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

Loss and grief....

The kids and I have lost an immediate family member, companion and friend, surrogate grandpa and our boat captain....We are devastated and while we attempt to pick up the pieces of our lives, I probably wont be blogging much....Please pray for our little family...Thanks to you all....Melinda

New apron finished...

and it isn't without it's mistakes which is why I made one before the swap. I cut it out while I was watching the "next food network star" show and I wasn't paying attention and I cut on the fold...So I rearranged the fabric and cut again and made another mistake so I pieced it all together with the ruffle fabric which is the red. I also had some trouble with the ties because of my cutting but I improvised...I love this fabric...It's by Michael Miller and the pattern is called "The Bon App'etit apron. How did I do it while watching four kids? I let them build a huge fort in the living room, I fed them every time I thought I heard a stomach rumble and I let them stay inside and watch movies they have seen a gzillion times yet are still fascinated with. Yes, I know, I deserve the mother of the year award. Oh yeah, I told them unless there was blood I didn't want to hear about it...So yep, it is done....

I caught something last night.....

Here it is in all its fishy glory. Guess what we had for dinner tonight?

I got to sew!

Not for as much time as I would've liked, but any time is good time. Especially in this house. The neighbor up the hill just called and she is a single mom with two girls. I suspect that she has a pretty hard time. Anyway, she asked if her 9 year old could come here next week Monday thru Thursday while she works cause some plans with the grandparents fell through...I had Brianna come one day, and she and Olivia about drove me bonkers, but of course I said yes being the masochist that I am. That and I know how hard it can be to not have a sitter...Woo-hoo...four kids now...I am thinking of it as a good karma opportunity since no money will be involved. We are going to be spending a lot of time going to the beach and the park and enough said about that.

I finished this big ole quilt and I am so glad...I think the top was done about a year ago and it was moldering away on a shelf in my bedroom. I love the actual quilting, but I hate putting them on the quilter. I quilted really heavily around the center and then I washed and dried it and I love all the puckers...It looks so quilty and old fashioned. I also started another scrap quilt that is going to be cool... I am using a lot of bright colors...I have all the pieces that make the block all cut and sewn and one block done...I am not ready to show it yet. I cut out an apron too but I haven't sewn anything yet. Maybe tonight? we will see...I also have to show off this adorable little card that Sherry made me..I love the little parasol girl. She reminds me of things that my grandma had in her house. So sweet and old fashioned! Thanks Sherry!

pink charms finished and Gone fishin'

I have the pink charms all done now and I am in the process of making the tags that they are attached too. I have five done and seven to go. I like how these turned out, especially since I just kind of did it with no real plan. The scariest thing was drilling a hole thru the tile. I cracked a few plain tiles before I got the hang of things. I think they are really cute tied to the little pink tags.

We all went fishing for salmon the other night so I am posting a couple of boat pictures too. No bites, but we still had fun. It was a beautiful evening to be out on the water.

Today, I am going to sew darn it! It has been crazy around here again. I have been taking care of all three grand kids every day and today Stacie, my oldest daughter is here and I am passing the mommy torch to her. I bought an apron pattern and fabric and I am going to try it out. I joined to apron swaps so I decided I better make a prototype. I also got some batting and I am going to put a big quilt on the quilter and work on it. We will see how much I get done! Andrew has a tummy ache so this may be hard! Cross your fingers, I need a sewing break!

fried clams and pink charms.....

What a funny title huh? One of the great things about the island is you can go out and get your own seafood... on our getaway this last weekend, I was talking about this to the kids other set of grandparents and they were amazed since they are from the Midwest. We went and dug clams again yesterday and I thought I would show a picture....These are butter clams which are very tender...you don't have to pound the heck out of them like razors and they taste a lot the same. I cook them in the shell, you just cut the stomach out and then dip them in egg and then panko and fry them fast in hot oil....yummmmm. Obviously, these are not good for your little arteries, but occasionally they are ok...So here they are, clams in the shell!

I also started to work on my charms for the pink charm swap...I am making twelve all together...ten will go to other charm swappers and two will go to bracelets that are part of the pink auction with proceeds to go to breast cancer research....my base is scrabble tiles, and I didn't realize how small they are until I started....these aren't finished, but I thought I would just show a little peek..I think they are kinda cute.....and pink...

An award.....

I received an award from Pearl at http://pearlssentimentaljourney.blogspot.com/ and I have been slow to show it cause I don't know how to link from just showing the name so I am doing it the hard way probably! Oh well, it is getting done and that is what counts. Pearl is a new blogging friend and I really enjoy the fact that she is always upbeat, her pictures that she posts are great fun and she wrote the kindest words about me on her blog when she gave me this award..Thanks so much Pearl. The award is the Arte Y Pico award and the link is http://arteypico.blogspot.com/ .

The rules for accepting this award are:

1* pick 5 blogs you consider deserving of this award for creativity, design, interesting material and a contribution to the blogging world.

2*Each person awarded has her name and a link to her blog to be visited

3* each award winner shows the award winner and shows the name and a link to the last blog that presented the award.

4*show the link to the Arte Y Pico blog

5* show the rules

OK! Got thru that part, now the five people....Marie from Z quilts....her art is beautiful and varied and she is really branching out and I love to see the variety of things that she creates...

Marva Plummer Bruno for Purple Paints...Anyone that can sketch their own foot and have it look like a foot is great in my book...she is good at alot of things and makes beautiful jewelry too.

Helen Bailey...she was my inspiration for starting a blog to begin with...I used to read hers and see the new techniques and think, "gee, I want to do that too" she donates a gzillion quilts to sick newborns and kids and makes beautiful fabric atc's and postcards..She is a great person and fabric artist

Jenna Louise from Quilt Crazy Gal....she is a new blogger but I get a real kick out of her...she is very bubbly and her fabric pieces are full of whimsy and imagination. I really love that!

Also Fannie from Imagine and Create......I love her neocolor quilts and she really puts a lot of heart and thought into what she makes. She has a great bear pattern that I gotta order too, darn it!

All of these artists blogs are listed on my sidebar...go visit em!

October journal pages for debby and tiny magnets....

I had a set of journal pages due for my friend Debby from my "color me silly" group...Her theme is the months of the year and I had picked October. I got to work on it last night and I had to incorporate Halloween. I know nature is beautiful in the fall and the weather is the best, but the kid in me was screaming "trick or treat!, trick or treat!' So here it is.....I used alcohol inks for the first time, they are very messy but I like the look on the plastic clock face. I also made some tiny little magnets on paper mache' stars. They are simple but kinda sweet I think. Today, I have a craft planned for the kids. I am going to let them make pencil holders out of some cans. We will see how this one goes. Maybe I can clean a closet while they are creating!

Back home!

The kids and I got back this afternoon from a four day visit to Portland. Man, it was good to get away but I am glad to be home.. It was hot there...darn hot, and I am not used to it. We have had hot weather, but there is always a breeze. We had a great time visiting with Aunts and Uncles, cousins and the other" grandma and grandpa....I ate a zillion bing cherries, got treated to a pedicure (thank you again Cinda) and enjoyed a little bit of quiet while Alex and Jessie helped with the kids. We also went to a craft store / fabric store and I saw so many cool things! It is a good thing it isn't in my neighborhood, I really would have to go to work around the clock. I am posting pictures of a couple atc's I made...they are felted around postage stamps and all the materials came from Helen in a goodie bag that she sent me from the UK....

Happy late fourth of July!

Wow, has this seemed like a long holiday! Ours started on the third and we are finally winding it down. Our little town has quite the celebration the day before the fourth. I took all three kids down to the park on the water about 4 in the afternoon and we got home about midnight. There was entertainment, and exotic animal show ( we petted pythons) food vendors and those big bouncy things you jump in for the kids. After dark the fireworks show started and we all enjoyed it....On the fourth itself, we had our own picnic and bbq and I cooked off and on almost all day and then about 7 we went out in the boat and pulled crab pots....We hit the score on the dungeness...Actually came home with 39 crab..We cooked them outside while the kids lit off their own fireworks . Then the last few days we have done some visiting with friends and running around....Not much in the art or thread department happening but a lot of good food and memories!

I forgot to post the journal pictures!

Two posts in one day! I guess that will help make up for all the times I don't post at all! This is my layout for my altered book 'being a woman" I used retro fabrics because the focus is on four generations of women....The picture is of My great grandma, grandma, my mom and myself....I am the only one left now...I lost my mom to breast cancer at age 56 in 2002....the other page shows a funnel and the beads stand for all there talents and eccentricities and it is pouring into a three year old me. They are so much a part of me and I have picked up different things from each of them...I just wanted to show that I am honored to be a part of these beautiful " in many ways women"......

