a picture post

As noted in my previous post, I have spent little time creating these days, hence some smaller, simpler projects.

Tea towels and onesies embellished with scrappy camera appliques...

My first time attempting a string quilt block out of scraps, which turned into four...

Pre-cuts assembled into a simple quilt top...

It's a start, right?

iphone sleeve with applique

I bought my first iPhone a few months ago.  While it has a rubber cover, I still don't like the fact that I can't safely toss it into my bag or purse without it getting scratched, cracked or dinged.

So I decided to try making an easy sleeve/cozy/cover for my phone and thought I'd make one for my sister's phone as well.

She is a Fleetwood Mac fan.  In fact, I think she should have been a teenager in the '70s because she is the queen of classic rock.  We are going to see Fleetwood Mac next month, so I had an idea for her iPhone sleeve that I thought she might like.

First, I drew a little cassette tape (sadly, none of my third graders know what this is).

I cut the paper into individual pieces and traced them onto a sheet of Wonder-Under.  I love that stuff!  

Then I pressed each individual piece onto fabric to create some iron-on applique.

I used two strands of embroidery thread to hand stitch around the borders (which is incredibly relaxing, but time-consuming!) and also added some extra details and embellishments to make it look more realistic.

Finally, I sewed a simple sleeve for her phone.  Safe and sound.

For my phone sleeve, I drew this little gnome, but have yet to get started.  Daylight savings threw me for a loop today, so hopefully I'll get started on it sometime this week...

learning to fly

I finished my second (ever) quilt yesterday. My co-worker is having a baby boy at the end of this month, so it was the perfect opportunity for me to put together another of my crooked creations.

I love to sew, but I have always figured everything out as I go. I don't like reading or following the directions. I've never taken formal classes or asked for help. So instead I make it harder on myself by plowing through the unknown blindly.

This is true for everything I've done in life. But when it comes to being creative, I don't want to wait until someone else shows me. I want to figure it out now. Instant gratification. Perhaps that is why my piano playing is clumsy and my creations are often off-kilter and crooked, with little use of proper techniques.

I am hoping that the more I practice, the better I'll become and the more "polished" my creations will appear. While I try to tell myself that every snarled stitch and puckered square adds personality to my work, deep down I want to get better and to do it as well as the pro quilters I so admire.

In the meantime I'm dabbling in the onesies craze and attempting to make gifts for all the friends and family members around me having babies.