Taking leftover fabric to the next level…#2

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Artist and crafter, Crafty creations, Creative crafting, Fabric creations from left over bits, Fun with fabrics, Hand quilted patchwork, Patchwork creations, Patchwork Shoulder Bag/Tote, Unique fabric creations

A colourful everyday bag/tote made from super soft brushed cotton/flannel fabrics

In my own quest to utilise all my left over fabrics from a previous project… I decided to keep with my theme of ”skewed squares design” and incorporate it into a unique little shoulder bag

A Little commission ~ Super soft cotton flannel appliquéd monkeys on a quilt

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Art, Artist and crafter, Artistic moment, Arty, Ccotton flannel monkeys, Commissioned patchwork, Cotton fabrics, Cotton handmade quilt, Crafty creations, Creative crafting, Creative patchwork and applique, Cute unique Quirky designs and ideas, Designer Patchwork Quilt, Fun with fabrics, Hand quilted patchwork, Little Monkey Quilt

Where on earth does time go….???? ……..Even on a very grey day, this little patchwork and applique quilt certainly brightens up the garden !

Since last posting, just what have I been up to???? Well, lots of things ~ plus, a few out of the norm activities too….my world has been somewhat shaken and stirred of late ;-/ in between many new crafty creations!!

Around Ester time, I was dragged (kicking and screaming onto an aeroplane after 15 years of avoidance… on the grounds of health and safety,  lol – much better to have your feet on land than the base of an aeroplane I think..but, in necessity and eagerness to meet lovely new in-laws in Serbia  (after the marriage of our daughter to our new son-in law) it was a must 😉 Meeting our new extended family was wonderful! Though, having flown back into the UK in the wake of storm Katie, flying is definitely not on my agenda again any time soon! The plane seemingly hit a thousand and one ”potholes” on it’s roller-coaster style approach in the sky, as we circled the London Eye at least seven times waiting to land!! Very scary, even for seasoned travellers ;-/

Just before leaving for the trip, I was commissioned to do a little lap sized handmade cotton quilt for the grandson of a special, dear friend in the US 🙂 My lovely friend Jackie! She asked if I could make a patchwork quilt for her little grandson?? YAY.. Of course! I was super excited!!!!! Especially having  been given free reign once again by Jackie, to create something unique. My only brief for the project …’Monkeys’ !!! I could choose all the fabrics, colours and design…WOW!!! Where should I start??

Pencil and paper at the ready, I sketched out some cheeky little monkeys. I wanted to make sure the background design was very simple so the blanket could grow with the little guy it was intended for, maybe even passed down to future generations !!

Finally, I went for a large geometric pin-wheel/triangle background to represent the jungle in different shades of green cotton fabrics, along with creating some large cotton fabric ‘jungle leaves’ which I appliquéd around the monkeys . Adding some more primary colours, bright red and blue borders, I think, made it feel more masculine too. The little monkeys are all made from super soft cotton flannel and backed with 100% super soft cotton too! In fact, All the applique pieces have been cotton backed, turned and then hand stitched into place, so, they will never fray! Following the jungle theme I added in a little cotton parrot and a couple of cute, crazy looking frogs 😉 A quilt designed and made to last!

A little close up of the hand-stitched parrot, monkey and a cute, crazy frog, ironed folded and  packaged ready for shipping.

I know Grandma (Jackie) and mum are super happy with it…YAY! A little snippet from Jackie’s e-mail after receiving her parcel…

{Hi Caren,

The quilt was delivered safely and I couldn’t be more pleased! It looks even better than the photo you sent.

 As soon as I can I will write a review in etsy. 

Again, thank you for the quilt! I hope you have a great week. 

Take care and I’ll talk to you soon. xx  }

Thank You so much Jackie!! It was a lovely little project and very exciting to be given another commission by you  (though always a little scary to have free reign) I’m so glad you love the finished quilt!!) I know you will see this post at some point ;-)It was my absolute pleasure to create another unique little art quilt for you and your little grandson!

