Powdered trees

Just had to share the view from my mum's 7th floor condo balcony this morning.  There wasn't a breath of air so the snow stayed on every little bit of a branch.

CQJP 2012 Finished!

It's such a good feeling to finish a project!!!

This is my Fan Quilt, my CQJP2012 challenge.  I love how it looks finished.  What you cannot really see in the photo are 13 extra embroidered triangles that fill in the top, bottom and sides.  These triangles hold a small embroidered fan in neutral threads with either pearls or golden beads.   Here are some of them in close up:

Here is the link to all the other fan blocks on Flickr:

dianesm's photos

Chicken Scratch embroidery

This little sweetheart is my great niece Hilary, (my niece Rohanna's daughter, and my sister's grand daughter).  

You'll see another little bit of chicken scratch on her top.  It's the same little French smock pattern that I bought from ChocolatineStudio on Etsy.  

Of course you can use any fabric for the smock, but gingham is the one for chicken scratch.  I found that the gingham squares don't always run straight, so before I cut out the pattern, I match up the squares so that when I embroider, it doesn't go downhill!

CQJP2013

I signed up for CQJP2013 but I didn't have any clue of what I was going to do for 12 blocks.  In my head I went from one crazy thing to another and finally decided on a project that would have lots of beading and some stumpwork. 

The blocks are 6" square and this is January and February's blocks joined together.  I also decided that I would not leave the joining and finishing to the end.  (I'm still working on getting my CQJP2012 Fan Quilt completed.) 

This is January's block before being attached to February.  The trees are not sewn on yet, I'll do that after March and April's blocks are added.

And this is February's block.

The idea is, as I work from left to right, that it will be a landscape of changing seasons.  

Technically challenged......

What is it about zappers and cable boxes?  I have this wonderful new TV (see above) and no matter which button we pressed on either component, nothing happened.  Even a call to Rogers Cable didn't help, and now we have to wait until Monday for a service call!

Monday! my sister cries, We'll miss Downton Abbey!

  

And to work the zapper I need my Ott Light and a magnifier and ... maybe a glass or two!