Grumpy Cat

I love the internet, and I love cats.  When Grumpy Cat came along, I fell in love with her little sour face.  

My cat, Bastet, the Duchess of Mean is grumpy for sure, but doesn't have the permanent scowl.  As part of my internet cats mini quilts, I give to you, Grumpy Cat.

Click here to see Keyboard Cat and Nyan Cat.

Star Wars Quiltlet 2- Light Up Jawa

This weekly quilt is actually being given away to a lucky friend who likes Star Wars, specifically R2D2 and Jawas.  As I was making light up projects, said friend was encouraging and I thought this would make a great birthday present, which is next week. Happy Birthday!

You can make this with a kit from my shop!  Click here to buy one today!

Japanese New Year traditions

Akemashite omedetou gozaimasu! (Happy New Year!)

I'm very into Japanese traditions and culture, and New Year is a special time that the Japanese celebrate in a special way.  

These are my mini kadomatsu (the bamboo pieces that hold the ancestral spirits) and the New Year animal, which is the usagi (rabbit).   I also have my shimenawa, which is a twisted rope wreath. 

We have a great Japanese grocery store but it's not exactly nearby.  I wanted to get over there to buy some kagami mochi this year but didn't get a chance to.  Instead I made this little version and put it on a display stand.  It's made out of craft felt cut in decending circles and stuffed.  

Have a great new year!

Zansho Omimai moushi agemasu!

So, How are you in this lingering heat? This phrase comes from a Japanese tradition of sending a little postcard in summer that inquires how your friends and family are doing in the heat of summer.  I particularly love Japanese traditions like this.  They make me feel happy. So please consider this my little postcard to you!
When I was a kid I loved "Little Twin Stars" by Sanrio so much that I bypassed all of the Hello Kitty stuff just to buy this stuff instead.  I remember someone in my family had a small collection on a dresser that was only up to my nose in height, and I stood in front of that dresser for hours staring at the Little Twin Star things that she had collected.  Now when I see cute things from Japan I snap them up quick! 

Hina Matsuri!

It's Hina Matsuri, and here is my display!  I have a few more things in my Hina collection for this year, including a solar bobble doll set, a beautiful cotton scarf that is hanging as the background, candy from a trip to Mitsuwa in Arlington Heights, and my weekly quilt from my Japanese Doll series. The center item on the platform is sugar candy. 

Click here to see my display from last year! 
 
I still have my kimono Hello Kitty doll, but she's not in the picture.   I bought some hina-arare but I ate it already.  There some more hina snacks in the plastic bag on the left of the picture I saved to the actual day.  My DH has become quite enamored with the mochi cakes in the fridge I bought, so let's hope they last until tonight!  
The next festival is Hanami, or cherry blossom viewing.  It's far too cold here yet for that, we still have snow.  But it would be a welcome to spring!

Unusual Animals

Can you believe it's June already? I can hardly believe it. I'm almost halfway through another year of weekly quilts. I had a tough time deciding on a theme, so I went with an odd one.
I've been researching unusual animals for possible theme inclusion, and when I happened upon the narwhal, I knew this was it for June. The hard part is that I will be away 2 weekends of June, so I had to thin of something simple.
This weekend really disappeared fast... I spent most of Saturday drawing and painting ATCs for my weekend retreat in 2 weeks. Sunday was supposed to be a Mustang only car show with my dad and brother (both own Mustang Cobra cars... one day...) but it was "rained out" and I spent the time washing and hand waxing my car (a Saturn) instead. It never really rained, and I have a nasty "cloudy day sunburn" to show for it. So.... back to my narwhal.
I drew exactly 3 of these before it was right, a drawing in my bedside drawing pad at night, then the ATC, and the mockup for the fusible for this piece. I do love him, he's just so cute.
Narwhal's tusks were hunted by Vikings and often sold a fake unicorn horns, worth about as much as a castle in Medieval times.

