stitching together

well, i decided to go ahead and just do some simple stitching on the mini quilt to finish it. there really weren't any disastrous needle incidents; besides the moment i sewed my thumb, but luckily there was no loss of blood involved.

i quite like the rippling texture, it's very much like viewing the crops lined up in fields while one is in a plane overhead. the backside came out okay, but not really photo worthy. i decided to create the whole piece by hand sewing; it's so small as to be a completely accomplishable task.

will i do another one? i'm not really sure, perhaps not anytime soon. but there is a stack of wheat and lavender fabrics i've been collecting.

change

while researching my upcoming trip i found out that i would be carrying around a lot of change. which seems strange in and of itself, as here i rarely ever have cash on me, and what change i do have fits into a teeny tiny pouch.

but apparently, japan is a cash country, and for denominations below 1,000 yen it's in coin form. so, i added 'change purse' to my list of needed things. and then i thought to myself, "myself, i think we should sew a change purse for ourselves." and i agreed that would be a good plan.

i had a zipper left over from a camisole which didn't need it, some lovely pale aqua piping, and two prints that went well together. one, a lime seersucker, and the other a double gauze cotton print from heather ross.

i thought about what size would be a nice fit for my purse and to carry around lots of heavy change, then i stalled a bit while figuring out what shape i wanted it to be. some fullness would be nice, a little bottom heavy perhaps, definitely easy access to see coins would be a good idea.

so after messing with pleats and the fabric i came up with something satisfactory. i like it, it's so puffy! hopefully it will be big enough.

i survived the storm

and lived to create another day! i finished up my ode to inspiration cushion. it's very delightful, with the bright blues and cheery oranges. every time i work with natural linen i am amazed at the variety in hue that is available; from lightest tans to deep wheaten browns. the tiny bit of firmness linen gives to the shape of the cushions is very nice, not too stiff and not too slouchy.

furniture and accessories

i've finally got around to purchasing the table for the living room. it's very much in the rococo style; all of the gilding and curls as well as the marble top are excessively over the top, it's great. i felt the need to tie it together with a rug from the heather ross fabric collection mendocino, the colors work well in the room and it anchors the furniture. the cork-like blob with the fuchsia pillows are individual seats that i'm thinking of using as chairs for the table; but until i find a painting for the wall behind them they're staying there to fill the space.

another addition is two chairs for the kitchen, painted green. i'm not 100% set on the white cushions, i may change them out for a stained cork. they weren't painted the day i bought them, but i can't leave well enough alone and the kitchen needed another color besides the blue. i took the green from the print hanging by the window. i also made curtains for the kitchen windows, very simple but bringing in the green again.

several days ago i made a table lamp for the little girls room. it's an adorable starfish bead that was yelling at me to make it into a lamp when i spied it in the bead store. it's a nice touch to the room; it lends itself to the modern theme i'm going with.

coral colors

i like the print and color combination of this pincushion a lot; even though it's not overly complicated in design, quite simple really. it features some of my favorite textile designers, heather ross with her mendocino line, and an australian artist that works in water based inks and organic hemp, umbrellaprints. the softness of this particular color is very soothing, and it's warm without being too bright.

this is the largest pincushion i've made to date; it's too large for my scale actually and so i haven't listed it yet. i had to move my pincushions from the drawer i was keeping them in as i ran out of room.