2023 - Year of the Rabbit

January 22 rang in the 2023 Chinese Lunar New Year.  The Chinese Lunar New Year begins with the second moon after the winter solstice.  With each lunar new year an animal represents that year.  These animals rotate in a 12 year cycle.  2023 is the Year of the Rabbit (which represents the moon).  

You may ask what does this have to do with my creativity?  Well, according to my horoscope sign month and year - during the year of the rabbit I am the wooden horse.  It should bring welfare, luck, health, happiness, prosperity and peace.  Let my gypsy heart run free.  As 2023 rolled in I've felt renewed and refreshed.  Setting my yearly goals has got me on the run and enjoying my new year challenges.

I've recently completed two more of my UFOs.  And I only used my stash fabrics.  Win - Win.  Unfortunately, it hasn't made a dent in my stash, but hey I got 11 more months to go.

The first completed UFO is a set of four bowl cozies for my sister.  Her decorator is farmhouse modern in colors of red, grey and black - so these bowls will match great with her kitchen/dishes.  Enjoy Michelle.

The next UFO completed is a great tote for carrying my sewing supplies to any sewing location.  One of my friends from the AuSable Quilt Guild has been busy sewing this tote called the Tidy Tote designed from a lady who lives in Australia.  It caught my eye and I was hooked.  I needed this Tidy Tote.  My friend shared the info for purchasing the pattern and the next thing I knew there were five of us wanting to tackle this tote.  

One great feature of this tote is a plastic container with four drawers that fits at the bottom of the tote.  Instead of dumping my sewing supplies into the bottom of a tote, now I will have drawers to keep better organized.  I can even keep these supplies in the tote and easily access them at home too.  No more forgetting to pack the essentials. 

Back in October us ladies started gathering our supplies with our goal to start sewing this tote together this January.  When January came around we were ready and met to help each other successfully sew our totes.  Not only did we support each other sewing, but we certainly had some great fun and laughs. The instructions, being from Australia, had a few hiccups, with the zipper being biggest obstacle.  After a few trial and errors and some help from the lady who introduced us to the tote - our zippers were correctly installed.  After that we gave ourselves the name "The Down Under Zipper Club".   I feel I've gotten to know a couple ladies better and feel blessed for this friendship that will last.  Can't wait to tackle another project with you gals :)

So may I introduce to you my "Tidy Tote" - 

 

In this photo the tote is opened with the front detachable zippers.  There is the four drawer plastic container with a matching fabric basket on top.  I inserted gripping shelf liner in the drawers to keep my tools from tumbling around while carrying.  The front flap falls down to expose three elastic mesh bags for storage.  

This is the tote zipped up and ready to carry.  The two sides and back of the outside of the bag also has elastic mesh bags.  The top back is open for my 24" long ruler to be stored.  There are plenty of handy storage areas to use.

The final size of this Tidy Tote is 17" high, by 12" wide, and 14" deep.  A perfect size to carry and it doesn't drag on the ground.  As you can see it's already packed and ready to go. 

All of us gals finished our totes, so at the next AuSable Guild meeting we plan on having a fashion show and parade our totes during show 'n tell to share with the rest of the guild.  This truly was so fun to conquer with friends.

I've completed three UFOs from my list this month with still a couple more days to work on another project.  Rather I can finish another project is questionable, but with the rabbits inspiration this wooden horse is galloping at a steady pace.

It's a Winter Wonderland

Winter is my least favorite season.  Sure there are many fun holidays during the winter months, but living in northern Michigan winter comes too soon and seems to never want to go away.  But, I do have to admit that there is nothing more beautiful than a good hard snow storm.  The trees are covered in a blanket of snow with large snowflakes blowing in every direction.  It is a Winter Wonderland.  In fact, our state has a motto Winter Wonderland.  The flip side of that is it's a pain to dig ourselves out from a heavy snow.

This next project is inspired by that beautiful snow storm.  I named this wallhanging, of course, "Winter Wonderland".  It is constructed with two inch blocks.  The tree limbs are pieced randomly in a light tan to resemble being snow covered.  

The wallhanging is quilted with swirls in all directions and French knots follow around the quilting to help emphasize the large blowing snowflakes and wind.  I left a lot of background with the white blocks to show the blowing snow.  

A small red cardinal sits on a branch to add a pop of color.

Finished size is 60" wide by 50" long.  

Winter Wonderland is another UFO checked off my list.  So far my checked UFOs have been close to finished projects.  My next UFO will take more focus to finish.  I'm on a mission, see you soon.

Triple Bear Paw

Over the past several years I've enjoyed viewing barn quilt signs on homes and businesses.  I thought to myself I can easily make a barn quilt sign.  Heck, if I can cut and sew fabric into beautiful quilt blocks painting one should be a piece of cake.  And so the process began.

This fall our quilting group, The Midnight Stitchers, joined up to make barn quilt signs to display on our homes.  

First we drew our blocks out on graph paper.  This would help us decide on the size board we would paint on and also we could color in the blocks to purchase paint.  I decided to do the Triple Bear Paw - in remembrance of the mama black bear and her three cubs that hung around our house for a couple years.  I miss them.  Well, sort of.  It was scary when she would just pop out of the woods during the day with her cubs.  It certainly was great watching them from inside the house, but not being outside with them.

The next hurdle was to find the perfect type of wood that would last in our weather and be smooth on one side to help make crisp painted lines.  One of our members owns a lumberyard and sign board was recommended.  As a group we ordered a large piece of sign board and divided it up amongst us.  The owner of the lumberyard was so awesome, he even cut our individual squares.

We primed our board and drew out our block using our graph paper design as a guide.  And the painting began.   I found that painting with the light colors first and building up to the darker color worked best.  It's easier to cover over light colors vs coloring light over dark.  A painters tape was used to help get sharp lines (I liked the brand Scotch Sharp Lines brand).

With the light colored finished it was exciting to start adding color and watching my design come together.

The whole processes took a few months.  Each layer of paint had to dry completely before the next layer was added.  And most of the time I was unable to get back to the next layer of paint for several days.  And finally here is the finished Barn Quilt Sign - Triple Bear Paw.  

I thought the sign size would be bigger looking on my house, but it looks great.  I wanted it hung higher centered above my windows, but communication between me and my husband didn't pan out.  Regardless I love it, of course.  I even have a barn shaped house and garage to display it on.  I'm very proud to display it outside for people passing by can view it.  If the neighbors knew the meaning of the block I know they would enjoy it more.

Another UFO checks off my list.  Back to creating.

Good morning 2023

Today will start off my busy sewing year.  I'm working on one of my UFOs - The Indian Wedding Ring.  I figure I'm about 30% done.  It will be a beauty when finished.

I've worked on this quilt off and on for a couple years.  It's not an easy quilt pattern and I get easily sidetracked finding another project that I can accomplish quickly and get quicker gratification.  And of course there are always special quilts to be made for births, birthdays and other special occasions.

My goal is to finish this quilt this January, but on Wednesday the AuSable Quilt Guild challenge will begin and a new UFO will be chosen.  I'm determined to stay on track with this challenge.  I'm taking a deep breath and jumping in.

More about this quilt when it's finished.

Get ready, cause here I come!

STASH