A little chatter and some fiber work!
Closeup of edges that I filled in with buttonhole stitch and seed bead. Bottom is doodling/zentangle sewn with size 15 seed beads.
This is the house behind us! Snow did melt as the morning progressed but...snow!
So now on the the Warped Weaver's meeting today. There were only six of us but a productive group for sure! Susan started us out with showing her hand applique stained glass piece she is working on. I won't show pics as she is going to be entering in shows so I'll wait until she wins that big ribbon. It is fun to see her work progressing so she's showing her piece every month to the group.
I really like the colors and the pattern!
Caryl, our hostess today, made these ornaments for her class this year. Wasn't that nice of her. I said 20 years from now one of the kids will have this ornament on their tree and telling their children one of their teachers made it for them years ago. A nice keepsake!
Caryl also showed this envelope box she made. I really like this...it's made of envelopes with a smaller box inside. This is the top....
This is the box inside....
And here's a side view! I'd love to make one of these!
Caryl also got this pattern from the Internet and has made several of these dolls. Poor doll..he doesn't have a name and Caryl said she didn't like his face! I covered his ears so he wouldn't hear all the 'bad talk'.
Of course our own Theo showed a different technique for weaving. This is a felted woven scarf. The threads are some 'scraps' (at least I think Theo called them scraps!) but the black threads are a more expensive wool. After the piece was woven it was 'felted' - I forgot to ask how Theo soaked or felted it. I love the colors.
This is a purse Gerri made from scraps that she crocheted (re-purposing is the name of this group today!).
Here's Gerri modeling a Beret and scarf she made from her own rabbit fur!
Gerri plucked, spun and then crocheted the Beret and knitted the scarf. They are both so soft! 
These are some afghans that belonged to Caryl's grandmother. Aren't these wonderful! Caryl's so lucky to have them as a keepsake!
So for our afternoon program, I showed the ladies how to 'zentagle'...just a fancy name for doodling but it's fun and you can do lots with your piece when it's finished. I'm not posting pics of my pieces...you can see them here on my blog.
This was Theo's 'zentangle'.
This was Gerri's 'zentangle'.
This is Susan's 'zentangle'.
And Queen of Purple...although, I'm sure no one would have guessed! yep, that's purple ink! 
You can sign up for the Zentangle newsletter and look at previous issues as well as patterns online. I did handout some patterns from their web site. Check it out for more inspiration here.
Snow is gone but it's still only 35 degrees! Yikes! It is supposed to get up to the mid 70's by next Friday so our 'winter' vacation can start! Let's hope!
Yep, this is our new laptop! Yippee! Our old laptop has done a great job for us but with everything else, it was time to replace it. Bob's going to continue to use the old one for his fantasy football on weekends so it won't just sit there looking old! Dawn and Jeff bought us a web cam for Christmas but I'll install that on my desktop. The new laptop has web cam installed so now we can 'visit' with the kids while we are in Florida! 
Of course she did win a ribbon for Best Hand Workmanship!! Check out the ribbon. It was made from the fabrics that were to be used in the challenge. Clever!
This is another quilt hanging in their house Susan made in 1999. You need to keep in mind that Susan has never purchased a pattern. She just makes up her own! I didn't take any pics of the stain glass piece she is working on (I referred to this in my last post and in August). Susan enlarged the original pattern she made and is working away on the piece. It's just stunning and her hand applique is exquisite! She has to enter it in an IQA or NQA show for sure! 
Check this one out!! Is this great or what!! Harvey does collaborate with Susan on choosing the colors for his stain glass work. See, they are a great couple working together. I know Harvey is proud of Susan's work as well. 
So now that I'm inspired by all this wonderful work, guess I'll get to work! Still cold her today..low this a.m was 24 although it could have been lower than that. It's 42 right now and sunny which helps! Tomorrow it's suppose to be 60 but we'll see...if the wind dies down, it might end up being a golf day for Bob. 
We had 28 degrees this a.m. so Bob and I tooted around again! Temp did get up to mid 40's..at least it's still 42 @ 5:00 p.m. We went to Sam's, then to HH Gregg (similar to Best Buy), next onto Staples then to Best Buy. We're looking at new laptops which is kinda fun. You get to talk to everyone then get to research online, which Bob loves to do. You can really find out some good info by searching on a product that's for sure.
I used Etal metal on this piece along with another piece of metal for a heart background.
This heart background is metal and the heart insert on this one and above is made by printing on tissue paper! I love printing on different mediums! As long as my printer accepts it, beware, as it will be printed!
My friend, Carol, and I went to Joann's on Monday and I bought some yarn to make another twisted scarf. This one is for me and if the weather keeps up I might just be wearing it down here! The green is a little more green then what shows in the photo but it matches my coat perfectly. I gave this twisted knitted pattern to my friend and she's going to make one too. 
Wed. I'm going over to Susan's for a pre-weavers meeting show and tell. I haven't seen what she's working on since she and Harvey came to brunch last August. I posted about a stain glass applique piece Susan was working on while they were in Michigan this summer. You can see the piece she was doing here. Susan decided this piece was really too small to enter in quilt shows so she enlarged her pattern and started a new one! From what I understand, she's working on the border. I don't know that I'll be able to post a photo until she gets it entered into a show but maybe she'll let me take a picture of a corner. Susan's workmanship is outstanding and deserving of the ribbons she's won in the past and more I know she'll win in the future.
And of course the 'bad' meal that was so good!!! I controlled myself a little and only had a single burger! But I did eat all the fries...so, so good!
This was Bob's and he also had a side order of baked beans, another one of his favorites.
So all in all we had a fun afternoon of running around town. When we got back home, I finished up five more Valentine's. I've made 20 so far and think this might be all I'll make. I have to finish the edges on five of them but I'll do that tomorrow afternoon.
Yesterday I finally got back to beading on my January piece which is a pine branch. I'm using bugle and seed beads (size 11) for the pine needles and filling in my doodling/FMQ/McTavishing with size 15 seed beads which are really tiny! No wonder I worked 2 hours in the afternoon and another 2 1/2 last night and this is all I have to show for it!
I'm please with the way it's turning out and I already have my idea for February! But I do have other projects to work on in between. Once I get my piece quilted then the beading can be my hand work at night while watching TV. 
Again, I was so busy I only took 3 pictures!!! I have to get back in the groove again and stop talking so much! That's my friend, Susan, background left drinking again! Ha We will be going to our Weaver's meeting next Sat. and hopefully plan some more great outings to some quilt shops! John, our host, is on the left, front.
OK, so now we're back at the ranch and my new sewing studio. I have my machine and cutting board set up on an 8 ft table Larry provided for me. He and Jan have been so great in welcoming us to the house!
