W.i.P Wednesday 05

Once again, let's make this a quick post today. 

After Christmas I plan to start working again on some things that have been on my "in progress" table for quite some time. I would like to get this table cleaned off because I am thinking about buying a new table for my studio that is big enough to hold my cut mat. Because guess where my cut mat is right now. Where it sits every day unless I am hosting a family lunch or book club meeting...It is on my kitchen counter. The counter is the perfect size to hold this mat and I use it every day so I never put it away. But I think in the new year I need to move this into the studio and also consider making a curtain to close off the studio so that I can put my work away sometimes and not look at it.

Between working full time, a long commute each day, and trying to make gifts and items to sell in the evenings and on weekends, I feel like I work all the time. I feel like I need to be working all the time, and especially so when I come home and one of the first things I see is my cut mat with projects on it that are waiting to be finished. I need to start scheduling some time off, some breaks and more fun. I can't remember the last time I sat on the patio with a coffee and a book and took some time to relax. Oh wait, yes, I do remember. It was April 2009. Some changes are coming in the new year.

Anyway, back to what I am working on right now and next month we can get back to some studio revisions and priority shifts.

This is another Anna Maria Horner Figure 8 scarf kit, but I chose different fabric this time. The first one that I made turned out so lovely and I immediately I ordered another kit. (And I see more in my future.)

 

I am making these pot holders to sell in my Etsy shop. They have cute coffee mugs on the front in a brown and blue batik fabric. Why did I just take a picture of the solid teal backs? I guess because I am adding these teal loops for the person that wants to buy these. They will be finished and shipped by the end of the week.

I made a little progress on the applique on this baby outfit. I satin stitched around the center of the flower because the right color of thread was already in my machine. Also, the thread belongs to my cousin Robin and I wanted to use it before I return it to her.

Speaking of Robin, here is the quilt that she and I are making for our grandma. The binding is just about finished, I am giving it to Robin this evening so that she can wash it. Then it just needs one more label sewn on, we will have a photo shoot, and then I will wrap it up in birthday paper! I am so excited to give this to Grandma next week, I think she will really like it.

Slight progress on the satin stitch on this outfit. I like this tree, but my applique stitch is not great. I need more practice on curves for sure.

This picture is kind of silly and pointless, because it is just yellow fabric. I am making it for a family member that reads this blog and so this is all that I can show for now. I planned for this to be a quick project that I could finish in an afternoon and of course it has not turned out that way. One more trip to the fabric store tomorrow evening and I hope to finish this over the weekend.

I am excited to link up with Freshly Pieced on Wednesdays again in January!

Art display at Starbucks

I currently have artwork on display at Starbucks on Louis Henna in Round Rock. Stop by for a coffee and have a closer look. The orange and green pieces on the left are made by sewing beads down onto the canvas. The shoe, titled Agonizing and Beautiful, is made from canvas fabric which is then sewn to the canvas with embroidery thread.

Thanks to Phillip, the Starbucks manager, and the employees for hauling the ladder out for me and being patient while I move tables around and create a bit of a mess. And thanks to Debra, amazing artist, fellow Starbucks art displayer, and dear friend.

Explored Once Again

This is a 12 by 36 gallery wrapped canvas. I painted the bright orange background with acrylic paints and then hand sewed individual beads down to create the flowers and ground. I really like combining orange and blue lately, I think I am inspired by my friend Abbey and her wonderful paintings.

I have two smaller paintings that sit next to each other at art shows. Several shoppers have commented on how much they enjoy the blue and orange next to each other.

This piece is currently hanging with two other paintings at a local Starbucks.

Explored Once Again

detail

As Seen Through the Fog

This is a 12 by 36 gallery wrapped canvas. I painted the green background with acrylic paints and then hand sewed individual beads down to create the flowers and ground.This piece has nothing to do with fog, but I finished it while enduring a horrible allergy headache and so my brain felt very foggy and lost. 

It is currently hanging with two other paintings at a local Starbucks.

