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Saturday, November 18, 2023

squeezing in some creative time...

 

BERJAYA
A nearly completed quilt this week. 24" X 26.5" 

made using this tiny pattern, a pile of pretty scraps, scrap of batting, and effort

BERJAYA

we are still in a sick house, 2 medical appts later, a run of antibiotics, 2 plus weeks of contagion that continues as all the sheets, towels, surfaces, etc must now be cleaned. All doctors called it a virus and how it got through distancing, masks, and glove wearing when outside, we don't know. It's knocked dh out and all the heavy lifting, cleaning, dog care, and cooking falls on me. Now he coughs all the time, and still weakened.I'm lonely and tired, and the short bursts in studio helped me stay sort of balanced.

BERJAYA

lots of decisions even when using a pattern. These border fabrics are all slightly different. Gotta be careful sewing little strips onto scrap blocks to keep them from ruffling. The leaf pieces are mostly 

1.5" X 2", the border is 1.5" wide, and 2.5" wide... narrow enough to stretch and ruffle if not careful

BERJAYA
quilting some swirls in
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block it flat overnight before putting on this scrap of striped fabric as a binding
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BERJAYA

I like to hand sew the binding to the back of the quilt, and this will give me something to do with my hands while watching tv tonight. Hope you can click on images to see the pretty quilting, done with sparkly silver mylar thread, gold YLI metallic, and thin blue in the swirls. 

Speaking of something to do with my hands at night... I learned some new to me techniques making this hat... and ran out of wool just before finishing so I put in a slightly darker yarn on the crown. 

BERJAYA
why does the sun leave those spots on my photos now?

I love how it fits, how it feels, the color, the eyelets, the picot edge and the shape

pattern source free here: https://www.plymouthyarnmagazine.com/2010/01/29/royal-llama-silk-hat/

BERJAYA
Now for sure I need another knitted project for night time... I feel like Madame La Farge in a tale of two cities, knitting knitknitknit

so two finishes... and well, maintaining a home...
 

BERJAYA

Linking with

design wall Mondays at smallquiltsanddollquilts

https://songbirddesigns.blog/monday-musings-6-26-23/ 

finished or not

off the wall Fridays




Thursday, November 16, 2023

I Like Thursday # 376 Fall food leaves a question for you... and a poodle

 

BERJAYA
well, for this week's list of likes, I start with fruits and vegetables.... wish I could function as a vegetarian. 

I eat mostly fruits and vegetables but my body seems to need animal protein to energize me. 

I am hoping to load photos this week, and life is like a sky of bowling balls, ready to fall at any minute and hit me, so I loaded this fall post last week, hoping to  have something to share while the photos still load. 

tried this butternut squash soup with fennel garnish, sub leek for onion, add maple syrup, no nutmet

 https://justinesnacks.com/fennel-butternut-squash-soup/

the resident squirrel carved our pumpkin this year....so we moved it from the porch to the back of the yard

BERJAYA
it's a lot for one squirrel to eat but this one is doing it's best to eat fast
BERJAYA

our mums are holding on, with a little bit of color. The temps rise and fall, from 85 in the sun, to below freezing ,.,.. overall it's about 10 hotter than average, and this is our new normal thanks to climate changes. Don't want to admit that? Well we're living it.

BERJAYA

the sun bakes our house and it remains warm even when temps fall. It's something about thinner atmosphere in higher altitudes... we checked temps before moving, but the sun factor surprised us 

I was surprised at the leaves holding on... they know they must fall but they are resisting reality, and gravity....

here and there, a leaf that stead-fastedly remain
BERJAYA
they there is our backyard neighbor's tree who drops many ugly leaves.... nearly all of them in our yard thanks to the wind here.

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Milo goes with the flow, hot, cold, leaves, wind, whatever
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he makes a good shadow, don't you think?
we looked up the other day to see this!   what to do about it?
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we are all allergic to something blooming or leaf mold, or fall in Colorado
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Makes my nose run

 listening on audio book: 

BERJAYA 
so beautifully read out loud, fun story about inheriting a castle with a mystery attached, while dealing with a whacky mother undoing your work, all at Christmas
 
sewing on this: great when under stress, to follow a pattern and play with colors... top nearly finished now
  BERJAYA

Our prompt

Would you rather attend a Harvest festival or an Oktoberfest party?

between us, I LOVE festivals... walking around shopping, eating and drinking and music, so much fun

I was in Munich and Frankfort just before true octoberfest but have been to several in the states. I'm not a big beer drinker but it was fun. Give me a festival anytime! In fact on long car trips, we often pulled over if we found out there was a festival, and we walked around whatever town eating and shopping. It's a good way to get to know a place!

in honor of Milo, this video .... pets at Christmas... still laughing:

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U97pbWfY_4k

 

BERJAYA
anything with squeakers and lots of legs is poodle approved!

