Back in the groove ...

Miss Betsy is up and running and with a pile of UFOs it is none too soon either. There is also the call of the "wild", those UFO's and projects yet started but fabrics bought. The ideas are running rampantly, like a raging spring-time river.

A wall-hanger for a birthday present:
~I started with a panel of Oceania in blue and coordinating fabrics: A whimsical sea-life oriented panel. To me the blue indicated water.

From here I roughly cut out the panel of the mermaid. Then I trapunto'd the panel to bring out the features that I wanted using matching metallic threads to give the illusion of underwater. Trimming to the desired size, I wanted the outer border to be the navy blue to which I planned on attached a striped blue fabric border ...

close up of some of the hand quilting

 Adding on the borders I decided I liked her better on point than as a square.

 Now on to FMQing the water currents. The question here is whether or not I use another metallic or simply a variegated thread taking in the various colors. Decisions, decisions. And too, what kind of binding would this need - dark or medium, turquoise or blue? Hopefully finished this weekend, providing I can find the necessary weights for the bottom.

A second UFO in the process:
~ Stashed away in  plastic bag was a basinet sized baby quilt of pinned flannel and fleece that I had initially made for a donation quilt to be ready when needed. I used up stash that I already had in-house. Then, while in Panama this last month a need was discovered within an indigenous family. I offered.
   Plastic bag intact, out came the small quilt.

First I had to make it bigger but only from what I had in the bag. I was not in a place where I could buy more "good" quality flannel. I took apart the binding and "quilted as I went" additional width and length to it. Ended up with a cacophony of color but yet, quite fun.
   Then on to the quilting of the pinned panel. This should be fun as I have since learned (this being my first actual attempted self-quilted-as-you-go) that you also have to do the actual quilting within the borders LOL. 
   Now for the binding. I don't have enough of one color left in the bag. Searching for more in the stash that is readily available. ah hah! A totally different color but why not! Hopefully the already cut strips are big enough to do machine binding. We shall see...
The finished product, ready to be mailed to Panama and a cold deserving toddler.  

And then lastly, a third UFO in the works: My Santa stocking needs to quilted. It is pinned to the lining and backing but that is as far as it has gotten. Ne need for a photo again as it hasn't changed any.

My DGD and I went to pick out some colors for her quilt. She had no clue as to what she wanted and I had no clue as to what colors she wanted. So I took her to a basic fabric establishment (no names here) and asked her to pick out what she thought would be good matching colors in her favorite colors according to the list: Light to dark, coordinating. Well, this is what I ended up with, 1/3 of a yard each:

  this shows the white on white...

Now to put them together into the squares to see how they work out. And where, you ask, is my suggested color ways? We shall see how these colors work first.

Lastly there is an inner calling for some needlework but this is currently falling by the way side. Think I will try and get Father Frost finished which only needs the beard finished and the beads placed. Miss Chrissy Cleo really needs to be finished and off to the finishers. We shall see how time goes over the next 6 weeks or so. Have another class starting on the 31st so that will also take up some time.

But for now, I am off to la la land - this heat wears me out!

busy hands, little work

Little, well maybe not so little work, I have been very busy just not posting, nor doing much needlework, quilting, or anything of that nature.

So what have I been doing? Well let's see: a trip to Canada to see my nephew graduate from university; back to the Appalachian Trail; off the AT; visited Ashville, NC; visited Blue Ridge, GA; back into the RV where we visited Little Rock, AR; then on to Panama; and now in Costa Rica; all the while I have started back to school online to obtain my MSN. Oh yes, I applied for a volunteer gig as a Nurse Practitioner in Somiland for this fall and also for another Peace Corps gig for next year. Phew!!!!! and here it is only the middle of July.

Father Frost: I am all done but the beard and the beads. I am not looking forward to the beard and as of today, it sits by my chair, waiting to be finished.

I got my pillow for the bed back when we returned to Texas. Sure adds some color to the light mint green of the covers and the pillows.

 Then I finished up a donation quilt called "Will you be my friend?" I will wrap a teddy bear in it for a friend...

 and add some washable markers to color the hearts or leaves, which ever they call them.

I treated the b&w fabric so that it can be colored and then washed out for multiple colorings. This was actually an experiment in this technique as I have some different b&w fabrics to make into donation quilts but I had to be sure it would work first.

Canada: I went from gorgeous sunny warm weather to snow and cold.

Apart from the amazing accomplishment of my nephew,

we traveled by motorhome into Saskatchewan where he was going to school. We stopped at a history museum and I found my new hummer:

We just thought things were bigger in Texas - How about an Ukrainian Egg and cowboy coffee.

Georgia: While visiting with friends we became reacquainted with Elliott. He opened his heart to us and then we left. The morning that we left he wouldn't say good morning, nor would he talk to us.Boy can he pout!

 He wouldn't look at us as we left.

 Then we finally got back in the coach. Seems like we had been gone for ever.

We parked on the river right in the middle of Little Rock, AR

We saw an immensely large statue of Christ We have seen one in Rio, Montana, Colombia, and now the Ozarks.

While in Ashville, NC I found a cute little knitting shop that sported the window theme of Star Wars (it was owned and operated by a young man in a kilt). Needles = light sabers...Darth Vader = black stocking doll...ObeeOneKinobi = stocking monkey

Here I bought 1200m of lace weight silk in a variegated pink to blue. I plan on hitting a lacey scarf to wear with jeans in the winter. And believe me, if things work out the way I would like them to, I will have lots of time to finish it.

Then on to Panama where we attended a 50 years of Peace Corps reunion. What fun. Our balcony overlooked the start of the Panama Canal giving us a constant view of shipping - drags, no cruise ships however. 

Met old friends:

 Surprise, Bob was on our bus!

 Diana

 Our "daughter" and her moms

 Danny, Shirley, Katie, Bob

 going over the Bridge of the Americas

We saw a fiesta parade for John the Baptist, the patron saint for Chitre from our balcony

And then headed over to Volcán our old stomping grounds. Here I attended an exhibition in Boquette by the quilting group that we started. What a proud day to see how far they have come.

 They got real creative with the local Ngöbe dress using cute children's cotton prints.

 This is how they normally look. Two of the women in the quilting group who are doing very well.

 This is but a sample of what was exhibited, and still there was even more to replace the sold items.

As one can see, not much done in the way of crafting but I have sure have had a great time with all of this "work".