A HIKE

It's fun to explore what is close to home-this trail has several banks and gullies where the sand erodes from around tree roots and expose some of the beauty that was under the ground.  These trunks are all connected-it was fascinating to follow the ways the touch!

This are is about 15' across with all of these 'straws' hanging down-

...which belongs to this 40' cabbage palm tree!

The width of this trunk-under the ground' would never be noticed until it is exposed!

I loved the way this trunk has a 5' hollow area!  Wouldn't it be fun to fill it with fairies and their houses!

And back at my house, the ground orchid is just covered with flower clusters since we had 1" of rain twice this last week!  The sunshine and rain has greened up the whole lawn--it is beautiful again!
 

TUMBLING TUESDAY

Another batch done from the tumbler!  

Some pink and yellow jasper , quartz, epidote and unakite.

These four in the front are my favorites this batch-epidote, pink jasper, unakite and red striped jasper.

We had a campfire last night-a perfect night for it-no wind and a bit chillier than it has been!

This is what I will work on today at quilting group!

 

AN IDEA

I've had this linen placemat for ages--loved the colors 

but never did anything with it-until the other day!

I decided to turn it into a pressing pad / carrying case for the new little portable iron! I layered two pieces of batting topped with some teflon heat 'resistant material.  I tucked all three layers under the hem on the back of the placemat which I had unstitched first.  I then added some stitching in the areas I wanted to fold it and to hold the layers together, too.

I sewed 1/2 of a pony elastic on one side and on the other side I placed the elastic through a large button to keep this area folded in...

...and added a separating zipper to the other two sides. 

It is easy to open it up for pressing or fold it up for transporting!

Doesn't that look neat and practical, too?! 

 The definition of perfection in my world!

AT THE FRAME

I finally stopped whining and vascillating on what quilt design 

I should use, I just did it!

I chose a feather panto which I am calling seaweed 

to go with the clamshells! lol

I promptly loaded up one of the Quilts of Valor tops;  it is considerably larger than my usual lap size! 

Being a generous twin size, it maxes out my frame!

I am using a simple star and banner pattern for this one! 

 A good day in the studio!

 

TWO BIG FINISHES!

Last night I finished binding off on block #10-only two more to go and I will be stitching them all together for a lap robe! (I know it is wobbly-it is unblocked but once sewn in with its mates,

it  will be flat!)

The  little pops of cables against the background of purl and slippedd stitches was a new combination of stitches for me to learn.  It is certainly texture rich!

 And I finished the two sets of stairs-here is the view from the top down!  I like the view from the bottom up-

--the contrast turned out just the way I had hoped!  Being a loyal mom, I used Behr Paint because my son is a Sales Rep for them!  It's easy to pick up right at Home Depot!

And today-----I am home!  Look out studio, here I come!

STEPPING UP!

I'm ten days late to the start of the Shop Hop but I will be making up for it over the next few weeks!  There are at least a dozen shops that are within a reasonable drive (1 1/2 hours) to snag the shop 'Patch' and enjoy the extras each shop works at providing!  

I started this yesterday and will finish the second coat on the grey treads today--oh, yeah, there is a second set of stairs just like this one!  Twice the fun!  I wore knee pads-a real life saver because you do't get to stand up the whole time you are painting!

I picked up this block to finish it-I have another repeat before I will be adding it to the finished pile!

And I am adding a few blocks a day to the cotton granny square tote project; it is slow going but pleasurable just the same. 

I don't have a Friday Feline picture but let me tell you a story;

about 4am I was awakened by a strange cat meow and having said cat run over my body while I was sound asleep was a rather rude awakening!  I jumped up and chased it out of my room and met Bill in the middle of the house as he had chased it and lost it in the dark!  We turned on lights and chased it outside!  This same cat did this several months ago (Bill hosed it and we hadn't seen it again) and it is upsetting to all of us (Bill, me and the 3 girls)!!!  Bill has locked the cat doors for the night and hopefully, that will keep him from his nighttime visits.  The worst part of his visits.....he is an unneutered male and he sprays-there is no smell quite like it unless you compare him to a skunk!

So needless to say, being awakened with an adrenaline surge and trying to ignore the house stinking...it was hard to get back to sleep! 

 

GUAVA SOCKS!

A pair of socks made with Premier Fruits yarn on #1 needles!

This is an acrylic yarn that feels more like a cotton/wool blend than acrylic.  Nicely saturated colors and a good knit.

BLOCKS AND BLOCKS!

I sewed each block  and have them on the design wall waiting for some time to adjust them before they are sewn in place.  Quilting group was a good time with each of us making some marked progress!

When I was home, I finished knitting the last few squares on the blanket-the most recent rows were the right sided (19) blocks and the top edge (13).  I have plenty more yarn so I will be adding another row to the side and the top so it is 14 x 20 blocks before I quit knitting on it for a while again!  It is a very enjoyable knitting project!
 

ROCK TUMBLING TUESDAY

These are shaping up nicely!  Pretty exciting to wash them off and see what changes have taken place since last week!  It is hard not to peek too soon, either!

After washes off the dirt and grit from the last week's tubling, I add the next weeks' grit and mark each barrel.  The one on the left is getting polish--the last weekk for this one!  The one on the right is getting week 3 grit-it has two more weeks to tumble.

Both get loaded back on and will tumble until next week's bathing ritual again.  I have been taking a course on minerals on YouTube and am really getting a handle on this finally!  It is very interesting!!!

Oh, yeah, and just to prove I still work with yarn, too, here is a hat for my son-in-law who loves both the Buffalo Bills....

and SU (Syracuse, NY)!!!

 

BITTEN!

I painted the background for this shark teeth art a few days ago;  today I played with filling in an outline of a shark with teeth!

The plaque is 14" long but for some reason the angle of the photo has foreshortened it!  

I added a step this time-I used a piece of contact paper laid over the silhouettee I had drawn and then I could retain the placement of the teeth when I use the resin this time,

 I won't have to start over again!

I spent a lot of time doing this --sock yarn blanket knitting; 

 I just haven't had any oomph to stand at the quilting frame!  

 

SEW, CUT, SEW!

All of the four patches are sewn, now I need to cut them apart and sew them back together again!

I should be doing a lot of this today!

Unless I find the stamina to stand in front of the quilting frame!

 

AMARYLIS

They are up and blooming all over the yard!  

What beautiful flowers!

 

STUDIO TIME!

Begin with a pile of 7" squares of three dark and 3 light fabrics,

Sew them into a simple 4-patch.

Cut it apart.

Rearrange it.

Sew it together again and you have a quilt block!  I bought this kit from the Daytona Beach Quilt show last week and find it is the perfect project to have for piecing while I work a bit each day on the quilting frame queue!  (This pattern is called Presto Change-O pattern from MK Quilts of Palm Beach, FL)

 

WOOD ON WEDNESDAY

I had the pleasure of working at the lathe the other day!  I cut off all of the branches and bark to form a bowl from the crotch of this alder tree piece.  It felt good to let the chips fly again.

There are several interesting parts to this section which will be creative to work around to form this bowl.

I hope to mostly make it look like a 'fish bowl' 

but including the many features or imperfections!  

I also worked with Bill to set up this raised bed garded area for me to plant some vegetables-I will be planting today! 

 The perfect activity to do on March 1st!