Note: I was a good girl and spent the morning working on sorting papers! Got a lot done.
I thought I might write a bit more about designing the grocery tote.
To Gay and Joe, no, I do not have a pattern of any kind. For the structure dimensions I just measured the bag I wanted to put into it. It is basically just a box. For the birds, butterflies, and flowers, I looked at pictures on the web, and then roughed out my own. The actual images are created as I stitch, since I really can't draw much better than a sixth grader. I undo frequently.
For Karen, I don't know what the overall design will be, because I don't plan it out. As I worked on each image, I was aware of the spaces around it and played with ideas of what will fit in next.
This is how I designed the flower side:
I started with the pink fuchsias on the top because I wanted flowers that hung down. The lavender flowers on the left are wisteria which also hang down. The small leaves above the wisteria visually contrast with the larger leaves of the fuchsias.
Although I had thought I would do only flowers on this side, I added the hummingbird because they love fuchsias. I looked at a color picture on the web of a ruby throated hummer. You can't see it on this picture, but I used iridescent embroidery floss for his head and throat. I had seen it at the craft store a few days earlier and once I had decided on a hummer I bought it, and tried it on a sample before using it on the tote.
As I built each side, I filled in some of the areas of black background. I knew I was going to lose the hummer's beak if I didn't put something lighter behind it, so I added the green leaf.
I wanted a large flower that came up from the bottom. The idea of using bird of paradise came to me as I was falling asleep. The next day I looked at some web images and discovered they could be yellow, orange, or red. I chose red.
After finishing them, I filled in the rest of the black on that side and decided the lower right corner needed something. I did the little star flowers as an over-stitch. They are a repeat element from one of the other sides. As I look at it now, I think I over did hem a bit. Sometimes less is more.
I wanted do some yellow roses in the mid section of the space, but after three tries and rip-outs I settled for anonymous petaled flowers. (I will be experimenting with rose images in the future, I don't like to be defeated.)
The final addition was the two tiger lilies in the lower left corner. They were inspired by images by Al in Travels With The Bayfield Bunch.
So, there you have it. A blow by blow of how I think. I remember when I was creating animal heads I would have an overall goal in mind, but had to concentrate on creating the whole, piece by piece.
It just happened. Sometimes things work, and sometimes they end in the trash. The nice thing is I'm doing it for me now, not to sell.
Was this interesting to anyone?
I wish I had a more enticing headline, but all I can say is another week has gone by and we got more things done. Now we just have a lot of little things to do and a lot things to get rid of!
One of these days we will look around and say "OK it's time to list" and just do it.
I no longer feel stressed out about "when." I know Craig wants to be done with it as much as I do, and we will be done when we are done!
Meanwhile, I have enjoyed many hours working on my latest needlepoint project. If I can't be posting pictures of where we are, or what we are doing on the house, I guess I will just have to post pictures of my latest crafty project.
I don't know about what is happening in the rest of the country, but here in California more and more stores are not giving you bags for your purchases anymore. You can buy bags or bring your own.
We have several reusable grocery totes that we keep in the car and van. The problem is we almost always forget to take them into the store with us. Then when we get to the check out, one of us has to go back to the car to get them.
So I decided to make a needle point reusable grocery tote that I wouldn't forget to take in with me. I didn't have a design in mind when I started. I just knew I wanted to use bright colors and a black background. Each panel just evolved.
This is the first side panel.
It's a bit flat and the elements are stiff.
But by the time I had finished with it I had established the theme elements: birds, butterflies, and flowers.
On the second side I explored butterflies a bit more. I used a very old design technique of moving from small to large and warm colors to cool.
On the first large side, I played with fun, colorful, imaginary birds.
I like them all except for the rather dopy looking parrot, but I needed something in that corner.
I am pleased with the way the tiger lilies came out on this the last of the four sides.
Instead of making the handles with the stiff needlepoint canvas, I lined the tote with a reusable bag from Walmart. It is held in place with a retaining strip and Velcro. This way the handles of the Walmart bag will take the weight of the groceries. The needlepoint becomes more of a shell and will be less likely to get deformed.
When the Walmart bag becomes dirty or worn, I can easily replace it with a fresh one.
I figure I am less likely to forget this tote after all the hours I spent making it. It will also be a good place to keep the other reusable bags we normally have strewn on the back floor of the car. It should keep them cleaner as well.Although they are not shown here, I have found something to use as a hook so I can hang the tote from the cart handle instead of putting it in the cart and covering it with groceries.
I do have work to do around the house that I have been avoiding. I'm not going to allow myself to pick up a needle until I have dealt with all the papers piled up in the dining room. I've been ignoring them for weeks, but they won't go away or be sorted by themselves.
Do you put unpleasant jobs off? How do you get yourself motivated?
