Matroyshka dolls and two purses

Teaching is back in session, so in my bits of time I've been piecing large backs for the shamefully expansive collection of unfinished tops in the upstairs closet, and working my way through lots of tiny little bits and bobs that have been rearing their heads from the depths of my crafting chambers. I've also started setting up a storefront, using the BigCartel website instead of Etsy. We'll see how that goes. Presumably people can use their credit cards right at the secure site, instead of just PayPal. I have one item listed for now, but I'll get some more photos taken eventually for additional items. (So keep me in mind if you need a handcrafted hygge-inducing gift for somebody in your life!!)

I realized that I never shared the photos of my other Christmas gifts. Maybe the cutest little thing I've ever made, I sent a set of nesting Matroyshka dolls to my sweet baby cousin. (Pattern by Dolls and Daydreams.) These little pysanky-like prints have been hanging around for awhile, and they were  perfect for the Russian dolls. Word on the street is that Little Miss Cousin is enjoying them quite a bit -- her mom sent me the sweetest pictures of her putting them to bed. Hugs and kisses to her!!!

Nesting Matroyshka family

Matroyshka family

Mama Matroyshka

Big Sister Matroyshka

Baby Matroyshka

My mom asked if I could make her a few small purses, one for the non-Christmas part of winter, and one for fall. I knew there was a reason I acquired this pretty winter village fat quarter!! I made my trusty Tube Pocket Purse (pattern by Wonder Woman Quilts), with a beaded snowflake for the flap.

Mom's "winter" purse (front)

Mom's "winter" purse (back)

I took a little risk and picked some funky modern fabrics for the autumn purse, but Mom said she loves them so Risk=Reward and all is well! This pattern is the Barbados bag (by Pink Sand Beach Designs) and it went together really well. Bonus: I learned a new technique for top zippers!

Mom's "autumn" purse (front)

Mom's "autumn" purse (back)

Next time, I'll post photos of the final page I made for my art group's color challenge, and then photos of the pages that I received for my own orange hexagon book.

IPad blogging

Happy 2015!! My sweet husband gifted me an iPad for Christmas, and this is my first shot at blogging with the photos taken right from the device. Turns out there's an app for that.

For now, just a few quick snaps of a scrappy little project that used up a bunch of my 2.5" strips from the Warm side of the color wheel. I modified a free pattern that I found on the Moda website so I could work in the 2.5" squares that were already cut as well. It's just a little thing, only 48 x 60", but a good snuggle size for a not-too-big human.

Scrappy sunset quilt top, 48 x 60"

I'm planning to spend some concerted time making backs for the seventy trillion unfinished tops hanging upstairs, so I figured that I might as well make this one while the yellow and orange bins were sitting out anyway. Nothing special here, but working through a few dozen backs ought to clear out some space in the overflowing (to the point of stress-inducing) Strategic Fabric Reserves.

Scrappy back of scrappy sunset quilt

January is for using up and organizing, but January is also for teaching, as of next Monday, so I probably won't do too much sewing or blogging until late April.

Some of the things I hope to work on this year include:

• A new quilt for our renovated bedroom. I'm thinking pinks, corals, and oranges with hints of purple, on a brown background. I have an inspiration card from Lowe's that makes that look a lot better than it probably sounds. 
• Arcadia Avenue elaborate paper-pieced hexagons. I might decide to make that the new bed quilt, even though the original setting isn't quite big enough for a king sized bed.
• My regular monthly journal art projects. I haven't even started the red project that is "due" in mid-February.
• Monthly free-motion practice pillows, as hosted at the QuiltShopGal (formerly SewCalGal) blog.