New Year's Eve

2010 has gone by rather quickly!
I am looking forward to spending time experimenting with new ideas in my studio. Have you set any goals for yourself yet? To try something different?

I did find a few sewing projects that you might like to try.
Thread Banger has some simple ones such as a scrap fabric pot holder or a bicycle lunch bag.
Hand made cloth dolls from The Purl Bee
Soft toys from Softie Making
10 Simple-to-Sew Totes, Purses, and Bags from Better Homes and Gardens
I Love To Craft has Mobile Phone Covers
Chickpea Sewing Studio has lots of free patterns
Sewing Projects at Free Sewing Patterns
Embroidery and Sewing Patterns at Pimp Stitch
Softie Christmas from Squawk Fox
Crafty Pants: Translated Japanese Patterns
Leaf shape wool felt pot holders from Design Sponge 

Happy Sewing!

Things Organized Neatly!

Getting organized! I have learned not to change the location of 'stuff' that I use a lot. Whenever I've done that, I kept looking in the original place, forgetting its new location. Check out a previous post for organizing your sewing room.

However, this post isn't about you organizing anything. I discovered this neat site called Things Organized Neatly. Some of the things that have been organized are actually works of art. To see each month of posts, click on Archive. Also do a Google search of 'things organized', and click on the images. Lots of stuff to see.

Sometimes you need to go outside the box and look at different things. This often helps to get the creative juices flowing again.

Check out these:
Pika Land - about art and illustration
Walking Paper
Trendland
Automatism Blog
Design Inspiration
Swiss Miss

Have fun!

My Christmas Tree and Other Stuff

I was trying to figure out what was wrong with my Christmas tree until I checked out last year's tree photo. It had coloured lights in addition to the pre-lit clear ones as I had put on extra lights. Next year it will definitely have the coloured bulbs as those are my favorite.

Today has been a quiet one. A time for reading, jigsaw puzzles, car racing video game, Banana Grams and food. You would think food would be last on the list after Christmas day but. . . Talking about food - my Christmas Pudding was delicious after it's dicey beginnings. My mother's comment: 'I think it's better than mine' - even if I did forget to put in the rum!

Here's some quilts and stuff  with a food theme to use for inspiration:

Canned goods 
Apple Falls Quilt Art 
Apple (scroll down)
Pear 
Celtic Pear 
Pomegranate Art Quilts
Pears Mola Quilt 
Banana for Anna  
Dancing Pineapples  

Enjoy!

Merry Christmas Everyone!

I hope everyone is enjoying the day! Newfoundland is having a very green, relatively warm Christmas. We will probably pay up for this in January.

Santa paid a visit to my house but the best part is having family around. A very special Merry Christmas to my daughter and family in Chicago.

I did receive some nice surface embellishment/quilting CD's. More inspiration for future work. I will comment on those in a future post.

Fun Food!

It looks like we are going to have a green Christmas this year unless it turns cold suddenly. This week the temperatures have been well above normal. Today we are having strong winds and lots of rain. The kind of day you want to stay inside and do something creative! At the moment, my 'creativity' revolves around baking cookies and cakes for Christmas. Part of my parent's gift is edible stuff.

I found some interesting 'Fun Food' to knit, sew & crochet. Enjoy!

Felt Cookies
Pineapple Art Quilt - idea, not free
Fabric Eggs
Chocolates Quilt Pattern - applique
Chocolate Cake Tea Cosy - knitting
Knitted Ice Cream Cone Patterns
Cherries knitted pattern
Pizza Party!
Knitting, Crochet & Sewing Patterns - lots of food patterns
Canned Crochet 
Honey Pot - Crochet
Felt Food - Eggs & Orange Slices
More Felt Food  - scroll down the page
Play Food 
Ice Cream Cone 

Steamed Christmas Pudding

This year I made a steamed Christmas Pudding for the first time! It turned out to be a good one!

