Adelyn's Messenger Bag

My granddaughter went to India for 3 weeks!  Joanie was looking for a bag that would help keep Adelyn busy...

She found a bag on hillmade.blogspot.com and so I wrote to Renae Hill.  Renae was extremely helpful and gave me additional directions beyond her free tutorial!  So generous!

Here are the pictures of the finished bag.  The green bag shown in the first picture was my prototype...Renae's tutorial...

The front of the bag adding a zipper pocket

There is a zippered flap filled with coloring supplies 

I added a little pocket so that a pencil sharpener could be handy

This is the actual inside of the bag with additional pockets and a key fob

This is the back of the bag...with another zippered pocket.

Thanks again Renae, from hillmade.blogspot.com for your encouragement and support!  Nice pattern!

Those unfinished projects....

I'm savoring my quiet home today.  I used to join "Black Friday" shopping and loving the craziness of it all.

But today, as I'm still in my jammies, and sipping coffee, I'm realizing the deep desire within to finish my art projects and create and develop my "art gallery".  I've have many half finished art projects along with dreams, and I feel that this is the time to enjoy the process and see the reality on the wall!

I happened upon this facebook group and I'm joining!  Should be a great ride and how fun for me to enjoy my varied creations. 

November 15th, 2014
Been making Busy Bags....

If you've never heard of them, well you're in good company.  I hadn't either until I was talking to my daughter.  She would love to make some gifts for her friends with small children.  She had found this link: http://www.infarrantlycreative.net/busy-bag-tutorial/

After checking this out, I offered to make the bags and then she would fill the bags.  She bought fabric at a thrift store and the other items from JoAnns.  I used felt for the batting.

I like how they turned out!

A Friend's Wallet

Funny how time pressures build and deadlines are met, but no pictures are taken.  This has happened so many times in the past year or so, a table runner, a free motion piece for a hutch, a artist piano bench slipcover, but NO SO for the wallet.

Yesterday I quickly pulled the camera out to record this personal victory! Could the wallet have been better...of course.  Would I do some things different on the free motion design and stitching -- you betcha!  But "done is good" and I'm very pleased with the result.  I took some ideas from Sew Mama Sew who features an Arizona Wallet by Teresa at Dandelion Drift (http://www.sewmamasew.com/?s=arizona+wallet).  Thank you Sew Mama Sew and Teresa! 

Planning another wallet but am loving this first attempt!

Here is the front with the friend's initials

The back is a variety of free motion stitching

The owls having been talking to me!

I have a new granddaughter named Alexis Eve, and she is six weeks old today. And she is beautiful! I love being a grandmother and I love giving special quilts to those I dearly love. Just check out my facebook wall.

What started out as a dream and an idea 7 months ago has finally been completed and given as a gift.  I haven't posted anything about it because it was a surprise. Abby saw the pattern last January as I wanted to get her "okay" before making it.  The colors are some of Abby's favorites, and so I began.

The idea to add ribbons for tags came one day as I was dreaming and working on the quilt. This way Alexis will be able to enjoy it as a floor quilt for tummy time. My goal was to make each owl with a different personality along with different colors, etc.  Then one day, one owl seemed so excited about her red shoes, and so I named the quilt "Did you see my new red shoes", and owls being like people and having their own opinions like every person does, each started stating their stance on red shoes.  Sometimes I would laugh as I was sewing because I could hear all their comments.....I guess craziness comes with creativity.

My son's family is represented on the backside of the quilt along with the wacky's (the wacky birds) that live upstairs....and this has no reference to anyone in their apartment building.

As I was thinking about little girl activities, I remembered playing hopscotch as a child, and so I wanted to pass this on to my granddaughters as well.  As of yesterday, Avery was guarding the quilt on her bed until Alexis can protest.  The quilt will be dearly loved and enjoyed...which has been my intent from the beginning. I can't think of a better use for it.

I was concerned about the quilt being too large (it's about 54" square) but my dear daughter-in-law stated that the girls need a floor quilt to play on, and so the size is no problem for which I am grateful.  Its too heavy with applique, etc. to be a cuddly quilt, and it will provide color, and fun for years to come.  Perhaps even a game of hopscotch....

And the last time I heard Avery going to bed, she was asking her mom to recite what each of the owls' were saying about red shoes....that is a great memory for me that I will treasure for a long long time.
 So until there is another grandchild coming, I'm back to making my art quilts.  And if you hear laughter coming from my sewing room, I'm having a marvelous time!

Friends are such a gift!

This past week has been such a good week for me...I got to meet up with two good friends from the west!  First I got to see my friend Kathy...she made me presentable ... and I'm so thankful!  (My husband will be "walking on May 4th" to receive his Doctorate of Ministry and I of course want to look my best.  I'm so proud of him!

Kathy is my hairdresser...since 1996 or 1997, I don't remember which year.  Kathy and I used to sitting side by side in a Precepts Bible Study together for several years. One day I came to Bible Study and Kathy noticed my bangs.  I had tried to cut my bangs under the directions of another hairdresser which turned out disastrous! Kathy corrected what I messed up, and encouraged me to never try that again!  She's cut my hair ever since. We have such good talks, and I love hearing her heart!  She is a great confidant for me!

