hot in July

While summer solstice was a kind of drizzly day,

at the end of June and now in July

the summer is in full swing :

it's HOT !

We keep the doors and windows closed

to keep the heat out as much as possible

only to open them up very late in the evening.

Last night it stayed well over 25 degrees

...

Lots of time to make some new items

for the MAF-Festival (and market)

this Sunday :

a "dance" waistband 

(leastwise : there are tiny bells sewn onto it,

so it jingles as you move)

(MAF : Mother Earth Family festival)

It was so much fun to look for bright and "bling" goodies

in my vast stash.

But some of the ribbon (also with the pompons) I bought

last week on the Rotterdam weekly market.

I lóve those tiny pompons

except :

I  DON'T like it that my thread

catches time and again behind them !!!

I just need to sew on the bands to tie it.

A detailed peek.

And here is another one in blue

That little "baby" ...  is just a matching cuff

Another detail.

Of course the cuff has a little bell too !

And yet another, in black and white.

It was hard to find some good black-and-white flowers

(I didn't have a big felted one)

so I took this gorgeous big silk peony and bow

as a bright pink accent.

I sat in the garden just now,
sewing on the black and white one in the last daylight,
listening to the quiet, lazy songs of several blackbirds
singing their latest tunes
.... mmmmmm
warm summer nights !

feather Friday

When I looked at all the gathered feathers

of the Magic Feather Project

I saw that mine arrived safely in New York at last

so 

 here is the first

and here is the little extra : a felted one

I love how all these different feathers

are flying in from all over the world to Jude

so she can make them into something special

for the hurt children that Wendy Golden-Levitt

is taking care of as a therapist.

*

Daughter finished her  rose - waistband

it turned out very beautiful

( she looks gorgeous, I think ) 

a job well-done

flying or not flying, that's the question

Yes !

The feathers are ready for take-off

to fly all the way to New York.

First there was the looking for inspiration and sketching some ideas

( daughter brought some beautiful feathers )

but I could not decide yet.

Then later last night : bleep, the light went on, and I knew what to do!

I started stitching at about 11 pm

and stitched on and on ...

till it was finished !

Then, this morning, I made another one 

and put the two of them in an envelope with a little note for Jude.

But :

.....

daughter wants to send a feather of her own, along with mine !

The envelope is still open and waiting for the next feather for Jude.

So she'll have to wait a little bit longer

( ... and so have you all before I show them ... )

*

Later daughter came by to do some felting of her own : a waistband

on which she started a few days ago

... a rose is a rose is a rose ...

When it's finished you will see it.

*

( here she is, showing my  Kaffe "clutch" bag,

I don't know, but think I will make a rather short strap ... )

oooh ... the blues

Well,

noooo ... 

nót what you might think 

not thát blues,

I am very happy at the moment.

thése blues

my "holy" blues !

I've finished my ultramarine blue bag !!!

Yesterday I felted the "failure" inside pocket and

today I cut it to the right size and stitched it (yes, sorry ...) in the bag,

the felt is really dense and thick so that was not a problem.

Now all is finished

( and I will be totally blue when I go out )

pots of gold

This day day started gray and clouded.

I had to feed our daughter's cats for a day

so went away in a dress, legging and a jacket.

Then I visited a friend and it was already getting really warm. 

I ate my late lunch in the garden

and had to change my clothes because it was hot in the sun.

At dinner time the sun was still shining brightly

but there was a distant rumbling of thunder

...

and heavy rain came pouring down !

You know they say there's a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow ?

Well ...

I think we definately were at the end of the rainbow

and in that pot of gold !!!

 

This afternoon I recieved a package with scraps I ordered

from Connie :

a little plastic bag ful of leftovers of her hand dyed fabric.

I layed them all out on the floor after ironing

( to see how big things are I have my own toes on the photo )

and a closer look

Don't you agree : another pot of gold !!!

Thanks Connie !

 *

Me, with my new ultramarine felted "Dragon" waistband

... or ...

should I say "Dragon" collar

?

a wand ... and a bag

Last Monday we had a birthday girl : 10

and one of her presents was

....

a wand !

She's quite mad about Harry and all of his books

( the last one is being read to her now, although she could easily read it herself )

The wand came in a box and was brought by owl

( ofcourse )

( Man, daughter and me went to see the last movie yesterday ....

I think we plan a marathon view someday : all eight movies in a row !!! )

*

Because the felted bag I use every day is getting a very weak spot,

which badly needs repair, I wanted to make a new bag.

The plan for a new one was there for quite some time already,

but as such things go  

I couldn't decide about the colour, the size, the model ....

( and my bag is getting worse every time I use it ! )

Finally I decided to use the "holy blue"

that is an ultramarine blue I bought at HAWAR's over a year ago

and it is an exact match for the colour

of my blue Cora Kemperman clothes ! 

That's why it was kept apart in our stash for such a long time :

"you can use blue, that's okay, but : not the "holy blue"  !"

So now it was the time for the holy blue, with some turquoise and purple for the inside.

The bag should be rather simple this time

but I wanted to add an inside pocket in the felt.

That's not a problem, I did that before, but I wanted it to be big,

almost like another compartment

So I made a template out of  IKEA plastic for the bag and some bubble wrap for the pocket

and I made some holes in the flap

All went quite well

.....

untill

I removed the rather sturdy template of the bag

.....

ánd removed the pocket in one go !

I considered trying to felt it on again, but decided against it :

I'll sew in a pocket.

But

the bag is drying now with a lot of towels in it

and when the strap is finished and sewn on

I will be happy

While I was at it, I made a waistband too out of the "holy blue" 

After I finished felting, it was still way too big

so

I rather boldly put it in the washing machine 

( never did thát before ... ) 

on the wool washing program

....

and now it fits !

I think it's a kind of  "dragon" waistband