Kawaii Kitties

I was enamored with this drawing workbook called Kawaii Kitties. I couldn't resist. 

I have slowly been working through the tutorials.

I've had some fun drawing little kitties. 

They are delightful!

How fun is this little guy?

They may not qualify as grand art but they make me happy. 

Buy your own (affiliate links):

Apple iPad Mini (Wi-Fi, 64GB) - Space Gray
Apple Pencil
Fintie Case with Pencil Holder for iPad Mini 5
Kawaii Kitties: Learn How to Draw 75 Cats in All Their Glory

31 Days of Digital Art

Even though the month of October is over I haven't stopped doing digital art following the great video tutorials offered by BeeJayDel. Sometimes I followed the tutorial very closely, other times I used different pose references or went a different direction. Can you spot the differences? 

I am so much more confident with Procreate but I have yet to find my own style. I'll keep working on it. 

Buy your own (affiliate links):

Apple iPad Mini (Wi-Fi, 64GB) - Space Gray
Apple Pencil
Fintie Case with Pencil Holder for iPad Mini 5

31 Days of Digital Art

You may have stumbled upon a thing called Inktober, or Drawtober, on social media this month. New art, like fall, is in the air. I love it. I've been following tutorials by BeeJayDel on YouTube and have been getting amazing results. 

He is presenting a new video every day in October. 

So many fun characters!

I'm learning how to use both Procreate and my Apple Pencil. 

Practice is how you get better. I'm getting better every drawing. And I'm loving the Halloween theme! Expect more of these before the month is out. Hopefully, long after that. 

Buy your own (affiliate links):

Apple iPad Mini (Wi-Fi, 64GB) - Space Gray
Apple Pencil
Fintie Case with Pencil Holder for iPad Mini 5

October Art

October is Inktober. While I'm not much of a pencil or pen artist, I am a big fan of digital art. I love my undo. Layers are also a super-handy feature. With paper and pen you only get the one chance. Based on tutorial by Art with Flo.  

I'm pretty much complete rubbish with following prompts for these sorts of things so I just do what makes me happy. This was done following a tutorial by Art with Flo. If you're new to digital art and Procreate I recommend checking YouTube for some tutorials to help you through some creations. Tutorials are a great way to learn the tool even if you don't want to do the same kind of art. 

Sometimes what I come up with is really just tracing a photo and adding my own touches. I follow several Instagram cats and Curious Zelda is one of my favorites. When I saw the inspiration photo for this one I knew exactly what I wanted to do. Very minimal drawing and colors and I love the result. 

Some are better than others but they are steps along the path to getting better at digital art. Besides, once you get the tools you can create again and again and use very few resources. 

Follow my Instagram (@beccascrazyprojects) to see these as I complete them. Because I'm me, you will see sewing, quilting, digital art, and sometimes photos of my dog. 

Buy your own (affiliate links):

Apple iPad Mini (Wi-Fi, 64GB) - Space Gray
Apple Pencil
Fintie Case with Pencil Holder for iPad Mini 5

Walking in the Wilds

Don't let that title fool you, or the photos. These may look like I live in a wilderness and that is pretty far from the truth. Each of these was taken within 100 yards of a suburban neighborhood. Suburban neighborhoods within 30 miles of the nation's capital.

From young bucks...

to tiny does...

swimming turtles...

and flying things. Each of these can be found in the suburban areas where I live and work. Sometimes you can find Pokemon, too. The wild things are much harder to capture, even on film.

Summer Adventures and Photos

I recently had the opportunity to travel for work. I took some photos while going for a walk or two during my time.

Sometimes I just found a pretty flower.

One time I almost got caught in a thunderstorm that included hail that was scary.

At home I wandered over to a nearby meadow.

Which is also a Monarch Waystation.

After work, I came across this pretty young buck on my afternoon walk. Most of these first appeared on my Instagram.

It's great to get out and get moving. With the weather as hot as it has been mornings are better than afternoon but getting out is great.

Poolside Tote Swap

Now that the swap is over, I can share the bag I made and the bag I received for the Poolside Tote Swap.

I will admit that I had so much trouble picking out a pattern and fabric for this project. Ultimately I designed a bag I wanted to make. I did find some inspiration with this fun line of fabrics.

Each piece of the panel was quilted separately in a motif that compliments the fabric. I shared the quilting of each piece in a previous blog post.

The bag has a row of pockets on the inside.

Perfect for holding your cell phone or other small things.

I love these long zips on the top of a tote bag. I'm a accidental bag tipper so this has saved me and my stuff more than once.

There is also a big zippered pocket on the outside for those things you need to be able to grab in a hurry.

Even with the creative block, I think this was a great project. I'm also super happy that my partner loves the bag. This was a great swap!

What did I get in the swap? I'm so glad you asked! I received this super, awesome, amazing bag with a paper-pieced masterpiece on the front. That's right. My very own message in a bottle.

That striped binding is just so awesome, too! This was a great swap and I'm so glad I joined in. What will the next one be?

Have you had any fun swaps? I'd love to hear about them.

