2020 Calendars are here

I am so excited to share my 2020 calendars with you!

There are available to purchase here and you can choose to order them without a stand (the clear CD case) - a great idea for those who need them shipped outside of the US. You can put them in a photo stand, or use a bulldog clip and a thumb tack to hang them on a wall.

I have also started a new blog, Room to Flourish, which I'm hoping to get running very soon - there is already ONE post!  And, you can find a tab that has a whole lot of photos of custom work I have completed.

I want to thank you for being here and following along on my journey.  I mentioned in my last post that I would host a giveaway in this post.  All you need to do to enter is comment below before November 30th, 2019, for your chance to win this 8x10 print pictured below.

I'll draw a winner at the end of the month, November 30th, 2019. International entries are welcome!

I have a NEW blog: What to expect:

Firstly, you'll need to subscribe to my new blog to get every post sent to your inbox.  If you're not sure how, reply to this email, or send me an email, and I can set that up for you.  You can subscribe yourself by going to the home page and entering your email address in the 'follow by email' section.

Second, I will be sharing mostly about my Christian faith and what the Lord has had on my heart.  I am going to offer a brand new subscription service very soon - where subscribers can purchase a 3, 6, 9 or 12 month subscription and receive a few lovely things in the mail each month... including an 8x10 or 9x12 print of an encouraging scripture in my own brush lettering and art, with a card, postcard and or other cute things to keep or gift.

I am so excited to invite you to follow along my new journey at Room to Flourish!

The Lord has some wonderful things in store for us all.

Don't forget to comment at the bottom of this post to enter the giveaway!

Holly
xx

Did the quilt label work?

Hello, friends!

In my post last week, I was showing off my latest quilty make.  I had used my own printed-on-fabric label design and I had hand-written a personal message using a Pigma Micron Fineliner pen.

These pens are waterproof after drying for 24hours, and I found them specifically in the quilting section of my local craft shop (after searching high and low in the art department that I'm usually more than familiar with).

SO, in theory, I bought the marker from the store as a fabric-marking pen, although I do use them very frequently in my art.

The big question is, though, how well do they stick to the fabric after a good clean through the regular washer and dryer?

Here are my results.

This first photo was taken before the quilt was washed.  It's a close-up of a photo in my previous post.

There are a couple of things to note: The diagonal edge was not folded over.  Because it's cut on the bias, I knew that it was not going to fray like a straight cut along the grain of fabric.  I decided not to fold it over.  I love that I get to show you the 'after-washing' photo of this.

I left the quilt a few days before putting it through the wash, so it was definitely past the 24hr-curing time of the marker pen.

This what the label looked like after a wash.  I used a regular cycle on my washer and a medium heat in the dryer.

You can see the diagonal line has frayed ever so slightly, it's not going to look much more frayed than this.  The hand-written message has bled a little, which I was a bit disappointed about.  But, it's still readable and I'm ok with that.

Other ways to write the message on: hand-embroidery, use a pen that is designed specifically for marking on fabric, or email me asking for a price to have me write your message, then have it professionally printed on fabric and sent to you.  ;)

Thanks for tuning in!

I'm hosting a giveaway in my next post. I promise!  All you'll need to do, to be in the draw is comment on the NEXT post. It'll be open worldwide.

To get a notification when I post next, just sign up to get the posts sent to your email.

Holly

x

A bright homemade quilt

I am so pleased with this quilt! It is my own design, inspired by all the quilts out there with arrows.  

This is finished at 70 x 85 inches (177 x 215 cm).  The back is a thrifted cotton sheet.  All the squares are cut from fat quarters from Joann - the only theme being the colors are all batiks.  The background fabric is a Country Classics solid.

Half hand quilted and half freehand machine quilted by myself on my trusty Heavy Duty Singer 4452. I love my machine, it's a trusty work horse!

I love to change up the machine quilting, there are slightly different designs in each section.

The colored arrows were machine quilted with orange cotton machine quilting thread.  The negative space was hand hand quilted with white perle no12 thread.

Each of the 22 small arrows were quilted all over, because they're small. While all but one of the 10 larger arrows were quilted in the middle of them, in an area the same size at the smaller arrows.

I switched up the machine quilting designs from flowers and curvy shapes to geometric/dot to dot quilting styles.

It fits the single bed perfectly - at 70 inches wide by 85 inches long.  Using a flat sheet for the back was a great idea, if I may say so.

I made straight binding (instead of bias binding) and I think it made the corners sharper. I'm usually "always bias binding no matter what" so, this is an eye opener for me and I'm pleased I tried it out.

The binding is also made with left-over fabric from the whole quilt.  I love how it turned out with all the different colors, framing it just nicely.

Also, this time I sewed the binding on with a decorative top-stitch.  I had seen this kind of stitching used before, and again, I'm so pleased I sewed it on this way.  Isn't it pretty?

When you finish a quilt, isn't it so nice to put a hand-written message on it?  I designed this quilt label and had it printed on fabric (I have these  and a few other styles for sale if you'd like to purchase, just send me a message if they're not listed in my Room to Flourish shop link). I hand-wrote the message between the lines with a waterproof micron pen, the rest is the fabric print.

Finally a full size picture for your viewing pleasure.

Approved by my youngest, who has decided he wants a white quilt.  I have just the perfect idea for his one.

Have an awesome day!  Please visit my shop, write me something in the comments below, or send me a message!  I love to hear from you.

Also, I promised a giveaway on my last post, so I think it's about time I got to it!

