wings and things

A friend of mine is having a show this weekend in Petersburg, VA, at "Curl up or Dye." Instead of a first Friday, like RVA, in Petersburg they do a second Friday. This show will be part of that, and since it is October there is a Halloweenish theme. 

I decided to make some pillows and ornaments for the show. I will show the ornaments later, but for now the pillows.. 

I love the way the back of things look with the seams all pressed down, and separated, for a nice clean finish. 

These fabrics of course include winged creatures to make sense for the theme.. They also make me think of fall and warmth. Fall used to be very warm colors to me, and still is sometimes. However, since having a garden, I have noticed that fall means lots of purples and murky grayish tones. Not being one to use purple very often, I really enjoy this play on color. 

I almost like the back better than the front on this one. 

Finally I made myself a pincushion! I love these fabrics so I used the scraps to make myself a little pillow pin cushion. 

welcome to the current century!

So after many months of holding back I finally broke down and got an i-phone. I would have put it off longer, if an acquaintance hadn't made me such a good deal. I don't know how I feel about being "that connected" all the time! However it is like anything else I can hit the silent button and forget the world. The main reason I have been thinking about it, is so that I can make blogging easier at times, and so that I can check up on etsy and other projects from just about anywhere.

Well since I got this thing I have been playing with Instagram, which I really like so far.

The house is beginning to look a lot like Halloween! I still need to work out some kinks on how to get the photos on the blog, but here are the first ones. The pumpkins from below were actually a product of my garden! There are fake ones mixed in for a little umph! 

change in leaves

It has been cold and wet here, a sure sign that fall is here! I am trying to be patient with the leaves, that is my favorite part, when they turn all the shades imaginable. It has been a good couple of days for studio time, and while I have been working on things for etsy, I am going to make something simply for the fun, of making. I need a little break, a day or two, to just make without a goal. Let my mind and my hands free. Sometimes that jump starts something new. Maybe a little lap quilt, or perhaps pillows for my own sofa...

Supernatural magic

If you know me, you know how I feel about Halloween! If you don't, then let me tell you I love it more than Christmas, and wait almost all year just for fall. I love everything about October and November, the fall, crisp air. The leaves changing, the wet rainy days, and especially I love Halloween! I have been collecting fabric for a while that is mainly black and white and supernatural or bone related. I finally carved out some time, and came up with these pillows. 

The Ghastlie family fabric is one of my favorites. A simple, and one of a kind, crazy piecing style was used on those. 

The Matriarch, is my favorite. 

The twins fall a close second for me... 

When I got this anatomical fabric I did not realize that it is GLOW IN THE DARK! Yep, all of the bones glow in the dark. I happily discovered this when I was ironing it, and the bones turned that greenish, white color. I must admit it is pretty cool! 

These pillows are up on etsy, and will be followed by more Halloween soon. 

http://www.etsy.com/shop/anaslayers

september thoughts

September seemed to have lasted longer than a month, or maybe it was just how much I did in that month... 

It included: 

A trip to the Outer Banks, to celebrate my mom's birthday and Labor day... A new four legged, studio-mate, named Achilles... Seattle...Portland...and anything in between... Cultivating honey from my mom's beehives... friends' birthday's... and finally, a very amazing, Madonna Concert!

See I told you it was a busy month. All good, fun, things but by the end of it, I was ready for a nice cold cocktail, outside on my deck. I managed to make some things during that time, but mostly I gathered inspiration and ideas. I also managed to gather some fabric in Portland. By some I mean... over 70 new patterns... I know its insane! It even required its own suitcase. I finally washed and put it all away. 

My system for organizing fabric is simple. I bring it home, and it goes straight into the washing machine. Everything gets a bath, before it even enters into the studio. The reason I do this is so that no matter what, the fabric gets pre-shrunk. I know most everything says it is these days, but I like to be sure. By washing the fabric, it also ensures that any kind of coating that is on the fabric is removed and leaves a nice, clean fabric. 

Then I fold in my OCD ways so that everything is a nice clean little square. Then everything goes into my fabric cabinet. I used to have a plastic one, but the stash got too heavy so this little cabinet from, Homegoods, does the job now. I can even fit whole yards into the drawers if I fold the fabric a certain way. I like to keep things separated by color or by fabric line, depending on how I will use it. Of course I have fully grown into this cabinet since the shopping spree, so the shelf, pictured above, gets the bigger yardage and the solids. 

The fabric stores that I went to in Portland were really nicely organized, and had a great selection. If you are in that area, and your a fabric junkie check out; 

Bolt

cool cottons

visual travels

A strange way to start my story of Portland, and Seattle, this bathtub was beautiful. It seemed that everywhere I turned out there, there was an appreciation for the old, vintage, and antique. People appreciated and reused things that would normally be thrown away, discarded, or forgotten in a garage forever. While I loved both cities, Portland felt like an amazing place for me. If I did not have my whole family, a house, a life, and everything on the east coast I would consider going out there. 

"The city of Roses" besides the real ones, there were roses everywhere you looked in Portland 

...And food trucks... 

Mount Rainer... Breathtaking! We found the perfect pumpkin patch to view this brilliant piece of nature.

Pike Place Market, in Seattle. I could not get over the freshness of the vegetables and the quality of the flowers. The colors looked like a fresh box of crayons, so many and so plentiful. 

An artist in Seattle Knitted this whole house! Including the trees and columns out front.  It is located in the Capital Hill district, amongst all the other houses. 

While I was out there I visited some fabric stores, picked up close to 80 new patterns to work with!! I had to clean off some shelves to store it all. I saw the Chihuly garden and walked around taking in all the colors, sights, and the energy of the cities. It was a peaceful time, and breathtaking at moments. As Sandra put it, "the trees out here have eyes and faces..." It seemed so, everywhere I turned I felt as the trees, and leaves, and nature out there had so much to offer. The only word I could use to summarize standing amongst it,  breathtaking. 

the northwest

Seattle and Portland were stunning... We did so much in such a short amount of time, that it feels like a whirlwind to be home already. I took a lot of photos, and am working on posting about the trip, until then here is a little preview... Beautiful.