WIP {Bottled Rainbows & I'm Not Crazy}

I am getting back into my sewing groove coming off the fresh inspiration from the quilt show (which I will finally dish about tomorrow).  And I started to realize that I have a lot of ideas and quilts in my head.  So, I grabbed my trusty chalk board and began to make a list.  I think I have enough projects here to take me through the summer!  Wow!

This Week's Work in Progress (WiP) Stats:

Last WiP Wednesday Total: 1
New Projects: 7 (I'm glad I'm finally getting all these ideas in one place!)

Finished Projects: 0

Total WiP's: 8

Let's look in on a few, shall we?

The Bottled Rainbows pattern is coming along nicely.  Here you can see I was working up the turquoise block.  I just love that big orange in the bottom left!  You can also see Sammy stuck her nose in the photo.

I have also been hard at work making up the last 6 blocks to start filling in with scraps.  I have light orange, red, and yellow ready to go with the batting attached.

Here is light pink, pink, and a purple... the last three.  The blocks are together, I just have to sew the batting on and they will also be ready for scrappy wonderfulness!

I still have one of my sewing assistants with me regularly.  This is Sammy (aren't Katie and Sam looking so similar anymore?).  I had to show you the icky ball that Sammy insists on playing with -- good thing it doesn't smell.  The Mister grabbed it out of our lake... Sam just loves the thing.  So, I am typically sewing a little, throw the ball, iron a little, throw the ball... you get the picture.  Keeps me laughing!

I have also started designing and cutting triangles for my very own Patchwork Prism.  I'm doing my best to follow the quilt along found at Sweet Diesel Designs. 

The pattern (which is free!) caught my eye right away.  And I admit that I haven't had my fill of rainbow-y projects yet, so this is appealing on lots of levels.  And have you seen the prizes involved?  Ya. A sewing machine. Count me in!  Here's a sneaky of what direction I'm headed. 

I also wanted to share a new little fella that's keeping me company on my desk.  There was a vendor at the quilt show with lots of Japanese things, and I fell hard for this guy.  I think he's meant as a pincushion, but I haven't been able to stick him with a pin yet.  But, I grin so darn big when I see him!  I think he needs a name too, don't you agree?

I'm not sure I told you yet, but I joined Studio Art Quilt Associate (or SAQA).  Have you heard of them?  Well, they are a great group for artists that want to play with different types of art quilting.  Art quilting isn't traditional and in fact I love it because pretty much anything goes!  I'm sure I'll be talking about art quilting more and more moving forward.

So, anyway, SAQA had a call for entry on their site called "I'm Not Crazy" for the topic of mental illnesses (common ones like anxiety or depression, or less common ones, like schizophrenia or multiple personality disorder).  One of the questions they wanted the art work to explore was "How does the world look through the eyes of someone experiencing a panic attack or depression or other mental disorder?"

This really resonated with me; I'll explain why another time.  It resonated so much that I stayed up late to cut up the zillions of little confetti bits needed to cover the 4x4 foot area.  Below is a sneaky peak of it.  And yes, Sammy showed her approval by laying right on top of the basted start.  Argg!  I am in the process of quilting and embellishing this one and look forward to sharing more very soon ... especially since this one is due by May 31st.

And that's what's going on recently in my cozy little sewing room.  Lots of inspiration and my ever faithful pup getting in the mix.  I can't wait to take a peak at what you are up to this week!