29 November 2012

Mug Rugs, A Monster and some Sea Critters

Hello Readers!
Yeah, I know, it's been a few days since I was here. Eleven of them, if we're going to get technical. I was kidnapped by the eldest son for that time and had no way to make a blog post. I couldn't take pictures either cause I left the camera at home. The boy and I were about 5 miles into our trip when I remembered it. He said he'd go back to get it, but I said it wasn't necessary. I now wish we would have turned around and retrieved it. It was necessary cause I didn't get one picture of the grandies or their parents! 
There were many missed pictorial events while I was off on my kidnapping. Fred dog was kidnapped too so I wasn't in it alone. Lil A loves that dog something fierce and she gave him many hugs and kisses and pats and talkings to while we were away. She also gave him a tongue lashing I won't soon forget. He popped her favorite play ball less than an hour after we arrived and she was not a happy camper about it! She soon forgave the dog though. Thankfully 3yr olds don't hold grudges for very long!  
It would have been nice to have gotten a few photos of Bub as well. Ten year old boy and two cats that were inseparable....I brought those two cats home with me. Bub came to accept that fact but he really wanted them to stay at his house with the other five cats they have.
Shortly after Fred popped Lil A's ball she demanded I make her a kitty. Three year olds are quite demanding sometimes even if they aren't meaning to be. I didn't get a picture of the little green fleece cat I made for her the first night there.

I got back home yesterday and took pictures of all the projects accomplished in the 9 days I was gone. I meant to do that last night but got lost in cyber space. I REALLY needed a good fix of the internet when I got home. There is limited, very limited time on the computer at son's house. I got online for a grand total of about an hour and 10 minutes in 9 days. Like a dope junkie, I needed a fix!
Pictures were taken this afternoon. I didn't get out of bed till almost noon! Those two cats I brought home with me were not welcomed with warmth from Lola cat. She was one pissed off kitty that I had the audacity to bring home, not one, but two more cats to invade HER territory! It was a noisy night what with Fred putting in his two cents every time Lola took a notion to hiss, growl, yowl and make a general nuisance of herself throughout the night time hours. It is hard to sleep when there's a cat war raging in your house! Thankfully Lola has settled down during the day. There's been no more fur flying, though the hissing and growling have happened when the new girls decided to eat out of the cat food bowl in the kitchen. Lola's guarding her food bowl. I gave them a bowl of their own in the bathroom up on the counter where the dog can't get to it.
I believe in due time....I'll give it a week at most...and peace will reign with the new girls and Miss Lola. Lucky Tigger Murray and Tippy will fit in nicely with the critter population here at Casa Donna!

I was a busy girl while away. I never leave home without somekind of art or craft project that travels. I took my big bag of fabric scraps and the needles and thread. I took the unfinished pink monster and bag of fiberfil. I took a book to cut up into collage fodder, a magazine that didn't get the same fate (though that was the reason for bringing it). I took the seed beads thinking I could make some fabric beaded fishes. (I did just that!)  I took the oil pastels which didn't get taken from their box because the 3 yr old took too great an interest in Grandma's crayons. What a mess that could of been! Can you imagine? A three year old with oil pastels? Grandma colored with Lil A's crayons instead. There are no pictures of crayon drawings either. I drew on the garage floor with egg shaped chalk with Lil A the last two days I was there. Bub was in on the chalk drawings as well. 
I was a busy girl! 

I'll quit rambling and show you all what was accomplished!
:)

Black Ellie Mug Rug
This one is a bit bigger than any other mug rug I've ever made. It isn't big enough to be a hot pot holder though. About 5.5 inches square, made out of felt, an old wool sweater and regular sewing thread. I started this one the last time the boy kidnapped me and didn't bring me home for almost 6 weeks!

Blue Velvet Ellie Mug Rug
I started this one during the last kidnapping also. The ellie was sewn to the purple fleece (which looks blue on my monitor. It looked that way on the camera as well. It's really a royal purple color though, not royal blue!) It has a light blue felt backside. I braided the ellies tail with embroidery thread. I used the braiding disk  
to do that. It's sewn with regular sewing thread and embroidery thread.

Hearts on Gray Mug Rug
This one is about 4x5 inches. It's sewn with three strands of embroidery thread and regular sewing thread. The red and yellow fleece hearts are atop black fleece, the gray heart and the backing are felt. 

I don't usually buy fabric to make these mug rugs or any thing else I make out of fabric. I found some fleece remnants at Wally World while I was in Hutchinson with the boy and couldn't resist them. I paid about $4 dollars for a big chunk of the gray felt, a big chunk of black fleece and yellow, orange, lime green, purple, green tinkerbell and red and yellow wuzzy fleece. Wuzzy is some kind of cartoon character. The three year identified it as such. The remnant was about 3 inches wide and maybe 40 inches long. Fleece is lovely material to work with as is felt!

Hearts on Burlap Mug Rug
I really like the effect the burlap gives but it makes the mug rug less washable. That burlap ain't never gonna look new after its first washing! This one is about 4 inches square. The hearts are felt and fleece, white is felt and black backing is fleece. It's sewn with embroidery thread and regular sewing thread.


Orange Starfish Mug Rug
Starfish is cotton material sewn around the edge with red and blue regular sewing thread. The yellow french knots on the starfish are crewel embroidery thread. Under starfish and on top of white felt is two layers of blue netting sewn on with metallic blue emboidery thread and around the edge onto the gray felt backing with embroidery thread.  It's about four inches square.

Purple Starfish Mug Rug
Not sure why that purple fleece didn't show it's true colors when the tinkerbell green fleece under is the true color. It's backed by gray felt, sewn with embroidery thread and crewel embroidery thread. It's about 4 inches square.

