quilt challenge-52 cards in a year

Week 29

I have a great love of dragonflies.  I have no idea what fascinates me about them but when I draw insects it is always the first one I draw.  I think they are very pretty insects and their colours on their body's are just beautiful.  Today I have drawn a dragonfly based on Elizabethan embroidery designs from furnishings from that era. 

The dragonfly was drawn with prisma coloured pencils. (a beautiful pencil with a high pigment content) I thought I would try this one with no other painted colour.  I then went over the pencil with stitching.

I really liked the strong contrast between the white and the coloured stitching. 

quilt challenge-52 cards in a year

Week 28

Today I wanted to see if watercolour paints can be used successfully on fabric.  I chose to use normal coloured pencils to draw onto the fabric with then i painted them  I found I had to just touch the middle of each circle for it to expand to the edge of the colour pencil.  The water colours gave a lovely subtle effect.

I love trees.  I think I must be part tree nymph.

 The inspiration for this piece came from a vector tree found on google images. 

quilt challenge-52 cards in a year

Week 27

Today I have explored inktense pencils,  pattern and stitch.  I first drew the pattern on with inktense pencils.  (Inktense pencils are similar to a watercolour pencil but a more intense colour is produced when water is added.)  Then I painted over the surface of the material with water which blended all the colours together.

I then stitched over all of the patterns I had drawn.

I was inspired by the patterns found in nature:flowers, grass, bamboo, pebbles and petals.

quilt challenge-52 cards in a year

Week 26

I have finally got a sewing machine,  time and space all working together on the same day so I have all 6 cards (I am behind in) for my years challenge complete.  I have had a lot of fun making these.  I have chosen a medium to work in and explored the use of them. 

Today's is an exploration of crayons, textile paint and stitch. 

I used cotton fabric and crayoned the pattern I wanted onto it and then painted the textile paints onto the material.  I then needed to iron the paint and crayon to set it into the fabric.  I machine stitched the piece with different threads that toned in with the paint.

I was inspired by the strata on rocks and cliff faces which always have fascinated me.  The patterns are wonderful.



Merry Christmas and a happy new year

I hope you have all have had a wonderful Christmas.  I suddenly realized why It didn't feel like Christmas a couple of days before Christmas day......I wasn't sressed!.  I was so organised that I had a lovely few days visiting with friends and family and cooking and playing with the kids.  It was nice not to be rushing around as much as I have done in previous years and focusing on the true meaning of Christmas for me......My saviour Jesus Christ.   So next year I am aiming to be organised again so I can truly enjoy the season.

I have met all of my goals (except one) I made this Christmas season on the 29th on November 2010

• Be happy
• Be loving to everyone, especially my family
• K.I.S.S keep it simple sister
• Enjoy Christmas
• Create everyday
• Keep balanced
• Be excited with my kidsAnd celebrate the real reason for Christmas....The birth of Jesus

The only one I had trouble fufilling was getting enough sleep but that one wasn't really my fault.  I have had children up many nights with bad dreams and sleep problems so I ended up with sleep problems too.  I am now feeling a little more normal after 2 nights of good sleep. 

I now have to revise my goals I made last year and set some new goals for the new year.  I think Lots of quilting will be one of them.

photography-the festive season.

This is a list of ideas for photos at this time of year.  Try a few and see how they go!  

• Expressions on childrens faces
• Objects that have meaning to you
• Snapshots of generations of family together
• Grandparents holding small children
• Children unwrapping their gifts
• The face of a child when they see Santa has come
• The food you enjoy
• The traditions you carry out
• The Christmas lights in your neighbourhood and home
• Decorations
• Snapshots of funny things relatives do each year
• Children sleeping on Christmas Eve
• The presents each person recieves
• Formal family and friend portraits
• People using their new "toys"
• Sleeping family members after the Christmas morning rush
• Service the family gets involved in
• Everyone dressed in their new clothes/P.Js/hats etc
• Preparations at Christmas time i.e baking, wrapping presents,  making gifts

Thoughts for your inspiration

When one door of happiness closes, another opens; but often we

look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one
which has been opened for us."
-- Helen Keller



"You will recognize your own path when you come upon it,
because you will suddenly have all the energy and imagination
you will ever need."
-- Jerry Gillies



"Give whatever you are doing and whoever you are with the gift
of your attention."
-- Jim Rohn



"It is only with the heart that one can see clearly, for the
most essential things are invisible to the eye."
-- Antonie de Sainte Exupery



"A year from now you will wish you had started today."

-- Karen Lamb



"If you don't like something change it; if you can't change it,
change the way you think about it."
-- Mary Engelbreit