Ta Da!!!!!

It is finished !!!!

...and yes, there is another one on the drawing board.

Happy Day !

Thread Painting

To call it thread painting is to use the theory very loosely.  I still haven't master the art of free hand machine quilting so I go back to what I am comfortable with.  Good old straight stitching with lots of curves!  

 

90% is done with straight stitching but the stems and the small shadow between the pears are free handed.

Moving right along with the stitching.  I have three layers that are being sewed through: top, batting, and stabilizer.  I would have put a backing on this but I am thinking of going with an envelope back because I have never did a backing this way.  

 

I still wanted to add some red to the pear on the left.  Even though it is hard to see in the picture there is just enough to balance with the dark green.  And it made me happy :-)  You can see in this photo some of the shadow stitching.

Now this could open up a whole new quilt project.  I've seen it done in large quilts where the design is totally stitched using colored thread.  But for now we will flip it over and finish it tomorrow.


Happy quilting!


 

Audition Time !

It only took one time to remember that patterns have to be cut in a reverse image if you want them to match your picture and the same holds true with cutting out your fusible appliques.

I've found using a light box helps but if you do not have a light box then a window works the same.  

Now comes the fun part (and also the frustrating part).  Finding just the right fabric to use. I did want to match the rosie red of the pear on the left but I didn't have quite the right material so after many trips to the red bin, I decided to then go with a darker green.  

 

 Not liking the pink/red at all.

Not exactly thrilled with the dark green either.

But this is only going to be a sample, test art quilt so we will see if adding stitching and embellishments helps.

At least they still look like a pair of pears!

Being lost in the excitement of doing this project I jumped ahead a step.  I find it easier to do the free hand stitching on the top layer before ironing down the fusible pieces.  OOP's. 

Back to the quilt books....I know there are a few of them on the shelf with "How to free hand machine quilt"  information.

Hey Keith - loved your pink birthday cake!!!  Is this going to be a new fad for the men in the Davidson family??

 
Happy birthday to Keith.... and happy stitching to others.

 

If You Can Read....

I've always been of the mind that if a person can read then they can learn to do anything they have an interest in.  Now that being said... for years I've been collecting quilt books and found the pictures interesting and sometimes inspirational.  Notice the word 'pictures'.  I would very seldom take the time to sit and read the content but now that endless time has been presented it was time to do some reading and use some of the quilting tools I've accumulated through time.

So this will be the start and finish (hopefully) of an art quilt.  We will make this journey together and hope the product ends up as a satisfaction and not something that gets folded and put away. 

I found this book at The Fabric Depot in Portland on my way to my mom's.  It is not that I don't have other books on the subject!  But this book has a really easy, clear explanation of the start-to-finish process of a photo art quilt (and I had time at my mom's to get past the pictures).

If you are comfortable using a digital camera and have a photo editing program on your computer then you are ready to start.  I use Photo Shop Elements as it is a trimmed down version of Photo Shop and is simple enough for even me to get around in.

What to take a picture of?  Big decision as the world is filled with the most interesting subjects.  But I wanted to start simple and fruit works very well for simple.  

This wasn't the only pear picture.  But after bringing into the photo editing program I really liked part of it so that was what was cropped and printed.

I will be using the fusible applique process with raw edges.  The outlined fruit will be the pattern.  Next big step will be going through fabric and finding just the right colors/patterns.  No matter how much fabric you have in your stash, you will never have just the right piece.  I can see already that this will mean a trip or two to the local quilt store.

Off to the loft and the fabric stash.


Happy quilting.

A Visit With Mom!

This lady is amazing!  How many women do you know that are 92 years old, lives on their own, can play a mean game of Scrabble, can argue politics, and can out-shop you any day of the year?

That's her - Mom/Grandma/Great Grandma!

Upon arrival on Thursday it was out to an early dinner.  That is after shopping at Kohl's and Target.  Put her anywhere close to a car and she is ready to go.

