Having fun with acrylic paints.

 I started playing with acrylic pours when we lived in NS. Tyler (my son) and I redid the countertops in a acrylic pour and then rosined over them.

It was a great project and my introduction to acrylic cup pours.

I hadn't ventured very far from the typical cup pour and over the years made a few impressive canvases.  

Peaches and Cream

As all things must progress so must I.  As of late I have been trying out a few new technics and pouring tools. 

This is a acrylic swipe using moistened paper towel to drag the paint across the canvas.  I was fun and so cool to do that I did a series in different colors.  Blue, black, green and pink.  The pink is awful (not my favorite color) but kind of cool too!  They look like a side view of the milky way.

Since moving to Shaunavon SK. I have had the opportunity to expand my rapporteur and use a few new tools.  I has helped that the winter here has been cold enough that I don't want to go outside, -32c. yikes!  

My favorite has been the lazy susan.  Being able to spin the pictures creates all kinds of cool effects.

But there have been a few epic fails as well.  Here is my attempt at using a pot scrubber to make wheat like flowers.

Yikes!!

I'll leave you with a blown acrylic pour.  Tyler modified a hair drier for me so it only blows cool air.  That and a small water balloon to create this beauty.

Kelp

Needless to say I've been having fun and keeping busy; although I have no idea what I am going to do with all these pictures.  For some reason they keep stacking up, lol.

Victorian Thread Play

 Pauline ask if I could make a few small whole quilts for her that matched this photo.

She sent a bit of blue fabric with specific measurements that she needed.  2 - 11 x 18" and 3 - 8" squares.

This is what she got.  The first one I did in the more traditional color on color but was disappointed the the blue on blue just disappeared.  I had to 'go bold or go home' as the saying says.

Back

Front

You can hardly see the butterfly pattern in the top and as I used a black backing (and black batting) the blue came out with a little more detail.  Now for the gold!!

Back

Front

It turned out gorgeous.  And what a lot of fun to do.  I did draw out the pattern I wanted to do with a heat erase pen. 

Sorry for the camera color way to much light.

It was fun to draw out the basic design and then play with patterns in-between.

the 8" x 8" quilts

I decided not to fill in the empty spaces, which is a little untraditional but I really liked the look.  Thought it showed off the design and not overpower the overall piece.

It was a fun project and I think I'd like to make a bigger one, maybe with a medallion or a mariners compass for the theme.

Ironing Table Cover

 Pauline sent me a request to make a ironing table cover.  Hers has seen better days and she needed an replacement.

After thinking about it and what I needed and how to go about it, I remembered that there was a large sample/test piece of fabric that had a layer of batting and 3 layers of poly/cotton that I use to play on or use to practice on.  So I filled in a few spots with random threads ( a great way to use up half finished bobbins) and these are photos of the final pad.

It is all made and ready to go in Pauline's next box from the west coast.  I cant wait to see how it looks when she sends a photo back of the ironing pad in place.

Practice makes for to much fun!!

Here is a photo of Pauline's new ironing table.  Looks great doesn't it?!!

Pottery Class

 For the holiday season I took a pottery class.  Was it fun or what!!

My work station.

It was messy, informative, and a little hard work: you really had to add a bit of weight to the turn table to center the clay.

I managed to get 3 bowls made and the first was a little wobbly, the second ended up with a bubble in the center bottom, and the third.... perfect.  Third time is the charm.

Into the kiln for the first time, biscuit (unglazed).

My second bowl cracked in the center but I decided to keep it the way it was as a reminder.

After they were glazed and fired again I think they turned out beautiful.  The variegated clay was a nice look.

My instructor was kind enough to silicone the cracked bowl so although we cant use it for food items it will make a nice pin bowl or button bowl.  

I think it was a huge success and I had a lot of fun.  It would be a great way to make personalized gifts for friends at Christmas or just for fun.  

Don't worry though, I'm not giving up quilting to become a potter.....but it was a wonderful thing to try!

Terry's Koi Quilt

 I finally finished the Koi quilt for my bedroom. 

It was a challenge to longarm as I used a heavy micro fiber blanket for the back and still added a winter weight batting.

In order to pull it off I had to rise the hopping foot of the longarm and could only do the waves across the quilt in one direction.

With a lot of thread breaks, a bit of swearing and a few "never again" moments I managed to finish the quilt. 

One of the worst things was the clean up after.  Cutting the edge seams of the blanket meant that there was blue fuzz everywhere.

Nicely on the bed.

Having said all that it looks perfect on my bed and with the matching curtain (the start of all this) really gives my room the 'wow' factor.

Would I use another blanket like that with the batting...definitely NOT!

But, not bad for a quilt that took a day to put together using a panel of left over fabric from the curtain and the hand dyed fabric I made this summer.  Added a few meters of grey fabric, and the day on the longarm, a half day to bind on the sewing machine and day of re-calibrating my machine. A bit of clean up, and I have a very quick and stunning quilt to match my room.  And ... is it warm with just the perfect weight for sleeping in a cool room.  I love it!!

Calendar Quilt

I finally finished my calendar quilt about a month ago and thought it was time to post it for all to see.

I will apologize now for the photos as some came out with the background brown instead of black.

I started this applique quilt when I had 6 Ave Quilting in Nakusp, BC back in 2013.  Most of the appliques were adapted from free images on search engines and changed or modified to make it possible to applique.

It has turned out to be as much a memory quilt as a calendar quilt as it moved to Vancouver with me and was worked on a bit.  Then across the southern US in a motorhome to be finished here in Saint John, NB.

Scrappy loops.  To much fun!

I was lucky as I had every thread color in the world (well almost) to be able to match tread color with the fabrics being appliqued on.  I makes a big difference when you really want to pop the designs.

See the birds?

  I also packed across the continent black batting which I new would be important to make the quilt dark and to make sure that there was no white showing through the needle punctures on the longarm.

Butterflies and dragonflies.

Then came the fun part.  Topstitching this quilt was a blast as I just added a few of my favorite things, bees, butterflies, dragonflies, swallows, and flowers.  A quick meander and echo around everything gave the quilt life, motion and interest.

A few of my favorite things.

It takes very little extra time to add images into a echo or meander.  Using a dark blue thread instead of black makes the topstitching visible without it being lost in the background color.

I had debated whether or not to applique on the end year (2020) and decided not to.  But I did topstitch it in just under the 2013 as a reminder that not everything happens at once and with a little preserverince all things are possible.  

Although it took me 7 years to finish this wonderful quilt, it was well worth the stashing and packing it around for that time. Once my bedroom is painted, this calendar quilt will hang on the wall at the end of my bed so every morning I wake I can smile and remember all the adventures I have had along the way.