A Birthday Card for Faith

I used the bluebird card I made earlier this week and gave it a few embellishments for Faith--some blooms!  The blooms closed up the composition and gave it some overall harmony.

Inside I added a nest to nestle the check we sent her. It was made with scraps of two shades of brown crisscrossed on a half circle.  I attached it with some pop-up adhesives to create a pocket and finished it with some more "sticks" in the background.  I should have used a third, lighter brown or some raffia for more contrast, but I think she got the idea!

A Birthday Card for Ryder

My nephew's son in Denver will have a birthday this coming week. I took an old card design and made it into a slide card using an idea I saw on Pinterest. The Pinterest card was an ice cream cone that opened with the scoops and a cherry for the pull-tab. The original clown face card was made at a stamp camp with our Stampin' Up demonstrator, Laurie, about a year ago

Pull me nose!

On the original card, the clown's hat opened.  It was not roomy enough for a Cold Stone Creamery gift card, so I cut the hat along the left edge at the fold and added a bigger red triangle behind it. I used old strips of pop-up adhesive along the two diagonal edges to create space for the old hat (now white) to move in and out. I cut another circle for the clown's nose and left half untaped as a pull tab.  I used my new Tonic border punch system to make the scallop.  By trial and error and a YouTube video I figured out how to use it.  I added some fan-folded paper flowers from American Crafts Delights to disguise the larger red triangle a bit.  It'll be a great gift for a little guy's birthday!

Yoga/Exercise Mat Bags

Sara found a yoga studio instructor who wants some of my yoga mat bags made with Amy Butler designer fabrics.  I have several unsold at Anything Goes so I took a couple of those home with me.  I made a new label for them and will replace them with some made from blue fabrics to freshen up the display there.

Here are the bags for Sara to take to yoga with her.  They are made with the MidWest Modern II line of fabrics:  Garden Maze, Happy Dots, Ripple and Park Fountains.

The new vellum labels



And another combo ready to cut

but which liner should I use for this combo?

My sister-in-law gave me some drapery panels she had made from Amy Butler fabrics. I purchased some fabrics for lining. I think the Honeycomb on the left can stand up to this

large decorator fabric version of Garden Maze.  The Full Moon is too busy for the large pattern. The most fun and creative part is choosing the contrasting fabrics and colors.

Here's one ready to sew--no decisions necesary at this stage!

St. Patrick's Day Designs for Cards

I made some cards for St. Patrick's Day last weekend using some stickers and scraps I had.  No particular inspiration for these--just scrappin' with paper on a rainy afternoon.

A peek inside...

Pull tab out

Pull tab reverse

Newest Card Designs

Last week I met with my neighbor, Bonnie, who shares my enjoyment of papercrafting. We made some cards with her bird punch from Stampin' Up using an idea we saw on Pinterest.

Card idea from Pinterest

Small bird punch from Stampin'Up

Here are the variations I made with the bird punch and some die cuts using Labels Collections Framelits dies from Stampin' Up that Bonnie had just received. We used her scrap bin and made various bird species.  Maybe you'll get one in the mail?



Goldfinch?

Bluebird?

Robin?

Love birds?

Rag Quilts from Circles for Baby Girls

Sister Linda, niece Katherine, daughter Sara and Didi

Last Saturday, Sara and I went to a baby shower for my niece, Katherine. 

Reverse side without fraying

Sara and I were happy sewers--or sewers--making the quilt together before the event.

The quilt pattern, from Frayed Edge Fun by Evelyn Sloppy, is called "Baby Blues" but uses circles instead of rectangles like "Baby Rails" from a previous posting.  The fabrics were from Fabrics.com and included Amy Butler Love Flannel Tumble Roses pink. I also used Strawberry Shortcake Garden Flannel Fun Dots White (a bright green fabric with small white dots), Camelot Flannel Songbirds Eggshell, Parfait Flannel Plaid and Butterfly Banana, Flitter Flannel Paisley Garden Pink, and Fluffy Jungle Flannel Confetti Pink/Green.  I bought an Olfa rotary circle cutter 18mm to make the cutting easier and faster than the rectangles.

I had made another baby quilt from the same pattern for Amy, my nephew's wife, with different colors.  Her quilt fabrics were from Connecting Threads Sunny Day collection and included Posy Patch cream, Garden Patches blush, Posy Patch kiwi, Freshed Pick burro, Ditty Dots burro, and Mirage peach.

Mint chocolate chip?

Reverse side without frayed edges

And, of course, each of the pregnant nieces received a baby carriage card.

Welcome, babies!

New rag quilt for Kathy

I started a new rag quilt yesterday.  The fabrics are from Fabric.com and a fabric store in Colchester, CT, Fabric Mills. All the fabrics are flannels in aqua, teal, and turquoise hues. I added chocolate brown and a solid light blue to "rest the eye" and continue the lights and darks from the patterns. 

It took me three hours to cut out the 4 X 10 inch rectangles from the nine fabrics. The fabric designs included Valori Wells Bliss Flannel Medallion Ocean and Birds Ocean, Valori Wells Karavan Flannel Kashmir Aqua, Sapna Shah Tree of Life Vines Aqua, Erin McMorris Greenhouse Flannel Buttonwood Aqua, Timeless Treasures Cuddle Flannel Swirls Turquoise, and A.E. Nathan Tie Die Turquoise. 

I cut about 150 sandwiches (2 layers of same fabric with batting inside) to make a "Baby Rails Rag Quilt" from Frayed Edge Fun by Evelyn Sloppy. (Not a great last name for a quilter but the beauty of these rag quilts is that all "sloppiness" is hidden in the frayed edges and soft flannel fabric.)  This quilt will be for an adult lap quilt so it will have 9 rows instead of 5 for the baby pattern.

I have made several others from the same pattern.  My first was for myself and included colors used in my house:  yellow gold, maroon, sage green.

It is so warm and soft and cuddly on cold nights--or afternoons when I read--that I made more for Christmas.  I'll find photos of the Sunny Days quilt for Sara and the menswear flannel fabrics from Fabric.com for my son and his family.

For now, I need to lay out the sandwiches and create the design for this quilt.  That's the most fun!