Friday, December 30, 2011

Tutorial, Tutorial, My FIRST Tutorial!!!

I saw this photo somewhere, and I'm honestly not sure where. I think I re-pinned it on Pinterest, but I'm not sure who started it...? Anyway, I saw the photo and fell in love with the project and KNEW I could do that! I used to dabble in acrylic painting (would like to again, one of these days), beading, scrapbooking (long ago), crochet, and I do more quilting than anything. But I've been getting into the "blogger world" over the past couple/few months, then Pinterest, Etsy (viewing, not selling), and some Twitter, too. In all of these forms of media, I have been SO inspired to do things I've never done before! My goal, however, is to stick to things where I can buy only the supplies I need for "that" project. I don't want to need another closet, or another drawer for yet another hobby. I don't want to build a "stash" of anything unrelated to quilting... So, that leads me to why I was so excited about this particular project. Supplies = project! Almost nothing left over - just a few crayons to give to my cousin's kids.

So, I've never done a tutorial before. Stick with me, ok? And please - feel free to offer constructive feedback if there is something I could do differently to make the tutorial go better, be more smooth, etc...

Here's what we're making - I'll call it "Crayola Rainbow Art":

(please bear with my crummy lighting... It's quite bright "in real life," and I'll try to update photos over the weekend sometime!)

Supplies Needed:
- 18x24" canvas
- Crayola Crayons - 96 count box
- glue gun - I used 3 glue sticks
- hair dryer
- foil wrapped cookie sheet to lay glue gun down on when not in use - I was very aware of not wanting to burn anything else...
- protective paper or plastic to cover work space (under & behind project, and to the sides - blowdryers can make melted crayon wax fly everywhere!)


And here is how to make it:

~ I started with an 18x24 canvas and a box of 96 Crayola Crayons.


~Then, I lined up all of the crayons in somewhat rainbow order, nicely messing up where purple goes. Technically, the color order of the rainbow is: ROY-G-BIV, or: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, Indigo, violet. I left out the browns, black, white, and a few other strange colors. As you can see, there are too many crayons - they go beyond each side of the canvas:



~ Since I had more crayons than would fit across the 24"side of the canvas, I took out the specialty "gel" and "glitter" crayons, and one color that I detested (group shown in front), ending up with a total of 70 crayons. I tried to go from dark to light within each color, but crayons trick you sometimes and I found that how they look in "crayon form," is not exactly what you get when they melt, but that's OK:


~ Next, you need to glue the crayons onto your canvas - flat edges at the top of the canvas, and pointed end toward the bottom of the canvas (makes a nice "tip" for the melted wax to drip from). I lined mine up starting with blue on the left (after starting with the silver crayon) and red to the far right. Next time, I'll have red on the left and blue on the right.
The hot glue dries FAST as it cools, so I only glued 2 crayons on at a time. I was careful to make sure the "Crayola" wording was pointed out as I laid the crayon down on the thick line of hot glue so that it looked nice & purposeful, not sloppy. I also made sure the glue wasn't actually going to be on the wax part of the crayon, because I wasn't sure if that would melt the glue as the wax got hot:




~ Keep gluing down crayons until you're done. If you start exactly at one edge and place your crayons tightly together on the canvas, the 70 crayons will fit perfectly! When done gluing, unplug glue gun & turn your crayoned-canvas right side up so the pointed edges of the crayons are pointed down.


~ Now here is where the real fun of "creating" begins!!! Depending on how you hold the blowdryer, you may get drips that are blown onto other areas of your canvas, or they might drip directly beneath the crayon. You're bound to have colors that mix together - some you'll like, and some you won't. Go with it! As my husband said, "the ugly colors help you appreciate the good colors." The crayons melt faster or slower depending on how close you hold the blow dryer. I became quite bold toward the end, but I started out holding it 2-3" from the crayons, moving my entire arm slowly from side to side among only 1 or 2 sets of colors. As more drips accrue, you can quickly run the blow dryer down the canvas to help the drip "run" down. Otherwise, you'll get a big "glop" of wax just a few inches below your crayons (ask me how I know). Big glops turn into ugly colors... As I was getting closer to being done, I was holding the dryer about 1" or less from the crayons (only got one nice big glob of wax on my blow dryer). I took a few breaks, because I could feel the dryer getting a little over-warm when I did this.







