Painting Fun

I love it when I get to jump into my toy box and really just play.  I have recently gotten to do that.  I warn you....lots of pictures follow.

Last week I used a pouch of Dylon Flamingo pink dye on inexpensive muslin.  I tied one up with rubber bands and the other I tied in knots.  Both left interesting marks on the fabric.  I had lots of dye left over, so I put a lid on it and stored it in Sweetie Pie's shop :)  I will find out later if it keeps!

Yesterday, I tried my hand at "Painting" a quilt top.  Now, I am not a trained artist.  I basically muddle my way through and hope everything works out in the end.  I was spurred on by this video by Deb Levy at 3 Creative Studios.  There are 2 wonderful videos, and I highly recommend watching them.  I did.  Then I proceeded to break all the rules and do what I wanted ;)  I used Dye-na-flow paints (because I had them) and too much water.  But it did give me a nice "watery" look, so breaking that rule wasn't too bad.  Although there was no keeping the paint in only the areas I wanted.  It went everywhere.  I used a little Lumiere in the sky to give it a nice twinkle.  I also added a little red to the 2 shades of blue left over to make purple for the sky.

The water was 2 shades of green mixed in with a little of the left over sky paint.  (Why waste good paint).  The water at the beach is a green and not the typical blue.

I also used acrylic craft paint for the sand.  I thinned it with water.  I like the rough appearance it has.

I used unthinned, straight from the bottle setacolor for the surfboard.  I had to use darker paint to cover up the spreading paint from the sky and sea!  The flower was a commerical stamp, which I then colored with my new Sharpie fabric markers which I love!

In the end...I like the way it looks.  It's a little darker than I had planned (too much paint!)  Deb said don't use a lot of paint...I of course didn't listen!  Next time I will try the quilted sandwich painting technique and follow the directions ;)

Happy Quilting

Caren

I've got mail

Yesterday in the mail I received my goodies from 3 Creative Studios.  I was so excited, but not nearly as excited as my girls.  I just couldn't open it fast enough for them.   Look what was inside...

Among other wonderful goodies, there is a goddess sheet and 2 packets of Misty Fuse.  One black and one white.  I've never used Misty Fuse, they don't sell it here (or I've just never seen it).  I can't get over how thin and airy it looks.  I can't wait to try it out.  It also came with a door hanger that says, "Do not disturb, Goddess inside fusing"!  Don't you love that!  Fun days ahead for me.

In other news.....
I finished "Kirk's Lovely Lady".  I'm not totally happy with how she turned out.  Her feet were too big and I ended up going overboard with the thread work.  So to balance it out I added lots of beads ;)  I also used glow in the dark thread for the background.  Of course that won't show up in a photo!

Happy Quilting
Caren

Busy afternoon

After lunch today I worked on the quilts for the show.  I had to hang sleeves on the quilts the girls made.  I also made more triangles.  I finished the red ones and green ones.  Now I just need to make 8 more blue and I will be caught up with the colors for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge.

I tweaked Kirk's Lovely Lady a little.  I added a thread top and skirt.  It looks much better.  You can kind of see through it, too.  Kirk would love that.  I didn't like her feet so I added shoes.  Apparently the women on her planet have large feet! I'm still kind of stuck.  I don't know what to do from here....suggestions???

When I look at it...it seems like something is missing.  I just don't know what.

Happy Quilting
Caren

Caren, Caren how does your Garden Grow

Purple Hull Peas Sticking out like antenna...

Cucumbers hiding in the leaves...

Baby watermelons growing bigger by the hour...

Tiny little tomatoes all in a row.

Schools out, the veggies are in... summer is here at last.

Happy Quilting

Caren

Yippee I Won

It has been a wild day.  First, my little ones had honors day.  They both did so well.  Mommy and Daddy are very proud.  Then I took them out to lunch and passed them off to adoring grandparents to spoil.  I came home to find my certificate in the mail.  It's official I can teach Middle School Math ( No laughing aloud!).    Of course never asume my ducks are in a row.  Found out I had to reapply online and work on references and such.  So hopefully by Tuesday I will be "cleared"  :)

On a lighter note I Won the Goddess drawing over at 3creative studios.  I can't wait for that to arrive in the mail!  Talk about fun.

Meet Spike.  That's what my little ones are calling him.  He looks like he has a mowhawk running down his head.  We have front row seats for watching these little guys grow up.  The nest is outside our livingroom window!  It is so much better than TV!

