Inspiration

It's no secret that I have somewhat eclectic tastes. So when it was announced that our first guild challenge for the South Bay Area Modern Quilt Guild would be to draw inspiration from a photograph or painting, I was instantly overwhelmed with inspiration. Now I am stuck in the predicament of choosing just one image. I may just have to do multiple quilts!

Clockwise from top right: A water color by Naomi Ito, Horoscope by Alphonse Mucha, Maru in a box, and a random gorgeous image that I found on Tumblr ages ago (I would love the source/creator)

There's a little bit of everything that makes me happy here. I think that the Mucha could be the most challenging, but perhaps the most interesting, while I have good ideas for all of the others that I know I could execute. 

This challenge certainly has me thinking about my inspiration, where I find inspiration from and the way that it manifests its self in the things I create. It's also got me thinking about what kinds of images that I find beautiful and comforting, and how I want that to be represented in what I make and present to the world. There is more to think about on this subject for sure. 

I can't wait to see what I choose (Ha!) and I can't wait to see what other members do!

Holiday Wrap Up (heh)

Happy 2012 blog followers! 2011 went by so fast that it's just now sinking in that a new year is starting in.

2012 is going to be a huge year for me, I'll finally be graduating college and entering the "real world". WHile I should be appropriately terrified of that notion, I'm actually excited to have a little extra crafting time (priorities anyone?).

My resolutions for the new year can be summed up as: Craft more, eat less. Lol, although that's not the entire story. For 2012 I would really like to push the boundaries of my crafting abilities by tackling more challenging projects and work on refining my techniques. I also want to go back to eating healthier (not just less) and being smarter about meal planning and calorie intake. Easy, right? We'll see!!!

Here's a round up (or wrap-up, get it?) of presents and projects I made for my Handmade Holidays of 2011.

Last year I made my boyfriend a quilt for Christmas, and my dad was touched by the idea. So this year, I decided that my father (who is an avid vegetable gardener) would be the recipient of a quilt. I spent all year gathering the fabrics (my usual shop was out of many of the prints in this series by the time I decided on the theme) and the pattern is a modified version of "A Wedding Quilt" from the Purl Bee. I'm happy to say that he was thrilled and moved by the gift.

I made these easy leather pouches super last minute for a white elephant gift exchange. I wanted something useful and not gender exclusive. The large one is sized for a phone or bills (or cosmetics etc.) and the small one is perfect for business cards or coins.

While I had grand plans for some adorable crocheted cat toys, that plan never came to fruition. Thus, the wool felt cat toys were born, and they were a huge hit. I honestly think that the cats in my life were the most pleased with their home made holiday gifts this year (although if I had filled all of my other gifts with "drugs" then the story might have been different. haha, I kid, I kid).
These little guys are simply stuffed with some polyfil and a generous amount of catnip and used wool felt that I had laying around the house. I get my wool/rayon crafting felt here.

I also rounded the gift list off with several silk scarves by using about 1/3 of a yard of silk, and then finished the edges with a rolled hem on my serger. Fast, easy, fun.


And as a reward to myself, I finally started on a quilt that I have been promising myself that I would make for ages now: My Heather Ross Quilt.

Photo taken at SueDee's in Scotts Valley at January's South Bay Area Modern Quilt Guild meeting.

Heather Ross is easily my favorite fabric designer, and over the years I have amassed large scraps of her fabric from other projects that I have made, and decided that this project needed to be done. The center panel is from one of her banner kits, and today I am adding a large aqua border to make it "sofa sized". The back will have a scrappy stripe with large blocks of tangerine and snow, and the binding will be just a little bit scrappy. I'm so excited about this project! And it will be the first ever quilt that I have made for myself and not as a gift.

So far I'm satisfied with my productivity over Winter Break, but I still have a few more things I want to work on before school starts up again next week. Eek!