Artisania

Hidee ho! Just a quick little post to say that no, I have not forgotten this special little blog of mine. I’ve actually been out of town for a long overdue family gathering in Calgary Alberta this past week. I would post a pic or two, but it seems my mother in law’s computer lacks any sort of usb port which my card reader requires..hrm..could also be that my computer illiterate self should be declared legally blind..

Anyhoo, I’ll be eating some good ole Albertan beef until Monday night, so pop by after then to see pics galore of super cute kids, quadruple homemade backpacks, and a decent baby quilt progress report.

I wish all of you a wonderful Labour Day weekend, and hope you enjoy your last hoorah of summer holidays.

Yes, I can see how this title directly ties in with quilting, embroidery and sewing…???

Well ok, I confess, I dabble a little in graphic design and photography too.

A few months ago my Mom asked me to design the cover for her new upcoming book. She attached some pictures of dead leaves and asked me if I would use it. I would have loved to show you, but I think in my complete horror, I must have erased them off my system. Oh! I just found this picture, which is similar to give you an idea:

“Oh god no. No way, not in a million years!” I replied. “But the essence of organic gardening revolves around the natural compost, and decay of the plant’s litter!” She insisted, and much to my dismay I had to admit that I suppose she had a point. And well, she is the author of the book after all, perhaps she should have some say over what goes on the cover. But dead leaves? How utterly boring is that? I told her that I was still absolutely not using that photo in the design, but would figure something out to do with dead leaves.

After throwing a few ideas her way she wondered about using a leaf skeleton?

AHA! Now we’re on to something! A simple scan or straight shot required too much work to make it look right, but I did have an absolutely gorgeous layout of something similiar in my files. And after a couple of days of muddling about I came out with this:

And boy am I pleased!

Here is the back cover:

The one thing that still irks me is her picture. Just doesn’t feel right. It’s the same picture that’s on the back cover of her first textbook, and I really would have liked to have something fresh for this book. Something a little more artsy somehow.

Well, after my wonderful birthday lunch by the beach yesterday (we ended up at this cozy little pub that made the best pizza I have ever tasted), Mom and I took the kids to the actual beach and it just so happened that I brought my good camera with me. So I snapped about a hundred pictures. Thank goodness for digital technology eh?

Here are some of my favorites, and a couple taken this afternoon:

I’m hoping that the next print run of the book will feature this one on the the back:

Oh wow,

I really am good at procrastinating aren’t I? Ok, tomorrow the baby quilt, I promise. Really.

Um . . . what? Floss what??

Yeah that would be embroidery floss. Ok? You with me now?

Here’s a close up:

Remember that baby quilt? The quilt for the hubby’s boss’ wife? As much as I try to procrastinate, her due date looms ever closer, and time again runs quickly by as we’re headed out of town again as of Tuesday for a whole week to Calgary. ARGH! Must….finish…quilt….

So I bought that new Collector’s Edition pack of 36 varigated DMC Embroidery Floss way back when, and since I’m crazy anal retentive about making sure my fabrics don’t bleed all over the bloody place the second some well meaning relative puts the “wash in cold only handmade baby quilt” through on hot, I figured the only logical next step would be to prewash all 36 skeins of brightly colored floss…by hand…in freaking hot water…since I’m not exposing any baby to some potentially toxic colorfast wash solution…….*sigh*

5 years later, they’re almost all washed and just when I thought all this work was in vain since surprisingly none of them so far bled at all … one DID! No, it wasn’t the black, or the red, or the orange or the blue. No! It was that varigated mustard, that icky poopy looking brown as my daughter sees it. You know, this color:

Lovely isn’t it? I have no idea if I’ll ever use that color, and most likely not on this quilt. But when I do, that sucker isn’t going to leave any poopy colored staining behind. Isn’t that nice?

So I leave you with a nice shot of all 36 plus a couple of extra skeins of freshly washed floss drying on my nice and clean bathroom counter.

Wish me luck on finishing this quilt!

So it turns out that today is my birthday! Yay! My sweet momma suddenly informed me yesterday that she’s coming over for a surprise birthday lunch, so the kiddos and I are heading out this afternoon for some good eats by the beach. Also invited are my awesome great Aunt and her best friend..will make for some fun converstaion! Then tonight it’s dinner at the Keg with Mom and my ever loving Hubby. I so feel so lucky to have such a wonderful family!!

On that note, let me share with you one of my favorite projects: The Incredibles Halloween, featuring my man, kids and sister in law

Ok, so waaaay back in April 2 years ago, my then 4 year old decided that we should all go as the Incredibles for halloween. Fast forward to four days before Halloween, and I’m pilfering my hubby’s disturbingly large stash of every color of spandex known to man. I find the perfect 4 way stretch red, some metallic gold (was much too late when I found the orange – ah well) and the perfect pleathery spandex for the black accessories).

With no time or money for a run to the fabric store, I hurl myself courageously into this insurmountable project with no patterns to speak of. Just whatever theincredibles.com has to offer.

After delighting in the fact that s shaped armscyes actually work out , learning that insetting the leg at the hip works out better than just sewing the tube right to the leg opening and that fingers are actually 3 dimensional appendages which require a little more than scant seam allowances I emerge with literally minutes to spare with 2 full on kids outfits, complete with custom fit legging/boot things, mask and long gloves, and 2 adult sleeveless tops to wear under an open jacket as though we were about to go into action (well actually I ran out of spandex and time but hey it works!)

The insignias were done applique style by applying fusing to each shape individually then ironing them all down together. Worked out fabulously if I do say so myself! Thanks to my hubby for his tutelage in this technique *smooch*

So I hope you all have equally wonderful days and I thank you so much for popping by!!

Heavens to Betsy I’m done! This is the quilt block for my swap partner ajanderson from the Craftster Lap Quilt for All Fall Edition Swap. I found the pattern here. I shrank it down to 3 inches and used 9 little blocks.

Look at the back! Holy cow does that look like a holy mess or what?

And this is one of my favorite parts, ripping out that paper!

Et, la piece de resistance…..

The second strip has been attached:

Isn’t it purdy?

I just fussy cut over 150 itty bitty, teeny tiny 1/2 inch triangles, and attempted to sew the ridiculously minimized pattern for the next quilt swap block on my plate. What in god’s name was I thinking?

The Fabric In Question before it was irretrievably hacked into pieces

The same pile of fabric sewn with a magnifying glass...

That it’s going to look so GREAT!! If I trade in my glasses for a pair of coke bottles that is…..

She’s 6 and has suddenly decided that she LOVES hand stitching.

She loves sewing so much that I bought her her own purple sewing kit, and she’s decided to help me make one of the stuffies for the quilt. I’ll definitely post pictures when she’s done!

So I’m not as far along as I’d like to be, however a merry little crab and some seaweed are now permanent residents of this underwater world:

I also picked up some DMC embroidery floss in a whole range of variegated colors, some pearlized cotton floss and printable fabric for the stuffies I’m planning on.

And then some more swap fabric candy arrived!! I LOVE the bra fabric, omg its so much fun!

So some of you were wondering if I used a pattern for the Red Fairy Backpack. Well I made my own actually. I did use a zipper pocket tutorial from my trusty craftster site – boy I love that place! If you’re looking for inspiration you have to pop over there. I’m talking about pictures galore of all sorts of crafty projects from clothing, purses, beadwork, embroidery, furniture etc. And tutorials! Tonnes of them!

A while back, I shared my tutorial for the red fairy backpack on craftster. And I’m happy to share it with you here:

Please do let me know if you make one!