May A Rainbow Follow Each Rain

Today I joined the 11 Quilts in 2011 Quilt Along on Craftster as yet another way to keep me on task this year.  My dream list is actually 13 quilts, but my realistic goal would be to complete 11.  Listing all my upcoming projects today did give me the chance to think through some of the projects lower down on the list, and have me dreaming of pretty fabrics like jelly rolls of  Sugar Plum & Lemongrass jelly rolls, or a layer cake of Kate Spain's Central Park.

In the mean time, since I've been posting so many crafts lately I decided to pull a quilt out of the archives tonight.

This wedding quilt was made in June 2009 for my friend and former roommate Dianna.  The pattern is from McCall's Quick Quilts, May 2008, and was originally intended for 16 brightly colored fat quarters.  I choose to stick with a tighter color palette, as Dianna had always said that she wanted an all blue quilt.  When I looked at the pattern sketched in nothing but blues it reminded me of the way raindrops look, falling into puddles.  It is quilted in the ditch as a grid pattern, but I kind of wish now that I had done rings, to echo the raindrop image.

The blocks, all laid out on my floor prior to piecing the top.

Detail of the blocks.  Sadly the color is off in this shot, but you can see the fabric patterns more clearly.

Finished and bound.

Lounging on my porch swing.  

Tomorrow I'm planning to do some more quilting on the Costume Shop Quilt.  Maybe I'll even get some process shots up!

Potions Master Charm Bracelet ~ Version 2.0

A while back I created a Potions Master Charm Bracelet for SevsOnlyGirl in the Loaded Charm Bracelet Swap.  I was really happy with how it came out, not to mention psyched to be so inspired by my awesome partner, Sevs.  Here's the original:

But in the year since making that one, I've refined my technique quite a bit, and started using a different style of chain as my base, which I think wears much nicer and is more comfortable.  I decided I wanted to go back to that bracelet and try it again, with a "what I know now" kind of approach.  Here's the result:

Charms include:
~Evil eye, used to protect oneself from malicious spells
~Snake, symbol of Slytherin House
~Lightening bolt, for the Boy Who Lived
~Silver star
~Phial of lavender, to promote love, protection, courage & strength
~Acromantula
~Inkwell & quill, for grading all those rolls of parchment
~Locket to stash a picture of your true love
~Silver Doe, Snape's Patronus Charm
~Phial of rue, symbol of sorrow & repentance; renowned as an antidote to poisons; carried to guard the bearer from poisons, werewolves and all manner of dangers
~Owl, to bear your messages
~Beazor, a stone taken from the belly of a goat which will guard against most poisons
~Spell books & an apple for studying
~Dragon
~Phial of sage, for longevity & increasing wisdom
~Wand, from Ollivander's
~Crescent moon
~Wire wrapped skull, like the Death Eater's masks
~Goblet in which to serve your most potent potions

All in all, I like the new one more, though I do wish I had been able to locate another copy of the locket used in the original.  There was just something about that pointy blackened locket that worked so well with this theme.  

Mug Rugs - Part I

While wandering the swap boards the other day, I discovered the Mug Rug Swap.  How did I not know about these before?!  They are so very me!


For those of you who haven't seen them either, a Mug Rug is somewhere between an over-sized coaster and a mini-placemat.   Or as my husband noted, somewhere between a doll quilt and a saucer!  The idea is that you should be able to fit a mug full of your favorite beverage and a small snack on it.  I clearly joined the swap about 2.6 seconds after discovering it.  As we are still in the Sign-Up stage, we don't have partners for me to stalk yet,  but here I am itching to make some anyways.  What's a girl to do?  How about some practice Mug Rugs?

This was my first.  I busted out some metallic threads and fancy stitches on my sewing machine.  I actually think it matches my work mug rather well.

This is my second one.  I found a single fat quarter of the red Celtic knots a few years ago, and could never quite decide what to make with it.  I'm pretty pleased with this one.  I think I'll start using it in my office at work, since my office is starting to become pirate themed, with lots of black and red around the room.  (My office also doubles as the student office, supply room, and general visiting area for the Theatre Department.)

