Lift Lock Tour and a Surprise

Last month, I had a birthday, and DS and DDIL invited DH and I to Peterborough for the day. They took us on a Lift Lock Tour.

The day was sunny and warm.

Yup, that's me in the funky hat and the huge sunglasses.




Funny, we're all dressed in blue.

What's that in the water? 

Look at the texture and staining on this concrete wall! Part of one of the lift lock walls, it's just over 100 years old.







We saw Canada geese gathered on the bank as we cruised along the river. People picnic'd at wooden tables along the river, playing games with their little ones.

 We're returning to the tallest lift lock to drop down to the lower level.

Looking over the lift lock edge to the visitor's center below.

See how high up we are?

This is the lift lock wall. Over 100 years of water have left their mark.Now, if I could just wrap that in fabric....think of the rusty bits it would make!




The tour was two hours long, and an enjoyable way to spend an afternoon.
We went back to DS and DDIL's place for a delicious supper and dessert. We played a fun game of Quiddler, and I had a lovely day!




In the mail, though, a box appeared.

All wrapped in a bow and with this lovely hand-painted card

from my wonderful friend Shirley G.!













What was inside the pretty box?

CQ goodies! Lovely ribbons, and buttons, sequins, and lace, plus

a round marble box inlaid with a flower and leaf design. Isn't it lovely?

inside are the cutest little heart buttons!







I'll be having lots of fun with my CQ goodies. Thanks so much Shirl! What a wonderful surprise!

 In the forest, the 'Doll's Eyes' are full and watch me as I walk along the driveway. One has already been plucked.

Some of the plants are changing color. I love the green along the veins, and the golden-yellow-orange dots against the red.

 and the wild berries are turning red. Soon they'll disappear as forest creatures gather them. Are they stashing them for the winter?













I hope you've had a wonderful Saturday!
Thanks for visiting.
Hugs from Suz

  

Tatted Zipper Flower

I learned about zipper flowers from Cathy, and I wondered how one might look if I added some tatting  

I started with some pink perle size 8, but, then I thought that the pink might not show up as well as I'd like against the pink zipper. Lady Shuttlemaker's Rio was perfect.

The colors show well against the pink

I tatted more fancy picot  chain, then gathered the zipper fabric, and sewed it into a flower.

Here's the result. I added a topping of 3 JK flowers with seed bead centers.



What do you think?











My conclusions:
- this flower is quite pouffy and  the long picots hide the zipper
-  it might work out better if I used a shorter zipper for this type of flower
- I could use shorter picots, perhaps, so the zipper would be more visible
- tatting on the zipper flower top might be all that's necessary
- a zipper with the metal teeth might show up better against the tatting

I started a second flower type with a shorter fancy picot, but no results so far.

It's started. The colors are changing in this potted plant. Cooler nights are here, with cooler days to follow. Autumn is on the way.













Hope you have fun today creating.
Happy September! I hope those of you who've been sweltering in the heat and drought will soon find relief in cooler temperatures, and, hopefully, some rain.

Thanks for visiting.
Hugs from Suz

CQ RR

I'm in a CQ round robin on Stitchin Fingers, and received the first block from one of my RR partners, Kim. Here's what her block looked like upon arrival.

The picture is of her Mother, and the beaded lace piece and the pleated flounce came  from Kim's wedding veil. Isn't it beautiful?
Three yo-yo flowers echoing the colors of the block were created by Kim and connected with stem stitch branches.

Examining the block, I decided to follow Kim's lead and add more beads, lace, and flowers, repeating the block colors of cream, blue, and brown. I wanted the focal point to be the picture of Kim's Mom, and I hoped to keep the feeling delicate, feminine, and pretty.

Thinking that the lace and flounce competed with the photo, a necklace of  blue swarovski crystals were added to highlight the face and draw more attention to Kim's Mom.

Then, to gently frame the face and bring out the warm skin tones, an S-swirl of pink lace flowers was added.