As Seen Through the Fog

detail

peanut babies

I made these outfits for Hudson and Ellisa for their first birthday party. Their mother, Mackenzie, had the idea to create peanut onesies for them to wear to the party, and so I used some scrap fabric from the table topper that I made for my grandmother, and Mackenzie gave me some ribbon that she has used in several decor projects in the twins bedroom as well as their party invitations. Mackenzie drew some peanut shapes for me, I appliqued them to the shirts, and added a hair bow to Ellisa's and a bow tie to Hudson's. They twins looked adorable at their party!

Hudson

Ellisa

the twins are getting tired

W.i.P. Wednesday 04

This is going to be a quick post because I should be sitting and binding a quilt that I want (need) to finish today. There is no W.i.P. link up with Freshly Pieced today because everyone is so busy with the holidays and that will resume in early January. 

Last Saturday my cousin Robin and I quilted our grandma's quilt again on the long arm. It looks much better this time, and we just need to finish up some minor adjustments to the borders on Robin's side of the quilt. It was hard to keep it straight as we rolled it through the long arm and things didn't come out entirely square. But I am almost ready to put the binding on and hand sew it and then Robin can wash it! It will be ready in time for Grandma's birthday after Christmas.

I am planning to make four of these bags as Christmas gifts for children. So cute and practical! I bought the rest of my supplies last night at Hobby Lobby and I hope to make a lot of progress on these this Sunday. Really all I have so far is a pile of fabric for each bag. I am using lots of fabrics from my stash and I bought a few yards to supplement from Valli and Kim in Wimberley at the weekend retreat with the quilt guild.
I need to cut 40 of these pie shaped pieces for each bag. Four bags multiplied by forty pieces is 160 pie slices. How many have I cut? Two. (sigh)

I am still working on organizing my fabric stash. This suitcase holds the yardage that has been ironed and folded.The rest of my fabric stash has been washed but still needs ironing and folding. I am using this stash organizing tutorial from Happy Zombie, and it is working very well. Except that I don't have enough suitcases. I may end up putting some of these on an existing shelf on my studio.

This is everything in my stash that is not a cotton fabric.

These are some onesies for my friends' twins. I just need to stitch them, but I haven't decided what kind of stitch to use yet; I imagine it will either be a blanket stitch or a satin stitch.

 

I'm off to finish my binding so that I can cross this flannel quilt off of my list!  

Afternoon update: The flannel quilt is finished! 

Floor quilts for kids

I have been making these floor quilts for children over the last several months. The quilt tops are a cotton fabric over a bamboo/cotton blend batting to give the kids something soft to play on. The backs are either a sturdy canvas fabric or a laminate fabric. This gives the floor quilt some versatility. You can use it outside in the grass and wipe down the laminate with a damp cloth afterward. Or use the quilt with the laminate side facing up so that kids can play with play-doh, paints, shaving cream, or other activities that can become messy. A few of them have ribbon tags to attach toys to as well. 

 

I really like the way these pictures came out; they were taken by Bethany Lowen of Betty Lou Project.

I also had some great models for this photo shoot, Ellisa and Hudson of P for Peanuts.

Holiday Artists Market

There is less than a week until this holiday market! I hope the weather will be pleasant, come and join us for some great Christmas shopping opportunities.
Vendors include:
•Aikumee
•CEMO designs
•Chaos Card Company
•Cuddlestar
•dmac & Bean: Opposites Attract
Drawings & Paintings
•Hammer It Out
•I Love Indigo
•Splendid Calm Textiles
•Kailo Chic
•Knitcrawler
•LaLa
•Linger Bath & Body
•M Squared Jewelry
•Merchant Ship Collective
•Ooh La La
•The Plaid Pigeon
•Sylvie Marie Bohemian Bags
•Tasty Jewelry
•Textile Fetish/Jennifer Ramos Photography
•Third Coast Art Glass
•Tiny Arms Designs
•Vintage Rose

W.i.P. Wednesday 03

So a lot of these things were listed on my WIP Wed. post from last week. I had a holiday from work the entire week of Thanksgiving and I managed to get a lot accomplished. So technically, most of these are finished products.

This is a play mat for my cousin. I quilted it without batting so that it would be a flat surface for his cars and trains to drive on. I used a laminated fabric backing so that he can use it outside in the grass, or use the laminate side to play with play-doh, shaving cream, watercolors, or other messy things.

