Things I Love Thursday

Yes - the moon.  She was lovely as always.  Like most others with a camera, I snapped my own images of her from the deck of my home.  The night was clear and the timing was great.  My kids were out in the backyard enjoying with me.

I love that the days are still warm.  We've had a few warm nights still and were able to sleep with the windows open, though the colours continue to change with the season.

That is the tree over my back deck.  I do love the yellow so very much, especially when it's illuminated in the light!  Many trees are still green.  A few are bare since the last big wind.  This next one from Sutherland Beach is so great - look how much space it takes up!  It's my son's favourite.  He stopped in his tracks to say, 'WOAH.  LOOK at that tree!'

The paths at that off leash park are so gorgeous and a tad spooky.  I love being able to look past the gnarly dark branches to see sunlit areas.  It's like mini tree forts for little ones.

It's not just the trees... but the grasses change colour too.  I love when I find orange and red grasses in the natural parks.  They are so beautiful and they glow when the sun hits them.  This batch looked pretty at the top of a retaining wall along a path.

Okay, one more photo!  This bush is great - the leaves look like coins from a way back: red and gold and burgundy and yellow spots of colour.

Isn't that lovely!?  What a great September it has been.  Happy October, and Happy Thursday to you!  : )

Things I Love Thursday

I love getting back out for my morning walks... this time with my new pal Buddy the Border Collie.  ; )  He had never been on a leash before coming to us so this was the first time I ventured out with him tied to me AND a camera in hand.  We went to walk in the local park.  Today, I happened to really enjoy the trees.

I love the way all the trees gently lean toward the sun.

I always notice bare spots on the ground at the bases of trees in early & late winter when the snow is minimal.  It's because the are WARM.  They are warm because they are ALIVE.  Had you ever noticed that?  It is wonderful.

This lamp post is not alive.

But look at the the bases of the trees!

I love that so much.  Doesn't it make you want to go hug them all!?  Well... except for the evergreens.  : )  Check out this nice little family, so neatly placed by humans.

I love being under evergreens.  Their energy is SO strong, fresh, and rejuvening.  I don't know how to explain it.  This is my favourite view of my favourite trees...

Don't they look so wild from underneath?  I love the morning sun in the rough branches, and how the branches look like they are 'arms open wide'.  Oh - and the smell.... mmmmmm.  I always feel so nourished under an evergreen.  It feeds all my senses.

I'll save the rest of the best for Sunday Snapshots.  See you tomorrow, and enjoy your day!  ; )

Finished it Friday! x 4

I just finished up this (sweet) little set of four autumn sky/tree pictures in time for tomorrow's group show & sale at Agar's Corner.  They worked out just how I hoped they would!  When I was first gifted all those silk ribbons, the idea popped into my head to stitch leaves turning colors.  Here they are!

Autumn Birches #1

Autumn Birches #2

Autumn Birches #3

Autumn Birches #4

They look so pretty in the box-style chunky white frames I got.  I'm tempted to keep them for myself!  I made them to have some lower priced items at the show.  The silks are all hand dyed - including the sari silk I used for the trunks.  When they are displayed together, they remind me of looking out a window in the fall.  AAaaaaaaaah.  : )  I just can't stop taking photos of them!  : )  I'm enjoying the silk so darn much.

 p.s.  All are stitch-signed by hand too...

 Happy autumn!  If you are nearby, please stop by the show and say hello.  ; )

Trees!

The detour I took to that Fall scene really paid off.  I came back from the long weekend completely ready to do this.  I have threadpainted trees a five times now.  I was nervous about the trunks of these, but oooh it turned out superb!  Want to see??

detail of a commission in progress

This is the 'ugly phase' : )  It's true...  it looks rough still.  I've done more machine work on this since I took the photo.  Now I am ready to hand stitch the foreground and really make this piece sing.  We'll see how far I get this week...

p.s  I'm still looking for extra copies of this particular issue if any SCC members wouldn't mind passing one on to me when they are done?  PLEASE & THANK YOU!

