This is my reminder as to why I no longer participate in Self Portrait Tuesday: 1. I stink at self portraits and 2. why do I want pictures of myself anyway?
Far more interesting is Bella's painting of a mouse. They were studying Beatrix Potter at school, and this was one of the activities. First they sketched out their painting in pencil, and then they painted over the sketch using the stem of a leaf. That, my friends, is very cool indeed. I love how graphically strong the mouse is, and am trying to think of a way to put this image to good use.
I am also still plugging away at my first quilt. All was going well (relatively at any rate-- for heaven's sake do not inspect my bindings), until I put the finished product in the wash. It emerged with the seams torn apart. What?! How did that happen? I carefully followed all instructions (in Denyse Schmidt's "Quilts"), but the quilting gods were evidently arrayed against me. So now I am thinking of doing additional patchwork strips to topstitch over the seams to strengthen and hold the whole thing together. I wanted this to be a baby gift, and therefore sturdy and nice to look at. Sigh... We shall see, but I may have to scrap the whole thing yet.
oh my gosh - that must have been so frustrating to pull out of the wash! Do you think your stitching is loose - do the stitches need to be closer together?
nice self-portrait, by the way. ;)
Posted by: amanda | 28 March 2007 at 04:45
I love the colours in your quilt. Go ahead...applique some srips over the top. I'm sure you can make it look deliberate. To make you feel better, check out Hillary's red quilt in the flickr photos http://flickr.com/photos/hillarylang/sets/340976/.
Tell Bella I LOVE her mouse...now that would make a great label for your toy business. You could even make a mouse just like it...
Posted by: Georgia | 28 March 2007 at 05:30
your quilting looks great. Dont give up yet! It will be what it will be, and it was done with heart, and love, and thats what makes it beautiful. Not if it looks like someone elses.
DONT GIVE UP!
Christina
Posted by: christina Gomez | 28 March 2007 at 07:52
and that's why i use AT LEAST a half inch seam allowance. there's nothing worse in this world that making a quilt and then having it fall apart during the first wash.
(okay, i guess there are worse things. but still. a total pain in the ass.)
Posted by: capello | 28 March 2007 at 08:08
Some of us would relish more self-portraits!
And Bella's eye is exceptional, as confirmed by a picture on my wall.
Posted by: Dad | 28 March 2007 at 11:03
The mouse is gorgeous!!! When I saw it, I thought 'wow, wouldn't that look great as a quilted outline?!?'. Why not incorporate the shape into a wall quilt that she can have in her room?
Posted by: Tara | 28 March 2007 at 17:06
this picture is so great. it is almost as
much a picture of your daughter (her
drawing at the time, her mom at the
time...) cool.
that is too bad about the baby quilt.
maybe it is a happy accident in the works
where the fixed up version will be even
better than the original... perhaps?
hope it turns out ok.
Posted by: kristin | 28 March 2007 at 20:27
I love all your pictures, and it's lovely to see one of you...the mouse is great too!
Drat...I can't believe that happened to your quilt, I would have stomped around a lot, and sighed, and rolled my eyes too...I still have yet to wash my first quilt...I'll keep my fingers crossed though!
Posted by: sadira | 28 March 2007 at 21:46
The mouse is brilliant. Children are the best artists. I live with a small Leonardo and his works never cease to amaze me.
Posted by: Vasilisa | 29 March 2007 at 02:23
I am so glad to have you back in blogland.
Maybe let your children take pictures of you (because pics of you sure are nice to see).
And fantastic job on the mouse, Bella!!
Posted by: Rebecca F. | 29 March 2007 at 09:02
ha, ha! I just checked out "Hilary's Red Quilt". Hilarious! Words of wisdom from bitter experience, lol.
Posted by: Meghan | 29 March 2007 at 10:12
I think your self portrait is lovely! Keep taking a picture of yourself now and then, your children will appreciate it when they are grown. I love to look back at my parents.
Your quilt is DARLING! I'm glad it all worked out in the end.
Posted by: Toni | 01 April 2007 at 16:41