Poolside Tote Swap: Sneak Peek

I am a sucker for a swap. I try to avoid them, mostly because I will make myself crazy with them. A few times a year, I do join in, though. This time it was for a tote bag.

The only problem was that I couldn't find a pattern that I wanted to make. Ultimately, I had to design a bag. I'm not going to share the tote until the swap is finished. I can show you the fun fabrics and the quilting I did, though. My partner said she likes all the colors in the rainbow. I think these rainbow colored sea-turtles are perfect for a poolside tote.

Each of these fabrics is part of the outer tote bag. I quilted each section separately.

This one was the most fun because I took a cue from the fabric to come up with the motif.

I still have some other goodies planned. Because a swap is never a simple affair.

Do you swap that you've been hoping to join?

Charity Quilting: Counting Quilts

Today is the June meeting of Annapolis Quilts for Kids.  If you are local and interested in joining us please head to the blog for the location and time.

Sometime in May someone on Instagram asked how many quilts were in my house.  I won't be shy, I have many.  How many?  On that day I counted 60 finished quilts.  Eight of them were destined for Annapolis Quilts for Kids.  This brought me to the question of how many quilts have I finished this year?  I think this is a fair question, so I'm going to try to answer it.  I'm also going to put a running count in my sidebar.  This post will cover the charity quilts I have made or just quilted.

January 2015

I did a review of my blog since January 2015.  I counted 22 quilts quilted for Annapolis Quilts for Kids.  Of those, I pieced six of those quilts myself.  The rest were pieced by other members of Quilts for Kids.

February 2015

I always set my goal at four per month.  I think this is a realistic goal.  I should be able to fit in at least one crib quilt per week.  I take a bag overflowing with quilts to the meeting and walk away with another four, or five, or six quilts.  By the next meeting I've filled the bag with quilted work.

May 2015

I've heard plenty of people say that quilting is their therapy.  I fully believe in this.  I think everyone deserves to have play in thier lives.  Play that allows them to decompress, express themselves or just plain have fun.  I find this decompression and expression in quilting.  I also find it in simple sewing, or knitting, or crochet.

June 2015

There is no one way to get this in your life.  Draw, paint, weave, just do something that you love.  You don't have to do it every day.  You don't have to do it for longer than 10-15 minutes.  I do believe that doing it will make you happier, whatever your play is.  Find that 10-15 minutes of play and fit it into your life.  You can do it!

Pieced and quilted by me :  6
Pieced by others and quilted by me:  16
Total charity quilt count for 2015:  22

This isn't a competition.  I'm not winning and no one is losing.  This is about making something that brings you happiness and brings warmth and comfort to the recipient.

What is your play?

Sew Together Bag Swap

I joined the Sew Together Bag Swap on Instagram (#sewtogetherbagswap).  I figured it was time to share the fun little bag I put together for my partner.

I had this small collection of 30's reproduction prints from the 2014 Row by Row Shop Hop.  They are doing it again this year and it is even bigger than last year.  Shops in all 50 states are participating. Check out the Row by Row Experience.

I pulled out my copy of the Sew Together Bag pattern from Sew Demented.  Then I grabbed a handful of zippers from ZipIt! Zipper Supply that coordinated.

I had made some tiny Churn Dash blocks for another project and I thought they would be perfect for this.  I made four tiny blocks.  The finished blocks are 3" by 3".  If you want to know how the Churn Dash goes together, you can check out a great video from Missouri Star Quilt Co on YouTube.

The layout for this one took some math, but it wasn't impossible.  A little bit of time with some graph paper and I had it figured out.

I won't go into the assembly process for the Sew Together Bag.  I will tell you that this isn't my first and that the tutorial provided by The Quilt Barn is amazing!  If you decide to try this pattern I highly recommend the tutorial for your first time.

One modification I do to the pattern is to make two needle-landings instead of a pin cushion and a needle-landing.  I can do the same thing with the needle landing that I would do with a pin cushion and I think it is neater.

I used this fun all-over motif called paisley.  You can find a tutorial from Leah Day on her site.  She has loads and loads of great free motion quilting tutorials that can be used on your sewing machine or on a long arm.

Another great resource for quilting motifs is from Lori at The Inbox Jaunt.  Great step by step tutorials for free motion quilting that can be applied to free motion on your sewing machine or on a long arm.

This bag is so versatile.  You can use it for your sewing tools when traveling or use it to hold other artistic tools like pens and pencils.  I use one to hold my hexie piecing tools (needle, thread, little binder clip, pins), fabric squares and hexie papers.  It is easy to grab and go.

I think the finished bag is perfect.  I recommend the pattern if you are looking for great bag and a bit of a challenge.  I think beginning sewers can accomplish this bag if they just take their time.  It isn't fast but I think the results are totally worth it.

I had some scraps leftover so I made a tiny notebook cover in coordinating prints.  This was a fun swap that I'm really glad I joined.

Have you found any fun swaps that you have enjoyed making as much as receiving?  What about great bag patterns that you've made again and again?