Little Inchie Crazy Quilt

Scrappy ATC 2.5X3.5

Scrappy, artsy, crazy quilts are like the frappuccino's of the art quilt world--all cool and mixed up with an extra dollop of whip cream. So I came across my box of Inchie Art from last year, and felt like freeing these teeny tiny pieces of art from their storage prison. An Inchie is one-square-inch of artwork...it can be paper, fabric...whatever you wish! I participated in Every Inchie Monday, a blog linkup there for a few weeks--but then started having the pinched nerve in my back, and at that point I was barely blogging anything, let alone creating teeny tiny themed art. But the good part of participating in the Inchie group was ending up with this itty bitty gallery of art. Many of my Inchies were done on fabric--and a few on paper. Now, looking back on them, I hardly remember what some of their themes were...so I knew it was time to put them somewhere fun. I gathered up the fabric Inchies and made a little square scrappy quilt to display them.

Lately I've enjoyed just taking scraps of fabric and sewing them onto something. It's almost therapeutic! (like art) It kind of started with a scrappy ATC I made to send to my U.K. soul sister Jan. I LOVE having a soul sister across the pond! For me, scrappy stitching is all about choosing little scraps and cuttings of fabric that I dearly love for some reason--or beyond that it has sentimental value--or it's something I've embroidered or cross-stitched. I have lots of little hearts here and there, for example, that I cross-stitch all the time. I could cross-stitch a heart in my sleep, and when my hands aren't busy with something else, I'm probably cross-stitching a heart. It's like my little motto: if you sit, you knit. In another words, I never just sit down and watch TV, or just sit around--if I'm sitting, I'm knitting or stitching on something. Otherwise--I'm dog tired and laying down!

You can see, the little tiny Inchies displayed on the scrappy background. But some of those scraps are special too, like the blingy little silky piece of fabric on the upper right. It is from fabric that made up my sash as part of my costume when I played a royal wife in the King & I at our local community theatre.

Down in the corner by this musical Inchie done on black Aida cloth, is a snippet from the ribbon Jan used to tie up the beautiful gifts she made me from her scraps--but they certainly do not look like they were made from scraps--her work is gorgeous. I so love ribbons though--and this ribbon came to me from a beautiful country--so it is stitched into the fabric canvas of my quiltie Inchie gallery.

Of course, one of my Inchies last year was a cross-stitched heart on 18-count aida...and I stitched a bigger heart onto the crazy quilt. I think one of my favorite Inchies was the purple girl with crazy DMC wire floss hair!

This is a peek at how the little crazy quilt began. The base is two squares of felt--then a snippet here and there of fabric stitched onto it--goes very quickly in the sewing machine.

I love this little fabric Inchie that was about sisters, apparently.

Here is one of the darling things Jan made me--by the way! The most adorable pin cushion ever!

The six surviving paper Inchies found a home in my art journal. 

Eat, Write, Dream, and Stitch your art!
 

Books, Tea, Plans, Life Class

Well I took my first Zumba Gold dance workout class last week, and just got out of my second class. All I can say is...wow! I felt like a teenager at a dance party. I love it that our teacher is a grandmother, and she gave us the high and low versions of the moves, and the music was absolutely exciting and motivational with a Latin vibe and some nostalgic tunes too! I never sweat that much, even on my treadmill, walking three fast miles! So...that's the high of it. The low is...I was hurting a little the next day! But I kept stretching about every half hour--I think I was a little too in touch with my inner teenager at the class! I forgot that I'm in my fifties and I already have a pinched nerve back problem--totally forgot! I tried to pace myself today, at first, but again I got so lost in the music, I danced full out. Maybe I won't be as stiff tomorrow as I was last week. I recover fast!

In the meantime, the other day while recovering from Zumba, I was resting and watched The King's Speech--so loved it! Of course, while watching it, I had to pull out my big book on the kings and queens and look things up--I'm endlessly fascinated with the stories of all the earth's kings and queens and princesses and so on. I can't ever get enough! Then, after fixing myself a tall refreshing glass of tea, I pulled out my cross-stitch books to make a few plans. I have some pieces that are going into a new cross-stitch quilt, and I am thinking of creating a couple of more little items that will patch into the quilt--this will be a summer project, and I love it already. And let's face it, I just get inspired with ideas when I pull my books out.

My favorite book of cross-stitch patterns has really become my go-to book. It has so many motifs and patterns in it that you can stitch up just about anything that your heart desires in any combination that you wish. I have a lot of post-it notes marking pages in this book!

I also found my kitty pattern to make some new stuffed kitties. I'm going to try some with patches of materials, some embroidery, and some little cross-stitches patched onto their bellies--this could be cute.

I really think of my big corner desk as my "cross-stitch corner" because I keep a lot of those supplies there, along with pieces of fabric, discarded jewelry, beads and ribbon for my mixed-media fabric projects. This also works into my scrapbooking nicely too. My daughter went to her senior prom last weekend, and I am definitely inspired to do a few scrapbook pages with her prom photos!

What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday!

It was so fun to have a photoshoot in the park with her and her group of friends all dressed for prom. They looked like they were in the pages of a storybook! All the parents took a ton of pictures in the Japanese garden area of the park--we all had a great time before we sent them off to their dinner and their prom.

Back at home, I made myself cozy with more tea, starting work on some stitching, and watching one of the Oprah lifeclasses--I love that show. I try to watch at least one a week, and I am happy that when I first signed up for Oprah Lifeclass, they sent me a leather journal! Pretty cool. So now that I can DVR the shows I want to see, I take lifeclass notes in my little journal. Of course, I can't just take notes, I have to doodle while I'm pondering these deep thoughts. But it makes it more fun to go back and read my notes later!

After I have watched a lifeclass, taken notes, and received some inspiration and enlightenment, I always come up with some new ideas of my own. I think that's my favorite part! I try to mark those pages so that I know those were my ideas--possibly for future use. I think I'll need to do some stretching out and lifeclassing tonight. That sounds like a good plan. That, and some ice tea!

More lifeclass notes and doodles.

My daughter and her charming prom date!

Eat happy, write and doodle, dream daily, stitch some love.