Sam the Dog

First off, thanks so much all of you who left happy birthday wishes for me in my last post. Each one was a gift in itself and they all put a smile on my face!


Since Mo had her stroke, (she's still doing good, but the med she was on caused her blood to thin which caused her sinus tumor to start to bleed a bit...) I have moved my sewing from my normal work space into the living room, so as to be close to her while she continues to recuperate. This small move totally shifted my creative energy. While I still have some unfinished Mod Squares to complete, my head rebelled against them, and insisted I do something just for fun. And that is how Sam the Dog came to be.


SAM The DOG:

Well read.
Good sense of humor.
Friendly.
Enjoys organic gardening and an occasional good smoke.
Loyal.

Sam began his life when I free-hand cut into a piece of cloth which I had earlier quilted and washed, (to bring outs it's cuddly texture). His features were cut from more of my quilted cloth and securely hand sewn down and embellished with embroidery floss. Because he's hip he insisted on two turquoise colored earrings. To be kind, I obliged.


10.5" tall from toe to tip of ear. He can't wear his heart on his sleeve because he has no arms... so he wears his heart on his hip.

Sam is soft, lovable and sewn with great care. Suitable for young and old.


He hates baths, so if you adopt him, please be kind and promise to only spot clean him.

I am working on Sam's friend, "Bebe the Bunny" and will introduce you to her soon. xo

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NOTE: Sam has now been adopted to a good home!

Caution: Curves ahead

A couple of weeks ago we received a custom order from the Jacquie, the owner of Alden Lane. She was having an appreciation dinner and was interested in sending us some photos of the nursery and having them fused to glass. It is a simple process for anyone who wants to have us do this. You just need a computer and know how to email pictures. Easy, right? So here we go with pretty much the whole procedure.

1. We need a high-quality picture sent to us via email, preferably a picture with good light-dark contrast. This is one of the pictures that Jacquie sent us. It can be color, black and white, whatever. Doesn't matter. It will always end up being sepia tone, which gives the pictures a great vintage look.

2. It gets printed on a laser printer in black and white (it has to be black and white and on a laser printer because of the iron in the black ink--so at this point color printing is not an option).

3. We make two-layer fused "blanks." (I know, this is a completely fascinating picture, huh?)

4. After the blanks have been fired and cooled down, the photocopied picture is attached to a blank. In Jacquie's case, she had three pictures she wanted to showcase, so they were placed side to side.
5. The pictures and glass are fused together in the kiln.

6. Because Jacquie was using these as part of her table decorations and the pictures look so much better with a little light behind them, Mark fired them again to "slump" them into an S-shaped curve on one of our fusing molds. That also allows them to be freestanding on a desk or shelf.

7. And here they are as part of a beautiful table, after which they were given to the volunteers who had helped her at the nursery.

So if you are looking for a new and creative way to showcase your own photos, for you or as a gift, get in touch with us.

Windows to My Soul

Windows to My Soul

Windows to My Soul (Detail)

Today (April 1) is the day the Twelve by Twelve Group reveals their windows-themed quilts. Above is my offering. Read more about my quilt and the others over on the group blog.