placemats and other fun adventures

Oh, what a spendid weekend in the mountains. On Saturday, we explored Panther Town Valley and found a new favorite spot: Warden Falls. It was lovely: relaxing in the (chili!) water, "teaching" Baby to swim, and general outdoor frolicking. This morning, we went tubing on the Green River... seriously the most fun $7 can buy.

And in between all that outdoor adventuring, I constructed a placemat for the placemat swap group. My swap partner (thankfully) gave me pretty specific ideas about what she liked, so I pretty much copied those ideas but put a creative twist on it, for her and her kiddos: the placemat turns into a tic tac toe board. My favorite are the fork and spoon: those might have to make an appearance in some future quilties...

felt mystery project

Pardon the silence... I've been busy with, well, a felt mystery project. I can't show the finished project (just yet, anyway), but I will share this mildy intriguing in-process shot (how's that for an opener?). Fun, no? Ah, I love felt: no finishing, no kinks.... no yummy prints either, though. More to come soon.

tat-pplique

Okay, okay... I'll admit it: I do have a fondness for made-up words. And I decided that I wanted a word to describe the process I've been using to make these little birdy mini quilts, using my tattoos as applique patterns. I'm having some major fun with it, but I think I'm going to have to either get more tattoos myself or borrow my friends' tats. I'm in luck, though: I happen to have a fairly inked up group of buddies to borrow from!

And it has happened: I'm actually (officially, finally, unless I crack from withdrawal) done making mini quilts for my craft show in July. On to lino prints and, gosh, you know, I've been thinking about glass again recently. Ahhh.... we'll see how long it lasts.

micro and mini

I finished up another little framed mini, just in time for Mini Quilt Monday. This time, I turned my microscope lino print into an applique design: fun, fun! And I kind of like the two - the microscope and the beetle - as a set. But, of course, I have had thoughts about a third and fourth framed mini... Just can't help myself, it seems.

I spent the better part of the weekend at Devil's Fork State Park in South Carolina with my mom (who loved her pink and green apron) and my neice. Nothing like a little lake swimming to set my world right, except I did have some minor crafting withdrawal. Not to worry though: I'm recovering nicely... with mini quilts, of course.

Oh, and here's a promised sunlit shot of my beetle mini... much better than the previous installment, I think.

beetle mania

Yay for beetles! This one is based on a lino print I did last fall and is made with some of my birthday stash fabric. I've been meaning to make this for a while; I love taking a design from one form or medium to another. And it's a good thing I like beetles: those little legs were a bugger to stitch down. The picture is a little less than thrilling. After dark, I have the hardest time getting a photo that's anywhere close to the actual fabric colors. Any suggestions? Maybe it's time for a new camera... in which case I'm also open to suggestions. And oh, hold the presses: I just realized this is the first thing I made as a 29-year-old!

birthday adventures

Couldn't have asked for a better birthday: a haunted pub crawl in Asheville, some yummy beverages with friends, and an adventure on the Blue Ridge Parkway with my honey and my Baby dog (see floppy ears above). Oh, and a delightful sushi dinner. 29, here I am.

print-a-thon 09

So I've been super busy printing for the craft show in July. I've been doing some new things with adding embroidery stitches to my poppies (the lino print is based on my poppy quilt) and my skully print (I've done some embroideries based on this design). On the poppies, I tried to stitches to correct a printing error on one of the designs, but I ended up liking the effect and ran with it. The fabric frames are really easy to make... and I'm so in love with stitching on paper. Even more pics on my flickr page.

And, of course, I couldn't help doing a little digs & bean merchandising. I carved a stamp to create homemade price tags for my wares.

welcome to summer

I will turn 29 on Sunday and I think it's taken me this long to figure out what makes me most happy. My wonderfully silly hubby: check. A super spoiled pit mix, a lovely family, inspiring friends, an awesome job: check. And crafting: a big check. I also happen to live in a beautiful part of the world, and I do a pretty good job of exploring it on the weekends. Canoeing, hiking, scootering, or good ole Blue Ridge Parkway sitting (very good at that last bit)... Asheville is a lovely place to get to call home. So, that being said, I think I'd like to incorporate a little more scenery into my life and blog: more to come! Installment #1: Dinner Hike to Pilot Cove.

But (BUT!) this past week was not totally void of creative adventuring of the fabric variety: I finished what I think will be my last black bird mini before the Big Crafty. This little mini combines a lot of my quilting ideas into one. And I did a little something different with the wing. Now, to get printing....