ARTISTIC FLAIR?

I HAVE ALWAYS WANTED TO BE AN ARTIST. HOW AMAZING IT WOULD BE TO SEE SOMETHING AND BE ABLE TO DRAW IT OR PAINT IT. I HAVE A FRIEND WHO IS SUCH AN ARTIST. IN FACT SHE TEACHES ART AND HAS TOLD ME FOR YEARS THAT SHE CAN TEACH ANYONE TO PAINT. I'VE NEVER BELIEVED IT, SO THIS YEAR I HAVE PUT HER TO THE TEST. I TOOK ONE LESSON. DID YOU CATCH THAT (ONE) LESSON. AND JUST LOOK AT WHAT I WAS ABLE TO DO!!! IT'S AMAZING I KNOW. PLEASE DON'T THINK I AM BRAGGING, BUT WHEN YOU HAVE A GIFT, YOU JUST HAVE TO ACCEPT IT AND NOT HIDE IT. APPARENTLY I AM A GIFTED ARTIST AND HAVE BEEN ALL THESE YEARS. I JUST DIDN'T KNOW IT.

SHAWLS FOR ALL AGES

THE SHAWL IN ACTION, OR MAYBE IT'S MORE THE MODEL IN ACTION.




I MADE THIS SAME SHAWL FOR MYSELF WHILE I WAS ON VACATION. I HAD LEFT OVER YARN SO I THOUGHT I WOULD TRY TO DOWNSIZE THE PATTERN TO FIT A FIVE YEAR OLD. SHE LOVES IT. WELL SORT OF. SHE LOVES THE IDEA OF HAVING A PRETTY SHAWL TO MATCH THE ONE I HAVE. I THINK IT ITCHES HER SKIN. SHE'LL HAVE TO WEAR IT WITH SOMETHING UNDER IT. I THOUGHT I WOULD POST IT SINCE IT IS ONE OF OUR FEATURED ITEMS AT JASHLEYCO.

A skirt

This is an Amy Butler skirt that I made for my mother-in-law. It is so hugely significant in my life because it is the first item of clothing I have ever made! And she was wearing it! It fit her and it didn't fall off in the middle of the luncheon that we went to (not that I necessarily THOUGHT it would, I just couldn't believe it was a real item of clothing!). I have the fabric to make two other ones, so I will be sure to post them here when I am done. Hopefully, we when move into our own place and I have some room for a sewing machine!

other quilt

This is the other quilt that I made for Christmas for our friends Bob and Katy. Bob and Katy are the kind of people that let your whole family move in with them because times are tough. I know this because, well, times are tough. They are kind and giving and loving and patient. Ah, patience. You would think all us quilters would be patient, but alas. Sometimes, not so much.

Anyway, I put the whole thing together with the reproduction prints. Big squares that were bright and pretty. And then I just stared at it and though, this looks NOTHING like Bob and Katy. So I grabbed patches of every crazy fabric I could find, embroidered a couple words, top stitched the whole thing with patches all over and thought, there, that is better.

I think they loved it. Bob shows it to everyone who walks in the front door. I know this because, well, I sit by the front door while I type on the computer, put together quilt squares, and balance the check book.
Patient, loving friends.

Woodland Elf Hats

So, these are two of the elf hats (Buddy Boy is not pictured yet. I'm sure when his mommy sees this she will get a picture of him in his hat on immediately). These are another Amy Karol project. So simple and so fun.




This picture makes my laugh and I am going to tell you why. Last Christmas, Mona and I were trying to take special pictures of the three kids all dressed up for the grandparents. Mind you, there were 2 one year olds and a 3 year old. Anyway, they were all dressed up in ridiculous argyle sweaters and courderoy pants and all...you get the picture. I wanted a "candid" picture of Zoe looking at these pretty flowers and I was getting so frustrated with her that she could not just look sweetly at the flowers and kept raising my voice saying "Just look at the flowers Zoe, just look at the flowers". Needless to say, the picture is clearly a confused and slightly scared picture of a three year old staring oddly at some flowers. It is so funny. All that to say I was doing the same with this next picture. I wanted her to FACE straight ahead and then LOOK at me with her head facing straight...So confusing, I know! So, here is that funny picture. I will see if I can find the funny flower one and add that too!

Artsy Clutch

Here we have two of the five "Artsy Cluthes" I made for my friends and family for Christmas. These were the first two I made and thought they came out pretty good. I do see flaws but have tried to look past them and think they are cute. They were fun and easy and found in Amy Karols book Bend the Rules Sewing! Look it up! Buy it! Have some fun!

The Sister Quilt

Last year, my sister, Mona, made me a quilt. It was the first quilt that anyone had ever made just for me. I adore it and so this year, I made her a quilt. I love Denyse Schimdt, so I put this quilt together with unparallel seams and mis-shapen boxes. The pictures in each square sort of trace our relationship. I used batiks, wax-stained fabrics, because she LOVES batiks, so many colors all smooshed into one design. The fall colors were to match her house and our favorites, yellow and brown. The red is in there for reasons we understand, though you may wonder why. I had so much fun doing it. Some quilts are just fun to put together. I didn't know how it was all going to work out at the time that I did it, but I just knew that, no matter how it looked, she would love it, use it, cherish it.