A Quilt for Our Grand Baby!

We are expecting another grandchild February 1st.  It's a boy and his name will be Nicolas!  Woo-hoo!

He needs a baby quilt, don't you think?

Since the theme for his room is whales,  

the quilt needs whale fabric and this is it!

It'll be a simple four-patch quilt. 

And a crib size.

Here is the layout (without the borders) 

sticking to the design closet.

Many quilters have design walls. 

I don't have the wall space so I use a closet.
For now.

It's sewn together and...

here's the finished quilt.

I didn't want to practice my quilting skills on this special quilt so I had it professionally quilted at the Minding My P's & Q's Quilt Shop in Denton.  I thought waves would be appropriate for whales so I requested waves.

Here's a close up of the waves. 

I hope you can see them. 

George and I love the waves!

We gave it to Josh & Sheri at the shower on Sunday.

They liked it too!

We brought it back home with us because it needs one more thing.  As soon as Nicolas is born, we will add a label which, amongst other things, will include Nicolas' birthdate.

George contributed to making the quilt too.  Cutting and sewing was my department and he helped with the fabric search, measurements, laying it out, and pinning.  It was a labor of love for both of us and fun to make!  

Tootles for now,

D~~~~

A Four-Patch WIP

I've been working on another quilt.

Like the title reveals, it's a four-patch

That hanging thread near 

the bottom is bugging me.

That's all for now.

 I will post the completed quilt soon.

Tootles,

D~~~~

Rail Fence Quilt~~~~Finished!

I finally finished this rail fence quilt!  It's far, far, far from perfect but I am thrilled with it!

I threw caution to the wind and went for it.  

I learned some things along the way too.

That's always a good thing!  

For instance, I should have used a walking foot to stitch in the ditch. I was told that over 12 years ago when I took the class that started this quilt.

Twelve years! 
No wonder I forgot. 

Sometimes I can't remember
 what I did yesterday, 

let alone 12 years ago! 

That also explains why I was stitching 
in, out, over, under, around, & along side 
the ditch at times! 

I was just about to start on the binding when a bright lightbulb flashed on!
DING!
You should of used a walking foot woman...
Tee-hee-hee!
I'm glad I remembered.
I will do so in the future. 

Not the best picture but 

I wanted a photo outdoors.

Note to self:  

Work on taking better outdoor pics.

This really inspires me to get started on another quilt immediately.  I have a plan which I cannot write about yet but I'm going shopping for fabric ASAP.

I am so excited!

Thanks for visiting.

Have yourself a Jolly Good Creative Day All!

D~~~~

Thread, Quilting, & The Great, Cute and Easy, Table Runner Sighting!

See this thread?

As you can tell, it's running low. 

I looked for more but could not find it anywhere.  

Not even on the internet.  

I searched for the brand.

I searched for the color 

I got nothin'!

Nada!

Zilch!

Zippo!

There's more than one way to *skin a cat though so I decided to try and match it as closely as possible.  

*Please note that no cats were harmed in the writing of this blog!  I do not, nor will I ever, skin a cat.  Or dog.  Or anything else for that matter.  Okay, maybe store bought chicken but that's it!

Anyhow, here's my thread choice.

Not a bad match, huh?

It's my very favorite thread too, Coats & Clark machine embroidery thread.  I'd much rather use this thread so I'm happy that I couldn't find the other.  

The thread is necessary for me to finish quilting this 12 year old UFO. I worked on it recently until the thread issue.

The thread doesn't look like it matches, does it?

It matches though.  

Tone down the thread color in your mind.

 Tone up the quilt color in your mind.

You got a match.

This is the biggest thing I've ever quilted 

and I'm attempting to stitch in the ditch.

Although, in my case, its more like 

stitch in the ditch, 

over the ditch, 

around the ditch, 

and along the side of the ditch!

Nevertheless, I'll love it when it's finished, and hopefully, that'll be soon.

When seeking the quilting thread yesterday, I stopped in the Minding My P's & Q's Quilt Shop in Denton.  

It is the locale of The Great, Cute and Easy, Table Runner Sighting!  Please don't be alarmed if you've never heard of that day in history.

It just occurred yesterday.

I was browsing around when suddenly, my eyes were delighted by a table runner that  looked like a very simple project.  My friendly sales gal, Teresa, confirmed it by telling me that it's called a 10-minute table runner.  She added that the pattern is free and then made me a copy.  Woo-hoo!  Very nice of her! 

The table runner consists of two fabrics and two buttons.  It's my next project.

I had been taking a mental inventory of the tables around the house just the day before The Great, Cute and Easy, Table Runner Sighting.  I concluded that the current table runners really needed to go.  I knew that I wanted to make something simple, and then lo and behold, The Sighting!

For my first table runner, 

I purchased these fabrics to 

make a Halloween themed baby.

