FDC3 Catch Up Post

This was the card I made for the Week 26 prompt in Full Deck Challenge 3.  I wrote it down as WAVE.

And this is the back side of that card.

But then when I re-watched Shanouki Art's video, I realized the prompt was actually WRAP.

So I made a second card using scraps of wrapping paper from our 50th anniversary.

Here is the reverse side of that card.

Week 27's prompt was NUMBERS.

(My shipping tags (instead of her altered playing cards) are focused on the collage aspect more than her full-on mixed media approach with stencils, paints, inks, and such)

This is the reverse side of the NUMBERS tag.

Week 28's prompt was THE COLOR BLACK.

When I found this scrap of painted (gelli plate printed?) paper in my stash (purchased from an Etsy seller), I knew it was perfect.  I added the black centers and outlined the circle with a metallic marker.

Here is the tag's reverse side.  

Week 29's prompt was PHOTO.  

And this is the tag's reverse side.

* * *

The current challenge is DOODLES.  So far I've created two tags and have a third floating about in my head.  I'll share them in a future post.

Looking ahead, I'm planning to participate again next year but I will be using heavy weight paper cut from one of the ubiquitous "coloring for calm" books that are everywhere.  

By using the blank side for my response to the prompts, the black and white line drawings keep the reverse from being "naked" meaning I won't be annoyed by a blank back (but I can add words, a quote, or the prompt itself if I choose).

p.s.  Max has finally come around (it was mostly a matter of top tension although the other trouble shooting steps were due).  

The FMQ on Haru is finished and I hope to have the finished quilt to share in a few days.

Quiltdivajulie

FMQ or Not

For some unknown reason, Max is not liking this quilt.  I've had more tension issues, broken threads, and skipped stitches resulting in bird nests on the back than anything I've quilted in a long time.

Two new needles, bobbin changes, rethreading the machine - each has helped but when I tried to sit and quilt last night, it started again.

So I cleaned out the bobbin case area, oiled the wicks, and walked away until later today.

(the visor is to cut down on the glare on my glasses from Max's overhead LED light panel - DH's excellent suggestion)

Here, if you enlarge the image, you can see some of what has been quilted (maybe half of the quilt sandwich).

I will continue on and hopefully it was just that Max didn't want to work on the weekend.

Instead I went to my paper play table and started a new mini ring bound journal using the back of an empty composition book for the covers.  So far I have filled it with all sorts of tags, papers, and other hole punched bits.  From here on I'll be able to embellish a page or two using bits from the white basket whenever I need a quick creative break.  

(inspiration idea from Meg of Meg's Journals - although her "junkDori" was purchased and then added to)

* * *

The other big "excitement" this weekend was shopping for a new refrigerator.  Ours decided to stop defrosting itself resulting in super soft ice cream, slippery-wet ice cubes, and having to pull it out to manually defrost (de-ice) it twice with no improvement in performance.  

The suspected repair part with service call(s) would cost nearly half of a new fridge so, after online researching and a trip to the big box store, our new fridge (this time with a bottom freezer instead of top) will be delivered sometime Tuesday.

Quiltdivajulie

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"Avoidance is the best short-term strategy to escape conflict, and the best long-term strategy to ensure suffering."

Brendon Burchard

Every Picture Tells a Story

I've been working on this project for a long time (short bursts followed by long periods of neglect) but now it is finally finished.

I didn't use the book as it was intended though . . . 

Instead I pulled out the box of random abandoned vintage photos (also used in this project) and a stack of abandoned 35mm slides.

I went through the book itself and added a layer of rice paper to stabilize the pages.  Then I added bits of torn neutral papers throughout.

After altering the slide frames and adding photos where their negatives had been, I started adhering the captioned photos and slides to the pages.

Almost all of the photos have captions while only a few of the slides have words on them.

If you're wondering, this is how I added photos into the empty slide frames (I had popped all of the negatives out of their frames before starting).

Most of the pages tell some sort of imaginary story through the interaction of the slide image and the photograph. 

If I'm not mistaken, this vintage group photo was taken on top of Mt. Washington ( Lynne and I visited there in 2022 - 2d post link).

There are 52 pages in the book, each with a photo and a slide (sometimes more depending on the photo sizes).

This finish feels particularly satisfying.  So many random bits and pieces have found a new home instead of being stashed and "saved for a rainy day." 

(this finish counts as number 163 on my list of 365 Somethings for 2025)  

* * *

The first three utility mats for June have their binding finished.  Eight more to go . . . 

Quiltdivajulie

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"Don't be afraid of silly ideas."

Paul Arden 

Stormy Weather Projects

Like many others in the Central US, we've had very stormy weather for the past two-three days and we have two more days of the same still ahead of us.

Rainfall to date is over 6 inches (or as Lynne put it "that's over two feet of snow") and they're predicting another 3-4" of rain on Saturday.

SO . . . even though I had planned to quilt Repose, I've been doing other things.

