Creative Dawn

Hello all!  It's been a while since my last post because I've been busy.  Lots of work which is good and have also been sewing a lot of scrap quilts.  I am not posting any pictures because they all are the same except for fabrics.  My quilting skills are limited to plain old squares sewn together anyways. So, recently, I got a FB message about chairs.  There was only really a week and a half to complete the painting and staining but it was possible.  The results are the two pictures posted.  The chairs were pre-assembled which makes the painting trickier and a lot of the pieces were rounded so the design surface was also limited.  The request was to paint Tiki themed chairs that had specific colors with the names of the couple and the date of the wedding which is today.  Mission accomplished!

Every time I go to a thrift store or garage sale, I cannot help myself when it comes to wooden cutting boards.  They are a great size, a sturdy material and are fun to paint.  Besides, what else do you do with a used cutting board?    The first one is a rooster design.  This was inspired from a book of painted designs that is from the library.  The second is an endless flower design and is just a pattern that I made up.  Both are going to look great added to my kitchen collection.

One day last week I was trying to figure out what to do before work that evening.  There was a garage sale nearby and an estate sale on the next block.  Seemed like a great idea, you never know what you will find.  My purchases were a few framed pieces of art, a book, an old wooden cutting board and this chair.  Total spent:  $7.50.  This chair is sturdy even with the split in it.  The back was missing, but that is fine and made it easier to paint.  The colors are mostly blues and greens with accents of orange and yellow.  Still not sure where to put it or what to do with the finished project, but it is a cool modern design.

I am not a quilter!  I can sew squares together for a baby size quilt but that is about it.  That being said, here are a few that were recently finished.  The first quilt is a Simpson theme.  My uncle and his kids are big fans, as are my husband and I.  The fabric was purchased a few years ago and was going to be a scrub shirt for my hubby, but when my cuz got pregnant, it seemed appropriate to make a quilt with that fabric.  The colors are bright and fun. The second one is a bunch of orange scraps that were in my fabric stash.  Until I started to sort through the bin, I didn't realize how much orange there was.  It turned out beautiful and is on it's way to a fundraiser for www.jacobandersonfoundation.org   Hopefully it will bring in some money for a great cause. The last one is more bits that were in the stash and some extras that were recently purchased to add to the quilt.  This one is very bright and fun to look at....

   BEFORE  A great way to use up scrap fabric is to make yo-yos.  What are yo yo's?  Small circles of fabric that are gathered.  I was bored one day and started to sort through my fabric for odds and ends, there was a lot so I went to work.  When there were quite a few done, I sewed them onto an existing pillow and had a new look. AFTER 

Can you believe it?  Another post this soon!  I have been making stuff, but the posting has gotten slower, sorry.  These two wooden plaques were bought at a thrift store for less than $2.00 each.  They had some premade botanical pictures on them.  I decided to just paint some random designs on them.  They are about 12 inches square and they turned out great but now what I really want to do is some more paintings in this style only much larger.  The designs would make such a statement on a larger scale.  That may require a trip to Menards or Home Depot.   Sorry for the picture quality, my camera in not working the best right now.    

My own pattern for a simple tote bag Sometimes a creative bug will hit me and I become obsessed with only painting or drawing or whatever.  Lately sewing has become my favorite thing to do.  It could be because of my current job at a fabric store where I am surrounded with fabric and endless inspiration.  Hm... Simplicity #2183 In the past few weeks I have made three skirts, a scarf, a jacket, a t-shirt and a scrub shirt for my hubby and tote bags.  The patterns are all super easy, the thing that takes time is cutting out the patterns.  When it comes to sewing the complex patterns are not for this girl.  Keep it simple and let the fabric do the talking.  The clothes are all patterns that were purchased, but the bag was made up by little ol' me.  :) See & Sew B5516 See & Sew B5516 Mccalls #6107 Kwik Sew pattern # 1750 with modifications This isn't everything, but just a few examples of my sew...