Spooky Portraits

These pictures came from the Dollar Tree. I did not care for the look of the plastic 2-tone frames, so I painted them over with solid black paint.

Then I spiffed them up with some wide satin ribbon.  Simple packing tape holds the ribbons to the backs of the pictures and then I tied extra ribbon on top into a bow.

Depending on the angle from which you view the pictures, you see a different image. A regular old-fashioned portrait turns into a creepy skeletoid man.

I saw larger pictures like these (11x14) at Walmart for $10.  Did I mention that these 5x7 versions were $1?  So they are super thrifty as well as creepy!

Gale

Halloween Decorations

I made this banner using foam core board, black acrylic paint, scrapbook paper and strips of fabric.

Using Microsoft office I printed the letters onto the back of the green spiderweb scrapbook paper. I had to fiddle with it a bit to print the letters backwards, so that when I cut them out, they were facing the right direction. I painted the foam core board and then used some spray adhesive to affix the letters.

I taped the strip of black fabric to the backs of the letters and then tied strips of orange fabric to give it a more finished look.

I can already see that a FALL banner like this will be in the making soon.

I made some wool felt balls over the weekend using orange and black roving. Then I discovered that I already had a few in my stash, so I used them as well. I added some seed beads to the balls to make them more interesting. (I had seen this in a quilting magazine. It is pretty easy to do!)

The beads are strung on perle cotton with a few spacer beads in between. I finished up the necklace using some satin ribbon for the ties.   I have a nice orange sweater this will go well with, but I am also thinking it would look good with a plain white shirt.

I have a few more projects in the works for Halloween. If they turn out, you will get to see them, too.

Gale

Completed Blocks for Quilt As You Go Quilt-Along Round 2

It is so dry here I have been worrying about the birds. Where do they find a drink in this arid landscape?  I was going to put together a fountain from clay pots and a fish tank pump, but this one was on clearance at Lowe's. $60, people!  Now the birds can find plenty of water!

These are the completed blocks for the Quilt As You Go Quiltalong2.  I did a loopy free motion quilting on this one to echo the design of the yarn balls.

The red print at the bottom is a shirt that I wore for about a year to work, but it always irritated me the way it let my bra straps show too often. So I chopped it up and made it part of these blocks.

The blue print on the right is part of a thrifted sheet. I decided to leave the top hem intact and just quilt over it. My Threadbanger hardly complained at all.

My favorite block so far. I love this bird print and tried to do some swirly loops around it while just stippling the rest of the block.

One of the backing fabrics I am using. This is one of my favorite prints from Sweetwater in the Make Life line. I wish I had bought more of it, especially the multi-colorway version. Now I am having trouble finding any more. 

I have more blocks sewn together, but not pinned yet.  I am pretty happy with how these blocks have turned out so far. I am still working on getting there to be less "eyelashing" on the back. 

Gale

McCoy Pottery

Long before I started quilting, I collected McCoy pottery as well as pots from other American mid-century potteries.  Recently on her blog Amy a la Mode shared that her collection of pottery was featured an another blog. Amy replied to my comment that she would like to see my collection, so I am posting some pictures.

More pictures can be seen at Flickr.  I even discovered a Flickr group devoted to McCoy.

I wish the house I was living in was large enough to allow ready access to my fabric stash and room for displaying all these lovely pieces. Too many of them are packed into boxes.

These are getting harder and harder to find anymore, but I am a sucker for those green pots!

Gale 

Quilt As You Go Quilt-Along Round 2

Heather at Al A Mode Fabric is hosting a Quilt-Along.  It is the first one I have joined and there is a group devoted to it over at Flickr.  Go on over at take a look!

Heather is planning on completing 5 blocks per week until her quilt is finished before Christmas. I do not know how many I will complete or how big my quilt will be when finished.

I plan to skip one of the suggested steps. I will quilt each 15 inch block with its batting and backing. Then when all the blocks are done I will sew them together and use sashing to hide the seam lines on the front.  I will have my seam lines on the front, so that the back will remain smooth against my toes!

Here are my initial efforts on this project. I cut a great bunch of strips from fat quarters and yardage from my stash. I included some strips cut from scraps and cut some squares for the centers.

I took all the strips, jumbled them up and put them in a cardboard box on the floor under my sewing table.  When I need a strip, I just grab one. 

I am using chain piecing for these blocks.  After each round of fabric is complete, I cut the blocks apart and trim the strips off evenly.  I still have a ways to go before these blocks are big enough. 

Back to sewing after my nap!

Gale  

Three Finishes!

First came a very large pile of 2.5 inch strips. The pink ones are a geometric print. (Can you tell I did these first?) The others are strips cut from a bunch of different NYC fabrics.

After running them through my Bias Strip maker, I was left with yards and yards of binding, ready to sew on.

A short while later, 3 finished quilts!  I am thinking a couple of these will make good Christmas gifts. 

Well, I enjoyed my three day weekend, back to work tomorrow.

Gale

Labors

What I have been up to on this holiday weekend is not all that photogenic.  I have been laboring!

*moved tv cabinet and hooked up the ROKU box. (this took about an hour!)

*listed a ton of items on Etsy-- things that have been finished and waiting to be listed for some time now.

*installed a new curtain rod and curtain for the living room window where I do most of my quilt photos.

*made a new quilt top from whole cloth, with some added borders. (no photo yet)

*put new seat covers on the front seats of my car.

*went through my WIPS pile and found one quilt that needs to be finished with FMQ and two more that are ready to be trimmed and bound.

*went through my recent fabric purchases and organized them.

*got tired and took a nap!

Well, maybe I will be able to add some more things to this list before the weekend officially ends.

Gale