 I'll make more than one but 

I'll decide on those fabrics later.

I also bought these fat quarters 

because... well, they're pretty and fun.

The text fabric is awesome!  

I'm a sucker for text.  

I love the batik too.  

Of course, they won't go in the same project!  

And finally, these two little fabric rolls 

were sitting in a bin by the register.  

I heard them calling my name so...  

 In the stash they go!

Have a glorious day my friends!

D~~~~

Before, After, and Now

My studio was in a pitiful state 

recently so it was time to tidy up. 

BEFORE

The painting/collage/journaling corner.

 I intended to redo the coffee table near the dog crate but my muse took a detour so I tossed it in the trash which made hubby very happy!

AFTER

We all know that it won't stay this way 

but it's ready for the next time I paint.

BEFORE

I have storage all over but 

this is a handy supply corner.

I sometimes do journaling here too.

AFTER

This clean corner makes 

my heart go pitter patter!

I bought fabric to cover the underneath area but, 

as you can see, I haven't tackled that project yet!

BEFORE

The sewing table and surrounding storage.

AFTER

Oh the joy!

 I'm getting ready to quilt this rail fence quilt.

It's the first quilt I ever attempted to make, 

and that was about 12 years ago!

Being new to quilting at the time, I was extremely cautious about quilting it.  I was afraid I'd mess it up.  I studied it, overthought it, stared at it, and I could never quite make myself quilt it.  Then, in a cleaning frenzy one day, I stashed it away and it's been there all these years.  

With fall fast approaching, it occurred to me that I would like to use it.  All my fears about the quilting have dissipated now so I dug into my tub of UFO's and pulled it out. 

The colors are much milder than the

ones I choose these days but I like them.

I plan to stitch in the ditch.

Tootles All,

D~~~~

P.S.  In the UFO tub, I also found a couple other quilts that I started back then.  I even forgot about one of them!  I'll be sharing those with you sometime down the road.

Couture Cove Style

Our A/C is out!  The parts are ordered, however, which makes me very happy.  In the meantime, we're living in two areas where we inserted A/C window units; one cools the bedroom and the other takes care of the kitchen and living areas. Unfortunately, my studio is much too hot so I gathered up my watercolor supplies and hijacked the kitchen table.

This page, entitled Couture Cove Style, is 9"x12".

I must have Project Runway on the brain.

That's one pitiful oyster but who cares.

This is all about having fun! 

Materials used:  

Master's Touch watercolor paper, Artist Loft Pearlescent watercolor pan set and the regular pan set, Twinkling H20's, tissue paper, white Signo uniball pen, pencils, and Sharpies.

Could this be the beginning of a series?

It's a thought but don't hold me to it.

Tootle Loo,

D~~~~

Painting Papers and Such

Remember my last post entitled, 
"From UFO to WIP?"  

Good!
Now forget about it. 

Before  I could even take a stitch, I became 
sidetracked by completely different inspiration! 

Does that ever happen to you?
It ALWAYS happens to me!

Inspired by Diane Salters, 
I've been painting papers...

and playing with stencils...

and tissue paper...

and moulding paste and matte medium...

and more.

We're going to Tennessee for six days 

starting next weekend so I'll definitely 
be sidetracked from now until we return. 

Tootles All,
D~~~~

From UFO to WIP

I cannot believe that I haven't posted since March but it's true.  In May, we were only home for about a week the entire month.  Life took us to one unexpected sad event and a couple happy events too.  Things are back to normal now, and I'm hankerin' to get back to creativity.  

I'm going to start by working on this UFO.  It was started back in the olden days (about 10 years ago), and I think it's high time time I finished it, don't you?  Since I picked it up and put it on my work table, I consider it a work in progress now!

It's not my usual bright colors but I'm liking it a lot.  

See ya soon,

D~~~~ 

Spring Has Sprung

Like many of you out there in blogland, 

I've had spring on the brain!   

I hope and pray that we actually have a spring.

I'm not ready to jump right into summer, and 

it often happens in this neck of the woods.

D~~~~

Been Doodling

I did some doodling recently.

Sure was fun!

Have a glorious day!

D~~~~

Petunia

A journal page.  

I've got a hankerin' to call her Petunia!  She looks like she could be part of the Scooby Doo bunch. Can't you see her carousing around with Scooby, Shaggy and the gang looking for a mystery to solve?

(Luminarte Twinkling H20's, Caran D'Ache 

watersoluble crayons, pan pastels, 

pencils and Sharpies) 

Tootles 'til Next Time,

D~~~~

Snazzy Stitched Portrait Completed

At last, I completed my art quilt from Carol Ann Waugh's Snazzy Stitched Portraits class on Craftsy.  This class was so much fun, and Carol Ann is an excellent instructor!

The piece is supposed to be a self portrait.

