Slow Stitching - No. 033 - Nature of Cloth

This week's prompt in the K3N Cloth Tale's Slow Stitching challenge is "Nature of Cloth".  

Kathryn explored her bundle of fabric.  How does it feel? Does it pass the needle test? Does it ravel? Does it have texture?

Once we had selected our fabrics then we were to make a fabric collage.

I chose a corduroy, wool plaid, orange cotton, yellow cotton and a small triangle of mustard colored silk. 

I placed a circle of stitching around the intersection of these fabric pieces.  Then random running stitching, seed stitching, with a sprinkling of French Knots.  This was a lot of fun to make.

Slow Stitching - Wool Brooches

I have acquired quite a few small pieces of wool or felted wool and decided to see if I could use my slow stitching to make brooches.

This blue one was my first one.  I chose to add a star in single thread where the 3 colors in the fabric met.  

Originally I had use white thread for the blanket stitch edging and that was not working.  I pulled it all out and started over.

It works much better to have dark blue edge stitching.

I like the uneven shape of this brooch.

 This brooch was stitched on a piece of felted wool which has various colors in it.  It was quite thick so I paired it with some grey fleece. I cut 2" circles from each fabric.  

I slow stitched my sunrise scene onto the felted wool circle. I then whipped stitched the 2 layers together.  I am not sure that whip stitching was the best choice as it has given the brooch an organic shape.

I hand stitched a pin back.

I chose some bright pink wool fabric for this brooch.  I had these iridescent flowers I had reclaimed from an old wedding item.

I stitched my stems on first then added my flowers with a frosted Ebead in the center.  I added some blue seed stitches to indicate sky.

I chose pink thread and used the blanket stitch to hold the 2 layers of pink together.  I chose to put running stitch along the bottom because I wanted to preserve the raw edge.

I then placed a piece of black felt on the back with whip stitch. 

I handstitched a pin back to the black then hid the stitching with a small piece of the same felt.

This is how all the brooch pins are attached  to make them as pretty as possible.

The small piece of fabric over the center the same as the back piece so it becomes quite invisible.

These may make it to the Christmas Store at the gallery in December.

Muttart Conservatory - Christmas

The feature pyramid was decorated for Christmas.  There were beautiful poinsettias in a variety of colors on full display

I loved this variegated one.

The Hellebore - Lenten Rose was in bloom in the tropical pyramid.

I always love seeing this flower.

The tropical space had lost one of the main trees in the center so it was very much brighter but feeling a bit empty.

Fog was covering the pond in the feature space.  Love how the stalks just emerge from the mist and the silver ball reflects its surroundings.

Wooly penguins sporting red and white scarves where resting on a large snowflake.

Wonderful Christmas decor.

A clever tree decorating idea.

Beautiful clear glass spheres filled with red air plants.  They made a really nice looking tree.

The huge red star against the rock wall made for a great shot.

It would make a great Christmas card.

I was glad not to have missed this display as it opened some time in November.

It was pleasantly quiet as long as I avoided the group of  school kids moving from pyramid to pyramid.  I just skipped the Arid pyramid as I was getting tired and they were just ahead of me.

The gift shop has some really nice things for Christmas gifts.

1 of a Kind - Tree Scent Ornaments - Set 2 and Stand

I made a few more 1 of a King Tree Scent Ornaments.  These ornaments can hold your favorite tree scent essential oil to give your artificial tree the right scent.

It could also be a favorite Christmas scent of your choice. The scent will dissipate and you can choose a different oil another day.

Love this bold black and white check felted wool.

I decided to pair it with red.

I put blanket stitch along both edges with black embroidery thead. 

I changed color to red and using the squares in the fabric I put X and dashes along to bottom half and just dashes long the top.

Red felt on top with a large black button on top of that.  Black embroidery hanger.

I had most of my buttons spread around my work area in separate bowls.  I found this cute small oval button which matched well with the thread I had selected so I decided to use it.

For this bright felted wool I chose bright green and blue.

I put blanket stitch in green along the top and bottom edges. 

I then stitched the button in the center front and then added dash stitches in blue above and below the button.

The top felt is green with a button button. 

True Blue embroidery floss hanger.

I decided to do one ornament in Oiler colors - blue and orange.

I used the wool denim colored felt.

I added a blanket stitch along the top and bottom edges in orange. 

The center pattern is a set of crossed dash stitches.

I cut the top felt circle from the same fabric with my smallest die from the Large Nestabilities smooth circle dies.  Fits perfectly.

Topped with orange buttons and the same orange embroidery thread for the hanger in all 6 plys.

Another Tree Scent ornament with bright colors.

The wool cuff is bright green and I chose purple embroidery thread.

I put a blanket stitch along the top and bottom edges.

I put stars patterns along the center of the wool layer.

The top has a purple felt circle and then a bright green medium sized button.

Purple 6ply embroidery thread hanger.

The fabric for this ornament was wool suiting so I folded it top to the back and bottom to the back so I had 3 layers to work with. 

I did have to stitch the ends which were stitched over with my connecting stitches.

White blanket stitches along the top and bottom edges.

I followed the plaid pattern with my white thread in dash stitches.

The top felt circle is red topped with a medium white button.

The hanger is white in 6 ply thread.

I needed another stand for Tree Scent Ornaments.  I went shopping this week and found this black folding stand. 

The Christmas stuff was out as well so I picked up a package of silver wire hangers.  I just squeezed them onto the wire frame.

I will put my sign on the back wire with the clothes pin.

I had the piece of wood in my stash which was perfect. It stabilizes the stand when there are ornaments on it. I will have to secure the legs into the slots.

Enough space on this stand for my 1 of a Kind Tree Scent Ornaments.

Christmas Tree Scent Ornaments - Batch 2

I sold all 3 from the first batch so I made up a few more today and delivered them.

Felt is the best material for passive diffusers so the oil should be put onto the darkest of the balls so in this case the black or grey ones would be best.  

I had these ready the other day but I did not know I had sold so many Christmas Tree Scent ornaments so I packaged these up and delivered these as well. The gallery was open today which was really great!

Stuffed little quilted hearts.  The left one is cotton fabric in kraft striped and ivory snowflake fabric. Added a wooden button on the front and a bead on the hanger cord.  A loose stitch of teal thread around the edge.

The second one is kraft plaid with teal and heart wool fabric.  It sports the same wooden accents and teal stitching. 

The oil on these should be put on the back or directly on the wooden elements if you are careful. 

National Hot Tea Month - 2022

January is National Hot Tea Month.

I enjoy hot tea every day.  This morning it was Earl Grey Decaf with a bit of honey.   

It was part of my breakfast in front of the dining room window so I can see outside while I eat.  It's the back alley so it's not great but better than the side of another building.  Maybe the view will change this year.

I served it in my Steeped Tea large clear glass tea cup.  I love big mugs/cups.

I hope you are enjoying a cup of your favorite tea.

Breakfast was three gluten free pancakes made with 1 to 1 flour and some wheat bran for fiber.

Topped with home made chokecherry syrup which I made this summer.  A bit of cream to make it delicious.

Tea served in my golden yellow tea pot sitting on the sunflower hot spot my niece made for me a few years ago.

I had one with maple syrup as well. 

Art Walk Experience

I attended the Art Walk in the Strathearn neighborhood on Sunday.  There were over 300 vendors in the park (check out the map in the mosaic on the right).  As you to can see from the bottom photo the weather was a bit sketchy.  I was fortunate to be there for 1.5 hours with no rain.

There was all kinds of art.  There were quite a few photographers, a few glass artists, a few watercolor artists, some acrylic painters, and more artists producing alternative and on the edge art.

I bought a vase/bottle from a glass artist booth.  The artist is Keith Walker.  The piece I bought was made by a student of his who was sharing his booth.

I absolutely love the yellow and clear glass vase.  I have picked a few new flowers from my row in my friends garden.  I think cosmos flowers are quite frost hardy so I expect that I will have few more pickings.

There was some nice pieces on this table.  I see the blue top with the clear bottom vase would be another favorite.  She had no business card and I did not get her name.  I will have to see what I can do if I decide to pursue another purchase.

This small wooden vessel was very amazing.  The crowds around this booth were very large and the news cameras were there.

The skeins of hand dyed wool were wonderful.

Beautiful colors, great variegated skeins and a few handmade items available for sale.

I am partial to watercolor. Robin Light Watercolors booth has some lovely small paintings. 

Sharing with Maggie at Normandy Life for Mosaic Monday #100.