Crazy Quilting Progress...

Here we are at the end of July in just two days and it seems the faster the Summer passes, then the slower my progress is on any of my current projects.  And I have not been able to blog because Mr. C's expensive laptop he shared with me for blogging had a Hot Summer Meltdown and lost all of its ability to function.  No contents and no screen to be seen.  Heat Stroke of massive proportions.  That was not a good thing.  Mr. C has spent that last two weeks trying to bring it back to life and rebuild everything.  This laptop is not only for our daily things and my blogging...it contained ALL of Mr. C's Hotrod programs, information on the Streamliner Motorcycle, information on each of our daily drivers and all the work he has done to get his exotic supercar to be able to pass California Smog.  No...Not a good thing at all.  He was devastated.  Of course he had lots of it backed up and that was good.  Right now I am creating my post on it to see if I can use it once again.  Therefore I am choosing to update you on my uber slow progress on the Crazy Quilting project I am taking from Kathy Shaw's online CQ course.  Here is her link.  My photos can be clicked on to enlarge.

These seam treatments are the foundation stitches and will be added to and embellished in time.  So far I do not have a comfort factor with colors and such since I don't have the overall design knowledge yet. 

Ahhh...French Knots!  Not my favorite stitch and not easy for me to do.  Now this little row is over 300 French Knots and I still have issues with how to do them.  I am aware that practice makes perfect and am hoping this is true here.  I have over 400 French Knots completed and or done over now so I think I am completing practice and should be moving into perfect...yet I still struggle with such a small little easy stitch.

Here are some other seam treatments and remember this is only the basics.  I am now working on Task 7 and it is really slow going for me.  Mostly because I do not seem to have time for stitching.  I shall persevere and keep going...no matter how long it takes me. 
HOT here just like so much of every place across the states.  Triple digits are not common for us however this has been a record setting summer.  We are fortunate to have air conditioning and as much as I am not a fan we do have it on.  Just stepping out the door takes your breath away with the heat blast.  I usually like it hot but for some reason I am not tolerating it like I used to.  Also I have gotten another Strep throat and feel miserable.  First thing the doctor said to me, "Have you been around kids?"  Why yes I have.  We attended a very large picnic and I must have breathed in some germs.  Mr. C also got sick but with a summer head cold.  We are both very lazy and staying indoors and not doing much of anything.  I pray for everyone (people and pets) to stay safe and hydrated.
I will have another little tatting to share with you soon.  For now I shall let Mr. C know his laptop is working.  Summer Sunshine Smiles and Embrace Creative Bliss...

Needle Tatted Heart Photo...

I promised to actually show a photo of my needle tatted heart.  The blue heart is the one I did in class.  The red heart is one I came home and created to try to keep my brain on tatting track.
Just one day later I tatted another red heart...no you do not see it in this photo because it turned out so wonky that I can't really call it a heart.  How quickly I forget what I just learned. 
Then I went back to YouTube and tried to needle tat the yellow edging.  I must have bungled it and took out my tatting...including all the knots...at least four times and finally I gave up.

Well I am happy to say I never really give up...I merely get frustrated.  I viewed RustiKate on YouTube so many times and I still had issues.  It wasn't the needle tatting part but instead it was the sequence of the rings and chains.  How many times I had to untat and begin again I lost count.  However I am happy to say I am making progress.  I even sat in the truck and needle tatted while Mr. C unloaded a huge full load of weeds and yard debris at the local "dump" now known as the recycling center or something like that.  I think if I stay the course needle tatting will be my very best road trip take-a-long...except while I am doing the driving.  It really is portable.  Soon I will tackle another heart just to be certain I can do it from reading the pattern.
Our weather is perfect Summer warmth and sunshine.  We are still in extreme drought and very high fire danger.  We have zero rain forecasted.  July is zooming past at warp speed.  Soon it will be Christmas.  I am enjoying your blogs and seeing those of you who are creating Christmas projects in July to have a head start on the busiest season.  I am determined to keep Christmas simple this year.
My heart is heavy with all the horrors of death and destruction happening in our World.  People!  Please stop the insanity of killing your fellow humans!!  Lives are precious and priceless and we all need to respect that fact.
Love and Kindness is what we need more of.  Enough said...

Yarn-a-Plenty...

I have discovered...well maybe just honestly realized...that I have a love for all things textural.  Like these fun and fabulous yarns.  I thought it wise to see just what I have and sort them better than they were.  I crochet, do some knitting and use yarn fibers in my creative projects..."Wear the Boas Are" and other assorted crafts and creations.  Having a nice variety is what inspires me some times and it appears I certainly do have a variety of yarns.  There was one trip to San Francisco that Mr. C and I searched out small independent yarn shops to buy unique and amazing fibers for embellishing boas (there are two images in my banner) and it made for a very fun and interesting trip...also very expensive.  Thank you Mr. C for indulging me.

Therefore while sorting I knew I needed to downsize my five very large containers of yarns.  Well how does one decide which yarns to eliminate when they love them all?  And you never know what project will be next and need just what I eliminated.  So...I arranged the skeins in size order and that helped me figure out what to save.  The really large beige skeins in the background were for arm knitting and that never happened so they are out!  The lovely medium skeins of blue and purple had been duplicates or triplicates and already served their purpose so they could be eliminated.  And the tiny little "Bon Bon" skeins are what I kept.  They are very tiny and do not take up much room.

Here is a very large oversized market bag that is crammed full of some of the yarns I shall donate.  Then there is another very large pile of yarns that I shall pass along to my granddaughter who just learned to crochet.  She is making baby booties and outfits for her previous job of day care nanny.  She still visits and loves her little babies but has moved on to her new career of teaching high school English.  I am very proud of her! 
I did manage to save and keep at least three large containers of yarn for my own use.  I just love them too much and needed to have them near me for comfort.
I shall show my tatted heart once I take photos on my camera to upload to this PC laptop.  For now I am not able to figure out my iPad blogging with photos.  Thank you everyone for your understanding and comments.  Diane of lacelovinlibrarian.blogspot.com had a good suggestion but I was not successful...yet. And Annie of http://freezeframe03.blogspot.com has even lost sleep to try to help me.  Thank you Diane and Annie for I am truly grateful for your help.
Our weather is glorious with a cool breeze.  Today Mr. C and I will do some outdoor painting to correct the blue I painted the gutter downspout which should be grey.
We were out of town last week to help our dear friend Sandy in Bakersfield (6 hours south of us).  She fell and shattered her shoulder and had to have serious surgery.  Her doctor was able to put Humpty Dumpty together again with a large 6 inch steel plate and 11 very long screws placed every criss-cross direction to give strength to the rebuild.  Sandy is strong and she will mend very well providing she slows down and doesn't overwork.  We will be following up with her.
May you be enJOYing your Summer/Winter and realizing Creative Bliss...

Needle Tatted Heart...

My class I took and I learned to needle tat this Heart.

This is a test to see if I can blog with a photo and words from my iPad.

Thank you.