American Bald Eagles

First, I want to share with you my completed Spring Chick pouch:



I completed the stitching Friday evening just before my husband and I went out to dinner. If I can stay on schedule, I'll assemble it later this week along with the Red Hat Lady purse.

On Saturday morning, we drove down to Peoria, Illinois where my in-laws live to spend the weekend with them. It's about 3 1/2 hours south of were we live. I'm really excited about sharing the following photos with you! The Illinois River is open in some areas down there so the Bald Eagles spend the Winter on the river! This is a site that I can't even begin to describe! They just sit in the trees along the river, hundreds of them! We probably saw 100 eagles yesterday!











All of these photos were taken from our truck. If you get out of your vehicle, it frightens them and they fly away, which is also an amazing site!

We saw one tree that had 8 eagles in it! For those of you who live outside the US, these are huge birds! Beautiful and majestic! To see so many in one place is just breathtaking.

I have some design work to do so I'll end here. If you would like to see larger versions of my eagle photos, just click on one to go to my Flickr site.

TAST - More On The Feather Stitch

Grab a snack and relax because I have loads of things to share with you today!

First, I have photos of the last 3 cellphone pouches that I made. These are complete now:



These little cherubs would be so cute as a small purse for a little girl going to a wedding or even on Easter Sunday for church!



Susan asked me what the purple heart was on the left of this design. It's a button with a cool finish on it. Almost hologram looking!



I think I mentioned this while I was stitching on this project, the watermelon was a beaded pin kit from Mill Hill. I never wore it so I decided to use it as a focal point on this pouch. It's stitched on perforated paper. I took the pinback off of it and sewed it in place.

The watermelon pouch is a gift for Scott's step-mom. The Cherubs and the Lucky Lady pouch will be going to the brick & mortar store. I'll run up there this afternoon and add them to my showcase.

I have so many ideas for new projects now! I plan to take some time next week and sew up a few more purse and cellphone pouch blocks. I'm also feeling the need to make myself another purse!

The other day, my mom gave me a copy of her Victorian Trading Company catalog. I've requested their catalog many times and still have to yet to receive one! This is why my mom gave me her extra copy. Anyway, I fell in love with some of the vintage style clothing that they offer! I decided to look around online to see what other vintage inspired clothing I could find and I found this site, Premier Designs Historic Clothing. Oh my goodness! Now, I have no place to wear Victorian style tea gowns and I couldn't care less about Victorian style undergarments, but I do love the blouses that they offer! Specifically, this blouse. I will be ording this blouse for myself next week! I will be able to wear this in the Spring with the black skirt that Scott bought me for my birthday. And to go with it, I'll be making myself a Blackwork handbag. I'm sure I will be quite over-dressed for my little trips to Michaels and Borders bookstore but I don't care! I feel so cool wearing things like this! So stayed tuned for yet another Blackwork crazyquilt project!

I will be away from my computer this weekend and will return on Monday with an update on my little Spring Cellphone pouch. I expect to complete this later today but here's what it looks like at the moment:



As you can see, I used my beloved Feather Stitch again!



This is yet another one of my many variations! Being that the Feather Stitch is this week's stitch focus for Sharon's TAST Challenge, I will leave you with the charted pattern in case you'd like to give this try:



Click on the image to go to my Flickr site where you can download the larger version of the pattern.

Until Monday, have a great weekend everyone!

TAST - The Feather Stitch

Sharon has chose the Feather Stitch as this week's stitch focus. Yes, this is one of my absolute favorite stitches! It appears in one variation or another on almost every crazyquilt piece I do! I don't know what it is about this stitch that I like so much. I think some of it is the rhythm of working it and I also think that it is a very visually attractive stitch.

Here is a photo of it as it appears on my Red Hat block:



When working it over a seam, I always use waste canvas for perfectly spaced stitches. I've added Lazy Daisy stitches and Fan stitches for a more interesting treatment. The Feather Stitch works up quite well on waste canvas so I've charted it out for you just as I worked it on the Red Hat block:



Click on either photo to go to my Flickr site where you can download a larger version of the pattern.

Here is how it appears on the now completed block:



To continue the sense of movement across the bottom of the image, I added a button cluster using buttons in various shades of purple, lavender and violet. The gold heart button draws the eye to the cluster and the rest of the buttons move the eye to either side of the image allowing the eye to "get into the flow" of the rest of the design.

This is complete now so next week, I'll assemble it and add it to my Etsy shop.

In the meantime, this will be my next little project:



I'm really needing to "think Spring" at the moment! I thought I'd stitch up this little Spring Cellphone Pouch and then I'll be doing some more purses.

For now, I'm heading out into the deep freeze to get groceries. Arrgggg.......

Red Hat Lady Purse Continued

I spent most of yesterday working on this project:



I moved the vintage trim down just a little bit. This adds some space between that and the feather stitch. Visually, it's more pleasing to the eye. I then beaded it with some glass flower and leaf beads.

Up at the top, I did some SRE, creating a Wisteria vine. At least that's what it's supposed to be! Notice the "movement" now around the image. I love it when I manage to accomplish that. There's a flow to this piece. The eye starts in the center with the focal point and then gently moves around that image. I accomplish this with my use of color.

Vines are an excellent way to bring movement into a crazyquilt project. You've probably noticed that I use alot of vines on my crazyquilts. It takes the "stiffness" out. You can use a vine to soften a hard edge. I usually start with some stem stitching, then decide if I want to use embroidered flowers, beads or SRE. I'll add that and then some leaves. In this case, I used some detach chain stitches for leaves, filled in with some seed beads and then added some leaf sequins.

My next step will be to finish up that spider web and then add my cat which will be in the bottom right-hand corner. Then onto the larger embellishments like buttons and charms. I have a hummingbird charm that I would like to use on this and if they work, I would like to add some buttons too.

More tomorrow....

Custom Purses & Cellphone Pouches

Yesterday, I assembled the last 3 cellphone pouches that I made. All I have left to do on them is to add the chain and the snaps. That's on my list for today.

I did some more stitching on the red hat purse too:



I painted the applique, sewed that on and started beading it. Looking at it on the computer, I might move the vintage gold trim down a little bit. I feel like it's too close to the feather stitch which is about the same width. Visually I feel like they compete with each other and I think I can solve that problem by moving it down just a bit.

I'll probably work on this most of the day today. The weather we've been having is making me an absolute crazy person. I feel like Bill Murrey in the Groundhog Day movie. Everyday I wake up and everyday the forecast is the same. It never changes. Cold and snow! I've never mentioned it before but I deal with Seasonal Affective Disorder. I can actually feel the storms and the changes in barometric pressure and it messes terribly with my nervous system. When I feel this way, the only thing I can focus on is stitching.

Janet asked me if this was a cellphone pouch or a purse. This will be a purse, the same style as the White Peacock Purse. I found beaded goldtone handles at Michaels for it and I have some gorgeous red upholstry fabric to use on the back.

I don't know if anyone is interested but I will gladly do custom purses and cellphone pouches. Any theme or any color. I can use photos too like I did with the vintage image of my grandfather. Feel free to email me if you'd like a custom project.