Lucille chair

The chair has turned into a "Lucille" chair. I tore the skirt off and re-made the skirt with my serger. In the meantime I broke out the free motion thingy and am teaching myself to use it on this project. The arm covers are so cute but as you can see my free motion skills are lacking. Since the skirt is off I am going to free motion on the seat also. So that is where the Lucille comes in...OCD sewing. Lucille was my grandmother and did everything really well, except family. A lot like Martha I would say. I don't care how bad it is because I am learning. But there is no way I could live with the messed up skirt. It'll look a lot better when I'm done!

Gathered some Columbine seeds for my art mail I sent this week. Gellied the backgrounds for the fish but then had to mount them inside because they disappeared when I tried to layer them. 

Glass butterflies

I've had these glass butterflies for years, tucked away. The stand was for hummingbird feeders that the ants found before the birds did. I can't stand that sticky mess. Don't these look cool outside?

I got to garden in the rain last night. One of my favorite things to do. It was a little scary because we were between storms and could hear thunder.  I weeded and put my twine up for the morning glories. After over 100 degree temps it was a nice opportunity to get that done. The vines were using the zinnias as a trellis. Need to do some more work in that bed and waiting for the day after tomorrow, temp 80 degrees. Perfect for weeding. The poppies and lettuce are done and I think my husband put grass seed in the bed because it is full of clumpy fescue. I hate that shit. I make him plant bluegrass around the pool and he had to chase the birds off of it for weeks. I'm surprised any came up because we had flocks and flocks all day. The canna made it through the winter and I seeded bachelor button , zinnia, and cosmos this year.

Altered office chair

Considered the ballerina approach.

I am so sick of this freaking office chair in the middle of my new studio. It is really a good one and very ergonomic so it just needs a new look. I auditioned the blue leather because it would match. Then I found this moomoo with the great border and a failed art piece from the past. I decided to let that color emerge even if it doesn't "match" anything.

A trip to JoAnn's for some fat quarters and I let the color fly!

This is where I'm at so far! I love it and will further embellish with the new free motion thingy for my machine. I've broken all the rules by just piling the fabric on top of each other and left all the edges raw. Today I just need to piece the rest of the top and then attach the skirt. I had to repair my casing for the elastic so the slipcover will fit quite snug but will have the skirt to soften it up. I have no idea what I'm going to do with the rest of it. Well, actually I have about a million ideas so we will see how it turns out. I had to weed out about five color ways before I decided which way to go. I've actually been thinking about sewing for quite some time. Been collecting fabrics to combine for some new pjs. John suggested I use all the ideas and make outfits to match slipcovers.

The riot of color in the garden has inspired me this spring and it was too hot to be outside this weekend. I took myself off the new med that made me blister by spending one hour by the pool and gardening. What, I'm going to swim only at night? And I really don't want to meet the big guy that has been sleeping on my bleeding hearts. I had to cut it way back sooner than usual because they are fragile and are not meant to be a nice place for a nap for anybody.

So staying in the house until the heat breaks and sewing. Wish me luck, I'm feeling more comfortable with sewing now that I have broken all the rules. It used to stress me out really bad because I can picture it but I had my Mother to sew it. And her Mother sewed and so did my Aunt. They did it by the book and were very talented and exact. Me, on the other hand wore the material out on my first skirt I made trying to get the zipper "perfect".

  

It's a little wonky but I like It! I padded the front corners to make the skirt hang right. Another rule broken. I like it with my Indian footstool. I'm going to pad the arms next., that should be easy. Then need to cut a base piece to attach my art to the back. I'm going to break out the free motion thingy and have some fun with that. After a little practise I will embellish with thread and then attach to back slipcover. If that goes well I will further embellish my seat cushion in the same fashion, but did not want to practise on such a great success. I know, you are all thinking that is TOO MUCH but that is why I love it! Just think boho all the way. I really wish I could make this whole entire house a hippie crash pad.

I just wish my quarter's were fatter. I think I have enough to draw it all together. Going to slow down now that the seat is done. My back was killing me last night.

Please notice that the hem is straight and looks much better now. I could not leave this blog post with it all wonky. Had to edit original post, Lucille might see it....

Fixed the skirt so the seat is done. I've gotten pretty far on the back. Sewing is very time consuming and I gotta cook today. So I'm just blogging the back instead of working on it. Shoot.

Little Miss Sunshine

I put all my doll stuff away but then little Miss Sunshine insisted that I make her. She isn't done but she is very musical. John helped me make the custom bezel from that thingy-a-bob I found at the last sale and a tin my cousin gave me. I'm going to spray some vinegar on the chimes to see if I can take that shine right out of her. She got the on/off switch because John said "Maxine didn't need one".

Gelli printing

 Made some cards from some gelli prints. Not done.

The clematis were really beautiful this year.

Birthday haul

I'm so confused about trying to organize my pictures that I let a few hauls go by without posting! I found these pictures in the middle of everything so thought I would share. Really enjoying the archival inks in all the colors so bought a few of the Tim Holtz blenders. Then I found that bag of the gazillion flag stamps I had stashed and made one for each color. It made printing with my fish so fun and easy. I'm allergic to that ink so I have been using glove in the bottle lotion a couple times a day and tools instead of my hands! Even acrylic paint bothers me. The lotion has made a big difference in my hives. That's always a good thing. Then the Tuesday morning stencil city hauls. Love them.