*see the big green glop?*


Here is the finished product (in fairly bad lighting):





Here's what I think went well:
Most of the project!

Here is what I would do differently next time:
~ I would take out a few more of the "muddy" colors, replacing them with more oranges, yellows (normal bright colors). I will probably have to buy another smaller pack of Crayolas for that, however.
~ I will also, now that I know, use the blow dryer to help prevent the glopping (wax drying before it drips all the way down the canvas)

Let me know if you decide to make one of these! My husband and I like a lot of bright & bold colors in art, so I think this will be quite fun. I might, however, make a new one to fix the problem areas, but that won't be for awhile. Another thing I might consider would be to take the paper off entirely, however, I think that could make a pretty big mess depending on how you were moving the blow dryer around. If I do that, I think I'll prop the canvas up within a cardboard box or something in order to keep the wax from flying all over my quilting room...

Thursday, December 29, 2011

Sew Can Do: More Tasty Treats - Fruit Pebble Cupcakes!!

Oh my! These look like the most fun & tasty kids treat (ahem... I'm still a kid, right?) I've seen in ages! I have some ideas and will be trying this out in the near future...

Ashley of Simply Designing guest blogged on Cheryl's blog, Sew Can Do, and did a tutorial on these fun "cupcakes."

Click here to view the tutorial!

This is the lovely photo from Simply Designing, too. Please go visit her blog - she's got lots of fabulous ideas!! Go see Cheryl's blog, too!!!

Blogger's Choice Fabric Bundle

Sometimes I ask myself if I'm up for a good challenge. Depends. Depends on the benefit, depends on the time & energy used, depends on how much fun it will be. Right? Most of the time, I'm up for it. Or, I'm trying to be, anyway. I'll consider this "an adventure." I also need to point out that no money was used or abused in this process.

Laura, of Quokka Quilts, gave quilters a challenge involving The Fat Quarter Shop and their "Blogger's Choice" section of fat-quarter bundles. Quilters are to go to the FQS site and make up our own "Blogger's Choice Bundle," which will then be placed into competition. Whoever wins receives a 1/2 yard bundle of our own "Blogger's Choice" fabrics.

A couple days ago, after initially having a hard time choosing just 12 prints and 3 solids, I decided "forget it." I was spending too much time on it. But after waking up shortly after 3am this morning.... it's either do this, or hunt for a job. I obviously chose fabric. See where my priorities are? Ok, give me credit - it was 3am. I didn't have the concentration needed for job hunting. Right?

After seeing a fabric I really liked that is a black/white/yellow combination, I decided those would be my color choices for my bundle. As I looked through alllllllll of the fabrics the shop has, I found a theme: Daisies! This is often a theme of choice, as I have a dog who is named Daisy. Can you tell I like Daisies?

Thank you to Laura for creating the challenge, and to The Fat Quarter Shop for sponsoring it!

So, here is the bundle I came up with, and I truly WOULD love half-yards of these fabrics (!!). If you click on the photo, you will see a larger version & the fabrics will be more visible:


Here is a list of the fabrics in my bundle, starting with the upper left, and moving row by row, left to right:
1 - Oval Elements Cookies ‘n Cream (SKU# OE-919) by Art Gallery Fabrics

2- Annie's Farm Stand Black on White Pixie Dot Yardage - SKU# 10083-BOW - Annie's Farm Stand by Holly Holderman for Lakehouse Dry Goods

