Finally...New Post, New Curtains, New Lights

Well, it's about time, huh?  It's been way too long since I last posted.  The days are flying by and what seemed like a month and a half has really been 3 months.  Yikes!

I've been in a "nesting" mood since the beginning of the year.  We've lived in this house for over 3 1/2 years and I decided it was time to finally get to some projects that had been put off and put off.  So, we rearranged the living room and I decided to make some new curtains to replace the ones I made from sheets when we first moved here.  It was sometimes fun, sometimes very frustrating, and sometimes just funny (as in I can't believe how brainless hormones have made me) but they got finished and hung and I like them.

Kitchen curtains made from Crate and Barrel dish towels.

Living room curtains made from white Ikea curtains with an added border of fun fabrics.

The dining room slider has a curtain just like these.

Hubs decided to do some projects too and made me my mason jar lights I've been wanting to put in the kitchen.  He had a brainstorm about what hardware to use to mount them--industrial surface mount conduit and electrical boxes--and I think they turned out spectacularly!!

 LIght over sink.

 Lights over the peninsula.

 All lit up.  Sorry it's not a better picture--it was hard to get it to turn out at all.

There's still a lot of accessorizing I 'd like to get finished so that the living room looks put together.  A rug, pillows, pictures for the walls, pretty things on the shelves...I'm kind of in a lull right now but I've set a deadline so hopefully that will spur me on to fffffinish.

One Quilt Project Finished (Finally) and Another Ready to Start

I had a creative breakthrough the other day and was finally able to finish a small wall quilt I've been making for my sister.  The center has been finished for at least a year but I got stuck on what I wanted to do for a border.  I got an idea for the border the other day and was able to get it all finished in time to give it to my sister tonight when she was in town for her Gaelic lesson.  One project checked off the list.  :)

 

Now I can get started on making the quilt I promised Alex so he has at least one real blanket for his bed.  :)

Here's the design I came up with.  It's based loosely on a quilt I found on this site.  http://www.thequiltingedge.com/2011/02/qayg-strips-on-circles-2011.html

I really, really like the quilts she makes and she even uses the quilt as you go method that I've been dying to try so I think this is going to be quite a fun project!  So far I've dyed the batting black so it won't show when I quilt and I've washed half the fabric.  I have high hopes that I might get started on the first block this weekend!

New Paintings...

And I'm only a few days later than I said I'd be.  :)  I was hoping to find time to finish the 2nd and 3rd paintings in a series that I'm doing in acrylic so I could post them too, but I haven't gotten to them yet...

Enjoy.  :)

I have another blog post all ready to go about quilt projects I've finally finished (yay!  right, Gayle?) and ones I'm about to start so if you're interested, check back tomorrow.  :)

Making Stuff...Or What to Do When Your Washing Machine Breaks

Actually, I started this project before the washer broke but it's been a good stress reliever and distraction when I've gotten sick of trying to research how to repair it or replace it.  Especially since the projects I had planned to work on were put on hold because of not having a washing machine.  :)

Last week when I went to my painting class, I noticed a couple of people who had these neat paint brush holders that stand up when you unfold them.  I really liked them but they're only available in black and black is way to boring for me so I decided to try to make one that's more colorful.  It took a  little while to figure out how to design and sew it but over the course of the week I came up with a good plan for it and I finished it in time to take it to painting class tonight.

Here is the holder all folded up and ready to go.

Here is a picure of the inside.

Here it is when the top is folded back so it stands up.

I also made a zippered bag out of the black and white fabric to hold other miscellaneous painting stuff so, along with my big red canvas bag that holds all my stuff, I'm quite the coordinated painter these days.  :) 

I should have another post by tomorrow night of some new paintings.  I'm too tired tonight to set up the camera and tripod.  :)

Some New Paintings...

I think I need some more exciting titles...THIS JUST IN!  AWESOME ARTWORK AHEAD!   Nah, maybe not.  :) 

 Anyway, I have a few paintings I did last week of various Autumn scenes.  Hope you enjoy them!

 This is a farm on the far side of Waitts Lake outside of Chewelah, WA.  

 A grain elevator somewhere in the Palouse.  I took some creative license and changed the tree foliage to fall foliage.

A gourd someone brought to painting class a week ago.

I'm starting on a new quilt project sometime this week or next (whenever I can get the last of the supplies I need) and since I'm designing it myself (loosely based on a quilt I saw online)  I'm planning on doing some blog posts about the process.  Stay tuned...

I'm Back! (Finally!!!!)

Wow, it feels good to finally be doing a new blog post!  It's been a long time, hasn't it?  I've made good progress on figuring out how to edit photos on my new computer using a new program so I'm crossing my fingers that everything goes the way I've planned.  :)

I'm still playing with watercolor but haven't had time to paint every day.  I have been going to a class once a week with my mom so I've been painting one or two paintings a week.  I figure it's better that nothing, huh?  Anyway here are some of the things I've done since July.  Hope you enjoy!

The Palouse

painted sometime in late July. 2011

Beach scene (class assignment from teacher's photo)

painted Aug. 2, 2011 in class

Beach scene (in class, from my photo)

Painted Aug. 9, 2011 in class

Black-eyed Susans (in class, from my fertile imagination)

Painted Aug. 16, 2011 in class

Pienza, Italy (in class, from my photo)

painted Aug. 23, 2011

Pienza, Italy (at home from my photo)

painted August 25, 2011

Lavendar fields (painted in class from reference photos and my imagination)

Painted Sept. 13 and Sept. 27, 2011

Pen and Ink scene (in class with my photos)

painted Sept. 27, 2011

Snow scene (in class, from teacher's photo)

painted Oct 4, 2011

Mushroom (in class, from teacher's photo)

painted Oct. 11, 2011