More ladies........

I sure hope you're not getting sick of meeting my lovely ladies.  I am having such fun making them, you just wouldn't believe.  Each is a challenge to see how close I can get to making them look like their photo and personally, I think I'm getting better and better!  (Tough to pat yourself on the back, huh???)  Today we have two from the US.  Numbers #36 and #37.

#36 is Olga.  As with most of my ladies, Olga is a quilter and avid sewer (or as I've been hearing lately, "sewist".  And where in the world did that come from anyway???  Sometimes I feel as though I'm really out of the loop!!)

Anyway, as normal, first I will post the drawing, then her pretty eyes, the quilt and thankfully the original picture of Olga.

  And the real, Olga.......!!!  She was real fun to do because Olga told me she likes color and if it's one thing that inspires me to no end, it's COLOR!!  Thank you, Olga!!

Next, we have #37, Jan.  I wish I could tell you how old Jan is because you wouldn't believe me!!!!  Seriously, folks, you wouldn't!!!  God has been very good to Jan!  (Much better than he's been to me, I have to admit!!  Phooey!!  'Course I suppose if I moved a bit more instead of sitting and sewing ladies all the time, I might look a bit better too????  BUT, we won't go there!!! )  Here's Jan....(in the same order!)







And here is Jan with "herself":



Now tell me that doesn't really look like her.  Not bad, huh?

So that's it for today.  I did have a few more things going, but I'll show you that stuff next time.  Until then, take care, stay warm, and have fun!

Who's that Lady?

They have arrived!!  Yahoo......I always worry!  Let me introduce you to Lady #34, Maria #2 from Australia.  (Not to be confused with the original and imaginary Lady #4 Maria, or Lady #31 Maria #1 from Australia.) I'm thinkin' there must be lots of lovely Maria's in Australia, huh?  I bet I haven't seen the last of them yet.........at least I hope not!  So without further adoo:

And here is the original photo that she sent to me:

Then, I grabbed this photo off her blog.  And you can read there what the unpackaging looked like.  (All ladies come in this same package.)



Then, we have another lovely lady from the same country.  In fact, they are from the same area in Australia......if you can believe?  I wonder if they know each other???  Please meet Anita.  Anita is Lady #35.







Anita wanted her portrait on a neutral background rather than the normal white to match her home decor.  And here is the original photo that Anita sent to me:

So there you have it!  A few more lovely ladies and believe it or not, I'm working on a few more.  Yeah!!  I really love making ladies!  It's almost a challenge for me to see how alike I can get the drawing and then when I get the colors on the background, and all the embellishments sewn on, everything just seems to come alive!  It almost saddens me to send them off.....

More next time................until then, have some fun!  And if you live around me, stay warm.  Our high is supposed to be 7F today.  Brrrrr!!!!!

Happy Valentine's Day . . . a bit late

And here she is to wish each and every one of you a Happy Belated Valentine's Day:



(You have to smile, don't you???)  That was the whole point!

Well, I heard from Lady #35 that her quilt made it to her and I was going to show you, but dummy me forgot to add it to my Flickr account, so we'll just have to wait until next time.  Hopefully, Lady #34 will make it where she belongs by then and then I can show you both ladies together.

In the meantime, I have been continuing to practice my zipper skills.  I showed you a few pouches last time, but I have made some more.  First is this one that I made out of some 4" star blocks I made a few years ago and never knew what I was going to do with them:



The back is identical to the front....well, not completely identical, but has 4 stars with hand quilting.....you get the picture, I'm sure.  Inside, I just put a plain black dot on white to sort of coordinate.  It turned out a bit big at 7 1/2" square



Did you check out the zipper pull?  I bought some cheap beads from my local bead store to jazz it up a bit.  I really like the look.

Then I made this one after I bought a fat eighth bunch and split it with a friend.  I knew the prints would be perfect for a clutch.  'Course after it was done, I had to go to Michaels to find the perfect charm to use as a zipper pull for that one too.



The only one bad thing about splitting a fat eighth bunch is that you don't have enough of one fabric to make a complete lining:



Actually, I liked it so much that I made a few more:



And then today, I had to see how that pattern would look in something else:



This time I did have enough of something to coordinate with the outside fabrics though so I could make a complete lining with pockets:



(I think I could do that pattern in my sleep now!!!  Seriously!!!)  I did make 3 more pouches in different styles, but I am waiting for a package from a friend in Norway to finish them.  She found me some awesome beads in really neat colors....so stay tuned!  I also ordered 20 zippers today from an Etsy shop.  I might have to start giving pouches away the way I'm going!  Good thing I got two more "Lady" orders yesterday so I can work on something productive.  lol

Have a good weekend, my friends, and stay warm.  It's been colder than blue blazes here with snow still on the ground.  Spring can't come fast enough for me!!  You too????  At least the sun is out today!

