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Art, Craft and Needlework, December 2018

Posted: Sat Dec 01, 2018 7:09 pm
by Harriet
It's already December - how did that happen? :) Now, if we were totally organized about this (like with HGP or other plan), we'd stop any artistic creations now because of the date. Does anyone actually DO that? Or do you keep on enjoying creativity anyhow?

In November,

Nancy completed a month of creative writing and has been painting Rudolf the Red Nosed Reindeer.
Elizabeth has been crocheting but wisely set aside a project she didn't like. (the right move!)
BookSaver volunteered, helping decorating the library for a day - as many as 8 or 9 trees!
Harmony has been to the fabric store as she works on a project for her dd.
Harriet has been hand-sewing applique and assembling a children's craft.

What goes on at your house? How is creativity making you happy?

Re: Art, Craft and Needlework, December 2018

Posted: Sun Dec 02, 2018 10:57 am
by Nancy
Got some fiber to card and spin to up.
Working on getting the dish cloths and hot pads & puppets sent off and given to the places they go to this month.

Re: Art, Craft and Needlework, December 2018

Posted: Tue Dec 04, 2018 11:16 am
by BookSaver
Update on knitting hats with a round loom:
3 XL hats for adults in gray
3 baby hats in pink
3 child hats in green
All finished except for the final tie off, waiting for a decision about whether or not to add a pompom.

I am currently working on a child's hat in pink. I did several rows last night after work while watching a relaxing video. However, the danger in multitasking is that this morning I discovered a mistake that I can't let go. I'm having to carefully undo 6 rows to get back to fix the error. I'm undoing it stitch by stitch on the loom because if I take the whole thing off the loom to pull out the stitches, I'm not sure that I would be able to put it back on the loom.

It's ok, I've already made a lot more hats than I had planned to do. I'm making the extra ones because a friend gave me several skeins of yarn in pink and green.

All of the hats I'm knitting are for the library's hat & mitten tree. The Friends of the Library officers will decide who receives the hats. There are several family shelters in our area and, unfortunately, a lot of people who can't afford to buy warm hats.

The tree is already full of donations and we have another month before it will be taken down. I wish the group would deliver a bunch of the donations now because all this week our high temperatures will be below freezing. I might be bold enough this afternoon to send them an email and ask about the possibility of early distribution. That would still allow a good 3 weeks to fill the tree again.

Re: Art, Craft and Needlework, December 2018

Posted: Tue Dec 04, 2018 11:59 am
by Nancy
I love the idea of the hat and mitten tree!

Re: Art, Craft and Needlework, December 2018

Posted: Tue Dec 04, 2018 4:53 pm
by Twins' Mom
I have decided to do an entry for the Menorah contest at temple this week. I was thinking of something with oil, since I impulsively bought some wicks once that float in oil for a oil burning Menorah. But somehow came up with a "S'more Hanukkah" menorah with stacked graham crackers, marshmallows chocolate with a candle on top. I'll have to figure out if I can level the nut on top to hold the candle upright - it looks crazy if they're all going different directions. So at Lowes today I got a nice board that will hold my nine graham crackers (eight for the nights, plus one for the "servant" candle) and I'll get out my glue gun tonight and give this a shot. I had small hershey's bars in the garage already; they have gotten the white spots on them from the poor garage storage (I don't know how long ago we got them for s'mores.) I'll leave them in their wrapping.

Re: Art, Craft and Needlework, December 2018

Posted: Thu Dec 06, 2018 9:38 am
by Harriet
Twins', I think that is a clever idea that will make people smile. Even if someone else does something similar, there can be enough difference and enough creativity to catch a viewer's (judge's?) eye. Hope they love it.

BookSaver, that is quite a full basket of hats! You were busy. I would like to think someone will be very grateful - good idea to get some out to people NOW.

Here is the craft I've had to reinvent so that a rather large purchase for the church wasn't wasted when an event had to be rescheduled. The base, oval verse (Psalm 100:4, Enter His gates) and leaves are from the original purchase for the Thanksgiving craft from Oriental Trading - that's all that could still work for Christmas. I cut silk poinsettia parts away from stems with a wire cutter, then used white circles from the scrap of the OT craft for their centers.

