Twinkle, twinkle little quilt...

What an incredibly sappy title! Oh well. It all stems from my excitement at finishing Twinkle. As I was quilting it, I decided to take the border fabric off. To quote my youngest, "It just doesn't seem like you." Does that mean that she differentiates people based on whether would add a border to a quilt or wouldn't. No matter. According to her, I'm not a border-on-the-quilt-type and that's all there is to it.

Curious George

Now doesn't the mere mention of that mischievous monkey make you smile? The other day I was cleaning up my studio( a truly monumental task) and I ran across some Curious George fabric. I had used the fabric years ago to make Abi a pair of pants. Needless to say, she brought smiles to everyone's faces when she wore them. Anyway, the leftovers got put in some basket, only to be unearthed a few days ago.Well, after I stopped grinning, I decide to use the fabric in another set of coasters. These are not a gift, but rather part of the work I'm making in preparation for opening up an Etsy shop. I really am getting a kick out of planning what will go into my shop.
And making the stuff really brightens my day. It seems like a perfect summer activity.

Twinkle

It's been a while since I posted the first work in progress image of my discharged circles quilt . Well, I've finally finished the top and I'm ready to start quilting. Here's a view of this quilt:
From the beginning, I knew that it's name was Twinkle. I usually struggle to title my quilts , but this one was different. From the first discharged circle, I knew what the title was going to be.
I have a new stack of commercial fabric that I've just started to discharge and overdye. I'm thinking about making some twinkle pillows and this:
Made like Twinkle, but using a different shape and obviously inspired by all the ripples I've been seeing lately.

Re-Opening and Remaking

I've mentioned before that I teach classes at The Art Pad. Well, it's moved to a new location and celebrated this move with a Re-Opening celebration. I, along with several other artists, got to participate in the event.
Now, if you know anything about Texas weather in June, you know that being under the shade of a tree is life saving. Luckily, also, the coordinators of the event provided all-you-can-eat watermelon and snow cones. Along with selling my work, I was there promoting the art camps I'm teaching this summer.I sold my favorite log cabin pillow, and, although I'm happy it has a new home, I eagerly made a new one. This one in is in the same fabric/colors as my recent coasters, but it also has jumbo ric-rac. I love ric rac. I even like the word:ric rac.

More Sewing

I have really been into sewing lately and that has happily resulted in several finished objects.I made this top for my eldest girl, Sarah. It was based on the top I posted about here , but it's been heavily altered. It has been resized, the bottom portion has been reworked to eliminate a lot of the bulk, the bodice has been trimmed and the straps now cross in back. These were all suggestions that Sarah made. She absolutely loves the top and it was great fun to work together on this project. We definitely have plans(and fabric) for more.
That's not all(to quote Dr. Suess).I made a stack of improvisationally pieced log cabin coasters. I even used some of the fabric in Sarah's tank along with other commercial fabric and some of my own hand-dyed stuff. These are a wedding gift for my husband's co-worker and his bride.

Sewing Saga

I had promised my middle daughter that I would make her a dress. She had picked out a pattern and fabric. We'd even purchased all the necessary notions(an inexplicably big hurdle in this house). I was determined that the project not linger, so last Sunday, I set about to make her dress. I was practically through when she notified me that, actually, she's not much of a dress person, so...she didn't want the dress. OK, determined to make lemonade out of lemons, I altered the pattern slightly and made it a dress for myself.But, wait. I'm not much of a dress person either(it must be genetic). I didn't really want the dress either. Suddenly, I was kind of disappointed. I'd spent a fair amount of time on Sunday crafting this and I probably wasn't going to use it. Serious bummer. Then, yesterday, as I was driving, I realized I could alter the dress yet again into this:I totally love this tank! My eldest totally loves this tank. She's requested one as well. Though, she also wants some minor alterations. Oh well. I'm so glad to be excited about the end product of all my work rather than disappointed.

A Grad's Gift

As promised, here's a picture of the finished bag I made in honor of Harper's graduation. The ceremony was very touching and there were quite a few misty eyes in the audience.