Livin' La Needle Loca

 ...making progress on a few things. I painted additional Mid Century Modern coasters. I still had a paint leakage problem, but overall I'm pretty happy with them. I may back them with some felt to add another level of absorption. Specs: MCM Painted Coasters Started 5/9/2023 Finished 5/12/2023 Based on an idea from the internet I had been struggling with how to pin the two quilts in my finishing queue. We installed wonderful new floors with the remodel and I did not want to scratch them up with safety pins. Enter puzzle mats! They provide enough protection for the floor and give me a cushioned surface to work on. I ordered two sets on an Amazon timed deal. When they arrived, I laid them out and sandwiched both quilts. They were barely big enough for the larger of the two quilts, so I'll order another set to have on hand when I make big quilts. My biggest problem now if where to store them! I really need to do more purging in my studi...

...I didn't realize how many I had missed. Oops! Finished: 2/19 Hydra handspun (spinning) [ Ravelry ] Merino (4.1 oz) from The Yarn Wench 126.7 yds., 9 WPI 2/27 Purple Heart Flowers (cross stitch) 3/29 Frida Kathlo pillow (cross stitch) 4/7 Sofa Pillows, 4 square (sewing) 4/10 Mid Century Deco quilt (quilting) 4/11 Beach Please pillow (finishing work) 4/11 Frida Kathlo pillow (finishing work) 4/11 Gold Lumbar Pillow (sewing) 4/11 Hot Enough For Ya? flat (finishing work) 4/11 Summer Garden flat (finishing work) 4/21 Gray Bench cushion (sewing)  4/21 Mid Century Deco quilt top (quilting) 4/26 More Beach pillow (sewing) 4/27 Little Orange Fish pillow (finishing work) 4/27 Princess Violets pillow (finishing work) 4/27 Purple Heart Flowers mini pillow (finishing work) 4/27 Sailing Dreams pillow (finishing work) 4/28 Big Bee, Little Bee mini pillow (finishing work) 4/28 Bee Hive Violets pillow (finishing work) 4/28 ...

 ...getting back on track after a visit to mom. As is typical with my visits, I did not wok on any projects while I was gone. I got a lot of other things done. When I got back, I started working on a project that has been percolating in the back of my mind. I've been looking for unbreakable decor for our living room. With Cassia, everything must be unbreakable because she knocks everything to the floor. I couldn't find any coasters on line that I liked, were unbreakable, and that didn't cost a ton. I found a couple of DYI posts about painting cork coasters. I thought I'd give it a try. Here are the first attempts: I need to figure out how to keep the paint from bleeding under the tape.  Maybe more practice will help. WIPs Roll Call   Worked On: Painted Coasters (painting) Started 5/9/2023. Trying a few designs. Jellies Socks (knitting) [ Ravelry ] Started 5/3/2023 No Work This Week: Illusion hexagons (kni...

 ...Happy May! I saw some cool pillow covers on a home furnishings site, but didn't want to pay $60 for the cover and pillow insert.  I bought some velvet upholstery fabric that was on sale at Joann plus an invisible zipper. I had one remaining pillow insert from an Amazon order, and I had some cream canvas fabric in my stash that I've have for about 10 years.  It took me a bit to figure out how to get the pillow front the same size as the the back. The invisible zipper was still a pain to install, but it was the right zipper to use with the orange velvet. The pillow is a little smaller than I wanted because the velvet had no give. At any rate, I like the way it turned out! And it cost me less than $19.00 for the whole thing. Specs: Cream and orange pillow Started 4/29/2023 Finished 4/30/2023 Based on a pillow cover seen at West Elm Cream canvas fabric from stash Orange velvet upholstery fabric  I've been working on a simple cardi...