"QUEEN MARY'S GARDEN" © 2024 - Feathers are flying!

Howdy, Birders (hi Sue)!

I think this bird looks a little turkey-ish.  Tom Turkey's feathers are fun and not as hard as you might think.  I love to play with as many fabrics as I can.  It gives me a little thrill to use all the snips and strips that I can't keep from curating over time for my applique.

My fingers are complete rubbish at handling the little pieces, always have been. Tweezers, like the one shown below, are an extension of my fingers, especially now that age is starting to creep up on me.  Lessened manual dexterity and some numbness are bothering my 12-yr-old personality, and I throw a lot of pre-teen tantrums.

Like all of us, right?    

The tweezers help me fork and chopstick my way through the little scraps and tiny freezer paper pieces that I insist on handling.  Also, my short fingernails have always made it difficult to scrape up little freezer paper giblets I drop on tables and floors.

Tiny pieces with a few glue dots are my building materials.  Tweezers have always made handling them possible.

I love the weight of an old iron and pattern weights to keep things tight and where I want them. When the tiny dots of Roxanne's glue baste are set just enough, I can continue with the next piece of the pattern puzzle.  Pure joy!

Glue basted and ready for stitching!  I stitch the individual motifs together before applying to the border background.  I can move the birds and beasts around a few times as the ambiguous design process continues. Having already stitched motifs before, I'm free to make last minute changes.

He just needs an eyeball!

The Tom Turkey's very tall friend is sort of road runner, maybe?  Hellon Wheels has a lean body for speed, freakish long legs because I could, and big feet for the fun of it.  

Big feet are so comical to me, but they also allow me simplicity and ease as I lightly glue and turn under the edges. Dainty, skinny, difficult, wire-like bird claws are for, well, are for the birds!  

Next, a fish dinner for a never quite full pelican.  Mr. Tubb's tiny eye was a fun challenge.  Fabric with tiny- to medium-sized black dots make the reverse applique easy.

I call this one my Firebird...mostly because she looks like she's on fire.  She resembles Henny-Penny in my mind, who thought the sky was falling in my childhood.

As I said before, there were some other things happening while away from the blog the last 5-6 years.  Sometimes the creative mojo just isn't there and I need to hippity-hop to something else for a bit.

Here are some more things and projects I was doing while waiting for the mojo...and birds...to fly back for the season.

I made twelve different sampler blocks for my retreat group, The Magnolia Quilters, challenge.  Ha!  The non-piecer finished them first!

We went up to our family property in Grass Creek, Kingston, Ontario, CA for a better view of the 4/8/2024 total eclipse.

It got pretty dark!  This was mid-morning at corona. We met up with immediate family from all over.  There may not be another total eclipse in mine and Steve's lifetime (but one for our daughter in 2035, I think).

If you can enlarge pictures, you can actually see the dark moon right in the middle of the sun!

TOTALLY worth the long drive from Alabama!

I finally succumbed to the seductive Kaffe Fassett and started another project.  USA economy, you are welcome.

I performed doll amputations for future weird crafts (Barbie and her friends donated heads for the pincushions I distributed at the retreat of March 2025, gals).

Until next time, don't lose your heads and have a good time!

In stitches, 

Teresa - - - - - - -