Mail Call!

In today’s mail, I received several issues of Machine Quilting Unlimited :

This is a shameless plug for a terrific quilting magazine which carries my cartoon, Feathered Fibers. I always get several copies since I’m a regular contributer (Thanks, Vicki!)

This magazine is for all home quilters, so no matter what size machine you quilt on, this publication is for you. There are interesting profiles, reviews, how-to articles and of course, my cartoon.

This issue’s cartoon is autobiographical- it actually happened to me and I lost a few hundred dollars worth of thread. In case you are curious what I am talking about, let’s just say there is a really good reason to have a pet free quilt studio!! LOL

Speaking of pets, here’s an older cartoon that was inspired by one of my kitties. While this never actually happened to me, one of my cats did go under my table. Bad kitty!!

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Remember when Vicki Welsh won my blog milestone contest in May? She was kind enough to wait to receive her prize so that I could enter it in the local county fair. Her prize ended up winning a 1st place and this is what she won:

Vicki, watch for a Fed-ex delivery… your purse is finally on its way!! Hugs, Carla

Fair Goal Completed!

OK, just arrived back home from dropping everything off at the fair for the judging. I dropped off 3 quilts in the Quilting area. I also dropped off 2 crochet items. I am simply happy to have met the goal I set for myself!

While I was intaking the 3 quilts, the women working mentioned that I had received a 1st place blue ribbon for the collage purse I dropped off on Wednesday. I went over and sure enough, Vicki Welsh, the purse you won on my blog contest earned a blue ribbon. LOL!! So now you are receiving an award winning blog prize!!

One of the crochet items I dropped off was a freeform crochet scarf wrapped artistically around a dress form wire armature. They were good sports about my unusual entry. The colors of this scarf is similar to a scarf I once made for Lynn:

It has been way too hot to think about freeform crochet Carla style. I usually go crazy with this in the late summer, fall and winter seasons. Perhaps my yarn needs some love and attention.

Enjoy your day!

Fair Entry

One of my smaller goals this year was to have some fun and enter some of my creative goodies into the fair. The goal is not to win, it’s about taking a risk, having some fun and following through on a goal. In that vein, I entered my Collage purse into the Adult Apparel Accessories category:

Thanks to Vicki Welch, the winner in my last blog contest. The Collage Purse is her prize, and she kindly is waiting patiently until after the fair to receive it.

Mail Call!

In the mail today was a cool shipment from SkyBluePink, an online store. I got looks of collage goodies to add to my collection:

some maps, some foreign collage papers, sequin waste, etc.

I’m half done with my last binding now. I learned a new and different way to do it from the Pixeladies. The first time I tried it I wasn’t sure, but now I am sold. I’ll show you a picture tomorrow of how square and perfect the corners are using this method.

Hugs, Carla

Spring Collage purse

I decided to make another collage purse in spring colors, so here are my fabric selection:

I’m putting it together crazy quilt, log cabin style. This was actually a project I first made at Lori’s (thanks, Lori!) back in 2005. I’ve since tweaked it a bit and added some cool embellishments.

Here are a few images I took while I was making it:

Continue on until you fill the pattern piece, then trim:

I’ll post this project when I am finished.

Blog Milestone

I have a blog milestone coming up soon… my 200,000th visitor!  Keep watching to celebrate with me… I will have my second blog contest.  Details will be within the next week or two.  Does anyone have an opinion about what I should offer to the winner of my upcoming blog contest??   The last grand winner won a custom made Carla freeform crochet scarf.

Enjoy your day! Hugs, Carla

Life and Other Happenings in my studio…

Hello! Thought I would show you a few random things today. I am so happy that this package arrived… now I can sort my fabric and place them into my studio cupboards!

In case you are having a hard time envisioning this… I will shoot some pictures tomorrow to show you.

Here are some inspiring art from a few favorite artists to get the creative juices flowing!

Next is some cool armatures I will be working with….

My very first collage purse- made during an adventure week with Lori:

and lastly… I was organized and put on a roast to cook all day!! This is proof that yes, some days I can get my stuff together!

keep watching…. Hugs, from Carla

Collage Purse & Bra elastic

What does bra elastic have to do with my collage purse I am working on? Bra elastic actually makes wonderful binding for this purse!! Here’s the proof:

The last time I visited my good pal, Lori Seavey-Christian- down in So Cal, we went to the Fiber Swap Meet with Capril and found some terrific elastic. This day was documented in Lori’s blog here.

Here’s the elastic….

and here it is used on my purse:

I am so glad to have finally found a good use for this stuff! I had tried crocheting with it, but it didn’t look right.

The purse is almost finished, but it still needs handles and embellishments! The flower is actually a 3D flower- which I like. It still needs some beadwork, too. Right now, to me the bag looks naked without some beading.

Does anyone out there in Blog-ville make and create your own purses or bags?? I would love to show some and showcase them next month on my blog. If you have something you want to share, just drop me a comment and I will contact you.

Regards, Carla

postscript: Here is a finished picture of the purse: