Thank you...

Thank Yous usually come at the end of blog posts, but I'd thought I'd break precedence and start off by expressing my gratitude to you, the loyal readers of Laurel's Quill.  In the three years since I started this blog, I've only accumulated 64 official followers, but the rest of you who tune in every now and again are among my most treasured and loyal "following".  In the three years since January, 2010, Laurel's Quill has had almost 9,500 page views, which means somebody must be interested. Though you may not be "official", I appreciate you and every person who visits or claims "I love your blog" or tells me "I love reading about the stuff you do".  Thank you all, from the bottom of my heart.

If I don't fall off the fiscal cliff, I plan to write, photograph and otherwise continue to document the "Stuff I do" in 2013. The project list is long this year and includes some "finishing stuff I do" and some "starting new stuff".  I hope you tune in, and leave me a comment or two...it pumps my ever needy ego...LOL!!!

Wait for it..................

More of this... sewing for Dress a Girl Around the World...why not join me at a sew fest??

I want to continue to challenge myself with more of this....

My furniture is pushing it's limit after 18 years, so why not do a little reupholster this chair...just not sure what color or pattern, but I'm pretty sure it's NOT going to be that hideous Emerald Green that is supposed to be the NEW color for 2013.

I WILL finish this art quilt, I promise....I actually tried it out in the family room...it's going to be a great addition to the Southwest thing we have going on in there.

I hope to take some stuffing out of Colette this year...maybe the Paleo diet?

Let's pay off some of these in 2013...in case the drop off the cliff is higher than we can all imagine...

And I think I will create the second volume of Laurel's Quill in hardback at the end of 2013. I used My Publisher to make a coffee table book of my favorite blog posts since the beginning of my blog.  It is important to preserve some of my writings, so I'm thinking I'll create a new volume every year...

My hubby is an avid reader of Laurel's Quill, so I thought about adding pictures of things that I'm putting on HIS HONEY-DO list for 2013...like the weather stripping on the front door, the window...never mind.  I better stick with my own list. 

Love you all, and THANK YOU AGAIN FOR READING LAUREL'S QUILL!!!

Happy New Year, and may all your dreams come true!

Laurel.  It's going to be a great year!

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Rainy days are good for....making dresses!

The West Coast has been battered with rain for the last week.  Of course we haven't suffered nearly the same ravages of Mother Nature that Sandy brought to the East Coast, nevertheless, even I am a little sick of the rain and wind. When it pours non-stop for a week, I tend to hunker down and a work on UFP's (unfinished projects) from my knitting and sewing piles.

Saturday was a Dress a Girl Around the World sew fest, and despite the pouring rain, I wasn't going to miss it.  Thankfully, I wasn't the only gal who packed up her sewing machine and drove in the rain just to gather, chat and create dresses for the little girls in far away countries. We had quite a crowd of enthusiastic volunteers.

I'm starting a pictorial record of the dresses that I make.  For one, when I create a design, I like to imagine a little girl squealing with delight "I want that one!". For me it's important to create something that one of my granddaughters would love, not just whip together "something to wear". Secondly, I pray about the little girl who will eventually get to wear it - prayers for safety, for good health, for self-confidence, for education opportunity. So the photo album will serve to keep them in my thoughts.

I made three dresses yesterday and I returned several that I had made during the month of November. I had taken several "kits" home last month. And you know me - I have to put my creative stamp on everything- so I trotted of to Hancock's and purchased additional bias tape, fat quarters for pockets, ribbons and trims.

 




The original Dress a Girl dresses are made from pillow cases, but you can make them out of any washable fabric. I think I had these striped sheets back in the 70's, only in kelly green, so it was a challenge to make this pillowcase cute!




I also found this yellow pillowcase that had a pretty wide hem at the bottom that added too much bulk.  Solution? Cut it off and make it shorter, add some cute trim and a pocket.  I love yellow and blue together.











The possibilities are endless...some many little girls, so many dresses to make.  Yesterday one of the ladies brought in some pictures from her missionary friend in Uganda.  The little girls were wearing some of the dresses that our group had sewn.  Now that's what I'm talking about - doing something for those less fortunate and actually witnessing the results!

