emerald star almost done

Almost finished! I figure a couple more hours of stitching today and I'll have this cross stitched quilt block completed.  I'm not sure if I have enough of one of the colors to finish it, though. *grr* I really don't want to wander out in the new snow to get it. Might just wait until I go to pick up the girl from school and swing through and grab it then. The benefit of waiting also means that I won't be tempted to pick up anything else because I have got to finish up a few things before I go starting anything else. 

Last year I hand dyed a few hanks of six strand cotton embroidery thread with Easter egg tablets. Really loved the results, but I didn't have a project in mind for them at the time. So I tucked them away, and in sorting out the sewing room after my boy went back to school, I found them and started playing around with a few embroidered petals if for nothing else but to stitch. 

snowballz buttons

As you might have figured out, I am on a button kick.  Last night I stayed up and goofed around with some teeny tiny snowmen and today I am going to start stitching a few of them to try out on self cover buttons.

Each of these fit within a 20w x 20h grid and should work on size 60 (1 1/2 inch) buttons. 

Finished my first painting in class on Thursday night, so I need to go through my scraps for pieces of fabric to put together a new canvas.  I am quite pleased with the way the first one turned out. Images coming, will take a few pics on Tuesday night at class. It is quite abstract, and really textured and it felt great to be working with something other than my usual comical illustration.

I've also crocheted some lacy little flowers with hand-dyed cotton crochet thread that I hope to snap some pictures of today. But for now, it's time to go grocery shopping. Okay, I need to finish my coffee and then I am off to do some shopping!  

handpainted threads

Handpainted Cotton Floss

Another trio of handpainted floss.

Just a couple of examples of what I hope to get better images of tomorrow when the light is better. We were out shopping earlier today, as the kids had Christmas money they wanted to spend, so we did not get back to house in time to catch the sun before it had found its way over the house...to the side without the good windows!  But I am quite pleased with the way these threads painted.  I will be putting some in my Etsy shop very soon. 

Right now I am trying to get caught up with printing for Hoffman, and I keep running into snags. Thought I had more paper, then I run out of bags, and the ink I got was faulty. Something that rarely if ever happens to me, but it meant another trip out to the office supply store. 

I have done all I can do today, so I think its time for some chai and stitching to wind back down.