this week's mantra

first quilt: day 4

I'm done with my quilt top!  It's been slow going, since there are so many other things going on right now that take precedence, but I'm getting there! (Sorry about the poor photo quality...)

I purchased my batting and the material for the back of my quilt, and I hope to finish the whole thing over spring break (only one more week of school - YES!).

I love the quilt backs that Steffani posts over in her blog, so I think I will use her quilt backs from this blog post as my inspiration.  I would use a green as my solid, then use scraps leftover from the quilt top to piece together an off centered row.  What do you think?  Should I just use the solid, and not do the piecing?

My other dilemma is choosing a thread color for quilting. I'm worried that the first time I quilt won't be super amazing, so if I choose white thread, every little blip will be visible from the back because of the green.  I thought of doing white thread on top and using a green bobbin thread, but then I'm concerned that any change in thread tension might cause little pricks of green thread poking through the front, or little spots of white thread on the back.  ALSO, I don't have a walking foot!  I went to my local Bernina dealer, and the walking foot for my Bernina are way more expensive than I anticipated. Help!

branding ... more options!

Here is another option for my logo / branding.  The square layout, rather than the circle, are helping I think.  It's hard to fit text (my name) into a circle!

 

a branding brainstorm: Down to Business

I have decided that my current logo doesn't reflect who I am or what my business is about anymore.  I've been searching for an aesthetic that I can call my own, and through trial and error processes (especially in my textile design experiments, which I will detail soon), I think I've found it.

Call an urban/natural interface.  I'm not sure quite what to call it!  It's design inspired by architecture, but with roots in nature.  Anyway.  I'll try to figure out how exactly to describe it.  Onto the point of this post:

old logo:

NEW BRANDING, OPTION 1:

{business cards, front & back}

 {business cards, front & back}

NEW BRANDING, OPTION 2:

{business cards, front & back}

{option logo}

{another logo option}

{branding for pattern covers]

Opinions? Thoughts? Suggestions?

sneak peak... new pattern!

It's been a long time, huh?  Well, I've finally come up with a new pattern!  I still need to work through some minor snaffus and then I'll be unveiling it for your sewing pleasure.

Wanna see a sneak peak?

She is SUCH a TEASE!

a winter walk

blast from the past!

So, I used to just sell finished bags at my Etsy shop, which I called Sparrow Originals.  The remnants of that adventure can still be found here.  (I should just get rid of it all ready!).  If you're curious, just peek in the sold items to see my bags!

But then. School happened!  And I got very very busy.  Here's a neat little package of a website showcasing some of my work from the past couple years that's been keeping me busy.

I just realized that my old blog is still up!  Haha.  It's funny reading back and looking at my old photos - like a yearbook! Oh man.  I am such a dork.  And sometimes I don't realize it until I look back on it years later :)

I take that back, I totally know I'm a dork.  And I'm learning to embrace it, cause dorks are cooler than cool people.

wingback, I've got your back

I love wingback chairs. Love. I especially adore modern wingbacks.

Like this one, by Tom Dixon.

Or the ever-famous Egg Chair by Arne Jacobsen which was originally designed for a hotel in Copenhagen in 1958.

Or these babies, a la Kelly Wearstler.  Historical, but modern and energetic when used in an electic interior.

So when I heard about a competition to design something using moulded wood, I immediately thought "wing chair!"

Here's my go at a contemporary wingback:

sputnik

It's official! GLOS has manufactured my design!

Last fall I entered a surface design contest, and I was one of the winners!  Part of the deal was that winners get their designs manufactured and offered for sale on the GLOS website.  It's so exciting to see something I designed for sale!

A little bit about the product:  GLOS allows you to customize and personalize your home decor by applying our removable, repositionable, printed graphic media films over surfaces of products you already own.... and if you purchase my design from GLOS, I get a royalty!


http://www.glosdesign.com/product-p/win%20sputnik.htm

I got a giant check!

Last fall I entered a competition to design a handbag made out of Lucite (a hard plastic material).  I entered the contest on a whim, and spent a couple of hours the day before it was due designing this bag:

In November, I found out that it was the third place winner! Today in the mail I got a giant check (in both dimension and in quantity... :) tehe)

See? There's the check behind the lovely flowers they sent me as well!