Happy Halloween!

Banana is our resident mouse. Okay, she's actually a rat. A Dumbo Satin Rat to be more precise, but the kids agree that sounds rather insulting, so we all call her mousie. She is gentle, well-loved, has a very silly personality, and loves Cheerios.

The kids are too old for trick-or-treating
(or so I've been told),
so it's up to Banana to bring home the goods this year.

What she lacks in stature she makes up for in stealth.

 Fare thee well, Banana,

you noblest of creatures!

Ho-Ho-Halloween

This week's batch of critters

are getting into the Halloween groove.

Interview

I hang out with an awesome group of artists online that specialize in Halloweeny goodness. Sometimes they feature artist interviews on their blog, and guess who they interviewed this month? The Cart! You can read it

here.

On the Table

In progress-

It's looking so Christmassy on the table

that I had to throw a little Halloween in this post.

“If I need a cause for celebration

Or a comfort I can use to ease my mind

I rely on my imagination

And I dream of an imaginary time.”

Fresh off The Cart

An itty bitty kitty

and a flirty elephant.

A mushroom sitting pretty

and a top hat at a slant.

A scarf that's silly long

and an abnormality,

while Ladybird plays along

with this week's menagerie.

Mix Match Paddy Whack

This + That =

Here + There =

Odds + Ends =

Some days I'm just grateful

for the ability to amuse myself.

Lights, camera, action!

Here's a peek at today's work table.

I put in a 14-hour day yesterday, and managed to get everybody base-painted. Gee, I wonder what color I'm loving this week?

Dylan and I are finally embarking on a project we've been wanting to do for months-- making a pattern with an instructional DVD. (It's tricky. There is lots of planning involved, something neither one of us is too keen on.) So today, I'm doing step-by-step drawings for the pattern part, and getting three Santas started on the road towards their small-screen debut.

I'm super camera shy, definitely preferring a behind-the-scenes role. So I'm really nervous about my part in the video. Dylan assures me that it'll mostly just be my hands doing their arty thing. Hmmm. . . maybe I'd better dig the paint out from under my fingernails.

Anybody else stepping out

of their comfort zone today?

Yuletide Rumpus

There was frost on the windshields this morning. That's my cue to start with the Christmas goodness! Red and green and white are my favorite colors all year long, so I'm always happy to commence with the yuletide merriment.

You can see the first of the snowpeople, pine trees, and Kris Kringles here.

Who says 2-headed cats aren't jolly?

More presently, Halloween is right around the corner.

I'm sad to say that my kids have decided they're too old for trick-or-treating. Making costumes with them has always been a favorite October activity. So I've had to content myself with photos of Halloween costumes past. In honor of the new Spike Jonze movie coming out soon (can't wait!) I thought I'd share one of our favorite creations.

That's my eldest, round about the 2nd grade, sporting her favorite monster attire. Of course, we couldn't stop there; she wanted an appropriate backdrop as well. We made that using rolls of colored paper from her school, Elmer's glue, and crayons. It became an easy and inexpensive mural that graced the wall of her room for many years.

Let the wild rumpus start!

All Sewn Up

I finished that deer I started last week.

Didn't she turn out sweet?

You can see more of her here.

I'm gonna have to make another one for me ☺

(if I can get Dylan to sewn another up).

Speaking of sewing, have you all seen this awesome site?

I'm always inspired whenever I visit.

Sarah, who runs Sewn, is having a giveaway over on her blog.

Fabric fun!

Oh Deer!

I busted out the Halloween stuff this past weekend.

I don't have very much of the ole orange and black,

but those toothy grins delight me.

(This isn't the best shot in the word, but it gives you a peek of my fluffball of a dog and my messy kitchen table, lest you think my world is as tidy as some pictures make it out to be.)

I got to spend some time this past weekend

working on the never-ending poppy quilt.

I'm not a quilter. No, I'm not being modest; I genuinely have no idea what I'm doing most of the time. However, I imagine myself quilting (and I have a vivid imagination), so I am learning the hard way as I go along. I'm discovering that maybe measuring isn't such a bad idea after all. I just have to do two more of the black and gray stripes then I'm done with the quilt top. At that point I'll seek the advice of a real quilter before I continue. Maybe.

It's been a pleasure to work on, but I'm ready to move on to the next quilty idea now. This has been a real test of my rather limited attention span. I'm hanging in there though. I'm a finisher.

Speaking of finishing stuff,

here's what sits on my work table today, awaiting my attention-

I was able to spend time on Monday making a bunch of new designs. Yay!

I'm afraid I'm already madly in love with this one-

Sometimes it's hard to let things go.

I'm thinking, I'm thinking. . .

This little Cat Cone. . .

. . .became this Kitty.

Last week's stuff is all done now,

and awaiting adoption.

This odd 8. . .

. . .became an odd hat brim for this tight-knit pair.

We wanted the last witch of the season to have a little something extra.

It's the last of the witches, but the first of the snowmen!

What's white-on-white and cute all over?

This little mermaid-in-disguise is my favorite this week.

You can see more of everybody HERE.

Today I'm working on some new designs. Whee!

I'm thinking about owls and fawns and anthropomorphic mushrooms,

and I'm not thinking about laundry. OK, maybe a little bit.

What are you thinking about today?

More Variations on a Theme

Can you spot the Cat Cone in the works this week?

I'll be putting his final touches on today.

Speaking of using the same template for many creations,

meet Long Tall Sally. (That's what we call this one's template.)

Sally has been many things with wings. . .

a fairy, an angel, a butterfly. . .

This week Sally is all ready for October,

and wearing her witchy finery.

Her pieced skirt was fun to make, raiding my stash for oranges and blacks. It has put me in a quilty mood. But no quilting for me today. Today I breathe life into those shapes up there on top of this post.

And do laundry

(but that sounds so much less romantic, don't you think?)

Variations on a Theme

One of the ways we manage to make so many original pieces week after week is that we revisit the same basic templates time and again. The basic outline may be the same, but within that outline there are limitless possibilities. Kind of like human beings, come to think of it.

We call the template that we used for these pointy creations Cat Cone (for obvious reasons).
This week's devil ornament is just the latest incarnation in a long line of characters cut from the same cloth, so to speak.

I thought I'd share the Cat Cone template with you all,

so that you too might have fun exploring the possibilities.

Just print it out (preferably on card stock, if you can). Then trace it onto doubled-over fabric. Then sew right on the lines. Then cut it out about 1/4" from your sewn lines. Then snip on the dotted line through ONE layer of fabric (this makes your hole for stuffing). Turn inside out. Then stuff with something fluffy. Finally, stitch the stuffing hole closed, and decorate to your heart's content.

 

What will YOU make of it?

We have a winner!

The Giveaway is officially over.

Names were pulled out of hats today.

The winner of the patterns is. . .  Michelle!

The winner of the dolly is. . . Allegro Melody!

To everybody who did not win-

At least today is the beginning of October

(which is as good a reason as any to proclaim our jubilee).

Let the celebrating commence!