Piecing a Sampler Quilt

I got up earlier than I planned this morning, so I spent an hour and a half working on my new quilt. My left brain and right brain can't seem to decide on the same color scheme. And I don't have a huge selection of fabrics to choose from. I suspect I have another box or 2 of quilting fabric around here somewhere. Maybe I should try to dig those up before I get much further along. Part of the problem is the color scheme is rust and brown, and I almost never buy those two colors, so I'm coming up short. I may have to make a run to M & L Fabric later this week, after I get my check. I'm trying to use up my stash, but sometimes it's more important to be true to the quilt design than to just use any old fabric lying around. I guess that's why so many of us has fabric stashes run amuck. We never seem to have just the right fabric so we buy more.

 So far I've gotten the pieces cut out for 3 squares. I have one square partly finished. I don't want to cut out any more squares until these 3 are sewn. I don't want to get too far ahead of myself and get confused.

Another Trip to the Canyon

Today we are going out to Silverado again to talk to a man about selling crafts at his fresh produce business.  So we got up early to beat the heat. I need to scoot.  I'll take my quilt project with me to work on at my friend's house. 

I ran out of green yarn for the scarf I'm knitting.  I think I'll finish the rest in pink. I'm having some health issues again that are zapping my strength and making it hard to concentrate. But I'm doing my best to be productive. I read somewhere that if we only worked when we felt great, we wouldn't get much done. So I just need to keep on truckin'.

My End of Summer Vlog

Yesterday I made my 'end of summer' vlog on youtube. If you want to subscribe to my channel just hop on over there.

I started a new quilt yesterday. The pattern is in a magazine and let's just say I found it puzzling. I finally gave up at midnight and figured I'd try again today. The pieces they were asking me to cut didn't coincide with the photo of the finished quilt in the magazine. Baffling.

Yardsellr and Mixed Media Bear and Birds

I do my best to spend part of each day making things, and part of each day marketing things.  I'm always eager to try out a new site and see how it goes.  An Etsy friend mentioned that her friend sold $800 worth of jewelry on a site called Yardsellr. I went and signed up and wrote more about it here: http://www.squidoo.com/my-experiences-on-yardsellr I'll update it if I buy or sell anything on Yardsellr.

I also worked on a mixed media project today. It combines gel medium, plastic material printed with my hand carved bird stamps, watercolors, gouache, pen and ink, and text from a Korean book. I think I'll just show you the photo. It's done on watercolor paper.

Knitting a Headband

There was a circular knitting needle and some medium green yarn on my desk, so I started knitting a checkerboard design headband. It's 12 stitches across so it's k6,p6,k6, and when the rows make it look like a square I reverse it and do p6,k6,p6.

New Cartoon Blog and Crocheting a Snood

Yesterday and today I've been working on a cartoon series. I've been drawing cartoons my whole life but have never figured out a way to show them to the world until now. I decided it deserved it's own blog here: http://pigglewigginscartoon.blogspot.com/

I also started a new snood in gold woolease  yarn. I thought it would be good to put some autumn items into my Etsy shops. The year is sure going by fast. I can't believe summer is ending already.

Making Journals

I want to pursue the idea of making some journals. So I bought a bone folder at Art Supply Warehouse.  I'm sure I have many papers sitting around here I can use. I sometimes buy up reams of colored paper and card stock when they are on clearance at Kinko's or Staples or similar places. It's not that hard to make your own 'blender' paper, but it does take a lot of counter space to dry it all. It is fun to use up junk mail that way. Making paper is a messy project but lots of fun.

I don't want to go the 'tradtional' book making route which is very exacting.  I just want to make simple art books. Youtube has a ton of tutorials on the topic.

Of course decorating the covers is a lot of fun too. Its a great way to use your mixed media skills.

Little Felt Hearts

Last night I made some felt hearts with blanket stitch embroidery.  Today I thought I would make some with overcast stitch. They have a wee bit of stuffing inside.

This is the photo that inspired me: http://pinterest.com/pin/111910876/

Make a Booklet

It's 3 AM. Ack! And I just found a cool DIY site that I'm too tired to read. So I'm putting it here so we can all read it in the morning. Making a booklet.

Patio Makeover

I'm remodeling my long narrow patio. We rent, so I can't make any permanent changes.  So far it's all been clean-up, but I want to make some sort of sculpture to give it an artistic appeal.  Maybe something crafted out of wire and metal.

Here is a look at the patio in the 'before' mode. Today I trimmed the roses some more. My neighbor has the same layout and she put a string of white lights under that overhanging balcony on the left. The balcony itself belongs to the people above us. So if I can find a good deal on lights I'll do the same. I don't know where I'm going to put my boyfriend's craft bins. Challenges, challenges.

Free Apron Patterns

Check out all these free apron patterns. http://tipnut.com/56-free-apron-patterns-you-can-make/ I miss sewing. Maybe I should get back to it.

My Craft Tutorials

I just made a new lens over on Squidoo. http://www.squidoo.com/my-craft-tutorials I hope to be making new tutorials soon for those of you that have seen all my stuff.  But I'm guessing most of you have never seen any of my tutorials, so there you go.

Home From Horse Sitting

I miss painting from real life.  So I painted in watercolor some roses and other flowers I'd stuck in a jar. The statice (sea lavender) fills up the gaps between the roses nicely. And I love the frilly jacaranda leaves, though they were a challenge to paint.
I did take a bunch of photos to use as art reference material later. I stalked a butterfly for at least an hour and finally got a photo of it.  I'd have loved to have gotten more but it never stayed in one spot for more than a few seconds. I'm lucky I got the one shot I did.  In fact I thought I'd missed it because it flew off as the shutter was moving.  It's late so I'll upload the photos in the morning when my vision isn't blurry.  It's hard to tell if a photo is in focus when my eyes aren't even in focus.

So in the last 3 days I got to do egg tempera, pen & ink and opaque watercolor. And lots of photography. In one photo I captured at least 4 cabbage moths on one plant.  I bet there will be even more insects on it when I see the full size version. The yard was full of bees, butterflies, moths, wasps, and a grasshopper that kept splatting into things. Definitely something wrong with his navigational systems.

Update: I uploaded over 300 photos, and the swallowtail butterfly is gone! I must have erased it or the camera ate it.  I'm so disappointed. 

Traveling Art Projects

I've been crazy busy. I'm about to go out of town yet again. I'm taking all my painting supplies so I can paint more ACEO's and do some illumination. I can't wait to try the egg tempera again, which reminds me, I need to take an egg with me.  No tempera without the egg yolk, you know.

I'm also enjoying the opaque watercolors I got at Art Supply Warehouse. They work out very well for traveling. And the colors were well thought out, as you can see by the ACEO's I'm showing you.  Most random collections forget about flesh tones and then when you try to paint people, it's difficult.

I'm supposed to be focusing my art supply money on getting back into oil painting. But the cost is daunting.  I'm not sure what it is about oil painting, but I want to do it on big canvases.  I like to do watercolor on small things. Why is that?

Back Home Again

My daughter in from of her art gallery.

The belly cast my daughter and I made together.

My grandson and I.

The Amtrak just delivered me safely to Fullerton where my chariot awaited me. It's so much hotter here than it was in San Luis Obispo. But it was nice to get home before dark. I took photos of Heather's art gallery which I will be uploaded in the next few days. I just spent half the day a bus and the rest on a train so I'm a bit tuckered at the moment. I worked on some knitting and some felt embroidery on the train. That kept me occupied and out of mischief for a good part of the journey.