Quilts and the eternal fabric stash-baby quilts

Here's a look at what I've been doing lately.
You could call it a woobie, a lovely, a baba, or just a blanket. It's a small little piece of cloth used to comfort a child. AKA, it's a security blanket.

This is a small little blanket, about 2 x3 feet. It's not very big, but it's supposed to be small. It's going to a baby. This little baby might want a little something to carry around when she gets older, and here's the little something. My son has a soft fleece blanket that he needs to carry at times, and he calls it his "Baba." Her "Baba" is pieced fabric on one side, and super soft on the other, bound with satin and quilted. I think she'll like it. And when she gets older, she can use it to cuddle her dolls in.

Next, for her own warmth.
This quilt, and the baba were both made from scraps from the "lines meet in the middle" quilt, (that is going to be raffled off to help support a young child diagnosed with cancer.) I was able to make three quilts from the scraps that I had. I like this kind of recycling.

Front:

 Back

 Here's her gift. She is due to be born later this year. So, she'll have to wait. But, hopefully, she'll like it.

Ruth

I want this watch

Look at this really cool wooden watch by Wewood. I like this so much I would wear it even if it wasn't wood. I just really like it. Crazy huh? If you know me at all, (some of you do) you would know i really like watches.  To buy or look at one of these wooden watches go click on Wewood.

Here's what I got for valentines day from my hubby.

He got me the red one, and of course, the I-pod Nano to go with it. I am so spoiled. Get the Hexband here: Hex

Big thanks go out to DesignMilk, and Notcot.org for posting about these watches.

Ruth

Lego Round-up

Look what crazy awesome Lego themed products are out there. My little son is loving the large lego blocks, and I can imagine that these super cool lego products would keep me entertained as well...

http://design-milk.com/leg-go-stilettos/

 I can't imagine walking in these. I made a pair of 'embellished' shoes in college. I used lots of hot glue, lots of red rhinestones and made myself some Red Ruby Combat Boots. I was Dorothy for Halloween.

http://uniquedaily.com/2010/12/lego-brick-toy-box/
I really want one of these toy boxes for Jed.I. It would look a lot cooler than the overflowing clear plastic tub wouldn't it?

http://walyou.com/lego-calculator/

I just don't know how this would work. But I want to try. Can you imagine a Lego Graphing Calculator?

http://wn.com/More_Lego_stuff

I just found out that I'm not eligible for an upgrade on Verizon. My phone died in December so I had to get a new one. That means I am going without the Iphone for a little bit (1.5 years) longer. So perhaps I'll have to pretend with this lego facsimile. LEGO Iphone on the left if you're unsure. ;)

http://www.rei.com/product/807824

We just got our Son the lego light up keychain on the right. He loves it. Also, my husband and I love it too. Maybe we love it more.....not sure at this point.

http://www.amazon.com/Lego-Style-4GB-USB-Drive/dp/B0041EIFCQ

Usb thumb drives at Amazon. Gee, Legos really make me happy. They almost look as if they're smiling don't they?

<3 Ruthie

Paper Art and Matthew Sporzynski

I was thumbing through my most recent Real Simple magazine and came across this ad for Sherwin Williams. The artist is Matthew Sporznski. I ripped it out of my magazine and immediately looked for him online. He's been doing work for Real Simple since 2005 and I found a great slide-show if you go there.

Matthew Sporzynski

Real Simple Slideshow.

Here are a few images.

Matthew Sporzynski

Matthew Sporzynski

Matthew Sporzynski

Matthew Sporzynski

I really enjoy his work. But I hadn't made the connection that this Matthew was also the brains behind the amazing Sherwin Williams commercials that started airing this summer.

Amazing right? I really enjoy paper artists. Here's another paper artist whose work I know you've seen.

Yulia Brodskaya: she takes paper and makes masterpieces. I believe this is the art of quilling, that has been around a long time, but she's really taken to another level.

Yulia Brodskaya

Yulia Brodskaya

Yulia Brodskaya

I'm pretty sure that the Neiman Marcus Catalog cover below is also her work.

Yulia Brodskaya

Super Neeto.

R

Found greatness

Look what Notcot.org found for me...

This superb illustrator is Juame Vilardell.

http://blog.jaumevilardell.com/the-southsider/

He does great stuff. Check him out. I used to use watercolors, when I was in a watercolor class. That ended right after and I rarely pick up that particular medium. It is the hardest to master, and yet the first you learn. Juame has done a lovely job working with it and making it brilliant. My watercolors always came out muddy. His are vibrant. Good job Juame. 

Ruth

Divya Srinivasan

I was looking thru design sponge and found a neeto little link.

http://www.designspongeonline.com/2011/03/sights-sounds-divya-srinivasan.html

The first thing that caught my eye, was the poster, and the note that she was an Austin based illustrator. I thought that was cool. Then the writer mentioned and she didn't know how much stuff she already knew of Divya's work since it's been featured everywhere. That made me curious and what do you know. I have seen her work before.

She is the reason, along with the song, that I fell in love with the band Spoon in 2001. I was in college and was watching a video that was playing on tv on some Austin based show.

It was everything hits at once.

Take a look at it.

Then, I was thinking about at that time the video made me think of this little movie I had a seen called Waking Life, by Richard Linklater. And lo and behold, she had worked on that too.

Here's some other illustration work. He looks so put out. I guess I would be too if I were trying to talk on a pay-phone while holding a guitar.

                                          Divya Srinivasan copyright.

I highly recommend looking at her website.
http://www.pupae.com/portfolio/index.html

Apparently, she's been working on most of the things that have influenced me. So, good work Divya I really like your work. 

