Flower Power Rainbow Quilt

Okay, I've been working on this quilt for a long time - like 3 years.  I keep taking it out to work on it, but don't quite get it done.  But this weekend I finally finished it!  

One dreary winter day about three years ago, I went into my sewing room and cut out lots of 5" squares from my stash.  I sewed a strip onto two sides of each square and then laid them out in some form of a rainbow.  I had to move the squares around a bit to get the look that I was going for.  But eventually I liked the layout.  

I worked on the quilt here and there throughout the years but finally this weekend, I put it on my longarm and decided to finish it up.

While trying to decide how I wanted to quilt it, I decided to do freeform flowers, kind of like Flower Power designs from the 70s.  I thought that theme went along well with my Rainbow quilt.  So it's the Flower Power Rainbow Quilt.  Catchy, don't you think?

I put a black binding on it.  I'm still not sure if I totally like it.  I tried some darker grays, but just didn't think that they framed the quilt as well.  What do you think?  Do you like the black border?

Here's a pic of me at one of my sewing retreats after I put a border on it.  Someday I'd like to make more rainbow quilts using different patterns.  Next time, I hope they don't take as long!

 

Darling Donkeys

 This week I was playing around with the Darling Donkeys stamp set from the Sale-a-Bration catalog.  I paired them with Flowers for Every Season designer papers.  I thought that the donkeys needed a farm fence or something to "ground" them, so I used the Ride the Range stamp set and Open Range dies to embellish my cards.

This first "Hee Haw!  It's your birthday!" card also uses the Oh, So Ombre papers from Sale-a-Bration.  I love the bright, happy look to this card.  The little donkey is kicking up his heels to celebrate with you.  :)

In this card, the donkey is showing his love to you by offering a rose!  He's on the farm, complete with windmill and fence.  I also used some flowers from Grace's Garden for his field.  Seriously, this makes me happy.  

In this card, the little donkey is sitting down.  He reminds me a bit of Eeyore, don't you think?  I even put a little bow on his tail.  He's sitting beside hay bales and just being thankful.  

I had a lot of fun using the donkey set.  I can't wait to try him in other settings.  

What would you pair him with for your cards?

Snowflake Splendor Cards and Hot Cocoa Set

Winter here is upstate NY is pretty much in full swing.  January is a long, cold, dark month.  So I decided to come up with some projects to celebrate winter.  My first craft is this Hot Cocoa carrier filled with a hot cup ready for your cocoa night!  There's a little bag of marshmallows and a hot cocoa mix in the decorated bag.  

I wanted to make this because I bought this stamp set for the saying, "You're the marshmallows to my cocoa."  I figured now is a good time to take it out and actually use it!  

Because the designer papers have some purple in them, I added Highland Heather cardstock to the projects to coordinate with the Misty Moonlight blue.  I think there are many things to use the coffee carriers for and this is just one idea.  In the future, I hope to use them again for something else.

I made this card using the Snowflake Wishes stamp set and Snowflake Splendor papers.  It's much sparklier in person and gives a nice greeting for these winter days.  I got the idea from Bonnie O'Neill on Pinterest.

The next card has a lovely snowflake cut out in it.  Simple, yet nice for the winter season.  This card idea is from Sherri Chapman Blessing.

Here's a pic of the whole set.  I have to say that I like the "wintery" look.  Is it snowy and cold where you live?  Do you make cards to celebrate winter?