Tuesday, November 21, 2006

Stitchin', Crocheting, Quilting, and Bad Photography

I know my regular readers are just so excited that I can now add pictures to the blog. I mean you come here for those art shots right? For the stitching portion of this post, you can see below my progress or lack thereof on CHS Strawberry Blonde. I'm stitching her on the unknown fabric from JoAnn's with the selvedge to the left and I think the proportions look good right now. The test will be the plump strawberry above her head. Will it be summer ripe or end up drought stricken and thin due to the unevenness of the fabric? Here at the "Ranch" every stitch is an adventure. Below is my take on Bella Dia 's Vintage Stripe Throw based on this afghan seen at yarnstorm: my little eye. No, my afghan looks about as vintagey as say my neighbor's Navigator so I call my attempt at this afghan Cinco de Mayo. It's got a Mexican blanket feel to it. Something about the yellow, orange and pink it just screams "fiesta". I plan to make another one of these in colors that remind me of the afghan at yarnstorm. I love those colors. I just don't happen to have many of them in the stash. The afghan below is a stash buster so I'm working hard to stay within the color palette offered up by my minimal yarn stash.
Here are the quilt blocks from my class 19 yrs ago. Do these colors scream "We are the 80s?" or what? Don't they make you want to throw down to Midnight Star and No Parking on the Dance Floor? I believe they are destined to end up as a quilted floor pillow.


And you've been patiently waiting for today's attempt at the art shot, well this was the sky over my house a week or so ago. The clouds were so close they were suffocating. The color is pretty accurate. Even the oldest son commented on the sky. My family asks me constantly why do you take so many pictures of the sky? What's the point? My answer, "You guys never remember to look up." The sky is cool. It's always changing. Sometimes for the better, sometimes the worse but it's magic.


This weekend I started and finished Carl Hiaasen's Nature Girl. If you love Hiaasen and understand where he's coming from, you will enjoy this book. Some of the characters wackiness has been seen before between the pages of his books but living in Florida I can tell you, these people do exist. I related to the main character in more ways than I find comfortable to admit. I love Florida, I love her raw beauty, I hate development and there are very few places left untouched by the developers who pretty much want knock down every tree and build walls of condos along these barrier islands that were never ever meant to be built on but what do I know? Maybe hurricane damage wouldn't run into the billions of dollars if people weren't allowed to keep building on barrier islands that were never meant to be built on. Do I sound repetitive? But I have to agree with a review I read somewhere online, nothing really happens in this book. Sure there's a lot of stuff going on but I never really cared about the characters and was ready for the eagle to just eat them all. I hate that because I love Hiaasen and can so relate to his love for Florida. Was it a pleasant way to pass the weekend, yes but if you want Hiaasen at this absolute best read Tourist Season or Skinny Dip. Skinny Dip is my personal favorite.
I started the new Stephen King, Lisey's Story Sunday but haven't made a lot of progress.
My cornbread is baked for my dressing, my turkey is thawing in the fridge. I'm trying to figure out the rest of Thursday's menu so I can make a list and finish up my grocery shopping today or tomorrow. I'd rather get it done today. I suspect tomorrow the grocery will be crowded.


2 comments:

Tobie said...

Great projects! Now that you've gone outside the box for stitching fabric, I'll pass along another hint.........mens jackets from the thrift store have been a source for uniquely cool evenweaves for my stitching in the past. I sometimes tease my DH that his jacket would make a great sampler background, he has several that I could see myself cutting up for that purpose. I especially love the wool/wool blend ones that have that 'heatherfield' look.
I like your churn dash quilt block with the light blue square in the middle~perfect for a little embroidery doodling, maybe some cherries or a ladybug. :)

Meari said...

Of course we come to your blog for the art shots! Where else are we going to get sky pics? (We don't look up either - Well, I do. But I'm a photographer) I'm sure I have some 80's lookin fabrics too. Actually, I have fabric from when I way before that... and guess what? My 14yr old niece chose it to put in her tshirt quilt. She's all stoked that she gets to have "vintage" fabric. LOL