What a Wonderful Week It Was!

April is underway, and I am still behind......... but I hope to catch up this month......or next....... ;-}...
What a week I've had! There have been wonderful goodies in the mail, snow melting!, and signs of spring (Yay!) popping up, and I treated myself, too!
The Fiber Fest was on Saturday, so I took a few photos of the Embroidery Guild table......

 felt birds and hearts hung from the branches of a tree......

 crocheted Easter eggs, too

 my bracelets were in the bin behind the doggy brooches......... once there was some room, I think they made their appearance........

there were fish key chains, and tiny embroidered brooches

 felt egg cup covers, and bunnies, too

and felt ones

more bunnies......my how they multiply.....lol

 crafty felted crow pin cushions.....

and lots of fiber goodies on the other tables, and basketry, and rug hooking

 I had reserved this little Sweetie before the sale......

so Maggie Bunny came home with me.......

isn't she adorable?

Her jacket comes off, so I may just make some more clothes for her.

I know she has a good heart

and she'll soon be whisking her way across the world to Australia to stay with our Jewel. Jewel loves bunnies, so I plan to make a few more for her so she'll have her own little felt bunny family to join all her other bunnies.......












Once I finished all the cuff bracelets, there was very little time left for more stitching.......

 but I did tat this snowflake

 and then one in red

and the skirt looked like this

you can't see the beaded snowflakes I added, but they're adding a bit of sparkle here and there.......

lots more to add to this section before the next piece gets any attention

These lovelies arrived in the mail from  Madtatter. Aren't they pretty?  And so delicate, too.
Thanks so much, Mad!! I love them, and my tree skirt will look gorgeous with their addition!

 much larger than the wee one beside the quarter that I'd tatted!

The snowflake with the pearls will be added to this section of the skirt, and it really pops against the patterned green (especially when the photo isn't fuzzy! ..lol)










I was thrilled to win Monika's wonderful giveaway. She sent me fabulous fiber goodies!

a magazine, needles, postcards, thread, silk ribbon, fabric glue, sulky sticky, beads, specialty thread, fibers......

such an awesome box full!

see that container of fiberlicious stuff?
there's some fish leather! wow!
Good thing it doesn't smell like fish! It's used to make purses, shoes, belts, bags, eyeglass cases....... all sorts of things.....

then, if that wasn't enough, Monika included a whole other bag of wonders---thread, and more thread (I LOVE thread!), suede thread, perle thread, silk thread, variegated thread, chenille (?) thread, beads and more silk ribbon!! Yummy stuff!!
So awesome, Monika! Thank you!
Monika is an amazing fiber artist, so check out her blog for some great eye candy.
There were a few signs of spring........

 Mr. and Mrs. Cardinal were out picking through the snow for seeds

I caught Mr. and Mrs. Dove sitting in my window box planter, soaking up some sun and watching Chippie gathering seeds

the ice and snow are receding .....slowly.....but we're expecting warmer temperatures in the next few days.........we may even get into double digits!








I've been wanting one of these for quite a while now...........

so I treated myself!
Looking forward to having some painting fun!
I see lots of layers, masking and stencilling in my future!

The April HEX LABS have been released at StitchMAP, and I've begun working on one of the  patterns, and hope to have some progress to show next week. My wrapping cloth needs some attention, too.

I hope you've had time for some stitching or creating this week.
Thanks for visiting.
Hugs from Suz

 

As March Ends.......

My amaryllis were re-potted quite late this year, but now one plant is in bloom and adds some cheery colour to my kitchen.

 looks all fiery in the sunlight!

love the shadows!

 ahhh, it's triplets!













I have been consumed by the wrist cuff bracelets. My 'studio' is covered with bracelets in various stages, and so, very little other stitching has been accomplished.

the line-up
most of these just need the button and closure

closer look
I think the third one might need a little more........

some sport tatted flowers, lace, and beads

some have hand embroidery, too.

a bit more embellishing, and it's time for stitching.....

more fabrics cut and in the queue for titivations.........


As all the bracelets need to be finished for the first Saturday in April, all my other stitching has been put on hold.
All proceeds from the Embroidery Guild table sales are being donated to charity. I'll try to get some photos on the Fiber Arts Day.

I am adding a seam embellishment of bullions to my wrapping cloth, but progress is slow.

piece #11






Hope you've had a creative week.
Thanks for visiting.

Hugs from Suz

March Middlings and Muddlings

 These pelargoniums are doing well on my window ledges, and have burst into flower with the return of the sun.

I have four large pots of these bright pink ones to put outside once spring has arrived and is well underway..........














Here's my completed Wattle HEX from StitchMAP. I chose to stitch an Acacia Purpureapetala which has purple flowers, instead of the usual cream- yellow flowers of the wattle.
This was fun!

Then, a Fun Friday Tute was announced at StitchMAP with a challenge to create a wrist band bracelet following some of Blogland's tutorials. Here's my first one completed with beads, lace, french knots, a pretty button, and a button wrap I stitched with blanket stitches across two threads of #5 perle cotton.

