...my dd doodled. She loves Autumn. She is currently working on a Fantasy novel for her creative writing class and somehow the image of autumn trees and a phoenix became something she had to get out of her head and this was born:



it has nothing to do with her novel, so she had to get it out of the way before she could get back to work

I participated in a personal swap with squire_inaria and just received this lovely poppet I asked if she could make one for my dd...



based on this design (from said dd):



I have to admit that squire_inaria noticed more details than I did!

I plan to give this to my dd for her birthday

Thanks for swapping!

I made this quilt for a private swap with squire_inaria and thought I'd share a little bit of the process...



I started off with a batik tree sandwiched between two pieces of wash away stabilizer. I thread painted the batik so that it has plenty of texture to give it bark, using plain black and brown threads and following that up with a King Tut variegated thread. I then cut away the extra stabilizer and hand washed the tree to get rid of the rest of the stabilizer in the tree.



After marking the placement of the moon and tree, I started quilting the background. VanGogh's Starry, Starry Night provided inspiration for the swirling sky quilting.



I then thread painted/scribbled the elements to the quilted background and batting. Here you can see the quilting and where the elements were applied.

I attached a fringe on the bottom to give a 3D grass effect in the foreground, bound it and sent it off to it's new home.

I took a picture of it with the inspiration postcard before sending off:



C&C always welcomed

I've been itching to soap and have wanted to develop a harder bar as the Boybarian is trying out his growing muscles on my bars and they are becoming twisted lumps of sliminess - EEWW!

Yesterday I needed a break from the sewing dungeon, so I pulled out my soap supplies and made a batch of soap:



It is now freshly cut and sitting on my counter smelling so delightful! I am anxious to try it out to see if it will hold up the the Boybarian!



I swirled the soap, but it was at a fairly thick trace so the swirling isn't as finely detailed as I would have hoped for, but it is pretty and no one needs to know, right?

C&C welcome

I made this quilt from thrifted Men's Ties and Shirts. I also found a length of chambray at the thrift store, so it is thrifted but for thread and batting.

Close up of the blocks.

Working with ties is a whole different ballgame than working with new quilting cottons. They are cut on the bias and every fabric wants to do it's own thing...wrestling them into submission is an art all to itself!


Quilting detail

I quilted it mostly in the ditch, thinking this would empasize the pieces and not detract from the fabrics.

If you like this, consider voting for my quilt on the http://quiltinggallery.com/2011/06/24/vote-now-quilts-for-fathers-2/#comments...they are having a contest...with a Quilts for Fathers theme and I'd love to be a winner

Thanks for looking (and C&C always accepted!)!

I'm very pleased with how these little quilted postcards turned out:



I'm hostessing a swap elsewhere on the internet and the theme is Summer Garden. These are Moonlit Garden and Garden Produce.

I used Angelina Fibers for the moon and it really is shiny

JOY

This is a scrappy quilt made mostly from fabrics I gathered in Obnoxious Fabric swaps that I host on another site.



It is 76" X 92" and my girls tell me I should call it No Thanks, YOU Take It as they look at it and see all the weird fabrics in it, rather than the nice design that the traditional Arkansas Crossroads blocks make.



The color is off a bit in the full shot, the detail shows the colors more as they are - bright!

JOY

ignore the cheese wedges...those will soon be history (YUM!).





The containers are some sort of cardboard with a paper coating...

JOY

WOO-HOO! I got a box of goodies from Amy today



In the box, carefully packed with blue shreds I received some Sandalwood Whipped Body Frosting (I love shea butter!), A Sleep Mask, A Crocheted Cotton Soap Saver & Washcloth (< all from my Wists ) and Black Vanilla Soap (WOW! I'm in love with this vanilla!), A Pedicure Brush/Pumice/Rasp thingy, a darling Cosmetic Case in my favorite color and monogrammed (so dd won't take it!), Three cool inspirational Magnets (Dream, Laugh, Believe), and a CD with the music of Panpipes to set the mood for relaxing - AAAHHHH!

Thank you SO MUCH Amy! This is a great box full of goodies

JOY

[shout4joy]

According to my records (which could very well  be wrong), I am still awaiting blocks from:

• gingerquilts
  shout4joy
  malisha
  chinarockfishakm

If any of you have sent my block back, please just let me know and I will double-check my pile.  Again, my records could very well  be incorrect!

Thanks, all!

I sent your block out...I sure hope you received it by now!

It looks like this: