A small pink blanket

I have been working on this little blanket for several weeks.  It took a bit of sorting out as I incorporated a prequilted piece in the middle which required that what I added was also quilted.  I quilted two pieces of coordinating fabric to batting which I added above and below the main section.  I used a three stitch zig zag decorative stitch to hold them to each other.  Next, I enjoyed the process of "quilt as you go" while I was  creating the sections for the sides and top and bottom.  I simply stitched strips of fabric to my batting, folded it over to get the right side up and stitched on another strip.  It went very well and I created a strip for each side.  Due to a measuring error I ended up with my sides pieces too wide so I trimmed each side piece and added them to the top and bottom which balanced the proportions of my quilt.  I stitched the side and top pieces to my main center piece with the same decorative stitch I used on the other pieces.  I then cut strips from this same fabric to make the strips I used to cover the joints between my pieces.  Before stitching them into place I decided to add my backing so that the stitching from adding the strips would provided inner quilting for the quilt.  The strips were cut 2" and both edges were folded to the back to meet in the middle giving me a 1" strip to sew on.  I pinned them into place and stitched on one side and then the other.  The outer ones covered the ends of the inner ones which worked very nicely.  I created a binding from one of the pink fabrics I used in the quilt that featured little kittens.  I added the binding to the top and then the bottom and then to both sides.  I find this binding method easier though the corners are a little less elegant.  This blanket is joining the last one and will be delivered to my sister for donating to the Linus Project.  Therese
 

Sympathy card featuring a carved wood background, organza ribbon and a bird punchie

I created this card for the husband of a friend who passed away in November.  

I started with a carved wood background which I made a while back.  I added a length of ivory organza ribbon and tied a short length to it to simulate a bow.  I punched the bird (SU) from brown cardstock.  I added watercolour pencil to the branch and the bird and added water to soften the effect.  I added an eye and details to the beak using a black fine tipped marker and coloured the beak with a yellow gel pen. I embossed the wing with D'vine Swirl embossing folder and mounted it to my bird.  I adhered the branch to the background so it would overlap the ribbon a bit and then mounted the bird over it with double sided tape.  I then mounted it to a green layer which I had punched on the bottom with the scallop border punch (SU).  I added an embossed line with my score tool and used a push pin to pierce each scallop.  Next, I mounted this large element to a brown card which I created to fit in the large envelope from my stash.  I found a greeting in my stash which was just the right size so I mounted it below the ribbon on the left hand edge and I like the subtle look of it.    Therese