There was only a brief minute of sunshine for our walk yesterday, but no rain. The clouds are fine, but I actually abhor walking inwards the rain. Even my pelting gear doesn't brand me whatever less crabby well-nigh it. As I was driving to the community hall where nosotros common our cars, I noticed i of the barns nosotros transcend along the means together with decided to instruct a moving-picture present of it. As nosotros passed past times the showtime large oak tree, I turned roughly to snap this image.
Farther downwards the road, this hawk flew over head. He was perched a skilful distance away. I zoomed means inwards alongside my photographic tv set camera together with steadied my elbows on Sue's shoulders. Not a bad shot considering the distance. I was using my Nikon betoken together with shoot (my photographic tv set camera of choice). It does a pretty skilful chore on these far away shots.
At the top of the hill, nosotros could encounter the wispy fog settled inwards the valley.
Here's some other shot a niggling further downwards the hill.
When I got home, I filled the plane feeders. As I walked past times the living room windows, I noticed The Watcher looking at me. He was publish that I was filling the plane feeders earlier filling his process bowl.
Also, I noticed the daphne is covered inwards bloom buds. It's i of the showtime things to bloom inwards bound together with it has the most fragrant blossoms. I can't hold off for these to open.
Once I had everyone fed together with snack bowls filled, I spent some fourth dimension icing my knee, together with so made my means into the sewing room. It was fourth dimension to instruct started on Cricket's pawtrait. H5N1 few of yous receive got asked me how to instruct started alongside these. I'll tell yous that my technique is culled from a lot of dissimilar things I've read together with classes I've attended. H5N1 skilful identify to start is alongside June Jaeger's mass (or a class, if you're lucky). This is her book:
You in all likelihood won't abide by this on sale anywhere except where I bought it, at the Stitchin' Post quilt store inwards Bend Oregon. Here's a link, if you're interested. I've been through this procedure before, but it's been a while, together with so I'll present yous how I exercise these equally I become along. This is the paradigm I receive got of Cricket.
I move my photo-editing software to brand a "posterized" version of this. The alone photo-editing software I'm familiar alongside is Photoshop Elements. If yous receive got something different, you'll receive got to figure out how to exercise this. In Photoshop Elements, yous click on the tab at the top that says "Filter," so "Artistic," so "Poster Edges." With that, I tin displace define the edges of the gradations of color inwards the fur.
From there, I move a plastic transparency together with a fine betoken Sharpie to describe inwards the "islands" of color. I move the give-and-take "islands" intentionally because yous desire each slice to live a consummate circle. This volition live fusible applique, together with so in that location must live a defined slice to trace, cut, together with fuse.
Don't live scared when yous encounter the finished "pattern." It's non equally complicated equally it looks.
The pieces tin displace live large alongside smaller details pose over the top. As an example, the night fur on her olfactory organ together with correct cheek tin displace live all i slice alongside some lighter (or darker) pieces added over the top.
Also, I complaint which is the "right side" because I'll live using the mirror paradigm to brand the applique templates. By adding that notation, it's directly obvious which side I'm working from.
With that business office done, I sorted through my scraps looking for colors that mightiness select out the details inwards Cricket's fur. I won't move all of them, but equally I exercise these, I'm picking through to abide by skilful gradations of color. The greenish toward the bottom inwards the paradigm below volition live used for the eyes.
Also, I'm appalled at how my chip bins are bursting at the seams. I receive got bins for the tiniest scraps, bins for larger scraps, bins for uncut fatty quarters, together with bins for uncut yardage. The bins for the tiniest scraps needed some cleaning up. Honestly, I don't know what I was thinking when I saved some of those pieces. During yesterday's purge, I tossed anything smaller than well-nigh iii x iii inches, anything contaminated alongside fusible web, together with anything cutting inwards such an strange cast equally to homecoming it useless. Smitty take in this was dandy fun.
Also...WTF? No idea...
And if yous desire to kill your enthusiasm for a project, pass a span of hours sorting through your scraps first. I didn't exercise anything to a greater extent than alongside Cricket yesterday, but I did instruct to piece of job top-stitching the shamrocks for the Emerald Isle tabular array runner. I used a double blanket stitch to select them out from the background, together with I recall that volition help.
Smitty thinks this makes an fantabulous background for showing off his lovely paws.
Recently, I discovered I can't lower the feed dogs on Big Bertha. After she was inwards the store for repair terminal time, I noticed a novel noise...something akin to a the audio a bound makes...whenever I raised or lowered the presser foot. Everything seemed to live working fine until I tried to exercise some gratis motion quilting the other 24-hour interval together with realized that I tin displace force the push to lower the feed dogs all I want, but they won't remain lowered. They only come upward dorsum upward equally before long equally I accept my finger off the button. And, yes, I could move an index carte du jour to comprehend them, but I can't move my Bernina Stitch Regulator, together with it's an invaluable tool when I'm making pawtraits. After all the stuff is inwards identify on a pawtrait, the thread paradigm at the cease is what actually brings out their realism.
So...all of that to tell that I won't live able to complete Cricket until the feed dogs are repaired on Big Bertha. I'll accept it inwards on Monday. In the meantime, I desire to complete upward this top-stitching since it's far besides painful to exercise on Pfelicity. For today, my goal is to pass a skilful long fourth dimension on the slow-stitching for Appalachian Memories, complete off the top-stitching on Emerald Isle, together with so instruct started alongside Cricket's pawtrait. I tin displace lay downwards all the stuff together with so complete her off when Big Bertha gets dorsum from her vacation.