Catching up...

I've written about my artist friend, Morian. I love her paintings. I love what I've learned observing her painting style. And she's a really nice person, too. So, every so often, she does a giveaway of some sort—random drawing, Pinterest pin, etc. I have won TWO of the two contests I've entered (a stuffed orange tabby kitty pillow and a print of one of her horse paintings). I was feeling a little guilty about this, beyond just curtailing the number of her contests I enter. Morian well deserved something FROM me, so she got a fabric bowl made from my favorite batiks. I'm happy to say it lives on her desk at work. Ironically, for the past 7 years, she's worked for the same company I worked for 16 years ago. Small world, indeed.

Back in September, friends of ours were having a special 'homecoming shower' for their little boy, Fletcher. He's lived at The Children's Center in Bethany, Oklahoma, since he was a little baby, just over 7 years ago. Anyway, they were hoping to bring him home to live in October, so friends were throwing a shower to help his family in getting some needed supplies and equipment to aid in the transition. Due to an insurance glitch, his homecoming has been delayed. Well, just a couple of days ago, the insurance company has relented and Fletcher is due to come home and live in his OWN room under her family's room for the first time. Everyone is very excited. This is the first Task-It™ Basket (pattern designed by my friend, Martha) I made. I made the process far more complicated than it needed to be but got it done with minutes to spare! Ha, ha! I loved the Dr. Seuss characters! We placed a few toiletry items and lotions inside.

Fast forward to December. Friends in our former community group were having their first baby. Dad is a serious Alabama fan. What better than a Tide Task-It™ Basket? I was going to put the baby's name on the crimson lining but decided dad may hijack it someday for his TV remotes! This basket it a bit smaller because of the one-way print direction and a first set of seams I misjudged. Their beautiful son arrived a few days early and has made his parents and family very happy. We couldn't be more pleased for them! Roll Tide!

These Task-It™ Baskets are becoming great go-to gift beginnings—make it, fill it, give it!

Christmas was...

It's been so long since I posted any creations, I really don't know where to start. I'm picking a couple of random items I made within a few days of each other. (Turns out I'm making a few shorter posts in near succession.)

New rug & grand puppy

I promised my son Matt's girlfriend, Ariel, I would make her a fabric bowl. I'd had a couple of ideas along the way, but didn't get around to it until just before Christmas which worked out great because she got a new area rug for her living room and those new colors inspired this new bowl.

Taking nothing from my other bowls made to date, I think this is my favorite. This one reminds me of a raku-style pot. I was always going to use the slate blues, and maybe some browns, but the pop of mixed colors the rug suggested really made this one stand out. Shown below are swatches of the three fabrics used to make the bowl. The third one (round discs of color) are from a collection I've recently discovered and absolutely love. It's from Moda and is called Juggling Summer from Zen Chic.

Then here comes Christmas. I was invited to Ariel's mom/step-dad's house in Tulsa for their family gathering. I wanted to make a hostess gift for her mom. I was still desperate for an option the night before and asked a friend of mine who happened to be on Facebook overnight. She suggested I make one of her Task-It™ Baskets. I'd bought the pattern a few months ago and have already made a few of them. After a little hemming and hawing, it wound up being a great idea. Martha also told me that a box of Keurig 18-count K-cups fits perfectly in it. Bazinga—perfect hostess gift. I hated parting with these two wonderful fabrics, but I guess that makes the gift all the more special. (And, I replaced the fabric a few days later, of course.)

And then there were a couple of Christmas ornaments. Years ago, as a child, I had a little felt mitten into which Santa would leave a dollar bill each year. I am not quite sure what's happened to that mitten, but I was feeling sentimental about it and decided to create a new one. This started me on my quest for BETTER felt. What's readily available in sheets at Hobby Lobby is pretty pitiful. This particular felt was not their standard white, but a thicker version with glitter. (I've got a whole post about felt coming soon.) Apparently Santa has become pragmatic over the years. I got a note from him this year saying only little girls under 13 still get dollars, but he's held on to my last 'Little Girl Dollar' since 1969, and with interest (complete with CPI inflation calculator data), I got $5.93 (rounded up to $6.00). 

And then there were the Froebel Stars (Fröbelstern). A friend in our D'art group showed these to us just before Christmas. They are part of her German heritage and she'd made and boxed dozens of the beautiful ornaments to accompany the Christmas cards she sent out this year. I was immediately taken by them and came home and started folding some. I found the easiest material to use was gift wrap ribbon. It provides long, consistent widths. I first tried cutting strips of scrapbook paper but had mixed results. The star on the left is the traditional 3D version. On the right is a modified '2D' version that can be mailed flat. It loses something in the flattening, but is still interesting.