Memory Quilt Top

I have been quilting away on that custom memory quilt. I made 35 blocks total and just finished assembling the top. The top is comprised of baby clothes, receiving blankets and a few scraps of fabric leftover from another custom quilt they had made. I added a pink border to it and now it's just about ready to be quilted!

This is the first time I've made a crazy quilt and I think I just might be obsessed! I love that it's scrappy, but not too much. I have a lot of ideas now as to how I can incorporate these blocks into other projects. :)

Memory Quilt

I've been working really hard on this custom memory quilt. A customer sent me a box of baby clothes and receiving blankets and asked me to come up with a design. I decided to make the quilt "crazy" style and I'm having a lot of fun with it. I like that it's scrappy looking but not too scrappy or crazy like some quilts I've seen. I have 19 blocks done and 16 to go. Other quilt orders have been flooding in too. Something tells me I'm going to be very busy over the next couple months! ;)

News

 

Hi all!! It's been a couple months since my last post but I have great news... I've completed my internship and I graduate on Friday! It's absolutely unbelievable how busy I've been and I'm looking forward to having a little time off.

 

 A unique opportunity presented itself a couple weeks ago. A publisher from Pearson Education in Brazil has requested permission to publish my "Fresh Fruit" painting (above) in an elementary school textbook. Of course I said, "yes!"

 

I hope you're having a great week! It's wonderful to be back! :)

Pet Portraits

I just wanted to let you all know that I've decided to not do any more pet portraits this year. My last quarter of school starts Monday and along with one class I will be interning at a law office. Needless to say, I will be very busy until Christmas. Quilt orders have been flooding in and I know there's no way I'll be able to fulfill them as well as pet portraits, not at least while keeping my sanity.

 

This may actually give me an opportunity to work on my pet painting skills a bit, which I have been wanting to do. As well as trying pets in watercolor.

 

I just need to alleviate my work load a bit. I will start doing them again after the holidays.

 

Have a great weekend!

Charitable Item for October

This little flannel baby quilt is my charitable item for the month of October. Purchase this quilt this month and I will donate 100% of the sale to Covenant Ranch. Covenant Ranch is a non-profit organization who will take in children who have been abandoned, left homeless, abused and who have been sold into the sex slave industry. Covenant Ranch will give these children a loving, stable and supportive home. They are still trying to get their feet off the ground and can use all the donations they can get. I'd really like to make this donation, so please spread the word if you know someone in need of a baby quilt.

 

Hope you're having a great week!



Another Maggie

This is Maggie, a cute Yorkie I've been painting over the past week. This is actually the 2nd Maggie I've painted in a row. I painted her in pastel (sticks and pencils) on Ampersand Pastelbord.

 

This painting was a challenge for me because my wrist has been bothering me a lot. After the last 2 pet portraits I did I was experiencing a lot of pain. I fear that it's carpal tunnel. I've been trying to rest it as best I can, and have been wearing a support. Hopefully I can avoid any kind of surgery, but ultimately I'll do what I need to. I have to be able to paint! :)

 

I hope you all have a great week!

Remembrance II

"Remembrance II" - Pastel Painting, Size 5 by 7

 

Today we remember the tragic events that took place on this day 11 years ago. Do you remember what you were doing when you first heard? I bet you do. I was in 2nd hour, Advanced Biology class, my senior year. We spent the rest of the day watching the news. It was this event that fueled my desire to join the military.

 

Last year I painted "Remembrance" in honor of the 10th anniversary. I think I may paint one every year.

 

Please keep those affected in your thoughts and prayers today.

Photo Quality for Photo Quilts

One of my speciality quilts is a memory quilt with photos. It's really important to provide a good quality photo for printing on fabric. The color is most important. The colors shouldn't be too dark and should all be roughly the same value. Here are some examples of good quality photos:

 

 

 

 

The following photos are poor quality because the colors are too dark. It doesn't matter what precautions are taken, photos with a lot of dark colors will bleed.

 

 

 

It's a good idea to provide several alternate photos just in case. 

Charitable Item for September

This fun baby quilt is my Charitable Item of the Month for September. 100% of the sale will be donated to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. My first ever charitable item was also a baby quilt and I was happy when it sold and I was able to donate the proceeds to St. Jude. I hope to be able to do it again!

 

This offer is good until the end of the month at which point I will choose a new item and a new charity.

 

Hope you had a great weekend!

 

 

Heidi - Custom Pet Portrait

"Heidi" - Custom Pet Portrait in Pastel

I've been working on this cute pet portrait for the past few days. Luckily the customer supplied me with a great reference photo (which makes my job a lot easier). It was a pleasure to paint this beautiful dog. I did tweak the painting a bit after scanning it, but you get the general idea.

The customer actually commissioned me to do 2 pet portraits so I am starting the second one today. Another beautiful Golden Retriever.

I hope you have a great week! Please send me your good vibes, I have an interview for an internship on Thursday! :)

Beautifully Imperfect

"Beautifully Imperfect" - Watercolor Painting, 8 by 10

I've been working on this somewhat larger watercolor painting for the past few days. I think "Beautifully Imperfect" is a perfect title for this piece. Sometimes we artists only paint perfect and flawless pictures of nature, but we forget to include the imperfections. This rose was striking to me even with those discolorations and spots. In fact some of those spots were accidents, but they work with this piece.

This painting is available on Etsy.



