Hot And Cold

My sister-in-law made us these beautiful potholders that arrived in the mail yesterday… just because! ❤️  A wonderful surprise. 🙂

 

I just love the colors and patterns and stitching… I’m not sure I can use them for hot foods as they are too pretty!

And speaking of cold… we woke-up to 8 inches of new snow yesterday morning! 😮

I guess winter isn’t done with us in the Pacific Northwest.  Time to make a homemade pot of hot soup on a cold day!

Cheers! 🙂

Sink Or Swim

I started journaling with beads several years ago.  I sew a mini pillow that I use as my canvas:

This one is titled, “Sink or Swim.”  It is 4.5 x 4.5 inches in size.

I find beading – especially Free Form Peyote Stitch – to be very meditative for me.

I like to bead with needle and thread and use beads of various sizes and colors.  In a sense, the beads are my paint and my needle and thread are my brush.

The stone for my fish face is called, Paint Brush Jasper.  I usually start my stitching separately and then sew it to my pillow.  I then add more beads until it takes the shape I want.  The other 3 stones I used (bluish-brown) are Multi-color Kyanite.

I often don’t know what I am going to make when I start one of my art pillows.  Sometimes the colors on the fabric will help me choose my bead colors.

I chose a pillow because it is easy to sew and symbolizes comfort to me.  Here is some details of the top:

I strung beads on a wire and then wrapped the wire around a ribbon and then sewed it to the top edge.  I tried to make it look like water.

I was working through some problems at the office when I created this one.  I was feeling a little like a fish out of water…

I started another mini art pillow about a year ago:

This one is more abstract and is influenced by nature.  I thought by showing it to you, I would be motivated to complete it!  🙂

I used a Resin donut as my base.  I then strung beads on a wire and wrapped the wire around the donut shape.  I am adding beads to the wire ones with peyote stitch.  I also want to include a feather.

I’m hoping that I can some day write a book on my mini art pillows.  And would love to know what you think about them!

Happy Creating!

Confetti

Here is my Confetti bird, created with scrap paper:

And below is my Confetti quilt that I made in 2009:

I had purchase a fancy sewing machine and was starting to take watercolor classes so I combined the two mediums.

Yes, the papers are squares of  a painted watercolor on paper that I cut-up and then sewed to my quilt.  It reminded me of confetti so it became the title for my quilt.  I also added a few beads and sequins for embellishment:

And I even sewed my name on the back!

A blogger friend of mine, creates fabulous experiments on paper that she is going to incorporate into art quilts.  She also draws AMAZING portraits of people.  You may want to check out her blog at Create Art Everyday.  And yes, she does create art every day like me!  🙂

And one more piece of paper  – a Confetti giraffe I created in 2013:

Happy Creating!

Owls

Owls keep showing up in my art.

This one appeared in my art journal recently.

The one below I created in a gelli-printing class last year.  I added some collage elements to it:

I made this one in an online class with Carla Sonheim in 2013 – he is a bit wild, don’t you think?

Then there was the online challenge I did with 2 friends, Corinne and Kathrin.  We created a bird a day for 101 days.  And these guys showed up:

I took an online class with Diane Culhane called, “Paint Your Garden,” and look who wanted to be included:

For some reason, I just like making them!

Happy Creating!

Bead Inspired

I finally finished the quilt square of the bird I started back in January:

And just in time!  I will be submitting it to Quilting Arts Reader Challenge tomorrow.

I created my quilt so I could embellish it with BEADS!  I love beads!

I have LOTS of beads.  And have them organized by color.

Orange is my favorite color:

I enjoy “painting” with beads!  Here is a close-up of my beadwork on my bird:

And on the top right of the quilt:

May you BEAD inspired to create with beads!!!

 

The Amazing Squirrel-Bird!

Once upon a time, a cute cuddly squirrel –

Got way to close to a bird feeder… so the birds tackled him and wrapped him in wire –

And left the squirrel this way overnight.  In the morning, the birds were surprised to find the squirrel had transformed into an unusual bird –

It still had the shape of the squirrel but it’s coat had changed colors!

And it now had a beautiful orange beak!

As the birds examined this strange looking bird, they noticed the feather at the top of its head –

“Ah-hah!”  Exclaimed the birds in unison, “This is a Dazzler Bird!”

It is a very rare squirrel-bird that lives high up in the trees.

The Dazzler Bird is seen by very few people.  You have been given this exceptional sighting as a symbol of goodwill.  May it give you a smile on your lips and a skip in your step as you go about your day!

The End – or is it just the beginning?

Pen Guan or Penguin?

Yesterday I sewed my mini quilt that I started back in January.  I have not done much sewing in quite awhile and I don’t think I have ever made a traditional quilt as I am not one to follow the “rules.”  So I was very pleased with my results.

First, I cut the fabric into strips and sewed it around my bird:

Next, I added the batting to the middle and cloth to the back to create a quilt sandwich.  I quilted the 3 layers by outlining my bird with black thread and using a squiggly stitch around the bird:

I need to finish the edges and embellish it with beads and then I will be ready to submit an image for the Quilting Arts Magazine challenge!

I was thinking about a title for my piece.  The bird looks a little like a Penguin to me.  But since it is imaginary, I was thinking that maybe I need to make up a name for it.

Pen Guan came to mind.  Since I drew it with a pen.  The Guan is an actual bird that resembles a turkey.  You can see what one looks and sounds like here:

http://neotropical.birds.cornell.edu/portal/species/overview?p_p_spp=78311

It sounds a little like a barking dog to me…

What title do you think I should give my quilt?