Trying out IMovie

This is a link to you tube video I just published. I’m experimenting with IMovie.

https://youtu.be/JMo9IOKd2pA

Cool October day-garden chores and sewing

Today, it’s about 2C and we are expecting snow tomorrow. There were a few bits of garden work left to do so,  we went outside for a little while. Although cool, the sun is shining and we warmed very quickly. I picked a few last bits of greens and planted some garlic which we covered in straw.

You can just see the straw where I put the garlic in between the holly bushes. It’s a nice sunny spot so we’ll see how it does.

Then G turned the raised bed, emptied part of it, and added some leaves and compost.

When he went to stir the compost he found the potatoes growing there.

Even a bit of the lemon verbena was regrowing and I brought it in.

This morning, I laid out the majestic mountains quilt top and cut the final borders.

Cutting the last 2 borders was the only thing keeping me from putting them on and getting it ready for the quilter. I’ve got the backing and the batting  ready to go. Since my village houses baby quilt is with her now, I was hoping I could give her this one when she returns the baby quilt.

My daughter sent me photos this morning that she’d had taken on Thanksgiving at her in laws.

I sure love the one with the boys. A tender moment.

I’ve been trying to go down my list of UFOs and get some of these things finished. 

I finally finished putting in the zipper. It’s not perfect but Ollie will be wearing it to play outside I’m sure,  so who’ll notice.

I started knitting a Christmas stocking for little Gussie. It’s a pattern with basic directions and then has charts that you can choose and put the motifs  where you like in your choice of colours. It does include directions for the after thought heel that I’ve not tried before. I’m just past the point where I put the heel stitches on the waste yarn which will be put on needles later and knit. The bright green yarn that you can see hanging on each side of the marker is the waste yarn. So you keep knitting straight down to the toe before doing the heel. Hope this works!

I had quite a day Friday working on the latest fall  fiber art.

I spent almost 4 hours, morning and afternoon, stitching the distant trees and then cutting slivers to add for closer but still background trees. Once I stitch these down, there will be some closer larger ones.

I’ve got a few laid on and then I’m auditioning some of the foreground leaves which aren’t going on yet. I’m really anxious to get going on it but today required  some outdoor stuff and also preparing the latest quilt top for the quilter.

I don’t have anything in my schedule this week except a haircut, something I’ve not had since June! It’s wild. This is my latest mask. It has a little piece shaped like a pumpkin seed folded over and stitched into the top seam. It fits well.

It’s found on Barb.com

Wherever you are, I hope you’re enjoying your weekend.

By the way, are you a you tube watcher? I’ve been watching more and more at night when I can’t find any good tv.

 My son introduced me to some homestead ones that I enjoy. I found  some called Little Drops of Wonderful, Fairyland Cottage, and the Elliot Homestead to name only a few. I’ve got lots to watch at night and I really enjoy them.

Let me know if you can recommend any and I’ll add more next time if there’s interest,

Autumn colors fiber art

In the studio this morning,  I got back to work on the autumn scene. I couldn’t wait to get at it. I may have spent a few too many hours though as I’m paying for it now, lol. It’s just that  I haven’t felt this inspired and creative for a while and I want to do as much as I can.

The basic layers are on and I started free motion stitching some distance shapes.

It was a bit of a grey day with only a few showers and still a nice light coming through the window.

I’m ready to start snipping  slivers of light and dark grey fused fabrics for the distant trees.

It’s painstaking work. Relaxing music helps my hands and thoughts slow and  and I become quite absorbed.

I auditioned the bright leaves before I left it for the day. There are still larger trees left to add. Also, I want to do some needle  thread lace I n golds and white that I will need later. So, I think I’m about 1/4 done at this point.



Mid afternoon, I had a cup of green tea and a fresh cranberry orange muffin with flax and walnuts that I’d mixed up at lunch time.

Made with fresh cranberries.

I have started knitting a Christmas stocking for grand baby Gussie.

A fall fiber collage

My recent inspiration and desire to get back into a small piece of fiber art stopped me in my tracks in the the last couple of days. First, I went looking for the Saran wrap that I would normally use in making confetti leaves. I would sandwich the leaves between work 2 pieces of the wrap in a hoop and free motion stitch. It’s such fun!  But not so, lol. There was no Saran Wrap to be found anywhere. Do they not make it anymore?

I tried a different brand.

Then my machine wasn’t cooperating, snarling and snagging and finally jamming completely.  Then I thought of adding a layer of Sulky dissolvable underneath and after spending an hour cleaning out, unjamming, and oiling the machine, I finally got it done.

Well, the Sulky rinsed away but the plastic wouldn’t melt away under newspaper.

So, I had to start again this time using Sulky underneath and netting overtop.

Finally it worked. I dissolved the Sulky let it dry, and cut out some pieces, whew.

I’ve laid some out in a loose fashion to see how I’ll proceed.

Bear in mind that I won’t iron any of the foreground trees down until I’ve stitched the very background.

And there won’t be any at right lines of fabric in the foreground as there is now. Some fabrics may also change. It’s a process.

At least I finally ironed out the problems and can stop in a good place.

It’s a good thing that I roasted butternut squash with carrots, apples, an onion and garlic while I was eating lunch. When it was cool I processed it for  a soup for supper. We had thick lentil loaf sandwiches for lunch so our dinner can be lighter.

