A Day Off

Yesterday I gave myself a day off from the tidying and attended a workshop in order to gain some confidence in free motion quilting.  This is one of those things where I know the idea and the basics but have never actually used it on a quilt because I always 'chicken out' at the last minute in case I mess it up.  It was a really enjoyable day and we came away with lots of ideas which we tried out on a 'quilt sandwich' of a reasonable size to get us used to handling the bulk in the sewing machine.  I have a few blocks left over from a large quilt made some time ago and I'm going to bite the bullet and use free motion quilting to turn them into a lap quilt. One important point I gained from this day was that any minor imperfections don't matter because they show that the work was done by a human being - if you want 'perfect' you would send the quilt away to be quilted by a computer-controlled machine!!  This reminded me so much of what Tim Holtz says about embracing imperfections - I never have 'hang-ups' about sloshing ink, random stamping and torn paper so I must translate that freedom into my quilting as well.

In the meantime I have a card to share which was made almost entirely from oddments 'found' when I was tidying my work space - backing paper cut to size for a card and then not used because the colour wasn't quite right; a piece of embossed background; a stamped and layered image cut away from a 'clean and simple' card where the final stamping of the sentiment had somehow turned out crooked (it happens).  I simply added a couple of die cut shapes from kraft card scraps and a sentiment.

Another Card

I decided that my crafty 'stuff' needs a general tidy and sort out but before putting this lovely Sue Wilson die set away I thought I'd produce another card - displacement activity really because I really MUST have a sort out!!  I used an Embossalicious folder with Centura Pearl card for the background, accented with a light touch of gilding wax.  Sentiment was a Stampin' Up stamp cut out with large oval punch.  A scattering of punched butterflies and there it is - butterflies were accented with clear Wink of Stella pen and a bit of bling.

I've just spotted that the Make My Monday challenge this week is for a grown up card (nothing cute) so I reckon this will fit the bill.

A Quick Card

I've actually managed to get around to making a quick card today using an image from Hobby House Designs.  Background paper is from my stash and the image has been popped onto a die cut shape from Creative Expressions - Californian collection by Sue Wilson.  A Tonic punch was used to make a border with a ribbon bow; sentiment printed from the computer and put onto the smallest die in the set - also used a couple of the 'waste' flowers from the punched strip.  We've actually had two days with lovely blue skies and sunshine, albeit with a couple of showers yesterday, but it certainly feels as if we are coming out of the really depressing and wet weather - fingers crossed!!

Beaded Bead

It seems absolutely ages since I blogged anything but today I have a beaded bead to share.  I recently purchased a book by Marcia DeCoster with some beautiful projects which are mostly made using right angle weave - a stitch with which I'm not really familiar and I must say not really a stitch of choice in the past.  Having battled with it to make this 'Urchin' bead it could be growing on me but I definitely need to use it more to become really comfortable with the technique.  I think I should have chosen one of her designs from the beginning of the book but being me, I went for a page near the end!!  All that remains now is to make a beaded strap so that this can be used as a necklace.  The beads used were seed beads in sizes 15, 11 and 8 with some 3mm fire polished crystals to embellish the spines - bead is approximately 1.25 inches across.

More Apologies

I'm afraid I must apologise yet again for neglecting my blog - 'things' just seem to have got in the way and I've been trying to catch up generally with all sorts of jobs.  However I mentioned to a friend that I'd made yet another bag and promised to post a picture.  This one was much more labour intensive than the last two because it has pockets outside on all four sides and all the sections are quilted.  It was made from a pattern but the construction in general wasn't the most straightforward because each side, end and the base were all separate pieces which involved plenty of matching up and manoeuvring to get it put together.  Suffice to say I won't be making another one like it although it will make a handy 'workshop bag' which is what it was designed for I understand.  Hopefully my 'mojo' will return soon and I will have some cards to share.

Bag Lady

I seem to be turning rapidly into a 'bag lady' - not made any cards for several days but I have been tinkering on the sewing machine.  I had made this quilted panel as a sort of experiment, then thought that it could form part of another bag.  I had to play around with the sizes to accommodate the panel and also within the limits of the matching fabric I had available without going shopping.  Paper crafters know how much 'stuff' accumulates within no time at all and I have been sewing on and off for years so you can imagine my fabric stash would probably stock a small shop!!  These two bags haven't really made many inroads into the hoard but it is a start and my machine has had an airing so that it doesn't feel neglected.

Quiet Again

I must apologise for being quiet on the blogging front for a few days - slight health problem but thankfully starting to feel more 'normal' now (whatever normal is!!).  I spotted a patchwork bag on You Tube yesterday which used 12 charm squares and some other fabric for lining and handles and as I have loads of squares I thought I'd have a go.  This is the result using up some of the floral squares which are all different - I quite enjoyed making this and it turned out to be fairly straightforward to make.  We actually have blue skies and sunshine at the moment although the day started with torrential rain, thunder and lightning!!