it's finished!

Hi friends.  Remember that quilt I talked about in my last post?  Well, I've been working on it a little bit every day.  Today, I finished it.  What a wonderful feeling of accomplishment! 

This is called a scrap quilt, because each block uses different fabrics.  The flowers and background fabrics are all different.  I think I may have repeated a couple of the greens, because I didn't have enough different ones.  The continuity of the quilt is the same pattern for each block.  I love all the variety of fabrics and colors. 

When I started working on this last week, I already had the flowers quilted.  I just needed to quilt the edges of each square and bind the quilt. 

First, I quilted around the edges of all the internal blocks.  Then I sewed the binding to the front edge of the quilt and trimmed any excess fabric and batting.  Then I quilted around all the edge blocks.  You can see some of the quilting detail in this next photo, especially on the purple flower. 

Then it was time to stitch the binding onto the quilt back and add a label.  I print my label from my computer and then trace it onto muslin with the help of a light box.  I use a pigma pen and heat set it with an iron.  When I attached this label, I placed it under the binding, so it was a little bit less work stitching it on. 

This last picture is one of my favorite blocks from this quilt. 

Thanks so much for stopping by. 

quilting

Hi friends.  It has been quite awhile since I've worked on any quilting.  I checked back on previous posts to see when the last time was that I had worked on this quilt.  Seriously?  Over three years ago.  It has literally been sitting where I last worked on it.  It disturbs me that I have so many unfinished projects, so I've been pushing myself to complete some of them. 

I was in need of some quilt therapy, so I pulled it out.  I had been quilting without a frame, but decided it would be a little bit easier to use my circle frame, so I brought it up from the basement and cleaned it off (dust and cobwebs).  I set it up in my bedroom.  (No, the block isn't all crooked, even though it looks like it.  The quilt is just very loose in the frame.) 

I've been working on it just a little bit every day.  The flowers were all quilted previously, so what's left is quilting around the edges of each block.  I also still need to bind the edges, and will have to do that before I can complete the quilting of the outermost row of blocks. 

Because I don't have really good lighting, I really can't work on it at night, so I've just been quilting on it during daylight hours - anywhere from 30 minutes to a an hour or two at a time.  Today, the tips of my fingers are a little sore from pulling on the needle, so I guess I went a little longer than I should have. 

I don't think it'll take me too long to get this done as long as I work on it consistently. 

Thanks so much for stopping by.

faux washi tape

Hi friends.  Today's technique challenge on SCS was to use tape. 

I like the look of washi tape, but don't have very much.  Since I have no blue, and that's what I wanted to go with my card, I made my own washi tape using scor-tape and a coffee filter.  I filled one side of the filter with the scor-tape.  Then I used several different blue distress stains to color the filter.  After drying it with my heat gun, I cut apart the strips of tape and then stamped some patterns on some of the strips, using ribbon stripes from Gina K Designs.  The one real disadvantage of this faux washi tape is that it is permanent; you can't lift it off and move it like regular washi tape.  The coffee filter is also less transparent than regular washi tape. 

I inked the background (leaf & floral - hero arts) with bashful blue & misted lightly with water before stamping. 

The main image is from don't worry (our daily bread designs).  I used inktense pencils and a water brush to color it. 

Thanks so much for stopping by. 

spirelli window

Hi friends.  When I saw yesterday's technique challenge on SCS - to put some real stitching on your card, I knew I wanted to play along. 

I think spirelli is such a beautiful technique, that I decided to make a spirelli circle that was actually a window on the card front.  I was going to make it a single layer card, but then realized that the not so pretty back of the stitching would show on the inside of the card, so I made a separate layer, with an opening behind the spirelli to make a window card and the image on the inside of the card. 

It's not really blurry; the thread shadows just make it look that way.  Stamps are SU simply sketched, stamped in black stazon and colored with red and green markers. 

Thanks so much for stopping by. 

toilet paper molding

Hi friends.  It surely does not feel like Saturday today.  But, since it is, I participated in the inspiration challenge on SCS.  I chose the first sample given and took my inspiration from the red and white vase. 

I've wanted to try toilet paper molding since I've seen a few samples on various sites.  So I thought this would be the perfect opportunity.  It is a fun technique and the results are quite stunning. 

You place a stack of toilet paper on your rubber stamp, wet it and then press the TP into the stamp crevices.  Once it is dry, you can use it on your project.  I used my heat gun and let it finish air drying.  I used French filigree background stamp from SU.  You can see the texture a little better in this second photo.  I wasn't sure how well it would die cut with one of the thinner dies, but I was pleased with the result. 

The flowers are from simply sketched (SU).  I stamped them twice, fussy cut them, but on one I cut off the bud, and placed them so I would have a taller image. 

I also punched a border with an abstract flower border punch. 

inspiration challenge

Hi friends.  Today I decided to make a card for the inspiration challenge on SCS.  I chose the first sample for my inspiration. 

I used paper from a Black Market Paper Society stack for the background, with a strip of black dividing the two. 

The image is from a new stamp/die set called Lady with Hats from Hero Arts, which has framelits to match the stamps.  I stamped the image on naturals ivory and die cut it.  Then I sponged vintage photo distress ink on the edges and attached it with foam tape. 

The sentiment is also Hero Arts and, after snipping the ends to points, received the same treatment as the main image.  

Thanks so much for stopping by today. 

happy little birdies

Hi friends.  Today was the mixability challenge (mixed media) on SCS.  I haven't participated in this challenge very much, so I thought I'd play today.  The challenge was to make finger painted clouds.  The only other requirement is that more than one type of medium is used.  I used acrylic paint for the clouds, and my other medium is ink. 

I started with a piece of periwinkle cardstock and made the clouds.  Then I stamped the birds on the wire (a muse) with black stazon.  I extended the line with a pitt pen and added the extra bird on the left.  The birds are colored with a creamy caramel marker. 

I punched the corners with a ticket corner punch and backed the piece with black, adding a few dots in each corner with a pitt pen. 

I used two strips of pattern paper and added fancy photo corner punches. 

The sentiment is hero arts.  All in all, a pretty quick and easy card. 

Thanks so much for stopping by.