Happy Quilting
Caren

Iris finished

I finished the little Iris quilt for the QA forum challenge.  I will mail it off next week to AAQI.

It was a lot of fun to make, which is why I spent all day trying to finish it!
Happy Quilting
Caren

Toy Box

I went shopping.  I was the happy recipiant of a gift card for Hobby Lobby.  Thank you Erica.  So I bought fabric dye and white fabric.  I can't wait to try it out.  I've never used Dylon.  I also bought, somewhere else a spool of glow in the dark thread and new fabric markers from Sharpie.  I'll let you know how they work.

My to-do list has gotten out of hand.  I've allowed myself to get distracted by fun projects.
1.  Make and sew labels and sleeves to quilt show entries.
2.  Measure all AAQI quilts.
3.  Add labels and hanging system to any AAQI quilts.
4.  Write thank yous to participants in guild AAQI project.
5.  Mail off my 3 quilts when the regestration comes through.
6.  Sew on about 30-40 Girl Scout badges for my girls.
7.  Buy pillowcases for holding the quilts for the show. I think I can find 3 that I hate and use those instead!
I think this may be everything.  It seems like my list keeps growing everyday.  If you will be in lower Alabama June 3 & 4 check out our show.  Here's a link.

A few stats for the show:
79 members will be showing quilts
289 quilts or quilted items are entered
164 will be judged
117 are entered as non-judged
7 are made by youths.

Here's a sneek peak at 2 youth quilts:

Daughter #1, age 8

                                                    Daughter #2, age 7
It promises to be a great show.  We will also have Alzheimer Quilt display, Linus Quilts, silent auction, and a traveling Hoffman challenge on dolls.  I am so excited about that.  OK I have shared my limited knowledge of the quilt show ( I'm not on the committee!).  If you are in the area check it out.

Happy Quilting
Caren

Spring Quilt Festival

Amy's Creative Side is having a Spring Quilt Festival.  Be sure to check it out.  Here is my entry.  "Summer at the Beach".  This is one of my two favorite quilts of all time.

This is not the best photo!  I made this several years ago.  It's from the book Quiltagami.    The bottom row of fish is different from the original pattern.  This was my first attempt at mixing origami with quilting.  I love origami.  When I taught world history I would always teach the kids origami when we came to the chapters on Asia.  I love the beach and this reflects the beach beautifully.  There is a chubby baby for my husband and I as well as our 2 girls.  They got to pick the fabric for their chubby baby.  It's just a fun, summery quilt.  Here are a few closeups.

Thanks for stopping by

Happy Quilting

Caren

Iris

I started this month's QA Forum Challenge entry.  The theme is a technique from the magazine.  I chose thread painting and using a photo as the base.  Remember this photo:

I loaded it in the photo software, then posterized it and softened the edges:  Of course I can't find that image now!

Then printed it on fabric.  I used 3 shades of blue, 3 shades of purple, and 3 shades of yellow for the flowers.  I used 2 shades of green for the leaves and a lovely variegated brown for the background. 

Now I have to figure out what to do with it!  I am thinking about some sort of pieced border to make it about 8x10 size.

Thanks for stopping by
Happy Quilting
Caren

Quilt Guild

Today was the day meeting for Quilt Guild.  I collected more AAQI quilts.  I now have a total of 14 quilts.  I am so excited.  The ladies have turned in some beautiful quilts.  I'm so happy.

I have 22 days left before they have to be displayed at the show.  I'm hoping for a total of 20.  I think we can make it.

Happy Quilting
Caren

Had a wonderful Day

I had a wonderful Mother's Day yesterday.  It started off with handmade goodies from my little ones.  Afterwards we spent the day at the beach.  It was glorious.  Except I am not as young as I thought I was.

Take.....

Add 1....

Stir in a Mama who should have known better....

You end up with 1 bruised hip, 1 sore wrist, and 1 sore shoulder!
Had we had video tape we could have made a fortune!

Happy Quilting
Caren

More triangles and Meet Kirk's Lovely Lady

Ok, here are more triangles.  I made 4 each of blue and green.  I played with them a little to try to visualize a design.  It seemed like such a good idea at the time!

The first 2 are variations on the same theme.  The first on has the color groups going diagonal and the second has them going horizontal.  The last is more of a spider web.  I'm pretty sure I don't want a spiderweb, I would have to have a color separating the blocks....I think.  I have 6 months to figure it out.