3 - Tuxedo Collection Black Scattered Daisies Yardage - SKU# C2695-BLACK - Tuxedo Collection by Doodlebug Design for Riley Blake Designs

4 - Crazy Daisy Black Crazy Daisy Yardage - SKU# 4647-12 - Crazy Daisy by Benartex Fabrics

5 - Remix Black Daisy Dance Yardage - SKU# 10393-2 - Remix by Ann Kelle for Robert Kaufman Fabrics

6 - Rocky and Bullwinkle White Daisies on Black Yardage - SKU# 33233-3 - Rocky and Bullwinkle by Windham Fabrics

7 - Crazy Daisy Yellow with Black Small Daisy Bloom Yardage - SKU# 4641-30 - Crazy Daisy by Benartex Fabrics

8 - Crazy Daisy Black with Yellow Large Daisy Bloom Yardage - SKU# 4640-99 - Crazy Daisy by Benartex Fabrics

9 - Treasures and Tidbits Marigold Dots and Stripes Yardage - SKU# 10996-129 - Treasures & Tidbits by Piece O' Cake Designs for Robert Kaufman Fabric (I just KNEW I needed a stripe in there, and this seemed a perfect match for the black/white/yellow theme...)

10 - Pam Kitty Morning Yellow Powder Puffs Yardage - SKU# LH11009-YELLOW

11 - Elephants on Parade Yellow Maze Yardage - SKU# C7441-YELLOW - Elephants on Parade by Timeless Treasures Fabrics

12 - Lark Pitch Sparkle Yardage - SKU# PWAB76-PITCH - Lark by Amy Butler for Westminster Fibers

13 - Kona Cotton Black Yardage - SKU# K001-1019 by Robert Kaufman Fabrics

14 - Kona Cotton White Yardage - SKU# K001-1387 - by Robert Kaufman Fabrics

15 - Bella Solids Yellow Yardage - SKU# 9900-24 - by Moda Fabrics

16 - that would be Yours Truly. :)


I had fun doing this, although I was correct that it would take way longer than I expected, including the time to write the blog. But it was a good challenge. Obviously, I figured out I was up for it.




Note:
I used this mosaic maker since I have no idea how to make one on my computer's photo program. There is a little photo of me in there because the mosaic had an extra blank spot in it, so I needed to fill it with something. No photos of Daisy were available on the computer, so in went a photo of yours truly. :)

Wednesday, December 28, 2011

2012 UFO List Comes to Fruition

It was really hard to come up with this list because I have quite a few things that just need the binding sewn down on the back, and tons of things I want to "start." However, many of the binding projects were on my 2011 list and are still not complete, so.... I'm going to refresh with new items. Hope it works!

It will be interesting to see how this goes, because I'm using the list for two groups. One way or another, I hope these things are crossed off by 12-31-2012!


2012 UFO Quilting/Sewing List


1. Christmas Wreath (Bittersweet book)
- not yet started

2. Autumn Wreath (Bittersweet book)
- started December 2011

3, Quilt & bind “Alaska” table topper
- top complete in June 2011

4. Fuse & applique the 2011 “Lollypop Trees” 18” blocks
- August/September blocks are fused. Oct/Nov/Dec not started

5. HOB quilt binding and label
- and deliver to recipient (mail?)

6. Finish “A Secret Garden” quilt top (Pat Sloan pattern)
- top was started in early 2010

7. Finish quilting "his" quilt and bind
- on quilting machine now (surprise quilt - can't name recipient)

8. Finish quilty-batik sweatshirt
- started in ’05 or ’06

9. Cut down border & add new binding on David’s blue/white quilt
- SIL made it for him many years ago and it’s falling apart from so much use!

10. Finish “Luminous Diamonds” quilt top
- started in Spring 2010

11. Finish turquoise/purple “birds” messenger bag
- started summer 2011

12. Quilt & bind "her" quilt
- quilt top is finished (surprise quilt - can't name recipient - this is connected with #7)



I'll try to come back and post photos of the UFO items at some point soon...