Holly

x

Have we met?

Have we?  I mean, I am sure that most of my loyal blog-following fans are either friends, or family, or we've met at some point in time.

How cool is that?  Whether we've met in person or not, I want to say thank you for being here!  I hope I can encourage you in one way or another.  I hope that I can always keep this place bright, friendly and encouraging.

An update from the last post, which was all the way back in November...

We moved to Tennessee, with no hiccups.  Well, maybe there were actual hiccups at some point, but we arrived safe and sound.  Hallelujah!  We have found a wonderful church!  It's where we feel at home, we are connected, plugged in and at home.  My awesome husband is already a part of the band, the church is so welcoming and warm, we have new friends, missing our Arizona friends (not to mention friends and family in New Zealand - we have not forgotten you!).

Things are going well - all praises to the Lord!

I have been busy with crocheting earrings (check out the cutest earrings right here), designing a wedding invitation suite for a fun client - oh how I've missed this kind of "designy" fun, I've been painting up a bunch of fun things - yet to come to the online shop.

AND, this weekend, I am hoping to be able to go to QuiltCon.  Oh, people, it's all about quilts and quilting and quilty shenanigans; it might be completely boring to many of you.  I don't think I have anyone to go with, yet, so I'll be Nigel-No-Mates thus far.  Haha!  I'm very excited.

If you're reading this on a browser, can you see all my pretty new buttons on the side?

And, if you've read this far... hold on to this little gem: next month is my birthday, and because I love giving gifts, wrapping gifts, making them all pretty and such, I'm going to run a little giveaway here on the blog!  Yay, free stuff!  It'll be a pair of earrings or a journal with a painted cover, or maybe both...


Holly
xx

Those who live in the shelter of the Most High

will find rest in the shadow of the Almighty.

This I declare about the Lord:

He alone is my refuge, my place of safety;

he is my God, and I trust him.

Psalm 91:1-2

November 2018 - and an Update!

In light of my last post, one can only expect this month's wallpaper to somewhat match?

To download the original (larger) image, click on the image to open it (if you're reading this from your email, open this post in your browser while using your computer or tablet); make sure the pic is at full size, right-mouse click and save this image as the desktop background on your computer, OR click 'save image as...' then, once you have it saved on your computer, you can then set it up as a desktop background.

Strictly for personal use only - not for sale or re-sale, do share it with your friends if you'd like.

Newsflash:  We're moving to Tennessee!  Right before Thanksgiving, our anniversary of arriving in the United States.

A little bit of a back-story, we have held a special place in our hearts for C3 (our church in New Zealand) for a long time.  We miss our church family so much! But, we know something special about all C3s, it's the same friendly family no matter which C3 church you're at.

In light of that, we put our love for Tennessee together with our love for C3 and decided that we'd pray and see if our God would open doors for us to move there.  He did!  Roy (my husband) was there for only a few days, he visited the C3 Pastor, he door-knocked for work, he drove around the countryside.  We prayed that it would be clear to us and easy to find work IF we were meant to move to Tennessee.

Sure enough, a job offer, a great reception, the first steps had begun.

There was one big thing that happened a few weeks ago, though.  We got notification that C3 was going to close down.  The following Sunday was to be their last.  No more C3 family.  Not wanting to cause grief or ask the wrong questions, we didn't pry.  We weren't exactly official members of the church there, yet.  We also only had contact with the Pastor and only knew 'of' a couple of people who went to C3 Nashville.

Roy was scheduled to be back in Nashville the next week, the Pastor was out of town so he couldn't meet up with him.

We're still going to Tennessee.  We just don't know exactly what is in store for us with a church, how we'll serve, who we'll make friends with, what we're going to do.  I'll still do my art, there might be more of an open door for markets and fun like that.

It's a weird feeling.  We were so looking forward to the instant 'family' that is C3.  We arrive a few days before Thanksgiving, and I was looking forward to maybe spending it with new people.  But, it looks like it'll just be us this year.

So, it's with excitement that we move, but with a little sadness, too.  I will be missing my friends and our extended family in Arizona so much.  There will be something else in store for us, I'm just not sure what it'll be.

Pray for us, that our move won't be stressful; that we travel safely across the country; that everything will fall into place, like it does, like He makes it; that we find some people who are looking for us, too.

If I'm not back here before, I hope you have a Happy Thanksgiving for my US friends, and a happy November for everyone else.

Holly

x

Painting Clouds

I wanted to share some photos of my latest [big] painting adventure.

Spontaneous clouds.

Painting on a large scale is so much fun, but so hard to do in our little apartment.

One day I'll have a spare room to create 'all the things'... one day.

These are both 18" x 24".  They were painted side by side, but they could work on their own, too.

The barn-wood frames I found at Hobby Lobby are perfect!

It's like looking through a window.

I'm looking forward to my next big painting.

It'll most likely be more clouds.

I hope you're having a lovely week.

xx

October 2018

October's free wallpaper for your desktop, tablet, ipad, phone, anything else that requires a jpg background.... 

This is another of my 5x5 inch oil paintings.  I love these little oil paintings so much!

To download the original image, click on the image to open it (if you're reading this from your email, open this post in your browser while using your computer or tablet, not your phone); make sure the pic is at full size, right-mouse click and save this image as the desktop background on your computer, OR click 'save image as...' then, once you have it saved on your computer, you can then set it up as a desktop background.

Strictly for personal use only - not for sale or re-sale, do share it with your friends if you'd like.


I hope you have a lovely October!


Holly
x