Maybe in the future as Jackie’s little grandson gets older, he will give each of the little monkeys a name 🙂 Meanwhile, I hope he has many, many happy little naps and sweet dreams under the colourful quilt 🙂

”Summertime Blues” Patchwork hand quilted pin wheel design lap quilt/picnic blanket

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Artist and crafter, Blue and white patchwork quilt, Carens canvas and craft My ETSY shop, Colourful cotton handmade quilts, Creative crafting, Fun with fabrics, Hand quilted patchwork, Handmade lap quilt, Patchwork and quilting, Patchwork table cover, Patchwork wallhangings, Picnic blanket, Pin wheel design patchwork, Quirky creations, Summertime blues, Unique crafty creations

Blue pin-wheel design lap quilt or ‘Summertime Blues’ as I decided to call it 🙂
After making the red and black version shown in the last post,
https://carentaylor.wordpress.com/2015/04/25/beautiful-minimalistic-patchwork/
I knew I wanted to make a cool fresh blue version – I’m so happy with the result!!
Even though I’ve called it a lap quilt, equally it could be a picnic blanket, or, a piece of art for a wall hanging, or even, a bright bold table cover 😉
Keeping with the simple theme as before, though this time I have used three different blue cotton print fabrics for the front panel and a simple clean white cotton for the backing then hand quilted through a 100% cotton wadding layer finally binding with the same blue fabric as the thin inner border.
Even though it was a dull overcast day when I took the photograph, it certainly brightened up the garden 🙂

”LOSTINTHOT” Personalised Designer Handmade and Hand Quilted Custom Order 36” x 48” ART Lap Quit.

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Appliqué butterflies, Applique figure, Applique segments, Art, Art and design creations, Art Lap quilt, Artist and crafter, Artistic, Artistic lap quilt design, Artistic moment, Arty, Buttons, Caren's canvas and craft, Crafty creations, Creative crafting, Custom lap quyilt, Designer custom sommission orders, Designer quilt, Fun creations, Fun with fabric, Gift ideas, Hand made patchwork quilts, Hand quilted patchwork, Lostinthot personalised quilt, Original, Patchwork and applique, Personalised custom patchwork, Threads, Unique patchwork designs

”LOSTINTHOT”
Personalised Designer Custom Order 36” x 48” Lap Quit. Especially designed and handmade for my Dear Friend Jackie! I tried to capture all the feelings and emotions within the handmade appliquéd lady of Jackie herself ‘lostinthot’ within nature and also added a couple of ”Flutterbies” and her loving cat too!

 

YAY! I am so pleased to be able to share with you all, (Thank you for the permission Jackie!) a post about one of the commissioned custom order lap quilts, which has just been given full seal of approval,  by my lovely, Dear friend, Jackie! 🙂 Jackie has a couple of brilliant sites here on WordPress, which I follow avidly, her photographic work is absolutely stunning and I urge you all to pop over and have a look through her wonderful archives                                http://iamlostinthot.wordpress.com/about/

Jackie’s more recent WordPress site, Fun with Filters, has some amazing artistic effects placed over the original images, this is a link to one of my favourites        http://iamlostinthot2.wordpress.com/2014/05/26/iphone-snap-steampunk-hummingbird-v-2/     though to be honest, all her images are my favourites, it was hard to choose, but I decided on this one! 🙂

Firstly, I want to Thank Jackie immensely, for commissioning me to design and make her two (36” x 48”) custom order quilts! Not only that, but with trusting me completely, with all the design ideas, fabrics and colours, she really was in the dark from placing the order to seeing the final finished product, in both cases!

Jackie,  asked me to make a lap quilt for her cherished, two year old granddaughter with ‘Elephants’ as the theme and one for herself, with full free reign!!! Wow! I was sooo excited and a little scared too, what if she didn’t like them? But, thankfully, Jackie absolutely loved them both when they arrived in the US yesterday! 🙂  In fact, I have taken this ‘quote’ directly from her email,

”They look even better than they did in the pictures – your work is superb!!!” 

I was very very happy, as you can see, 🙂 🙂 :-)!!! Though, to be fair, my photography does leave a lot to be desired!

It was a fantastic opportunity for me and I loved every minute, from the first pencil sketch design to buying whatever palette of colours I chose, making all the double layered,  ‘turned out’, applique pieces,  right through to the very last quilting stitch!

Thank You so much again Jackie, for giving me the creative craft challenge 🙂

YAY!!!  I have just received another commission custom order, after my client saw your two designs! – my portfolio of lap quilt designs is set for an increase, again – this time as a Wedding gift!  🙂