More Zombie Awesome-ness

Last night I drew and inked these cute zombies, even took the time to watercolor one of them.

Can't wait to work on this quilt!

Sneak Peek: Adorable Zombies sketches

I hinted at these elsewhere, and folks seemed interested, so here are my sketches for an upcoming quilt series of adorable cute zombies. Click the picture for a better view...

Happy Hina Matsuri Day!

In keeping with researching Japanese culture and themes, happy Hina Matsuri day, other wise known as Doll Festival or Girls' Day!

I made this Hina quilt last year as part of my Japanese Doll theme. It's still so Kawaii! Also, I purchased some Hina Matsuri display dolls from Jbox.com, which I am very happy about. Here is my little display!

I have this cute bowl of Konpeito to celebrate with, and DH and I are going out for Japanese cuisine tonight. We're also going to try plum wine, and we may float a little origami doll out on the pond. We don't have kids, but we can still send our misfortunes out on the water to be washed away with the doll instead of us.

I hope you have a happy Hina Matsuri day too!

End of January

I'm sorry I didn't get to posting this after they were made, but it's been super crazy after going to NYC for the New York Comic Con. (Which was fun, if exhausting...It's a sign I'm getting too old for this crap.)

January's final weekly quilt is of "kadomatsu" or traditional New Year's decorations which represent Heaven, Humanity, and Earth. They are placed at entryways and at gates in Japan, and are literally translated as "gate pines". I have seen some "plush" versions of kadomatsu, but my little graphic one is cute too. They make fake plastic ones that you can put up year after year, like the holiday decorations of your choice. I wanted to make this closer to the beginning of January, but couldn't figure out what to decorate the bamboo with.

I really enjoyed learning more about Japan for this month's theme.

Good Fortune and Long Life

Both of these designs were made in my sketchbook next to one another...

The "Maneki Neko" or "beckoning cat" is very popular in Japanese culture. I could not resist making my own very cute, wide-eyed cat.


The owl, or fukurou, is a good luck symbol in Japan as well. The sounds of the Japanese word for owl also mean "no trouble" which means the owl is lucky. It also symbolizes old age, and owl themed gifts are often given when someone turns 60. I wish my owl was on a lighter background now, because you cannot see just how adorable he is.

Only one more week of Japanese culture weeklies to go.

Weekly Quilt Series- A rabbit jumps over the moon

Where we westerners see a "man in the moon", the Japanese see a rabbit in the moon. The rabbit and moon together is a popular theme. My usagi (rabbit) is jumping into the moon for the night.

I absolutely love this background fabric by Lakehouse Designs. I wish I had more than the little fat quarter I have of it (or what is left of it). When I put the moon on the background, there was a design problem. You could see the flowers "through" the moon, and they were very distracting. I quilted over them quite a bit, and it still didn't "knock them back" (as Pokey Bolton says). So, even though the piece was quilted and bound, newly confident via Judy Coates Perez and my recent class with her, I dragged out the Setacolor black paint, and painted over the flowers. The "cool" thing was that Lakehouse outlined the flower with a thin shimmery rim and metallic gold, which the paint didn't really cover. In the end it was so much better for having "shadow flowers" inside the moon. I really like the new piece. This month's theme has been fun so far.

Weekly Quilt Series- January 2009

It's time to show my first piece in my 2009 Weekly quilt series. This year, I changed the size, and I'm still going to do Monthly Themes. This month's is "Cute Japanese Culture".

This is a "nengajo", or a new years wish postcard, celebrating 2009 as the year of the cow (or ox). My cute cow was drawn on New Years Day in my sketch book, and then I blew it up to be the size needed for the quilt, which is 8 inches by 5 inches (the new series size). In Japan, nengajo are sent to the post office before New Years' Day specially marked as nengajo, and all delivered on New Year's exactly.

I picked the size because I could put two week's worth stacked into a plastic sleeve holder that holds regular sheets of paper.

