Work in Progress: Pink Cotton Candy Stripe Quilt

I have three crib sized patchwork quilts I have been working on for some time, in various stages of completion. All three are of my own design.

The first one is my Pink Cotton Candy Stripe baby quilt, which is the closest to completion. I loved choosing and using these sweet fabrics from my fabric stash (I think they all came from a Joann's shopping extravaganza with Brie a long time ago). This would be so perfect for a gift for a new baby girl! The back of the quilt is a blue and white cloud print that reduces the girliness factor just a tiny bit.

I opted for no binding, because I currently (from past experiences) have a fear/hatred of binding my quilts, which I'm hoping to eventually get over when I find the right binding method. And it looks pretty without it anyway. I used Warm and Natural batting because it's thin and flat enough to be easy to work with while still providing some warmth. I pin-basted my quilt sandwich together right sides facing, stitched around the edges, and turned it inside out. Then I pin-basted it again...I don't like using a thimble so I did stab myself a few times :P

If you look closely you can see my big quilter's pins still in there because I haven't done the quilting yet...the only other thing I have to do is add my Picky Chicky labels to it (I made my own using some iron-on transfer paper and satin ribbons, thanks to the magic of Pinterest).

More pictures to come once it's finished. Next time: my English paper piecing hexie quilt made from recycled men's dress shirts!

Fox paintings

A friend of mine is expecting a baby boy this summer and her nursery colors are green and orange (sort of a woodland theme) so I thought I'd try painting a fox picture for her.

Pretty cute huh? 

The funny thing is, in my first few sketches the foxes looked kind of like birds (eg the sketch on the far right)! 

Snow day art projects

I had off yesterday afternoon because of the snowstorm...and since I was stuck at home, worked on some pear collages that I'd been thinking about for a while.

I like how this one came out...it is pretty much how I pictured it...only I'm not sure it is "weird" enough...despite the odd bandage illustrations I glued on there in places.

materials: Strathmore Bristol (smooth), Plaid Royal Coat Decoupage Finish in 1401 Clear, Faber-Castell Pitt artist pens (#169 and #177), various books, magazines, paper tape, paper towels, transparencies (leftover from my Kaplan days) and other paper ephemera.

 

Shopping and inspiration: Antiques in Hancock, MD

On the drive back from a weekend in Cleveland, I got the urge to stop along the way and do a little antiquing...and found some great stuff at Hancock Antique Mall in Hancock, MD.

My favorite spot was definitely the Lill booth--the owner had set it up super cute, with all kinds of teapots and china and glass trays and lovely tea things. I also considered getting a shabby chic sort of carved wood frame mirror but it looked like it needed some repair...and there were some pink goblets to match the bird bowl that I wish I had picked up too. Might require a return trip!

 

From top:

Dep pink bowl with birds on side: Lill

Popegosser china dessert plates: Lill

Kentucky Cardinal apples sign: Lois

Nippon handpainted dip plate: Lill

Blue marble trinket box (with cockatiels on it!!!): Lill

Vintage hankies: Lill

Micro floral tapestry vintage pin: Val

Metal coaster set: Lill

Car coasters: Lill

Omg I was SO excited to find the cockatiel box especially. I happened to go back to the Lill booth after my round of the entire antique mall...I was really looking for vintage hankies and teacups so I overlooked it on the shelf somehow the first time! This is definitely my favorite new piece.

In other news, welcome to fall! I was half-surprised to see the leaves on the sidewalk yesterday, even though the weather is getting noticeably cooler.

 

 

Might be time for a road trip to enjoy all the pretty fall leaves :) Or more apple picking!

Craft projects in the works: PYOP and felt fruit ornaments

Yay! Now that I have passed my exam and am done studying, I was able to spend some time on crafty things this weekend.

I had been wanting to try making felt fruit ornaments for a long time so yesterday I started with apples and pears. I think they are pretty darn cute!


I really enjoyed stitching these and they are much faster to make than my owl ornaments!

 

Today I went back to The Pottery Stop to finish my last PYOP coaster and work on my other wax resist pieces (the plates for my brother). My elephant coaster from last time was done!

 

 

The plates are going kind of slowly...I finished one side of each plate. I think I will finish them this week. Love the toucan! And I did something a little different on the back of my whale plate (instead of the usual bees). Here are the "before" pictures...neither piece has been fired in the kiln yet, the colors will be darker after that. What do you think?

I totally love the ducky and umbrella!  :) 

PYOP (Paint Your Own Pottery) Coasters (well...half of them)

I finished two of the four PYOP coasters I started...then last week I went back to finish the other two but forgot to bring them with me! So I ended up working on some plates instead. But here are the two finished coasters!




On the backs I decided to put the little bees again with my initials...with a slightly different configuration on each coaster. The little white dots I painted worked out surprisingly well, they nicely camouflage the three little marks from when they put the pieces in the kiln.

 

 

Here are the "before" pictures--after I painted but before the pieces were fired. I used the same wax resist technique I enjoy so much. It's fun to paint the picture, and then color it in like a coloring book :)

As you can see we usually accompany our pottery painting with a fine meal at Qdoba...mmm quesadillas with extra queso...

 

 

Here are the other two coasters...a ship and an elephant! Totally random but that's what I felt like painting.

 

 And here are the two plates I started last time...

 

Lots of painting to do! Can't wait to see how these turn out. The whale and/or toucan plates are for my brother...we'll see which one of them he prefers.

Back to The Pottery Stop later this week to finish!