Chez Terez: gold

Showing posts with label gold. Show all posts

Jan 2, 2012

Kitty in the Mist

::Bebe
::Anna Kat
::Kitty Kitty
::Anna Wysocki
::Boo Boo
::Baby Baby
::Mon Bebe

Whatever we call her, we love her, all 19 of us (me + one HH+ one Mamacat + four brothers + three sister-in-laws + six nephews + three nieces). I took this on New Year's Eve Eve, when I noticed she was sheltering herself from the ever-present-Portland mist in a tunnel under the rhodies.

That's Portland, Oregon, by the way.

White Stag {for those of us old enough to remember!}

XO! TEREZ

Nov 13, 2011

Cotton Constellation

My little quilt galaxy is complete!

This weekend I completed the final two "test blocks" of the Texas Star template and pinned them to my shades in the back room for a colorful constellation. A few things I learned:

Allowances

The seam allowance contraption was incredibly helpful at keeping the seams to 1/4". Training wheels, I suppose, but well worth it.

Get to the Point

Sewing on the bias is tricky. Much easier if the fabric is starched and precisely pinned. I also learned you can burn starch, and in turn, burn the fabric. Following the written instructions are important; someone took the time to write and illustrate them for a reason. On the last two blocks (the green and blue and blue and yellow two, on the left) my seams were much straighter and the blocks went together a lot easier when I followed the pressing, pinning and sewing directions.

Reality

I am a messcat. This isn't news, but I had barely finished trimming, pinning, sewing and installing before my work table was a complete mess. My next two projects are scattered about, waiting impatiently for me to get on with it.

Three Wishes

The experiment was a delight! Now I'm ready for the real thing, with some favorite fabric pieces. Stay tuned!

XO Terez

Nov 6, 2011

Golden Afternoon

Golden Afternoon Selvege

The Chez Terez studio's state of affairs has been in a sad state indeed. My workroom, lucky enough to contain four Northwest facing windows, is flooded with full-sun from June to September and it's simply to hot to work in there. Instead it has become a repository for every craft supply I've bought or scavenged and after a terrible attempt to move large pieces of furniture by myself yesterday, it looked like this:

Buried Treasure

I was in the middle of moving that metal drawer of paper crafts and I was too lazy to move the Scrabble dice game to safety, and well, you can see how successful that was.

Solo Stretching

Mid-clean spree, I decided to put the extra leaf in my work table. Alone. I re-enacted it in the photo above to give you the full experience.

After four hours, the place was back in business. Tonight every craft item is sorted and with its proper neighbors. Stamps with stamp pads, fabric sorted and folded, beads and pliers stacked neatly, printmaking inks stored properly, rulers hung on the wall. It is a thing of beauty.

I started working on a star quilt:

Start of Star Quilt

I still don't have a proper design wall. I found a piece of white felt, some clothespins and a spare curtain rod and rigged this up:

Star Quilt Test

Which worked great until I knocked into it while rooting around in the closet:

Star Quilt Fail

That only strengthened my resolve. What good is one star quilt when I could be making three at the same time? But forget the design wall, I'm back to basics: a freshly made bed will do just as well to test the layout:

Star Quilt Redo

Stay tuned. I should have a spectacular constellation to show and tell next week.

XO TEREZ

Nov 3, 2011

Walk to Work Wednesday

John, Andrew, Paul and Matthew

Sneaky Sunlight

The Breakfast Club

Beacon Street Water Works

Mini Mums

How did it get to be November already? Autumn this year has been less than spectacular--the leaves are stubborn and refuse to change or fall from the trees. We've already had a snow storm--and still many people are without power. As for the temperature change, I don't mind...too much. I sometimes wish the summer away--the heat and humidity are worse in my mind than the bone chilling temperatures we're expecting in a few weeks. Fall and winter means Mamcat's-Not-So-Secret-Anymore-Hot-Cider Recipe, pot roast, Jane Austen, knitting, purling, quilting, Baileys & Cocoa, snowy Sunday dinners with friends, the Nutcracker, down comforters, holiday handmade gift making and purchasing (and sometimes keeping!). By February I'll be through but for now I'm settling in with a mug of tea and already enjoying the incumbent holiday season. And finally...finally...my fingers are itching to create some new baubles.
XO Terez

Oct 10, 2011

Hoctober

Porch Pumpkin Planter


Summer Sneaks In

Saturate-Sun

From the Heart and Hands

If you stumbled upon this post you might think it was mid summer with the blooms and saturated color...but it's the second week in October. Somehow we got lucky and after a brief cool spell last week Columbus Day Weekend has been sunny, clear and in the 80s, all three days. Unbelievable. We're all enjoying it, but can't help but wonder if this is Mother Nature's way of saying she's going to wallop us this winter.

XO Terez

Jul 20, 2011

Hot Like Fire

Thermometer Still Life

What? Don't you keep your thermometer in an abandoned Lady Buxton jewelry box with random photos from your childhood, Wizard of Oz Dolls and antique licorice tins?

In case you didn't know, we're into the second full month of summer, and this is one of the two critical points during the year when it is miserable to live in Boston. The humidity is high, the mercury is higher and tempers are short. (The other time starts March 1st and goes straight through the Spring Equinox. The last three+ weeks of slush, sleet, ruined shoes, frozen fingers and pilly wools sweaters...ugh. But we're New Englanders. We're hardy people.)

In short, this is why I've been on crafting hiatus. It's just too hot. I can't go into the studio. It's 90 degrees in there, at night time.

Thankfully, I did add to my stained-glass curtain a few weeks ago to give my full-West facing kitchen window some additional protection from the direct rays of the setting sun:

Stained Glass Curtain 100% More Free!

I lined it with white felt and pinned it up--the shade and gentle colors it bestows on my kitchen space is very welcome indeed. Now it is so big I wonder if I shouldn't just back it, bind it and turn it into a quilt. Maybe in the fall when it's not too-darned-hot.

I do have another little crafty project I'm preparing, here's a hint:

China Fair Shade Sticks: $3.99 for 200

If you've been perusing the craft blogosphere you can probably guess their fate. I'm determined to work on them this weekend--but it will involve a hot glue gun, and it's supposed to hit close to 100 on Friday and Saturday, so crafting might have to wait.

Until then, stay hydrated.

XO Terez