Lace in a soft brown was added to the top right seam edge with a pretty, cream beaded gimp lace.  The brown lace was gathered into a frill to adorn the block edge, and topped with a second piece of lace in brown leaves and blue flowers. To the left of the face, I added a lace border in a flowing, soft blue, repeating the blues and carrying the eye to the lace, the face, and the crystals.



I left the other seams around the photo unembellished, as I didn't want to close in too much on the lovely face. Leaving these seams bare brought more light into the photo, I thought.

The flower-topped lace frill draws the eye along the side seam instead of allowing a straight diagonal seam to carry the viewer out of the block.

Greenery connects the pink flowers together, and tatted leaves were added, with some pointing towards the face in the photo.Some flower petals were not sewn down onto the fabric to give the illusion of flowers moving on a breeze.

 On the top left diagonal seam edge, I added the same lace that anchors the soft brown lace frill on the right, repeating the lace pattern, as well as the block colors. French knot centers attach the lace.
A row of tatted Josephine Knot flowers in a  soft  
 blue perle, anchored  with seed beads dance along the seam on the far right.          

Tendrils of greenery climb around the flower stem Kim created, and woven picot leaves were added.    

 On the small right diagonal seam, a Josephine Knot flower cascade was added in blue, and I repeated the seed bead center in each flower.This color repeats the button shade of the yo-yo flower below, and the fabric in the yo-yo flower opposite.


I returned to the upper right seam to add more embellishments. The white gimp and beaded lace was too stark against the dark brown background, so I added some caramel thread and metallic braid in copper along the top lace edge. Caramel JK flower cascades sit atop the soft brown lace and  seed beads in a tawny brown were added to each center.

To soften the straight edge of the beaded gimp lace, and to repeat the light tones of the lower beaded lace and fabric flounce, thread branches were added in the cream thread, along with beads in the cream and tawny-brown, and french knots in caramel, cream, pink and blue.
I think this adds a whimsical touch.

 I added blue seed beads in two shades, in the center opening of the blue lace seam trim to the left of the picture to add a variation in the blue. The pink flowers were given cream bead and french knot centers, adding another tone of soft pink.



My contribution to this block is now complete, and it will now travel to Brinda in India for the next step of its journey.


 I hope you like what I've added to your block, Kim!  It was a lot of fun stitching!

Hope you have some fun stitching today, too.
Thanks for visiting.
Hugs from Suz

In The Meantime

I've been working on some projects, but I can't show just yet.  My satellite connection has been disturbed by all the rain and thunderstorms of late, and I have been unable to post. So, here's what's been happening......

 Across the ocean came this lovely journal from Emma with laces, FME, hand embroidery, and applique. It's gorgeous.

The pages are of heavy weight watercolor,
 so I am free to paint, sketch, or add photos.

front and back view. As you can see, the entire cover is decorated, and beautiful. Thank you, Emma! I love it!







My 'mother-in-law's tongue' has bloomed yet again.

The flowers are quite delicate looking, but have an unusual antiseptic aroma, and exude sticky drops. I was told it was unusual for this plant to flower (is it?) but mine has been doing so twice a year for a couple of years now.

On the back deck, one of my potato vine plants is also flowering. I've had several varieties of this plant each year, but this is the first time I've had any flower.

They have a bell shape to them, and the hummingbirds enjoy the nectar.

Dorthe sent me this beautiful card. I love the layers of fabric, laces, and papers, stamping and buttons. Thank you, Dorthe!

I'm in a CQ Round Robin on Stitchinfingers, and received this block from Kim.
The pic is Kim's Mom, and the lace and fabric below the pic came from Kim's wedding veil.
I hope to build on the flowers Kim has started, bring more attention to the lovely picture, and repeat all the delicate colors of the block to create a soft and romantic feeling.

I've already begun stitching, and I'll share pics later once it's in the post to the next participant.

In the package, Kim included two cute finger pin cushions, and metallic thread in a wonderful variegated colorway. Thank you Kim!

Out in the garden, Chipper sits on a low stump and keeps watch for Cody-dog.

Some of the plants are already changing color! Oh, no!
It's too early!!

Rock-Man watches the seasons change, unconcerned.

