Art, Craft and Needlework, December, 2023

[Harriet]

♫ ♪ ♫
♪ ♫ Frosted window panes, candles gleaming inside ♪ ♫
♫ ♫ ♪ ♫ Painted candy canes on the tree ♪ ♫
♪ ♪ ♫
It's that time of year!

What are your plans? How are you expressing yourself artistically?
How are you organizing your time to create the decor, gifts, ornaments, and art you hope for?
Or maybe you are decorating cookies or other tasty treats?

[Nancy]

No tasty treats here not going to the store b/c it snowed.

I's time for crafting and some sewing fut! Some projects I am doing another hot pad. I would like to got to sewing a seam for the fabric pouches!
I have some wool I can card and spin as well. Thinking drop spindle.

[Harriet]

Already sent the recent ornament I made to the young man's dmother in the small tupperware she sent with a treat earlier.

The sunflower hot pad front looks great, but I'm stuck on how to finish it. Would kinda like it to be a circle, but I'd hate to make a mistake on binding a tight circle. Dd25 bought me some binding that would work but it's polyester/cotton and I've heard that doesn't look as nice on tight curves as you think it will. Cotton's better but I'd have to make my own. Could try to piece it as a circle put into a square, but that's tough. Just making it a square might be the way to go.

Ds complimented the practice piece I made for the pattern for dd's quilt. I may actually hang that for the season because he thought it was Christmasy. I didn't think of it that way but it is in greens and it's new, nobody's seen it.

[Nancy]

Yesterday I tried to take up some ill fitting undershirts was not happy with the results.
Today I cut some from stained light colored tee shirts having a learning curve but what a winner of an idea to use something
I normally was not wearing except maybe to bed.

[Harriet]

If you learn how to do that for yourself, Nancy, inexpensive too-large tees could be fitted the way you want. Dd26 tried this a few times with men's tees from Goodwill and her result wasn't perfect but was good enough to wear, and she got some use out of them. First one she made didn't work - the others were pretty good. She liked the designs on the fronts so well that she thought it was worth it to try.

All kinds of creativity here with decor and wrap.

We did get the quilt hanging rack/rod up. When I hang a quilt on it, I'll have to remake the quilt's sleeve a little because this rod rests on the uprights. I'm thinking I can make two sort of large buttonholes in the sleeve so the hangars won't crimp anything.

Dd26 is so happy with crocheting.

[Nancy]

I finished the last hot pad yarn is nearly gone except some scraps for accent colors.
Glad about that I started one more to finish later.

Got the wool to card and use with the drop spindle. Small bits of color in bags I got last year
and never got back to so will try to do that between the cmas ny holiday at least to get restarted with that for fun and relaxation.

I failed to start on the pouches project got way laid by musical desks and creativity room dig out that's piles of papers again now ack!
Dang.

Jockey is the brand that works for me so making a note of that here.
Cut one off too short not doing so well with make your own ones! LOL!

[Nancy]

Yea now I can card and spin wool yea! It's a plus I can do some of that standing up.
I am enjoying the wool carding and spinning on drop spindle a nice change.

I painted a rock today one needed it and was handy by the paints.

[Harriet]

So good to hear you are carding and spinning again, Nancy. Not many people know how to do it, so that makes it really interesting. I hadn't thought about it being relaxing.

The sunflower hot pad looks great. Thick, very cute. If anything, too large, but for all I know they will want it for under casseroles or will hang it. I'm waiting on the disappearing marker marks to fade. Supposed to be between 48 and 72 hours for that to happen, so there should be plenty of time. Tracing a jar lid arc around each "petal" was fast to make a quilting design around the sunflower pattern that looks good. At first, when I realized it was going to need more machine quilting than I'd bargained for, I didn't know how I could do something quick. Glad to think of that cheap, quick way.

It's 3 layers of cotton batting, which is a lot, but my sewing machine handled it. I basted the front with one layer the same shape and 2 layers slightly smaller so I wouldn't have to sew through so much at the edges. Then put right sides together with the back-to-front and sewed around all edges. Because I'd pieced the back, I'd left a 4-inch space unsewn and turned through that. A little hand sewing to close. Quilted with a plain stitch, just a longer stitch length.

I asked ds tonight what are ddil's hobbies so maybe I could give her little presents that made sense and were personal. He thought and thought and says she really doesn't have a hobby. He said he's going to have to help her take some time for some fun. She is always working and rushing around with the children, etc.

[Twins' Mom]

I've enjoyed stamping so much lately. When I started it was more that I needed cards so I had to turn them out. I've gotten into the creative spirit now and am enjoying it so much. Need to do some significant desk clearing at some point. I have an area that is where "stuff" I can use for a card goes. Maybe a stamped salutation that wasn't the right color, or a die cut piece that I didn't use. Sometimes as a fun challenge I pick up one of those pieces and make a card around it. It really is fun to use that side of my brain again!

[Nancy]

Finished my hot pad I was crocheting on yesterday.
Sent my dsis instructions so she can do one for our aunt.
Got a second one done and
started another one.
I have some odds & ends of scraps to use for stripes on this batch I replenished my yarn with a cone of white,
this will go great for the accent stripes.
I am trying to get as many done before the first of the year and get these ready for later to replenish my gift closet.

Then maybe I can get back to my sewing projects that keep getting pushed back, I have some p.j.s to hem.