dESiGNalogue

A Quilt

SARAH

Each Christmas I usually have one gift that I am really excited about giving.  This year, the gift was for my sister - a quilt. 

I followed the directions for Erin's Picnic Blanket because I loved its simplicity & knew it was a good place to start for my first quilt.  I followed it for the most part, except I did not make the pockets for rocks, since this will be more of a quilt for the couch. 

I could not settle on just any fabric & knew I wanted to print it myself.  For my birthday I bought Lena Corwin's Printing by Hand {thanks to an amazon gift card from Deb!}.  The more I look at the book the more I love it.  Deb & I poured over it when she was home in December.  I love how it sparked so many ideas for us.  It is a truly inspiring book, especially for a printer like me!

One of the projects is screenprinting a daschund silhouette on fabric for a dog bed.  My sister has a chiweenie {hehe}, making him part chihuahua, part daschund.  I knew this pattern would be perfect!  I bought a cranberry colored sheet set, using the flat sheet for the back & cutting squares out of the fitted sheet for the front.  I mixed ink to match & printed the daschunds on unbleched cotton {so nice & cheaper than linen with a similar look}. 

Needless to say I was impressed with my finished product, &  my sister loves the quilt.  I loved this project in everyway & ready for my next fabric-printing, quilt-sewing project! 

Interpreting Martha

SARAH

Over the holidays Deb, Amy, & I got together during a snowy night to make Martha's cinnamon bird ornaments.

Anyone who attempted these over the holidays might have found the dough a bit difficult to work with {yes?  no?}.  The ornaments are made from a mixture of cinnamon, glue, & applesauce. Getting the dough into one big ball was not as easy or as clean as Martha made it look {honestly Martha, you should have seen the gooey mess we created!}.

 After letting it sit for an hour, we rolled out the dough, praying it would not crumble in our hands, & cut little birdie shapes.  Not being the type of girls to follow any directions fully, Deb decide to cut a parrot for me, a chili pepper for Amy, & a peacock for herself. 

Deb's ornaments, with her amazingly detailed peacock & polkadot bird.

Amy's ornaments, with her spicy chili pepper & detailed glitter lines.

My birds, which look like they came right from the disco, especially that parrot!

So, two of my favorite creative ladies + birds + Martha's glitter + wine + our guys being entertained by video games = a good night!