SO many ideas swimming around in my head as my hands are busy preparing for the holiday. The start of a new year is so exciting and I can feel it - so many ideas to carry out as things slow down and the year begins. I can't wait to get started. I have been blogging here for almost a year and although I have not succeeded in posting even almost every day - it has most definitely kept me inching down a creative path...
These three sat on my bedside table for a night, waiting to be stitched up to hold the stuffing in...
I am busy working on Christmas gifts and projects and really enjoying it. Not much to post because they are all a secret! This little scrappy circle ended up as a favorite today. It may end up stitched to something later on...
I washed and dried this one last week and it sat. Had the realization that it has been a long time since I have included this step of washing, thinking these little quilts were too fragile to wash. Maybe it was the mixing of fabrics that made me nervous of washing and uneven shrinkage. But I think I prefer them washed and a bit raggedy - like they have been around for awhile - even if they haven't.
I began the binding process on this today. I cut it into a circle. Not sure what it will turn out to be - but looking forward to carrying it around and hand-stitching on it a bit before calling it done. I am also secretly plotting what to paint next to give it this aged, been buried in the dirt quality that I think I am liking.
I was liking this thing less and less the more I worked on it. I machine stitched into the green/blue fabric with a radial kind of plan. It had a crispness or cleanness or something that I really did not like. The color choice was wrong, lots of things. Whatever the problems I decided to use it to revisit something I had done a few years ago on a piece that I gave away. I completed all the stitching and then dampened the entire thing with water and painted it with diluted Setacolor transparent fabric paint in a brown/rust color. Let it air dry - skipped the ironing step of setting the paint - and then washed it in just water and dried it. Now it looks like I accidentally buried it in the yard for a year or so and then dug it up. Much better.
Just SO restless today. Have some time to sew and can't seem to focus on any of the projects I have going. Finally decided to get the paints out and print some bits of fabric with the little scrap bin woodblock.
Worked on this last night right before going to bed. I thought this block was called "night and day". But I like to make the lights and darks rather close in value so that the pattern disappears and reappears. A dark fabric in one block might represent a light triangle against a darker fabric in another block.
Not much sewing or blogging done lately - but thoroughly enjoyed a fall break this past long weekend with my big boy home from school a few days and house guests and family gathering, walks outside and cider making. Some ideas bumping around in my head - thinking things through until I have a chance to carry them out. Smallest boy on possibly permanent nap strike - which eliminates my most favorite sewing time - but I will work it out somehow. Just managed to almost squeeze out two halloween costumes at the last minute - one still needs to be finished.
I put binding on my current quilt project this past weekend and got excited that it was moving along. I had been thinking of trying to draw/stitch a bird on it. I made a sketch and then tried to re-sketch it onto the quilt and then just went for it - following my sketchy pencil marks on the fabric with free-motion machine stitches. Sometimes just going for it works better for me than over planning - but this time, not so much. Then that awful thing happened of I knew it wasn't right but I just kept going and stitching more and more trying to correct it. Mostly the proportions are off, the little bird is too tall, not plump like I intended - so I have cut this wing to try and correct what I have done, push out his edges and widen him up a bit. I already added stitches to his belly - pushing it out a little. I am hoping I can repair it without covering the whole bird - I do like the eye.
My sewing room/studio is finally clean. It has been close for weeks - but it was tidy enough that it was so much easier to sew and always much more fun to pop in and sew for a bit than to pop in and finish the cleaning. This is as clean as it has ever been and ever, ever will be. I hope I can keep it looking this way for at least a little while. 
I began machine quilting this and couldn't stop. I like the solid line of the machine stitch. I just can't get my hand stitches that close together - it looks more like a dotted line, and the textures get too busy. I used a bath towel as batting on this because I like the relief that happens with the machine stitching. When it's done it has a nice weight to it that hangs well. It raining and raining here - so a bit more time inside on the machine. I also had another who really wanted to be in the photo today - or his race car did anyway.
I "framed" two of the neutral blocks with a dark brown border + a few bits of lighter browns. The darkest color was a thrift store find - men's cotton printed shirt. I am experimenting with a visual frame on this. Also wanting to get one example of these neutral pieced blocks ready for some quilting. I can only sit in front of the machine for so long - it's time to have something more portable ready for fall trips to the playground and sitting on the patio. My sweet old goldie was relaxing this morning in my natural lighting photo spot - so her head became part of the photo. She just wouldn't budge for even a second. The rain is coming and she knows we will have to close the door soon...
