Captain's Cove

Morgan had purchased a camera which came in last week - I told her that one of the things she had to do this weekend was spend a few hours with me taking photos - she could bring a friend - if that friend had a camera, but other than that... she was coming. Saturday afternoon we picked up Liz and off we went. The girls wanted lunch first, and as this was the first time in 8 years Liz had ever asked for a real meal - we started our trip at McD's. I offered the girls their choice of what they wanted to take photos of - people, water, trees, animals, buildings... they had no suggestions. I headed to Captain's Cove in Bridgeport. Basically we had the place to ourselves. There were around 6 cars in the entire place and I saw one group of people - the sun was out and it was 55 but the wind was blowing and it was colder than we thought it would be. Of course this is New England and it is January! I told the girls that if any of their photos came out great we could have them printed and framed - and maybe use them in our nautical-themed bathroom. I haven't gotten that done yet but they did get some great pictures. I told them we could go home after their batteries died - they lost their inhibitions without worrying if people were watching them or making fun of them. Captain's Cove is a boatyard/marina - it also has a small village of buildings where in warmer weather vendors sell everything from Ice Cream to Tattoos and everything in between. Here are some of my favorite shots. I've tried to upload several others but I have no idea where they keep going! So you get these - more tomorrow!

FINISHED!!!

Can you hear me screaming for joy? For all intents and purposes Pandora is done. I could add embellishments someday - but she is looking like she wants a break! These were taken in the office today and I am going to try and get some Natural Daylight shots after lunch, when the sun goes to the other side of the building. I made the NJ Mancuso deadline with more 36 hours to spare!

Yawn - it must be time to call it a day

After a full day of sewing - All the frames are attached and I got the top 2 corners mitered and sewn. I also got the top binding hand-sewn to the back, and the rest is pinned. And here is a almost full shot. Maybe another 4 or 5 hours! WHOO HOO - Light at the end of the tunnel!

Stuffed and Framed

Here is a detail shot of the gilt frame - The miter is only folded over and is very bulky, after I get the Burgundy sewn down - I should be able to get a nice turn. My plan was to finish this up and go and get some cording - but now that I see the sewing line - I am included to leave it - it looks like it was carved that way. Of course I can always add cording later. Only the bottom is left - then I can worry about the hanging sleeve and the hand sewing. I also still plan to make a few "Gilt Leaves" so that I can cover the seams on the frame. Those will be hand sewn - so I have time.

Progress

I have the borders added to the sides of the quilt. Now I have to add batting to them and sew them to the back. The Burgundy is part of what will wrap around to the back. I have to stabilize the batting which will be free-floating - I think I am going to sew it in by folding over an inch of the gold to the backing and covering it with a rat-tail cord/braid - I only have a piece of silver, so I'm not sure if I will use gold, black or silver - Maybe I'll braid some and use all 3! Only kidding - I am desperate to have this quilt finished SOON! If you look closely you can see some of the 436 billion flecks of gold which is all over my studio, floor, cat and me!

Baby steps

Here is a picture of the Trimmed Quilt - I love the Laser cross-hair level Pamela - thank you so very much for the recommendation! I straightened the edges, sewed along the chalk line, cut outside the chalk line and rehung the lady. Tomorrow (maybe) I'll sew on the side borders - they have to be stuffed afterwards, so I want to make sure that the seams on the front are lined up right, after the sides, bottom and top can go on (with the hanging sleeve) and I should be almost ready to go! I am stumped about adding the rhinestones. I tried (on a scrap - because I'm not that dumb), and I was trying to put on 3 individual stones. These were on top of tulle and Angelina - 2 of the three are definitely melted and the 3rd is really marginal. So, do I call her done - or do I try another approach to get the stones on? I'll share some photos tomorrow of my attempts. Here is a new shot of Pandy taken pretty much straight on so the distortion is minimal.

FRAMED

I am going to finish this border frame today. I finally got all the gold velvet cut and I am now the proud owner of 400 BILLION tiny pieces of gold tinzel pieces - about 1/4" long. They are totally static-filled and the cat and I are now very, very glittery. Here is my working photo of Pandora - I can't wait until I have a large enough space to hang her again.

4 Things - MeMe Post

I've been tagged by Deb for the FourThings Meme, so here goes.

• Four Jobs You've Had:

1. Model
2. Decorative Faux Painter
3. Bartender
4. Office Manager

• Four Movies You Could Watch Over and Over:

1. Practical Magic
2. After Hours
3. You've Got Mail
4. Addicted to Love

• Four Places You've Lived:

1. Anchorage
2. Jersey City
3. Boston
4. Westport

• Four TV Shows you love to Watch:

1. Passions
2. Desperate Housewives
3. Witchblade (taped)
4. Boston Legal

• Four Places You've Been on Vacation:

1. Bermuda
2. Key West
3. Lake George
4. Jersey Shore

• Four Websites You Visit Every Day:

1. Astronomy Picture of the day http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/astropix.html
2. The Owl Cam http://www.theowlcam.com/2400.php
3. Visipix http://www.visipix.com/index_hidden.htm
4. eBay

• Four Of Your Favorite Foods:

1. Chocolate
2. Watermelon
3. Pasta
4. Pie

• Four Places You'd Rather Be:

1. Shopping
2. Snuggled up in bed
3. Having Dessert in a Fine French Restaurant
4. In the studio

• Four Albums You Can't Live Without:

1. Steely Dan - Greatest Hits
2. Rod Stewart - Every Picture Tells A Story
3. Paul McCartney - McCartney
4. Carole King - Tapestry

• Four People You'll Pass This On To:

1. Timi
2. KC
3. Lex
4. Laume

Thanks for sharing this MeMe Deb.

2006 Greetings!

First and most importantly - let me wish all my friends a very Happy New Year. I hope your year is filled with Health, Love & Art! As we all know there is a cleansing that happens on Dec. 31/Jan 1. I had many things I wanted to accomplish this past year and I managed quite a few of them. My last "To Do" was to finish Pandora and have her entered in Fandangle Spangle. As much as I wanted this to happen - it isn't going to. First she was 10 inches too narrow (hard to believe but true). I figured a way around this but the time got away from me. Rather than come into the new year defeated, I've decided to use this as an opportunity to find other venues. There are quite a few and it feels good knowing that Pandora is almost ready to begin her travels. She is quilted - her face, hair, dress, sky - they are done. I need to experiment with adding rhinestones and then I'll add them. I also am going to bind her by making a frame. I have the fabric and am almost ready to start! Of course the next step will be to find a place large enough to hang her and still have room to step away, so that the photos aren't tweaked Did you make any resolutions? I cleared out many groups which I don't have time to participate in or that I have outgrown. I even closed down several that I ran. Of couse before you think that I'm being all virtuous and organized - I did join a few - too much temptation. One is all Deb's fault (I'll post my work tomorrow), she just seems to have too much fun joining art groups, I'm sure Deb's progress will be quite a bit more concentrated than mine will be - but I am willing to set my sights a little lower (no reason to fail right out of the gates).