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* p.p.s. * Did you know we are getting our first snowfall right now?  * The grass is still green and it's melting, but there's the white stuff! * : )  * I don't mind.  * I went for a nice long walk this morning. * it's mild out and very, very quiet. * All the children in the park were heading off to school with their tongues sticking out to catch some. * My youngest boy claims that the first snowflakes of the season are always the sweetest. *                                      *               *                                        *
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off to sew...

Stuck in the Trees

Here it is... the long awaited commission for D.  She's the one who said, "just make me something.  Be creative."  I don't want to make her something she might not love.  I had to probe a bit more and did get the words green, summer, and trees from her.  This image popped into my head.  It was from the end of Bergheim Road, east of the city.  I found it the day I went searching for flax.  I've always wanted to stitch this one!  Here's my process so far...

choosing fabric colors, source photo nearby

It all begins with the perfect sky.  This one was a section of cloth from Dahn (sounds like Dawn) Cassleman in the Yukon!  She's at the Wilderness City Quilter blog.  I don't dye - or haven't much yet.  So when friends send me sky fabric, I'm quite thrilled.  It was a terrific barter for the thread I sent her.  I stick all the land pieces on with glue.  Lapel Stick works best for me.  I know many threadpainters dye or paint silk backdrops first, or transfer photos onto the cloth... but the way I do it means I can begin stitching right away.

machine stitching, blending colors, painting with thread

I go top to bottom in the scene.  It really is like painting.  I add thread by color where it's needed.  I blend.  I have stitched into the sky before, but this is nice the way it is.  Plus, it will be somewhat covered in tree boughs when I'm done.

One of my favorite parts of the process is finding the right colors - whether it's the base fabric or the threads for stitching.  My thread stash is SO HUGE (yes - I am indeed bragging here) that it's like going on a scavenger hunt in my sewing room. Fun.  ; )  It's incredibly satisfying to find the perfect color match.

i always have the right color since that garage sale last summer!

I love love love to work with variegated threads.  Look how perfect this next spool will be for the brush in the corner of that scene!  (See?  The constant exclamation marks tell you I'm excited!) 

auditioning thread

I got to the point yesterday where I had pretty much finished the background.  Here it is so far!

7x9... maybe a tad bigger.

My plan is to stitch in the trees by machine, and then embellish the foreground by hand.  I am nervous about the trees.  It was a lot of work, and there's no going back if I screw this up.  I figured that this time, I need to have a plan and sketch it out a bit first.  I came up with this idea to have the opening off centre.  I love the way the tree line top is in a V-shape.  It has nice movement to it.

sketching out a plan...

Now I am 'stuck in the trees'.  I spent an hour trying out thread and combinations of threads, and a variety of stitches & tension alterations.  I'm getting close... I think I'm ready but WHEW it's time to call it a day.

practicing up for the trees

There you go!  Linking to WIP Wednesday at The Needle & Thread Network.  See you there.

Teaching Little Ones!

My daughter's German Preschool Teacher asked me if I could come in to teach the children about quilts and quilting next week!  Fun.  I can't wait!  For the Craft time, I am preparing little kits for reach child to make their own blocks. They will all get tree parts.

And there will a mixed bag of squares, rectangles, and triangles to make houses (or whatever else they decide to make)!

I'm also going to give them each a big square of muslin for the backing.  I figure they can glue-stick their shapes on.  My plan is to take the blocks home and applique it all.  There are only ten kids in my daughter's class.  Then I'll decide on sashing and a border.  I saw a quilt like this once with paper-pieced children all around.  How sweet!  I could get that started now.  

Or I could add those awesome cute gnomes!  Have you seen these!?  Sonja rocks AND she's Canadian.

Sonja Callaghan's Gnomelings - Free Pattern

I have some pretty red ric-rac to embellish the quilt with too.  That would look very festive I'm sure! ; ) 

my favorite evergreen

This quilt needs to be done for St. Nikolas day (Dec 5th).  It will be silent auctioned amongst the preschool families.  They teacher is pretty excited.  She figures the parents will be fighting over it!  lol  I'll keep you posted on my progress.  This will be so fun!

Have a great day.  Enjoy the the melting / freezing / melting!  : )

frozen leaves in many layers

~Monika K.

Sewing in Saskatoon