My Trees

 People are putting beautiful snow or sunrise pictures for Christmas Day. I know that California is thought of having the best in weather and like many parts of the country it got a change as well. While I was gone on my trip to Minnesota we had a week and half of freezing temperatures. In the nine years I have been in this area, we have perhaps had one day or two each year. I had just planted some new trees in October. This is my avocado tree. Spring will tell me if the roots are still alive and my trees will live. While I was gone someone put on the internet that this was Florida Hate Day. It showed a map of the US with only Florida having nice temperatures. I do have a friend in Florida that said that they had cold weather too. So I will be going out in my garden to begin to get rid of the frozen parts of plants and look to the spring to see what has made it.

These are my sweet peas that I planted before I left and they made it through.

Purse

 This is the purse that I made for my sister Mary for Christmas. The body of the purse is silk from a kimono. I used my Dad's old silk ties for the decoration on the flap. I also added a couple of pieces of silk kimono. Then I used the labels from the ties and buttons from my Grandfather's shirts. I think my Dad bought ties on his travels and these were from different parts of the world. My sister was very pleased.

Hope you are all have a nice Christmas and have God's Blessings come your way this new year.

Minnesota

 My sister Mary and niece Amber visited the Como Park Conservatory while I was in Minnesota. My parents visited almost every holiday. Usually the poinsettias are specially developed ones from the University of Minnesota. We were quite surprised how many buildings were built on now and it was so much bigger then we remember it. I think it is called change.

Red Hats

Stepping out today with the Red Hats for our Xmas lunch. Wearing a hat, shirt and pants that I made.

Vogue 8817

 Just finished Kathrine Tilton's t-shirt pattern. Really like it. I will make it again. I watched Katherine and Marcy's t-shirt Craftsy workshop and learned many tips. I used rayon jersey from Emma One Sock Online Fabrics. I have never sewn with this fabric before and love the soft feel of it. It is a little hard to sew with as it rows and thin. I would sew with it again though. I don't know what I was thinking but I got into all kinds of problems with matching stripes. The side seams were impossible to match. It has a princess line front and back, which I really like, but I should not have picked strips to make this shirt. I love the back insert at the neck upper back. I used mesh on the sleeves and back piece. It makes the shirt very fashionable, but not warm. I am leaving tomorrow to see my family in Minnesota and was thinking I would take this shirt. The temperatures will probably be below 0. So I had to rethink what I was taking.

We are dealing with freezing temperatures here as well. We have had to cover our new trees and move many potted plants to a covered area. I have about 50 potted plants that I use through out the garden to decorate, so this was so easy task.

Will be back in ten days. Maybe I will have some snow pictures to put on while in Minnesota.
Have a creative day.

Dyeing Clothes

 My friend Nancy wanted me to dye these clothes for her granddaughter for Christmas. It was a fun project.

 It will be fun to see how she looks in them.

Caulifower and Broccoli

The Plaza Jacket

 Last weekend I attended a workshop and trunk show of Marty Manzo with our PenWag. A wearable art group in Campbell/SanJose area. She was so inspiring. I couldn't wait to get home and complete the jacket from a workshop pattern/Plaza Jacket. She opened our eyes to ways to design a commercial pattern to serve many purposes. I can't wait to go through my stash and see what else I can make from this pattern. Thank you Marty for sharing your gifts with our group.

I took this pattern in 2 inches by folding out both sides from shoulder to hem. I made the back longer then the front by adding 7 inches in the back and 21/2 inches in the front. Since my fabric was a knit I found that my cover stitch machine did the hems best. Now off to some more creating.

Mayor's Place

We met some friends for breakfast today at this place. It is a small cafe in a old house with a building like Knots Berry Farm in Orange County. It is decorated with old pictures and newspaper clippings on the walls. They barbecue tri tip and it is delicious. It is a good place to take visitors to the area. Our get together with our friends is always inspirational. We do it once a month and pick a different place to meet.

Marcy's V8813

 I really like this pattern of Marcy's, so I made it again. It is her little French dress. It does run big. I think I could of taken it in even more then I did. I am afraid it is hard to see the detail because it is in black. I had some wooden buttons from Paris that worked out really nice. I used a polyester crinkle fabric. It has nice drape. The droopy pockets really add to it.

 I used piping to accent the seam across the back. You can see that I switched the way the buttons were sewn across the back. I could not get the line straight, up and down.

Scare Crow Festival

My husband and I went up to Cambria today and they have a scare crow festival every year for Halloween. The businesses make up scare crows to put out in front of their businesses.

 This one actually had steam coming out of the bowl.

 A nursery had pot people.

 These bikes were actually being pedaled and in motion.

Any bus bench or chairs had scare crows. My husband and I were sitting in a bench waiting for the bus and a women came with her camera and then realized we were not scare crows. What a fun day.

Craftsy October Sew A Long

This the black knit dress that I made for the October Sew A Long for Craftsy. I changed the way a little. They had two colors of knit that you could use to trim it. There was a wide band at the bottom of the dress. I used my own trim on the sleeves and neck. I liked the pattern and will use it again. It has a seam going down the back, so you can fit it in at the waist. I will make this up again. I have a print knit that would look nice I think. The sew a long sent out the fabric to you and you downloaded the pattern. It was a nice quick dress. The fabric was a little light weight for me and in my opinion would work better for leggings. It had a really nice both way stretch to it. The fabric rolled and was hard to work with.

Signs of Fall

 I was visiting the Apple Barn in Alvia Beach and this field of sun flowers caught my eye.

They have every kind of pumpkin you can imagine. Some I have never seen before. This rooster was very unusual. They have hay rides for the kids and school bus loads of children come to enjoy the animals. Being from the midwest I am always looking for something that looks like fall to me.

Bridget's Home

There is one more day(tomorrow) of the Artist Tour that I am participating in. For those of you that are not local or haven't been able to come, I have to show this artists home. It is 30 years of artistic love and creativity.

 Bridget calls this her stump tree house. They added on as the children grew bigger.

 Her decorative wheel barrow.

 Her mail box.

 A closeup of the top of the mailbox.

 One side of another treehouse.

 This one has a slide.

 Her beautiful backyard.

 The entrance to here studio.

 The other side of the door.

 A couple of arrangements in her yard.

 This is the wall as you enter her outdoor shower and bathroom.

 The sink area.

 The rock shower. She even has a large rock to sit on.

The toilet is on the other side of this arrangement. Now how is that for being creative. It is so inspirational to be able to walk through her house and yard.