 

I made two of these "Howdy" towels with pleated maroon fabric on the bottom. The set will be my White Elephant gift at my family's Christmas Eve party. There are tons of Aggies in my family, so I hope that they will be a popular item in the game.

This is another set of two towels, I gave them to my friend Mackenzie for her birthday. She asked for towels that attached to the towel rack so that her twins could not pull them down and drag them around on the floor. There are buttons underneath so that it is secured to the towel rack. The fabric matches a set of pot holders that she recently bought from my Etsy site. 

 

This is a 12.5 inch block that I made for a donation quilt. The Austin Modern Quilt Guild is making a quilt to donate to an auction held by Artists Against Cancer. One of our guild members is piecing the quilt top together using blocks made by several of our members. I will be quilting it on the long arm this weekend, and the silent auction will be held on December 11.

I made this Figure 8 scarf last weekend and gave it to my step daughter as a birthday gift. I only had time to take this photo of myself wearing it before going to her house for dinner. It turned out well, and was not difficult to make. At first I sewed the seams down in a funny way and then it wasn't laying flat and I couldn't close it up nicely. It was midnight and so I decided to go to bed and look at it again in the morning. Laying in bed trying to fall asleep, I kept thinking of how to solve the problem, and realized that I needed to rip it out and lay the seams flat before I sewed it down. It is hard to explain without photos, of which I have none, so suffice to say this scarf kept me up at night, but when I tried my proposed solution the next day it worked and the finished product looks fantastic! I would really like to make a few more of these scarves, Anna Maria Horner's kit made it so easy and her instructions are great.

Update on the quilt for my grandma. I am still ripping out the quilting and we only have three days left. My cousin had it for a week and ripped some out and I worked on it for at least five hours yesterday, it gave me a headache. I know we will get it finished, if necessary Robin will come to my house Friday night and we will stay up late and rip it out until it is finished so that we are ready to quilt at nine a.m. on Saturday morning.

I am linking up with the Freshly Pieced blog, go check it out!

floor quilts, pre-quilted fabric

I have been making these floor quilts for children over the last several months. These are made with pre-quilted fabric, so they are simple to put together. I added some binding and a few of them have ribbon tags to attach toys to. They are intended to give little ones a soft play mat on the floor and can also be used outside in the grass.

I really like the way these pictures came out; they were taken by Bethany Lowen of Betty Lou Project.

 

Amy Butler, from the Love fabric line

W.i.P. Wednesday 02

Happy Wednesday! I am working on tons of projects now, and today I finally finished six tote bags! Yay! I think I will put these Heather Bailey totes into a separate post later, but I'll give you a little preview today.

folded Heather Bailey totes

Heather Bailey shopping totes

These will be kitchen towels for a friend of mine. She has some potholders that I made using this Helen Dardik fabric from her Mod Kitchen line.

I use these labels from Namemaker on my quilts and pot holders and things. I bought this ribbon from them for the first time and it looks great! I'm going to use it to wrap my floor quilts. I am participating in three craft shows this December and have a few things to do to get ready for that.

 

 

 

This is one of four canvases that I am currently working on. (excuse the horrible lighting, please) This Sunday I am displaying artwork at a local Starbucks. I have a lot to do to finish these, yikes!

 

I am making this play mat for my little cousin. I sewed the binding on today, and I just need to decide if I am hand sewing or machine sewing the binding to the front.

These are shirts for the twins that I take care of. I bought pants to match these tops. I ironed the pieces on, I just need to finish the applique. Still thinking about which stitch to use- blanket stitch, satin stitch, straight stitch? So many choices, sadly my favorite vine and leaf stitch doesn't work for these animals.

 

These towels will be for my family's white elephant gift exchange. Most of my family members are big Aggie fans, and when I helped my brother move in to his dorm this fall at Texas A&M I learned that they say "Howdy" to each other. Often. I just need to add some of this maroon fabric to the towels.

 

This is a quilt that will eventually be for sale in my Etsy shop. I sewed the binding on today and found out that I didn't make it long enough. I need to add one more piece before I can finish that up.

 

The other projects that I am working on are still just piles of unwashed and uncut fabric for now, so hopefully I will have made enough progress to post them next Wednesday. I'm linking up with Freshly Pieced, click the button to check it out!