Ruth


ps. Looking at the Spoon video again really makes me want to tune my ipod to my spoon mixes and remember being young. 

Little Red Riding Hood

I was perusing the aisles at my local Hastings' bookstore and happened upon this fantabulous book.

It's Little Red Riding Hood, by of course, the Brothers Grimm, and Illustrated by Daniel Egneus. Who I can only assume is a fantastic fashion and editorial illustrator. This is a new take on the old classic. Which is happening a lot lately. Have you seen those previews for the new movie "Red Riding Hood"? I won't bore you with a link to the preview, you can google it for yourself. But let me share some images from this neat-o book. By the way, it's more a adults children's book because the pictures are beautiful, but would be hard to follow for a child.

Here's an image I really like.

He does some amazing work. And I do feel like this was an unusual project. It seems like this guy is a fashion illustrator. I really love the graphic use of ink. I always particularly loved working with ink, and this guy has taken it to a exquisite level.

Here's a video of him creating some work.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3vnhcJHcJWo

From the flap on the book, it says that Daniel Egneus is a self taught illustrator that lives and works in Milan, out of a seventeenth century studio, on a canal designed by Leonardo Da Vinci. He also has created art for H&M, Pepsi, Nike, Time, and Playboy to name a new.

Nice work if you can get it, eh Daniel?

I recommend you looking at his book. It's got some neat-o stuff.

Ruth

The lines meet in the middle

I've been working on a quilt that I just finished (hooray) this morning. At precisely 11 am. It was inspired by the "Sixth time's the charm" quilt by Ana Maria Horner. She wrote this lovely book called "Handmade Beginnings" which has a superb amount of adorable sewing projects for Mom and Baby. 

Click on the image and it will take you to her blog....Oh Fransson. Please buy this book. These projects aren't just for Mommie's and Babies. It's for everyone who likes to sew. 

Here's a page from the book. This (above) is the quilt I was trying to make. But because I wanted to make it 5'x6' I needed to figure out a way to enlarge it. So I came up with my own idea. One that turned it from have six triangles, to have 8. Needless to say, I fudged it so now instead of it looking like a cool octogon, it looks like a diamond.

Yay, the quilt is finished!!!!!

So, by not following the directions, I didn't accomplish what I set out to do. Also, I ended up with an enormous amount of fabric left over. Granted, it was all stitched with fabrics I already had left over from other quilting projects. So now I have a quilt, and the makings of another quilt. Ah well. I don't mind having accidents in quilting as much as in other areas of my life. I remarked to my Mother, "Well, even if it's ugly, it can still keep someone warm."

Not that I think this quilt is ugly. Far from it. I really like it. Now some might say it has no real color scheme. And they'd be right. My T.A. from one of my design courses coined the color scheme that I used all to often, "Disney Puke." I can do other color schemes, but Disney Puke is of course, my favorite.

Now, right before I finished this quilt, my Sister in Law, Kendra asked if I had any finished quilts lying around that she could use for a quilt raffle benefitting a young boy in our area who has cancer. She chose this one to offer.

So, now's your chance, to win this amazing quilt which Kendra named, "All the Lines come Together" All the proceeds go to this amazing little boy who is battling cancer. I will update with the information on how to get a raffle ticket and more about this little boy.

update: 2:42 pm.

So: to update.

Raffle Tickets are $10 for 1 ticket, and $50 for 6 tickets.

It is benefiting Dylan Branson, a super cute kid with an adorable mohawk and I immediately love him.

Drawing will be held on April 15th at 12pm.

Mail raffle money to :

Attn: Kendra Wray

Mickey Ferrell, Realtors

8610 FM 725

McQueeney, TX 78123

Make checks payable to Lori Branson and make sure to leave your contact info so we can get ahold of you if you win.

If you want to annoy Kendra, please do by calling her at

830-534-1410

or email her at Kendra@kendrawray.com

If you want to, (and I'm sure you do) post this jpeg in your blog, or in your facebook or email it to your friends with $10 of disposable income.


Ruth

ps. The picture in the poster is the unfinished quilt, so make sure to post back to this blog to show the lucky rafflers what they could possibly get.

Oooh, lookie here

I am really loving this poster by Graphic Nothing. Maybe because I love color, maybe because it's so beautiful. Maybe because it's just neat-o.

http://www.someprints.com/prints-by-graphic-nothing/Montparnasse-print-by-graphic-nothing.html

It not reminds me of a quilt, no?

Hard work

I was perusing one of my favorite blogs: http://blog.drawn.ca/ and found this for the first post:

It's a piece by Brent Couchman and I heartily agree.  Good work takes hard work. I tend to take on projects if they interest me and often times underestimate how much work they will be and how much work I want to do. This lack of accounting sometimes ends with a messy or unfinished product but sometimes it ends with a reworking of the project or idea to fit the time constraints and maybe ends up with a better finished project. Once in a while my old product manager (when I designed jewelry) would tell me that I would over design stuff. Add too much detail, too much extra stuff. And I had to distill it down to a more workable design. It's a good thought. I find that less 'can' be more once in a while.

And I also find, that it's harder than you think to get started, and easier to finish when you have specific time constraints. Like in my case, nap-time. I generally don't work while my little one is awake. I just cannot ignore him for very long. He simply wont allow it. So when I want to get something done without distraction I have about two hours a day in which to do it. You really become better at time management when forced with a small window.

Good work is hard to accomplish. I accomplish less good caliber work than I sometimes think I should in a matter of time. But, one great project is better than several mediocre project. Granted, you (or maybe it's just me), have to work thru a bunch of mediocre projects sometimes to get to the great one.

Anyone else have that issue?