nimbleknot

Back to Felting

The party is over and it could not have been better. Good friends, good food, good beer and a fantastic slide show that my husband made of my first 40 years. Now that the cake frosting and beer puddles have been wiped up I can now set my wool back on the kitchen table. This is how I start most mornings. My favorite coffee cup, it's square and I have a thing for square things...my wool, needles, sponge and my beloved Gingher scissors that I recently dropped. It really stinks to drop a pair of $40 scissors. They are a hair (and I really mean a hair) bent on the half inch nearest the tip which to me is the most important when you are cutting fabric. You cannot see it but you can feel it. Bleh...

I want to show you a bear from start to finish this week. I will try and get one done but my parents are visiting. And we are celebrating my moms 75th birthday. So I might be a little slow in adding photos since I am sure we will spend the week eating, visiting and shopping. My nine year old always knows that we shop when Grandma is here. I like to shop, but my mom can out-shop all of us! My mom does not look 75, nor does she act 75. She is at least 10-12 years younger all the way around, same goes for my dad. But hopefully I can get a bear done this week and get it listed on ebay.

Today...is my 40th Birthday...

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Thank you Monica! Fabulous cake!

...and I invited a few friends. Actually,  I am cleaning my house, preparing hors d'oeuvres and stressing over what to wear to my party that is happening tomorrow night. So that is why I haven't been needlefelting this week...I am getting my house together to open it up to a huge group of my favorite people

Give a Little

My niece called me the other day from my hometown, Chico California. The place I learned to ride a horse, do a back-flip on the diving board, picked almonds every fall from our small orchard, rode the bus to school in the fog, got allergies every spring, ran cross-country in high school, tried to fry an egg on the street in the summer (yes, I really did that) and took a nosedive riding a crazy donkey down our street. I still have the scar. Those were the days! Chico is also the birthplace of one of my favorites. One of the best if you like beer.

Anyway, Rose (my niece) asked me if I would please make her a bear because the choir at her school (my rival!) Chico High was having a Silent Auction to raise money to get them to New York City. Of course I would. So after a couple days and about 30,000 pokes, I came up with Alto Annie! She is sitting on a wool pincushion with CHS and NYC embroidered on it, a wool pennant with the year, topped with an apple to commemorate "the big apple" and her little choir book with notes. I am not a musician so who knows what I actually wrote! I hope Annie brings the choir more than a few dollars and makes a nice memento for the person that takes her home.

Another Project on the Horizon

Or should I call it, "Another Mess in the Kitchen?" I have seen so many gorgeous dollhouses with handmade miniature items, I thought..."now there's something I need to do." A few months ago I stumbled across this dollhouse by Jenny B. Harris, scroll to the bottom to see it. I was mezmerized. And also thought Club Little House was something to shoot for. I hunted, shopped and scoured the internet for a nice house. I was shocked at the complexity and choices that were out there. I decided to start small. Hello Hobby Lobby...and their 40% off coupon! So once again, I hogged the kitchen table with my crafts and started my new project. I hope to have it done in time for Easter so my little bears have a place to look for eggs. We'll eat on the floor until then. Just kidding. Oh yea...I finally got around to making a custom masthead. I think it's a little better than the green blob. My browser was giving me fits and I had to get a little help from the Typepad folks. Once again, they came to my rescue and helped me clear up the issue since it was not covered in their help pages.

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY

If you can't enjoy the sweet things in life, what's left? My husband took the day off, I made mini cupcakes for the kids, we bought chocolate covered strawberries and we will have our favorite pizza for dinner (Papa Murphys)! If you've never had this pizza before it's awesome. They make it for you right there with whatever you want and then you take it home to bake (take-n-bake). SOOOOOOO good.

My half-made bear is sitting on the kitchen table...tomorrow little guy...I promise you will have arms.

Where's my coat?

I told you he was mad. I think he needs a sweater even though he lives in the house. He shivers so my son wraps him up in his blankie. If you are ever wanting a good family dog...get a toy poodle.

The Pincushion is Complete

Ahh yes, I think the pincushion looks much better! I didn't set out to make a panda. But as I stared at the bold fabric colors they were screaming "panda...panda!" I also made a little matching dress, but tore it off. It clouded the ensemble. I decided that the embroidered collar made her pop. Whew, those little pleats! I love double-sided fusing and invisible thread. What would I do without that stuff? Those items came in especially handy with the party hat. I fused the checked fabric to the back of the felt, then beaded the brim. Invisible thread will make you cuss like a sailor. Trust me.

My dog is mad at me. He is a 9 lb. black poodle. He is so black you sometimes wonder if he has eyes and a mouth. But I found out yesterday he does have two eyes and a mouth. I know this because he got a haircut. He looks great now. But he just sat and stared at me after he got back from the groomer. Wouldn't even come when I called his name. He just looks at me and says, "Thanksalot. I look just great, like a rat with a fat wad of hair on my head." I think he's embarrassed.

Johnny in a Box

Johnny has already been shipped away to a lovely friend. I forgot to let him hold his puppy for this photo! I think I left him on the table in the other room. The hazards of having crafts in every room.

The weather has been in the mid-70's this week so I've been biking in the afternoons. I can't pass up this great weather. I trimmed the bushes in my front yard wearing shorts. It will be back in the 40's and 50's soon enough. I am having a birthday party in a couple weeks and I have a LOT of chores to do before then.

Up next...I think the pincushion needs a friend. It's too lonely.

Nine-Patch Pincushion

I think I dreamed this pincushion. The colors...happy and bold. I love to quilt. I do everything by hand. I don't design on a computer. I pick out the fabric, toss it on the table and pair them up. Over and over....

I cut small squares and spend hours re-arranging them on a table to get the right color scheme and pattern.

After deciding what fabrics need to go where I sew them together, then decide what order they need to go when folded into a square.

After that, all the seams get matched up, pinned, sewn and stuffed...
I think it needs a bear...don't you?

I am getting better at this blogging!

I am getting used to this blogging. Thank you Missy from Crafty Carnival to reassure me I am not an idot!

My latest bear I tried something new...a lighter colored snout. He doesn't have a name yet. He is shown here with his legs that I have yet to put on his body. I wonder if he feels like the scarecrow from the Wizard of Oz..."my legs! my legs." At least nobody ate them.

I also decided I needed some Valentine cheer to go on my Valentine tree. So I made some yo-yo's. I am going to string them on some adorable pink rick rack.

I think my late nights figuring out this blog have caught up with me. It's 6:15 and I am dragging. I think it's early enough in the evening to perk some coffee. It's Girl Scout cookie time and we've got about 120 boxes in our living room. Hmmm, coffee and cookies. Try being in a house all day, doing crafts with all those cookies staring back at you...eat me...eat me. I am strong. In the last 2 weeks I have only eaten half a box. Its cold and wet outside so the bike trails are too muddy, that's why I've only eaten half a box - I can't burn off cookies with a sewing machine.