Creatively Biased: Catching Up

*Taps mic* *tap tap tap* Anyone still out there? Hello?

Sorry, it has been way too many months since my last post. I have been busy sewing.... really....okay okay.. maybe not "busy" sewing.. but I have been BUSY. March was a crazy month and I had no desire to sew. OH my!!! Did I just say that?!?!? I should have been committed for such feelings!!! I really just had no inspiration, nor any real projects to complete. Thus, no motivation. I didn't even browse on Etsy or Artfire. *GASP*

In April, I dusted off my sewing machine and tried something new... crayon holders. I'm one of those scatterbrains that likes to try a little this and a little that. I had three cute girls to be my guinea pigs. It took me three tries to figure out exactly what works best for the crayon holders. So each one got something different. The following photos are the outside and inside of these three crayon holders. I placed a package of 8 crayons in each one and a 3x5 scratch pad. Although, they can fit up to 16 crayons, or 8 fat markers, or 16 mini markers, or 16 mini color pencils, etc... possibilities endless. Each one measures 6x9 closed and 18x9 open. The girls loved them! They are so portable and can be taken anywhere.

This one I got just right. Two sides were covered with interfacing. Loved the stability.

This one had no interfacing at all. That was definitely a NO NO

This one had only one side with interfacing. Needed a little more stability

These were easy and fun to make. So much fun I was willing to make them to sell. A good friend of mine placed an order for four!!! FUN FUN FUN!!! Two girls and two boys. I really should get that darn "store" up and running. * Rewrites that on the To Do list for the hundreth time* Can't really figure out what is keeping me. Mainly, I just need someone to tell me step by step how to do it. Oh yeah.. and inventory... But how can I work on inventory when I keep getting other projects to work on. Let's not forget about being a mom.. oh and a full-time nurse. Well, that must be why I can't get the "store" up and running. Heck, I can't even keep up with this blog!!!!

Focus ... focus... quilting blog... yes.. quilting (images of rulers, graph paper, and rotary cutters dance in my head)

Of course there has been some quilting going on in these past few months. My best friend from junior high became an auntie. YAY!!!! Her poor sister had to "put up" with me every night I spent at my best friend's house. Oh the stories she could tell. :) It was only "fair" that I make a quilt for her little peanut. This little peanut came a little earlier than expected. She spent several weeks in the NICU. Y'all know I have a very soft spot for tiny peanuts. To top it off, this little peanut was a GIRL!!! Doubly Whammy! Thus, a special quilt was created. I finally decided to use my scraps and made a stacked coin quilt. YAY!!! I have to admit... it didn't make a dent in my scraps! Anyone out there got a good pattern for scraps? Maybe I'll bust out another stacked coin quilt. Quick and easy. Those who have received some girly quilts from me will recognize some of these fabrics. I love the bright "fun" colors of this quilt. The white fabric and backing were not from scraps. Many prayers were said during the making of this quilt for healing and blessings of this cute little peanut. I am happy to report that she is a healthy beautiful growing peanut. :)

Mmmm.... I LOVE LOVE LOVE the backing.

I took this quilt to work to show off. (And so I possibly sewed a little bit of the binding on too at work... shhhh) And with that came a quilt order!! A baby quilt for a baby boy. Oooo... I have two boys.. but I don't make many baby boy quilts. Theme? Unknown. WHAT?!!?!? Carte blanc?!?! No inspiration.. no theme.. no color scheme?!!?!? For any other quilter that is like the golden ticket to Charlie's Chocolate Factory.. for me... THE HAUNTED HOUSE!!!! My imganiation goes only so far. It definitely doesn't reach the carte blanc realm. So off to the fabric store I went in hopes that one fabric would catch my eye. After about an hour of roaming up and down the aisles. I had put together and assortment of blues and greens. A little log cabin block and VOILA: "Blue to the Green Squared" was born! I was very pleased with it. As you can tell, I LOVE Bright colors. They make me HAPPY.

Placed a line of scraps in the center of the quilt. I prayed so hard it wouldn't come out crooked after quilting

As you can tell, I love quilts rolled up

So, that is basically everything I have been up to in my sewing world that tries to squeeze itself into my mommy, nurse, wife, world. I am currently working on another special project that is top secret. It deserves a post all to itself. I will post as soon as I am done. Which should be sometime next week, I hope. If "life" doesn't try to interfere. HA!

I will leave you with some AWESOME pics my wonderful friend Amanda from Nizhoni Pet Photography took of my handsome boys. She takes wonderful pics of people and their pets. I asked if she would use my boys as guniea pigs whenever she wanted to venture out into the world of human subjects. She gracefully agreed. All of the ones she took were my favorites, but these are my favs of the favs. Please visit her website to see the AWESOME work she does!