Picking apart my brains

So, I've have this uhh sculpture in our closet for 11 years now. I made it in university in my printing and dyeing textile class (or as my husband liked to call it, Pure and Applied Basketweaving). I spent so much time dyeing and printing this fabric. I made a rubber stamp and stamped it by hand. It had two colours, so that was another 12 hours of work. That was before I even started sewing. I think I ran out of steam at the end. The result was not quite how I imagined it. I've kept most of my art projects, this one taking up a lot of space in my closet. Good thing the ceilings are high, it occupied the way up high spot.

I decided to take it apart and reuse the fabric, since really the fabric was the best part of the project. I carefully picked it apart (picking my brains, HA) and then looked for a quilt pattern using strips.

Brains. Buh bye.

I love how the orange transitions into the pink.

My assistant. Getting in the shot again.

(I swear she's not a pelt, it's just the way her fur looks)

The other fabrics I picked to go with a side of brains.

Photo courtesy Emeline & Annabelle

I'm really happy with how the quilt is turning out and getting to keep that fabric is awesome. This quilt with the colours that make my husband cringe is mine. ALL MINE. It's kind of nice making something for myself!

In other Pink Brain related news, let me introduce you to my fabric design! How cool is this?

Sweetie approved (not a pelt).

I made this thanks to Spoonflower. It's really easy. You upload a drawing or photo. You can alter the colours or the layout (a bit) and voila! They digitally print the fabric for you. This is a 8x8 inch swatch. You can also put the fabric to be public so you can sell it (more expensive than regular fabric but not by much). You then get 10% of all the fabric sales (not that I think there's a huge market for Pink Brains). I'd be happy if anyone bought some!

Freckles, Fresh Air and Flying Insects

The weather has been getting nicer and warmer here. Most days anyways. We've gotten into a nice routine where we go to the park in the morning, come home and have lunch then Alex goes down for a nice long nap. My freckles have exploded from all this outdoor time. Of course, just when I start planning things for me to do during his great naps, he gets sick. Again. Poor kid. Another cough that keeps him up at night and doesn't even let him nap during the day. It's getting better now but the past weekend was rough. No sleeping, no napping and an exhausting trip to Grandma's house. Doesn't matter how crabby he is, he always has fun at the park.

Someone is happy about spring.

More someones happy about spring as well!

Before he got sick I was getting a lot of sewing done. Actually finishing some stuff too!

 Here's some of my works in progress (there's actually more than this too, I'm a busy bee).

More on this one later.

This bad boy just need to be quilted and bound and then it's done

. I think it'll make a nice picnic blanket!

This fun little pillow was easier than I thought it would be!

(Tutorial here).

First thing Alex did when I gave it to him?

 He stood on it. Then threw it. Then hugged it. Toddler approved.

Another doll quilt almost done. Super secret project.

Last weekend we went with my friend to see the butterflies at the Botanical Gardens. Those butterflies were not shy, swooping by our heads! Alex loved seeing them, even if he got a little crabby with all the crowds (I was pretty crabby about the crowds too).

 This past weekend we went to the petting zoo at a local mall. Best part was the peacock.

Why did the chicken cross the peacock?

To get to the other side!

An encounter with the Terrible Two Monster

It exists. I met it yesterday, I'm not a fan.

Alex and I went for a lovely walk to the park. It was a nice spring day and the playground was open! Alex got to play in for the first time since November. Happy kid! The monster came when I tried to get him to leave. He started to fuss so I gave him a few more minutes. No go. He freaked out and had to be carried all the way home. I even got some celebrity stink eye on the way home (from a local politician). For my readers without kids let me describe the TANTRUM (totally needs all caps):

Picture yourself on Survivor. It's day 27. You're hungry, you're smelly. Tribal council is tonight. You go for a nice walk to clear your head. You're walking through the woods when you spot a wild boar. Score! Instead of going back to camp to get big strong hulky Colby to hunt the boar you have the brilliant idea to catch it yourself. Amazingly you catch it and pick it up. The boar is smallish, but still about 25-30 lbs. It starting kicking and squealing furiously in your arms, but you're not letting go, you don't want to get voted off the island. After 5 minutes of struggle as you walk you think, the boar's tired. Maybe he'll just walk nicely beside me, like Babe. He's a good pig. So, stupidly, you put down the wild boar. It tears off in the opposite direction of course, because hello?? it's a wild boar! You miraculously catch it again and continue carrying it back to camp. Kicking. And. Screaming. Once back at the camp? That boar does in fact turn back into Babe the pig, with all his please and thank yous. Baaa ram you!

Not fun. I was however rewarded though with a three hour nap after that. Sooooo tired.

In completely unrelated news (umm there were trees at the park, so it's sort of related if you squint...)
I'm doing a guest spot on Curiosity's blog Emotional Umbrella. Willing guinea pigs are submitting trees they've drawn to my semi-expert analysis. Draw a tree, get analyzed. If you want to submit a tree you can find out details here. Curiosity is collecting the trees until this coming Wednesday April 6th if you'd like to get in on the fun.