Texas Renaissance Fest

Two friends and I are going to Texas Renaissance Fest this October, something I have wanted to do for several years now. Of course, it's not really a Ren Fair unless you go in costume. (It's also not a real Ren Fair if your costume is accurate. The point is to have fun, after all, otherwise we would all have to go in dirt and bad teeth and religious intolerance.)



Yes, this is me, I hate having my picture taken, but I'm very pleased with this costume so I compromised. The bodice is boned - which is more comfortable than I had thought it would be - and the ruffle is from the same pattern as the bodice. They are not real visible, but I am wearing loose harem trousers under the bodice and as soon as I finish, a flop hat over my hair. Not real big on 'female' garb, lol. I am also making a second costume with this same pattern in purple and gold.

And this is a side view. My ego demands I try not to advertise the size of my butt but I prefer pants and try to avoid skirts, so attaching the petals to the bodice is a compromise. :)







One of my friends and doesn't she look happy? She likes bright colors and she says that we will not have any problem keeping track of her in this outfit. The bodice and skirt are from the same pattern as my costume, but I obviously stuck closer to the instructions for hers. I did change one thing - I took off one layer of the 'petals' because whoever wrote this pattern had to be close to 6'. My friend and are I both a little over 5' and with only two rows of 'petals', the skirt is too long and I had to reduce the length of the skirt by about a third.



My friend in her second costume. Not clear from this photo, but the sleeves are incredible, the best part of the entire costume. This one isn't quite finished, I need to add some trim down the front and around the sleeves. They are so long I am going to have to put some loops on the chemise underneath to keep the sleeves from falling constantly over my friend's hands.



This is another costume made for a much taller woman. When I wore it I had to pin the front panels up a bit to keep from stepping on them - I can't say how thankful I am to be living in the early 21st century - and it dragged on the ground behind me. Since we are going to be at a Ren Fair, my friend decided she didn't want it any sort of train, so I will be cutting nearly a foot of fabric off the bottom of the dress.

My eyes, my eyes!

Back with some new quilts and I seem to have OD'd on the bright colors this time. The pictures do not do some of these colors justice, let me tell you!

First, an afghan I call "Paths". I took a trad quilt block and...moved it around a bit. The green and purple really pop against the bright pink and though it's not real obvious, a bit of varigated red.





This second one is also a quilt block I rearranged a bit, taking this and that and coming up with this little beauty. I call it Spring Flowers after the lovely wildflowers we get here in North Central Texas every spring.



This one is for the daughter of a friend. She is turning 2 in a couple weeks and needs a 'grown-up' blanket. I made her a little baby blanket when she was born and she has just about outgrown it. This is a very simple, but pretty, combination of two similar quilt blocks. So, for my friend's daughter, this is called Skylar.



I love sampler quilts, but I think I might have gone too far with this one. It's a bit...busy. :) That's okay, I'll keep it for myself. I'm also working on another sampler, but it's a lot 'calmer' than this one.




And, because I can do stuff other than crochet afghans, some beaded necklaces. School will be starting soon and I always like having new school supplies. I can't claim any great ingenuity for these, I bought strings of already strung beads and simply put them on new strings, added focal points and clasps. I think they came out nicely, though. :)

Beading with a purse tossed in for measure

This is my second attempt at bead-looming a large piece and I am ticked pink about it. This was based on a cross stitch pattern of a celtic knot, 60 beads wide by 60 beads long, using 'frosted' beads as opposed to clear or 'light' beads. I think the frosted nature of the beads adds to the mystique of the celtic knot and the colors just rock out.



A couple necklaces I beaded. The cameo on the right came about because I broke the chain it came with. Oops.



This necklace (used with beads I had left over from the head pieces, see below, is based on the pattern found at the Anti-Craft website. They call it the Henry VIII necklace, I call it my Mardi Gras necklace because of the colors: gold, purple and green.

Henry VIII necklace



Ah, the headpieces. I went round and round with these fool things, but finally came up with designs that I really like. I'm giving them to my friends as gifts for Mid-summer. The pieces are based on a story I am writing about them, where they appear as elves.



My friend - the elf who is getting the green head piece - emailed me a while back asking for a small purse, one big enough to carry the essentials - cell phone, wallet - and could be worn across her chest. She has a thing for frogs, hence the charm on the flap.

It's been a while

So many things have happened in the last few months, it's almost overwhelming. I did a lot of crafting over the winter months, mostly because crafts were about the only stable thing in a world gone strange and I needed something to hold on to, just as we all did. Now, fingers crossed, maybe things can start getting better. Here's hoping.

These are only the most recent of my finished projects, there are several that have already gone on to their respective homes.



Tea Roses is still one of my favorite quilt blocks and this version: black, bright green, bright blue and bright pink, is just nifty. I'm really pleased with the way this one came out and the way the colors just pop against the black. Definitely need to find another pattern to use this color combination on.



My first attempt at a bargello quilt and I'm really pleased. The cutting, sewing and quilting were the easy part - though all three were a bit tedious. It as the picking of the fabric that scared me. I tend to go with 'oh pretty!' and while that works for most things, when it comes to bargello quilts, the fabric has to 'blend' and I rarely have the patience for that.

One day I realized there was never going to be a 'good' day, so I just needed to do it. The clerks thought I was a bit odd because I would pick out three or four fabrics, get them cut, then come back later with a handful more until I had as many as I needed. However, I knew full well that I needed to 'take the plunge' and get to a point where I couldn't get frustrated and back out. Once that first piece had been cut, I was committed.



