Slow Week

Every once in a while, I have a time where I don't have much time or energy to create.  These past few days have been like that.  It was time to do yard work.  I like to landscape, my way, even though now I have to clean up after myself.  Hope that can change soon.  So I mowed, cut, dug, transplanted and raked.
Enough done for a while.  It is usually in July when we hit a dry spell and no longer need to mow the lawn.  It turns a nice golden brown and everyone just waits for fall to have it turn green again.  When we first moved here, as in Minnesota, you must keep your lawn green and mowed!!  Not so we learned from long time neighbors.  We wait til the rains come again.   I love it and every lawn looks the same.

This was designed by my new teenager grandson, the best kid west of the Mississippi!!  He did several designs and I chose this one.  Which one is Me???  I learned much from him when we were there visiting.
Thank you,Alex.

 This entire hanging was made from roving, dyeing it red, orange, and yellow.   It was a fun challenge and the first time I made the felted cloth from scratch.  I added a few beads for bling and the Puget Sound driftwood  finished it off.


Although it was a very sad case to hear of a Minneapolis friend, seriously ill with cancer, I caught up with other friends and neighbors, one in California and one in North Carolina. We talked across the country and caught up with each other's lives. We promised to stay in touch!!

So as Easter is almost here, Have a blessed holiday, take good care of yourselves, and please sign in as a fan and/follower. I only have ONE. EEK!!
Live, Laugh and Love,
Sophie

It Feels like Spring

This looks like spring, finally.  The magnolia is in beautiful bloom and the soft pink is perfect!  Also, my lemon tree is looking good after spending the winter inside on the kitchen table facing south.  The birds are loud but I can't see them.  The  garden  isn't  full of weeds yet so I am free for the time being.

Projects

My dear  friend gave me the idea that this hanging really needed!!  Bling!!  The  center of the piece is a coil of snappy glass beads.  They sparkle from every direction and add a neat focal point to the piece.
I am going to add batting and a backing to it and do a little quilting on it.  I dyed the roving and thought of this design and felted it on my machine.  Because it is large, it was a tricky thing to do.  It does attack attention, one way or another.

I dyed some white roving with kool aid and a touch of food coloring but wasn't pleased with the shade of green, so I whipped out the paint and did a bit of touch up on a few areas.  I'll see how it dries.

I am still in the wood shop thinking of new box ideas and I have one in the making with shell on top.  I think it looks snazzy.  I'll have it finished soon, I hope.

I am machine knitting the sweater on this magazine cover.   There are direction for hand and machine knitting.  My machine doesn't  do the gauge that is suggested so after two days of math and knit experiencing for gauge, I think I got it!  I did the whole back, measured, ripped it all out and started again and now I have the back finished, just to bind of on the top and the bottom ribbing.  I looks like this ......

The two fronts should go easier and faster, I hope. The yarn is a blend of nylon, rayon and linen, so  I think it will be great from summer, when it comes!



Finally, I am also wrapping rope for another client's bowl.  This one is going to be oval in a red print and a blue textured fabric.  It shall be stunning!!


So, Live, Laugh and Love !
               Sophie

After the Vacation

The Alaskan vacation was super relaxing, fun, great home cooked meals and son and grandson turned a year older and wiser. We did see two moose, camera packed away, but always see that they were there.
< They were the only moose we saw the whole time, although we looked for more. There still was snow in Anchorage and lots of ice

The shopping I did came up with mostly books, books and magazines.
One book was a challenge with rope shapes, such as vases and pitchers. I did the vase pattern and love it. The flowers on my vase are made from Tyvek, cut the squares and rectangles out and paint both sides.Use a heat gun to make them curl up.

I used a heat gun as the iron was way too slow.

The Now Project


I am now working on a red piece of felting. There is also pink, orange and yellow in it. I am doing it abstract and not framing it.

It will have irregular edges with a stiff backing. I am doing the finishing touches now and I like the creativity of it all.

Much to Do


There is always so much to catch  up with in the yard, mowing, weeding and planting.  I weeded our small garden box and transplanted the rhubarb, leaving the heather alone, and planted the one bulb, Dahlia, which will give 18 blooms and spread.

That one white stem you see is really a daliha stem starting. The whole box does look better.
So, Live, Laugh and Love.