Outside first thing this morning I discovered this bunch of fallen shingle oak leaves in the grass with a lovely little row of perfect circles. On the other side was a teeny tiny caterpillar - he's lying next to the leaf in the photo. Amazing little designer...
Not quite finished with this one yet, but it so matched up with our morning outdoors I decided to post an update on it. I hand quilted the center leaf area and white surrounding them, then machine quilted the brown border with my new walking foot. I started this quilt as the leaves were just popping out and now they are falling down. I think it is now destined to become a pillow cover. Actual size is about 26" square.
I have been busy getting my big boy off to a good start in kindergarten and getting used to a new routine with my little guy at home. I think we are finally settling into it all. I did have a chance yesterday to finally spend a bit of time in the sewing room on the little circles and shells piece above. I was liking it less and less and then I attached the sea blue surrounding it and I am liking it again - I think I can work from this - I think I have a plan now. I like the thread curls - want to somehow keep that. All the center stitches are a bit busy - so I may still try some painting on this one to pull some thing forward and push some things back.
My son and I walked down the front steps Friday morning to find patches of mushrooms in the mulch. As we looked at them together he said, "The tops look just like fabric - you could put them in a quilt and no one would ever know."
I follow artist Jude Hill's blog and am in awe of her hand appliqué. So a little while back when she posted this - it not only appealed to the quilter in me, but the graphic designer as well - hand appliquéd typography! - and really wonderfully done. I have been wanting to try Jude's technique of drawing a line on both fabrics and stitching something down. This little block printed elephant was looking at me from the pile today - and so I drew a circle around him and then on a background fabric and went to work - hoping a simple shape would be a good place to start. I had to tear out part of it at the end and correct the circle shape, it was difficult to keep the curve smooth - but I like the technique. Now what to make with this little elephant...
I took a break from tidying/trashing my sewing room to sew a bit on the machine and thread sketch this little piece. So relaxing. Added some little shell shapes in with the regular circle obsession. I think I may end up painting on it a bit...
I used the same free-motion circles I have been using lately. with some circles cut-out. I drew the teeny tiny brown circles with permanent marker. The leaf print was done with a real maple leaf and archival ink directly onto fabric. The top layer of fabric was a very loose weave, so embroidering the little flower shapes pulled the top layer of fabric open to reveal the colored fabric beneath.
I made these birds and basket for a new little friend of ours. I used the bird ornament pattern from Last-Minute Patchwork + Quilted Gifts by Joelle Hoverson. I enlarged the original pattern 120% to make the two larger birds. I made them out of denim (+decorative machine stitching) for the top halves and two layers of cotton stitched together for the bottom halves to make them durable enough to be used as toys instead of ornaments. I didn't have a pattern for the basket, but it worked out okay anyway. I always love making the little birds...
I have been looking through the fabric my Grandma gave me again - in a constant effort to organize and use the materials I have and the materials I love - I can't use them if I can't find them. (That's another story - to be continued later...) So - the green and white fabric (from Grandma's collection) I used to finish this is fragile - but works perfectly as a wispy edge.
I recently made this little soft ball with ribbon tags for my sweet little nephew Jack. I used this pattern with canvas and repurposed denim. It was a quick project. My 5 year old said, "It's like it's old - but it's new." That's exactly what I like about it...
I am busy finishing several gift projects that are all going well, and I hope to post photos of them soon. We are also just busy with summer - visiting friends and family, swimming, playing, trying to relax a bit. 
This is a detail of a new one, playing with some fabric I painted awhile back in green and blue (the background dots). I like the loose weave of the top layer, the beige - although I need to be a bit more careful not to pull things too loose with the embroidery details. I still really really like to make this free-motion stitching circle pattern - then so fun to cut out the circles...
We are back from a week long vacation in Canada with good friends. My little maple leaf quilt went with me - and I made a bit of progress on it - although you cannot tell from this photo - maybe taken the first day there. I hope to start posting more often soon...
I had been wanting to try a sheer fabric with contrasting threads all visible - this is what came of it. The "Connected" quilt had several areas where the dark threads were visible through the white shirt fabrics - crazy threads caught between the layers. I had to see what would happen if I did this intentionally...
This little fern was becoming lost in all the texture after I began quilting. I wanted to make it pop - but it didn't feel right to add color to the fern - so the background got some green - permanent markers - lots of tiny circles...
