Peace, Man

Hippie Shirt Progress

 (I changed my mind about the stars, and inner-moon motifs as I embroidered)

Left front yoke

The Evolution of a Hippie Moon

Did I  mention that I wanted to embroider a blue denim Hippie Shirt? Did I also mention that I've tried every single transfer pen and pencil color, and none show on dark denim? And did I mention that I accidentally ordered a white pencil (well, it wasn't accidental- the silly thing was labeled as a transfer pencil, but it's just a white pencil), which ended up being the only thing that actually shows on the dark fabric?

If I haven't mentioned any of that, consider it mentioned now.

Anyway, I started working on the Hippie Shirt this weekend. Since I can't use a transfer pen or pencil, I decided to wing the design (this made me sad, because I had a whole slew of Urban Threads motifs that I wanted to transfer and embroider). Here's how that went:

All of the featured work was done on a very windy, rainy, dreary afternoon as I watched The Hobbit (#1) and a bunch of favorite X-Files episodes. I stopped to take a picture after each step. This is about 5 hours of work, all done with ordinary 6-strand embroidery floss (2 strands at a time). Note that the above picture is a more accurate representation of the shirt color.

Cool, no?

I'm going to embroider the front yokes, cuffs, collar, and down either side of the button bands.

Side Note: If I ever do this again (hint: probably), I'll get a light denim shirt. ALL of the transfer pens and pencils will show on that fabric

Skulls Finished

I'm going to build these blocks (and the top banner) from the center out. It'll be all asymmetrical and jumbled, with black and white fabrics. Though now that I think on it, I might throw just a dash of red in, here and there. Hmmm....

Anyway, I finished the embroidery on the top banner last night, and I am thrilled with how it came out.

All of the motifs are from Urban Threads, which I recommend wholeheartedly.

Drum Roll Please!

It's been a long time coming, a very long time (because I just didn't get the file proofed), but Foreign Body, the 6th Tory Bauer Mystery, is finally available as an eBook from Amazon. The other platforms will be live soon, and I'll post links as I get them.

In the meantime, it's up at Amazon.

Edited to add that it's up on B&N for Nook too.

And Smashwords.

And at Kobo.

The wonderful new cover, as with all of the eBook covers for this series, was designed by an exceptionally talented artist, who also happens to be my oldest son, Curtis. I love this one as much as all of the others

I'm excited to have the whole series available as eBooks now.

And trust me, this, right here, never gets old. Ever.

Skulls 3, 4,5,6 and the Final Skull

I am going to embroider myself a Hippie Shirt- I bought a dark blue denim shirt and I am not at all patiently waiting for a yellow transfer pen to arrive so I can begin work on it (the peril of a dark blue denim shirt- if I'd gotten light blue, any of the transfer colors I already have would have worked: black, dark blue, red. Sigh).

Anyway, waiting has given me a chance to finish the last of the skull blocks.

Here are the three large blocks- each bit of fabric is at least 14" x 14", though their final sizes will be different.

This will be a border across the top of the quilt- though the embroidery will be centered and not extend across the whole banner.

I am going to assemble it organically, from the blocks out, all asymmetrical. I decided to use just black and white print fabrics for the sashing and spacer blocks (I haven't decided yet if they'll be large swaths of fabric, or pieced blocks).

Sorry for the fuzzy pic.Surprisingly enough, black and white fabrics are harder to find. Most have other colors too (cream, gray, red, yellow, etc) (Note: I'll probably set that gingham FQ aside for another project, because: gray).  I considered Day of the Dead fabrics but that seemed too *on the nose*. I might use some for the outer border though, or for the binding. And I may quilt with bright multicolored thread. Not sure yet. The quilt will tell me what it needs.

I am very much looking forward to seeing this one come together.

Day of the Dead Skulls 2 and 3 (4,5,6)