Still Stitching : quilt progress

I've accumulated a lot of fabric over the years and decided it's time to get stuck in and make some stash-busting quilts. I LOVE this selection of Poppy Fabrics 

and I also love this pattern by Valori Wells which shows off the fabrics.

You can find the link to get your copy of this free pattern HERE.

This quilt began because of my #100daysofstitch project. And I was inspired again recently by this article - better to leave completed quilts than fabrics ♥ The goal is to leave gifts for future family and for those in need - to leave completed treasures for my quilting friends - to leave proof of my creativity, passion, ingenuity and persistence. I'm not planning on leaving any time soon, but I've got a large stash to get through..... 
This project was last seen here before I decided to concentrate on one stitch project at a time. I finished cutting my fabrics last week

It was a bit more challenging than it might have been since I'm using fabric from my stash rather than purchasing the right amounts of fabrics. I've had to change some of the block sizes and block arrangements but it's looking good as I begin to put it together

I look forward to sharing more progress soon. I'm also very lucky that at work I'm able to lead weekly craft club sessions this term. The girls are making excellent progress on their quilts and are very excited that they are starting to stitch now. 

So rewarding to share this joy which will hopefully become a life-long love of stitching for some of them.

Book of Days : Magic

In my last art journal post my page started with one of Effy's lesson backgrounds and then evolved into something else. I was still keen to try her tilted head and flower lesson, but I know from experience that as I build luscious backgrounds with colour I just can't bring myself to glaze over them. This time I decided to start instead with black and white and just a couple of my iridescent colours

When I stopped to photograph my progress I could already see her head shape and knew I'd be doing a tree instead of a flower.

The darker shapes above her head invited words - gold and shine ♥

You can sign up for classes with Effy Wild HERE. See my Flickr album of all art work inspired by Effy's classes HERE.

Book of Days : Dream

I decided to simplify my creative intentions for June and since I want to increase my art journaling practice, I decided to focus on work in my art journal weekly. This week I wanted to do a catch-up lesson from Session 1 of Book of Days featuring my gorgeous iridescent paints

First lovely sprays

and then iridescent colours with a bit of black and white stenciling

I really can't capture the gorgeous shimmer in a photograph. 

Trust me - it's beautiful ♥ Love working in my altered book since the words add an extra layer of interest in the background. I add some masking tape to the centre join so I don't get any bleeding through to other pages. Next was to add a figure and a flower and since I'd like to include a quote, I went looking for that first. I love Mary Oliver's poems, so googled her name with "Winter" (our current season in NZ) and this took my breath away : 

Context : my lovely Dad died in February, and these past few days I've been hit with fresh waves of grief. Our theme for June in Effy's other year-long class, Moonshine, is to frolic. Those stanzas are from Mary Oliver's poem "Starlings in Winter" which you can read complete HERE. 

I only spotted the word 'grief' in the background right near finishing this page.

My page didn't turn out anything like Effy's lesson, but it's mine and it means a lot.

You can sign up for this and other classes by Effy Wild HERE. See my Flickr album of all art work inspired by Effy's classes HERE.