Art, stuffed animals, and a baby quilt

I finished this baby quilt that I was plotting out here using EQ6. I like how it turned out. One of my plans for the next year is to try to use more white space in my quilts.

I've been getting into stuffed animals again. I made a small doll with a dress and a unicorn/seahorse. I was experimenting with gussets on everything. The seahorse thing was a mild disaster but I did hand-stitch in the horn and I thought that went well. I'm not going to post a photo of the seahorse because the whole thing looked kind of atrocious by the end. Apparently my friend's daughter loves it though! Her favorite part is the part I don't like, a gusset situation that went awry.

I made this animal which was meant at first to be a dinosaur but I didn't feel like making big legs and I was experimenting with the bottom gusset and the face gusset.

I like the tail. The spiky spine thing was the hardest part because it's curvy and I stuffed it before stitching it into the seam, so the curve was in reverse when it was inside out, as curves are, which was hard to manipulate because it was stuffed. I used a ton of pins but still had a hard time with it. Some of the fabric on the underside caught in the seam but it was minimal so I didn't bother to pick it out. I know - horrors!!! Meanwhile I think next time I'll try to baste the stuffing up into the spikes, then remove the baste stitch after getting the piece into the seam and move the stuffing back down against the seam. I also realized I don't really like making eyeballs. These 'X' stitches for eyes are really easy. I didn't have any stabilizer to put behind the fabric to make the 'X's, but it turns out you can use a sheet of printer paper (or probably newspaper or a page from a magazine or an old bill, anything really) and it tears away easily afterward.

Here's one I did tonight. Stuffing the legs and arms was tedious but I used the brush end of a long paintbrush to push the stuffing into the narrow openings, which helped. It has a little green tail and cream hands and feet.

I also saw some knitted socks recently and decided that I TOO must knit a sock (or two). I found a book and bought some needles (size 3, 5 in a pack) but then I found this tutorial where she shows how to knit the sock on a circular needle. Now that's what I'm talking about- I just can't imagine trying to handle FIVE needles at once. I've managed to watch all the videos but haven't started on my sock yet. I admit it's still a little intimidating. She even shows how to turn the heel and do the gussets on the sock. That part is a bit counterintuitive, for sure, but was really enjoyable to watch. Seriously.

I participated in a craft project involving pieces of felt and beads and embroidery floss. There was also a bunch of pretty buttons to pick from. I chose this greenish yellow/blue button and then embroidered a flower using some greenish/blue/gray beads. Maybe I'll make it into a refrigerator magnet...

I also did a bit of painting, including some landscapes and also this one (detail) after receiving the prompt 'weird animals.' There are five animals in the painting including a duck with a bathtub for a body and something that looks like a praying mantis wearing sunglasses and holding balloons (making it look like the whole troupe is marching to a party). My favorite two characters are the ones shown here, the weird guy with the striped sweater and leg-warmers, and the giraffe-thing with the polkadot outfit.

All in all, I've done some good art-ing in the last month. Next up: more stuffed animals, and a few small quilts. And maybe a knitted sock (or two).