Blackbird chair and more fabric journal art

I have been busy around here the last week! Most of it was not art or sewing related either...I have been painting the living room and it is pretty big...Everyone teases me the way I do it., but for me it works...because of the kids, I use a brush and do a section at a time and that way there isn't so much mess either. It looks really nice..the paint in the container looks just like a chocolate milkshake. I saw Andrew eyeing it and had to tell him it's paint and I put a Mr. yuk sticker on it. Last weekend was so hot and beautiful here. After the winter I am not complaining. On Sunday, we took the boat out on Honeymoon Bay and went out to Baby Island. As the name says, it is a little guy out in the middle of the sound. As we got closer, we saw harbor seals on this gorgeous white sand beach. We don't have that kind of sand here so I was puzzled by it. The kids were thrilled by the seals, especially the big daddy in the middle of his harem...I yelled out "AR AR AR" (my version of a seal call) and they all got in the water so we decided to explore their little beach. The seals were so cute, they were afraid of us, but they wanted to keep an eye on their spot so they formed a circle about 200 yards from the boat and you could see their little seal eyes watching us. We didn't stay for but a few minutes cause I felt guilty..They are so darn pathetic out there! The beach is incredible....it is made up of a zillion pieces of white shells from the seals eating there over time...I could've sat right down for a couple of hours and just looked at it up close. (except for those eyes and of course the seal stench, though there was no poop) They are actually making the island bigger. How cool is that? There also is one tree on this tiny little thing and in it was a bald eagle....We all admired him too. We stopped on the way back at a little cove and got out and played in the crystal clear water...Liv and I found a hermit crabs and we found some baby dungeness crabs too. I tried to get Andrew to let me put one in his hand but he wasn't buying it...Anyway, it was a great day and of course, I forgot the darn camera! On Saturday, the kids and I went to a garage sale and I got this little wooden chair for ten cents....I couldn't wait to do something with it but it took me till Monday to get to it. Olivia and I first painted it a bright blue with some red...It was really putrid in my opinion, so I went over it with gesso....several times and then it evolved into this blackbird chair...The blackbird piece is actually a mini quilt...I drew him and painted him with neocolor two's and then stitched him up and then I sprayed him with a water bottle...the back is this really cool bamboo wood paper...there is some on the front under the button too. The crocheted flower was made by Sherry and it came with my summer swap pkge....I didn't adhere it cause I put a pin back on it and wear it on my jean jacket when it is not on this little chair...Wish I could find a few more of these chairs, this was really fun to do!

A year+ in the making....fabric book is done!

This is the fabric journal that I did for the group "Color me Silly"....I did the cover, the back page, a two page spread and the sign in pages and then the other 11 artists did their layout. The theme was " to be a woman"....and from there, I left it open to interpretation. This is the book that spent about three months lost in Canadian customs....Boy was it worth the wait...it is wonderful and I am beyond thrilled with it and man, is it big, as in thick!!!! The pages are 9x12 and I made all the pages of timtex covered with muslin and then I made buttonholes on the pages...then each finished page was glued to the back of the prior page....I had no idea how I was going to bind it all together, but I figured when it came back, something would come to me....Little did I know how big this book was going to get!!!! Finally the other day, I decided to look for something to use in the hardware store and I found the perfect solution....in the plumbing section....metal hose clamps! I spray painted them pink with metal paint and then threaded them thru the pages, tightened em up with a butter knife....(too lazy to look for a screwdriver) and wa la! I did cut off the edges and bind them with electricians tape and then I covered the tape with yarn...the edges were too sharp to leave uncovered....I love how it looks...just like a real book. I am showing a picture of the cover and the sign in pages...On the sign in, I had everyones photo in atc size and then each person decorated it and wrote a note or two....The sign in pages I just love! I styled it after a french memory board. The front cover I used all kinds of vintage stuff including a bit from a 40's cookbook that is a riot....I will post more of my treasure later!

baby quilt done!

I redid the borders and then finished tonight. I think the other version had too much blue for a girl and I had one of the circle blocks in the wrong place anyway so I decided to go ahead and change it to an orange and red border. I like it, it's very bold....Now I need to make a label and then it is off to the new baby....