Mistral

Mistral

Oil on canvas
30 x 40

Today (actually, yesterday really) I decided that I need at least a week away from my sewing machine. And not some little five second lets-make-some-artist-cards break--a real break, where my sewing machine is unplugged and my stash is hidden away and I FORCE myself to do something else. I've been dying to paint lately, so instead of going, "No, I can't, I have so many quilts to make!" I said "Yes, you can, the quilts aren't going anywhere, the trip isn't until September!"

So I did. And it was fun. Kinda short lived because I was determined not to overwork it and ruin it, but satisfying.

In other news, I received a beautiful little quilt for Swaziland in the mail yesterday...pictures to come soon.

Scrappy Sunrise Quilt

I actually finished this a few days ago. Isn't it pretty? It makes me smile. This is not going to be a Swaziland quilt, though. First of all because it came out HUGE. It's bigger than a twin, or at least wider. Second of all, because I want it. Bad. Ha ha. We'll see what happens. I always say, "This one's for me!" and then I give it to someone else.

Here's the back, because I have obsessive/compulsive disorder when it comes to arranging colors by a gradient, and repeating patterns. Plus it just made me laugh while I was doing it.

Here it is all pretty and folded up. :) You can see the loopy quilting stitch I did, and the pretty binding. I used Heather Bailey's "Wash Day Ticking" which I think I finally just ran out of after using it in a zillion projects. Kinda made me sad. I love that fabric.

I've got two more Swaziland quilts ready to be quilted, just waiting for batting. Dooodeedoo...thumb twiddling ensues...

ATC's anyone?

So I just recently started reading about these things called Artist Trading Cards, or ATC's, and I have to admit I dig the concept. I like being able to play around with different styles and techniques on such a small scale because a) if you mess up, it's only the size of a playing card so it won't break your heart to throw it away, and b) you can make a few here and there when the mood strikes. And I like the idea of getting little mini art from other people. 

Admittedly I don't know tons about it--it seems like it could be potentially really dorky and/or cheesy. I am a little afraid I'll get traded some lame stuff with puppies or butterflies (although I like some butterflies, like this one) but I guess that's just part of the element of surprise. After all, you can be unpleasantly surprised and it still counts as a surprise, right?

Anyway, the above two cards I'm sending off today to my partner, who says she likes robots and spaceships. I had fun making these. Hopefully she'll like them!

On a side note, my kids are now fixated on making these, too. I had about ten little cards with stick figure drawings and crayon scribbles littering my art table last night, ha ha. My husband came in, looked at us, and said, "You guys are obsessed."

Anybody else want to make these and trade with me??

the everything but the kitchen sink quilt

That's what I decided to call this quilt, since, y'know, a name is a really important thing for a quilt to have. And Steve was already taken, soooo... Originally I was calling it the "stash-buster" quilt, but that was a total misnomer since my stash is not even remotely busted, in fact it's way bigger. Ha ha.  Anyway, I really liked the way it turned out, and this was my first time doing random scraps for binding, which I think goes well with the randomness of the quilt.

Mostly I'm just excited to be done. My stack o' unfinished projects is steadily dwindling, and that makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. Plus is frees up some room so I can start some more unfinished projects. Exciting!!

busy little bee

so i've been busy lately. too busy for pictures, really, and my lack of good camera or picture taking skills does not really inspire me to get out there and do it even when i should. but today i forced myself to come out of my quilting cave and snap some pics of my finished stuff. the above is one of two identical quilts, identical because they were once conjoined twins in the form of a duvet cover that i never got around to finishing. i figured they could undergo surgery and become individuals for the cause. i tried to do some more, um, organic quilting lines and it came out organic all right. and by organic i mean messy and not straight at all. but i sort of like it that way.

then i finished the red and aqua cross quilt. yay!

the new wave quilt, all sewed and bound. note to self--seven year old boys don't make the greatest quilt-holders-for-the-purposes-of-picture-taking.

on top of the general insanity, i've also been purging/reorganizing/cleaning my "studio" (ha ha), and one of my self-imposed tasks was to sort out my horrible overcrowded crumpled up scrap bin. i've sort of tossed any reasonably sized scrap willy nilly into this plastic bin for, um, over a year, and it was getting out of control. so being sort of type A, i had to take out every piece, lay it flat, and then organize them into color groups. then they went into ziplocs.

i felt like i had to MAKE something with them to justify their continued presence in my house, so i started working on this baby, and i think that i'm going to end up keeping this one. i just love the bright colors against the light gray kona, and the arrangement. not to mention it pleases me no end to make a whole quilt out of stuff leftover from other quilts. you should see the back--it's a miniature of the front and it makes me giggle. i can't find the picture of it though and i am too lazy to go take another. you'll have to use your imagination until i finish it and get inspired to wield a camera again.

hope you're all having a wonderful day. i certainly enjoyed the sunshine from behind my sewing machine. i kinda wish i'd gone outside earlier, but i was in conquer mode and the urge to finish cannot be laid aside for the pleasures of baking in the sun. ha.