Now for the fun.  Introducing "Kirk's Lovely Lady".  If you read my 10 things post, you found out I am a Trekkie.  It's hard to put that in fabric.  The AAQI Quilt of the month club has the challenge of Space Aliens.  That sounded like too much fun.  So I took a few hours this week and came up with this design.

I should have spent more time designing it!  This is a play off of Coco goes shopping.  Here the alien is walking a giant slug.    She is wearing a sheer dress, which doesn't show up at all.  And the duel suns don't either.  Unfortunately, everything is fused down.  But I think I can come up with something.

Happy Quilting
Caren

Scrap Happy Saturday

Today is Scrap Saturday.  I have completed  a total of 12 pink triangles, 12 purple triangles, and 8 red triangles.  I need to go through my stash and find more red scraps.  There's not much variety in the red triangles.  Hopefully, I will get a few green and blue completed today as well.  That will give me a better idea of how these will look when finished.

Below is a picture of how I think I will arrange the triangles when I am finished.  Need more colors to be sure!

Happy Quilting
Caren

10 Things

I saw a similar post at That Girl That Quilt.  It was fun to read, so I thought I would write a similar post.  Just for fun.  It took a while and some editing to come up with 10 Things you may not know about me.

1.  I am a chocoholic.  Seriously, it's a food group!

2.  I love to read children's books.  There is way too much sex and language in adult books!  My favorite's are the Ramona series,  the Eragon series, and of course the Lord of the Rings.

3.  I love to bake.  My girls are almost at the age where they will be wanting to order their birthday cakes.  I dread that day!

4.  My greatest fear is losing my children in a crowded place.

5.  My secret wish is to be a mermaid.  That way I could live at the beach and not pay high rent prices.

6.  My socks haven't matched since grade school.  Now, my tights don't.  I decided since men get to wear wild ties, I get to wear wild tights.  My favorite pair make my legs look like they are covered in tattoos!   My motto, and #2 Daughters as well, is matching is for the creatively challenged!  I am Vogue worst nightmare.  I wear what I want, regardless of what is trendy.

7.  I love British mysteries.  Inspector Lynley, Midsomer Murder, Inspector Lewis and the handsome Hathaway, and of course the new Sherlock Holmes.  I'm a sucker for an accent!

8.  I'm a serious Trekkie.  Every summer we watch an entire series of shows.  This year it is DS9.  It is not the best of Star Trek, but it is a lot of fun!

9.  My favorite color is yelllow.

10.  I taught 7th and 8th grade history for 6 years.

Happy Quilting,

Caren

Scrap Happy update

I got quite a lot accomplished today.  For the rainbow scrap challenge, I cut up strips of pink fabric for more triangles. 

I sewed 6 triangles and had to stop.  I ran out of papers!

Then I made little britches her very own Quilt Guild name tag.  She was so excited when I showed her.  It is pink, too!  She's almost through with her quilt.  Hopefully by the end of the week it will be finished.  We only have 3 weeks, before quilts have to be turned in for the show.

The small yoyo heart in the top right hand corner was made with a heart shaped yoyo maker.  It took me forever to find it in my sewing room.  I bought it over a year ago and had not used it.  I think it is time to clean the dungeon.
I also started working on a new quilt for AAQI.  The quilt of the month club is making quilts with a space alien theme.  Check out the blog here.   I'm not in the club, but I could not resist this theme.  I'll have pictures of that later.

Happy Quilting
Caren

How does your garden grow?

I had my first harvest of green beans today.  It was a bumper crop.

This nice little bundle is actually enough for 2 meals.  I didn't expect them to be ready yet.  Talk about a nice surprise.  They tasted wonderful.  Our small English peas are about done, as is our lettuce.  We don't have a large garden.  We converted most of our front yard into a vegetable garden.  We can't grow grass ;)     In about 1 1/2 months I will be looking for new and interesting ways to fix green beans.  I am open to new recipes!

Rainbow Scrap Challenge
May's color for the scrap challenge is pink.  I have plenty of pink.  There should be no problem for this month.  In full disclosure I must admit.....I hate pink.  The only reason I have pink fabric is my two little darlings love pink!

My quilt Guild is having a quilt show first weekend in June.  I am real busy finishing up projects for that.  I think I can get 10 or 12 triangles finished for the scrap challenge.  I hope to have some pictures to show.  Until then....

Happy Quilting
Caren