Experimental Felting & Lampshade

Yesterday I did a little playing & some experimenting in the studio. I also just now found out, that in using Beta blogger I can post more than 7 pictures in one blog! I have 8 here. The 1st is just a few fabric beads I made, in prep for part of my lecture & demo next weekend at the Anchorage Museum.

The 2nd is a piece of cheese cloth right after I painted it with fabric paint.

Then I layered on bits of silk rovings & a little bit of Angelina Copper Flash (not heat bondable type). I've never done regular felting, & don't know if this is even how it's supposed to be done, but I was experimenting, & this is what I did.
I used some Orvis soap in a little warm water, drizzled it over the whole mess, rolled it up in a plastic bag, then kneaded & rolled it for about 15 minutes.

It was something of a matty mess when I finished, but I liked the texture & color. Note I had to repaint some of the cheese cloth, because I hadn't waited for the paint to dry, & it washed out!

I dried it out, formed it over some copper mesh, & stitched it around the edge on my sewing machine to keep it on the metal. Made a couple of little beads from some of my painted & burned dryer sheet, & stuck them in between the fibers.

& turned it into a lampshade for my little Fenton glass lamp, whose glass shade was broken in our last move!

The little bowl, next to the lamp is one of my threadplay bowls that I made a while ago.

Just Call me Grace!

Well, I had my first week back to work. I do 12 hour shifts, usually ON my feet! Last night in my 13th hour, I was trying to get out of there. I'd stayed overtime, & was taking an Artline cable to put it away. Walking fast, trying to coil this long wire, I caught it in my left shoe, my foot rolled, & I was flat on my face, before I knew what hit me!I hurt my pride more than anything else, though I feel a bit bruised & battered today. I awoke at 4a.m. with the ankle aching, & worrying about my sister, so I got up & called her. We chatted for a couple of hours. Her Oncologist is still undecided as to the best course of treatment for her, & is awaiting more test results.

On my previous post, there was a comment about me being handy with tools. Yes I have gotten probably more experience with power tools than your average homemaker. I've actually helped to build a few houses, & am well acquainted with a skillsaw, table saw, drills, & nail guns. I LOVE power tools. I've looked at construction as just another form of quilting, using really firm fabric!

This is a picture of what our little house looked like September 2005. We moved out Sept. 2nd, 2005, & didn't get back in until November 30th, 2006. The contractor had said it would take "Three weeks".

They cleared a lot of the trees away from the house, then lifted it, & moved it over. We built a full basement, added on a new bedroom.
During the time of this construction, my DH had to go through radiation therapy,(which left him exhausted, & feeling bad) & later ended up tearing up his knee when he slipped at work, & had to have surgery, so I did a lot of the finishing construction myself to get us back into the house. I guess I have to thank my Ex. for teaching me about house construction.
I ended putting about two-thirds of the tongue & groove cedar on the walls of out new master bedroom.
And I did all of the tile work in the house. This is a shot of the upstairs bathroom that we remodeled. I did all the painting.
& in the Master bath down stairs, I constructed the cedar cabinet behind the vanity, to have a way for the plumbing to be attached, since the 1st idiot plumber our contractor brought in refused to listen to any of my instructions. He had a 'thing' against women.
I also did all the wood wainscoting & trim in this bathroom.

So cutting a ladder in 1/2, & screwing it on the wall, was nothing for me.

We finally had some snow fall. With the global warming our winter has come late. We had just a few inches over the past couple of days. I always love to see winter come here. It's a cozy stay home & quilt time of year. Things usually slow down a bit. Fewer visitors come, & we can settle down & get some work done inside. So I think I'll limp down the stairs, & see if I can get something done. I'll keep you posted!

Home Decorating

Yesterday I got a decorating bug. Too much sitting around watching H&G TV. I went looking through my old quilt & quilt top collection to bring some more color to the living room, & the minute I flipped up the 1st quilts, Broccoli jumped up & held it down for me. Isn't that sweet of him?
I went out to the garage & got the other old ladder that we had. It was too tall to stand up anywhere inthe house, so I cut it in 1/2, & screwed the shorter end up on the wall behind the wood stove.
I covered the rungs with some layers of cheese cloth to protect the quilt tops, then just hung them on the ladder.

THe other thing I did last night, was take some sheets that I've had for 16 years, & never used, & cut off one end, made tie-backs with the extra fabric, & turned them into curtains for the living room. I'm still not satisfied with them, but they're better than what was there before.

Today I head back to work. Resting the shoulder has been a little boring, as I couldn't do a lot of things, (like quilt on a large quilt), but I'm sure I'll be worn out by Friday, since I've gotten used to just relaxing at home. No rest for the wicked I guess.

Threading a Needle

Today after getting my hair done & running errands, I went downtown to the Anchorage museum to help with a group of 50 Brownies (the Girl Scout kind, not edible), to learn how to quilt. The did a very simple applique', postcard size quilt.
It was fun, & Pat, the gal running the class is a very experienced quilter. She's been quilting since the 70's. She had the girls threading embroidery floss on to their needles, short pieces & tying a knot at just one end. Of course they were having trouble not pulling their needles off the thread with the very 1st stitch. Which is the biggest reason I always hated sewing that way, until I took a little handwork class this past March with a little Korean lady.She taught me a different way to thread my needle, to keep from having the thread slip off. I'd actually learned to thread it this same way for silk ribbon embroidery, but never thought to apply the same method to regular thread. In her class we used very fine, #100 silk thread. I took pictures using a large needle & yarn to show you how it's done.


That's it, just 1,2,3, simple as can be, & you never have to lose your thread again. Even Pat hadn't known about this, so I thought there may be a few of you out there that might like this technique.
Warren took the summer screen door off the front of the house, & I decided to have him put it in the corner of the living room, rather than out in the leaky garage, where it'll get damaged. I went to Michael's today, & got some fall silk leaf bundles. They were all 50% off, then put together a wreath, to decorate the door. We did a little furniture rearranging this week too. Just traded the couch & love seat around & moved an end table to spread the table lamps around a little more evenly. It made a big difference in how the living room feels & looks. It's more open & comfortable.