Some Fun Time, Art work, mixed media

I have been thinking of making another paper quilt. I finished one this past year, and sent it to Stampington and Company for a magazine submission.  They had a project that called for making a piece of art using the color “aqua” and I made a paper quilt very similar to this one. I designed my little crazy quilt blocks using Acrylic paper by Strathmore. I just love this paper. It is very thick and stands up to all the coloring and inking that I do. I used gel pens to create all the embroidery stitches on the blocks. The quilt was designed on mat board. I added a feathered border and quilting lines in the background. I did a lot of inking with brown ink to the quilting lines before I added the blocks. I coated it with Mod Podge and will be adding rhinestones to make it sparkle.

 

 

So many things to do… I thought I would take a break, and have a little fun drawing and coloring again. I recently put my 2013 Snowman Calendar on my Etsy shop, and just looking at those drawings of silly snowpeople made me want to draw a snowman. I was reading quotes online one day, and came across a saying by Dr. Seuss. It goes like this: “Don’t cry because it’s over, smile because it happened.” I decided to draw a snowman as he changes shape in the month of April. The spring rains have started and our snowman is melting. His buttons are falling off, along with his carrot nose. Poor guy! His glasses fell to the ground when he lost his nose. I gave him an umbrella to shelter himself from the melting rain.  Even the green grass is starting to show through the snow. His time is almost over, but I know come next winter he will be back! I started with a piece of matt board 8 ½ x 19 ½. I drew my snowman image, and added a one inch grid to the background on the diagonal. When the coloring was done, I inked the background to tone it down a bit. Then I added the quote using some chipboard letters that I inked, and my own lettering and torn papers. I found some epoxy raindrops in a sticker pack, and they seemed very appropriate for this project. It was coated in Mod Podge and sprayed with an acrylic mat spray.

 

 

 

 

Victorian Crazy Quilt, Timeless Treasure, Charmed, Elegant, Elegance, Embroidered Blossoms, Floral Blooms, Beads, embroidery

Charming

 

The tradition of crazy quilting began in the Victorian Age. While this art form first caught on in Europe, here in America crazy quilting was based more on utility and necessity. Wives and mothers needed to cover their families in cold weather, and fancy needlework was not practical.

 

 

When I am piecing my blocks, I think about composition. I try to lay out my fabrics before I start sewing. In this quilt I used a variety of bright and dark fabrics, and also used pastels. I wanted the eye to travel across the block and have lots of interesting areas to view.

 

 

The stitching within this area of pink satin turned out exquisite. The yellow and blue threads I used to create the daisies looked lovely on the pastel satin.  I used the buttonhole stitch with various lengths to make the stems and grass.

 

 

The upper left corner of this block took on a look of its own, as I added the green vines.

 

 

I started with the cretan stitch in baby blue and used the straight stitch in various lengths starting in the center of each cretan stitch. It had a nice soft look and filled in the area nicely.

 

 

Although Victorian quilts are heavily embellished, there are areas where the embroidery thread makes a strong statement by itself. As you can see here, I did not need to add any beads to make this area interesting. The primary thing to remember is that every seam does need to be covered.

Victorian Crazy Quilt – Lattice Work – Block 14

Lattice Work

When I first started this quilt I didn’t have any idea how to make a crazy quilt. I had a lot of leftover fabrics from previous projects and even a few bridesmaid dresses that I knew I could incorporate into this quilt. I cut the dresses apart and added them into the blocks. I started with a square of muslin and a center piece of fabric that I cut at an odd shape, usually with 5 sides. This gave me a lot of angles to start adding various fabric shapes to. And from there the block just grew. I continued to add odd shaped pieces until I had the muslin base fabric covered. Then the block was trimmed to size.

Most people don’t regard black as a beautiful color, but when combined with other colors it becomes so appealing.

Here you can see where I took 3 totally different beads and put them together after I added a row of feather stitches.

Here I laid down 2 rows of the herringbone stitch to look like a lattice fence. Then I added stems, leaves and flowers.

One of the tricks in keeping each block different and interesting is the use of a multitude of colored threads. In this photo you can really see this technique being applied.

In just this one row I used 5 different colored threads to cover just this one seam alone. As I look at just this one tiny area of this block I think of the time spent in creating it. Then take that by 56 totally different blocks in the entire quilt, and it just boggles the mind.

 



doll blanket, pet blanket, quilt, table topper, handmade, home decor, childs, cat, dog, doll quilt, pet bedding, American Girl, Cabbage Patch

Doll or Pet Blanket’s

What child in your life would love to wrap their doll in this lovely soft quilt. They are the perfect size for an American Girl or Cabbage patch doll. It is made from 100% cotton fabrics and cotton batting. It is machine quilted with a meandering stitch. The binding is machine stitched for durability. This quilt gets softer each time you wash it. I recommend washing in cool water on the gentle cycle and fluff it in the dryer on air fluff for a few minutes and lay flat to dry. This would also be an adorable pet blanket. Place it in your pet’s favorite sleeping spot on your furniture or bed and keep pet hair to a minimum on your own fabric and upholstery. I recommend using a lint brush or roller before washing. This quilt has so many uses: doll blanket, pet blanket, wall quilt, child’s snuggly, table topper, let your imagination go wild! All of the items I create are made in my pet free, smoke free home studio. This blanket skirt sells for $30.00 plus shipping and handling. If you are interested in purchasing any of these items visit my Etsy shop by clicking on the Etsy icon on the left side of the screen.

 



Christmas Tree Skirt, Victorian, handmade, holidays, felted wool, decoration, embroidery, home decor, seasonal, Burgundy, Mauve, pine tree

Pine Branch Christmas Tree Skirt

I designed this beautiful tree skirt for a 3 to 4 foot Christmas tree. It is one of my original patterns. The skirt measures 19” in diameter.  The background is made of felted wool, roving wool, Angelina fibers, and snippets of ribbons covered in a layer of tulle. The pine boughs are thread painted on creamy white wool felt. It was then backed with felted wool and machine quilted. To make it sparkle I added pink rhinestones to the outside perimeter. It has a very elegant Victorian appearance. If you want something under your Christmas tree this year that nobody else has, this is defiantly for you. All of the items I create are made in my pet free, smoke free home studio. This Christmas tree skirt sells for $75.00 plus shipping and handling. If you are interested in purchasing this item visit my Etsy shop by clicking on the Etsy icon on the left side of the screen.