This last one has to be my favorite though.  I just really love how it came out.  The fabrics were rescued from the scrap bin, and was originally from two student's pajama pants, and another student's shirt project.
It's hard to tell in the photo, but the quilting thread matches the color of the little green owl.

And the back:

The cookies in the photographs are Magic Peanut Butter Middles, and were made by my awesome husband.

A Plethora of Earrings

I've been taking the last week to make a whole lot of jewelry for my Etsy before heading back to work after the holidays.  Here are some of the results, a plethora of earrings!

Almond Drops on filigree bails

Celtic Knots and Shell

Leaves of Glass

Busy Bees

Heart of a Slytherin

Always - The Silver Doe

Expecto Patronum - Silver Stags

Breaking Dawn (Chess Pieces & Crystal Hearts)

Dragonfly In the Sky Necklace & Bracelet Set

I've been making mad piles of jewelry this week for my Etsy, before I head back to work post-holiday.  This set came about accidentally.  A friend asked if I could make a dragonfly themed piece, and I only had a few minutes to come up with something.  

Dragonfly in the Sky Pendant

Detail shot of pendant:

The dragonfly itself came to me as a single earring in the Steampunk Charm Swap.  I loved it, but it was too big to be used on the charm bracelet I had planned, so I removed it's earring post and added it to the blue capiz shell.
While digging through my charm collection a little later, I found a smaller bronze dragonfly charm, and decided to do a matching bracelet.  The beads are three sizes of fire-polished aquamarine glass.

After finishing the bracelet I wished I had a few more of the charms to make a set of matching earrings, so I wandered about Etsy until I found a set just like them.  As soon as I receive my goodies I'll be sure to post the matching earrings!

Matching Aprons & Chef Hats

My mom called me shortly before Christmas to ask me to make an apron for my beautiful niece Ari, who likes to help her Nana bake cookies in the kitchen.  (Evidently Ari doesn't like playing with toys as much as she likes doing things with grownups.)  After thinking on it for a few minutes, I realized that Ari totally needed a tiny chef's hat to go with her little apron.  Then I thought that perhaps what would really make my mom's day was if she and Ari had matching aprons and hats.

I spent part of a day of finals week whipping these up in the Costume Shop, while Jim was taking his last two exams.

Mom's hat and apron:

Ari's hat and apron:

Both sets for size comparison:

And finally mom and Ari after opening them on Christmas Eve:

I wish I had more time to work on them, because I really would have loved to add "Ari" and "Nana" to them somewhere.  Perhaps embroidered on the pockets.  But I really wanted to make sure the package got there by Christmas, so I just went ahead and sent them out.  Though she looks a bit sad in this picture, I'm told she was quite excited by her hat.

Just for fun, I also included some felt play food for Ari, even though she's a bit young for it.  I whipped up these all up in a single evening.

Breakfast goodies including pancakes with butter and syrup, sausages, bacon, and eggs over easy:

And since I had a bunch of purple and orange felt too, an eggplant and some carrots.  (Which Ari will probably help mom grow in the garden this year too!)

When I told my brother I knew that Ari might be too young for the felt food he said she actually seemed to understand immedietly that it was NOT supposed to go into her mouth.  Instead she holds it up and says "Nom, nom, nom", then holds it up for Nana, and is not satified until Nana "noms" on it too.  She evidently also likes to put it in her new toy grocery cart and push it around.  I'm clearly going to need to make more of these things...

Oh, and a big thanks goes out to Pinkleo for giving me all that felt last year in Craftster's 12 Days of Christmas Swap!  It was a life saver to have so much of it around when doing this at the last minute!

Quilted Potholders for Christmas

I know I've been really quiet lately.  The end of the semester got busy, and I was crafting like mad on last minute presents, including some fun little potholders.  I made them for just about everyone, but sadly I forgot to get pictures of some of them.  Here are the ones I did get shots of...

These were for friends who just got married.  I'm hoping to finish a small wall quilt for them too...

This set was for my sister in law, Emily:

For my co-worker, Shura:

For my mother in law, Kay:

Sadly I missed pictures on those for my other sisters in law, Heather & Jennifer.  I'll have to email to see if they can take some for me.

I'll be back to post more goodies later.  Expect some new jewelry, and eventually the matching aprons and chef hats I made for my mother and my niece!