Plans for 2017

Wait! 
Is it already February? 
No, worse...  
It's almost March!

So much for my 2017 plans.  I just lost two months and I haven't started on my goals yet!
But I did write them.
And I have been doing some random little projects.

How many reading glasses do you have scattered around your house? I got tired of trying to carry one pair around with me just in case I needed to read something so I got multiple pairs to leave in different rooms and made these little eyeglass cases to put them in.

I did manage to take notice of Valentine's Day and finished making a few little Valentine quilted hearts like this.  It could be a coaster or just a decoration.

And I made some little Valentine notebooks that have a fabric cover that is bonded to paper. These little notebooks are 3 1/2" x 5 1/2" with 48 pages.  The covers are stiff enough to hold their shape but flexible and have some give.  They won't fray because the fabric is bonded to a backing paper and you can stuff them in your purse or pocket for random note taking. I'm thinking of doing a blog post just on how I make these little books.

And I finally got around to trying out some new art supplies I got for Christmas. I'm a big fan of watercolor pencils and these muted colors are an interesting change from the typical rainbow colored set.

Thanks for reading. 

Aileen 

Odd Projects

I've just been working on a few small things. 

I wanted to feel like I was getting something done so I machine quilted this little scrap quilt.  I guess that's the plus side of having a pile of unfinished projects.

And, of course had it Cat approved. Thanks Cassandra.

 And did some more topographic line doodles.  It's sort of meditative and easy to sit a couple minutes, often talking to someone, and just draw lines. Hills, valleys, lakes, rivers, mountains, shorelines, islands, cliffs and whatever I imagine.

This is another of the pearl cotton hand quilted pieces I work on when I'm watching TV.  I finished the edges of this small piece and plan to use it as the cover for a small book.

And this is the 'ugly' experiment completed.  I wanted to try a 'stack and slash' patchwork technique but didn't want to use any of my 'favorite' fabrics on something I might not like so I picked out of my stash 6 of my least liked fabrics, the 'uglies'.  I've see some really impressive and attractive stack and slash quilts and it looks like a fun technique to use but I didn't find it to be any less work really and the end results don't make me happy.  My vision/brain craves at least order and loves some symmetry with that and it would be nice if my favorite colors were involved. Maybe this wasn't a good test. If I liked the colors and prints in the quilt I might be able to overlook the disorder of the whole object.  Maybe.

This is one of our sleepy bees hanging out under the marigolds overnight. With their help I'll have all the seeds I need for flowers next year.

Thanks for reading.

Aileen

Lines, lines and more lines

I'm still exploring imaginary topography. 

And now there is color in the imaginary world. 

These random watercolor pieces make a good jumping off point for starting the lines. 

This is before and after adding lines. 

I think I'll do a few more like this. 

These are the next set of papers I plan to topograph. 

Thanks for reading. 

Aileen