A WORK IN PROGRESS

There hasn't been much time for sewing or crafting the past week or so, but there are deadlines looming so sleep has been dispensed with. The quilt show is coming up in April and there are challenges to be tackled and boutique items to be made. This is my work in progress for the guild challenge which it titled "Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend". The rules were all sides needed to be between 35 and 45 inches. The background needed to be black and there must be at least 10 diamond shape in the quilt.

The top is almost completed I have some tumbling blocks to applique on the top but haven't decided whether I am going to quilt first of after the applique. Probably after.....so I have a bit more to do before I begin the quilting. I have until March 1 to have it ready to turn in.

I do need to make time to get into the stamp room. I sold so many cards at Christmas that I hardly have any in stock. Oh...so much to do and so little time to do it. Good thing I rarely cook any more.

Had a special birthday card to make so actually got some stamping done. Not happy with the photo but trust me it looks quite nice in real life!

I finally got around to using my cupcake die cut from Stampin' Up. It's really fun. I embossed the Bravo Burgundy cardstock with a Cuttlebug folder to give it some texture before I cut it out. I really liked how it turned out. The sprinkles on the cupcake are little sparkly diecuts that already had adhesive on them. I really didn't want to fuss with having to glue down the dots from the SU die cut; the candles and flames where tricky enough for my arthritic fingers. SO thanks Marnie for the Christmas present odds and ends.....that's where my sprinkles came from!

Other than this card I am now into some serious quilting as I begin to prepare for this years guild Quilt Show in April. Soon I will have some pictures of what I am working on right now it is all in pieces. By tomorrow there should be something worth sharing.

I HAVEN'T FORGOTTEN

I haven't forgotten my crafting BLOG, but I really am not doing much in the way of stamping or sewing at the moment. Life is a bit overwhelming right at the moment and all my energies are going toward "real work". By the time I get home I am exhausted....an unfortunate side affect of the RA...Doc said I just needed to get used to less energy and more fatigue. I'm still hoping that with time my body will adjust, I will figure out a sane schedule and I will be able to get back to these activities I love. I do need to figure this out sooner rather than later since I have the quilt show boutique to prepare for....items made mean items to sell.

Until then I do have a few cards I made before all this chaos descended that I can show you. This one uses a GinaK stamp. I have a problem with black embossing powder so use black craft ink and clear embossing powder when I want black embossing. The entire main image here is embossed in this manner. I used my cuttlebug and an embossing folder for the layer just beneath the image. Some designer paper and mustard colored brads for embelishments. I like this card becasue it is more masculine and I find those card ideas harder to come up with than pretty feminine ones.

CURRENTLY KWILTIN'

The end of November found me working back at a quilt shop. I think I mentioned in my previous post that I will be teaching classes. This means I need class samples. The first was the placemat in the post before this. My second class, assuming people sign up will be a Double Irish Chain Quilt. The making of the model for this class took me the week following Christmas. It has been quite a while since I have made a quilt of this size. Most of what I have done the past few years have been baby quilt size or smaller. Here it is.


I am very happy with how it turned out and I couldn't have finished it in the time I did without my mothers help. I now remember the main reason I do baby quilts or smaller is there is so much less bulk to manipulate while doing the quilting. This quilt was from a book written years ago by Eleanor Burns. She labeled it a lap quilt. I think she must know people with very large laps. In my estimation it is a twin quilt.

No that this quilt is complete and hanging on the wall at Capital Quilts in Gaithersburg, MD I will look for my next quilting project, but I also do want to get back to some stamping. Now that the holidays are behind us hopefully I will find some free time to get back up to the stamp room.