An early Christmas present (for this year AND THE NEXT FIVE AT LEAST!!!)

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?, Appliquéd hearts, Art, Artist and crafter, Artistic, Christmas present, Crafty creations, Creative crafting, Custom orders, Fabric creations, Forget-me-not, Fun with fabrics, Hand quilted quilts, Inspred by colours, Lap quilt designer, My Etsy Shop, Original, Original designs and creations, Patchwork and quilting, Patchwork lap quilt, Request something special, What next

Finished forget-me-not quilt
OMG! How many stitches can you put into a 6′ x 4′ panel???? at least double your thought and and then add another two million!!! Then you might be half way near to the quilting in this little creation!!! I can’t put into words the joy of finishing this little piece – never has a project been on the go for so long – interrupted by day trips with family, subsequently contracting crafter’s lung (as diagnosed by Mrs.P) more trips after a successful recovery then projects for Etsy/Commissions/Life in general… eventually back to find this awaiting unfinished project in a lonely bag!!!

I won in the end! This little creation has been playing on my mind for almost two months!!! Though already, and only finished two hours ago,( I couldn’t wait for better light to take the picture…!) it has a new owner – My Dearest is snuggled beneath it as I type….:-) There could be no other owner than him, as it has little Forget-Me-Not flowers and lots of hearts in the design!

I have been promising him a larger lap quilt for ages, but always they have been spoken for, or intended for My Etsy shop. As winter is approaching, it is a great time to be making these little lap quilts, though I won’t be able to put in 13 hours of sewing each day as I have for this baby! Dark nights have me a new plan, I am about to embark on a new batch of paintings instead – Dipping a brush into paint, by candle light, is much easier than trying to thread a needle when you are past 40!

…..Oh My!… I think I hear snoring?!? Obviously it is comforting too! 🙂

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Crafty creations for Christmas! Cotton fabric hand quilted patchwork place-mats.,

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Art, Artistic, Arty, Carens canvas and craft My ETSY shop, Christmas patchwork, Creative crafting, Hand quilted, My Etsy Shop, Original, Patchwork and quilting, Patchwork place mats, Unique

Seasonal patchwork quilts on s small scale…or should I say Place-mats?!? 🙂           

In classic Christmas colours of red, green and cream, to add a simple splash of style to any table over the festive season! A set of patchwork place-mats and coordinating coaster mats. All the fabrics are 100% cotton with a soft cotton wadding sandwiched between the front panel and a plain cream back panel allowing me to hand quilt over the entire area, finished by hand stitching a matching binding strip all around each mat. Now available on my Etsy shop as; a set of two OR a set of four!

Set of four handmade and quilted place-mats and matching coaster mats
https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/carenscanvasandcraft

I feel a silly season of sewing on the horizon…..Christmas is approaching way too fast…! ;-/

Cute fabric art collages – Creative patchwork and applique pictures

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Art, Artistic moment, Arty, Bunnies knitting, Caren's canvas and craft, Creative artist and crafter, Creative collages, Creative imaginative art, Creative patchwork, Creative patchwork and applique, Cute art pictures, Cute collages, Cute framed fabric art, Felt applique, Fun creations, Fun fabric art, Fun with fabric, Knitting hen, Knitting on toothpicks, My Etsy Shop, Novelty creations, Novelty fabric collage, Original, Original fun art, Patchwork pictures, Piggies knitting, Quirky, Sheep knitting, Unique, Unique handmade novelty items

ARMCHAIR BUNNY KNITTING! One of my new collage creations…a scene inspired during a conversation some time ago with MRS P. http://craftodyssey.wordpress.com/about-3/ Mrs. P has constructed the most brilliant gigantic floral fabric bunny which travels with her as a front seat passenger to and from craft fairs, whilst talking about it she mentioned giving it some giant knitting needles and a pot of tea on a little table – well… this is my interpretation… on a tiny scale ! :-)Having finished my latest commission last week, a large lap quilt, designed as both a memory quilt and a Wedding gift for the happy couple to be, My Lady was uuuuber thrilled when she called to collect it..YAY!.. AND, I have permission to do a post about it after the Wedding when the couple have been given their unique personalised gift! So, after the 23rd of August keep a look out for that one! 🙂

Some of you may have seen my little creations of ‘Sheep knitting’ collages before, which include little knitted items on toothpicks, and, as they have proved quite popular, I thought I would down size my craft projects this week (but increase my table mess into the bargain!) to make some new ones, with a few new characters knitting as well! As mentioned above, Mrs. P’s bunny was the inspiration for me to create a couple of inside knitting character scenes. As ever, the couple which I planned…turned into a dozen unique original final framed works of art! 🙂 which are now resting for a little while in my Etsy shop!

https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/carenscanvasandcraft

Below are a couple more examples 🙂

Knitting piggies collage (with a close up of the fabric border before framing)

Sheep in Wellington boots collage
…’they told me it was the only pair they had!’ was going to be another option for a title after seeing the expression of the front left sheep! 🙂

Black sheep knitting collage

Knitting country hen

Armchair knitting hen

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Commissioned Elephant Lap Quilt. Handmade and hand-quilted with custom design applique elephants hearts and flowers.

