Another storm day -- studio time

Yesterday we made the 1 hour drive to Campbellton where I took my 'new to me' machine to be serviced. It seems to be free motion stitching like a top now although I haven't tried it yet. It was sunny, but cold, so a nice day for a drive. I picked up some wool, a new rotary cutter, and a piece of fabric. It's a little shop with a bit of everything.

We are now in the midst of another nor'easter and I've been in my studio all afternoon. This morning, after French toast for breakfast, tea and the usual newspaper reading and crossword solving, I made muffins. Just before lunch, I led my hubby through my yoga routine. I'm truing to get him back into it. He used to do it regularly and hasn't for some time.

The little birds, including this red-pole, don't really seem to mind the storm, only snuggling into a branch on the lilac tree when a wind gust comes up.

In the studio, I started by sorting and organizing a few things. Since I hadn't pulled my machine out of the bag yet, I decided to cut out a couple more kits for the little zippered bagettes that I ve been making. It seems I'm not done with them yet.

I cut up some sun prints, again pulled from my box of scraps. It feels like treasure hunting when I find a piece that will suit. And finding coordinating fabrics is equally fun.

A little free motion stitching to accent the wild flower print.' loosey goosey'!

The second one.

Close up.

Then I threaded on the black thread and went back to adding still more shading to the rocks. When I'm sure it's 'there', I will move on to the dark grey, then lighter grey, etc. Since the front doesnt look much different, I thought I'd show you what the back looks like.

There is white stabilizer on the back. What you see is all thread.

I've just been listening to the news about the storm around the maritimes and it seems some places are really being hit.flooding and collapsing rooves in Halifax, NS. I guess we should be glad for the snow although the weight of that can cause problems too. Let's hope this finds you, my readers safe and happy.

Grow Your Blog Party

Today, I'm participating in the 3rd annual Grow Your Blog Party hosted by Vicki at  2 Bags Full where you will find a long list of participating blogs. Perhaps you'll find some new friends and some interesting reading. It is a very large undertaking that she does once a year and I'd like to thank her.

My name is Holly McLean and I live in a very small city in northern New Brunswick, Canada. I started blogging about 6 years ago when, after having read blogs for a while, I thought it might be a way for me to journal about my own journey and to connect with like minded bloggers. I left work almost 5 years ago due to illness and since then my art and my blog have become real lifesavers for me. I have not only found new and wonderful blog friends, but I've also been published in Quilting Arts magazine, something very exciting for me.

You never know what you might read about on any given day with me. I like to post about recipes I find or create, my knitting and craft endeavors, the garden, my drawings, birds at my feeders or on my walks, photographs of my walks, my fiber art and sometimes some traditional quilting or sewing.

I've been working on a piece based on a photo of a rocky hillside a few minutes from my home. It is one of the most complicated pieces I've done. Yesterday, after my errands and household jobs, I finally backed the painted sky with some stabilizer and sat down to free motion stitch some background trees. I was so tired by then that I had to quit but at least now I can sit down to it at any time.

One of the chores I was doing yesterday, was organizing some of my thread so I can better see what I have. Most of the greys and a lot of the greens are missing as they are in a tray next to my machine for my current project.

I've also chosen a matching batik for a little (4 !/2" by 6 !/2") piece that I'm doing of some local fish shanties.I may use it as a binding. I don't think it will need anything more.

On the trail yesterday with my husband, we gathered a few more branches for my feeder area on my deck. At Christmas I made two sprays for opposite posts on the deck. I view these from our kitchen and dining room windows and liked them so much, I wanted to add a 3rd one in the middle. We put another suet cage there as well. The chickadees, woodpeckers and nuthatches love them.

One other creative thing I'm up to is to embellish a light that I recently had my husband put up in a corner of the living room. I loved the style but the clear glass allows too much of a glare even when we bought a soft light. I picked up a package of stick on plastic flowers form the Dollar Store that I planned to use for something else when the idea struck me to try them out on the lamp. I think I like it and plan to cover the whole thing. Perhaps, I've seen some similar ones in design magazines.

I hope you enjoy the reading you'll find on the blog party and that you make some new connections and new friends.  I intend to check it out myself  later today.