Purple Starfish on Yellow Mug Rug
That purple fleece again. The yellow is fleece and the back is gray felt. Starfish is fleece sewn with regular sewing thread, embroidery thread and crewel thread. This one is about 4 inches square.

These two starfish mug rugs came about after the starfish ornaments you're about to see. 

This one is about 4 inches square. White backing is felt. Green tinkerbell fleece. Purple fleece. burlap and yellow fleece. Sewn with embroidery thread and regular sewing thread. This one is my least favorite of all the mug rugs shown in this post.

Blue Starfish Ornament
Blue felt sewn with regular sewing thread, beaded with fake pearls and glass seed beads. It's about 3 inches across, has a loop of strong thread for a hanger. 

Green Starfish Ornament
Green felt, glass seed beads. Sewn with regular sewing thread. It's about 3 inches across and has a thread loop for hanging.

Orange and Gray Starfish Ornament
The back of this one is gray felt. Orange is also felt. Sewn with regular sewing thread, beaded with green, gold and white beads. It's about 3 inches across and has a thread loop for hanging.

RWY Starfish Ornament
Wuzzy fleece sewn with regular sewing thread, beaded with pink, red, white, yellow and gold beads. This one is about 2.5 inches across and has a thread loop for hanging.

Green Tinkerbell Starfish Ornament
Tinkerbell fleece sewn with regular sewing thread, beaded with blue and brown seed beads and gold bugle beads. It's about 3 inches across and has a thread loop for hanging.

Red Starfish Ornament
Wuzzy fleece sewn with regular sewing thread, beaded with a mixture of tiny beads. It's about 2.5 inches across and has a thread loop for hanging.


I ran across the idea of these fishes a couple of days before I was kidnapped for Thanksgiving and knew I was going to make them! I didn't know for sure that I was being kidnapped at the time. It worked out well though cause these fishes wouldn't be this far along if I hadn't gone to my son's house for Thanksgiving! I made an even half dozen of them but a blue one went missing before it got beaded. I've no clue where it might be...I'm putting odds on the toy closet though! :) That 3 yr old took a great liking to my fishes! 

They aren't done yet. I still need to glue the top fin and tails together and give them all some eyes and a hanger of some sort. Then I can call them done!
I have so many works in progress it isn't even funny. Some day I may catch them all up! These fishes will be done SOON! They're part of my ornament endeavor for the year.
If one had the inclination and the good eyesight to take these fish a step farther in their development, they'd be some mighty fine looking fish! I can imagine them totally beaded. I don't have the eyesight for it though...I'm also not that skilled at beading! I had a pattern for all of them but the green one. I just winged that one. What you do is cut out a fish shape...leave its tail and fins just the general shape so after you've sewn the body and stuffed it with fiberfil you can cut the tail and fins to match the fish. It's easier to line them up properly if all you do is cut them after the stuffing of the fish. They go fairly fast! If one got along with a sewing machine they could whip these beasts out by the hundreds, sans the beads. I can see them being made in any different kinds and colors and patterns of fabric. They'd make a great cat toy without the beads...or elements for a mobile...lots of possibilities with these little beasts~! I must hand sew mine though as I do not get along with sewing machines. 

FINALLY! I didn't think this pink velvet monster was ever going to be finished!
He's just a little fellow, only about 7 inches tall. For being so little he sure took his sweet ol' time coming to fruition! That pink velvet was a donation to my cause from Ma. She gave me a piece of burgundy velvet at the same time. I tried to make his horns out of that burgundy velvet but it frayed when cut and didn't work out so well for horns. I went with Tinkerbell fleece instead. His eyes are felt, everything is sewn with regular sewing thread.

I found these three lost sheep in the bottom of my traveling sewing bag. One of them was made by me, the other two were made by two little girls around 8 and 9 years old.  I believe the one in the middle is mine. They still need some magnets glued to their backsides. They were a fun find! I forgot I had taught those girls how to make these.

When my son kidnaps me I always take along something to do at his house. I don't own a television at home and I do not watch television at their house. I'm a very unsociable person. I'm civil to everyone who comes along, but I am not one who needs company to be content. 
The TV room at my son's house is separate from the livingroom there. I sit in the livingroom, alone (by choice) and do my own thing. I talk to the others in the other room if they ask me something or something is said on television that I have a comment on....Can't help but hear that TV! FIL keeps it loud enough the dead can hear it! The kids come through that room, play in there...it's full of toys! and do my own thing! I'm content with that! I have to bring things along with me though cause the extent of their craft items amounts to kids markers, copy paper and whatever broken crayons seem to be in attendance on any given day. Lil A changes things out on the hour! She's always a busy little girl! I need a few more materials than that for my creative endeavors!
My son always teases me that I've brought everything but the kitchen sink. I am never bored though! Never!

I have a lot of conversations with Lil A while sitting in that over stuffed striped chair in that room. She wants to know, "what you making, Grandma?" "Can I have a string?" "Can I put my things here, Grandma?" "Grandma, will you get me some milk?"   The questions never end! There's always something to show me and something to say and something to ask and something she wants! I gave that little girl a good number of strings during the time I was there. I took a baggie full of crewel embroidery thread in 2 foot lengths with me. Those were her favorite strings! She tied up every toy she could with those strings! 
I gave her a length of that metallic blue embroidery thread I do not like working with but used on the orange starfish mug rug anyway. The next day she gave it back to me saying I could keep that one! Apparently she doesn't like that thread any better than I do! 
I did enjoy my time away from home but like always, am glad to be back to my own abode! 

I have another project started tonight so expect some more finished art and craft in a few days time! Thanks for reading!
Be good to one another!
It matters!
Peace
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