This necklace went through several versions before I finally figured out how to make it. I started with the pearl circles, the pendant and the seed beads (the silvery bits between the pearl circles). My original idea didn't work, so I tried something else. That didn't look so good, so I went scrubbing through my stash to find something - anything - to go with what I already had and came up with the obsidian chips (inside the pearl cirlces) and pearls (the dangles). It still took a couple tries before I found the right combo, but finally, I found a happy medium between what I could make and what I could imagine.



This is going to be part of my 'pirate' costume for an upcoming Ren Faire. It's simple, but there is something appealing about the simplicity. All I did was thread wooden beads onto hemp cord and tie knots to keep them from sliding together.



I found this really cool bead loom on Ebay. It's over a foot wide, a couple feet long, can be set at an incline and once it is threaded, the base thread stays nice and firm, making beading an absolute joy. Now, if I had only ordered enough beads the first time around....

My friends don't know it yet, but they are all getting beaded sun catchers for Midsummer and beaded wall-hangings for Winter Solstice.

This is my favorite of the new quilts. It's made from a trad block called Indian Meadow and the combo of the bright variegated and the black is just stunning. Right now it is spread out on the futon and every time I walk by I have to stop and gape for a moment.




Another trad block, Idaho Beauty, with more variegated and solid, this time watercolor print and lavendar. I'll admit, I'm kinda disappointed in this one. The two yarns go together beautifully, but the final product is a bit blah. That's my Sinda in the pic. She has a sixth sense for when I'm taking pics. I may not like this one, but she sure does.




This one is a birthday gift for my little cousin Logan. The block is called Broken Arrows and I really really like this one. It's a tan/white variegated and bright red and together the yarns just pop. Really pleased with this one.




My hometown had a UFO sighting back in Jan/Feb of this year and the yarn, spring green, is very nearly the color of the little green men. I call this quilt Alien Stars since my first thought is always 'little green men!' when I see it. The block is called Elongated Stars.

Quilt blocks

I have gone just a little bit overboard with the granny square quilt blocks. Just a little bit, mind you, I haven't gone all the way yet. :) These are the ones I have finished so far, but I have a couple in the final stages that use a solid and a print yarn and they are coming out just gorgeous. There are all sorts of great yarns - Red Heart, Amore, TLC, I love this yarn, Carron - and there are all sorts of quilt blocks that can be made with squares and half squares, which means I have all sorts of opportunities waiting for me to go completely overboard. :)




This is a traditional block called Chinese Puzzle Block. I call this quilt "Why so Blue?" which is a horrible pun, but I can't help myself. It's made with Carron Simply Soft Black and Berry Blue. I am a fan of Amish quilts, with their strong, solid colors and there are some blocks that just rock out with black and a bright solid.



This is another trad block called Passion Flower. I made it with "I Love This Yarn" from Hobby Lobby, hunter green, dark raspberry and purple. It was originally for a friend, but after finishing a couple blocks, I decided it was pretty but did not suit my friend at all! I like it and once I finish the rest of the blocks, I'll put it up for sale on Etsy. The thing I really like about 'I love this yarn' is that is is thick like Red Heart, but much much softer.



This block is called Variable star and I went with the Amish idea again, using black and a bright solid, this time Carron Dark Rose Pink. I'm not normally a fan of pink, but this is just a beautiful shade of mauve and Carron always comes out of the wash so incredibly soft. Both Variable and Why so Blue? are going for charity.




This is called the Tea Rose block. I've used the same colors from my friend's original granny square afghan. She picked good colors and they really went together nicely for this block. I've tried other color combinations and none have looked as nice as this one. This quilt is for my uncle's wife, for christmas.

That is my second cat, Sinda, there in the corner. She has a sixth sense for when I am taking pics of my afghans and nearly always manages to sneak in.

Who needs spare time?

Mom seems to think I will get into trouble if she doesn't keep me busy. On the one hand, she is very right. When I am bored, I get into trouble.

She liked the rose afghan so much that she has me making afghans for two coworkers, her boss and the bosses secretary...by Christmas. She also has me making an unknown number of crocheted bookmarks.

On my list of things I need to finish sooner rather than later, is a filet throw I am making for a cousin's wedding in September.




This is from a pattern called Greenbriar over on Celt's. I'm really impressed with the way it looks and I'm planning on making one for myself...or keeping this one and making another for my cousin. :) Right now it's a lap throw. I'm planning on taking one of the bigger curls and turning it into a border pattern, getting it to the size of a full sized bedspread.




I finally figured out how to make ripples. For the longest time, ripples intimidated me and I simply could not figure out how they went together. Then I found a pattern book that showed ripples as diagrams and I could 'see' the pattern and it suddenly all made sense. This one was my first try and I kinda feel sorry for this afghan. First it was for my Dad, then I found something I liked better. Then it was for my brother, but he asked for a different design and now it's mine. :)





Both of these throws are little more than lap blankets. My feet get cold at night, even in the summer and having air (from the fan) blowing directly on my knees and lower legs is a recipe for muscle cramps, so even in the middle of the Texas summer, I have something across my legs. I like the colors in this one, though everyone's reaction is along the lines of 'eye searing'.





I love quilts and among my favorite quilts are sampler quilts. After perusing Happy Yellow House, I went through my quilt books until I found one that showed the different blocks diagrammed in a way that makes it's very easy to translate them into granny squares.

This quilt/afghan is only in the beginning stages - four put together with two more waiting and a plan to make about 30 in all - but I'm already real happy with it. It will most likely go to an aunt for Christmas.



And on the beading front, I'm making beaded headdresses for two friends. This was my original idea - a simple loop of beaded leaves, but I've since decided to make it more complicated. Should be fun. I'm also working on peyote bookmarks and bracelets.

Like I said, Mom seems to think she needs to find me more things to work on. :)