Then after my time with Kathy, I was able to arrange a time with Jeri -- both on the same day!  Jeri is someone special to me as well.  She not only is helping me become a better quilter but she also helps me "see" in a way I wouldn't normally see.

But our times together are not just quilt talk ...she's the kind of friend that listens, and helps me get over "bumps" and encourages me to avoid pitfalls.  We basically talk fast and furious when we get together...we talk about everything with lots of laughter thrown in. This week we entered the circle of "horsetrading".  What fun!  I savor the laughs and ideas shared until my next "Jeri fix".  I am so thankful for this gift!

This morning I was able to have some time creating/playing in my sewing room.  I was supposed to be doing other things but I kept feeling this pull, this sense of being drawn to create more.  It was so much fun... Sometimes I think I could play for days!

So what am I  up to?

• I am currently working on 3 new works.  I'm trying more new techniques...its quite the combo.  Its a zentangle drawing I made, that I'm putting into fabric that will have lots of thread play as well as quilting.

• Then there's an art piece that I'm calling "Dregs from the Cutting Board a la Booat', and it will be along the lines of the Stupendous Stitching class I took on Craftsy.  

• The third piece is for my new little grandchild that will be arriving in late June.  This is an owl quilt (as my daughter-in-law loves owls, and when I showed her this pattern and explained that I wanted to make a baby quilt for her, would this pattern be okay? And she said "Yes, please, please, please!" So I'm making 16 owls, 4 trees, and some small blocks too.  And that will be only the front.  The backside is being planned, and it should be fun and playful.  I LOVE decorating the backs...to me, each quilt offers 2 opportunities for creativity!

Do I have other projects waiting?  Oh yes, and I'll continue to finish these, some as gifts and some as "samples".  That's another Jeri-ism.  She has helped me over a major pitfall!

Caught Up for Now!

I am participating in an Art Quilt of the Month Sew Along with Joanne-Threadhead . I'm testing different fun techniques on small art quilts so as not to consume tons of time. Today I finished a birthday present (an art quilt but not part of the series, and then I've completed March and April. I am loving this!

March's quilt is machine quilting feathers and different background fillers.  Joanne-Threadhead has a posted a challenge on Sew Cal Gal, and I'm just starting on this challenge. (Sew Cal Gal hosted a yearlong program on free motion quilting. And she even arranged sponsors to give big prizes  as well as monthly prizes. Each month was hosted by a different well known teacher!  It was like taking a class every month with a "big name" free motion quilt teacher. I would never have been able to afford classes that Sew Cal Gal offered.  Thanks again Sew Cal Gal!) Joanne offers a tutorial on free motion quilting, quilting feathers and a whole lot more.  She is so very versatile and productive! So check it out -- its really great!

Here is "Pearls Adorning Feathers" which is my art quilt for March.  I'm thinking about adding more pearls...just don't know.  I've quilted another feather piece (as part of Joanne's challenge and there will be more of this type of quilted pieces to come.)  My goal on this piece was to quilt on a satin sample to see the effect.  I've also quilted on silk  Each fabric offers different qualities. I'm also working with different types of batting as well.

My friend Linda, (Joanie's mother-in-law) makes fancy dresses and has given me some beautiful satin scraps. Its fun to have such a colorful supply handy!

April's quilt is "Sunrise over Orchard Hill".  I took a landscape plan and the scribble tree idea from a Laura Wasilowski and Frieda Anderson book that I got from a PBS special.  I love the fusing! But I learned the hard way that its easy to "kill the glue".

One of my childhood memories is picking cherries just before the sun came up. We would actually arrive at the orchard as it was getting light. I remember being so cold, and not wanting to move.  But up the ladder we each would go and the sound of a few cherries "plunking" in a large bucket was so daunting at times.  Sometimes it seemed like it took forever to fill up that bucket!

Here is a birthday present that I'm giving to a friend.  Its my first attempt at mounting a smaller picture on a larger background.  The background is machine quilted beforehand and it has a hanger on the back to mount it on the wall.

I'm still embracing my imperfections and yes, I like it!  Yes, there is room for improvement but isn't that true of everything?

 This is Hidden Lake, and I've got a bit more to do on the mountains for shading but other than than it is done.  I will mount this picture a different way than the previous picture, but it will also be hung on a wall.

This is the next beach picture I'm working on.  Its a post-card size, and I've added some beads to it for tactile reasons.  Will be adding some thread painting to this as well as the other.  I love making art quilts.

I might be keeping this one as it brings back another childhood memory of a family vacation we took when my baby brother was maybe one year old.  So that would have been in the early sixties.  Its wonderful that the Lord gave us the capacity for memories!

Now I am caught up ..... current for the time being.  May is already half done, and I will be doing some machine applique over some fusible, and thread painting as well.  And yes there will be machine quilting as well.  My goal is to improve.  I want to find a way to bind quilts that doesn't include handwork.  Though I dearly love it, it is not always possible.  I will savor times of knitting.  Oh, and I've got May half done.  I'm planning June and July as well.  New techniques coming!  I love it!

I'm starting to want to piece some quilts.  I've got some large quilts to finish up.  So I'm thankful for my mom's machine which is great for piecing, and my own machine which is great for free motion quilting!