On the lake, the waterlillies bloom in the morning

floating on the waves

I think I'll take my mug of coffee down to the lake, and sit and watch the fish jump. There's room for one more. Join me?









I hope you're enjoying a wonderful Sunday.

Thanks for visiting.
Hugs from Suz

It's Mine!

It's mine! All mine.
I won this lovely piece of stitched heaven from Karen Ruane!

 

I love it!





Delicate embroidery on thick paper creates a wonderful confection, reminding me of wedding cakes and candy frosting that crunches when chewed, but slowly melts into a layer of sweetness if you let it sit upon your tongue.




Karen creates beautiful embroideries on fabrics, on paper, and even blends the two surfaces for a unique result. I always feel refreshed after drooling over her white works. You can see more of her creations here

Thanks so much Karen for sharing your work with me. I love my little square. It's mine! I'm so lucky!

I hope your day has luck and beauty in it.
My house guest arrives this afternoon, so I'll be offline for a few days. Hope you have a wonderful weekend.

Thanks for visiting.
Hugs from Suz

Thread, Tats, and Swaps

I've taken a little bit of a break from blogging in the hot and humid weather we've been having. But I couldn't stay away for long!
Do you know Anika? Her blog is TattingitUp and she so generously sent me some of her thread!  Aren't the colors wonderful?

The threads are size 20 and unnamed as yet.







 I had to do some tatting.

 I tried a Mary Konior fragment in the three-colored thread. The tan, brown and blue are a nice combination.







Then I tried  Merry Wives by Mary Konior, but I made an error, and decided to see what might happen if I continued, and it morphed into this:


not what I had hoped, but still a nice motif






Which just goes to prove I should not tat while watching a "Harry Potter" movie, even if it is a rerun!
I then decided to tat  MK's  "Ring A Ring O' Roses"  with Anika's  blue and turquoise thread. I wanted to try Mindful Tatting this pretty pattern, so I went outside and sat on the deck overlooking the lake and the bay.


Despite the picture, the thread really is turquoise and a soft blue, and not the green and beige that it seems to be.
I was pleased with the onion rings and everything about this pattern except for the long chains joining each motif to the center rings. After much tonking, I've decided to begin this pattern again. I may add more joins to the long chains to give it more stability.


I think taking my time and concentrating has produced better results. I'll have to try this more often.
Anika's thread is very nice to tat, and if she ever decides to sell it, I'll be in line.  Thanks again Anika!

Next I tried Lizbeth 'rootbeer ' with a DMC gold metallic thread.

I added a tawny-colored bead at the base of each ring trio, but they are difficult to see clearly.

MK's "Beaded Braid"

 I was pleased with my test tats.



MK's "Merry Wives"





I sent out my block in the Stitchin' Fingers CQ RR, to the first stitcher. Here's what it looks like naked.

and I can't wait to see what my stitching partners create for me.
My theme is Garden Visitors.









I sent along a few goodies for each stitcher.

I'm also in a Mug Rug swap on StitchMap, and here's what I'm sending my swap partners.
These are my first mug rugs, and I'm relatively pleased with how they look.

Made of small pieces of green and yellow fabrics CQ'd together, I added a layer of gold FME, topped it with organza, then machine stitched over top with a feather stitch in lime green. I love the subtle sparkle from the gold metallic thread and the sheen of the organza.

The flip side is a flowered green fabric quilted in a rectangular pattern from the middle outwards. Both layers are joined with seam binding.













My second mug rug was created with a grey mottled cotton with rows of vintage red rick-rack and feather stitching in red and dark grey. I added a small tatted flower in one corner with a beaded center. DMC size 80.

On the reverse is a red cotton with white flowers and some quilting with silver metallic thread, again using the feather stitch. A grey seam binding was used to join the two layers together.

The mug rugs will be mailed out in the next couple of days, along with packets of tea and a few goodies. I sure hope my swap partners like theirs.



 I hope you've been having pleasant weather. The heat and humidity is returning today, so stay cool!
Have a great weekend!
Thanks for visiting.
Hugs from Suz