Working hard to catch up!

And I finally made it!

For most of this year, I have been behind on my monthly Art Journals.  I kept track of my daily entries on my phone so I could recreate the days on the journals as I finished them. I only missed a few days...which most likely...didn't have anything too exciting happen. 

So drum roll please!

Here is July before I filled in the entries.

And with the entries filled in...

I do love this one with the flags waving across the blue sky!

And then August...

(these are supposed to be strawberries with a more rounded bottom)

I won't show the final until the end of the month is complete. 

Only a few more days!

And believe it or not...I have September ready early! Yippee!!

So there they are! 

A weight off my shoulders!

 Something to cross off my to do list!

Catching up with a finish

So late Sunday night, I put the final stitches on the binding of this quilt. Yesterday, I washed and dried it and photographed it. 

The only thing left is the label!

I'm named this quilt Linked Together. 

The fabric line is Sunkissed by Sweetwater and the background is Kona white. The block pattern is called Crossroads. You can find it here. 

I played around with the layout of the blocks and rather than setting them all in the same direction, I rotated them 90º. That created some small negative space squares and some larger. I FMQ feathered wreaths in each of those spaces and straight lined quilted in each link. 

The back is pieced with ALL the left over pieces of Sunkissed and a neutral gray that I found. I left just enough of Sunkissed to bind the quilt. 

The quilt finishes at 58" x 67". It will be gifted in a couple of weeks! 

I also finished my June Art Journal calendar. Yes, I am a little behind but weddings and babies seem to be keeping me busy. 

(Another baby quilt hopefully ready to show soon.)

For June I tried something completely different.

Before:

After:

I really enjoyed this format as it gave me more room for entries and stamping. I was inspired by Annie and her Art Journals. If you don't read her blog, you should go there and get inspired!  Also, this inspiration found on Pinterest. It was so easy to make! I think I may use this format again. Hope you like it!

Linking up to Let's Bee Social @ Sew Fresh Quilts.

Slowly catching up on...

...my Art Journal Calendar pages.  The last post that I shared showed my April pages without entries. Here it is with the entries written. 

(my not too exciting daily entries)

I added some buttons to give it a little more dimension...sewing with my daughters in Austin!

(those black boxes...how to correct an oops!)

For May, I used birdies for the days...so cute!

It reminded me of the birds returning after such a harsh winter.

(I may go back and draw in some legs.)

Here it is with my entries. 

Pretty simple but with my busy schedule, that is what I could accomplish. 

I kept a list on my phone...picking one/two things from each day. It is 

amazing that I only missed a few days. I didn't want to give up so I say, 

'Better late than never!'

Now for June and July...

Me Bad...but some exciting news!

Once again, I have been away from my blog way too long! My time just seems to slip away.  I am happy to say that I do have my Art Journal completed for March and April is done except for the journaling. I have had it done for a while but just didn't have time to post. 

I did have a bit of trouble stamping in white. My white marker worked better so I hand printed my entries. 

For April, I made an Easter egg tree. Pretty simple but I like it. 

So you ask what is the exciting news? I have completed the flimsy of my hexagon quilt! YES! This is the first 100% hand sewn quilt that I have made. There are countless hours invested in this quilt. 

I will be adding one row of border hexagons all around the quilt...so I guess technically it is not a finished flimsy. It measures 37" x 52" now. 

The hexagons are 3/4" and each flower is made from different fabric scraps...no 2 are alike! I'm still trying to decide how to finish it...leave the uneven edges or straighten them? Please chime in and give me your advice. I'd really appreciate it. Thanks!

I'm linking to SEWjo Saturday!

Art Journal Update

Although I'm about a month behind, I am still working on my 365 Days Art Journals. I have finally finished recording on the February calendar and I finished my March calendar (before entries.) 

For March I went with a green Irish/shamrock theme. Here it is before entries. 

I had the background fabric in my stash from when I use to make banners for my garden. The kelly green squares are from a Kona swap. I am using a white stamp pad and marker for my entries. 

Life doesn't seem to be slowing down anytime soon. Slowly, I have been working on hand sewing my hexagon quilt and also piecing another small quilt top. Hopefully I will have some pictures soon. 

I hope to get back to blogging (and blog reading) on a little more regular basis. I miss seeing what everyone is working on and sharing with you. 

A little catch up

Although I am a little behind in my challenges, I have caught up on my Art Calendar Challenge! Thankfully, I have been recording the important highlights of my day on my iPhone notes so I wouldn't forget what happened each day when I finally had time to work on the calendar. Here it is! January all filled in.

My February calendar page was influenced by our visit to Maui, Hawaii! I was captured by the Hanu...green turtle in Hawaiian. We didn't see any upclose and personal but you can spot them from the beach...their shell looks as if it is floating on the surface and then their head pops up.

This picture was taken before I started working on recording the events of the days...not many days left before March! Where has the time gone?

Have you been keeping up with the challenges, QAL, etc that you sign up for? I still plan on working towards making up what I missed. The weekly art journal challenge comes a little too fast...we will see how much I do on that one.

A New Year!

I finished my January Art Calendar Journal and here is a 'before' picture. 

With all the snow we have gotten this year already, my journal page depicts falling snow. 

