Quilting and Shopping

What could be better than quilting and shopping?  Shopping with my daughter and husband at the Restore!  My daughter was looking for an old window frame to repurpose, so we drove to the Restore in St Croix Falls.  They had so many things to look at in the store.  Including this beautiful old sewing machine.  I didn't buy it, which is probably a good thing because it needed a lot of work.  It was gorgeous though. (someone else bought it while I was there, just in case you were thinking about running over to buy it)

I did buy a bag of crocheted items.  I think they are pretty amazing.  They need a little work to fix them up but they aren't in bad shape.

I bought a pair of candle holders too.  Forgot to take a photo of those.  We stopped to look at the falls after and the river sprite.  It is a very pretty town.

There was an artisan show going on across the street from the falls.  One of the artist's selling work was Julie Crabtree from Bratach Sith Fiber Studio.  I really loved her work and discovered she has taught at the Textile Center in Minneapolis in the past.  I will have to watch for her next teaching opportunity.  I also liked the work by Three Sisters Studio.  Check out either or both links to see their work.

In the mean time I have been enjoying family time, Thanksgiving and a birthday.  I made a photo album for my daughter and I have managed to squeeze in a little quilting here and there.  Hopefully, I can finish up this quilt soon and start on the next.  I've discovered the actual quilting shows up better in the photo if I change it to black and white.

And of course I have been watching the neighborhood wildlife.  We are so excited, our white squirrel made it through the summer.  With snow on the way, it should be easier for him to stay hidden now.

Have a Creative Day
Janet

Mystery Quilt

My next unfinished project is a mystery quilt I made several years ago in the learning fiber arts group (learningfa).  I finished the class at the time, it was a 52" square.  I liked the design but wasn"t sure how I wanted to complete the quilt, size etc.  So, it went onto my "to be finished later" shelf.  Later has arrived!  Here it is fresh from the shelf, wrinkles and all.

I took the original square and turned it on point.

Added some triangles, to make it once more a square.

Added some borders so it would be a queen size quilt.  Sorry I don't have anywhere large enough to lay out a quilt this size, but you get the idea.

Now I need to plan my quilting, clean and oil my longarm etc. and get busy finishing this quilt.
Have  creative day.
Janet

Duffle Bag

My son had a birthday last week.  He has always loved listening to music and really wanted something he could use to listen to all the music on his iphone.  He wanted to be able to take it with him to his friends house.  So, in order to protect it when carrying it back and forth, I made a bag.  It is really big, so I had to make up my own pattern.  It turned out pretty nice.   Hopefully it will hold up to transport.

He liked the door over the phone, and the speaker size.

I added some acryllic in the bottom of the bag for stability.

Can you see the pocket, it is on the inside just below the zipper.

finished bag

Velcro pocket for the remote control

I added piping on the circular ends for more stability.

Have a creative day

Janet

Happy Halloween

Have a creative day

Janet

Fairy garden & Door County

view from Eagle Tower

My husband and I took a trip to Door County in Wisconsin.  Just a nice relaxing week for the two of us.  We saw some fall color, some lighthouses, a birdseye view of Lake Michigan, and had a good time.

Cana Island Lighthouse

eagle tower

some of the fall color

The outside work is almost done, soon it will be snowing again.  We had a few flakes already but nothing measurable.  I should have more time for sewing and crafting again.

My husband helped me cut the front of a clay pot.

I wanted to make a fairy garden similar to some I had seen on a Facebook site called Creative Ideas.

I think it turned out nice.  I used a tiny tree my quilting friends gave me when my mom passed away.

The rest of the little things I purchased at a local nursery where tiny little gardens are very popular.

I want to make a sign for my garden to cover up the spot where the price sticker was attached.  I need to decide on a name for my garden first.  Any thoughts?

Have a creative Day
Janet

Borders finished and more

I finished the borders on the Wave Runner quilt tonight.  It has cooled off, so hopefully I can get a little quilting done this week too. 

In the mean time, I also made another bowl.  I started this one right after I finished my autumn leaf bowl.  This confetti bowl had to be done in layers, so I added a little each day. 

 This time I was a little smarter and taped my balloon to the empty jar.

I haven't decided whether or not to trim the edge of the bowl.  

The one I saw on Pinterest was trimmed, but I'm liking this free form edge.

I also did a little experiment with another photo transfer.  I started with some wooden sticks.  

I taped the sticks together on the back side and did the transfer just like the last one I did.

I made one in pink.

and one in purple.

My daughter helped me cut them apart.  I've been playing with how I want to arrange the pieces.  

Once I figure that out they will need to have the final finishing coat added for protection. 

 The color is more vibrant after the final coat is added.

Have a creative day

Janet

Pinterest Photo Project

This is a project I have been wanting to try for quite awhile.  Here is the first tutorial I found about how to transfer a photo to a piece of wood.  I also found this YouTube tutorial with even more instruction.  If you google transfer a photo to wood, you will find as many tutorials as you want.

I saw this Basswood Canvas made by Walnut Hollow at JoAnn Fabric's last week, and it happened to be on sale.  So, I quickly bought one to give this project a try.  I like this better than a solid piece of wood, just because it is lighter weight and so easier to hang (at least for me).

I chose this photo of my mom and dad from their wedding day.  I've always loved this one, they look so happy.  My son says it's because that is before they had eight kids. (Haha)  I reversed the photo, so it would end up the same orientation when I put it on the wood.  Next, I copied it to a disc, because I can't find my flashdrive.  (I loaned it to my son for a class project.) When I transferred to the disc, I used a high quality setting.  I drove to Office Max and asked them to print it for me, because a laser print is what everyone says works best.  My printer is ink.  I had it printed on cardstock because I hadn't thought thru this part yet when she asked what to print it on, it worked well for me.

I painted the sides of my canvas black.  I thought this would look good with my black and white photo.  I used Golden Gel Medium because I already had some.  I put the medium on the board itself and some on the photo too.  Just put your gel covered photo on the gel covered board, photo side to the board of course.  Smooth it out, either with a credit card or a squeegee.  I let mine dry over night.

In the morning I wet the back of the paper with a damp paper towel.  Let the water really sink in for a few minutes and start rubbing with your fingertips.  Be careful if you have long nails so you don't rip through to the wood.  Although if you do it could be an opportunity for a distressed photo.

It took about five minutes to get the initial layer off.  I rewet the paper at this point.  Rub with a little more caution now so you don't actually rub off the photo itself. I noticed I didn't quite have my photo lined up with the edges of my canvas but this was an easy touch up with the paint.

I still need to either gesso the picture or add some protective coating, but I think it turned out pretty nice.

Back to my Phd's.
Have a Creative Day
Janet