Three Mini Baskets Ready To Be Given To Their New "Best Of Class" Owners Soon

A few days ago I mentioned that I was making a few on these mini baskets to be given as a little extra gift for Best In Class winners in our County Fair's Textile Division, run by the inimitable Susan Rosenberg, Superintendent. I tried some new techniques with these. One of them, the green and yellow one, was stabilized by using a bit of my favorite GAC 400 textile stiffener. I love the way this stuff works and I also love the way I can adjust the amount of stiffness by adding water if I want. I boiled the purple,pink and yellow basket in some mild detergent so see what would happen if I shrank the fabric a bit more. The result was good. Stiffer than doing nothing, but not as stiff as using the GAC 400. It's easy to bead these baskets no matter what finish I use and it's always good to have options.

I also spent part of the weekend beading on my knitting bag that I have made from (for the most part) the three fleece that I got from the Fair last year. One side is completed! I still need to make a braided handle, but I want to see how the completed beading looks before I figure the braid design out.

I played a bit with paints and patterns from my Journaling class this weekend too. Still working out a few things on the pages. Amazing how much more emphasis I now place on having a good background. I did a little binding on a large traditional quilt quilt and it is almost finished.I am trying to pace myself a bit & remind myself that I still next a bit more rest than usual. The Prednisone is doing it's wonderful job (along with the antibiotics) and I am feeling just about right now. I stayed up until about midnight 30 last night though so I think I will be ready to go read my biography "Privilege and Scandal: The Remarkable Life of Harriet Spencer, Sister of Georgiana" by Janet Gleeson pretty soon. I am finding is an easier, more interesting read than Amanda Foreman's "Georgiana: Duchess of Devonshire" was. So much of that period of European history that I know so little about. Must have been a very enigmatic time.