I have three more in the line-up. I think this design could be altered to be a pretty, functional, credit or debit card carrier, perfect for shopping trips when you don't want the bulk of a purse on your arm or shoulder. Just slip the card in and out of the bracelet.

And then, I got a little carried away........

I made another, and pinned  3 more for stitching......

and I thought I had better wrap it all up and get back to my CQJP tree skirt and my wrapping cloth............



but this distraction continued........

with another 3, the first one with a beaded dangle just begun,





the second with ribbon and lace flowers,






the third with a bit of lace....hmmmnn, I wonder what else?

then this one

and a smaller one for a young person........

and then I told myself I had to stop!

I needed to get back to my tree skirt and my wrapping cloth piece #11. I was quite stern with myself, and when I sat down to create that Sunday evening, I slapped my wrist and put away the bracelets.
"You have to tat snowflakes," I told myself. And so I did.

1 lonely little snowflake about the size of a nickel.........

well,......... that's not going to cover much of the tree skirt, is it?

Now, March is almost over, and I haven't made much progress on my CQJP. I've been distracted.
But, now I have to get back to it.......that is if I can keep away from those fabric bracelets!

We have snow, rain, and freezing rain in tomorrow's forecast. Like the pelargoniums, I am awaiting spring.
I did see the chipmunk out under the bird feeder filling his cheeks with seeds, so there's one sign spring is on the way!

Dovey was there, too!
Hope wherever you are, you have sunshine and time to create.

Thanks for visiting.
Hugs from Suz

Marching Along......

Not a whole lot of stitching to show this week, as some has to remain secret for now..........

wrapping cloth piece #11 has been tacked, and I've made a beginning on titivating the fabric knot.....

with layers of buttonhole lace on the front and top

and on the back.....

2 shots of some of the wrapping cloth pieces put side by side in random order

 it's about half the size I hope it will become.......making slow progress.....

I've been working on 1 of the March HEX LABS from StitchMAP, and having fun stitching this pattern for a wattle.
A few more feather stitches, and it'll be time for the flowers

let's get that wrinkle out of there

That's better.......



















I think Spring might be trying to visit for the day.......it's gotten to 6C today with lots of sunshine! WooHoo!  I spied this pair out on the patio trying to soak up a few rays:

 They saw me peeking out the garage door window at them

Even though we still have lots of snow, this one corner of the patio gets the sunshine, and the snow melts quickly on sunny days



More snow in the forecast tomorrow........don't they know it's supposed to be spring?

Thanks for visiting.
Hugs from Suz

March Madness

Happy March! I hope this month will bring warmer temperatures and an end to the snow. Maybe spring will arrive. That would be nice.
On the stitching front, this past week found me using up some of the leftover strips from the flimsy.
A friend had posted this on her blog, and I followed the links to find the tutorial and created these:

little quilted fabric boxes
I have a bit more fabric left, and one block that I'd made for the flimsy, so I'll be finishing a few more of these.


Thanks to Sherry for the inspiration and to Tina for the tutorial! Now my desk will have a co-ordinated look.

Snowflakes of the tatted kind are piling up in my tatting tin and ready to be applied to the tree skirt. I'll show photos later of my progress.

 I've added this bullion row with french knots to my wrapping cloth piece #10, and it's now finished!

There's always one that has to go it's own way!

piece #10 finished

Here's piece # 11 all pinned and ready for stitching.





On StitchMAP, our monthly HEX LABS have been released for March, and I want to make all 3 designs, but it will depend on how much time I have.












On a recent trip to a new second-hand shop, I found these treasures:

6 of these beauties......

2 of these napkins

3 meters of white patterned fabric and another 2 patterned napkins. I'll save all for my wrapping cloth. What good luck!
Have you found some treasures lately?

Hope you've had some creative time this week.



Thanks for visiting.
Hugs from Suz

February Frazzles

Another pretty sunset captured last weekend as I looked out the 'studio' window.

It's been a busy week, but not much progress made on my tree skirt, except for a few more snowflakes tatted, and beaded ones. I'll wait until there's been more added before posting a photo.

 I did get back to my wrapping cloth, and piece #10. It's a small piece and almost finished, with just 1 more seam to titivate. Maybe some more bullions........

or maybe more buttonhole lace.......

















So what was I doing all week? I was making this:

It's a flimsy for Debra!
My first ever making anything this size ( it's on a queen-sized bed above)
It's bright, and happy, and I love how it looks.  Along the way, there was sewing, lots of frogging, air turning blue, and some frustration, but it's finished. I almost ran out of some of the fabrics I'd used. whew.
And in true Suz style, one of the blocks is a little quirky.
Someone might say I was tired and wasn't paying close enough attention. I say it's an artistic statement!
Can anyone tell I like green?
lol!
I'll be getting this out in the mail in the next day or 2. Looking forward to seeing what Debra does with this one.
Thanks for visiting.

Hugs from Suz