Works In Progress

I started working on some beaded cuffs. These aren't finished, but I'm having fun. For the purple and champaign one, I was playing around with the pattern. For the Caribbean blue and copper one, I decided on a pattern and then started beading.

New Dress

I used some leftover dobby cloth from last week's sewing project and combined it with a coordinating print in dobby cloth. I fiddled with the pattern, added godets, and had to take a photo between gusts of wind.

Dobby Cloth

The dress with my changes is made from cotton dobby cloth. Dobby cloth has a textured weave that allows air to pass through, but you can't see through the fabric. We're in the middle of a heat wave in Souther New Mexico. Yesterday it got up to 110. I've got to make more dobby cloth clothes.

I bought about 10 yards of bamboo dobby cloth and I can hardly wait to figure out what to make and how to dye it from that fabric. The fabric feels so silky and wonderful.

The Original Dress Pattern

This was the original pattern. I like how the dress fits, but I'm not much for wearing sleeveless dresses. I've got a hand dyed tee shirt that will go perfectly with this dress.

The Dress With My Changes

I decided sleeves would be nice and I wanted a rounder neck. I added the sleeves to the body pattern so that there were still only two pieces. The last part was to have fun with the fancy thread and fancy stitches. I tried to keep to geometric stitches to go with the geometric pattern of the fabric.

Gems I Bought in Albuquerque

My memory went about the time I got bifocals so I don't remember what any of these are. But, I liked the colors and the shapes and now, I get to sit down and design jewelry.

Argentina Rose

This is the national gem of Argentina. Now... all I have to do is figure out the perfect design.

The Rest Of The Leftovers Sun Hat

On Monday, I Dyed

The colors are a bit off in the photos. The two grey ones are actually two different greens. These came straight from the jar and I'll be turning these colors into experiments soon.

Leftovers Shorts

Yes, I do wear them in public. I dearly love color and love to wear lots of bright colors. Besides, the shorts coordinate with Jim's shirts.

Leftovers Shorts

I needed another pair of shorts. So..... I grabbed some leftover fabric, my favorite scrubs bottoms pattern, measured the length I wanted and cut the legs that length. Ta da! Levtover Shorts.

Leftovers Sun Hat

I took some leftover fabrics and a Vogue pattern and made a sun hat. This is after I cut a couple inches off the brim. In its original state, the brim left me pretty much blind. But hey - it would have kept the sun off my face.

Leftover Pot Holders

I made meals out of leftovers, why not make pot holders out of leftovers? Thanks to the advice from the generous folks on the Quiltart list, I took some left over fabric, an old towel, and made Leftover Pot Holders. There are two layers of old towel in the middle. I then did a bit of free motion quilting to make sure the towels would stay put when I need to wash these.

Pearls and Glass Beads

I found the glass beads on sale and mixed them with copper colored odd shaped pearls.

Pearls and Swarovski Crystals

I like these rather large, misshapen pearl more than I though I would. I love the crystals, too.

Our Yard Art

The female sculpture sits in a protected corner by the front door. The extruded sculpture is from Jim experimenting with his extruder. He found a bumper jack in the ReStore and turned it into a large extruder. The plant stand is from things Jim found dumpster diving. He welded up the frame and then filled the bowl with portulacas.

Yard Art

These ceramic sculptures were created by Jose Avalos, a terrific ceramic artist and a wonderful friend.

Summer in the Desert

We've had some rain lately and the cacti are blooming. It's a stunning show that doesn't last all that long.