PETAL B END

 It took all day, but here is the end part of Petal B of the Amity Baroque big flower.

Here's what's done so far:

The snows have stopped, for now.  It's cold, but beautiful - and so quiet.

ONE PART DONE

 I finished up the outer part of Petal A of the big flower, Amity Baroque.

Then, I started on Petal B - didn't get me done at all though.

NEW JOURNAL

 I spent most of this morning setting up my new year's journal.  

2022 - bring it on.

I've been using Minimalism Art's A5 journals for the last few years.  I really like them because the paper is ink proof, acid-free, 120gsm friendly ivory paper, tough enough for watercolor and most pens and inks don't shadow through to the other side.  

I was disappointed this year when the only 234 page choices were these fancy covered 'city' journals.  The plain colored journals have only 186 pages - not enough for a whole year.

Come on Minimalism Art - have a clue!

BACK TO SEWING

I'm done dyeing fabrics, so it's back to cutting them up and sewing them back together.  The sewing machine was fixed yesterday and now I get to try it out.

I really enjoy fitting all of these intricate pieces together.  It's such a great feeling when they all fit and look great and it lays flat.

And, we took the steel tube bed frame to a business that will sand blast and put a new finish on it.  It is going to be so cool.

A WALK IN THE SNOW

 We finally got out of the house and made it down to Lincoln Park for a snowy walk in the park.  The snow is about 5-6" deep, dry but crunchy.  It's cold, too!

I made it a short walk because it was too cold and I was worried about slipping and falling - even though it wasn't really slippery.

Jelly wore her little coat and ran around and looked to be having fun.

There's a little tree that people put Christmas ornaments on every year.  I wanted to see it with snow on the ground.  That didn't happen before Christmas, but it finally did (the day after).

Last week, I noticed the dead-looking tree leaning precariously, and the ground around it starting to rise.  Well, it gave in and fell sometime over the weekend - and it's left a big hole right on the trail.

Seen:  the reddest, red of this Redwood - it looks great in the snow.

It's a beautiful morning!

Afterwards, Darrell took me and my machine to Renton to Sewing Machine Service to get it fixed.  And, they did it while we waited.  They said that the needle plate was mis-aligning - and I don't have any idea how that happened - and I don't know why I feel guilty about it.  It might have happened when they serviced it last week - or not.

Here's how yesterday's fabrics turned out --

DYEING FABRICS FOR GREENS

 I want some greens for the background of the big flower, Amity Baroque.  So, I'm dyeing some greens.  

I tore up some Primatex PFD into fat quarters, prepared some dyes - mostly yellows and blues - Golden Yellow, Lemon Yellow, Cobalt and Turquoise to be specific.

I dyed some yesterday that didn't look like what I wanted, so I'm trying again.  I'm going to try first putting down the red (and yellow as an after thought) and then using wax as a resist, make little dots in the red and over-dyeing the green.

The problems started when I tried dropping tiny little drops of the red/purple dye onto the fabric that was damp with soda ash and it spread way farther than I had thought.  Oh well.

I kind of like the way it looks.

MONDAY SNOW

 It's been snowing since yesterday and, boy, do we have snow now.  It's also much colder than we are used to, it was down to about 19 degrees last night.  Brrrr.

Darrell has had a fire going downstairs since yesterday and that helps.

The cats have been inside looking out since the snow began.

This morning, Darrell and I were out clearing off the sidewalks and putting out ice melt.

We aren't going anywhere - so my machine will have to wait.  

DYEING GREENS

 Since it's snowing and the roads are impassable, I stayed home and dyed different greens for my Amity Baroque project.  These will hopefully be used in the background.

I have an image in my head that I want it to look like which includes some small dottings of a bright pink/red spinning out from the flower.  I'm trying to achieve that with my dyeings.  

I sprinkled some fuschia dye powder onto a few of the fat quarters before I put them into the green dye bath.  It didn't turn out like I wanted.  I'll have to try something else tomorrow.

APPLIQUEING CIRCLES

 Since my B770 sewing machine is not working right (aaaarrrrgh!) I'm left with doing something else.  So, I'm appliqueing the circles onto the petals - which is a good thing!  This needs to get done eventually, so now is a good time.  

I've made a bunch of cardboard circles and am in the process of wrapping them with the fabrics.  I'll have to press them before I remove the cardboard and applique them down.

Christmas Day:  We were planning on going to Mandarin Gardens for lunch today and getting take out.  But, they are closed!  This is the first time in years that they haven't been opened on Christmas.  Bummer.  We picked another restaurant that was open and ordered lunch to go from them, Ho Ho Seafood.  It was no where near as good as Mandarin Gardens - it was a disappointment, to say the least.  

The cold and the snow begins.  Winter is here.

NEXT ROUND

 I've finished all of the petals (except for the appliqued circles).  So, I'm on to the next part.  It's a bit complicated and I want them to be similar, so I'm going to do them all at the same time.  

