Noisy Baby Toy

This is one of my favorite baby toys from when Camilla was little. A baby actually has to put a little effort into making the toy make noise, unlike the more sophisticated toys with batteries which will play some little ditty over and over again with just the push of a button.

One of Camilla’s favorite was a caterpillar (known as a “catter-pitter” and a “pitter-catter”) which taught the alphabet. It would say individual letters and sounds, but also sang the alphabet song (over and over and over . . .) Oh well, annoying as it was, I kind of liked the “pitter-catter” also.

For the current Illustrator assignment we needed to create an assembly drawing to show how to assemble, use, or repair a piece of equipment. My instructor says if he sees another iPod drawing he’ll scream, so I decided to have a little fun and draw this baby toy.

Hopefully this toy is intuitive enough to learn without instructions (as all baby toys should be), but to fit the requirements of the assignment, instructions were added.

Puppet Factory

My sewing room turned into a puppet factory this afternoon while we made puppets for a school project. I might have made my own pattern, but I found it already done for me at this website: http://www.puppetsforministry.com/Free_Patterns.htm. I needed to modify the hair just a bit, and then I made clothes for them.

Adobe Illustrator Self-Portrait

I tend to shy away from drawing people, because it is so hard to get a good likeness. I guess that means I should draw them more, so I can get practice. But then, often enough, there is a challenge or an assignment that requires a portrait.

I am taking an Adobe Illustrator class at the local community college from the same instructor I took Photoshop from a couple of years ago. The first assignment is a self-portrait. The portrait is supposed to say something about our self, which is why there is “quilting” added in the background.

The expression isn’t quite right. I look happier in the photo I was drawing from. Otherwise, I am happy with how it turned out.

Spirit Week

I’ve tried freezer paper as a stencil for painting today. Spirit Week is next week at Camilla’s school. I drew the stylized version of the school mascot onto freezer paper, cut it out, and ironed it over the side seam of an old pair of jeans.

Some white acrylic paint, and now she has a custom pair of pants for spirit week.

I tried this technique once before, and had trouble with the freezer paper coming up while I was painting, so did a test before I got out the paint this time. It worked just the way it was supposed to. Perhaps the difference was in the paint. I had used Setacolors last time which are a bit thinner than the artists acrylic I used today. Also, I was careful when moving the brush across the paper.

Arrowhead Marsh III In Progress

I put all of the names from the last two posts into a hat, and pulled out two. They will be going to Teri Stegmiller and Doreen Kinkaid. They will go out in the mail this week. I have enjoyed reading everyone’s comments and visiting your blogs.

Since Arrowhead Marsh II will be travelling for a couple of years, I decided to make a second quilt based on the same photo.

This quilt has more texture in the water than the last Marsh quilt. I ran out of the fabric used for the water in the first, and couldn’t find anything similar at the store. I ended up buying a couple fabrics I probably didn’t need. I used a new peach colored floral, and combined with some similar colored fabrics I had on hand for the water. I also used a new fabric for the mudflats. Otherwise, the fabrics are the same as I used for the last Marsh quilt.

"This is a Quilt!"

“Arrowhead Marsh II” is destined for the SAQA trunk show titled “This is a Quilt!” It will be traveling to various SAQA events through 2012.

I have given away four of the bookmarks as gifts. These two are left. Leave a comment on this post or the last one to be entered in the drawing in a week or so.

Bookmark Giveaway

Arrowhead Marsh II wasn’t coming along as anticipated. I hadn’t considered enough how the paint colors would blend. So I didn’t hesitate to cut the quilt into bookmarks. I embellished them with shapes cut from pre-fused scraps. I like the bookmarks much more than the quilt, and glad this was the smaller of the two quilts I at this later stage.

I have recipients planned for four of the bookmarks, and will have two left over. I will draw two random winners in two weeks. Leave a comment in the comment section if you would like to be in the drawing.
I'm making a second try at the same quilt. I’m learning what not to do, and what works well. I’ve made more conscious decisions with the initial fabric choices this time.