Pink toile nursery rhyme baby quilt

So you may be wondering what I've been doing these past couple weeks...even if you're not wondering I'm gonna tell you anyway. Making baby quilts!  Yes, the girl who has been telling you that she's not a seamstress has made three baby quilts over the last two weeks! And I will still say I'm not a seamstress since I can't make anything else, but I am a baby quilt maker!  

Two of the quilts are going to be gifts so I can't show them to you just yet, but I found this pink toile with scenes from nursery rhymes on it and just had to get it because I love toile! Plus those two quilts that I can't show you are both for baby boys so I was itching to do something girly.

I also found a pretty green print with ivy made from hearts and knew it would complement the pink toile perfectly. A white quilted fabric for the backing would complete the look.  

Here it is all finished!

You may have noticed that I've learned how to do binding since the last quilt I shared with you! YouTube sure is handy! I think binding gives the quilt a finished look.

I discovered something that I never knew about myself, that I LOVE sewing, well, maybe not sewing in general, but I love making baby quilts! I love the process of it as much as I love seeing the finished product. I love picking out the fabric, laying it out and seeing that I can make something useful and cute! 

I've decided to add them to my Etsy shop. Now, I promise my blog will not become advertising for my Etsy shop, but I thought I'd share that I'm adding a new category that I'm so excited about it! Also, if I may ask those of you who have Etsy shops, do you have any tips to share that you've learned along the way? I've not sold anything yet and I know I just started but any advice would be appreciated so much!

I'm sharing with:

Lavender harvest time!

Taking a cue from some of my blog friends, I saw now was the time to harvest my lavender!  This past spring I planted eight lavender plants and over the course of the summer four of them died.  I really can't figure out why they died.  They were in the same section of the yard as the ones that survived.  They were watered the same and got the same amount of sunlight.  They didn't all die at once either, they each thrived then slowly died over the summer. 

I was able to get a small bundle from the four plants that survived and the aroma is heavenly! I read that Denver (and most of Colorado) has the perfect zoning for lavender so next year I will replace the plants that died and hope they do better! I would love any suggestions from those of you who have had luck with lavender plants.

Here is the lavender all dried and pretty...just kidding. This is my stunt lavender that I already had. The lavender from my yard is still drying and not nearly this purple.  I just liked the way the light was shining on them.

Thank goodness I'm still alive to announce the winner of the herb box giveaway

I thought it would be fun to include a pretty fall photo to announce the winner of the herb box giveaway.  I looked outside and saw the pretty leaves on these vines and found my photo op.  I was curious about what these berries were that looked like small grapes so I bit into one to see if it tasted anything like grapes (I know, not the smartest thing to do but I admit I taste random fruit sometimes).  It didn't taste awful but it didn't taste like grapes either.  

I spent some time Googling "what are the vines that have berries that look like small grapes" and all I could find were "wild grapes" but I knew the leaves didn't look the same.  Well, later that evening I visited my blog friend Maureen at It's All Connected and saw a pretty fall arrangement she made with Virginia Creeper and it looked just like the vine in my yard!  I Googled Virginia Creeper and according to Wikipedia the berries "contain oxalic acid, which is moderately toxic to humans".  Eek!  Well, I'm still here and I feel okay for now. 

Okay so after that little story, a random number was selected and the winner of the herb box is:  

Vel Criste from Life & home at 2102 

She said she would put real herbs in it to use for cooking.  I love that idea!

Thanks to everyone who entered. You had such wonderful ideas for what to put in the box.  Also, thanks to everyone for their well wishes for my Etsy shop!  If you are still interested in one, please visit my shop! You can find the link on my side bar.

Artist Mary Qian demonstration

Liberty

Last month I introduced you to artist Stephanie Birdsall. Today I'm even more excited to introduce you to artist Mary Qian (pronounced like Chien).  From the moment I found out that Mary would be doing a demonstration at Saks Galleries I was giddy with excitement.  I love her work!  LOVE IT! LOVE IT!  

Mary paints florals and figurative.  I am a huge fan of her figurative work so I was hoping she'd be painting a person for her demonstration but I didn't let my hopes get up too high because I knew florals would be much easier to set up.

When we showed up Mary was already painting and it was a figurative!  I can't even begin to describe how my craziness and excitement went off the charts and I couldn't even sit down.  I'm sure Mr. H wanted to hide and not claim me as his wife that afternoon.  I know I must sound like a fan meeting a celebrity or something, but to me it was sort of like that since I loved her work so much.

As she painted she described using techniques of hard and soft edges to keep the viewers eyes on the canvass.  She talked about using a light easel so she can carry it around if she is painting on site.  

She even uses styrofoam plates instead of a traditional paint palette because they're so much lighter to hold for extended periods of time. 

I love this one of the model taking a picture of her portrait. Can you just imagine if Mona Lisa or The Girl with the Pearl Earring jumped up after their sittings to take a picture of the painting?  

My favorite work of hers is "An Innocent Gaze". I just love the girl's face, how serene it looks.  I also love the colors in the painting.

An Innocent Gaze

Here are some other ones I love.

Passing Times

Lily

Winter

After going home and obsessing thinking about it for a few days, we went back and purchased An Innocent Gaze!  Here it is in my dining room. I just love it so much and make it a point to sit down and truly appreciate it for a few minutes each day.

If you'd like more information on Mary, here is her website www.maryqian.com

Don't forget to enter my giveaway if you would like a chance to win the herb box made from a wine crate.  Just visit my previous post for details!