The first layer is gray batik with an appliquéd circle. Second layer is silk organza (printed on my home computer). My Epson will print on just about any fabric as long as it is well trimmed and ironed to freezer paper. The printed crane images are from Dover clip Matsuya Japanese Crest Designs. Funny, the black bars looked great at 10:30 last night. Now that I see them in day light they will definitely have to be redone!

Lastly, I embroidered a crane; the crane image is clip art that comes with CorelDRAW.

I am (im)patiently waiting for my order from Superior Threads to arrive before I can start quilting. I needed a special coloration for this little quilt - Rainbow Mango, Mango! I wish I had one of all of their threads on hand so I did not have to wait even a day or two. Oh BTW, I'm thinking about doing handstitching!?!

First, I have a cutting board with L-shaped bumpers at the back and one side (you can move it to either side). What makes it so perfect for me are the bumpers - I push my ruler up to a bumper and it keeps the ruler straight with much less strain on my hands. The first strip I used to cut would be perfect but as I continued along strips would become increasingly wonky - but no more!

Second, I have my rulers hanging beside my cutting station. If they are easy to see, I am more likely to use the right one for the job. I hang the rotary cutter up so it is out of the way when not in use.

Third, I buy extra rotary replacement blades when I have a coupon for Hancock's or Hobbylobby so that I always have several on hand. Dull blades make for sloppy cuts and tired hands.

ColorSplash - Photo editing. Convert parts of an image from color to black and white.

This only does one thing but it does it easily and it only costs $1.99!

SketchMee - another Photo editing app. This one creates a hand sketched look.

Quilt Envi - $.99 "A giant collection of cozy quilts... information on patterns, designers and shows."

Judith Baker Montano's Embroidery and Crazy Quilt Stitch Guide - $4.99.  It is from C&T Publishing and contains videos, illustrated stitches and you can even tell it if you want to learn left or right handed!

Quick and Easy Quilt Block Tool - $3.99.  Another one from C&T Publishing. 102 rotary-cut blocks in 5 sizes with simple cutting charts.

Easy Quilt - $2.99.  "Learn to quilt like a Pro.." Videos and instruction from choosing the pattern and fabric to construction, quilting and binding.

Fabric Stash XL - $4.99.  An organized way to track your stash.

These are just for the iPad:

HandiCraft - $4.99.  "Sew like a pro - quilting, knitting, crochet and embroidery on your iPad with over 150 patterns, 500+ pages of content, videos and more!"

Quilter's App - $29.99.  "Welcome to the Quilter's App, a wonderful tool that will allow you to audition fabric colors easily in the store or your sewing room. You’ll begin by choosing a block from the block library and selecting a set of patches in the block. Then, you’ll retrieve a fabric from your photo library or create a color with the color selection controls and assign it to your chosen set of patches."

For years I have had a cell phone, that by today's smart phone standards, was an antique. It was just about impossible to text on. I decided to get a new phone and did a lot of research on the various phones and features. There are so many great apps (applications) and features available! After all my looking around, I decided the apps really appealed to me but working on a small device did not appeal to me. So...I kept the old phone and got an iPad instead.

Over the next week, I thought I'd share with you some of my favorite apps for creative people. The iPad seems to blend the human hand and technology so wonderfully.

The first is Zen Brush; a simple brush drawing program. This is straight from the app, no Photoshopping done on my part.

Can you imagine this as a basis for designing your own fabric?

I see it on the desk top but I don't think it shows up when viewed from iPads or iPhones. I want to make sure it is only iPads/iPhones and not a bigger problem as I try to resolve the issue.

Here is my new business card - I'm trying to make the website and business documents all consistent.

Modify in Photoshop Elements (I used the Fresco effect).

Crop, rotate and add a square of color.

Print two images, one on cotton fabric and one on silk chiffon. Overlay but shift ever so slightly so there is a faint shadow.

I used Melody Johnson's Escape Hatch Finish.