2 a.m.

Poncho Madness

2009-03-20T14:49:00.001-07:00

I love these ponchos... so much that every girl I know got one for Christmas. They are quick and fun to make, and fun to wear. My daughter wants to wear hers all the time, no matter what the weather.

Plus I love , Love, LOVE varigated yarn... it makes each one unique and fun without trying!

Here is my latest one now for sale in my Bella Jane Bibs Etsy shop.

Another Quilt Top fromThe Basement

2009-03-13T18:10:00.000-07:00

Here's another quilt I finally got around to quilting. Why is it that piecing the top is so much more fun than quilting it?

The teddy bear theme was inspired by my sister-in-law who collects all things bear.

The color scheme was inspired by the teddy bear fabric. So you see it's all relative (no pun intended!)

I love the scrapiness of this quilt, There is something so satisfying about creating a quilt almost entirely out of left over fabrics.

I love knowing that I salvaged some scrap of fabric from the trash and made something functional and beautiful out of it.

Plus there is always the challenge of working an ugly fabric into a quilt and making it look way better than it did alone.

I guess that goes along with my philosophy of art as function and function as art. Or maybe I'm just a pioneer woman at heart, or I'm just cheap (my husband is nodding in the background).

Here is a link to the finsihed quilt in my Etsy shop if you'd like to see more photos. Scrappy Teddy Bear Quilt

Thanks!

2008-07-15T10:14:00.001-07:00

Thanks to On The Dot Creations for featuring my space ship photo album on her blog today!

http://onthedotcreations.typepad.com/onthedotcreations/2008/07/to-the-moon.html

Custom Bibs

2008-05-05T20:40:00.000-07:00

I've been making custom order bibs out the wazoo lately, but they are so much fun. i love creating things that I know other people are going to use and love.

Why did this take me so long?

2008-04-05T18:37:00.000-07:00

I've always considered myself a borderline techie. I like to figure out how to do stuff like html code for fun. Yes that's sick I know. So the other day as I was photographing fabric for a client's quilt it suddenly struck me..."Why not use close up photographs of the fabrics to construct a computer mock up of the blocks to give the client an idea of what the finished quilt will look like?"

I mean DUH! How long have I been doing this for? But I'm excited because it opens so many new avenues for myself and designing quilts. I can try out color combos and patterns without having to commit. So here is what I came up with...

BLOCK 1

BLOCK 2

New treasury

2008-04-04T07:15:00.000-07:00

Make sure you check out Morgan's new photography shop...her stuff is awesome. She inspired this treasury, fair dinkum!

Fabric Photo Albums

2008-03-24T09:43:00.001-07:00

I've been adding some more photo albums too...

Space Aliens

Starry Math Genius

50's Retro Space Boy

Celestial Time Traveler Quilt

2008-03-22T09:36:00.000-07:00

Finally got this one finished! It is one of the many quilt tops I found in the basement just waiting to be finished... Click here for the etsy listing http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=10404411

This quilt is for our etsyFAST March challenge - Fairy Tales. Although this may be more mythology than fairy tale, it reminded me of the stories of all the gods and goddesses that lent their names to the zodiac chart. My favorite has always been the story of Orion and the scorpian; my favorite constellation and my zodiac sign! To see other etsyFAST entries enter etsyfast or marchchallenge in the item tag line.

I know the second photo is horribly crooked, I've been waiting for another sunny day to photograph it again.

Purplicious!

2008-03-01T18:31:00.001-08:00

Thanks to Ohio Crochet Lady for featuring my Hearts Delight Baby Quilt in her latest treasury.

Another Midnight Treasury

2008-02-29T06:37:00.000-08:00

This time featuring other EtsyFAST Quilters

Number Match Quilt

2008-02-27T06:08:00.000-08:00

I finished off this cute quilt for my mom to send to her great niece for her birthday. Originally I was going to sell it in my shop but mom grabbed a hold of it before it was even finished!

It consists of two pre-printed panels. The first you sew into a quilt, the second you sandwich with a stiffening agent (I used Pellon fusible Decor Bond) and then you can use it as a matching game with the quilt.

