my creative space -- finishing and beginning

I thought I'd take part in kootoyoo's creative space fun again this week.  I finished a few projects that were very close to being finished but were just sitting. 

This skirt just needed the snaps sewn on so I could wrap it around without it falling off.

Not quite warm enough yet to be wearing the skirt without jeans on underneath.  Yesterday we were blanketed with another layer of fresh snow.

I also finished my newest patchwork scarf.  This was made with fabric leftover from my last quilt.

All it needed to be finished was a little bit of sewing to close the end where I'd turned it right side out.  On the other patchwork scarves I've made, I quilted the edges and didn't need to do that, but for this one I didn't want to finish it that way.

Finally, I finished the roses bag.  Actually, I'm not sure if it's finished.  Looking at the pictures I took of it is making me wonder if I should sew the roses down a bit more so that they're more spread open.

I ended up using an unexpected fabric for the lining.  I'd been looking for just the right piece, but couldn't find what I had in my mind.  I imagined something with a faded creamy background and pinkish or rosy or coral roses.  Even at Olive Juice Quilts where I was sure I'd find something, nothing was just right.  So I looked at the fabrics in my stash and thought I'd try something different.  I had a gorgeous piece of Jennifer Paganelli fabric in tones of green on white that I thought might work.

There Dovey is sitting on it on my sewing table (licking her lips after having been biting on loose threads from the fabric in the pile in front of her -- she always likes to get in on the action).

I think it was a nice choice and I really like how the lining turned out.  You can see in that picture that I've included two snap closures for this bag.  One, a magnetic snap in the lining and one on the top, too.  Well, the second snap was to solve some engineering troubles I was encountering; the roses were just too heavy to keep the top of the bag together.  I was a bit disappointed and frustrated by that, but that's the way things sometimes go.

I have a couple other things in progress, but I decided to start playing around with ideas for my next quilt.

More Amy Butler.  I can't help it.  I've done a few sketches and I think I've decided on a pattern of largish rectangles and squares.  I didn't want to cut up these large patterns very much.  That sort of simple design would also be very fast to put together.  We'll see.

I, finally, started my next sweater, too.

I've had the yarn and the pattern for a long time.

No painting progress, yet.  Well, progress, but nothing finished.

My painting corner is filled with unfinished paintings (and a bunch of other stuff, too).  The rose painting I was going to be redoing last week?  Well, my adjustments started out ok, but then I ended up gessoing the canvas.  It just didn't look right.  As encouragement I recently framed one of my watercolors.

I started watercolors in November and I know that I still have a long way to go, but the fact that I could make a painting that makes me as happy as this one does is really encouraging.  I just need to keep going with the acrylics, get over my fears (and put away fabric and yarn for a bit) and just enjoy myself.  Isn't that the whole point?