Custom Work

At the beginning of January I was asked to do two custome blankets. Now you may be thinking, "She's already written about this," but I promise I haven't yet! She wanted two twin size blankets with pillowcases to match. I must admit that while it was a stressful project, it was a lot of fun!

Stressful because I'd never done blankets of this size before. I decided to look on it as a way to push myself, see if I could do. Of course, I'd told her I would so it was more a matter of I had to figue out how to do it.  And boy was that a process in itself!

I finally found fabric and got to work! Things were going well, the pillowcases were easy enough, and I was looking at finishing early and that was so encouraging! Then, all fell apart! I like to make the blankets larger than needed and then cut them down later. So, I start to measure and cut. In the process of doing this, I put permanent maker across the first blanket. I wanted to cry. I tried for so long to get it out but it was just not happening. So off to the store I went for more fabric.

Getting home I decided to continue measuring and cutting the second blanket, only to find that I had not made this one long enough. That feeling of wanting to cry came back, and I may have shed some tears at this point! But, back to store!

I now had four days to do what had taken me a week and a half. Before leaving for my day job, I sewed. Upon arriving home from my day job, I sewed. I sewed late into the late and started early in the morning. I then realize I'd done the zigzags going in the wrong direction. That's when I called in mom to help pull out stitches so that I could fix yet another problem. Luckily I finished them by my original goal date. It was not an easy task but looking back it was fun and it certainly pushed me to new levels, which was one of my goals.

Now for some photos of them!

 

This photo of the blankets is a little bright, but shows the gray stitching well.


The one of the pillowcases is a more accurate color, although still slightly off. 





At this point, I'm taking a break from sewing. Although I need to start again soon, but this was a big project and after big projects a small break is deserved! I would consider doing more blankets of this size. None bigger though, and maybe not for another year!

Squiggles & Friends

Squiggles is a character that I created in college. The assignment was to create an alphabet, two actually. One was to be created out of objects, so a boy and his teddy bear could create each letter - this is one that I had seen from previous students. I decided to do mine out of trees. So, in a letter or two I added this little squirrel that was made of squiggle lines. 

I was recently telling a friend about this character and she encouraged me to play with it and do some drawings. That's exactly what I did. I started drawing him in an old algebra textbook that I had. I have since created two other characters, thus why I call them Squiggles & Friends. There is Squiggles the squirrel, Foxy - a fox, and Wally the Whale. 

And, of course, here are some photos!

blankets, blankets, blankets...

So, I finally started my etsy shop and I am finally back on here trying to get into the habit of writing more. It's not a New Year's Resolution or anything. I just decided that I wanted to and so here I am!

About a year (or more) ago I decided to start making baby blankets for friends and family who were expecting. And so I started to crochet and learn new stitches. And that's where it started. I just started making baby blankets a lot and could never make enough to give out to everyone I would have liked to.

Then, I found an idea for sewing blankets and thought I'd try to make them in baby sizes and see if anyone was interested. I found fabric and just went all in making them in several different colors, showed them to friends and family, and took them to a show to attempt selling them. 

Now I have them for sale in my etsy shop. Recently I had the opportunity to do a custom order for twins. The customer sent me fabric and while I usually use plain fabric, I really enjoyed the print that she sent. 

I have been sewing non-stop for that last week or two but I'm still having fun making them and I'm glad that others are enjoying them!

Here's a picture of one of them and to see more, just check out my shop!
www.etsy.com/shop/krWieland

More to come soon!

Blue and White Table

This table top has been in the making for quite a awhile. While it appears to be finished, it still has a bit more work to be done. The edges, cannot be seen, need to be sanded down to even the grout on them so that the trim can be put on. Then the base can be put on and the wood painted.

It is a little hard to see the grout lines and the blue tiles appear darker than they actually are. Hopefully, I will be able to get a picture of the entire table when it is completely finished sometime this spring or summer - when the weather is better. Since the table top is the hardest part, I wanted to at least show you that!

Below is a photo of the table top before the grout is put in. It took a long time to get everything laid out and spaced out as equally as possible and to my standards.

I feel that the more mosaics I do, the better they get, which is how it should be. I am sure this is not the end of mosaics for me!

mosaic mania

So, for the past two weeks I have been working on a project. Not just any project though. I was recently asked to do 35 6" by 6" square mosaics for a bridal shower in Ohio. I only had two weeks to do them and a lot to do. After many late nights and stressful days, I finally finished them. Unfortunately, because of the short amount of time I had to do and the time it took to finish them I didn't get a lot of pictures, but here's what I have!

I think you get the idea!!

neatly disarrayed

This is a painting that I have been working on for awhile now, mostly because I couldn't find the right color to finish it. One idea developed into another with this piece and just kept branching into more ideas. I really like the way that it turned out. I think that the burnt orange splatters in the center were the perfect finishing touch. For a long time it just needed something, and when I threw the orange on it just fit.

Daddy's Little Girl

I finished this painting a few months ago, but just haven't taken the time to put it up. I keep going in my studio to look at it and always feeling like I want to do more but I'm not sure what. Anyway, this inspiration for this piece was from a photograph I found. My aunt gave me permission to paint it and its taken a long time to finish but I think I'm finally happy with it. It is a picture of my dad and I at San Diego beach. I'm not quite sure how old I am and I have no recollection of ever being there! I'm excited to get this piece out there and hopefully into some art shows.