Art, Craft and Needlework, January 2019

[Harriet]

Creativity makes the world go 'round! It's the project that makes our eyes light up and the "me-time" that we crave. It's the thing we look forward to, and love to set our hands to. It's oh-so-healthy for our brains , including being a terrific "mental health break" for stress relief, and a boost to our self-esteem.

Have you got a success story about 2018 to share? Did you have a wonderful time giving gifts or maybe making your own items? Did you feel successful in scheduling time for creativity?

Let us know what your hopes are for 2019. If you have new mediums or methods you're learning, new color schemes that appeal to you, or if you have an idea for carving out creative time for yourself, be sure to tell your friends here - inquiring minds want to know!

In December,
Nancy made puppets, prayer shawls and small gifts, and got back to her loom, thinking positive.
Harmony designed and made six semi-fitted chair covers, with ribbon-tied slipcovers.
BookSaver delivered 12 hats made for donation. She'll be her sewing group's incoming president.
Twins' Mom received a weaving lesson as a gift. She and her dd designed Menorahs for a contest.
Harriet worked on children crafts, made mini-hat gift tags and helped her dd with cards.

[lucylee]

This was not MY project, but I am just sooo happy it is completed!
TWO YEARS AGO, for Christmas, ds wanted a shadow box and we got him one.
That shadow box has sat in the foyer of his house, leaned up beside the piano, ever since.
This year, he finally got it hung in his (home) office and it looks so nice.
He has displayed in the shadow box his paternal grandfather's football sweater from the '30s, and his maternal grandfather's football jacket from the '50s, with black and white photos of each of them in their uniforms. They did not play for the same school, and the colors are not complementary, I must say (one is red and one is purple, LOL) but it is something I know he treasures, and his grandfathers would be sooo proud that he wanted to keep and display these items.

[Nancy]

I have two Prayer shawls underway one knitting nearly completed, one crochet about 6" done on it.
Finished crocheting shell stitch edging around the knit prayer shawl.

[BookSaver]

Finished knitting hat #13 and took it to the library's giving tree on Thursday.
Returned the set of knitting looms that I borrowed from coworker.

Yesterday/last night/this morning I attended a series of livestream online sewing classes that were great. I have pages and pages of notes to type out before I forget too much and can't read my own scribbles. Lots of inspiration and motivation to fire up my sewing machine and play with fabric.

[Nancy]

On Sunday I knit a bit on a dish cloth, and finished a crochet puppet.

[Harmony]

Did you feel successful in scheduling time for creativity?

Certainly NOT! Had no time for all that sewing I did and lots of stuff got left undone because that became a priority. But I got them done.

A little disappointed in that DD received these at our get-together at XSiL's apartment. He is up a very high 3 flights of steps so the chair I also brought back was not up there too to try these out. She was a bit confused as to how it all went together so I tried to describe... and she said she liked the fabric, but I wouldn't bet my fortune on that being true...

It was all during a rather hectic time happening so I'm not sure she grasped it all at that moment. I haven't heard from her at all as to whether she put these together on the chairs and if she liked them or not... and I really never got a chance to explain why I didn't use the really expensive dry-cleanable fabric she'd picked out. All I said at the time was that I couldn't use that fabric she'd picked...with no further explanation.

So I am moving on from all that. Myself, I thought they turned out very pretty and I'd have used them if it was me.

She seemed more interested and pleased with the utility bags I made... really astonished at the nice grommets I managed to put on and she thought they would fit despite being 1/16th of an inch smaller...

Other DD had bought 2 of those new Christmas throw pillows for her couch, the ones covered in sequins that change color (flipping to the other side when you'd run your hand over them) and great fun... so she wanted to make covers for them non-holiday fabric so she could use them year round. I offered to make them for her and she snapped up that offer. We talked about fabric and she wants something like velour but thicker - what is the name of that stuff - so this should be a fun project, and something to send for her birthday coming up beginning of next month.

Ok so I think she was describing fleece. She wants gold-ish / beige but print with those 2 colors and I'm only finding solid colors. Think maybe the anti-pill versions the best to you as she intends to actually use these pillows and I'll make them removable for washing... I've never sewed anything with this fabric, so any hints would be welcome.

[Nancy]

I did some weaving tonight. Trying to save some for dgd to do later on this warp..
Got another color of yarn for the crochet prayer shawl project I am working on.
I finished weaving the latest rug and tied the fringe.

[BookSaver]

Creative idea: Last week a library patron donated several pretty bookmarks that she had made by cutting strips from the fronts of greeting cards. (In sewing & quilting, we call it "fussy cutting" to use a specific part of a fabric print.) I am receiving more and more greeting cards in the mail from various charities. I won't give them money but I will upcycle their cards to make bookmarks for the public library.

[Nancy]

I did get current on my goals for the crochet project, it uyst s way slower than knitting however.
I painted 2 doz. Stones that fit in egg cartons they want smaller size one's, they are done now to do a few
others for when we go on walks to hide. Did three more.

I have some more yarn to use up for dish cloths, hotpads and puppets this month I will be glad when these are done. I have some Christmas green I can do up for March St. Patrick's day ones.

I have been winding off more warp touquorise in color to weave cream colored waft.

I have curtains to tackle as well.

[Harriet]

Harmony, when I have sewn with fleece in the past I have done nothing special with feed dogs or anything like that. I remember thinking that I was probably supposed to, it being so thick. But with small projects (all I ever did) it seemed to be okay, so I just went with it. i believe a little longer stitch length is helpful, but may not matter. Also I remember that I went a bit slower on purpose. Best wishes! I know you are thinking you didn't have a successful 2018 for time/creativity balance, but you were asked to do a particular, time-consuming project. You probably did as well as anyone could have.

those colors sound pretty, Nancy. Also hoping your dgd has a good time with learning more.

Bookmarks of paper are a whole box (maybe size of shoebox) of my UFOs. (Cloth ones are a whole other box.) Maybe that's not fair to myself to call the paper ones UFOs since they are just ideas. It's not that I have money invested, but have saved papers/cards. I always assume I will laminate, though, because I think to myself I'll have pressed flowers or leaves, etc., in there, too. A completely new thought to me, BookSaver, about donation to libraries (or other place that might appreciate).

But so far in 2019 I can't even find time to put the Christmas cards we've received into the wreath to hang. All my visitors expect to see that as our traditional decoration in LR for half of each year. So I'm behind, lol. In all honesty, though, have gotten 3 more Christmas cards since New Year's Day! Got an adorable reindeer card yesterday that I wouldn't have wanted to leave out. I think it's becoming more common for people to just be so overwhelmed and late, but still hoping to send.

My older dd is turning 39 (wow, can that be true?) next week, and I hope to send her a small handmade gift. I hope I'm not just dreaming there could be time, but I know she'll understand if there's nothing special.