Sewing a little pouch

I've not had a lot of studio time today as exercise is always a priority and since it is sunny although windy and cold, I went for a walk before lunch.
This afternoon I have an appointment but did get in a little sewing time. Since I needed a small gift, I rooted around in my painted and printed fabrics to find something I could use. Once again I used a pattern by Atkinson Designs called Bridget's Bagettes.
I've almost finished it and decided to write about it because I won't be home for the next couple of days.

All that remains is to fold the back fabric to the front and top stitch it down. You can see my soy resist painted and stitched fabric through the vinyl front. As you can see, it just fits a roller blade.

Painting fish shacks version 2

I was a little headachy upon arising this morning and happily had no commitments for the day. My daughter who's in Korea skyped with me for a while. Then I mixed up some Red River cereal bread and went outside to do a bit of shovelling while it was rising. I went for a short walk too even though it was pretty cold.
At lunch, I finally took a Tylenol and since I didn't feel like getting into stitching my first fish huts that I wrote about yesterday, I sat down with my Inktense pencils and painted a background for Fish Shacks version 2.

I'm waiting for it to dry before I fish the last couple of bits.
Also, I'm linking to The Needle and Thread Network.

Fish Shacks--adding a border and more details

Schools were cancelled here today due to  snow. It doesn't affect me anymore since I no longer have children at home but I still feel it's special somehow. I'm lucky to choose to stay home watching the world from my windows and enjoying my creative endeavors.
I decided to add borders to my fish shacks along with a batting and another layer of interfacing before moving on with more layers of stitch. I've layered on small bits of light highlights and stitched some lacy trees to the background. Lots of thread changing takes time.

I am much happier with how it's coming along at this point and the extra layers have prevented further rippling.

There remain just a few small details, the men, a door, some defining lines. I always need to let it rest in between short sessions though so enough for today.
I'm saving some time and energy for snow shoveling and supper preparations--veggie meatballs on spaghetti squash.
At lunch time today I couldn't help but  notice all the birds using our deck feeders and heated bird bath. The only thing I would wish for were I granted a wish, would be a spot and a window large enough for a chair so I could sit and watch them. They are so fascinating and beautiful to watch.
I know that starlings are traditional pests, but really the beauty of this one with it's sparkly plumage sitting amid the lightly falling snow was too pretty to resist. The tiny bright spots really do remind me of a starry night sky.

I saw chickadees and goldfinches besides a flock of bluejays that also spent time at the feeder and the bath.

There is no end to the possible subjects for future projects, just never enough time!
Happy Monday, all!

Stitching the fish shacks

We had a fresh light snowfall last night of about 8 inches, so after our usual leisurely Sunday morning breakfast and crossword, I got dressed to go outside. While Gord was finishing up some painting, I plowed off the steps and walks and cleaned the the car. He went out with the snow blower after lunch to finish up.
This afternoon we were both too tuckered out to go snowshoeing. That meant I could go into my sewing studio and do some thread painting on the fish shack piece. This continues to be a learning experience for me. I backed it with stiff interfacing but still I was getting some puckering in the fabric which always bothers me.
I did most of the stitching and decided to wet it and block it out with pins. On the next piece I'm going to try doubling the interfacing.

My camera battery light came on. I switched to the I Pad taking pictures in different rooms trying to get the lighting right. The color shows a little darker than it actually is but still I think the photo helps to show me that I could add some lighter shades here and there.

I haven't done the two figures yet, nor have I sandwiched it. Perhaps an option next time might be to add the batting from the start.
It's a learning process.
And the 2nd one that I sketched on fabric the other day that I thought was a loss was saved. It had a seemingly stubborn pleat going through it. I wet it thoroughly, wrung it out and ironed it. I got it out. You can just make out the light pencil marks of the sketch which is taped to foam core board ready for painting.

I hope you're having a creative and relaxing Sunday!

Using Inktense pencils and blocks

Today was an 'at home' day and I had lots of ideas about what I wanted to get done with the fish shack theme. However, I had a bit of a late start do to a restless night's sleep. My husband came home for lunch and I also decided that I needed to get out for a walk on my favorite trail. The sun was shining and the air was cold and crispy.
As soon as I got in and made a cup of tea, I got some cotton fabric out drew some fish shacks on to it. I stretched it onto a piece of foam core and loosely painted it using Derwent pencils and Derwent blocks. What I did on the shacks was to color with  he pencils and then use textile medium to blend with. fro the more softly shaded areas, I used the color from the blocks added to a small puddle of medium on my tray and then applied it to the fabric.

I actually had 2 scenes drawn onto fabric but the first one had a crease running through it that I was afraid would not come out, so I'll have to do it again on fresh fabric. The one above measures about 8 by 10".
Next step will be to heat set it once dry on the weekend, sandwich it. Then it'll be ready for some thread painting and quilting.
I also want to show you a little sketch that I learned to do on my I Pad using the Sketch Club App. iI is new for me and since I don't have photo software, the idea of layers was totally foreign. Eventually, I got it mostly figured out. My little sketch isn't anything like a more experienced artist could do but I will admit I'm pretty pleased with myself to have gotten this far!

Ice shack sketches

Today, we've plunged into frigid temperatures again, -14C after lunch. It was sunny though so I went for a walk.
I've just come from my computer desk where I did a few quick sketches of the fish shacks using my photos from the other day as reference. I used pencil and colored pencils in a very quick manner. I'm just trying to get a feel for how I'd like to paint them on fabric.

The one above I like but I can already see I need to move the figures off center a bit as a focal point. I would probably cut out the fourth shack on the left.

I didn't like the perspective on the one above even though it looks like that in the photo.

The last one I kind of like but again, I'd probably take the fourth shack on the right out and add the other two men in.
This is why it's good to do lots of sketches before going to fabric. Sometimes it's good on the first try. Other times, one needs to try lots of alternatives.
I'm linking to The Needle and Thread Network.

Sketching and quilting

On Monday mornings my first priority is to get some housework done so I can concentrate on the fun stuff for the rest of the week. That is exactly what I did today. I even washed sheets and hung them out. It was breezy with temperatures around 0C. It is slowly getting colder though. We are plunging into a deep freeze again tomorrow.
I got right into quilting my fern runner after lunch, outlining the floral motifs in the middle with free motion stitching and silk thread.

I was tempted to continue with a meandering free motion to finish the runner, but instead decided to keep it simple. I straight stitched along the straight lines.

Tomorrow I should be able to get a binding on it.
While my husband watched the golf after supper last night, I brought up a couple of my ice hut photos on my I Pad so I could do a little sketching. This was done in my lap with my feet up on the coffee table. I used watercolor pencils with a water filled paint brush. No mess, no fuss.

I think I would like to try doing some fish huts in fiber as my next project. I'm leaning towards painting on fabric and adding thread stitching to it rather than using appliqué. Not quite sure yet.

I hope you're staying warm and creative on this Monday!