(I don't like to use Max during thunderstorms - and yes, he's on an updated surge protector, but why tempt the fates?)

First up was updating this vintage frame from its former pale flat lavender chalk paint finish to this new fun look.

I used the updated frame to showcase this colorful and studio-appropriate page from a Pete the Cat book.

Next up was dealing with a box full of glass beads I've accumulated over the last several years.

The finished string doesn't photograph particularly well but this photo gives you a sense of its scale.

Here's a detail photo - the two largest beads in this group are some I made during a class at the Folk School.

I ran across a You Tube video for ways to use vintage slides in junque journals.  

I used bits of tea bags under the postage stamps for this test group, but I have other things I want to try with the next batch from a large box of abandoned slides.

(there are several YT videos on the subject, but this one should give you a good idea or two)

I strung the second group of purchased beads with large holes (from a long abandoned project) onto a length of sari yarn.

Here's a detail photo.

I'm very happy to have both sets of beads out of their boxes. 

Finally, I made my shipping tag for Week 13 of the Full Deck Challenge 3 (you can find the playlist for this ongoing challenge on You Tube - Shanouki Arts).

The prompt was crazy colors with black marks.

This is the back side where I used one of my black pens to draw around the circles.

Week 14's prompt is Turquoise with something stapled.

Back at the very beginning on the challenge, I made a whole group of tags and this was one of  them.

I added the stapled quote and the front was complete.

This is the reverse side with the week's number sticker.

Not shown here - I plan to add a fun focal point of some sort on top of the turquoise pieces salvaged from the inside of a tea bag box.

* * *

Hopefully once this storm system moves on, I'll be able to get back to my free motion quilting.

Quiltdivajulie

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"Sometimes, carrying on, just carrying on, is the superhuman achievement."

Albert Camus

Bits and Pieces of Goodness

I'm happy to share that the set of four placemats made using leftovers from cutting rectangles for Grandiose are finished.

Here I've flipped one over so you can see the backing - part of the Needlestars line from Paula Nadlestern.  The colors couldn't be more perfect.

I'll get these off to Nann early next week.

(for those who have asked, Nann set herself a goal to make/have 250 placemats ready for donation early next year)

Week 10's prompt for Full Deck Challenge 3 is "vintage with brown splatter."

My shipping tags (instead of altered playing cards like Shana is creating) will not have splatter - I prefer sticking to small-scale collage and covering both sides of the tag.

This is the vintage tag's reverse side.

I'm storing/displaying these on a large binder ring, which is why I care that each tag looks finished no matter which angle it is viewed from.

Interestingly enough, I created some journal fodder tags a couple of weeks ago - notice the vintage parallel?

These are those fodder tag reverse sides.

And I made these little pieces using scraps from the larger tags.

Like my scrappy quilts, the leftovers are often the most fun to play with.

And despite the two rounds of snow and prolonged near-zero cold we've had, the daffodils have survived.

Glancing out the kitchen window and seeing these spots of color definitely makes me happy.

Quiltdivajulie

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"You normally have to be bashed about a bit by life to see the point of daffodils, sunsets, and nice uneventful days."  

Alain De Botton

Taking a Deep Breath

While I took a deep breath or ten to let the layout ideas for Dragon Fyre roll about in my head, I decided to shift gears and work on two languishing projects on my paper-art table.

First up was this set of separated composition book covers.  I used the roll of book tape gifted at Christmas and secured the two parts into one usable cover.  

Next I tried using a piece of my wide double-sided Scor tape to adhere this length of sari trim over the spine.  

Instead of just reading about how others use these techniques, I actually used them - two more things to try checked off that invisible list in my head.

This is the back of the cover.  

I used two pieces of 20-lb. scrapbook paper to "pretty-up" the inside of the cover.

And last, but not least, I used a 5-hole pamphlet stitch to secure the 19-sheet signature of vintage ledger papers.

I don't plan to "fill" this journal - the vintage papers are beautiful and interesting all on their own.

On the inside back cover, I added a pocket made with ledger paper scraps and tucked a note inside.

The second project involved two thrifted books.  I used my mother's well-worn copy of Old Mother West Wind (the first in the series pub. 1914)  in one of my earliest journals Who I Am (2011) that honored my foremothers - so when I spotted these two volumes, they absolutely had to come home with me.  

(here's another post that shows more of the 2011 journal's inside pages)

Once the book blocks were removed, DH collaborated by crafting a wooden spine insert with a curved back to hold the two ring binder mechanisms.  I was thrilled to be able to maintain the books' original curved spines.

The pages were cut from scrapbook paper/cardstock weight.

Having the original endpapers in such good condition was another very big plus as they add so much to these blank journals.

Eventually, I will fill the pages but not just yet.  I'll wait for that elusive spark of inspiration.

* * *

PT continues twice a week - we're moving into the early stages of strengthening now which is good but also tiring.  So long as forward momentum continues, that kind of tired is okay.

Quiltdivajulie

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