Something New

Ive decided to try my hand at embroidery...something fun i can do while i watch TV at night. I have a collection of quilt squares that were hand sewn by my Grandmother or Great Grandmother (my Aunt needs to take a look at them to know for sure, however, this piece is for her, so ill have to dig out some of the others for her to look at :)
Anyways, they are fairly simple, and some of the fabric choices were unusual(this piece is made from satin and corduroy)...she definitely worked with scraps of any kind, a true quilter! :) Anyways, i had three squares that matched, so i sewed them together and thought some embroidery would jazz it up a bit. Ive only just started the embroidery, but thought i would show my progress so far. I am really enjoying it, and love trying new stitches. Did i just discover a new hobby......yikes....that could be dangerous! :)

Speaking of embroidery, i gave this kitty cat a face over the weekend. Sadly i only had one response from my cat survey, so i decided to go with a pillow design, which meant no button eyes. I still want to quilt the top before i make it into a pillow, so i hope to work on that later this week. I have some new hand quilting designs i want to try out....i must be on some sort of hand sewing kick lately!
Well, thats the latest up here on the mountain!
Hope everyone has a fabulous week!
cheers~
lisajo

cabin fever

Well, Monday rolled around and i decided it was time to get outta dodge for a few! It has been really cold and windy up here (in the teens), and Jordyn and i have been fairly cooped up in the house, so i thought a trip to the city would do us good! I made a call to my cousin and let her know we were on the way...her house is always open to us, and she is the coolest, so i knew she wouldnt mind a last minute surprise visit! :) We arrived at her place on Tuesday, and the sun decided to come out so it was a gorgeous day! We went shopping, power lounged and ate Mexican food...yummmmm! We had never been to the Children's Museum, so on Wednesday we decided to check it out. I wasnt sure what to expect, but let me just say, that is the COOLEST PLACE around for kids! It was pretty awesome for parents too! As you can see, Jordyn totally dug it!

It was just what we needed to shake the winter blues.

They had everything from a play fire engine with fire gear to wear, a shop with tools where they could make things out of recycled items, a bunch of neat things to climb and slide on, a train room, craft room, painting room, puppet theatre, and even a dance room with costumes.

There was sooo much to see that we didnt even get to see it all.

It was definately what we needed, and we look forward to going back again soon. Thanks for letting us invade your home Christy...we had a blast!

cheers~
lisajo

Afternoon Canning

Spent the afternoon "canning" for a swap on about.com. There are some 40 jars total :) A very productive day indeed! Now to pack em up and mail em out! :)
Hope your day was wonderful!
lisajo

Winter Oasis

Saturday we spent the day at Winter Oasis, an SCA event that happens every year in January. Its a middle eastern event with classes, merchants, wonderful food, and ends with a Hafla. Since most of our friends are musicians and drummers this event is quite popular with us. Most folks that play in the SCA have European personas, so this is our groups time to shine! After being cooped up all winter, this is a great excuse for all of us to get-together and jam! I took a bunch of photos at Oasis, and this is a little poster i made with some of the highlights of the event. Click on the images to get a better look at everything.



Jordyn had a ball...she ran all around, danced, sang, and even squeezed in a nap! Here she is admiring Bretts drumming, while daddy plays the sitar, and Kama Devi plays the harp. Speaking of which, ive included a video at the bottom of my blog page from an event July 07 that shows jordyn dancing before she could walk :) (it drags a bit, so you might be better off clickin on the video to watch it on youtube instead)



I had a chance to hit the merchants and purchased some new garb, a Moroccan bracelet, and some hair sticks with peacock feathers. Justin purchased a new fencing mask, and Jordyn got some tassels to make a dance belt. It was a gorgeous day in town and we had a great time!

Enjoy the pics!
cheers~
lisajo

Lived in Living Room

Well, here it is...our new television! As you can see, this addition took over the living room (that is, if you dont count all of jordyns toys), so now you understand why it took a few days just to rearrange things :) Its almost as big as our picture windows! The room is even more crowded, because the box the television came in has been quite popular with jordyn, especially since she can walk in it, so daddy cut out some peek holes to look thru...and when its 20 degrees outside, anything that will entertain her inside for a few is worth keeping.
I havent sewn anything for two days, but i have been busy cutting out fabric for the bug jar swap on about.com. Im hoping to make several blocks in all of the catagories, so that requires lots o pieces! Im thinking when that swap is over, i may take a break from swaps for a bit and work on the blocks i have accumulated already. Im also interested in trying my hand at some of Tonya's free-piecing techniques, which i think are awesome! If you arent familiar with her work...check it out! Her ideas are clever and i love the playfulness of her quilts. Anyways, thats about it up here on the mountain.
Hope your weekend is filled with creativity and joy!
lisajo
P.S. im still looking for ideas for the kitty cat block...wall hanging or pillow? anyone...anyone...bueller...bueller...

Cat Survey...

For Jordyn's first Christmas(2006), i wanted to make her something special, so i made her a rag quilt...then i decided it might be fun to make her something every year at Christmas. Though a little behind, i finished this today for her 2007 Christmas. Originally i wanted to make it into a wall hanging, but now im thinking it would make a cute pillow. I plan to embroider on some whiskers, and I purchased some fun eyeball buttons and a nose, but im waiting to sew those on last. (The size is 18 1/2" square)
Im looking for any other decorative suggestions and also want to know what folks think....wall hanging or pillow? Also, is the border a good size or would you make it smaller?
Thanks for your creative advice!
lisajo
P.S. i forgot to mention, if made into a pillow, then the eyes and nose would be embroidered to keep it baby safe...thanks Colene!

Miss January

This is the latest quilt square for the Birthday Block Swap. Miss January wanted a 12 inch block in cream and bright batiks in no particular design...anything goes! I thought i would give paper piecing a try again, and this block on quilters cache caught my eye - "Open Boxes". I thought it would look pretty done with the batiks so i hope she likes it! I have mixed feelings about paper piecing...its incredibly time consuming and picking the paper off is a pain, but it is precise and the patterns for PP are quite fetching...perhaps i should try it with the kind of paper that doesnt have to be removed. Otherwise, i couldnt imagine doing an entire quilt in this style. Anyways, the grandparents have the little one today, so i better get back to quilting while i can! :)
cheers~
lisajo