It's the little girl kittys turn.....

Here she is.. I put her on fabric paper too...I used navy blue silk, with dotted tissue paper and some inked cheesecloth. Then I made binding out of pink crepe paper and made a matching ruffle at the bottom. Isnt she sweet?

Kitty portrait quilt....

When my daughter moved back in, she brought with her two little kittens...One is a long haired Siamese and the other is a long haired calico. They are brother and sister. The little Siamese one she named Ivan. Andrew took one look at him and yelled "Skippy Jon Jones"! Skippy is his favorite book about a little Siamese cat who thinks he is a Chihuahua. When I looked at Ivan, I realized he is a dead ringer for Skippy, Andrew was right! So now his name is Ivan Jon Jones and he knows it too...I just love kittens. They are always sitting on my lap and it is so comforting. I love their little purr. My mom always called it their motorboats. Anyway, I have the latest issue of "Quilting Arts" and it had pet portraits so I thought I would give it a try. It is so easy and fun! (and it came out good too!) For the background I used fabric paper and then embellished it with the circles, added some ribbon and free motioned his name. I showed the kids without saying anything and they all yelled, "it's Ivan Jon Jones"...oh, the sweet smell of success.....

Apron for the flirty apron swap.....

One down, one to go.....this swap is cool cause it has a theme that is a little bit different. 'what I did on my summer vacation", the fantasy version....my partner was vague and she doesn't know who has her name so I feel fairly safe posting her apron on here. I used seahorse fabric as the body and gave her a vacation in the Bahama's...Hope she likes snorkeling, I sure do. I also made her a lavender filled snippet doll with a ribbon to hang it. If it isn't her kind of thing, she can hang it in her closet or put it in a lingerie drawer. A potholder, a couple shells for her apron pocket and a recipe card and she is set. I like this apron pattern cause you can take the bib off too...it has three buttons on the inside that hold it on. The pattern is called " queen Anne's Apron" by Vanilla House. The flower is my add on just cause I like making them and in this case it is a sea star...use your imagination I guess...It is going in the mail tomorrow.

when the going gets tough, I make aprons.....

My first apron was the one I posted right before Ron passed away...I have to say, I am hooked...they are fast and easy and fun to make and I am all about that kind of thing. I have never wore an apron in my life but I may have to start. My friend Teddi saw the one I made and asked me if I would make her a couple for her friends birthday(two friends) so off we went to the fabric store. I made them even though at first I thought she was nuts cause she wanted them right away...I can do up one from cutting to finishing in about an hour and a half. The hardest part is trying to iron pleats in the ruffle while you are talking and looking at a scrapbook...just have aloe vera on hand for the burns...I actually made these a couple of weeks ago but I wanted to put them on a mannequin to take a picture. ( I needed to borrow one from the store) Don' t they look happy? The flowers I just made up after seeing something similar on someones blog...I don't remember who and then I discovered pot holders. Again no pattern, I figured how hard could they be and they are not hard at all....I used old bath towels for the center and scraps from the apron...So they are GREEN potholders, recycled treasures. I am in two apron swaps so I am working with a new pattern and getting one done tonight....fun, fun...

Round robin 8x8 pages for Martha B.

Her theme is vintage school days...I had a bit of a hard time with this one, cause I needed to use what I have on hand and I think the colors are a bit stronger than what she requested. I hope it is ok! At first, I had the cabinet card girls eyes painted, but they looked very strange, so I reprinted it, cut out the eye part and sewed it over the top. It is strange but pleasing to me....I do all kinds of weird things when I make mistakes and usually they become happy accidents.

Art therapy.....

I have missed blogging and despite everything, life goes on so I am back...Everything is changing here but we are dealing and moving on...I am going to go back to work, Andrew is going to experience daycare for the first time and I have decided to stay on the island for now. My stress level is off the scale and when things get overwhelming, I go downstairs and make things. Thank gosh I have an outlet! I am trying to take good care of myself but some days are harder than others. The kids are doing pretty good and we have been trying to make the most of the summer that is left. Coupeville had an arts and crafts fair and I went with my friend Teddi...There was a lot of neat stuff but not much in the mixed media kind of thing...I did buy a bar of black licorice soap...it is messy stuff, but I love the smell. Probably cause I love licorice ice cream! It smells just like that.....I also saw this wreath of found beachy items and I want to make one so I took a picture....I especially like the little fishing bobber and I know I have a couple downstairs...see the crab claw peeking out too? The little dolls sitting in my vintage sieve with a rolling pin and beater I made about a week ago. I got the idea from Elizabeth at the last door down the hall...she calls them snippets....she had some cabinet card faces to download and I did them on fabric and then just used pieces and bits of fabric and fiber to make a body. One says, "cold hands, warm heart" and the other one says, "don't be reckless with other peoples hearts.." They are fun to make. Thank you everyone for your comments, emails and cards. I appreciate all of you and your kindness....Melinda