 Then I was free to play (struggle) in the studio. 

Since getting my hip injection last week, things have slowly improved so that I’m able to get short walks with my poles.

We went yesterday to the Pabineau falls area.

There was a roar of water over the rocks since all the rain we’ve had.

Isn’t the fungi amazing?

This pic looks so much like what I’m doing now. Birch tree stands all look similar.

I took many pictures that would make beautiful artwork and I came home feeling like a very insignificant part of the earth but also truly happy and  inspired.

Happy Tuesday! 

I’m off to an endo dentist in Moncton tomorrow.  It’s just to have a consult for now.

After printing the pattern and getting the right size needles today, I’m planning to start one of these tonight in my own version. You can mix and mash the motifs and colors.

Autumn and feeling inspired

Today, I’m feeling more like ‘myself’ than I have in sometime - sine before all this stuff happened. I’ve had various health issues to deal with at the same time and it’s been a struggle.

However, autumn is my favourite season and when I seem to have more energy. I’ve been slowly coming alive and feeling inspired.

This morning, I took my walker and went into a nearby trail. Since realizing I could actually walk a little further with it and then actually use it to sit on for some quiet time sketching, it has made all the difference in my mood. As I strolled deeper along the path and smelled the firs and the damp earth, I felt as though a darkness and fog were rising from me.

After lunch, I headed to my studio where I put on some music by Derek and Brandon Fiechter. Forest of Secrets. ( and now Desert Sands) I’m on a bit of a mission to finish some half done projects so I can move on. I’m still keen to stitch my collaged cow, but I needed something more basic to get me warmed up. Also, after a few bad starts, I realized that the Bernini needed cleaning and oiling and testing before I could do anything.

After that, I finished stitching down all the collaged parts on this Halloween piece that I started last fall. It’s called Boo Buddies by Happy Hollow designs.

I also got it sandwiched and ready to quilt.

I’ve enjoyed getting the gardens cleaned up and putting out some pumpkins.

Yesterday, my husband helped me plant a box of various bulbs along the walkway in the front. This weekend, I plan to put in some garlic.

Finally, I pulled out 2 knitting projects that were almost finished and laid aside since spring.The bunny only needed 2 legs and the stuffing. He’s done now except the eyes as I haven’t quite decided on embroidery or buttons.

Then, there is the sweater I made for Ollie, thankfully plenty big. It needed a few ends darned and the zipper sewn in.

The boys are growing fast. Gussie is 6 1/2 months and Ollie almost 4 years. We’ve been over to PEI to visit twice in September so feeling good about that. Ollie’s birthday is late a November; we will have to consider about the safety of going then.




I started a tuque for my husband made with double stranded sock yarn scraps. It is a free pattern called Mash It Up which can be found in Ravelry.

I find it very pretty and really fun to knit. 

Also, my head is swirling with ideas for larger fiber art work and I have a few pictures chosen to consider. Once I get to the cow, perhaps I’ll think about a smaller piece just to get warmed up with free motion and have some fun.

How are you, all my readers doing and feeling? Are you feeling any more settled? I still feel tense and off kilter some days, especially as we’ve had some rising cases in our province. They seem to be handling it well though with all the precautions and the contact tracing. So far, it seems to be working and we’re hoping it’ll go like that.

Take care, virtual hugs to you.

Autumn inspiration and creativity

For the past couple of weeks, I’ve been doing a little wildflower scavenging. No matter the distance I can walk,  there is always a new fall seed head  that I haven’t seen before. I love looking, gathering and using them as inspiration. It’s like a treasure hunt for me.

While I’ve seen many Queen Anne’s lace seed heads, the brilliant wine color of of these is new to me. 

I found this odd looking one-seemed like a twig covered in little green beads. They felt hard like plastic touch.

I may have to break down and get myself an APP that will identify plants.

I’ve been spending a lot of time seated at my table playing with watercolour paints on various papers. I cut them out and store them for future use in decoupage.

I started doing some of this back in March and got inspired  to do more when I read about the Painted Paper project on line. They’ve been offering a course free of charge but I believe it’s almost up.

https://www.sandikeene.com/pop-up-art-classes-home

I decoupaged 3 cards to put in the mail to family with our grandson photos.

I’m having a lot of fun with the paints right now. It’s so much fun to drop paint onto different papers, not having to worry about perfection. I like to add pen and ink before cutting them out.

On my birthday this week I decided to do some Gelli printing something I haven’t done in a while. Since we were picking up supper, I could spread out on the kitchen island and keep going until dropped, lol.

This one is done on copy paper.

And this on deli paper.

These are on fabric.

It’s been a while since I’ve Gelli printed and now I have more ideas of things to try. First though, I want  to go through all my old phone books which I use to press foliage, and organize them as I like to use certain leaves together.

After that day, I’ve been tired and relaxing a bit by doing some easy machine sewing. I put the village houses together yesterday and today I started putting small borders onto it.

The narrow green borders are on and I’ve chosen the blue for the final border.

I also tried a different mask pattern and tried it out. It took about 10 minutes to make. There is no nose wire because if the shape. I found it firs really well and the glasses go over top which prevents most eyeglass fog.

Gussie seems really infatuated with big brother, for now, lol.

I just finished making this tuque for myself with merino hand dyed yarn. 

And I’m working on this sweater in a size two.p with a cotton yarn.