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Appliqué hearts and flowers, Appliquéd elephants lap quilt, Art, Artist and crafter, Artistic moment, Arty, Bottons, Caren's canvas and craft, Colourful cotton elephants, Commissioned custom orders, Cotton wadding, Crafty creations, Creative, Creative crafter, Creative crafting, Designing my own pattern ideas, Embroidery threads, Fun creations, Fun with fabric, Hand quilted custom quilts, Hand quilting, Handmade patchwork quilts, Lap quilts, My Etsy Shop, Original, Patchwork, Patchwork and applique, Patchwork designer quilts

”Show and Tell” – 36” x 48”  Elephant Lap Quilt                                                             *NB  I MUST POINT OUT THAT THE CIRCLE ON THE TOP LEFT OF THE QUILT IS SOMETHING TO DO WITH THE CAMERA FLASH AND NOT A BLEMISH ON THE QUILT! In all my excitement I didn’t notice it until I put this image on WordPress, by then, I had already shipped the quilt!!
This is one of the finished commissioned Lap Quilts which I promised I would show as soon as it arrived at its new home! 🙂

 

YAY! I am so pleased to be able to share with you all, 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!  🙂

 

 

Handmade and hand quilted large patchwork bears and bees lap quilt

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Art, Artistic, Arty, Bears and bees lap quilt, Caren's canvas and craft, Colourful creations, Colourful patchwork quilt, Crafty creations, Cute and cuddly quilts, Fun creations, Fun with fabric, Hand quilting, Handmade patchwork quilts, Lap quilt, Lovingly handmade quilts, My Etsy Shop, Original, Unique

bee colourful quilt !

Somewhere in my moments of creative madness, I latch onto a little idea…and then go off and make several for good measure!

Since making the little owl quilt for my mum, this seems to now be the case where lap quilts are concerned! Not something that happens over night as in small creations, but just over a week from start to last hand quilted stitch. This larger than normal (45 x 68 inches) lap quilt is just about as colourful as you can get! With cute little bears and bees in the centre of each panel too!

It is certainly something which should last for decades – if not centuries 😉 , as I reckon I must have put over two million stitches into its creation!

Bear and bee centres

Hand quilted detail

Since making the ‘little owl’ and now this ‘bears and bees’ lap quilt, I have been lucky enough to be commissioned to do two more! Not only that,  but…given free reign to design, create and chose everything about them all based on one word briefs!

I couldn’t have been any happier!

What this space! The big unveil of the two finished quilts – coming soon 🙂

 

Fun fabric fishy friends!

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Art, Artistic, Arty, Caren's canvas and craft, Colouful creations, Colourful threads, Cotton print fabric, Crafty creations, Creating my own patterns, Creative crafting, Cute creations, Decorative fish, Fabric fish, Fabric seahorse, Fabric starfish, Fishy friends, Fun creations, Fun fabric fishy friends, Fun with fabrics, Hanging decorations, My Etsy Shop, Original, Patchwork cotton fabrics, Ribbons, Synthetic wadding, Tiny beads

Fun fabric fishy friends!

It would seem I have been away from posting forever! I have been super busy over the past few weeks creating and working on a couple of commissioned lap quilts – more on those in a few days – when they arrive at their new homes!:-)

Anyway, in between, I have been using up small fabric pieces I had left over, to create a trio of cute characters, as you see I called them ‘fishy friends’. Having drawn my own templates for the little sea creatures I set to snipping, sewing and stuffing them all. I think they are… Soooo cute! Perfect for brightening up just about anywhere as little hanging decorations! Even my husband has ear marked a set for his work van! Should be a good talking point for all the builders when they see them!!! But at least it has sorted out what he is having for a birthday present now! 😉

As ever, I couldn’t help myself – so I made a few more sets 🙂

 

 

Little owls patchwork lap quilt – Handmade and hand quilted for my mum’s birthday

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Art, Artistic moment, Arty, Birthday surprise, Caren's canvas and craft, Colourful cotton fabrics, Colourful patchwork lap quilt, Crafty creations, Creative crafting, Day quilt, Fun gift ideas, Hand quilted creations, Hand quilted patchwork quilt, Handmade colourful patchwork throw, Handmade patchwork owl quilt, Little owls, My Etsy Shop, Nap quilt, Original, Original creative crafting, Patchwork owl throw, Patchwork owls, Patchwork quilt, Unique, Unique creations

Little owls lap quilt

After scratching my head over what to get my mum for her birthday, I decided I would make her a little day quilt for those afternoon naps she has in her chair, she says she only has then due to boredom – nothing to do with her age of course!

