gee's bend inspired mini quilt

Yay! It feels great to be stitching again after a little bit of a break. I was really inspired by all the gee's bend mini quilts I kept seeing on Flickr, and I wanted to give it a try. I'm not sure this really ended up looking anything like a gee's bend quilt, but I did enjoy myself. It's been a while since I've been serious about piecing - love that fusible web! - so this was a departure for me. But so fun. And I cheated a little (the turquoise and brown squares are fused in place), but I'm really glad I took some time to do the hand stitching and binding right...

my crafty valentine

So here they are, my finished valentines for the Cloth Fiber Workshop auction. I was originally planning on using the microscope and the sail boat, but the hearts just seemed to fit the theme so nicely. One is made with paper and one is made with fabric. I made the paper one first (which I think I'm keeping for myself) and it was kind of fun to experiment with a paper prototype. Needless to say, more work with printed images to come. Also, for bigger pics, check my Flickr photostream.

i miss summer....

I know, I know. It's supposed to be cold during winter, and we've been pretty lucky so far. But it's 10 degrees outside right now... 10! All that chilliness should put me in the stay-at-home-and-get-crafty mood, but mostly it's making me sleepy. Until I can get the crafty home-fires burning again, have an owl pillow. The lines are made with simple straight stitches on the machine.
I've been seeing owls everywhere (ad nauseam, almost) and I'm currently taking bets on what the next owl will be. I'm personally rooting for the hippo. Who - or what - are you voting for?

voila!

As promised, here is said sailboat on said fabric in (finally!) proper fabric ink. I love the final look, but that oil-based paint is a bit messy to work with.


So the sailboat (i heart the sea) and the microscope (i heart the scientist) will be the centerpieces for my two valentine mini quilts, but I thought I might need something else to carry the theme. Cheesy hearts aren't really my style, so I decided to try an anatomical heart instead (see below). I'm excited to see how the images will come together on the piece, seeing as this is the first time I've tried making quilts with my own printed images. But, alas, I have to wait until the ink cures for any sewing. I'll post my progress... which better happen fast since the valentines are due in 2 weeks.

back to reality

Okay, I know it's lame-o, but I've just realized keeping up a blog during a regular work week is going to be a challenge. But I promise to keep it up. I've got a cool sailboat on the block ready for printing... maybe this weekend. Until then, here's a fun little pillow I made: I call it the Topo Pillow. I'm happy to pass along instructions if you're interested.

I'm also heading with some folks to an Asheville Arts Council Artists' Roundtable opening tomorrow night; should be lots-o-fun!

later that day

Hooray. The microscope didn't take quite as long as I thought it would. Here it is printed on fabric, although I need to buy some real fabric printing ink next time. I'm pretty darn happy with the result, so much so that I sat right back down to do another carving, a panther a la Sailor Jerry.

And for a little back logging, here's another piece I made for the Lark craft sale. I traded with Terry Taylor (a senior editor at Lark and a darn fine jewelry and everything else maker) for some killer earings. I couldn't ever decide if this one looked more like pills or corndogs on parade, but I had a lot of fun with it. I'm not sure what my next project is, but I'm taking suggestions.