It's been a while!

School has been pretty busy for me this year as I have taken on the added role of secretary-treasurer for my local teacher's union...that has caused me to have a few more meetings but fortunately most of them are fairly short. That and a conference to go to plus trying to help DH get ready for hunting. The hunting results will come in a later post.

Anyway, I have had a little bit of regular studio time to get some things done, but just haven't posted anything here, so here goes!

This kitty is for a FAT trade called Cat's Meow. You will see this guy's sibling later on as I used the same design for a mini hanging and a PC for ArtsNTheMail. This is made from black felt that has something like angelina in it (though it wasn't on the label). The angelina started out purple, but with the iron applied directly to the felt it turned white. Eyes are appliqued felt and then stitching is machine satin stitching. I haven't done much of that before so it sorta gives the cat a quirky look. The back and borders are finished with some fabric left over from last year's Boo Kitty quilt (Maywood Studios) and the earrings are some little spirals from SkyBluePink.
This set of bright greens is what I have finally chosen for my ALQS (see link on the right side) that I'm participating in. I can''t let the cat out of the back yet as for whom I am making this. When I was in Portland, OR last week for the library conference my buddy (another quilter) and I stopped at Fabric Depot, which touts itself as the largest fabric store in the US...They were having a sale, too! Anyway, had an idea for the pattern so I wandered around until something clicked and then wandered more to find additional fabric! I won't be following the design/fabric layout exactly but it should still look great! I hope! Stay tuned for further developments as it is due sometime in November!
For ArtsNTheMail we had a trade to work with NeoColors. I did some work earlier (the Lighthouse) but wanted to try some 'thread painting'. The ones I actually sent were a a single leaf and I must admit I didn't do the thread painting free hand...I traced out what I wanted to do but it still worked out ok. NeoColors are fun to work with...
and you can see that the background for this Jack-o-lantern is also NeoColors!  Applique again, this time with a variegated thread in satin stitch. 

New Books! Found these two books in my wandering through Amazon. I had seen baskets being made like in the "It's a Wrap" book when I went to the Sewing Expo at Puyallup, WA last year but the folks demonstrating it were using a special foot. This appears to use a regular foot and has lots of ideas. The quilt book is one for small quilts. The one I am making with the greens up above is the green and pink one on the right of the cover. 

I have some more pictures/commentary to post but it is getting late so I will hopefully get more up tomorrow! 

Thanks for stopping in!