What a week it has been!
The news has sucked me into a black hole. As the certification of the electoral votes started on Wednesday, I was watching on TV while sewing. I was shocked by the enfolding events. The overtaking of the Capitol Police and ensuing invasion of the building was something to behold.
Instantaneous news is something I rarely have had the opportunity to watch over the years. I usually listen to the radio as I drive around to and from work or on errands or I like to read the online papers afterward. Of course, I was made to watch the NASA blast offs and travels to space as a kid. And we have watched various funeral ceremonies for prestigious people such as presidents or Lady Diana. As a teacher, I always had my classroom to watch over. But normally, I did not see news until the evenings. Even on 9/11, I did not observe the first tower fall until lunch hour.
As I listened to the politicians convene to carry out their business,
My first reaction was in awe as to how the congressman and women proceeded with carefully worded scripts to the process of certification. I assume that this is universal to all parts of their business and the formalities of creating legislation. The rhetoric is very formal and quoted sections of the Constitution. This is so different to the media blurbs and informal speeches we see.
Secondly, I was truly saddened by the invasions by individuals and the destruction and deaths that occurred as a result. And I was surprised at the newscasters and their ongoing verbiage. It seemed to add more chaos to the images.
And I have spent several days, reorganizing my sewing area. It has sadly been in a state of MESS. And while I am stagnant at the moment for the next step. I can say that freeing myself of my Scraps has been so helpful. My car's back seat is halfway full of bags of items I am sending to donate. I don't really use scraps. So the overflowing bags were more hindrance than help.
I enjoy having less around me. Now to get the last bits into organization.
I have been sewing and have dozens of new 9 patches and half square triangles to complete more blocks for my scrap quilt. In my cleaning I have also decided to free the other 9 patches that had poor seam allowances done so long ago. Better to start from scratch. But here is the assortment of the newly created ones.
And I have almost all of my border paper piecing completed. Which means I haven't even started the curve blocks. So I need to get moving.
I have attempted some winter/snow post Christmas decorating. And I have admired the new fangled tier trays for decorating. ( Like I need more ideas for stitching, right.?)
My creation thus far is to paint aida canvas with acrylic paint mixed with textile medium.
Here is one site I consulted that shows how to do a solid gray color. http://weelittlestitchescrossstitch.blogspot.com/2011/05/tutorial-how-to-paint-aida-cloth.html
I also consulted: https://thepolkadotchicken.blogspot.com/2017/10/and-even-more-halloween-on-slow.html She does so many wonderful counted cross things as well as quilts. I love her varied backgrounds that she does for her cross stitch. It adds such interest to the pieces.
So I created some swirly blues as my background for some sparkly snowflakes. The first photo shows how I first placed the aida cloth on the shiny side of freezer paper. This prevents anything underneath from getting painted. You can't just paint the fabric as it will flake off over time. The textile medium allows it to absorb into the fibers themselves. They were quite wet and I peeled it off the paper. And then I blotted with paper towel as I was liberal with my paint in applying the 2 shades of blue. The two pieces of canvas dried by evening.
And lastly I ironed the front and back with steam. Don't know if it was needed or will set the paint but did want to make sure it is flat.
So now I will stitch some geometric designs of snowflakes. White for sure, but maybe some metallic thread mixed in. I have found several designs on Pinterest.
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