However, this is the Christmas Pudding Decoration I made yesterday for a friend. I can't take credit for the pattern. The original pattern is from The Contented Quilter and is a pincushion.

Check out the following patterns:

Here is another pudding ornament
Christmas Pud Pincushion
A cute crocheted pudding - scroll down
Knitted Christmas Pudding  
Knitted Christmas Tea Cosy -  suppose to resemble a pudding but there is no photo. Thought I'd include it anyway.
Christmas Pudding Tree Ornament
Line drawing of a pudding - template

Have Fun! Merry Christmas

Sunflowers

I know this is the wrong time of year to be talking about sunflowers but it does go along with my previous post! The sunflower is an annual herb and not just a large yellow flower. It has been used as a folk remedy for many ailments but today is mainly used in food preparation. Sunflower oil is used for cooking, margarine, salad dressing and soaps. For more information, check here.

While visiting the National Gallery, London, I had the pleasure of seeing Vincent van Gogh's Sunflower painting. The one pictured on the site is the one I saw which is one among a series that he painted. I did purchase a small matted print of the sunflower. It's amazing how many things have the sunflower motif. There is even a National Sunflower Association.

So, to help get you through the winter months, why not make something bright and colourful! I've found a few things with a sunflower theme. Most of the patterns are freebies - not all are quilt related!

Twirling Sunflower Quilt Pattern
Sunflower Serenade
Wendy's Sunflower Quilt - check this one for the machine quilting
Rise and Shine
Textured Sunflowers
Provencial Sunflower - for inspiration
Sunflower colouring page - pattern for a quilt?
Sunflower machine embroidery design
Cross Stitch Pattern - scroll down
Sunflower Cake - baking idea
Sunflower Pillow 
Cat and Sunflower

Ai Weiwei: 100 Million Sunflower Seeds

The Tate Modern was one of the places I visited while in London. The Ai Weiwei exhibition of 100 Million Sunflower Seeds was of particular interest and is on exhibit until May 2, 2011. At the time it was possible to walk on the surface of the work, which I did. However, a couple of days after my visit, that part of the exhibit was stopped. Apparently the dust from the porcelain was proving to be a health hazard. Now visitors can look upon the sunflower seeds from the Turbine Hall bridge or viewed up close from the edge of the exhibit. These photos were taken by my friend. In the last photo, I am holding some of the 'seeds' in my hand. The whole room in the second photo is covered with the porcelain seeds.

To learn about this extraordinary work, go here.

The French Shore Tapestry

The French Shore Tapestry tells the story of northern Newfoundland's French Shore, from the pre-historic animals that roamed the forests and shoreline to the moment in 2006 when a few talented women in the tiny outport of Conche began their embroidery odyssey. This piece measures 66 meters long (216 feet) and is created from linen and wool. The Bayeux Tapestry, created in the 11th century, was the inspiration for making this piece. Images of the Bayeux Tapestry can be found here.

I had the honor of helping (October) to lace this piece to a wooden frame so that it could be put on display at the Geo Centre, St. John's, NL. You can see and read about the tapestry here.

Photo by Judy Cooper

If you are in the St. John's area over the Christmas holidays, it is well worth a visit. It is a very impressive piece!

Fiber Arts / Mixed Media

If you have lots of time and looking for inspiration in your art, check out the Fiber Arts / Mixed Media web site. There's lots to see especially the photos members send in of their various art pieces. Just click on the 'main' button and go to photos. Lots of eye candy! I hadn't been into this site in ages and forgotten about all the interesting 'stuff' there. Dale Potter from SW Saskatchewan, started the site.

Busy, Busy . . .

Catching up on projects in my studio has been taking up some of my time lately. December came and I suddenly realized I had nothing done! I did complete several scissors holders and credit card holders for Devon House Craft Shop over the weekend.

I also made more Christmas Tree Art Cards. You can see a sample of these here as well as how they were made.