It reminds me of being a kid and looking up into the blue sky to catch snowflakes on your tongue!

I've also done a bit of work on my Rainbow Scrap quilt but not enough to show pictures! Coming soon...hopefully!

A little update

I'm excited to say that I finished binding my 2013 Art Journal pages. I showed last month's pages in my last post...but now I have altered a old book cover to bind all my calendar pages. It's a finish!

I cut away the original binding and pages of a book I found at a thrift store. Using sticky back canvas, I covered the front and back book covers. I used some spray on fabric dyes and water to make a water color effect for the background. I had some chipboard letters and numbers that I glued on and cut a piece of a doily for the upper corner and added some stamping. 

I made eyelet holes on each page and used 2 large keyring thingys  to hold all the pages and the covers. (yes, one is black and the other white)

I'm pretty pleased with my very first Art Journal. I'm planning on doing another year...although I am already behind. Trying to finish up some other 2013 challenges...like the Rainbow Scrap Challenge!

Since there was no color for December...that left me with only 11 blocks...since I only made one of each color, I wasn't sure what to do...make more of each color or add more colors...so I decided to add a few more colors...like gray, light pink, hunter green, navy blue and peach. 

(I did make another orange block which made end up on the back or orphaned.)

After a bit of rearranging to make a pleasing to the eye arrangement, this is what I ended up with.

I will add some white borders to this quilt. I just need to replenish my stash of Kona White first. 

My first challenge for 2014...I have joined Journal52 ~ a Art journal workshop. A weekly prompt is posted and some ideas. 

This week's prompt is Up, Up and Away~soar into a new year.

Here is what I came up with.

Incorporating a quilt pattern and a bible verse. 

The back of my page are some clippings from magazines. 

I am using watercolors which is completely new to me...I'm looking to experiment with different art forms over the 52 weeks...we will see how it goes. For now, week one is done and I am pleased!

A few finishes from 2013

Finally I finished the 2013 Art Journal Challenge! I made 12 months of quilted calendar pages. 

Here are a few I haven't posted yet. 

November all filled in.

December before...

and after!

I am now working on binding these pages together in an altered book. January pages to follow soon....still working on a few more loose ends from 2013. 

A Little Late But .....

Finally, I was able to put the finishing touches on my November Art Calendar Journal. I had it almost all finished last weekend but just ran out of time before my week at school started. Planning, teaching, report cards and conferences made for a long week! But now we have a week off for Thanksgiving and only 11 days remaining on my assignment! I will miss the kids and the staff at my school but I am ready for a break so I can get back to quilting!

I had this background fabric in my stash so I decided to use it and then only use fall colored circles for the days since the fabric was already busy. I realize that it is almost December so I spent some time catching up on the daily entries. Hopefully, I will also be able to create my December calendar this week. With family staying with us this week I can't make any promises Ü

Here is my October calendar all filled in!

Remember this quilt?

Yesterday was my niece, Courtney's wedding and this is the quilt that I made for her and her new husband, Chris. Glad to be a part of their special day!

Checking in with an update

School has kept me quite busy and away from my sewing room for the most part. Recently, I have been able to steal away some time to play catch up on my Art Journal challenge. I am finally able to post my finished August calendar. 

In order for me to remember what has happened each day, I keep a list on my phone so when I have time to actually fill out the days I am not trying to remember because I can barely remember yesterday!

And speaking about school, my September page is all about apples! In first grade, we spend considerable time learning about apples! We read lots of books, do reading/writing projects, apple math, and science projects. Next week we will be making applesauce! YUM! 

Here is the before picture

and then all filled in!

Since I was catching up, I didn't do anything fancy with my entries...just wrote them.

For my October journal, I decided to do a fall leaves theme. I love the colors of Fall. So pretty!

Our school is off on Monday for Columbus Day so I will use this weekend to catch up on a few more projects in my sewing room. 

Oh, how I miss quilting!!

August Art Journal finished

Well, I got my August Art Journal finished...only a few days late! The pages were all sewn together on Friday but I needed to do the stamping and embellishment. We were headed out of town for the weekend so I knew it would have to wait until today.

Here is my finished journal for July.

And for August...

It is my interpretation of a big city skyline...none in particular but I did make one to resemble the Sears Willis Tower. Sorry but we still pronounce Willis as Sears!

I have wanted to try to use silhouettes and tried making a perspective of walking down the block. The button embellishments are foam buttons of a clock, journal page and a Chicago postage mark depicting a busy city. I'm pretty pleased with my page...a little different for me.

What do you think?

Catching UP

My last post was photo heavy of quilt shows pictures so today I will catch you up with what I've been up to in my sewing room. 

Besides sewing 2 quilts tops for my nieces wedding coming up this fall (pictures later), I made this bag for my mom's birthday.

It has 2 side pockets and the ties allows for the bag to open wide if you need extra room.

 Inside it has a large zippered pocket and on the other side, 2 open pockets.

The pattern is from Clover and Violet.

July's color for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge is Teal. Here is my block.

And for creative therapy, I have been spending 15 minutes of play. Made fabric based on Victoria Findlay Wolfe's book. 

Don't they go well with the Rainbow Scrap Challenge?

Now that July is here, my June calendar pages are complete.

What have you been doing?