Until next time.....................

Valentine's mug rugs and pouches.....

I sure have been having fun!  Seems like forever that I've just sewn for the sheer fun of it........although usually I do have something in mind.  I was saddened when one of my favorite swaps folded (mug rug), so thought I should take it upon myself to perhaps make a few for friends.  After all, Valentine's Day is approaching and I do have some really nice Flickr friends.   Marilyn and I decided to exchange.......I made her this one:



And she sent me this beauty:



Then, I just HAD to make one for my dear friend (now in California, but should be here in Wisconsin where she belongs), Annie:



Then, I made this for a friend who enjoys rainbow things just about as much as me.  She was kind enough to give me the perfect partner in a recent swap:



Then, I made a few more pouches.......I thought one wasn't enough to completely perfect my zipper skills.  First is this one......it's little at only 5 1/2 inches square:



Then, I made this today..........I'm thinking this pouch thing is sort of like making two mug rugs and sewing them together.......sort of??!!



That was the front.....and here is the back and insides...........





So...............that's the kind of stuff I do when I'm not making ladies.  THAT and look for my sweetie Toby in the snow:



Since that picture was taken we've gotten more snow and now his poor tummy touches the snow even as he moves.  I'm surprised he hasn't gotten stuck yet.  Poor baby!  Spring can't come soon enough for us!!!

That's about the news here.  Tomorrow I have to clean my house..............eikes!  It's a sight!  And after.....I'm rewarding myself by putting two zippers in another two pouches.  lol  Enjoy your week, friends!  Have some fun!

#32 Lady plus more

Lots of stuff to show you today.  I've been working!  First, let me show you my 3.5 inch bitty block for February.  The themes are bees and monsters.  I don't like bees, so I decided to only do the monsters.  lol  You might remember that we have to do 12 and then receive 11 of the same theme back from the other participants.  Someday I'll show you some of those.  For now, here is my guy:

And the whole group:

Did you notice that although I cut the shapes all the same, that they each seem to have their own personality just by a certain twist of the placement of the pieces?  I think that is really cool!

Then, I made a quilted page for my friend, Annie's, book.  She is adding pages as the feeling "hits" her, so I thought I'd add to the fun.  Besides, she is the sun in lots of lives, so I thought I should tell her!

Then, I did something from my past.  I joined a swap where one of the items of interest is homemade stuffed animals or dolls.  Years ago, I made 60 dolls for charity.....(actually, I sold a few first), so I retrieved the pattern wondering if my partner would be interested.  What I didn't remember is what a number it would do to my hands stuffing that baby.  Eikes!  Even my shoulders hurt!

And finally, I MUST introduce you to a very special lady......#32.  The very first non-sewing LADY in my series!  Her name is Dee, and she is a kindergarten teacher from Texas who has been teaching for 24 years and L O V E S cupcakes.  At first, when I got her request, I was surprised thinking she might want cupcakes in addition to sewing stuff, but NO!  She is known as the "cupcake teacher" and the whole school knows it, I guess.  Right now, her quilt is hanging in her classroom "watching" all her kiddos.  One young student asked this morning, if it talked.  lol  How sweet is that?  Remember when you see her original photograph (which she kindly gave me permission to use) that she has been teaching for 24 years!!  Personally, she doesn't look much older than 24 to me.

And Dee's original photo that she sent to me:

Many of you have written asking me about my fabric portraits, so I thought I'd just mention what I charge and the process in case any more of you might be interested.  (Besides the fact that the prices went up this week based upon the postage increases.  Ugh!)  The cost of an approximate 14x18 inch fabric likeness is $110 USD for US residents and $125 USD for international customers.  This price includes postage and gets you a fabric wall hanging quilt, with sleeve, dowel and O ring all ready to hang.  My turn around time is usually a week to two and payment is due when the portrait is finished prior to shipping.  I take checks from US residents or Paypal for everyone.  If you are interested, write to me at the e-mail address on my sidebar.  From you, I will need a photo sent to me via e-mail, along with knowledge of eye color (since it's rarely seen in true color from just a photo), shape and color of eye glasses, favorite colors of the recipient, hobbies, etc.  Just like with the "cupcake lady", special items can be included.  Mostly, I use white as a background color since it's clean and works well with every other color, but if your decor doesn't look good with white, we can discuss that too.  I hope to hear from you.  I LOVE making my "ladies" and each is very special to me!!

So......until next time............have a wonderful week, my friends!!!