Inspiration Along the Journey

Greetings friends - happy weekend! I am back from my quick trip up to northern Illinois to visit my momma and second dad...and I thought I would quickly drop in to share some photos of my journey. It was a good trip, minus the standard (extensive) train delays. They live in a lovely lakeside home with incredible wildlife, birds and gardens. We spent most of our time at the house, working/playing outside...but we did make a trip up to Wisconsin to a favorite apple orchard (Ten Eyck Orchard). We also took the pontoon boat out for a trip all around the lake....and I did a little painting at my mom's artist easel. It was a good, quiet, artistic week...and here are a plethora of photos I took...

Thanks for stopping by for a visit - I hope you feel happy and inspired! I will be back on September 20th with my latest project tutorial for Therm O Web (you can see it on the Therm O Web Blog on Tuesday, September 19th)...it is an autumn/Halloween project with a bit of magic. I hope you stop back soon...

Happy Bee Garden Flag

Greetings friends - happy Wednesday! It is new project tutorial day - time to share my July post for the ThermOWeb Blog with you! As a Fabric Education Designer for ThermOWeb (they are the makers of all those wonderful HeatnBond and SpraynBond products), I create projects and tutorials for their very popular blog and give you my tips and tricks for using their products. For the month of July, I created a brand new project that was posted yesterday - it is a complete project tutorial for my "Happy Bee Garden Flag." My cheerful garden flag tutorial contains a complete supply list, printable pattern with templates, a layout diagram, and step-by-step directions with color photos. The model uses fabric from the Waved collection by Erin Borja and Paintbrush Studio Solids (both from PBS Fabrics), but I encourage you to use fabrics you have on hand, to make this outdoor flag your own. I hope you will stop by the ThermOWeb blog and check out my project and tutorial...

This is a bright and happy sewing project that is perfect for fat quarters or fat eighths or scraps. For this post, I used HeatnBond Iron-On Vinyl (Matte) to make it water resistant, HeatnBond Lite EZ-Print Iron-On Adhesive Sheets and HeatnBond Fusible Fleece. We all know that I love to sew, so I used machine applique for my garden flag...but I give a tip in the post to make it without the applique for those who want a less labor-intensive project. Visit the tutorial post for a complete and detailed supply list.

Are you familiar with Heatnbond  Iron-On Vinyl? Heatnbond  Iron-On Vinyl is a flexible, water resistant coating that you iron onto the top of your fabrics to laminate them. It comes in a gloss or matte finish, is permanent, and is sewable with a regular or non-stick foot. It is a UV resistant, water repellent material that can be used with fabric or paper. Iron-on vinyl allows you to laminate your favorite fabrics - perfect for make-up bags, placemats, tote bags, chair seat covers, aprons, art smocks, etc...

If you have questions on any ThermOWeb HeatnBond products or would like to see a specific type of product in one of my projects, drop me a comment or email.

You will have to visit the ThermOWeb blog for my complete tutorial and pattern, but I am posting a few photos here...

Here is a direct link to the project tutorial:
https://blog.thermoweb.com/happy-bee-garden-flag-featuring-heatnbond/

I hope this project gets you excited to create something special and unique...

I am creating monthly projects for the ThermOWeb blog and will be sure to post here, when I do...my project for August is scheduled to be posted on August 16th...and I am working on a very fun idea!

Thank you for stopping by for a visit today - I always enjoy sharing with you. Enjoy the rest of your week and make time to work on something creative...

Blooms, Bees, and a Barn

As an artist, I am obsessed with nature...the colors, textures, shapes, shadows, values, and lines. Just being outside sparks my creativity to no end and provides me with inspiration for all of my original designs. Earlier this month, my husband and I took a road trip to Illinois to visit my mommy and her husband Dan - they live on a gorgeous lakefront property that my mother has lovingly nurtured and gardened. Her green thumb is evident throughout every nook and cranny of their yard. She's planted vegetables, trees, shrubs, berry patches, flower gardens, even a quaint woodland garden...and she has things blooming year-round. The manicured grounds truly look straight out of a gardening book...and it really makes me wish I had more time/space/money for landscaping. Every time I visit, I take hundreds of photos that get my creative juices flowing. Here is just a sampling of the photos I snapped during our stay - some of which, I have already printed and tacked on my "art in progress" board...I hope one or more of these images will inspire you (click on any image to enlarge)...

If those photos aren't enough, on the same trip, we visited a fabulous apple orchard in Wisconsin  - the Ten Eyck Orchard in Brodhead, WI (side note: they have a wonderful Facebook page, with all sorts of inspiring images). We enjoyed a journey through the corn maze - Travis and I actually made it all the way through and came out the exit without a map (not too bad for our first time in a corn maze). We sampled a few fresh apples...and I flipped over a really cool bee skep and the incredible round barn. It was a delightful morning and I would definitely recommend this orchard to anyone in the area...

I hope you enjoyed your visit today! I'll be back again soon with more sewing projects and needlework finishing, plus a little announcement on a new addition to our family...stay tuned...