Bunnies and embellishing

My daughter just sent these two pictures of my bunny grandchildren, and they're so adorable they make my heart ache! I just want to hold them, but they're hundreds of miles away. 

The top cutie is Bunners, who is going on 12 years old and only weighs about two pounds. Julia calls the second picture "bunny hug." It's Charlie and Bailey wrapped around each other like a furry yin yang symbol.

My wool rabbit is nowhere near as cute. I added a few gold beads in my quest to make it a little more interesting.

I'm continuing to embellish the other blocks in the wool applique quilt that I've been working on for the past year. I keep going back and adding a little here, a little there.

I think it's getting close to completion. Then the hard part -- quilting -- will come. I much prefer making the top to doing the quilting.

Today is a good day for sewing because it's grey and drizzly outside.

Have a colorful day

Embellishing the wool

I've turned my attention back to the wool applique pattern I started a year ago, "At Home In the Garden." I decided it needed some stars, moon and sun, so I added those and now I'm back to embellishing with embroidery and beading.

It's also our 35th anniversary today! This photo was taken seven or eight years ago at Lake Crescent on the Olympic Peninsula. We're headed to one of our favorite restaurants for dinner tonight.

Have a colorful day

February color block

Photos from February.

I know February isn't over yet, but I think I've collected enough photos of this month's color to do the block for the month. If a big color surprise comes up in the next week, I'll do another block.

It was lighter than last month, with the sun setting noticeably later. Even when it is grey, it seems to be a lighter grey than in January, plus we've had snow. Orange koi in our pond and some pink blooms and glossy green leaves nearby added slivers of color.

Above are the fabrics I gathered to go with the photos, and below is the background for the fabric collage.

Here's the finished block!

And here are some photos that I took today after yesterday's snowfall. Buddha isn't fazed, and the fish are swimming under the ice.

I'm linking to Nina Marie's Off-the-Wall Friday post at finding-your-voice-off-wall-friday.html
This week, Nina Marie offers a great exercise on finding your artistic voice.

 Have a colorful day

Painting results

Yesterday I added a little more paint to some fabric that already had been partially painted and dried. Here's how the wet paint moved around. Above is the wet fabric, and below is how it looked today after it dried and was ironed. I actually like it better when it was wet and darker.

Again, the next two photos show wet fabric and dried and ironed fabric. I used Setacolor and Dye-Na-Flow, which both dry lighter.

This morning it snowed! Remember that award-winning book, "Snow Falling On Cedars," which took place in the Puget Sound? That is exactly what was going on this morning.

 Have a colorful day

Woolies inspiration

We had an exceptionally inspirational Woolies meeting this week, with everyone pulling out colorful projects filled with amazing embroidery details. These first three are from a quilt that Mary is making.

Next up are some fish and a house by Karen.

Flowers by Nancy:

And flowers and a butterfly by Linda:

Judy has been working on this Sue Spargo Christmas quilt for awhile, and now she's doing a combination of hand and machine quilting. The pattern is "Crimson Tweed."

And another reindeer appeared, with this version by Donna. I've shown several others in past posts. There were a few more projects being worked on, but my pictures didn't do them justice.

Last but not least is little Lizzie, who wore feathers in her fur to get into the party spirit. 

 Have a colorful day

Painting silk ribbon

The sun came out and I felt like painting fabric, which I haven't done in ages. I decided to do a few colors on silk ribbon to use for embellishments and embroidery. I got the ribbon eons ago from dharmatrading.com.

It's a simple setup. I pour a little Setacolor paint (also from Dharma Trading) in old pie tins and water it down until it's flowable.

Then I moosh the ribbon into the paint with a cheap sponge brush. You could use several colors in one pie tin for more interest.

I let some areas remain white so that I can go in later and add a different color ... maybe pink would look nice with this orange.

I got impatient letting the ribbons dry in the pie tins, so after awhile I transferred them to plastic-covered mat boards (but you could just lay them out on old garbage bags). I let the ribbon twist and turn so that the paint would create interesting patterns as it dried.

The next morning, I peeled the ribbons off the plastic and ironed it, loving the mottled results. Be aware that the ribbon will be stiffer with paint than if you used dyes, but that doesn't matter to me.

The final result:

I did another blog post almost eight years ago about painting silk ribbon with Colorhues paint, which dries softer than Setacolor: silk-ribbon-painting-experiment.html

Have a colorful day

Seattle rain, music, food

Snapshots of two cities:

Seattle and Gig Harbor, last night

The city is shown, lights, traffic chaos, looming buildings, as we started our drive home after a concert. Our drive ended on the quiet and dark, empty but for the trees, road leading to our home.

It was our second night this week for a concert in Seattle, very unusual for us. This time we saw the Chick Corea Trio at Dimitriou's Jazz Alley, and they were fantastic!

Jazz Alley is one of the few jazz clubs left in the country, according to Chick. Here's a picture of the club before he took the stage. Those tables soon filled, as it was a sold-out concert.

Dinner was delectable. I had Key lime pie for dessert, and Dave had this very photogenic chocolate torte.

Note how the colors of his dessert match the night outside! I love juxtapositions like this! Cheap thrills.

Have a colorful day

Seattle: ferry, market, food, music

Miracle of miracles! We took the ferry over to Seattle on Tuesday for a concert and the rains parted and we were escorted across the water by sunshine!

And another miracle: We didn't have to fight the usual crowds at Pike's market! We got there late in the afternoon, so maybe it's never crowded then. I'm usually there earlier in the day. It was so nice to be able to walk right up to the stalls without being jostled by elbows and backpacks.

I sort of went crazy at Three Sisters Bakery, but I forgot to get pictures. Instead of just ordering one pastry, I went all out and bought everything that I wanted. To heck with the diet. I left with an almond croissant, a pain au chocolat, and an apple strudel.  

Then I bought this brunch book at Left Bank Books. I was enticed by the muffin recipes. This was followed by a stop at a brewpub in the market, with oysters and beer for Dave and a freshly baked soft pretzel with stout mustard for me. We had to save our appetites for dinner at the concert.

The concert was Johnny A, solo, at the Triple Door. A huge aquarium greeted us in the lobby, then we  were escorted to our front row seats where Dave snapped this photo of Johnny tuning his guitar.

Dinner for me was king salmon, bok choi and a divine chocolate mousse. Then the music began, and it was good.

Final miracle: We drove home in record time, whizzing along I-5 without the usual traffic congestion. I capped off the night with the almond croissant before going to bed. It was a good day!

Have a colorful day