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!

Work in Progress: PYOP Ornaments

Yesterday Brie and I went to The Pottery Stop to work on pottery for the first time in months. I'd been thinking about doing some smaller pieces...something manageable where I can work on several at one time while I wait for parts of them to dry.

I'm using my usual wax resist technique on these ornaments but I thought I'd try something a little different and not just use a black background (which will turn into the outlines of the drawings on my piece). So on some of these I am experimenting with dark brown and gray backgrounds, for a softer outline.

So on the top right is an image that may look familiar...I've used Whaley on a few items before but I love him so I painted him again. The bird in the tree also may look familiar...

The two bottom images are Tuscan scenes I've been thinking about painting for a while. Just reminiscing about Italy a bit...

The fifth ornament, on the top left, is still blank...wasn't sure what I wanted to paint there yet. Brie (always helpful) suggested Sean Connery in a red diaper a la Zardoz (if you haven't seen that movie, it is totally bizarre, but worth checking out for his outfit alone!)

I was thinking more along the lines of an elephant with a pretty blanket on its back, or perhaps a pirate ship, or a little city scene. If I'm gonna do Zardoz I'll definitely have to do some practice sketches first and not just freehand it.

More pictures to come when these are done...and they will be for sale in my etsy shop!

Dog circle painting

A few weeks ago I heard from my friend Janel that she was having a bad day...my first thought was, maybe I can make her something to cheer her up. I was thinking of a circle painting and this one turned out to have a bit of a Mardi Gras feel to it.

Janel's favorite color: purple

Janel's favorite animal: puppies

Now I can't remember the last time (if ever) I tried to seriously draw a dog, let alone a puppy. Turns out I have no idea how dogs are shaped. Most of them came out real faily and either dumb looking or birdlike.

I got a bit frustrated at one point...hahahhaha


Yep. Dogs.

materials: pencil, Prang semi-moist watercolors on Canson Montval Watercolor Block, Faber-Castell PITT artist pen (brush) in #177.

Penguin paintings in watercolor

After doing the fox circle paintings, I wanted to do something similar with penguins...



















I think these also came out pretty cute :)  I love baby penguins...they're all fluffy and awkward. Here are my sketches beforehand:

 Some detail:






















I think I prefer this look for the sky:

Yay penguins!

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)! 

ZOMBIEPLATE

Here's another pottery piece I painted recently...this one was a special request by my friend Ryan. I'd never drawn a zombie before so I wasn't sure how it would turn out but I FRIGGIN LOVE IT. Definitely one of my best pieces :)

My favorite part? The dead fish carcass!
   

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.