Friday was a doctor's appointment in the morning with one of her favorite doctors.  Dr. Weller and her have the cutest relationship between them.  Of course, they have been seeing each other for years.  

Can you tell she is happy to be seeing Dr. Weller!

After her doctor's visit we went, of course, shopping!  Today's shopping was at Wal-mart, Freddies, out to lunch at Anthony's, the farmers market, and back to Kohl's.  Maybe not exactly in that order but close.  

Another day and another happy smile!

Thanks Mom for a wonderful time!

 

First Time Out!

Today was the virgin voyage of the new boat.  Technically it is not a new boat and it is a long way from being a virgin but it does have a nice ring to it.  

Or it could be you are never too old to learn new things... this is closer to the truth.  

We found River Forks or Twin Rivers or whatever this place is called on the first try this morning and were on the river by 9:30.  The fall Chinnock will be migrating from September through October so we were not the only boat here and we were not the smallest boat either.  There is nothing as relaxing as being on the water early in the morning when the wind is non-existent and the sun is out.

Looking down-river at the Main Umpqua.

Our launch went flawless as did most of the day.  It took awhile to get use to navigating with the troller....Bill kept reminding me that it works in the opposite direction as a tiller on a sailboat.  Its been so many years since I've been on a sailboat that that bit of information didn't help at all.  The steering was more trial and error....if you were pointing in the wrong direction then what the heck move the handle the other way.  I was hoping that everyone who was fishing wasn't watching us as we weaved our way up-river.

  
We were fishing in the "old fashion" style - no fish finder, no depth indicated - just "can you see any rocks???" and "I caught a fish".  The rocks weren't too bad as the trolling motor blades are still on at the end of the day.  

This is looking up-river at the South Umpqua.

And this is the first fish of the day.

There is a picture of my catching the anchor line with my lure but being I get to do these blogs I can decide what to show or not show!  So all the snags and dumb thing pictures will be left out.  But I will share that I also snagged the anchor between rocks but we got it out.  Another lesson learned.

By the time the second fish was in the boat, the wind had picked up and we still had to motor back to the ramp with a pretty hefty head wind.  Even though we were going with the flow of the river the wind made for a slow trip back.

I am so glad that we were the only ones who were taking a boat out as we would have won the "Home video funniest award".  The wind was blowing so hard and there was no docks here - just a concrete ramp and then the river. 

Launching the boat was a piece of cake - taking it out was something else.  Bill had the trailer down in the water downriver from the boat, I was up to my knees in the river pushing and pulling the boat, Bill is on the trailer giving directions....mmmm.  Then Bill is in the river up to his knees also, pushing and pulling!!!!  We didn't do too bad as the boat was finally on the trailer and winched up.  

Being an old boat you can't see where the new scratches are.

Things we/I learned:

1)  we took way too much stuff with us

2)  Bill still out fishes me

3)  get off the river before the wind comes up

4)  don't let your lure drop down between the rocks

5)  be careful where you anchor

6)  and have fun no matter what goes wrong.

Hoping for rain tomorrow!

It's True!

It really is true that once you retire you really don't have time to get everything done...there is just too much to do and the days just whiz by :-)

After finding out the 1975 Johnson 9.9 motor that came with the boat does start but with a lot of effort, we decided that we really wanted something lighter and easier.  Out came the Pro Bass and Cabela catalogs and electric trolling motors compared with a Minn Kota 40 looking pretty good.  Between the catalogs and a call to Cabela's in Eugene we decided to try Bi-Mart as we really wanted to fish tomorrow.  

...and this is what just fell into the cart along with a battery.

After shopping we had more trouble trying to find the park with the boat launch at Twin Rivers (the North and South Umpqua Rivers meet here).  We did find another lovely little park on the way.  Wish I had taken a picture or two of the park as it was one of those warm, last days of summer.  

Then it was home to make modifications to the transom.  This was a togetherness job.... ;-)

Notice the old piece of plywood....gone!

Corian cutting board from the kitchen....on!

And layered on top a piece of composite wood decking...finished!

Tomorrow, rain or shine, fishing!