Dd20 sketched and colored the caroling children. I had them printed on sticker (label) paper at the printers' and cut foam board shapes for each.

GCraftWreathSmall2018.jpg

Re: Art, Craft and Needlework, December 2018

Posted: Thu Dec 06, 2018 9:54 am
by Twins' Mom
Too cute Harriet! Were the children and mommies pleased with their work?

Dd is doing another menorah, for which I was heavily involved (ahem) in the planning phase. Now she just has to execute. This is not political, btw! She found in my office upstairs my Ruth Bader Ginsburg action figure, and will have her standing with the "shamas" or 9th candle to light the others, and the eight small votives at front will have cut out faces of the other "supremes." RBG is about six inches high, the others about two so the proportions are right her for to "preside." No extra moustaches or pointy beards added.

Re: Art, Craft and Needlework, December 2018

Posted: Thu Dec 06, 2018 9:55 am
by Twins' Mom
Those children are so cute, Harriet! Very nicely done for your dd!

Re: Art, Craft and Needlework, December 2018

Posted: Thu Dec 06, 2018 5:18 pm
by Nancy
Got some grey yarn for hot pad and dish clothes to make up for dd apt.
I have half of the 1st dish cloth completed.

Re: Art, Craft and Needlework, December 2018

Posted: Fri Dec 07, 2018 2:13 pm
by Harmony
Twins, I watched a Chopped program on Food Net work and one of their ingredients was menorah bread. It looked just like a candle stand. They just chopped it up to put in their recipe. I like your idea!

Harriet, so cute, how many kids made these? Nancy good job getting your projects done.

Booksaver, such a good project. What do you do about sizing the hats? Some people have big heads!

Well I am knee deep in my sewing project, which I should have done last month or before...had it not been for Thanksgiving.

DD has asked for dining room chair covers for her 6 (yes 6 :shock: ) chairs. Shouldn't be hard, right? Last time she was here she brought one of the chairs. The material is shredding. Don't ever buy that artificial leather stuff that is fabric designed to look and feel like leather. I keep sweeping the pieces off the floor.

Ok, big big job getting the fabric picked because DD got picky about what she wanted. I will be sewing on a med/dark grey with almost black lines going through. Should be pretty right? She wanted the lines going north and south instead of along the width and I don't think there's any way I can cut this stuff out that way, so we'll see. I'm going to buy all the local store has on their roll and see how many I can make and go to a store further north and get the rest.

Tried to make a pattern out of some cheap muslim I had but that was impossible. So out came the brown paper and Christmas paper and tape and I tried to fashion the pattern, marking sewing lines, hems, cut lines. Very hard, I needed 4 hands. This chair would be easy if it was a parsons chair shape but it's not. It is curved along the back and front and the seat is not square and the gusset (is that right?) is rounded at the top and tapered.

Her chairs are too low for the table she had made so I ordered high density foam from an upholsterer in this state and it arrived yesterday. Seats are not square either, 1" off in one direction. I have a chart marked off for the foam covers. She wants ties on this thing to them around the back with a bow. Whew.

I am going to make one out of the muslin first. I have no confidence that I can actually do this. I've told her I might have to give her an IOU for Christmas. Last eve. I was in such a melt down over it all I actually looked online for any I could buy that would satisfy her. Notta. All you creative sewers, wish me luck!

Oh, and I still have not made the utility bags for which I went to the store and bought fabric.

Ok this is not going to work. Laying the pattern out on the muslin I see it has somehow pivoted from being straight. So I tried putting the pattern on the chair again. Can paper shrink or grow? Now that I have seam allowances and have cut the pattern it is too narrow...and I don't know how that happened...and it is also too long after I had measured numerous times. I'm so glad I did not buy that material! I guess I will make some sort of pretty cushions with ties she can put them on and that will hide the shredding material on the seat and give her depth. But I guess she's on her own when it comes to actual covers.

Someone please tell me why I'm so reluctant to tell DD I just can't do this? I even went back to fabric store and looked at the pattern...but it's really fitted and chair is just not standard size. AK! So much time wasted.