sorting...

Moving is really an eye opening and thoughtful

process...sometimes too hard to

get rid of the unfinished efforts

yet moving them is over

whelming.

So many things started and left

to finish another day and

of course

new ideas come and

forgotten

treasures are put aside.

Boxes unopened...

see thru "baggies" sorted neatly with just

time needed to 

finish.

just move it over and

sort it another day.

new ideas

Moved recently to an old time
Florida fishing
community.
laid back..
small..
quiet.

Creating...
Photography...
Drawing
Quilting
Designing.

No one in a big hurry
especially driving down
the one road on and off
the island.

Speed limit goes all the
way down to 30 and up to
55...most just stay in the
middle about 45 no matter
what!

New ideas...calming spirit.
a lot of just "new".

under the oaks

some times you gotta clean up areas
around the house...
this is out by the compost heap...
we had a real nice supply of worms and
a few tomato plants growing and herbs..
but we also had some chickens next door
that really really liked my worms, tomatoes
and herbs.

so i cleaned up the area and my new little
puppy chased the chickens back to their
property...



Suzanne McMinn's "Chickens in the Road"
blog had a forum on garden art and
really beautiful pieces of sculpture
made from pieces of glass, china,
pottery and pots...

i remembered my area and here are some of
my ideas to add to the mix.



this is the area i use to dump the old
and begin the new...because of the
rains during the summer you gotta get
rid of the puddles of standing water
so i turn my pots upside down and stack
them...now i arrange them cause i
like them this way!











the saucer does have some water in it
now for the birds to drink cause there
is no rain...



i believe i will clean up the glass and
weight the bottom, glue them together
maybe some colored marbles to sparkle...

Beautiful, Beautiful

It has been an amazing February/March...

We are terribly dry here in South Florida, but the weather
has been beautiful...Just enough breeze to make it
wonderful to sit outside under the oaks...
in my hammock swing!

The birds are in concert - flocks of cardinals (unafraid
to come up and eat off the porch beside us),
doves cooing in pairs,
little finches way up in the tree tops
(we call them tweety birds),
starlings,
blue jays, and even a few woodpeckers!

I am in love with fibers....my room is evidence of that
with the fabrics i have and the purchases of more
and more....I am also in love with the makers of
the same on etsy.com....and their stories...
To raise animals using their fleeces to produce
the most amazing products.
I am going to be in deep trouble if i can find a way
to use these in a new and wonderful way....

Recently became a follower of
Larkspur Funny Farm & Fiber Arts Studio...
a great article about how her life has lead her to this
point is found at her blog

www.larkspurfunnyfarm.blogspot.com

www.bigtownfarmer.com/articles/FEB09Funnyfarm.htm

....I love the silk, the colors, the raw fibers.....
the animals....

Now back to creating....

Recovery

Each new year seems a little more difficult to ease into...
routines...journeys...changes...regroup and begin again.
The last two months of every year are the most time
consuming at my job...everything has to revolve around
the difficult time schedule and the changes in eating,
sleeping and creating! My children always had the worst
Christmas season just because mom was not able to eat,
sleep and participate...it became a way to make thanksgiving
more important and i believe that was a good thing.

Getting back to creating as i enjoy is taking longer each
year...recoup time! But a new grandson this last year needing
a quilt...pushed me to this...

I love bold colors especially for children...and this grouping
really spoke to me. The fun monkeys and bugs just made
for a really nice boys drag-a-round size quilt. My biggest
thing is to build the design around tradition type styles but
i don't usually use a pattern...just an idea.

The quilts usually
go along pretty good until i have to build the final by adding
and adding to the separate groups i have created...and most
of the time that means a couple of trips back to the fabric store
to supplement the stash.


Most of the blocks were similar so i started turning them..
realizing that the quilt was not to be displayed but played
with and used from every side - there would not be a
directional quality to the quilt.



Needed to have his name and date on it so i embroidered it
simply using floss...something that would last during washings....
The quilt turned out to be exactly what i wanted...I machine
quilted from the front around the blocks...trying to keep the
areas blocked and stable...maybe should have been more
but really haven't been able to keep at it long enough
to heavily quilt.
When Kobe was born we decided to use polka dots for the
majority of his blankets, bedding, burp cloths and the
backing of the quilt kept the theme going...just used a
bit on the front to complete the panels. The edging was
just plain cotton bias from the store...in a deep brown.

The overall effect was playful and colorful...I like it and so
did Kobe and his family.

T-Shirts!!!