Tuesday, December 27, 2011

Design Wall Monday

Shhhh - don't tell anyone it's "technically" Tuesday!!!

"Design Wall Monday" is a new thing for me to blog about. However, Judy Laquidara from Patchwork Times (I do LOVE her blogs, so I'll probably end up mentioning her quite a bit from here on out) hosts a "Design Wall Monday" linky party on her blog, so I thought I'd chime in. This is her last DWM for the year. Makes sense, since it's the last Monday of the year. Wait - did we even have a February this year? I can't even remember...

Ok, getting back to business here... I just spent about 8 lovely hours at my sewing machine! This is what (part of) my design wall looks like now:



My goodness, is the lighting TERRIBLE in this photo!!! YIKES! (UPDATE: I fixed the photo - took a new one in "daylight" and replaced the old yucky one)

So, here is what is in the photo: The top 2 photos are a BOM I'm doing called "Lollypop Trees," designed by Kim McLean. I'm doing my BOM through The Quilt Studio, and they've been fabulous so far. The series started in August 2011, and goes for 16 months. The blocks are 18"x18"!! I'm going to love my ginormous quilt!!! So far, I have fused down the pieces for the August and September blocks. I will machine appliqué the pieces down. At least that's my plan as it stands now. It's going to be a BIG job!
The 10 blocks on the bottom are the "buck a block" blocks that I mentioned in a post from Christmas Day. I'm doing this through a lovely shop in Seattle - The Quilting Loft. I got 2 blocks done on the 25th, 4 done on the 26th, and another 4 done in the same sitting, but technically on the 27th since it was past midnight. SO glad to have started the blocks and to now be caught up - in less than 48 hours from starting them! Now I'll wait till the beginning of January to receive my next blocks - then staying caught-up will be my goal!
Lastly, on the right, is a block I made on the "quilter's cruise to Alaska." I started this block in a class taught by Sue Nichols, who is an AMAZING machine appliqué quilter! I have enough fabric to make 3 more of these, but I think I might add fabric of my own and make the quilt larger. We really don't have space for this type of wall hanging, so it needs to be a "usable" quilt! I do love the design, which Sue did specifically for our cruise group, so I definitely want to continue it on!!

Sunday, December 25, 2011

Buck-A-Block UFO finally started - Merry Christmas!

I went up to Seattle with David back in September sometime and, while he was in his meeting at work, I went to a store which is probably in my top three favorite quilt shops. It's called The Quilting Loft and it's located on NW Market Street in/near Ballard. The ladies in this store have always been really friendly, they have a great combo of modern fabrics and batiks (lots of batiks I've never seen before!), and a nice selection of books and patterns. I saw a quilt up on the wall advertising their new BOM which starts in January 2012, and I signed up! As I was talking to the lady about it, she showed me their current "buck-a-block" quilt, which was hanging in another location (right in front of me). Since they were willing to mail the small packets each month, I signed up. Who can resist a really pretty quilt when there is an option for batiks in some of my favorite colors (pomegranate & cream as the main colors)?! Since the program, which is sponsored by Thangles, started in August, I took home the first 2 month's blocks that day. Needless to say, I didn't get started on it right away - I was busy with work & school, and I didn't buy any Thangles. DUHHH! Oh - and yeah - my sewing room was needing some TLC.

Now that the room is clean again, I'm relieved of all duties associated with school, and I had The Quilting Loft mail a pack of Thangles to me last week, I decided to go up and get started. I didn't want to spend too long in there - just a little dabble to make me feel all warm and quilty inside. I believe it took a little over an hour, and here are the results from the August 2011 pack:





It turns out that each month makes two blocks, which I realized soon after I started the program. They are the same pattern but the colors are flipped, light/dark, for each block. Knowing how quick the little (8" unfinished) blocks go together, I can't wait to get back in there and do the remaining 4 sets of blocks!