Another year passes

I'm on vacation this week also, and have been enjoying the relaxing times I have spent at home with DH. I have not been sewing as much as I had expected, because my DH got a new video game for Christmas that I am enjoying watching unfold, probably as much as he is enjoying playing it. I have been doing a lot of thinking about the past year and am really looking forward to 2009.
I have decided to do another year of weekly quilts, but I have decided to challenge myself again with changing the size and continuing to do them in themed groups by month. The size for 2009 is 8 inches by 5 inches, landscape orientation. I have a theme already for January.
I got great presents for Christmas from the DearHusband, and he was even so thoughtful as to wrap my gifts in fabric! Plenty of things with which to make art this year, and some more Nohohon Zoku (Hidamari No Tami) for my office. I have the best collection of these now.
I have been doing plenty of Japanese culture research for some quilt themes this year. I love the idea of nengajo, New Year's postcards that are supposed to arrive on Jan 1. This year is the year of the cow (or Ox), and it's also the sign of my birth year too. I love some of the holidays and traditions of Japan.
Anyways, have a great New Years celebration, be safe, and see you again in 2009, with a lovely giveaway!

On the mend

It's rotten to be sick, and this cold really knocked me for a loop. I was so drained, I thought sewing this weekend would be impossible.

Luckily, I felt ok enough to sew a bit today, so I got a couple of things done.

I also found a few minutes to scan everything I have done lately for your viewing pleasure.

These monsters were so freaking cute to do. I can definitely see patterns for these in the future.

These ATCs are for trades I'm involved in over at ATCSforAll.com.

Lastly these are November's theme, fall leaves. Anotehr topic suggested by the DH. Those perfect leaves are silk leaves bought from a craft store.

Quickie Update

I'm about to get on a plane to Las Vegas for work, but here's some of my latest work.

This robot is either putting his heart back or taking it out. Your choice.
The last of the Robot theme. He's kinda happy.

This is 12 x 12 inches. It's made for my calendar entry for January for my Fiber Art Divas group. This looks exactly like the sketch and like what I pictured in my head.

Gotta run, but that contest I want to run is coming soon. Stay tuned!

Even evil robots need love...

After seeing Wall-E, sad robots in love are quite popular. This is my take on a sad, slightly evil, cute robot with a broken heart. I love the blue circuitry fabric, of which I only have a small bit left.

Destroy! Destroy!

Sitting in the bookstore, drinking a cup of coffee with my DH, I mentioned I did not know what I would do for August's theme. It's a 5 weekend month, meaning there will be 5 of this theme.

DH says "You should do Robots".

Immediately, these robots come to mind. Cute but Evil Robots. My dad likes robots, we're both fans of The Day The Earth Stood Still. We're eagerly waiting for the remake.

I didn't expect to be overflowing with so many cute robots for ideas! So Robots it is... For you Muppin!

Last of the Japanese Dolls

There are a lot of Japanese dolls I could make, but this one lent itself to my very cute (kawaii) theme. This is a "teru teru bezu" doll. These are made from cloth and given a little drawn-on face and hung much like Halloween ghosts. They are supposed to ward off rain. My little teru teru bezu is soooo cute! He's a bit dimensional, as his head is stuffed and raised up a bit. I had a great time making him on the plane to San Diego.

July's weekly theme is Japanese dolls

I love Japanese culture. I especially love the idea of Kawaii (Cute) and Zakka (Simple living). This week's doll is a daruma doll. I first learned about these from a Nohohon Zoku special edition I have that was made as a gift for "good luck with studying for tests". The idea of the daruma doll is that the doll comes with white eyes. You make a wish, and fill in the one eye. When your wish comes true, you fill in the other eye and hang proudly in your home. I made my wish and sewed in the one eye. If my wish comes true, I will fill in the other eye and post it finished here.

I like this kawaii version of the daruma so much that I might offer it as a pattern. What do you think?