I received a galvanized metal farmhouse shelf from my mom for Christmas. It has a rod across the bottom to hang things on. The photo on the box showed galvanized buckets hanging from it. Of course I chose to hang a quilt instead. But it needed something more, so I decided to make a set of Spelling Bee (quilt book by Lori Holt of Bee In My Bonnet) letter mini quilts that spelled "HOME" to hang across it.
Of course, the letters were quick and easy to make. I used some of Lori Holt's Modern Mini's fabric to make the letters. Then they sat on my sewing table while the hubby and I spent most of February in Texas spoiling the grandkids. A week ago, I quickly loaded a piece of black and white gingham checked fabric and quilted the blocks. Each has a different design and I was happy with how drastically reducing some edge-2-edge patterns turned out. Unfortunately, the quilting doesn't show up in my photos very well.
Yesterday and today I finished them up by putting on the binding. I think they turned out so cute and I love the gingham check on the back (although no one will ever see it).
The rest of my time has been spent on my classes for Bonnie Christine's Surface Pattern Design Immersion Course. This weekend, our assignment was to sketch using nature and things in our surroundings. As I've said before, I'm not an artist, so this part of the class has been a little scary. But I gave it a whirl. This was my first sketch. I sent a photo of just the sketch to my daughter and mom and asked if they could guess what it was. Each of them guessed a flower on the first try.....BUT both guessed a pinecone on the second try! I was so excited that they could tell what it was.
And guess what?! I am an artist!!! (Hmmm, I think I'll add it to my Instagram bio. Believe it, Be it! Lol!) I am really happy with how these sketches turned out and can't wait until we learn how to put them into a repeat in Adobe Illustrator. I'm learning a ton and couldn't be more excited as to where this class is taking me. Next - watercolor!
~Sharla
Excited. Nervous. Scared. Anxious. I had all of those emotions and more as I clicked the button to enroll in Bonnie Christine's Surface Pattern Design Immersion course a couple of weeks ago. I was excited at the thought of finally learning how to use Adobe Illustrator to design fabric. Nervous that I was wasting my money on something that probably won't come to fruition. Scared that I really am not an artist so this dream is really not achievable. Anxious to take on the challenge and prove myself wrong.
The class started this past week and it's been a whirlwind of learning all the ins and outs, functions and abilities, etc. of a computer program I had never even opened up until the class on Monday. Adobe Illustrator is awesome and frustrating all at the same time. Trying to remember everything that I've learned this last week seems daunting, but our instructor Bonnie is a great teacher and soon, I suspect, all these things will become second nature and I'll wonder what was such a big deal about learning it. But, there's also the chance my brain will explode with all this information and there's seven more weeks to go! Here is a little sketch I made while practicing some of my new found skills.
Needless to say, not much sewing has happened around here this past week. I did crank out four pillowcases last night, though, to turn in today at quilt guild. The guild is going to donate them to a children's advocacy organization that serves abused children in the area. They fill the pillowcases with toiletries and other needed items for their clients.
Well, better get back to my homework. Our assignment for the weekend is to draw lots of sketches to use next week as we start building our surface patterns. I'm sure I'll be sharing more in the near future on my adventures!
~Sharla
The rest of my time has been spent on my classes for Bonnie Christine's Surface Pattern Design Immersion Course. This weekend, our assignment was to sketch using nature and things in our surroundings. As I've said before, I'm not an artist, so this part of the class has been a little scary. But I gave it a whirl. This was my first sketch. I sent a photo of just the sketch to my daughter and mom and asked if they could guess what it was. Each of them guessed a flower on the first try.....BUT both guessed a pinecone on the second try! I was so excited that they could tell what it was.