The stuffed block was just some left over fabric from the panel that I didn't know what else to do with it!

Too cute! I'm glad I bought enough fabric to make another set!

Experimenting with my camera's micro feature...

Two Treasuries at Once!

2008-02-26T10:56:00.000-08:00

I'm in two treasuries at once, and both for quilts... go me, go me! o.k. I'm done ;D

Thanks to North Star Alpacas for including me in her fine EtsyFAST collection! She is by the way incredibly cool and raises her own alpacas. Check out her blog for more about what she does.

And here is a link to the treasury check it out and click, click,click away. The more stuff you look at the higher up on the list we move and the more people see our stuff and want to buy it (know what I mean? Nudge, nudge, wink, wink)

Not sleeping so I thought I'd snag another treasury

2008-02-25T20:32:00.000-08:00

Springtime Pooh Quilt

2008-02-24T13:18:00.000-08:00

I finished it! Here is the listing of the Pooh quilt that kept me binding, binding, binding!

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=9797314

and lightmyfire liked it so much she put it in her treasury! Thanks lightmyfire !

Binding

2008-02-22T08:00:00.000-08:00

I got the baby quilt actually quilted in a matter of hours. Now the annoying part is putting the binding on by hand, which will easily take me another couple of hours ( in addition to the two hours I've already spent binding) , but honestly, I feel there is no other way to do it. Using a machine always makes the edges a little wavy and you can see the stiches on the other side, and frankly, it just looks bad.

So it's kinds weird that it takes me longer to sew an edge on, than it took me to quilt the entire quilt. But when you have a blanket, what's the first thing to wear out? Right, the edges. So I feel it's worth the time to stitch by hand so that the edges will last as long as the rest of the blanket.

But man is it a pain in the a$$.

Quilting Galore

2008-02-17T05:36:00.000-08:00

I dug out a tote from the basement entitled "Unfinished Quilts". Inside I found no less than 7 quilt tops needing to be quilted.

Now quilting is generally not my favorite part, but I am excited about some of the tops because I forgot I made them. The first one I started is a really cute Winnie the Pooh baby boy quilt. I'm using lots of stars, swirls, and curlyques to quilt it.

Although it gave me such problems trying to quilt it the first time, that I quit and stuffed it away half finished. I'll admit it didn't start out so well this time either. After several broken threads and a snapped needle, I declared it was cursed and would kill the baby that it was bought for. That was late last night, I'm feeling a little more optimistic this morning.

Wow! Paper Couture

2008-02-16T06:57:00.000-08:00

I am a fiber artist at heart, but these really wowed me (And technically paper is part of the fiber arts...). they were brought to my attention by River at Stone River Studios, another EtsyFAST member. Check out this website: Papier-Couture.com

I'm Addicted to Treasuries

2008-02-12T01:43:00.000-08:00

But what else should I be doing when the insomnia rages? Here is my latest featuring some of Esty Fiber Arts Street Teams Finest. Makes me want to smoosh them all over my face!

Finished the 30 pouches...

2008-02-11T05:43:00.000-08:00

Finally! They took longer than I thought, but maybe because I couldn't get more than 30 minutes at a time to work on them. But at last, here they are.

My February EtsyFAST Challenge

2008-02-10T08:32:00.000-08:00

"Hearts Delight"

The title of this quilt could refer to the fabric, the fact that it's February, or that children are the heart's true delight. This quilt is for our etsyFAST February challenge - Unexpected Love. The challenge was to create something that wasn't traditional Valentine's (i.e. red or pink) but that conveyed love all the same.

Thanks CupcakeNKisses

2008-02-07T23:32:00.000-08:00

Thanks to Cupcake N Kisses for featuring Chad's vase in her treasury!

http://www.etsy.com/treasury_list_west.php?room_id=909

Thanks M!

2008-02-07T21:29:00.001-08:00

Thanks to msotherdenartglass for featuring both Chad and I in her treasury!

I snagged another treasury!

2008-02-07T21:01:00.000-08:00

I'm in love with all these things, but it was Chad's idea. Fool in the Rain is the name of one of his favorite Zepplin songs. Of course I did all the picking...

