Gnome Village in Progress

 I worked on the satin-stitching on my Gnome Village.  I am still thinking of what else to add.

It's a snowy village, but shall I add something else?  I will think on it before proceeding to borders, layering and quilting.

I Changed a Color In the Mane

 I dithered back and forth about the bright pink in the mane of my unicorn.  It just did not look right to me.  I asked for suggestions from a few quilter buddies and then tested a couple.  I wanted to stay with pastels so chose a lavender.

 

I settled on lavender and think it works for me. It will all look so much nicer when the satin-stitching is done.  That's a big job still, to come.

My Unicorn Blue Mane is in Progress

 I have all the mane tacked down but am questioning the pink.  I may change it to a lighter one but will think on it. Or maybe I will change it to another blue fabric.   The yellow in the background is a slice of moon.

Besides sewing, I also started a new jig saw puzzle.....

I am enjoying doing jigsaw puzzles now that I have the puzzle perch on which to sort it all.  Still, I am a newbie so I will stick to the 300-piece puzzles for now that are 18 by 24" in size.

We got just a short snow shower today but expect 3-5" of snow on Monday.  At least its not as bad as other areas of the country this week.

I Was Working on Unicorn Blue Mane This Morning

I have been busy this morning tacking down sections of mane for my wall hanging Unicorn Blue Mane.

Here is my working pattern for Unicorn Blue Mane.  This is the working draft of the pattern.

Above is a photo of the beginning of my tacking down the pieces of this wall hanging.  I had decided to use mostly blues, from turquoise to light blue fabric for the colorful mane on this white unicorn.

I have always adored unicorns.  Years ago I had a collection of them but have since downsized from many, to only 2 unicorns in snow globes.  My apartment is not conducive to having any collections unless they can be hung on the walls and doors.

I am really enjoying making this one.  I have a couple more sketches I plan to enlarge into patterns in my future.

Sausage Rolls Recipe

 I love pork sausage in recipes.  I found this one online from Food Wishes and it sounds mighty good so I will post the video.  With some sausage and frozen puff pastry, it's nice to serve at a party.

This certainly looks tasty and it's not difficult to make.  I may just tweak it a bit when I try it with regular pie pastry.  Or even as little pork pies in a large-size muffin tin.

My Winter Warbler is Coming Along, But Far From Finished.

I am still working on my Winter Warbler.

 At least it's all tacked down.  I will soon be satin-stitching it all in place but not today.

 

I Am Finally Back To Sewing Art Quilts

Sorry to be missing in action for so long.  With Christmas and prepping and cooking and company, I just did not have the energy to get things ready to post here as well.

Now that I am back on a fairly normal schedule, I am back to sewing.  I have 3 art quilts in the works.  Two I have started on already.  At least I have tacked some of the pieces down which is the early stages.

This is my Gnome Village in the winter.  I thought I would start sewing some gnomes this year.  I bought a gnome water gauge for my garden last year and loved the little guy.  I thought that this year, its gnomes on the schedule.

This one is Winter Warbler.  I found this on a coloring page a few years ago and kept it.  I think it's time to work it.  I see a bluebird in my future.  

I have pulled the fabrics and just started the tacking.  One has to do them in order, back to front like normal applique so they do not overlap.  

My third art piece is a colorful Unicorn.

I have a vision of a white unicorn with colorful mane in different colors, mostly blues, but a strip of green and pink as well.   I love the fullness of the mane.  

With winter only a few more months, I thought it best to finish the Gnome Village and Winter Warbler so they can hang on my front door when they are done before spring.

As for spring, I am planning my garden already.  I have chosen my tomato plants and pepper plants already and placed my order with Territorial Seed on the west coast.  I have always been happy with plants from them.  And the shipping is not overcharged like some places, nor the started plants.  They are bought and paid for and will arrive when they are needed by me in southern Maine, the middle of May for shipping arrival.

If any of you are planning to buy plants or seeds this year, best do so now.  Last year those that waited lost out since seeds were sold out quickly.  You can always keep your seed packets in the refrigerator to keep the seed fresh.  Buying early will not hurt your seeds.

In fact, I have some of last year's seed packets in my fridge and they will be fine for this year.  Most seeds can keep safe for at least 3 years if kept cool.  It's the heat that destroys the seeds so store them in your refrigerator.

As for plants, Territorial Seed will save your plants and ship them when they are needed in your area.  You just have to place that info with your order as I did.

I hope to post here more often now.  I am feeling better health-wise and getting more done these days since December. It feels good to feel good.