The weather is getting cold… it is that time of year after all, so I thought I’d better get to Rockford to deliver my latest sweater for Benjamin. Trevor and Elizabeth came along for the ride and the boy provided great entertainment value as he investigated his grandma’s latest offering…
I’m sure his friends will tell him that slouchy hats are all the rage this year!
Indeed we saw lots of slouchy hats in Chicago where a fun weekend was had by all. It included a trip to “the bean”… I took 300 pictures but you have been spared all but one…
or two…
That was Steve and Trevor and Elizabeth investigating the rocks in the walls of the Tribune building. We had a really good couple of days enjoying the culture (art and music) and food of Chicago… I was not allowed to shop (much) but that was OK…
Thanksgiving was on its way and I decided to make this Bareroots candle mat from a kit that I found languishing in a drawer in the basement. I’m never sure if pumpkins are Halloween or Thanksgiving but these ones were definitely in honor of the Thanksgiving holiday. I whipstitched them down with some Aurifil wool thread and embellished them with the new Valdani 3 ply threads I bought in Madison.
and a close up…
We enjoyed a full house for Thanksgiving but everyone had people to see and places to go so I skipped out to a more than full class for Machine Quilting 2 instead of shopping on Black Friday. Hopefully everyone went home inspired to get some quilt tops finished into quilts but I was so busy I didn’t take any pictures…
While I was out Steve and Jonathan had taken themselves to the store and bought an Apple tv which means I can now make anyone unwise enough to express the slightest interest watch all my photos in glorious hi definition … I have more than 8000 pictures saved so it could take a while… you have been warned.
The Sunday after Thanksgiving I was back at Pieceful Heart to make FabricOrigami stars. A fun time was had by all and lots of stars were constructed…
Holiday over, house back to normal it was time to get the second set of borders on my Imperial Blooms quilt…
Just waiting for the backing fabric and I am ready to start the quilting.
This Saturday we were at Pieceful Heart Fabrics again. This time it was for a Leaf Bowl class… only most people wanted to make flower bowls…
Lots of thread painting…
some beads added with Aileen’s Jewel-it…
made for some pretty flower bowls…
with a leaf bowl from the more obedient member of the class…
To be fair, we had said that flower bowls were allowed, but the class was really for the leaves… I’m nothing if not flexible…
Meanwhile my Vistaprint order for postcards to market my skills in African Folklore Embroidery were delivered….
I have mailed the first batch to guilds around Illinois. I am hoping for a positive response (some bookings would be nice) but I’m not sure if they will get where they are intended to go? So, I’m working on some alternative ideas… I am open to suggestions!
Meanwhile I am embroidering up some more samples… Here is my stitching station (complete with tv remote and both phones…one always rings just when I’ve sat down if I don’t have them handy)