Merry Christmas!!!

Merry Christmas to you & yours!

We had a nice time with some family in town for the past couple of days. We had a delicious "feast" yesterday, and opened gifts afterward. My husband "got into it" this year when he decided that "toys" should be our theme. So, everyone got a variety of toys & fun things to play with - some silly, and some really cool/fun stuff, too. GO HUSBAND!! :)

I finished school on the 6th, and have been ACHING to sew since! However, cleaning was a necessity, as was holiday shopping and a small variety of other stuff. Guests were set to arrive early on Friday, and I finally sat down at the machine on Thursday evening, around 9pm or so. I didn't leave until THREE stockings were complete - at about 3:30am. I got way too little sleep that night, but it felt so good to be in there "creating" that it was well worth the sleep deprivation!

The stockings were intended to be for our guests - our nephew and his wife. However, when I looked at my stash of holiday fabric, it SUCKED. So, rather than make something they'd rather throw away, I decided to make stockings for our animals, aka: "the kids," instead. Here is a photo of the finished products:

The two for the dogs have the same main fabric, but the tops are different. I'm rather happy with them, considering I had just a template for the stocking "shape," and no instructions past that! The top wasn't part of the design, so I figured that out - quite easily by the third one. :)

I was also the lucky winner of a homemade stocking and it arrived on Friday! Joanie at Joanie's quilts did a fabulous job, adding hand stitching and small felt ornaments to the tree. Love it! Here is a photo:

Thank you, Joanie!!!

I'm sure there are many things I could post about, but the last thing I'll include here is about the batch of hand cream I made a few days ago. I got the "recipe" from Judy Laquidara of Patchwork Times. I love Judy's blog - she posts sometimes a few times per day, and her blog is full of inspiration, and humor! Back to the lotion - I started out with dollar store products since I really didn't know how this would turn out (I didn't trust myself to mix the products and get a good result...? LOL). Next time, I think I would look for higher quality products, but I do like what the dollar-store result was.

I will be working tonight, starting at 10pm, so I'm going in to sew for a little while while the day is still young and before I take my "night-shift nap." I need to rid myself of this "I wanna SEW" feeling, and the only way to do it is to SEW! :)

Wednesday, December 14, 2011

Traveling & Quilting

Is it SAD that I can't go anywhere without thinking of quilting? I look for quilts everywhere, I look for places to "shop quilting" - and I look EVERYWHERE!!!

My DH and I recently went to Santa Fe for a few days. Thankfully, I could look on my dumb "smart phone" to find out if there were any quilt shops locally, since I'd run out of time while still home. Thankfully, there is a shop called "Santa Fe Quilting" in town - and it is open, even on Sundays! (blog title links to store's website)

I was grateful that DH agreed to stop at the shop on Sunday before heading to the airport. The shop was great - lots of good patterns, and tons of batiks - my favorite "stashable" fabric!! I ended up buying 3 patterns, and several batiks...



I loved the red batik so much that I bought 2.5 yards... I hope to do something with it sooner than later - I just LOVE it! I ended up with 1-yard pieces of 3 of the other fabrics, and 1/2 yards of the others. A few of the prints came from their "Santa Fe" shelf, which was somewhat filled with southwestern batik prints. While they had quite a few, and I bought 3 or 4 of 'em, I struggle to decide how to use these particular fabrics. Maybe I'll make some mug rugs for our new dining room table. Otherwise? I have no ideas...

I just love going to fabric stores when I'm traveling. I don't know if I'm looking for something new, some kind of specialized batik prints (got some fabulous pieces when on a trip to Alaska last May/June!), or what it is. Maybe I just want to fill up my "quilting passport" with unfamiliar shops? Heck - maybe it's just another reason to quilty-shop!! But, the truth is that I'm done with school (yayyy!!), and now that I'm able to sit down and sew some, I want quilty reminders of the places we go.

Is there a 12-step program for this?