What a hoot!

This is the picture I used for the piece.

Don't they look EXACTLY alike?

I think the comparison is hilarious!

The flip is way out of control!

BUT

I started out looking like this.

Ahhhh, perhaps my Pippi Longstocking years.

In order to be transformed from Pippi,

I had to fill that flip in with more yarn.

Now I'm thinking Barbie Gone Wild?

Oh and here I am temporarily 

hanging on one of the walls.

(commercial fabrics, thread, yarn, ribbon, Sharpies, 

Sulky water-soluble and tear-away stabilizers, 

fabric glue, blush, felt, acrylic paint, textile medium, 

homemade polymer clay button, leather)

My first instinct was to use yellow yarn for the text and trim.  I wish I'd have listened!  The pink looks okay but I would have liked yellow much better.

I hope you were entertained!

Until we meet again,

Tootles,

D~~~~

Snazzy Stitched Portrait Progress

I'm back to working on my Snazzy Stitched Portraits piece for the Craftsy class being taught by Carol Ann Waugh.  In the seven videos, Carol's directions are clear, easy to understand, and just plain fun!  At some point, I want to take her other classes--hopefully soon.

Here's my work in progress.

It's suppose to be a self portrait.

That remains to be seen. 

If that's the case, however, this is giraffe me.

I'm on my work table.

Again, on the worktable 

from the opposite side.

Messy, huh?

Oh well.

I'm working on my persnickety 

hair at the moment, and 

finding it to be rather humorous.  

I must say that I currently bear a 

striking resemblance to Pippi Longstocking.

Clearly something has gone awry!

Or maybe not.  

Oh, but I am having fun!  

That's really all that matters, right?

Have a glorious day!

Tootles,

D~~~~

Project Interruption

I'm currently working on a delightful class on the Craftsy site, Snazzy Stitched Portraits by Carol Ann Waugh.  I watched all the videos and I have my gal on her background, however, this project has been temporarily interrupted by a visit to Indiana to see family.  

A view of my sis and her hubby's 
two horses taken out their sunroom window.

Be back soon.

Tootles All,

D~~~~

2014 Word

These days it's popular to pick a word for the year.  Lots of folks do it in lieu of New Year's Resolutions and some do it in conjunction with their word.  I do like the idea of a word and have been doing it for a couple of years.  

  

I didnt blog them but
in 2012, my word was Simplify, and

in 2013, it was Focus.

As you can see, I journaled my 2014 word.
BALANCE

(Used:  Caran D'Ache Neocolor II water soluble crayons,
Artist's Loft watercolor pan paint, acrylic paint, Sharpies,
Derwent Sketching pencil, Drywall tape,
sponge stencil dabber thingamajig)

Perhaps I should Simplify, Focus, and Balance?

It couldn't hurt but mainly I think I'll stick with Balance.

Balance is directed to my average day--God, family, friends, exercise, art quilting and other creative endeavors, blogging, reading, social media and more.  I especially need more time for creativity and I will get it.  : ) 

In conjunction with Balance, I have set some additional goals.  I prefer not to think of them as resolutions.  For me, resolutions are traditional and annual, and once I blow a resolution, it's gone for the year.  It's not until next year that I approach it again and actually perform my annual sit up.  Forget that!  Unlike resolutions, my goals will be ongoing and always changing throughout the year as they are achieved or in some cases, when I come to the realization that I need to be more practical in order to be balanced.  That's when they get tweaked.   

On that note, one of my goals was to take a creative class quarterly if not more often.  Yesterday, I signed up for a class on Craftsy called Snazzy Stitched Portraits taught by Carol Waugh.  

If you're not familiar with Craftsy, they offer classes in everything from cake decorating to weaving to photography to sewing and cooking and lots more with lifetime access to the videos.  They have free mini classes too.  I've never taken a class until now, and I'm excited to get started so I'm off to do just that right now.  

Have a creatively fabulous day my friends!

Tootles,

D~~~~

The Home On Wonky Way

I was delightfully inspired by an article in the Winter 2014 edition of Art Quilting Studio Magazine.  It was titled, Stitched & Colored Mini Quilts by Terri Stegmiller.  Terri just happens to be one of my favorite art bloggers.  

I love her work!  

One of the supplies she used to create the mini quilts was Caran d'Ache Neo Color II Water Soluble Crayons.  I've been wanting these crayons for quite awhile so I requested them from my hubby for Christmas.  I was quite happy when I received an 84 pack!    

YAY!

Following Terri's directions, I made the mini quilt below, The House on Wonky Way.  It's 7" x 9-1/2".  I went a bit berserk with my selection of colors but I couldn't resist playing!   

Making this little quilt was easy and fun, 

and I must say the crayons rock! 

I'm off to play

See you soon.

Tootles Y'all,

D~~~~