 

 

Another one of those pillowcases that reminded me of years gone by...but it made a cute dress by just adding some bright pink pockets and buttons!

 

 

My fabric stash comes in quite handy for this project.

Every dress must have a pocket.  Yesterday, one of the ladies sized all the finished dresses and slipped a pair of panties in the pocket before packaging them for shipment.  I think the pockets are our best opportunity to add personality to each dress.  I use a blanket stitch to add an applique...

Who doesn't love hearts???

From my heart to yours, sweet child...

Laurel. Loving this...

 

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Think I'll "Labor" today...

Happy Labor Day, friends! Dave's gone fishing today with a friend and I am hoping for a nice land-lock salmon dinner tonight! But in case he strikes out, I'm thinking we'll be doing leftovers.  After all, it's Labor day (holidays are still special even when you're retired:) and I don't feel much like cooking.  Besides, tonight around dinner time is THE fantasy football draft...so my chief BBQ er will be tied to this computer to pick out his winning team.

In the meantime, check out what I've been doing this morning...

We picked all the figs off the tree yesterday , threw the split ones out and I still had enough to make three jars of freezer jam and give some to my neighbor.  I use this jam to make my fig, onion and goat cheese tarts.  It's a great appetizer with a glass of wine.

And I worked on a new knitting project for the Fall.  The yarn is a rust colored chunky wool and will be  poncho to wear with my jeans as the days get cooler.  I am ready to start on the "lace" pattern that flows along the bottom half of the poncho.

Yesterday I was up at my Mom's for Sunday dinner (fried chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy and green beans with bacon and onions --YUM) and she showed me some parsley that she had dried in the OVEN!! It retained it's green color and smelled delightful.  Thought I would try drying some of my fresh oregano this morning....so far, it's not looking too good...think I had the oven too hot.  We'll see.

Happy Labor Day everyone..."what chu workin' on??"

 

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Laurel. I don't have to go to work tomorrow.  Tee Hee.

Seeing Red...

I love finishing stuff. This past weekend I worked furiously on my new art quilt (another post for another day:) and I completed the applique portion - a huge accomplishment, since it took me over a year to do the California Harvest art quilt, and I've only been at this one for a month or so.

As you may know, I haven't put the same zeal into making jewelry of late. Call it burn out or "the end of an era" - whatever- but I haven't been selling my jewelry these days. The last of my normal cache of 80 to 100 necklaces was sold to my friends/customers last Spring and I have only made a few custom pieces since. I have reverted to my old "I-need-something-to-wear-with-that-I-better-whip-something-up" style of jewelry making...not thinking about selling so much...more about the pure joy of creating beauty and style.

I don't think that I am much different from other artists who one day find markets for their wares, then get caught up in making a buck off their talents. It doesn't take much success to spurn us on and before we know it, we have begun to adulterate our art to appeal to the masses. Everything has a price tag. It's sad in a way, as there is little else more satisfying then creating a masterpiece just for the pure joy of finishing it, knowing it may never grace a wall, or in my case, any neck but my own.

My favorite jewelry pieces are those that only the most brave fashionista would wear...go BIG, go BOLD and for Heaven's sake, if you're going to wear jewelery, MAKE A STATEMENT!!! The 7 Eleven, Bounce Town or a favorite Mexican Food restaurant would not normally see the likes of anyone walking in adorned with one of these little creations. 

I start with thin wire and a few beads and just start twisting and weaving, adding beads as I go. And since I adore sparkle, I picked the beads and baubles with the brightest colors and shine for this one. I didn't choose red, it chose me. I spyed ONE RED BEAD in a shop a few months ago and it became the inspiration for this necklace:

The beginning of a masterpiece 

Add more beads, more wire, more twisting, more weaving and....

So I'm thinking I'll wear it to Walmart today when I go pick up detergent...

with a crisp white sundress and some red flip flops.

Laurel. I need a party!

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