Gypsy Wife's Sister In Law

 It is coming along. Almost the whole top is put together now. It just needs a few more strips on the side to widen it a bit. I can't seem to make anything smaller than a queen size quilt. It is pretty but it is kind of tricky fitting all those odd squares into the strips.

Every night I draw a few faces because practice is the only way to improve.
Some of them are kind of weird too.

 

Pete

Rest In Power and Peace

Gypsy Wife's Sister-In-Law

 I've seen a quilt pattern floating around called Gypsy's Wife that makes use of traditional quilt blocks and a lot of strips. I thought what a good idea when you don't really want to create a million blocks for a quilt top, you can fill in the spaces in between with strips. It is not going to be exactly like the original but similar. I am using a Good Fortune by Kate Spain, a fat eighth group, and some of my hand dyes and possibly some other fabrics to create it.

I completed all the blocks for the top and cut all the strips, now I need to lay it all out on my design wall to see how it looks. It might need more color......

Still Carving

 My collection of carved stamps is huge now. I love the carving part. I have made a zillion little cards with them, in fact I have SO MANY, I really don't know what to do with all of them. 

I am trying to figure out some storage system for all of them. I have researched on line and looked at other peoples ideas. Right now I am using lids to boxes to store all of them. There are categories now too: basic designs, leaves, flowers, animals, houses, coffee cups, and groups that go together like, potted plants, pod shapes etc.

These are a couple of cards I made using gelli printed deli paper, home made washi tape, and a commercial stamp. That is the style of card I have been working on lately, trying to get through some of my gelli print  and washi tape stash.  I'll post more cards tomorrow.

Sewing Kit

 My son asked for a sewing kit while he was down at Christmas and since he was here less than 48 hours, we both forgot to get it together before he left. So after he left I made him a little bag with leftover scraps and mailed it up to him in Santa Cruz. I bleach stenciled the letters "Ryland's Sewing Kit" and put it together along with a bunch of supplies gleaned from my own stash (and some of his grandmother's).

And what do you do with a box of perfume you will never use? Of course you empty and clean out the bottles and use them for crafting!

I tested them first to see if they sprayed well (because it is so hard to find good spray bottles) and they seemed to work fine, I couldn't bear to throw them out.

Otis really needs to relax!

Homemade Gift Wrapping Paper

Here is how I made my wrapping paper this year. 12" x 12" deli paper, pigment ink pads, stamps.

First a little red.

Then a little green.

A little silver to spice things up and get more festive.

Complete!

Wrap and write receiver's name on top with silver gel pen. I did have to double up the paper on a couple of things to make it opaque, but thank goodness all my packages were small this year.
I refuse to buy wrapping paper or ribbon or tags ever again.

Below: Working on some other stuff, having fun.