If only, I had thought to do it sooner though, with just over a week until her birthday, I really didn’t know if I would finish it in time???   So, decision made, I set off like the clappers. rummaging for a suitable centre for my simple patchwork squares. Aha! then I remembered, the half yard of little owl fabric! Hmmmmm!…now, where did I put it though…..? I looked at my stack of fabric boxes which are sorted by colour….but the little owls had many colours, so….which colour did I file them under??? (Mental note!- Get another box for things like this!!!) Again, I looked at the boxes stacked two deep floor to ceiling…and sighed…as I started  pulling them down one by one for the search of the little folded piece of fabric! After much box rifling, and rebuilding the stack behind me, I eventually found it….in the purple box!-third to last!! -Aaaargh!!! Now, I had to re-stack them all back again in their rightful place – but, not before collecting coordinating fabrics for the rest of the quilt.

As ever, no pattern involved,  just a matter of a ‘go for it’ approach, which I seem to have with all the quilts I have made so far. After cutting the little owl squares, I got the matching material which coordinated with the different colours on the owls and set about slicing and dicing, then, systematically built the tiny owl squares into larger ones, after connecting the pink border strips, it was ready for hand quilting. The last thing to do was to add the polka dot turquoise binding. “Et voilà !” Finished a day before I needed to be as well! I was pretty please with my eight days work – another unique crafty creation!

And, Yay! My mum loved her surprise Birthday present – I have been informed it has had a nap test too! 🙂

Cute and cuddly crafty creations! Designed by myself especially for iarxiv – ”Piggy & Puggy”

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Art, Artist and crafter, Artistic moment, Arty, Carens canvas and craft My ETSY shop, Crafty creations, Creative crafting, Custom made orders, Cute creations in fabric craft, Cute piggies, Designed and handmade creations, Handmade Fabric piglets, Handmade soft animals, iarxiv's characters, iarxiv's characters Piggy and Puggy, My Etsy Shop, Original, Original ideas, Original patterns, Patchwork pillow covers, Patchwork Quilting Applique, Piggy and Puggy

 

Designed and specially created by myself for iarxiv, Her two cute and cuddly characters, ‘Piggy’ and ‘Puggy’!

Quite recently I got an enquiry from one of the blogs that I follow (and vice versa) about the possibility of a custom made pair of soft piggies. Immediately, I was very excited! Not only that I would be able to create cute cuddly characters, but really really very special characters.

Iarxiv, who has created the adorable, Epic Porcine Adventure of ”Piggy and Puggy”, a long running tale of the worldwide adventures and experiences about two, extremely intelligent, special little piglets. As piglets they were take in by a human couple they call ”two legged mummy and daddy”, who both realised immediately they were more than your average pigs! Mummy and daddy allowed their piglets to travel the world keeping in touch by ‘snoutphone’

Over the last year, the brave piggies have just about been to every corner of the earth,  meeting lots of other characters, seeing how they live their lives, endured dangers and sometimes overwhelming excitement, suffered separation and eventually fallen in love, and have recently become engaged, Puggy gave Piggy a little ‘hooflet’ to wear on her left trotter…Sooooo sweet 🙂 !

Having followed the epic adventures since almost the very beginning (and iarxiv was my very first follower when I joined in January 2013) it seemed like a magical moment. After a little brief,  iarxiv asked for a little pair of fabric piggies sitting on flat bottoms, snout to snout with interlocking hooves, something along the lines of http://iarxiv.com/2013/12/10/yes-yes-yes/,  if it was possible to do. A creative challenge, what more could I ask for!?! 🙂

After making a little pattern for the piggies, I chose a delicate little floral print on a pale pink cotton for Piggy and a more ‘boar’some tiny brown check print fabric for Puggy and set to creating the little characters. Giving them both a pose-able curly tail. (I swear it took longer to turn those two little tails by pins, than it did to make the the pattern and the pigs themselves, but after the pipe cleaner was in place all was worth the effort) Once filled with synthetic wadding I blanket stitched a coordinating flat fabric base, allowing them to sit leaning snout to snout and cleverly grasp each other with my design for interlocking trotters/hooves. They are so cute! As a finishing touch I gave Piggy a little pink bow for her head (At first the pink one I gave her – as in the picture below – was somewhat overwhelmingly pink, so another less intense pink satin ribbon was decided upon) A little creamy/white engagement ‘hooflet’ for her left hoof and a little mustard ribbon tie for Puggy. With their ears flapped upwards through sheer delight, I do believe I have fulfilled my brief……..I’m so very happy………….But, will iarxiv be as happy with her custom order when they arrive, I wondered?

