MINI BLOCK CATCHUP

 I failed to make last week's Art East Quilting Mini-Block, the Mushroom, because I mis-cut a few pieces and gave up in frustration.

Today, I picked apart the pieces that were wrong, re-cut new pieces and sewed them on.  I was able to finish the block without having to start all over.  

Then, I could start on this week's mini-block, The Kiss.

BINDING ON

 Okay, now my Wildflower quilt is really done.  I got the binding sewn on and everything!

WILDFLOWER QUILTED

 It's off the machine - it's quilted.

Now, to trim it and bind it.

I made the binding, but I'll wait until tomorrow to put it on.

DAY 25

 Today's #30daysketchbookchallenge prompt is "Eyes".

I thought it would be easier to do something simple.  But, it took me over an hour to ink in all these lines for the iris.  I really like how it looks though.

DAY 24

 Today's prompt is "Geometric" for #30daysketchbookchallenge.

This one was fun.

I used gold ink for the dots, but the pen I thought was empty, still had black ink in it.  But, I like how the gold seeped into the background.  But, unfortunately, I thought that looked so cool that I dropped some more gold into the background.  It didn't look how I envisioned.  Now I wish I hadn't done that.

MONDAY SEWCIAL

 Today was Brave Patch's Monday Sewcial, our weekly get-together.  We decided last week to do some  improv play at the start of our meet.  Claudia spun a wheel and came up with some prompts and we got busy sewing.

Here's what I ended up with:

DAY 23

 Here's my painting for the prompt "Lake or River" for #30daysketchbookchallenge.

I sketched it loosely with a pencil then painted it with watercolors.

DAY 22

 Today's prompt for #30daysketchbookchallenge is "Foliage".

I took this photo in Lincoln Park during our morning walk.  I tried Brenda Swenson's method of negative painting.  I just don't get it - well, I get it, but I have a hard time actually doing it so it looks right.

DAY 21

 The prompt for today's #30daysketchbookchallenge is "Rooftops".

My plan was to paint the rooftops once the greens were dry.  But, I liked the way it looked like this.

LUNCH OUT

 We stopped for lunch at Cafe Con Leche today.

I did a quick semi-blind contour drawing.  I haven't done that in a while.

I thought I might come home and add a little color, but...I don't know.  

I like it like this.

WILDFLOWER ON THE LONGARM

 I've been quilting on Wildflower.

I gotta get it done before the end of the month.

 Then it was time for Finish It Friday, and I managed to sew all of the Loretto blocks together and make a quilt top.

 

DAY 20

 Today's prompt for #30daysketchbookchallenge is "Your Favorite Shop".

I don't do much shopping anymore, unless it's online.  The place I shop the most is probably Amazon.  But, I do go to Starbucks almost everyday, so Starbucks it is.

DAY 19

 The prompt of the day is "Something on the Table".

We went to breakfast at the newly opened Portage Bay Cafe in West Seattle after our morning walk.  I took a quick photo of what was on the table when we sat down.  It was perfect for this prompt.

And breakfast was delicious.

DAY 18

 Today's prompt for #30daysketchbookchallenge is "Bookcase."

This is really my bookcase, my books, a small section anyway.

DAY 17

 Day 17 andha the prompt is "Lunch" for #30daysketchbookchallenge.

I had to quickly take a photo of Darrell's lunch before it was gone.

This is a pen and ink drawing with watercolors.

But, before I drew this, I had loaded Wildflower onto the Q24 and started quilting it.  Of course, things had to start out badly.  But, I sorted it out and we continued on and it quilted beautifully.

DAY 16

 The prompt for #30daysketchbookchallenge is "Footwear."  I took my hiking boots up to the studio and did a blind contour drawing while attending the Monday Sewcial on Brave Patch.  I added watercolors and a dark background in Indigo - I love indigo.

Before the meeting started I managed to get the backing for Wildflowers done and inked the label on it.

I also got the next little 6" block for Art East Quilting Mini-block Sampler made.  This is block number 3, Crown.

DAY 15

 Today's prompt for #30daysketchbookchallenge is "Bones."

Finally, a chance to use my collection of skulls.

DAY 14

 It's day 14 of the #30daysketchbookchallenge and the prompt is "Something That Begins With G."

The first thing that came to mind was 'gears'.  And then I went through all kinds of ideas and things.  But, I settled on 'garbage.'  Of course.

