Nativity (and a few extras)

 I have a collection of Nativity scenes. Some are old, some are new, some are very traditional, some are whimsical, one I painted on wood, one is from Ghana, one from The Grotto in Portland, Oregon, one from Israel, one was a "white elephant", All bring back good memories.

Here are a few of them.

 And a few more bits of our Christmas decor.

It's beginning......

Today the Christmas decorating begins.  Nothing big yet, but I have taken down all the fall decor and put up things that I've been working on. 
We're going for a homespun feel this year; starting with a double sided banner between the living room and dining room (burlap and fabric with paper letters); a wreath from torn strips of fabric; and an embroidery hoop collage.

Plus a bit of seasonal potpourri in various places. 
That's it for now, at least until I get the energy
to drag things out of storage and really get to work.

In the yard today.....

 

 

 

In the front yard we have, mums, geraniums,
hydrangeas and begonias.

In the backyard we have lemons, grapefruit, tangerines and tangelos slowly ripening; 

as well as some unexpected fungi.

And everywhere else we have leaves!!
Have I mentioned that we have 9 trees in our front yard and 20 in the back? 
And this is a small lot (.16 acre) with a fairly large house.  We love it!

In the House - Today

dining room table and hutch

between dining room and living room

....the beginning of a new project

 More about August next time.....

Lately

Here is what I have been doing that has kept me from blogging; taking bits of fabric and turning them into flowers:

Some will become pins, some hair clips, some will attach to necklaces or bracelets...and some will just hang around.   

It has been wet and cold here and I am enjoying creating things that are inspired by nature and hopefully will be enjoyed by others.

just playing around

I have been doing just about anything to avoid the overdue spring cleaning around here.

Today I make an outdoor bouquet from some decorative grass (that I didn't want dropping seeds) and flowers from our yard. It can't come inside because of my allergies.

Awhile back I finished up this wall quilt. Just don't know what to do with it now. :)

A couple of weeks ago I made a thread collage. I'd seen it done on a quilting show once; and when I started to organize & clean out Mom's embroidery thread I decided that instead of throwing out the tangled thread I'd give this a try.

Then I photocopied the design on colored paper for some other projects including the two below.

Next was a paper collage on an 8x10 canvas.

and a fabric collage on a piece of foam board using white glue.

Awhile back I tried a fabric collage using fusible webbing - I'm not happy with it (at least not with the trees) but it was a learning experience.

Last Saturday Kevin & Shannon came out so I could help Shannon get started on her very first quilt; that got me in the mood to make one as well. Mine's not quite done, but it has been fun & is very cheerful.

I also made a couple of baby burp cloths that were in Mom's things. She had some waterproof fabric and baby flannel all cut to size, but not sewn. That made for a quick little project; and I already know who those will go to.