SANDPIPER

Vacation was great, but it's good to be home and up to my elbows in paint and fabric again. Played around with this pic from a March trip to Blackwater.

Used editing software to get this. I loved the purples, so I printed it on fabric and used some snippets on the final project. Also, cut out the bird and used it as a template.

Started with a previously collaged and painted background. This one has nautical references. I was lucky enough to find notebooks that contained engine logs and ship's supply lists at a used bookstore. They are large and make a great background layer for all sorts of paper projects.

Printed this on fabric, backed it with linen and cotton batting and began to layer the fabric for my sandpiper, and finished with this.

Used bits of the gorgeous fabrics in my oldest scrappy quilt. I'm going to be very sad when I've used that up, so I should probably start looking for another. Tip: Using fusible webbing will stabilize fabric enough to enable you to use even very fragile bits.
Finished with a bit of hand stitching.
In barn news, Abby has the "clover slobbers." A 1200 pound teething baby and a Saint Bernard together could not generate the amount of drool that one horse produces at the peak of clover time. It's disgusting. Is that TMI? The good news is, it is August and we still have pasture. Usually the grass is brown by this time, but we are still mowing the lawn weekly, and I've even had to cut the pasture. Can't complain about that when parts of the country are dry as dust, so I am counting my blessings here.
Tootles, blog friends.
XO

JUSTINE'S

We're saving the sights of summer, my camera, my needle, and I.

Last week, I showed you this...

Justine's Ice Cream Parlor

Justine's Ice Cream Parlor in St. Michaels. Today I turned it into this...

Printed the photo onto fabric, then embellished with scraps of paper, and more fabric. You know how I do. I added my Nigel, because he loves ice cream, and Justine's, like so many St. Michaels businesses, is dog friendly. Note the water bucket by the door.

I am storing this memory to pull out in the dead of winter. I'll be reminded of a perfect summer evening. I'll remember how Justine's glowed red in the twilight, and if I close my eyes, I might be able to hear water lapping, and the happy sound of children's sandals, slapping on the sidewalk.

Hope you're storing some summer memories, blog friends, cause it sure is slipping away.

XO.

ROOMS WITH A VIEW

I went down to the river early yesterday. There was a break in the rain and the tide was high. The light wasn't great for pictures, but this birdhouse caught my eye.

Sailwinds Visitor's Center in Cambridge.

I played around with photo-editing.

Then printed it onto fabric. Like you do. Adding snippets of this and that, machine and hand stitching, and this sweet little bit of text which I found in a 1907 first grade reader.  "Bird and bee and water singing." The perfect description of a summer day.

Hope the birds are singing where you are today. XO.