I had no need to worry, for along with many other very kind comments iarxiv said,

”They are absolutely gorgeous little creatures.”

Below are some more pictures of designs for iarxiv, I do believe, a VERY happy customer!

AND may I Thank You iarxiv, for allowing me the privilege to be able to bring to life, in a physical 3D form your adorable Piggy and Puggy now in their forever, loving home with their very own ”two legged mummy and daddy”!

Designed and specially created by myself for iarxiv, Her two cute and cuddly characters, ‘Piggy’ and ‘Puggy’

Designed and created by me for iarxiv, A quilted patchwork pillow cover of iarxiv’s characters, ”Puggy & Piggy”

 

Springtime inspired Handmade patchwork and quilted button flower tote/bag

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Art, Artistic moment, Arty, Button flower border bag, Buttons, Caren's canvas and craft, Colourful springtime tote, Cotton fabrics, Crafty creations, Creative crafting, Designer tote, Fabric handmade bag, Handmade and designed patchwork bag, Handmade creations, Multi-pocket feature design, My Etsy Shop, One off designs, Original, Original craftwork, Patchwork quilted tote, Quality hand-crafted items, Springtime, Springtime inspired, Unique creations, Unique ideas

Springtime patchwork bag design available on my Etsy shop for a limited time!

One burst of sunshine was all it took! I was inspired to create something which just shouted Springtime! and here it is.

Based on a similar theme from one of my designs (the last one was Autumn/Harvest colour themed with rich warm colours!) this goes to a new level of fresh, bold and vibrant = Spring!!! Well it does in my book anyway 🙂

The colours I chose for this new little tote, you may have guessed, are based around Springtime bright blue skies, fresh tender foliage, colourful crocuses and delicate cowslips (Primula flowers) in grassy meadows. The fabric Used for the straps/handles just had it all,it was up to me to source the other fabrics to coordinate.

I had a wonderful time rummaging around my favourite fabric shop, making my mum dizzy, as I flitted from stacks of fabric to mountains of material. Eventually, armed with just what I wanted, as I could already see the finished piece in my head, I had small amounts of each one cut by the shop assistant.

Much sorting, measuring , cutting and assembling resulted in two little patchwork panels, both with a plain cream border in the centre. perfect for adding one of my button flower borders. Into my buttons I dove, routing around until I came up with the perfect combination of little buttons. After stem stitching a grass line I added the stems and then buttons., now to hand quilt over the entire two panels. As ever I like to add a little extra to my creative pieces, this one got a coordinating button flower border on the front of the internal multi-pocket too. Things should be just as special on the inside as on the out! Even though most won’t know its there, the new owner will! 🙂

After a final frenzy of assembling the straps and the magnetic clasp flap were all put in place, it really did turn out like I had imagined – Springtime!

Enjoy the rest of the images 🙂

Back of springtime bag design

Springtime bag inside multi-pocket

Inside multipocket springtime bag

 

 

Creative Patchwork and Appliqué – White sheep knitting – fun framed fabric collage

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Art, Artist and crafter, Artistic moment, Arty, Caren's creative canvas and craft, Colourful craft creations, Countryside scene in fabric, Crafty creations, Creatiuve craft ideas, Cute fun craft, Fabric art, Fabric collages, Fabric pictures, Framed collages, Fun art, Handmade and designed pieces, My Etsy Shop, Original art, Original craft ideas, Patchwork and applique, Quirky art, Scrap fabric ideas, Sheeep knitting

WHITE SHEEP KNITTING FROM DIP DYED BLUE SHEEP A quirky creation from Caren’s creative canvas and craft!

Just look at the quality of that knitting! told you I was getting good with those toothpicks!!

There has been such a demand for sheep knitting pictures, since I created my first one from my own drawings, I think I have been making them in my sleep. No two are ever exactly the same, so even when I have made another from my own drawings, different combinations of fabrics, positions of sheep etc, make each and every one different and unique!

This little lamb in the sheep dip has the most wonderful colour of blue felt for its fleece, which I managed to match perfectly with some embroidery thread that I used for the little knitted piece.

I love to give the pieces some individual character when I am making them, this one I decided to make the knitting sheep look deep in concentration – you can almost hear the sheep counting stitches!