I started making parts for the next two and my stupid machine started acting up.  It's making a clunking noise and it's ruffling the fabrics.  I can't use it like this.  Aaaaargh.  And of course, it's Christmas weekend, so I won't be able to get it fixed until Monday at the earliest.  Another aaaaargh.

BEDROOM PAINTED

 After two coats on the walls, the woodwork and the floor, it's finally done!  Ta-da!

It's so cold, I hope it dries okay.

See the 'before' picture here.

WINTER IS COMING

 As the autumn colors of oranges, yellows and golds decline, the winter's russets, browns and reds emerge.

Seen on our morning walk in Lincoln Park.

REMODELING

 The basement has been in a state of disrepair since the girls moved out, a year ago October - a long time.  We need to redo the bathroom shower and paint and fix a few things in the bedroom.  We'd like to have a spare bedroom where guests can stay.

Yesterday, I took my Bernina 770 sewing machine in for a service and tune-up in Renton's Sewing Machine Service.  Since I purchased my new (yet undelivered) longarm from them, they are letting me bring it in and drop it off on the day they'll be servicing it.  Last time I talked to them about servicing they told me they'd need it for two weeks!  I can't live without my machine for two weeks!  This is so nice.

On the way home, after dropping it off, I thought I'd start painting the downstairs bedroom.  I stopped at Rodda and got paint and when home started in on the ceiling.  Oh my, there's a lot of ceiling and woodwork.  I painted beyond the point where my arms and neck were aching.

So, today, I procrastinated as long as I could, but finally went down to paint.  I couldn't bring myself to work on the ceiling again, so I started on the walls.  Everything is going to need at last two coats.  Oh, my aching neck.

covering up the old yellow with a light taupe

Afterwards, they called me and I went to Renton to pick up my machine.  I'll need to spend a few hours a day on this painting until I get it done - even the floor needs painting.

PETAL TWO

 I made another petal for the Amity Baroque quilt (I named it).  That makes two, three to go.

I also got a lot of the little parts needed done, too, while enjoying the company of my Brave Patch friends.

I tortured Jelly today, too.  That was fun.

STARTING OVER

 I got the pattern traced onto freezer paper, and made some of the hash marks for aligning the pieces when sewing.

I cut out the 'petals' and started making them.  It feels like starting over because I've already made these petals.  Hopefully, this time it will go a little quicker and be better.

I'm doing one of the parts by paper-piecing again, too.

BIG PATTERN

 With the help of my husband, I sent a file of my Big Flower drawing to be printed out onto paper the actual size I want the quilt to be.  

I picked it up from the printer today.  Two big pieces that I needed to splice together.

Here it is, in the studio, taped together.  Now to trace it onto freezer paper.

HEDGE TRIMMED

 Today we had some tree trimmers come to tame our hedge.  They did a wonderful job and left everything very tidy and clean.

BEFORE

AFTER

I had them look at our Japanese Maple in the backyard and they cleaned it up for me, too.

ROSES FOR SUE

 I painted the rose bouquet I received from Nicole and Victoria so I'll have it forever.

I did it in oils - I still don't know much about using oils.  I need a class and more practice.

FLOWERS

 Nicole and Victoria gave me a beautiful bouquet of roses in remembrance of my sister, Sue.

Such sweet girls.

LITTLE BASKETS

 Amidst the containers of sewing stuff and fabric was a few unfinished projects of Sue's.

I will finish a few, but I'm not sure what to do with this pile of 6" baskets.  There are 79 or 80 or them, made and signed by various people from the Covington Guild (I think).  They would make a great quilt.

LOSS AND GAIN

 With the loss of our sister, Sue, we (Mom, Julie, Leslie and me) made arrangements for her and then went to her apartment to sort things - a very painful difficult task.

She wanted me to take care of her quilts and sewing things, including a nice Bernina 1090.

I brought a bunch of her stuff home yesterday, and sorted through the quilts, took pictures, measured and labeled the new bags their are in.

"Trip Around the World"   54" x 54"

detail of 'Trip'

back of 'Trip'

61" x 61" , quilted with heart motif

back

Wallhanging

"Tree of Life" 74" x 71" has some fading

Watercolor Flowers 50" x 69"

"Saturday Challenge" made by me, Terry, and gifted to Sue 1997
  has some holes on the front.

back of 'Saturday Challenge'

Wallhanging 33" X 33"

made by me, Terry, circa 1985, hand quilted, holes on front.

I think I made this, it still needs binding, 65" x 65"

"50th Anniversary" quilt for George and Martha Visk 1995.  95" x 95"

Log Cabin 95" x 95"

Wallhanging  36" x 36"

Christmas Tablerunner 17" x 60"

There is also several quilt tops that need quilting.  I will do this once my new Bernina Q24 arrives.

An afghan made by Grandma Anne 38" x 57", needs a little repair.

Get going home before the rains come!

This was what the pickup looked like yesterday with everything loaded up and ready to go.