To end it all or not.....

I have been debating if or not I would like to keep up with blogging since my posts are so inconsistent and few and far between.Creatively, I have been parched. It's not as if I am not doing anything but my papercrafting has tapered off as I explore quilting. And I discovered I am not all that good at quilting either. learning proper 1/4 inch seams are vital. I seem to have a problem with them (ie they aren't true 1/4 inch) and that seems to compound then you are doing patchwork.

I have been diligently working on a quilt using the Chinese Takeout line. Initially, I wasn't crazy about it, but after I put on a turquoise border and the lovely chocolate binding, I am in lurve with it. The backing is a salvage from some material I picked up at a fabric sale last year and it is just fishes on a cream background. It is ancient and badly needs washing, which I fully plan to do after I finish quilting. It smells a bit mothbally.



Can you see where I havn't yet finished quilting? I am quilting the white squares.



I am getting more and more attached to the quilt and maybe planning to give it to my mum so I can have it remain in my life still :)


I have also been working on a couple of Hopscotch quilts- the pattern I picked up from a quilt show earlier this fall- from the Quilt Patch in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan. It's a great pattern since it uses 12 fat quarters and a metre of fabric for the border and the binding.

 

Believe it or not, these are both the same pattern. Isn't it amazing how different they look just because of the fabrics chosen? I have also seen a cream variation of this quilt and it is simply gorgeous and I may attempt it sometime in the future. The green quilt has a border on it and it is essentially ready to be quilted (ie attached to some batting and a quilt backing and be actually quilted.I have been attempting handquilting since I havn't been all that successful at machine quilting. Something about stitch length and other issues I need to figure out so that the quilt doesn't pucker. Obviously, there is still much to learn.)



Well, I am off the the quilt store in search of more fabric. I need to get a matching border fabric for the bright quilt.

Staying crafty and some wildflowers

I was out traipsing in the hills for work and came across some lovely wildflowers. Luckily for me, I carry a camera for work so of course I snapped these pictures.
The first was the lovely purple crocuses. I always thought they were called prairie crocuses but it is actually called a pasqueflower. I wonder if they will fare well in my garden? Am so very tempted :)
















I also came across these lovely shooting stars. They look so delicate and stellar. The colours in the picture don't do it justice since in real life, it was a vibrant magenta.
















This is the most recent quilt I completed. I used Moda's charm pack since I love the scrappy appearance of the quilt. It is a mixture of Miss June's Scrapbag and Portobello Market line from Moda. It turned out nicely, did it not? I am still working on quilting the lap quilt. I am sure my stitches are uneven and clumsy but from afar, it looks great :0

The backing is a pale yellow and pink polka dot material I picked up from a material sale I attended earlier this year.















The quilt below was made just before the one above. I loved the colours and so got the charm squares at another sewing event I attended in the fall. It is, of course from the Moda line, a mixture of Astor Manor, Mill House Inn and another non moda charm pack. It is larger than a lap quilt and I adore how it turned out.
















Both pictures were taken out in my back yard against the white fence. I was going to try and artfully lay the quilts on the patio furniture but decided to go with the fence.

I have also been working on some miscellaneous cards but did not have the time to take pictures. Maybe I will post them next time.

Clean and simple cards

In keeping with my desire to remain crafty, more cards I have been working on. This card was inspired by a card I saw in Papercrafts magazine. I just worked with what I had. The 3D flower is very popular these days. I believe Tim Holtz started this with his 12 days of Christmas tags that he does. I used tissue paper for mine.Just scalloped punched many layers and scrunched them up to give them dimension. And I am wondering if I should have looked for some more substantial tissue paper since the almost dissolved when i tried to colour them with ink after.




I started a variation of this card in black and white. It was pretty stark and I decided I wanted some colour in my card. Really rust is one of my favourites that is going to be retiring from Stampin'Up!'s colour family- ah, well, gotta clean up so they can add more colours, right? It may not be very visible, but the stamped image has some shimmer on it because I used pearlescent ink.





I guess this really isn't a clean and simple card since there was a bit of work involved. It was inspired by Andrea Walford. I watercoloured the flowers with a water pen and reinkers after embossing the flower outline with black embossing powder.






I got some cheapo stamps from Michaels ages ago with the dessert images and the sentiment "You're Sweet" from their $1.50 bin (yes, up here in Canada, the stamps really are 1.50, even if our dollar is pretty much on par with the US Dollar- no bitterness here). I used a watercolour pen and some inks to colour the donuts and cupcakes then went over time image with Glossy Accents/ Crystal Effects. I like how the markers ran a little on the donut, making the sprinkles look brighter.






The ice creams got the same treatment as the previous card and so the chocolate covering got the glossy accents treatment. That kinda warped the card a little. The white cardstock is either 120lb Papertrey ink paper or some 120lb paper I picked up at a specialty paper store in Edmonton.



I've also been working on quilt number 3. I went to a juried quilt show earlier this month and picked up some more charm packs. The show itself was a little snobby for me ( there were volunteers there wearing white gloves to make sure people don't fondle the work and I am such a tactile person, it was so painful to refrain from touching) but there were wonderful vendors there and I was so tempted to buy more but I want to use up whatever I buy and not have the problem I have with the paper collection. Hence me making cards like the devil.
I'll leave the pictures for when I complete the quilt.

Back in the saddle again.

 


It's been ages. I have been trying to motivate myself to start making cards again. I try to get at least an hour every day, even if I don't actually make something, I will look up designs, or watch tutorials etc. My attempt at sanity anyways.

This Tim Holtz -esque tag was inspired by Artsy Kelly on SCS.

My good friend Jen just gave birth to a little girl and I made this for her.

This is inspired by a Hero Arts card I saw displayed in my lss. They did a much better job at it than I could but I was not going out to buy the Hero Arts stamp since I already have hoards of stamps.