For the past year, I have been re-embracing my love of creating art. I am working on building an illustration portfolio. So much of my work has not been in fabric. It’s been in watercolor, gouache and digital. My most recent work is this piece that I created as a children’s book cover for a contest at Make Art That Sells. In reality the chances of winning are slim (aren’t they always), as there are SO MANY good entries! The opportunity for a guided portfolio builder is to great to lose out on trying!

But over the last few weeks, I’ve started piecing again. I finished up a quilt top that I started awhile back. I’m really happy with the outcome of this top, even if it seems a bit unconventional to others. I was attempting to pull inspiration from the 1940’s Christmas trend of using non-traditional colors for Christmas. Particularly the juicy turquoise and pinks they embraced. I can’t wait to get quilting on this one!

I also started and finished a more traditionally colored Christmas quilt, made from fabrics that were given to me as a gift. Also can’t wait to plan out the quilting on this one.

What’s really exciting, is that these quilts are MINE! I hope to get them done in time to use them for the couch this Christmas. Which means I have some BUSY days ahead of me in the next week or so. I’ve forgone making presents for other this year, to make beautiful things for my own home. Much like the carpenter whose house is never done, I often don’t seem to have any quilts, so it’s time to change that.

What are you working on this holiday season?