Lemon Tree Tales

Whiplash Challenge: Color Study Triangles

Yippee I finished in the nick of time for this month's Whiplash challenge theme of mini quilts. This is made from the little triangle scraps that I had leftover from this quilt. And the binding was leftover from this quilt. It was fun to do a little quick quilt. It also allowed me to experiment a bit. I'm always having trouble keeping the back free of wrinkles in it from the quilting. I've always used the pin method before because I usually machine quilt. This time I tried hand-basting it before machine quilting. It seemed to work pretty well. But I'm unclear as to whether that's due to the technique or the size of the project.  :-)

Here's another shot that shows the quilting better. Nothing major, just some lines in a box shape. I wanted the colors to be the focus of it. It's my little color study. Now to frame it and a possible tutorial on that later.

Black & White ATD Swap

The Artist Trading Dolls group had another swap this month and I decided to give it a go. The theme was simply Black & White and under 8" tall. No other restrictions. The doll on the left is what I received in the mail last week from the uber talented Jacque Uetz. Wow, isn't she gorgeous? Her head is hand-painted on fabric and her dress is hand-painted cardboard. I'm pretty jazzed about it. The doll on the right is what I came up with for Kathleen in NY. I had fun layering vellums. I also played with 3D Crystal Lacquer on the ribbon she's holding. I hope Kathleen likes her because she's going out in the mail today.

Lemondrop's Umbrella

Lemondrop loved the warm air when it rained in the summer. She just didn't like getting wet. Luckily there were some wild sunflowers growing at the end of the orchard. They make great umbrellas in a pinch.

WIPs - Colorful Squares

Today's WIPs are these cute little squares. Hmm, I wonder what they could possibly turn into? Coming next week. Enjoy your memorial day weekend!  :-)

Miss L's first sewing lesson

Last Sunday I taught Miss L how to make her very first doll. This is an easy method for a 5 year old to start learning about sewing. First I asked Miss L to draw a doll on some sparkle construction paper. (That's why she has polka dots everywhere.) Then we took it to the window to trace the outline to a new piece of paper for the back.

Next step was to scan in the drawings and print them out on the special paper-backed fabric that they make for ink jet printers. I showed Miss L how to thread a needle (wow! she's a whiz at that!) and then how to make a knot. That'll take her some time to master. Then I had her take a few stitches. Hmm, the only problem was that this fabric is super thick and hard to hand-stitch through. So I started to sew it.

If we were at my house I would've whipped it out on the sewing machine. Luckily my friend Trena had one of these little cuties in yellow. Interesting to sew with, but it did the trick. Miss L then used my Gingher's to cut along the stitching. Of course my heart was in my mouth the whole time. But she did a great job. Then she stuffed her doll and I closed up the last seam. Miss L didn't like how the doll's head had a crinkle at the top so she chose a ribbon and I tacked it on. Miss L tied the bow and ta-da! her first doll. I think that she did a fantastic job! She even asked when we would make another one.

Happy Birthday!!

Today's Steve's 40th birthday but we already had our party on Sunday at our weekly 50s family get-together. This is the super yummy ice cream cake from Baskin Robbins. Ohhh, good stuff. Did you know that you can have them make it with any flavor ice cream? Steve decided to go with mint chocolate chip. Miss L put the candles in. There was a little bit of a problem with candle #4 .. a bit bent but it still lit up beautifully. Just as Steve's face lit up when Miss L and Miss J sang him the birthday song.

My husband is too cool. He's looking forward to track day next week to run his big, manly fast car. Yet the other day on our daily walk, he was concerned about a young bird that seemed to be ill. It looked fine, had feathers so wasn't too young to fly but it didn't fly away when we walked by its bush. Finally we determined that it must be blind because it didn't get ruffled until we gently brushed a twig under its breast. It promptly flew away and kept crashing into the side of the house. Today he went looking for it but couldn't find it anywhere. That made him sad. See, this is just one of the many reasons why I cherish my husband. He's a strong, manly guy who also has a soft heart when it comes to children and injured birds. Happy birthday babe! Here's to many, many more.

WIPs - Bright Triangles

I was having a little fun with a new project. Not their final spot, just a step along the way. But I thought they looked cool hanging from the chandelier. I like the chain method of quilting. There's something satisfying about seeing the pieces in this banner-like stage.

Lemondrop's Flying Lessons

Lemondrop's favorite time of day was when she had her flying lessons. Even though her wings were still too small to fly, Lemondrop never let on to to her mama. That's okay because mama already knew. They both giggled and enjoyed spinning around in the air.

Backyard bounty

This is the view of my backyard that I see whenever I take out the trash. It's good that it's springtime because all the plants that were planted last summer are really starting to be established. Well, except for a few loses that we had due to the unusual frost this past winter. I had to replant a few lantanas and a lavender sage bush. Of course I didn't have access to the same nursery source that the landscaper had so I made do with the smaller pots that you can get at Home Depot. They'll just take a bit longer to get to the same size, but that's okay. There's still a few missing plants that should be replaced. Only one of the kanga paws survived and I'd really like to get two more to take their places. Otherwise I'm really happy with how it's turning out.

The roses are climbers and need to have some sort of trellis or stainless steel wire mounted for them to train on. I read one source that said not to do anything with them for the first couple years and then to train'em. I don't know, I'm not familiar with growing roses. Does anyone have any suggestions?

Now it's back to Lemondrop. I'm almost finished with the new illustration. Stay tuned (either later this afternoon or early tomorrow morning.)

Tag, I'm it!

I've been tagged by Linda of Window to My Life to write 7 random facts/habits about myself on my blog. Then I'm to tag 7 other people, list their names and leave them a comment/email to check out the directions here.

1) I never really considered myself an artist until a few years ago. This even though I've been drawing and crafting since I was a little child ... and went to art school ... and have been a swimwear designer for more than a decade.

2) I have a bit of a black thumb. I'm trying to get better about not killing my plants. But somehow I don't think I'll ever get that green thumb. But I'll settle for chartreuse.

3) I lived on the Lido in Venice, Italy my junior year of college.

4) I used to speak Italian fairly well. Now I'm a bit rusty.

5) I studied Japanese for two quarters in college. Now I can only remember this: 'Watashi wa Tami desu. Watashi wa nihongo no wakarimasen.' Which roughly means: 'I'm Tami. I don't understand Japanese.'

6) I learned how to read when I was 3 (thanks mom!) and love books.

7) I love to travel and to drive. Luckily I married a great guy who also loves to do this.

Okay ... Tag, you're it!

Now it's off to work on my projects: another Lemondrop illustration (I'm really liking this character and will make her a more regular offering), twenty simple dolls for a charity request by doll artist Rivkah in Israel, and maybe a miniature quilt for whipup.