Mama:  Milo, black friday sales are coming up. what's your favorite Christmas present? 

Milo: Hmmmm I get excited every time I get a new toy.... squeakers are important. Lots of legs to tear off a stuffie. things that taste really good like bison or fish treats, always appreciated,, There are two stuffies I always want, the puppy lamb ball, or the indestructible chicken.

It's not indestructible to a big poodle but still puts up a struggle! But... my all time favorite is.... 

the kong ring toy! It rolls, it feels good in your mouth even when you pull the tennis ball skin off, it lasts and lasts through many fetches, I can always find mine, or what's left of them, in my yard, they roll (did I say that?) and are easy to pick up as your bottom teeth fit right in the open hole so humans can't pull it out of your mouth. 


Extra Tough Dog Toys Tennis Ball Squeaker Bone or Donut Ring Floating Fetch  Play (Donut Medium - 4.75") - Walmart.com
we can't find these any more... yikes! don't tell Milo

 My humans always want it, try to grab it before I do, or pull it out of my mouth. Silly! Why don't they buy one of their own to play with?  They would still want the one I am playing with, oy humans. 

Mama: good to know how you feel... now how about all the toys we've given you over the years that you didn't like. 

Milo: first off, I don't want to hurt your feelings but here goes. The hard chewing things you think I'll enjoy chewing on??? not so much. They taste like rubber, don't fall apart, and if you're not going to eat them what's the point. (kongs and such) 

BERJAYA
I love a festival! I get to see so many people and smell so many scents!

Milo: I forgot! My wishbone that you stuff treats into every night at 7 pm is so cool. I dance around when you start stuffing in a rice cookie, my glucosamine chew, some cheese, some almond butter, and snatch it out of your hand to go enjoy. It takes a while to get the treats out but I do have strong teeth and a long tongue! If any crumbs fall out of the cookie, I clean them up after. All in all, that's a good toy. 

KONG Quest Wishbone Dog Toy, Color Varies, Large - Chewy.com

Mama: thanks honey, you've been a big help. I can't find the ring toys or kong tennis balls at the moment but when I do I'll get you new ones. 

Milo: don't feel like you have to keep them til Christmas either Mama!  

now please visit these folks to see their likes  this week

chasing my stories

grammajudyb.blogspot.com

https://comfortspiral.blogspot.com/


 
   LINKING WITH 

               friday smiles at a stitch in time

 

Saturday, November 11, 2023

creativity this week

 

BERJAYA
quickly while I can download a photo, this is my creative week

Using the Fig Tree pattern "Twirl" 

 

BERJAYA
that is a mini size  quilt, I pulled my bag of little fall scraps, cut out all pieces, and then  the making of blocks is fairly fast, unless you get an angle wrong and have to unstitch and restitch! 

which happened !

It was fun to use the pattern and just sew without much decision making. the stems are black fabrics from my scrap bin, the tiniest scrap adds color and line to a block! (RSC)

I finished a pair of  hand knitted socks, and am starting a hat pattern soon

this pattern, but you start with smaller needles on the brim and that makes no sense to me at all! Plus I need to learn a new to me stitch of yarn over knit 2 tog and knitting on the way back.

https://www.plymouthyarnmagazine.com/2010/01/29/royal-llama-silk-hat/

tutorial on yarn over K2tog  

Tutorial: Yarnover, Knit 2 together (YO, K2TOG) - YouTube

no paintings, no drawings, 

BERJAYA
my calendar doodle

 I tried out my new pen, kind of watersoluble, marvy LePen flex. thin fiber tip, full of ink

barely keeping our house afloat while DH fights a virus.

 The medical staff said it's not flue or covid, but it must be very virulent. It made it past the masks we wear at all times away from the house, past gloves and mask worn to open packages. It's going on 10 days now and all heavy work, cooking, dog care and laundry falls to me. I have my own ongoing and new afflictions and it's exhausting as I worry all the time and am quite lonely. So... making stuff, even at night, has taken a back seat. 

BERJAYA
real leaves, holding on
 I finished two audio books... started another I didn't like (again set in WW2)  and started a third. I play video games, and stare at tv without hearing it. Google has made blogging and computer work disagreeable and I don't have a full answer yet. Any suggestions as alternatives for answers, videos blogging and email?   

It felt good to see the fall fabrics against the blues, and felt good to mindlessly sew a bit, and I'm glad I was able to put some images in this post! It's a big thing, don't know how long it will last...


linking to:

design wall Mondays at smallquiltsanddollquilts

https://songbirddesigns.blog/monday-musings-6-26-23/ 

finished or not

off the wall Fridays