FRIDAY THE 13TH

 It's day 13 of th #30daysketchbookchallenge and the prompt is "Boats."  

Of course, I had to do the iconic Puget Sound Ferry Boat.

DAY 12

 Day 12 and the prompt is "Phones."  

DAY 11

The prompt for today's #30daysketchbookchallenge is "Wallpapers".

No wallpaper in our house, so I just googled it until I found an image I liked.  There are millions of choices out there.

I used my fountain pen with black ink.  Then used a dip pen for the gold ink.  I mixed white ink with the black to get a grey which I applied with a brush.  Then finished it all off with a watercolor background.

DAY 10

 Day 10 of #30daysketchbookchallenge and the prompt is "Something White".  I feel like I painted something white yesterday!  I was stumped about what white thing to paint for a little bit.  But, then I remembered my favorite picture of my favorite dog, Lucy.  She was white, mostly.

Here she is, in pencil with watercolor.

She was so pretty and the best dog ever.  I miss you Lucy Gooddog!

DAY 9

Day 9 of the #30daysketchbookchallenge and today's prompt is "In the Bathroom".

My first thought was, yuck.  But, I thought the pedestal sink in the new downstairs bathroom is interesting looking.  So, I drew it.

It's so hard to paint white.  I seem to make the shading too dark.  This ended up looking more grey than white.  I even used a bit of white gouache to try to tame those greys, but alas...

I sketched it out in pencil first.

Then inked it, erased the pencil lines and added color.

Since today is Monday, I spent my afternoon with the BravePatch Monday Sewcial group.  And, it is week two of Art East Quilting's Mini Block Sampler  Here is the 6" block for this week, an Ohio Star.

 

DAY 8

 Day 8 of the #30daysketchbookchallenge and still going.  Today's prompt is "Hot Drink".

Of course, I had to draw my favorite teacup and tea.  I posed a chunk of the Cardamon Pear Crumble with it too.

I love that cup - it's Polish Pottery, hand-painted.  

DAY 7

 Here it is, Day 7 of #30daysketchbookchallenge and today's prompt is  "Something Made of Plastic".

I love my cold Green Tea and always have a few empties in the recycle bin.

I used my regular black ink, but also added some green and gold inks.  I don't use them very often, so that was fun.  Then added a few splashes of watercolor.

DAY 6

 Day 6 of the #30daysketchbookchallenge and the prompt is 'Trees'.

I did this line drawing with my fountain pen.

DAY 5

 Today's prompt for #30daysketchbookchallenge is "Berries".

This was fun.

I started with an ink sketch and used my new heat gun to make sure it was very dry before I erased the pencil drawing.

Then I applied the watercolors.  

DAY 4

 Busy day, but I did get my sketch for #30daysketchbookchallenge done.  The prompt for the day is 'Eggs'.

DAY 3 + MORE

 Here is my little sketch inspired by the prompt 'Rainbow' for #30daysketchbookchallenge.  It kinda got away from me.

Then I finally packaged up Blissfully, took it to the post office and sent it on it's way to Austin to be in Quiltcon 2023 in Atlanta. 

                                     Good luck Blissfully!

And, I made the first 6" charm block for Art East Quilting's Mini Block Sampler.  There will be one block every Monday - 48 blocks.  I'm using the stack of hand-dyed fat quarters by Jane Sassaman that I've been hoarding.  I added a white with black squiggle lines for the background.

DAY 2 2023

 Here's Day 2 of the 30 Day Sketchbook Challenge.  Today's prompt was 'Sweets & Treats".

I got a mocha at Starbucks for a sweet and found this image of a Cupcake Royale cupcake to pretend it was in front of it.

This is what the sky looked like on our morning walk in Lincoln Park.  Of course, the temperature dropped now that the clouds are moving out.  It was 31* - can't complain too much.

WORKING ON WILDFLOWER

I'm sewing the pieces of the Wildflower quilt together.

I've got them sewn into rows, but I still have one more seam to do.  Then I can add the 'borders's of the blue to bring it up to size.  I got all of this done while visiting with the Sew Modern Connection group.  We meet on the first Sunday of every month.

 

DAY 1 2023

 I've joined the 30 Sketchbook Challenge again.  Today was Day 1 and the prompt is 'petals'.

I've got a pad of 5" x 7" Aquarello watercolor papers, 300 g/m - nice paper, that I will use.  There are only 24 sheets left, but I'll figure that out later.

Here's what I did this morning.  I found this image on Google Images.