Janeys Journey

Little Janey

I'm going to have to learn to paint.  I have the will, it's the way that's a little difficult.  I think this is what's called muddy?

Little Janey - in progress

Not finished with it yet, the painting or the journey. This is 8"x8" watercolor.  And it is me, drawn from an old photo. 

And that's my messy drawing board.  I have a very large pad of white paper and tape a sheet over the board once every few weeks.  It really keeps the board clean otherwise it would look like this paper.

The Quilter's Lament

8"x8" quilt with round borders and I wish I'd bought more of that green fabric. That's the quilter's lament.

And my livingroom progress

Well I can pretty much guarantee you I'll never have a house tour on Apartment Therapy but I like it.  It's comfortable and it's me. 

Those are Ikea metal bookshelves behind the sofa and in the window. 

And my own thrifty

In the middle of all this needlepoint frenzy, I remembered something.  I called my mom.  Do you still have those needlepoint pictures I did for you 100 years ago?  I remember when I gave this one to my mom and found it the next day neatly wrapped in plastic in the closet.  It come to Florida in that plastic wrap.  My mother was never particularly appreciative of my creative endeavors.  And here she is.  Seeing the light of day for the first time in 100 years.  She's never going in the closet again.

Her hair and the flowers are french knots.  It's hard to see the different stitches in the photo.  Part of my fondness for her is that I can't really do this again.  Can't see to do all those little stitches.

And some original art too

Oil paintings by Seymour A. Stern from Ft Lauderdale Florida.  I googled Mr. Stern and couldn't locate him.  Maybe these were part of an estate or moving sale.  I think Mr. Stern enjoyed his hobby.  I know I'm enjoying his paintings.

And some pillows

The needlepoints are all wool and cleaned up very well.  The colors really are beautiful.

 

Nifty thrifty and me

Thrift store goodness - I've suddenly discovered a love of thrift store/garage sale needlepoint among other things.  It's disturbingly addictive.  I don't think I have enough wall space but I can't seem to stop buying them.  Let's see, maybe an Etsy store for vintage needlepoint?

Janey's quilt

Sounds like an Ophra best seller huh?  I felt like quilting so here's a quilt.  It's inspired by Nancy Crow by way of Gee's Bend.  And it's somewhat a raggedy quilt as you can see some of the seams are a bit frayed.  It's stitched in the ditch and I always add a border to my quilts (I know, surprise).  Usually black and white, it makes the rest of the quilt jump out and it keeps the viewer's eye from wandering off the quilt.  Of course I only thought of that after I started to add borders.  And I did a mitered binding too, multi color dots.  Mitered bindings are hard so I usually do round bindings except when I draw the quilt.  Then I can do any binding I want.

9"x12", markers on bristol board.

Colorful Expressions on Flickr left a comment that she liked the way I draw and draw and draw.  I said that it's the one thing in my life that is constant and bottomless and forgiving and will take as much or as little as I'm capable of giving and never says no. 

Sunday naptime