just go ahead and set these blocks and not fuss over how.

I had lots of problems.  I was picking out just as often as I was sewing - well, not really, but it sure felt that way.  I had to pick apart the diamond block - it was too big.  I figured out a way to save it.  I did not want to remake it - again!  

Once I got that block the right size, it did go together very nicely - everything lined up and measured out.  The other problems I had were stupid ones, like sewing on the wrong fabric, sewing a whole border on backwards, right side to wrong side.

I had to give up and go in for dinner - which was probably a good idea.  Tomorrow is another day.

FLOWERS FLOWERS FLOWERS

Finished the sixth block...

Now I just have to figure out how to set them.

I tried a couple of ideas and gave up in frustration.

NEXT FLOWER BLOCK

I came to the conclusion I had to have one more Flower block.

I started in on it today, paper-pieced.

PLAID TUMBLER

I finished the top for this little plaid tumbler. 

I made this little watercolor from a photo Darrell took.  I submitted it for Etchr's #makemoreartMondays prompt on IG.

PEARS AND RIBBONS

I picked up my quilts from the Puyallup Fair today.  I was pleasantly surprised they both had ribbons.

"Carolinas" won first in Small Quilts Original Design and an Award of Merit for Quilting.  Woo-hoo.

"Trinkets Six" won a third place in Large Quilts.  

HEADACHE

Man, I woke up with a killer headache today.

I did manage a short, slow walk through the park, but, I couldn't bring myself to go to my Watercolor Class.

I came across this stack of Tumbler plaid pieces the other day and left them sitting out.  They are from way back, when I owned Pieces Quilt Shop.  We had an exchange with the intent of making a bag from them (one of the teachers was teaching the pattern).  

I sewed them together today.  It was a somewhat mindless project.  There were about 120 pieces, so I figured 12 across and 10 down would be about right.  I should have made them a little wider and shorter.  Oh, well.

I added these navy blue pieces to the edges.  Now, to figure out how to finish it.

I love plaids.

ITERATIONS

JAX SKETCH

I sketched this from a photo.

Jax

We all went for a walk in Lincoln Park today.

We saw this.

LAKE SAMMAMISH SKETCH

Darrell's family had a Cousin's Reunion at Lake Sammamish in Issaquah today.

We went early to reserve some tables.  Once we got everything setup, I sketched.

NEW PALETTE

I got a new palette setup for an upcoming class.  These are the colors the teacher suggests.  

I wanted to get used to them, so I made a color mixing card for them, too.

LETTERED QUILTED

The first Lettered quilt was quilted today.  Yea!

While the machine was working on it, I was making this color chart of my new  watercolor palette.

There were boneheads hanging out with me, too.

They just want cookies.

ETCHR PROMPT

I bought some sketchbooks from Etchr and am following them on Instagram.  They've started a thing to encourage more artmaking- they publish a prompt word every Monday.  Followers can then make some art and publish it on IG using their hashtag #makemoreartmondays.

This week's prompt was 'lunchbox'.

I made a little sketch of the lunch bag I made.

TUESDAY WATERCOLOR

Today was sort of a freeform day.  We just painted some made up flowers.  Everyone's was different.

PAINTING

I donated my 97th pint of blood this morning then came home and did my Monday morning cleaning (always fun - not).

After lunch, I went up to the studio and painted a bit, some for my homework - she wanted me to re-do this one by moving the teapot of flowers to the right, in order to make the 'triangle' more pronounced.

Original 

Re-done with flowers moved to the right (it needs more work).

This little painting is of some of our garden tomatoes, painted in one of the Etchr sketchbooks I recently bought for a lot of money.  They are nice though. 

After dinner, I painted the cool Mr. Bentley.  I traced him into the sketchbook from a photo and then painted with watercolors.  I mixed Cadmium Red with  a lot of Cerulean Blue and a touch of Hansa Yellow Medium to get this grey.

SUNDAY WALK IN THE DRIZZLE

After our Sunday morning grocery shopping, we took our walk in the drizzle at Lincoln Park. And the dogs didn't even seem to mind.

The colors were intensified!

HARVESTING

We've been eating green beans for a few weeks already.  Today we harvested the squash.  Not as many as last year, but their are all our favorites - Buttercup, Acorn and Danish.  

Mr. Bentley is such a cool cat.

CAT POUCH

I made a little Cat Pouch from a pattern I ran across online (sorry, can't remember where), for Victoria for her birthday.

I made another one for myself today.  There's a little zipper in the back.  There's a little ring so it can be attached to a backpack, bag or car keys.

Fun.

I used a Pigma pen on this one to draw the face.  I used a zigzag stitch on Victoria's.  It should be hand embroidered, but... you know.

WATERY FLOWERS

Darrell gave me a pencil, an old pencil, (he has a package of them) that are said to be indelible and waterproof.  I thought I'd use this pencil as the outline for this wonderful watercolor, made originally by R.A. Hayes.

I discovered it isn't totally waterproof - it turns blue and runs a little when water is applied.

I was a little upset at first, but I came to love it.

What do you think?  

TUESDAY WATERCOLOR

We had a great time painting this example of a palette.  

It's amazing how everyone's painting is the same, yet so different.

Before class, the dogs and I went to Lincoln Park for a great walk.  It was a little foggy out on the water.  It's beautiful.

I saw one of the brownish crows again.  Last time I saw them, there were two.  I thought they were some exotic birds when I first saw them, but no, they are just crows with a pigment problem.  It looked like today the other crows were harrassing this one.  I hope not.  I hope it's twin is somewhere nearby, too.

TEXTURE SUNFLOWER

Here's my finished texture project. 

SUNDAY FUN

Wow, there was the biggest thunder storm ever here last night.  The rain came down in buckets.  And Jax was hysterical, but a little CBD oil calmed him right down.

The storm only lasted a few hours and in the morning all was calm and wet.  The torrents of rain that streamed down the driveway arranged the pine needles into some interesting patterns.

We picked the tomatoes that were ripe and made ten baggies of salsa, which we will freeze.  There was still a half a sink full of tomatoes left after we ran out of cilantro, jalepenos and garlic.  We'll take those to the food bank in the morning.  We have lots more tomatoes coming along.

After lunch, I spent a few happy hours sewing my Flower scraps onto adding machine tape.  It was quite fun and relaxing.  I still have a pile of scraps though.