My First Treasury

2008-02-06T10:54:00.000-08:00

I finally got a treasury..it's where you get to feature other peoples stuff tht you like. I choose Vincent Van Gogh's Starry Starry Night as my theme. Check it out, see what you think! There are several of my fellow EstyFAST member featured...see if you can spot them all!

Starry Starry Night Treasury

DH was featured in a treasury!

2008-02-04T20:32:00.000-08:00

I just figured out how to do this screen shot thing. I wish I had learned it earlier because I missed quite a few treasuries we were both in. But for better or worse, I guess I gotta start from somewhere! This is actually the second treasury that has featured this same bowl. Hmmm, wonder why no one will buy it?

Here is the link to the actual listing...it looks better than in the screen shot.
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=8860257

Busy, busy, busy

2008-02-02T20:42:00.000-08:00

I'm excited, I got an order for 30 small vinyl pouches, with a loop. Which spawned me thinking in many different directions. Why just organizers?

Why not badge holders and business card holders and stethoscope covers? Why not? (hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm)

That is the sound of my brain going a million miles a minute. I wish I had more days in my week to get all the stuff I want accomplished.

But first, the 30 pouches, then the world!

D'oh!

2008-01-28T19:42:00.000-08:00

Have you ever been so intent on finishing something, but not really paying enough attention to it that you screwed it up royally?

I was trying to get the binding on my new wall hanging done and being impatient and focusing on too many things at once caused me to miter two out of the four corners backwards. Which I subsequently did not notice until I was stitching the binding on by hand and could only go one quarter of the way around before realizing what an idiot I am.

Which leads me to believe it just wasn't meant to be completed today since I have NEVER in the 13 years I've been quilting and the unknown number of quilts I've created (70?, 80?, 100?) EVER done that.

I have sewn blocks in going the wrong way, put wrong sides facing together more times than I can count, measured and cut the wrong amount of fabric oodles of times, but I've never mitered my corners wrong.

D'oh! and I was all psyched about getting it photographed today too.

Blog Overhaul and Purses

2008-01-27T05:20:00.000-08:00

I am overhauling this blog and turning it into a journal of my crafting exploits. Or a motivator to keep me producing things to sell in my Etsy shop. I'm going to post pictures of the things I'm working on and hopefully it will force me to keep going on several projects I have in various stages.

To start off, here are some purses I've been working on. It's a Burda Pattern that I altered because I didn't like the fact that the purse was unlined. I wouldn't want an unlined purse so I figured no one else would either. Unfortunately It makes the bag twice as hard to construct and really adds to production time too.

Because I added a lining to the bags, I realized I didn't purchase enough fabric to complete each bag, which turned out to be o.k. because it's been giving me a chance to destash my vast box o' fabric. (Which is really just an excuse to buy more, right?)

I used Pellon Decor Bond as a fusable stiffener to give the bags body, because while cotton has many fantastic attributes, rigidity is not one of them...

Autism and Art

2007-12-14T07:05:00.000-08:00

Over the years I have had several students with autism to varying degrees, many of whom have become very dear to my heart. This piece really made me happy to see that how the arts can affect kids positively, and not just ones with "disabilities". At the end of the movie I almost cried when I saw the little girl reach out and touch her mom's face in joy. Anyone who has worked with an autistic child knows that those moments of connecting can be few and far between. Please check this out, it's worth watching.

Sioban's Art Work

Happy Thanksgiving

2007-11-22T12:08:00.000-08:00

Give a turkey a break...eat more sweet potatoes this Thanksgiving!

Quit Your Job (if it's killing you)

2007-10-13T10:59:00.000-07:00

Chad and I did this about 7 years ago, and I am so glad we did. We both had great paying jobs that were killing us, and our relationship. Had we stayed, we would have gotten divorced, I'm sure of it. After taking the initial leap and fearing that we would starve, we both ended up doing what we love. I teach, he builds.

Chad started his own business knowing he couldn't do shoddy work for cheap bosses and now has more business than he can keep up with. I ended up teaching piano and music education to kids that I truly care about and it makes me happy. Supremely, deeply and unequivocally happy.

