Bandana Blanket and a Cozy Valentines!

Hello!

It's been a pretty active week, though most of my activity has not been all that crafty.
My physical therapy for my foot is going well, but I'm experiencing extreme back pain that isn't getting any better, even with hourly stretching. I also spent a few days sick, but that didn't keep me from making an adorable little cake for my Swede for Valentines Day!

It is a 6x2 inch round white cake, with vanilla cream frosting and red fondant.

The heart on top is actually the bottom part of a devil's food heart shaped cupcake, also iced and covered in fondant.
I made the roses using stiff icing colored red with gel food coloring!
It is quite tasty, and not too much for us to enjoy together.
Actually, each day of the week I gave Husband something, everything from cards, to his favourite Monster flavour, to candy.

He got an adorable little plant for me. Potted mini roses!

I love them, and I can't wait for spring to come so I can put them outside in the sun and watch them bloom!

I shared this picture on my Facebook page, and it will be the last photo I share until the quilt is finished...

This will probably not be finished until March or April, so I kind of cheated and worked on my March project... Ok, so I didn't just work on it, I finished it!

I made the bandana top a while ago, 6+ months at least, and have had it in a drawer just waiting to be finished.

I hadn't really planned on finishing it, but my other quilt is very time consuming and I had the desire to get something DONE.

I will either sell it, or give it as a present to someone this year. It's not really my flavour...

Unlike these paintings I did this week.

I haven't painted in so long, but a good friend of mine just got her first apartment on her own,

and I felt that art was the perfect gift!

Who doesn't love some unique, hand painted art works?

I haven't done much painting or drawing lately, because of carpal tunnel.

My hands and arms often go numb when gripping things like pencils and paintbrushes, and sometimes even cups.

Sewing is a much easier activity on my hands, especially when I can use pre-cuts. :)

Swedie Chevrons! Chevrons Galore!

Is EVERYONE obsessed with chevrons? Yeah, I'm pretty sure that they are.
But that's OK, because they do make pretty (and simple, quick, fun) quilts!
The past two weeks, even with all the travel preparations, and hanging out with my Da post knee-replacement, I had the pleasure of making a quilt for my hairdresser in trade for a Keratin treatment.

I love the colors that she chose, and all the while I was making it I kept thinking that I wanted to keep it for myself (because it's rather Swedish-y...)! Thankfully I was able to get a nice picture out on our patio. Wonderclips really are wonderful!!!

The top was about 2 days in the making, just a few hours of work, but I easily spent 10-14 hours quilting. I'm the master of the frog-stitch. Y'know, rippit, rippit. You can thank my manager for that awful joke. lol

I just did some simple diagonal straight stitching at 4 inches apart on the chevron, and one inch apart in the borders. They aren't all perfectly straight, it's really hard to be straight without the use of a walking foot... But, it came out nice, and I know that I am far more picky than a non-quilter will be.

Please ignore that piece of little blue thread, no idea where that came from! I quilted in grey! Speaking of grey, my backing is a rather popular grey pattern from my workplace. I have used it as backing on 2 other quilts for people...

It was not my choice, but I do like it.

Chevrons galore, I did say. So, here is the skirt I made for our upcoming trip to Sweden. A light weight knit with a chevron waistband. I adore maxi-skirts, and this seemed like the perfect comfy skirt for plane riding!

Last, for now, is a picture of the cake I decorated for my coworkers at my last Wilton Method Cake Decorating class. They were a TON of fun. I loved my instructor, who was super helpful and knowledgeable, and laughed at our bizarre sense of humor for four whole classes! On top of that, I got to spend time with my little sister and my Stomps.