25 August 2011

A Simple Quote

God gave us each a talent to see it [the world] differently. It’s a beautiful gift and one that shouldn’t be taken for granted. We each record memories differently, and that’s what makes us artists. We paint the world for everyone else through a lens.” 

- Cassie Jones, Photographer



This excerpt was taken from her most recent blog post.  Worth reading!

19 August 2011

Great Giveaway!

Katie Evans Photography is giving away hard copies of her new book, "The Key to Taking Pictures Like a Professional Photographer".  It's amazing!  Check it out HERE!


17 August 2011

Quilts, Quilts and More Quilts

A couple factors have led me into daily quilting:

1. We are down to one vehicle, which my husband takes to work every day (I'm not getting up at 4:30am to take him, no sir!), and

2. It's my grown-up time away from my toddlers.  Heaven bless them, I love them to pieces, but spending 24-7 with a kid who is 3-going-on-13 and a girl who is 17-months-going-on-11, well, let's just say that I need a daily mental vacation.

Quilting is my happy place.  The fabrics are pretty, the sewing machine does what I ask of it (most of the time), I get something out of it that stays done at the end of the day (thanks, Carie, for that mantra!).

Putting all this time into quilting means that I'm getting a high yield of finished projects.  So, I thought I would showcase them.  The work below shows my projects from the last month or so.  Enjoy!


Queen-Size family snuggle blanket in Prince Charming.


This is one of my favorite quilts I've ever made!


LOVE wall hanging for one of my good friend's wedding.





"Rain or Shine" quilt in Kate Spain's Terrain.


Aren't the fabrics gorgeous?


"Birthday Banner" for my son's 3rd.


The start of my next big quilt. Diamonds in Tula Pink's Parisville.


The color scheme amazes me!


Hello, Ladies!


16 August 2011

I'm A Guest Blogger Today!

Bounce on over to Craizee Corners (here), where I'm today's guest blogger!!  My projects using Tula Pink fabrics are in the spotlight!

(We'll do a follow-up here on those projects soon!  Stay tuned...)

10 August 2011

Facelift

My blog was starting to bore me, which is never a good thing.  If I don't like it, I'm sure you don't.  So, I gave it a make-over.  Let me know what you think!  Is it too much?  Not enough?  I'd love to hear your thoughts!

Thanks!

09 August 2011

Diamonds Are A Girl's Best Friend

While I'm working on the quilting phase of my Prince Charming, which just so happens to be my least favorite phase of finishing a project, I thought I would start cutting into my Parisville.  Having just watched Moulin Rouge for the umpteenth time, the song "Diamonds Are A Girl's Best Friend" is on a continuous loop in my head.  Thoughts about Parisville apparently collided with the song lyrics, and BAM!  The idea to cut my Parisville fabric into diamonds was born.

So let me ask, has anyone made a quilt top exclusively with diamonds before?  If so, did you border the diamonds, border the whole quilt, or both?  I can't decide if I want plain old diamonds, like ziss:


Framed in diamonds:

Or a border around the outside:


(All of the above are Kaffe Fasset patterns, BTW)

What do you, my quilting genius friends, think?  Opinions?  Thoughts?  Suggestions?

You could suggest scrapping the diamonds altogether, but sorry, I'll ignore you.  They're already sitting on my kitchen table waiting to be sewn. ;-)

08 August 2011

My Not-So-New Crush

Thanks to a good friend of mine, Dawn, I began 2011 with an introduction to the wonderful world of quilting - and more specifically, textiles.  Who knew there was a whole world out there of amazing people who devote their lives to designing fabrics which are meant to be cut up and sewn back together.

Back in April, the work of one textile designer/quilter extraordinaire caught my attention.  Her name is Tula Pink, and she is nothing short of genius.  Fun and funky, her textiles take traditional themes and turn them on their heads.  Her first collection I saw was called Prince Charming, and it was love at first sight.  Based around the image of a frog prince, the collection incorporates modern patterns with traditional fairy tale images that instantly bring a smile to my face.  The biggest problem I had with her collection was that it came in four different color combinations, called colorways, and I couldn't decide which one I wanted.  I've since ended up with all four!


Isn't he handsome?


"Turtle Bay".  Do you see the girls playing on their backs?



A sampling of the prints in the collection in the Coral colorway.

Since falling in love with Prince Charming (yes, I love how that sounds!), I have become an ardent follower of Tula Pink's blog, and I pour over her previous collections.  Her work is incredibly detail-oriented, always amazingly artistic, and simply wonderful.  You know the line on Seinfeld where George says he wants to swath himself in velvet?  Well, I want to swath myself in Tula Pink!  (Side note: there are hard-core Tula Pink fans who are getting themselves tattooed with images from her lines.  I may count myself one of them someday...)

I'm slowly procuring favorite fabrics from her previous collections.  Her new line is coming out this fall, and I am waiting with bated breath to see it.

From the "Nest" collection.

Butterflies!  From the "Hushabye" collection.

Ducks from the "Hushabye" collection.

Owl from the "Hushabye" collection.

I don't know if you can tell, but this is comprised completely of dots.  From "Parisville".

"Parisville" main print.  Look closely at the ladies' hair!

Again, from "Parisville". 

Frankly, many of my favorites seem like they should be hanging in a museum; a little something inside me dies when I make that first cut.  But cut I do, and I will share pictures of my Tula Pink creations just as soon as I have any.

Off I go to look at the real deal instead of just pictures online.  Ah, bliss...

04 August 2011

Schmancy Nails

July brought the weddings of two of my best friends.  I was Matron-of-Honor in one and a lucky witness in the other.  Unfortunately, between MOH duties and chasing 2 toddlers around, I don't have any pictures from either event.

I do, however, have pictures of my fingernails.  As a generally low-maintenance kind of girl, it was downright thrilling to have my fingernails fancied up for these weddings.  I felt like a giddy little girl.


At my friend's wedding where I was MOH, her aunt--a nail tech--gave all the female wedding party members pink-and-whites.  She even did nail art, if we wanted it!  I chose a mod design for my ring fingers.

For those of you who have ever had pink-and-whites, you know that after they come off, your nail beds are torn to shreds.  I tried to keep clear polish on mine for about a week to protect them, but then I found...

...wait for it...

...FABULOUS yellow polish!  Just in time for the second wedding.  And since I didn't have to stand in front of anyone, it was the perfect shade to celebrate!

It's totally '80's.
Totally happy.
Totally RAD!

Isn't it RAD?

HAD to do my toes too!

Color me yellow for a while yet!