Charitable Item for August

This completely adorable Meadow Friends quilt is my new Charitable Item of the Month. 100% of the sale of this quilt will be donated to the Wounded Warrior Project. The Wounded Warrior Project actively works to raise awareness of the needs that injured soldiers have, help to give aid to these wounded service members and even help them connect with each other. I think we tend to forget that even though a lot of military members have come back from Iraq and Afghanistan, many of them are coming back injured and are not receiving the treatment that they deserve.

If you know someone in the military with small children, this would be a perfect gift. Please spread the word! I'd love to make this donation.

Falling Hearts

"Falling Hearts" - Original Watercolor Painting - Size 5 by 7

I've been working on this painting the past couple days. It's not a mini, but it was supposed to be. I just thought it would be too difficult to do that small. I'm thinking about doing some larger paintings too. Perhaps some 8 by 10's 11 by 14's and maybe bigger! Eek! :) I'm not sure why I always paint so small. I guess it's because it's just easier with realism. But I want to branch out and try something new.

"Falling Hearts" is available on Etsy.

New Quilts

While I was on break from school I got these four quilts made. I needed a little break from rag quilts and my long arm machine was gathering dust. :)

 This quilt was made with fabric from the "Sunny Happy Skies" line and has applique flowers. This is actually my first quilt with applique!

 This quilt was made with fabric from the Fox Trails line.

 This baby quilt was made with fabric from the Sew Cherry line.

And this super cute quilt was made with fabric from the Puppy Park line.

I really enjoy making these more traditional style quilts. I've been asked quite a lot lately if I enjoy quilting more than painting, and I always say, "no." Honestly I enjoy them both very much, but being an accomplished artist is more important to me than being a quilter. I'm a true artist at heart, but I enjoy doing anything creative.



New Studio Assistant

Ok, so maybe Milo isn't the best studio assistant, but he has been enjoying flying around my studio. :)

 Training has been going very well. First he would sit on a perch and eat out of my hand, then he started climbing onto my hand to eat. He's definitely getting more comfortable in his new home and with his new mommy.

Having a bird for a pet has certainly been different, but he's a lot of fun. I think the most difficult part for me has been making sure that I don't spray any perfume, cleaning solutions, or burn any candles. I'm even afraid to use fabric softener sheets. Anything scented could be potentially dangerous to his health. For someone who likes to keep a clean home and burn candles every day, that's been the toughest part to get used to. But Milo is a sweetie and he's worth it. :)

Purple Stripes - Mini Watercolor # 3

"Purple Stripes" - Mini Watercolor Painting

This cute little purple and white tulip is # 3 in my mini watercolor series. This one was a lot of fun. That purple was a lot of fun to mix up and is so pretty!

I was initially planning on doing 50 of these little paintings, but I'm not sure if I'm going to continue to do them or not. I'm enjoying them, but they don't scan well and I'm always disappointed by the way they look on the computer. I can't express enough how much better these look in person. That being said, I think I'll save these little ones for the gallery.

I do have plans to work on some larger watercolors and will hopefully begin working on them soon. The to-do list is just too long! :)

Have a great weekend!

Cigar Boxes

A selection of my hand painted cigar boxes (and other hand painted items) are available again in my Etsy shop.

I have debated about whether or not to relist these items in my shop because I already have a variety of items for sale, but these boxes have given me some really incredible opportunities and I don't want to miss out on the possibility of more.

Just a little update too.. my break from school is over and that means it's time to hit the books again. I intend to keep up on quilting and painting as best I can, but with graduation on the horizon I need to focus on school work. So I will be in the studio working Monday - Thursday and the weekends will be reserved for school and family.

I hope you have a great week and are keeping cool!

Purple Fuschia - Mini Watercolor # 2

"Purple Fuschia" - Mini Watercolor Painting

Mini watercolor painting number 2 is complete! I so love Fuschia flowers and I have to do a larger painting of them at some point.

This is only the 2nd mini painting I've put up, but I'm very disappointed in how they appear on the computer screen. Scanning them and blowing them seems to take away their beauty. These look SO much better in person.

Anyway, I'm going to continue doing them and remember, they're only $15!

Have a great Friday!

Inside Look - Watercolor Mini #1

"Inside Look" - Mini Watercolor Painting

I'm finally starting that painting challenge/series. I'm calling it "50 Mini Watercolor Paintings for $15 each." I so love painting these little mini watercolors. They're 2 1/2" by 3 1/2 (artist trading card size). I just thought this would be a fun way to get back into my watercolors and these little paintings will make good studies for larger pieces.

At $15 each these are completely affordable! And what I love to do with these minis is to frame them with a big white mat.

Isn't that cute? The outer dimension of that mat is 8 by 10 (I have these for sale in my Etsy shop as well).

These little paintings will be available for purchase in my Etsy shop but we can make other arrangements if you don't have an Etsy account. Just send me an email at - angela292@hotmail.com

Have a lovely weekend!



Charitable Item for July

It's now July which means it's time for a new item to be chosen as my "Charitable Item of the Month." This month I chose my Spring Fever baby quilt. Photos simply do not do this one justice. The colors are so vibrant and fun!

100% of this sale will be donated to Susan G. Komen For The Cure. I'm sure you're all familiar with this foundation. They offer support and resources for those suffering from breast cancer, and raise a great deal of money for cancer research through their "Race For the Cure" events. I had the chance to participate in one of these events while serving in the military in Texas. It was a great experience and one that I will never forget.