Silk Flowers

 I took a workshop from Sue Keys in making silk flowers. Sue Keys is a very talented artist in my PenWAG group. It was so inspiring. This is the one that I made. She had a crimping machine that she would do some of the silk ribbon with a wire edge for us.

 These are some of the examples she brought along for us to get some ideas from.

I enjoyed learning this method of flower making.

It is time for the Cactus to bloom

 This one is from my yard.

 These are just beautiful and are in a neighbors yard.

Then another neighbor has some sunflowers blooming.

So fun to enjoy the blooming flowers of plants.

Cactus Flowers

Cactus always surprise me when they bloom. Aren't they pretty?

Beaded Ring

 I have been working on beading a ring. It is called a Toggle Ring. The artist is Sabine Lippert. This is the complete ring with a square on it.

 Then you can remove the square and place a circle on the ring.

Or a triangle. It makes a very interesting ring.

Chair

Thought you might like to see what I am doing when I am not sewing. I am trying to get some things done that have been waiting for my attention. Since the rain is keeping me in some, I am looking at what to do around the house. This chair has been asking for help for two years. This is how far I have gotten. I had a dream of painting several chairs and it looks like this is the second and probably the last. I haven't painted for sometime, so some of the paints are dried up. I drew the apple house and I wanted to use it on something. I have painted it on a silk scarf so far and I am thinking I will paint it on a glass window that I can hang on my patio.

Katherine Brenne's Jacket

 I think I mentioned that I took a class from Katherine Breene in November and really liked her style. This jacket really caught my eye.

 I chose a light weight linen that will be more like a shirt then a jacket. I am thinking it will be nice for summer. Her directions for very good. I liked how she used self made bias stripes to finish all the edges. It takes some time to add these, but it really looks nice.

 There is a seam down the back so it is not straight up and down. There is some curve. There is also some curve on the sides. She has a pair of pants with this pattern and I think I would like to try them too.

 The pockets are just hanging and only attached at the top of each pocket.

 I added squares of fabric and loops for the buttons. The sleeves are just rolled up.

I covered plastic rings with fabric and made my own buttons. The pattern is made so you can make it reversible, but I wanted to show off the contrast that I added.

New Pants

 I like this pattern very much. I originally made this to use for my yoga, but with the fabric that I used, I think they came out quite stylish. So I can use them for a little dress up as well.

 It has a diagonal pocket on each side of the side panel.

 This fabric is nylon 4 way stretch.

 A wide band around the waist and a back insert that can be used for a little more style with the stripes turned the other way.

 Trying to show you the pocket close up.

The lower part of the insert is gathered which looks really nice. This pattern runs very long. I am 5'3" and I had to cut off six inches. At first when I looked at the effect of the stripes I thought maybe it looks like a prison pair of pants, but now I decided it looks stylish. What do you think?