When clearing my room and redoing it for use - stashes
of items i had saved for "possiblilities" came into view.
Wow! T-shirts!
As a family we used them as everyday wear - two sons,
one daughter, four athletics, lawn mowing husband
and my dirty part time job - we had collected an
abundance of T-shirts....and worn them to soft, full of
holes soon to be rags. Our rag bags were abundant so
I decided to reuse these in a creative way.
First i saved them by throwing them in a large garbage
bag...after collecting 3 large garbage bags and moving
them from place to place to place i had to come up with
a better way. At the same time i had to justify why i
even needed to save them.
If i could create some neat looking storage for a t-shirt
that could be visible, useful, and ready to use that would
be perfect...so i set out to cut up the shirts...


First lay out the shirt on a flat surface...hold at tail of
shirt to get the front and back as close to even as possible.
Remember these shirts are well-worn and stretched out...
nothing will be absolutely perfect on this...think recycle!
Get a really really good pair of scissors...my gingher are
great but as i get older the fiskars softouch with the spring is
way worth the money!

Try to have as few wrinkles in the back as possible and
the sleeves flat also. Turn the shirt so you are at the side
of the shirt.


Make your first cut along the bottom hem...determining if
you will actually use it will come later...if it is really thick
i have opened the hem up and cut through it. If you don't
want the hem area...cut it off and start with the bottom of
the shirt.

The size of the strips will be a healthy 1 1/2 inch...approximate
this and it will vary as you go - you do not need a ruler.
If there are holes it is okay...try to use them or include
them in your strip.
Cut your strip ALMOST to the other side...DO NOT CUT
off the strip....leave about 2 inches along the far side of the
t-shirt.
Move all the way up the shirt toward the sleeves...and keep
in mind you need to include a joined area from front to
back of the t-shirt.




I try to use as much of the shirt as
possible and it is possible to use every inch including the
neck but sometimes you might want to skip that heavy
section...as i have in the photos.
Once you have the shirt in strips, bunch them and move
the shirt so you have the attached side close to you...



Open the hem area (VERY IMPORTANT) make a cut across
the bottom of one strip AFTER the jointed area.


If you
open this up and have done it correct then you should have
a strip still attached to the bottom of your shirt.



On my shirt you can see pen marks as to the 2nd and 3rd
cut...you are making one long strip of fabric...as you cut up
the shirt.






Continue to cut as you move and layout the remainder of the
shirt...you can stop at any point and use the last bits for rags!


Now is the time to recruit help...I cut the shirts and then give
the pile to my husband...as he watches baseball he can roll
the entire pile into a neat and colorful ball...if at some point
the strip is cut you can tie or loop them together.



The inside part of the rolled fabric
does not have to be perfect but as i approach the end of my
strip i try to even out the strips and smooth out the ball of
fabric because i display them in a basket!

I love balls of torn
fabric, beans, noodles, twine, on display...in a tray or basket.
When i am ready to make a rug or pot holder or trivet the
material is ready...the color is seen....i grab what i need and
I create!

I have a store on Etsy.com and have created some Southern
Lady Toe Rugs from t-shirts....very simple but it is also useful
for home or office use. If you do not have time or t-shirts and
want to visit my store please do...you will love the Toe Rugs...
(http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5303773)
from the creating Lady Under the Oaks!

Summer Project

A trip to grandma and grandpa's house should always
include some really neat project that mom or dad would
never think of completing!

Since we like to pick up things that others discard. I had
found this chair on the side of the road. It was water
stained grey and the legs needed to be cut to get rid
of wear and rot.

The first day we painted it white (any light tinted color
would do) and let it dry in the sun...didn't get a photo
of that...used a water-based paint because I get it all
over me and knew my grand-daughter would also!

After it dried I dug out my collection of acrylic paints from
over the years and we tested them out on the chair.
A nice subtle paint job would never do and so we decided
not to paint anything the same color and switched them
from side to front to inside to back! It was great...at least
grandma had a good time...i think Sajarie did also!



The seat had a really neat pattern (it did not show up till we
put the white paint on) so we decided to paint each
section its own color and the pattern also included circles
between each square so of course that too was different.
And grandma did not worry about overlaps or paint going in
different areas...we just played and enjoyed ourselves.


I think now i might put a thin line of black around the different
squares of the seat and maybe more design on each color or
section of the chair for interest! Why not! This is really a fun
project and it is all imagination!



Cutting the legs a little made the chair friendlier to the short legs of a
child. This is definitely a work in progress - updates as we moved along.