June 1-10 Accomplishments & 4,000,000 stitches

A third of the way through June and I've been busy. Photo collages with info below each. 

I've been trying several techniques for salvaging those old vinyl covered 3-ring binders. I'm not fond of the vinyl, but let's face it, they're a lot cheaper than a Kraft finish one. Not to mention easier to find! So, I started out by grabbing two very old ones. I gessoed one, then tried using CitraSolve and a page out of a National Geographic on one cover. The other cover I applied some texture medium through a stencil to the gessoed area. That side also got a coat of grey chalk paint and a sprinkling of glitter. I was less than happy with either side. So, today, I trimmed that vinyl off and worked with Heat 'n Bond Ultra. That's the stuff that says right on the package to NOT try to sew thru it! I used it to adhere decorator cloth to the outside and a piece of cotton (complete with pocket) to the inside. If you try this, remember that you will have 3 separate pieces once the vinyl is removed. Allow a smidge of space between the covers and the ring portion to make closing your new binder possible. Yes, even though I don't like vinyl, I did apply iron on vinyl to my pocket area. This is an adventure/experiment. I'm quite pleased with my results, but there are a few things I will do differently on the next one. Which will be the one that has a napkin applied to one side and a piece of silk fusion to the other. I used ModPodge on that one. I wanted to know if it would peel off, like sunburnt skin, once it was dry. It doesn't.  But, I'm not thrilled with the outcome on that one either. So, another creative experiment coming soon,,,

I wanted you to be able to see each of the three embroidered pieces in this row I received from a friend. We've been doing a row swap for 18 months. There were 18 of us at the start, most have stayed. We tried to make it easy by letting people send a strip of fabric, if life got in the way. I had challenges early on, so I sent out a few rows, hand dyed or painted fabrics, or Spoonflower printed pieces. Everyone seemed to be ok with how I needed to handle my rows. Actual size of a row was to be 6 1/2" X 36 1/2". One of the people trading said she thought she might make a bog coat from hers, so there were a few variations done with that knowledge. Each month we had one row to make for a designated person. I'm short a few rows and I know that people are still trying to catch up. I haven't decided yet just how I will use all of mine. I'll post a picture of all of them once I get started. 

Some of my grandkids are into scrap booking, so I've gone thru my stash to share. I found a 12" square scrapbook with 24 page holders for Myriah and used some vinyl iron on to mount her embroidered name to the spine. Then there's her little brother. Well, Junior isn't so little. He turned 7 back in February. The family is very artsy-craftsy so I figured I'd send a smaller one along for him. His is 8" square, with 10 page holders. I trimmed scrapbook paper to fit inside each of those page protectors for both kids. They'll be able to get crafting just as soon as they get the box opened. 

I quilted up 2 more quilts for The Ducks. They are making these for a local facility. I'm glad I can be of help. I did not run out of bobbin thread on the last quilt. What a blessing to get to the end, and find that small amount still on the bobbin. I've now gone over 4,000,000 lifetime stitches on my longarm machine. It's fun to keep track of how many stitches each quilt takes. It also helps me know which designs are time and thread intensive. I don't quilt for $$ any more, but I still keep track of it like a business. Old habits die hard, but then, I'm not trying to kill this one anyhow. 

My friend Pam made Fred (that little 'owl head' that's peeking out of G's pocket). She has this lovely spinning wheel for sale. I know better than add another piece of equipment (and hobby), but if I was in the market for one, this is a beauty! I was messing around on the backside of my tablecloth the other day. I used ordinary colored pencils and fabric medium to check out another creative adventure ive been thinking about. So far, yes, it will. However, I haven't heat set or laundered it. I'll keep you posted on how things turn out after those 2 steps are done. And last, but I hope not least,,,.  G is going to be taking photographs of the church family in Orangeburg for the 2017 directory. I was his model. He needed to have a 'live body' for adjusting the settings on the camera as well as the soft boxes (that's these contraptions that have flashes go off inside but you don't get any flash in your eyes). The photo of me was the one my friends and family agreed they liked the best. It was the one when I smiled at G, cuz he said we were just about finished. I was getting a bit bored with the whole thing. If only one of my grandkids had been here. They would have been posing for hours for him. I just wanted to get back to my crafting,, and that's where I'm heading now. 

Have a blessed day and create something uniquely yours!