How many of you can say that about your jobs? I know that we could have more material goods, and eat out all the time, and not buy generic if I had chosen to stay at the worst job in the world. But you know what? We don't need more stuff, and eating out is a pain with small children, and generic tastes just the same as name brand, especially when you put it into a Tupperware container and there are no colorful cartoons to distract you anyways.

And believe it or not, hard work is good for your soul.

My New Quilt Shop

2007-08-20T11:00:00.000-07:00

I finally quit griping to myself that I have no time for quilting (and I never will...blah, blah, blah) and I decided to do something about it. I have opened my own quilt shop on Esty. It's like a ebay for artists. It's so cool and hard to explain, so please just go see for yourself!

Coffee Cup Quilting - my new reason to quit complaining and stop feeling sorry for myself store. or http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5264973 for those of you that would like to bookmark me.

I think this has something to do with the fortune cookie post because I really started thinking about where I was supposed to be going and what I was supposed to be doing with my life. I think/hope this is part of the greater plan.

Adding Music to Your Blog

2007-08-15T08:05:00.001-07:00

Sorry it took me a while to respond. I had to go back through all the steps and see how I did it!

To get the songs

1. Go to Radio Blog Club and search for songs that you like.

2. Click the play arrow and a box will pop up on the right hand side of your screen with the HTML code for that song. (I usally have two windows open at a time so I can cut and paste directly into my blog. You can also open your windows notepad and paste it there temporarily.)

To add the songs

1. Go to layout on your dashboard or template to edit your blog.
2. Click on Add a page element on your side bar.
3. Under Choose a New Page Element select HTML/JavaScript.

Fortune Cookie

2007-08-11T11:31:00.001-07:00

Depart not from the path which fate has you assigned.

This was the wisdom imparted to me by my fortune cookie the other night. My first response was "Huh, easy for you to say!" But then I really started thinking about it. Yes, I think about fortune cookies...don't judge me.

The obvious question to me is, how do you know you're on the right path? I always assumed I was because everything has come so easily to me. Teaching jobs have literally fallen into my lap. I would be a fool not to take the advantages laid before me. But then I thought, maybe my life has been so easy because I'm not really trying. Maybe I'm just taking the easy way out.

Chad and I talk about this all the time. What do we want to do when we grow up? I hate to say it, but I can't think of a damn thing I want to spend the rest of my life doing. But then again, are you supposed to do the same thing for your whole life? Is that really fulfilling?

I am very happy with what I am doing now, I just wish I had time to do more. (As if two...well three... no, actually, four jobs aren't enough right now.) I wish I could find the time to quilt as much as I would like to. I made pretty good pocket money selling them before I had the girls and I wish I could do that again. Unfortunately I used to quilt in my spare time. As anyone with kids well knows, spare time does not exist anymore.

I keep telling myself I'll quilt more when the girls go to school. But I know full well that I intend to find a job with daylight hours so I can be home with the girls in the evenings. *sigh* Won't anyone pay me to stay home and sew? (And watch my kids for me? Hee Hee.)

No really, If all I have to gripe about is that I don't have time for a hobby I must be on the path fate has bestowed me. (feel free to hum along to Que Cera Cera (whatever will be, will be))

Oooo, Looky, Looky!

2007-07-20T10:38:00.000-07:00

I finished a block! I finished a block!

(Only Morgan will care about this post)

Morgan's Quilt

2007-06-28T10:36:00.000-07:00

I told Morgan I would finish the quilt she had started piecing together years ago, and that had been keeping me busy for a while, but I finally found the time to finish it.

Unfortunately when I downloaded my pictures, I found that several of them I know I took were not there. It's still a mystery to me as to what happened to them. Here are the only two that seemed to have survived.

I love Morgan's color placement, it's the epitome of a true "scrappy" quilt.

I chose to stipple quilt using a multicolored thread in a random swirling pattern because I thought it best captured the playful mood of the quilt.

Now that I have rediscovered my love of quilting I am trying to set aside a place and time for it. The place being the hardest part. I will post pictures of the other four baby quilts Morgan has requested as they reach completion.