Late Winter Projects, part 1

I have been in finishing mode these last few weeks of winter.  Thanks to baseball, we had a "staycation" for Spring Break which gave me lots of time to finish up some loose ends.  First up:  my stair risers are finished and installed.  I talked about these 2 risers in this post.  The stairway has been a work-in-progress for about 10 years, since we've lived in this great old house.  Techniques include knitting (of course), crochet, rug hooking, and wool appliqué.  Now I only have 1 more to do.  I'm thinking of doing a wool crazy quilt design.  Nothing too elaborate since the stair is on the very bottom and won't be seen in great detail or great light.

Here is the whole set.  Bottom to top they are:
Street scape of Hudson, OH
Orange tree as an homage to my hometown of Redlands, CA
Crochet hexagons
Proddy and rug hooking
Penny rug
Needle-felt and embroidery
Rug hooking picture of an old farm house
Knitted lace
Rug hooked log cabin design
Wool appliqué sheep parade
Wool appliqué and embroidery Fraktur-inspired tulips


All are my own design start to finish.  My favorites are usually the most recent ones to be installed but I am partial to the knit lace and the sheep parade.  And, of course, I'm already plotting to modify the log cabin one.  It's a little floppy and may need to be re-constructed.  The hooked rug panels present a challenge because they are heavier.  They tend to sag a bit.

 Here's one of the new panels installed at the very top.  I love the blue in contrast with the orange of the panel below.  And, there's a bit of orange in the tulip itself so they tie together very well.

Below is the street scape completed.  Our beloved clock tower has a spot of honor.  To be honest, the little store fronts got a little boring.  I was trying to duplicate the actual colors of the real buildings.  All those little rectangles...oy.

 Close up of the clock tower.  The 2 buildings behind the tower are also red brick so I used 3 different red wools to delineate.

The background is a great black and white houndstooth from a skirt.  I love finding big pleated skirts at the thrift store.  So much yardage once you cut the pleats free!

I'm very proud of the set.  I think it represents me and all my little hobbies and loves.  I hope you enjoy.