Latest projects

Over the past couple of weeks I've been in major project mode. Just one right after another, and sometimes a few at once. Here's what I've finished recently:

Finally, some art on the walls of my son's room.

An alphabet sampler made using this tutorial from Orange Flower Sketchbook.

A little applique and embroidery interpretation of this sweet Japanese fabric.

Using fabric to reverse-matte prints and photos is a great (and inexpensive) way to add color and texture to your art. Just cut a piece large enough to cover the frame's back plus about an inch on all sides, then fold the fabric behind the back and tape it down. Add some double-sided tape to each corner of your art and center on the fabric.
This is a pen and ink reproduction I did a couple years ago of a page from a beautifully illustrated book of my favorite poem, "Winken, Blinken and Nod", also reverse-matted on fabric.

I bought this piece of American Jane Wee Play fabric back when I was working on Hakan's quilt and never did anything with it. I finally decided to turn it into a wall hanging for his room.

I added some padding and a backing, then stitched between the printed panels to make it look a little more quilty and bound it. Can you spot the cute little buttons I added?





Just finished this baby girl quilt about an hour ago for whoever might have a girl next at church. Everyone's been having boys lately, so I have no idea who'll end up with it!

Red, white, yellow and green- reminds me of strawberries and summer! (Don't tell, but I wish I could keep it.) The backing was cut from a nice white cotton tablecloth that I found during my last thrift store visit. It was pretty big, so the rest of it may turn into a picnic quilt.

I just had to use some more of that sweet Amy Butler fabric from my wall art, so I covered a panel of cork and put it in a thrifted frame to make a little message board.

The pocket in the corner was originally intended to just cover a hole in the floral fabric, but it turned out to be a handy place to stash note paper.

I'm also working on bringing this antique dresser back to life. I am sooo excited to get it finished!

Here's a peek at my progress. Isn't that wood gorgeous?! Who could paint that?

I've still got lots of work to do on it, but I'll definitely be posting lots of "after" pictures here when I'm done!

A little more wall art

Here's the rest of the wall decor I've been working on. Just hung it up a few minutes ago and I am really liking how it all came together. I scored those two giant hoops on my last thrift store hunt and knew they'd be perfect for this project. The hoop on the far left is some beautiful Amy Butler fabric that I totally adore and left as is. The L.O.V.E. idea came from another crafter, though for the life of me I can't find where I got the image to give her credit. I always think that when I save an image I'll remember where it came from. Anyway, for the record, that is not my idea!

The oval hoop contains more Amy Butler fabric that I embellished with some appliqued swallow silhouettes. I know, you've seen that bird shape before, but I just love it! And then the last two hoops are simple appliques cut from the left over Amy Butler fabric.




That giant blank wall in our dining room had been staring me in the face for over a year. I'm so glad I found a good (and cheap!) way to dress it up. If you decide to do something like this, one little tip I have is to not glue your fabric to the back of your hoops if you think you might want to change your decor someday. I probably won't luck out and find 18" hoops for $1.50 ever again, so the big ones I left loose so I have the option of changing out the fabric if I want to. Just trim the fabric leaving about 1", then use your iron to press it flat so it lays against the wall nicely.