Janet's Influence finished

Here it is, all finished! I thouight a traditional binding would detract from the look I wanted, so I've wrapped the binding to the back. (Detail pictures were taken as I was working on it, so they can be found in previous posts.)

Artichoke Journal

Yes, I'm taking another online class:-) This one is a journal making class with Sue Bleiweiss, and above is the front of my first journal! The outer fabrics and papers were created while taking another class. Aa real artichoke was used to stamp with fabric paint, so they were all nicely coordinated, and the lining was just waiting in my stash.
The inner pockets are a bit different than the lesson, but I wanted the larger one to hold things even if it was picked up upside down, and the smaller pocket can hold some pencils or pens.
All the inner pages are made from cardstock, and have at least a bit of paint somewhere.

Ryan's socks

Lately, with all the traveling we've been doing to check on the house renovation, etc., I've had lots of time to knit in the car. (I've tried to work on quilting, but got tired of being pricked and had to find something else to do.) Anyways, I decided to try some of the cool socks in Cat Bordhi's book "New Pathways for Sock Knitters". Since the socks use techniques that were new to me, I did the little baby sock lessons and found that making socks from the toe up were much more fun than from the leg down. No grafting, no picking up stitches! This pair uses a combination of techniques in the book, but is close to one that is pictured in the book. They were supposed to fit me (same gauge as the other pair I made), but ended up growing larger, so my son ended up getting these and I had to make another pair for myself.

house renovation

If you've been wondering why my posts have slowed, this picture shows just part of the reason. Last fall we purchased a new (to us) house that needed renovation, but had such a great location that we couldn't resist. Eventually, we want to live there full time, but are currently busy with the renovation, as well as fixing up the property. Last weekend we planted an orchard full of trees, as well as berries and kiwi vines, and we're still trying to keep up with all the usual things.

Self Portrait

Here's the self portrait that I'm working on in Pamela Allen's "Think Like an Artist" class. A few months ago I decided to stop fighting with my curly hair and trying to make it straight, so my hair is now shorter, and much curlier than I remember it (of course, I've spent most of my life trying to get rid of those curls, and now I've decided to just "deal with it"). Some of the fabrics are from another project that I'll post later, and others are from my stash. The face in the sun (instead of moon), is one of the faces that I cut and decided wouldn't work, but I like it up there. Along with quilting, I've had house plants, on and off, depending on where we've lived, and of course how busy our lives were at the time, and also garden off and on as well, so the hanging plant is a reminder of the plants I've grown, as well as the ones that are sprouting around the house in anticipation of being planted outside.

What's for dinner?

Here's my project for the first week in Pam Allen's "Think like an Artist class at Quilter's Threads. I had no idea I'd end up with a cat when I started going through my black and white fabrics and cutting the background pieces, but there was this fabric printed with cats, and off I went trying to create this one. Unfortunately, I'm not really a cat person - I'm a dog person, so while I started with an idea, it has taken a lot of experiments and research to get this cat to look normal. Well, as normal as a black and white cat made by me is going to get right now. This project has many things that are out of my comfort zone, but I'm hanging in there and learning by doing. Stitching is next, so stay tuned to see how it looks when it's finished.

online class link

I realized this morning that I hadn't given enough details for you to sign up for my Artistic Free Motion online class, so I thought I'd fix that. The class is being held at Quilter's Threads (http://www.quiltersthreads.com/) and begins on March 7th. Many students have posted that they were impressed with the clarity and completeness of the written material, and during the last session I was able to add a short video. There's also a link on the right for the shop under "Where to find my patterns" and I'll be adding another for online class links to make it easier for you to find.