More on decorating

To go along with the gold coloring, I spray painted the pumpkins in metallic gold and sprinkled them with glitter. Here are some more shots of my door creation. Check out the six birds. This was a fun project.

Holiday Door Decoration

These sweet yellow birds were purchased at a Hardware store in Katy Texas. I bought them on my trip to see my sisters last month. I made two, one for each side of my french doors. I found gold garland at Orchard Supply Hardware to drape across the top.

Vintage Pins

Vintage costume jewelry that I use on my bags. I especially love the earrings that look like seeds and nuts. The other pieces shown are pins.

This weekend I made these two purple and green bags. I am not sure what to call them. Travel bags, special occasion bags, date purses . . . hmmmm

Sewing for FabMo

First two bags I made this week. Last week I went to an estate sale that had a huge collection of costume and vintage jewelry; I was inspired by the pins and earrings. I decided to use them as decorative items, buttons, or clasps for the bags I will be making for the Textile Boutique through FabMo.

I used a heavier weight 100% linen made in Scotland for the main fabric. The color is a wonderful purple brown. The lining is a lemon yellow brocade silk blend. The pockets are a blend of linen and the decorative piece on the pocket is silk. The thread on the pocket edge is a decorative gold thread; I used my new serger with the thread in the upper looper. I am loving the textures of these fabrics, and playing around with the colors. The flower pin, looks like ivory, but is probably a plastic.

This small purple travel "make up" bag has a pocket on the outside and inside. Still experimenting with the handle or strap treatment. This handle fits around a door knob, if you wanted to hang it up.

Restorative Yoga - Eye Pillow

Coming up on October 23 I will be selling some items at a Textile Art Boutique at Quadrus Conference Center in Palo Alto. All the items will be made from free fabric I have been collecting from FabMo. So far I have made over 20 eye pillows to use when doing restorative yoga. They are 100% silk on the side that touches your face, and the patterned side is 100% cotton. They are filled with flax seeds and the cover is washable. They are unscented.

I highly recommend using them to help with relaxation and restorative or Yin Yoga. Restorative yoga was and continues to be very helpful as I recover from my concussion. Doing simple poses like "legs up the wall" for 15 minutes with one of these pillows over you eyes is very relaxing.

Halloween 2010

This year I am very happy to decorate for Halloween. We have a tradition of having a party on the night of Halloween for neighbors and friends. We started this tradition 20 years ago when my son was 5 years old. I make spaghetti and friends bring salads, garlic bread and wine. I have been collecting Halloween decorations and many of my treasures are gifts from my mom. Here are a few photos. Notice the orange dishes in my corner cabinet, these were my grandmothers. Happy early Halloween.

Simplify

Here are some color studies of a cleaner version of a label design for textile projects. What do you think ?

Giving myself credit

I am working on a new sewing project. The Yoga Studio will be opening in Campbell the end of this month. My yoga teacher asked if anyone wanted to make eye pillows for trade. I decided to say yes. My plan was to use some fabrics from "Fabmo" (free fabric give away business). I wanted to use 100% silk for the side that rests on your eyes, and 100% cotton for the back; no scents would be used. The pillows are filled with Flax seed, and I made a separate cover that can be washed. I have been enjoying the process, trying to figure out a good system so I can make at least 30 of them. The plan was to work for trade (hours of yoga). Sounds good, but what I am being offered is really more of a donation, which is fine. Too bad, sewing is not valued. But . . . I decided that at least I should put my name on them. So I am working on a label design that could be embroidered onto a "purple grey heavy silk". I am enjoying the process. Here is the design, as of today. And I do feel good about giving myself credit and I will use this on other projects as well.

Shower Gift

My nephew Kory is getting married this month. Today I went to a wedding shower for Mari and Kory. I wanted to make something for them, and decided to make napkins to match their everyday dish pattern. I used my new serger and had alot of fun making them.

Recovery Tools

A few weeks after my accident in October, as I was beside myself with anxiety and confusion, my friend Luanne suggested I work on a textile project. She knew how happy I am when working with my hands and fabric. It was just the thing I needed to help me. She brought over a "jelly roll" made by Mode fabrics. A "jelly roll" is made of strips of coordinated fabrics, which you can use to create your own project. I decided to make a quilt, all by hand. It was very comforting to match up colors that I liked. In my mind I told myself, if I could finish this project, I would be on my way to getting healthy. Quilt started end of October 2009 - finished April 13, 2010.

Mary had a little lamb

More felt ornament making today. Mom and I worked on a new and improved version of Mary's lamb from the nursery rhyme. My sisters, and I have Mary, who is very sweet with a pink dress and she carries a staff, but we were missing her lamb. Thanks to Britta who asked Grandma to make one. Mom revised the original pattern to make the lamb's body rounder, his legs are thicker and she changed the shape of his head. The second photo below shows (from left to right) the original lamb, the new version, and two that are in progress. The pearls are flat on one side, so they are glued onto the felt. Each lamb took about four hours to make. What a great day, and look what we accomplished.

Outstanding Intern

Holly drove up from San Luis Obispo to attend an award luncheon put on by STAR (Bay Area Society for Television, Advertising and Radio). I am so happy I was able to attend with her. I had a great time and am so proud of Holly. 22 interns from companies like, CBS Radio, Clear Channel Radio, CMC Broadcasting, Comcast SportsNet, Comcast Spotlight, Cumulus Radio, Radio Disney, Entercom Radio, KGO TV, and NBC/KNTV were recognized. Holly worked at NBC/KNTV this past summer. Each received $500.00 and the chance for a scholarship. The luncheon was on a ship docked at Pier 3. It was a very positive great experience. Despite this "tough ecomony" there are volunteers out there putting together programs like this for young people just starting their careers. I feel hopeful.

Pig Robinson

Today mom and I worked on felt ornaments. I have been enjoying making these and learning how they go together. This design is one of my mom's interpretation of a character in a Beatrice Potter story. We spent three sessions working on him. His basket of cabbage could be an ornament all on it's own. I am not so happy with his face . . . his mouth is too big. I do love his bloomers.