Yarn Scraps

After knitting socks for the last four or five years, or more, I have a large collection of scrap yarns. Looking through Elizabeth Zimmermann’s Knitter’s Almanac, I found an interesting hat pattern. The hat comes down over one’s ears which I always complain of mine being cold.  Rather sassy looking aren’t they?

Still lots of yarn left so I decided to make a sweater for Mandy, using her old sweater for a pattern.

Does she look happy? I don’t think so. It may be a bit small. I still have LOTS of yarn left. I’ll try again and make it larger.

Little Road Trips

It’s deer hunting season and not a good time to be hiking in the woods – So –  we take little car rides along the country roads. Last week we came home through Bois D’Arc and found that most of the houses were built of stone. Here’s two examples. Actually this is a church, which is obvious.

And this is a garage, but have you ever seen such beautiful stone work on a garage? The stone mason must have been having fun.

Today we drove down Hwy. Z. More evidence of deer hunting in this “grocery” store.

Do you think they do any business any other time of the year?

And here’s a pastoral scene of a horse and bull enjoying the shade together. Don’t ask about the school bus in the background. I haven’t a clue.

I do love this time of year after the leaves have fallen and one can see through the trees. The whole landscape opens up. But, it’s hard to take pictures on these roads. There’s no shoulder and too many hills and curves to park safely.

My Helper

So far, of the 42 QAYG blocks that I need for my current project, I have 38. Woo Woo! Only four to go.

This is Mandy, my helper/companion. How does she help? She listens to me whine or whistle while I work. And never talks back. Who could ask for more? Note the white embroidered linen behind her curly white coat. What a nice composition, taken by my friend, Sally Robinson. Thank you Sally.

Heading South

We’re fortunate to be in the migratory path of many birds and the monarch butterflies. About a week ago we looked out the living room slider onto the lake and saw some thing huge and white floating in the lake. We grabbed the camera with the telephoto lens and jumped in the car. When we go to the bridge we could tell that it was Snow Geese. What you see in this picture represents only about a fourth of the total number.

The picture is a little out of focus ’cause the lens is heavy and I forgot to grab the tripod but you get the idea.

Then today the Canadian Geese were flying over head, wave after wave of them. It’s a spectacular sight.

And this group came right over the house. They make such beautiful formations.

Heron At Sunrise

The latest Uncommon Threads Challenge was “Peaceful Waters” which happens to be the title of a song written by Roberta Ranney’s husband, Bob.

I used this pictures of a Heron that I took at sunrise last year down at our neighborhood boat ramp.

I could have tried dyeing fabric for the background, but that seemed tedious so I found some hand dyed that I bought a number of years ago and have been saving  for a special occasion. This is the occasion. I printed the heron onto fabric and then machine embroidered all over it and fused “him” and the dock to the background.

You can see all the Peaceful Water challenges on the Uncommon Threads blog. Click here.

Back in the Groove

 

There has been an unfinished art quilt on my design wall all summer. Finally, I am trying to finish it.  The machine embellishment is almost done. Whether you recognize it or not, this is a dandelion.

And this is a grackle.

I love grackles. Some folks think they are a nuisance, but I think they are comedians. This may become my signature bird!

 

Totem Challenge

My art quilt group’s latest 12 x 12 challenge was “Your Totem.”  I googled “Native American Totems” and found this site.  As I read the list I would think “maybe” then on down the list another “maybe” but when I got to the Flamingo I knew immediately that that was the one and that I needn’t go further!

In a manner of speaking it’s after Nora Butler’s flamingo that I’ve worn on a T-short for many years.

But then, thinking more about totems, I realized that I can have more than one so I made another 12 x 12 and inserted the flamingo into a poppy that I’ve photographed.

Of course, both flamingos are wearing jewelry.  For your information, the flamingo stands for – heart healing, psychic, people person, and flirtatious. HA! You can see everyone’s totems on the UT blog.

Ideas are Slow to Come to Fruition

This current project has beenon the back burner for months. Finally, I said, “Just do it” and now I think it’s coming together. There has been a lot of sewing and ripping and more ripping, but just to have it up on the design wall where I see it every day is actually comforting. What started out as a rather gloomy piece has become uplifting; certainly color wise. The most pressing decision at the moment is deciding which bird to use. They are printed on paper so it’s easy to move them around.

Bird #1

Bird #2

I think just going through the exercise of writing and publishing this post has helped me decide.

Traps

This was a lovely afternoon; particularly after such miserable cold weather we’ve had so we took a walk down on a trail through the woods, close to the house; and took Mandy our little dog with us.

Close to the trail’s end Harry was yelling and Mandy was screaming, only as a dog can, and I found her caught in a trap.

We got her loose and she didn’t limp or favor her leg, so I can assume she wasn’t injured. But what’s worse than that?

Two Traps.  Each was set right next to the trail. I mean RIGHT NEXT TO IT. Pardon me while I have a bit of a rage. I went back with a shovel and bolt cutters, dug them up/cut them out and brought them home. Now I am a little afraid to walk in the woods again. I certainly will be looking and tapping with my walking stick. Mandy may have to stay home in the future. Poor pup.

Can’t Get Enough Red

I never get bored with color; particularly red. We don’t get as much red fall foliage as other parts of the nation, so I doubly appreciate it when I see it.

 

This rooster lived a few miles from here. Isn’t he handsome and doesn’t he know it? Note his feet.

And the only  good things about this crappy cold weather we’re having are the magnificent sunrises and sunsets.This is a sunset as seen from my back yard a couple of evenings ago. Wow!