Sunday, December 29, 2013

Polka Dot Socks and Jammie Day

Hi, I've declared it Polka Dot Socks and Jammie Day! Hope you can participate with me. I did get up and take a shower but decided that I probably wasn't going anywhere, so get comfy.
 So what's a gal to do in her comfy jammies all day? Well, yesterday I started preparing a quilt to be quilted. This is no ordinary quilt. This quilt was found by a dear friend, in her Mother's house, after her Mother passed away. She was looking through her things and found an antique quilt top, completely hand pieced, made out of flour sacks, clothing, and sheets. She wondered if I'd be interested in quilting it. I've always wanted to finish an old quilt top so I immediately said Yes! It was in fairly good condition considering the age. At the time she didn't know who had made it but has been asking relatives and I think she knows more about it now. It had been used and possibly even washed so the edges were frayed and the fabric faded but no major stains and only a few small holes. So I set out to layer the backing, the batting, and the quilt top on my living room floor, when it soon became apparent that this quilt top was not going to lay flat. No sir. The technology has changed quite a bit in the quilting world in recent years. These old quilt tops were made out of necessity not for show. I struggled with how to get the job done without ruining the quilt or not feeling like I'd done it justice. I decided that if I made some adjustments in several places I could get it to lay flatter. Nothing I would do would ever make it totally smooth out flat but I did my best and eventually got it to a place I could live with it. I decided on a simple grid pattern for the quilting. There would be some puckers but this wasn't a perfect quilt to begin with so as I was pinning it I started connecting to the ancestors who had made it and reminding myself of all the love and work that went into this amazing quilt. At one point I'm sure they were laughing at me, giggling that that was why they never quilted it. But here I was, determined to get 'er done! So yes there are some puckers and tucks but overall it turned out beautiful. I finished the quilting and now I will try to square it up. Here is a picture of it in process. The small pieced squares are a bow tie pattern mixed with plain squares and strips of other fabric I'm guessing was sheets.

Some of the fabrics I really loved. There are a lot of polka dots:).

I'm off all week so I should be posting more of my crafty good times in the days to come. Thanks for stopping by!

Saturday, December 14, 2013

2014 Day Planner

In 2013 I decided to try and find ways to make my everyday life more creative, colorful and fun. So I made my own Day Planner out of a small Smash Book. If held about six months and the size worked out well but I wanted to have more say in what papers I used, etc. So for my Birthday I got a Cinch binder system so I could make my own spiral bound day planners. The video below is the outcome of doing it all from scratch. I chose to have only six months at a time to keep the size manageable. I carry my Day Planner with me in my purse and I use it for scheduling and for all my to do lists at my job. Having my creative Day Planner makes writting in it more fun and adds cheer to my day. Hope you enjoy! Also, if you want to check out The Documented Life Project on Facebook I'm going to be participating in that group. Sounds like fun!

2014 Day Planner (video link)






I'd love to hear how you add creativity into your everyday 'to do's'.

Saturday, August 17, 2013

It's been awhile...

Hello everyone, I've been busy as I'm sure you have too. I have been doing crafty stuff, just haven't posted in awhile. Here are some pictures of what I've been up to.

I had a lot of fun making this page. I felt like I was really trusting the process and not knowing what it would turn out like. Always good when you like how it turns out!

Here's a page in progress. I think that this girl actually looks like me. Kinda cool!

This is a watercolor girl that I was afraid to color because I really liked the pencil version. I am happy with how she turned out though. Her face was done with Prisma Colored Pencils first.


Back side



I made this journal from an old book. I took out the pages and revamped the cover. Then I added my own paper (resume paper) and put beads on the spine. Fun! This will be a writing journal.

I've got more pictures a brewin'. You'll have to check back later for more!


Sunday, April 7, 2013

It's Spring!

Spring is here and it's time to come out of hibernation. I have been creating jounal pages, so I'll share with you what I've been working on.





I've also been making journals. Quilted covers and recycled papers...




What has spring inspired you to do?