Ashley Anna Brown / Fern Animals

Inconvenient Internet Troubles.

Sorry about the delay today in my shop. My computer seemed to be working fine until about 1:55, then suddenly the internet wouldn't work. I restarted my computer probably five times, along with resetting the wireless router, but nothing worked. It was really frustrating. Especially since my laptop didn't have any trouble getting online, but all my photos were on my desktop. Really frustrating! It just decided to randomly connect again at quarter to three, with no explanation. Anyway, I am very sorry if you were there at 2 o'clock, waiting and waiting. If you were trying to snatch up the little guy with the pink embroidered beard, but missed him, you may be excited to know that I have already begun working on a couple more that I will hopefully have ready to post in my shop next week. Maybe on Wednesday? I'll have to let you know about the exact day. 

I also began working on an animal that will be fully hand embroidered (full body, not just a beard) with this amazing magenta metallic thread (pictured in progress above, though the photo doesn't really capture its shimmering quality). When I first began making Fern Animals I made quite a few fully embroidered animals, I liked how the stitches were like fur, but eventually couldn't find the time it took to make all those little stitches. Now, I am giving myself the time because I really love doing it! It's really meditative and therapeutic, stitching away for hours, covering these little bodies. That's what I loved so much about making this little glowing Fern Animal last year. I have been wanting to make more ever since, but couldn't find the time to do it. I am working up to making more glowing Ferns now. Just wait!

Love Friends

This week I have been working on pulling together a small Valentine's Day collection of animals, complete with love birds, lots of pinks and reds, and tiny embroidered hearts. Like this one:

This collection will be available in my Etsy Shop this Friday at 2pm EST. 

This little bird will be there too (though he needs some legs to stand on first!):

Oh! - and don't forget to use the thank you discount code. This will be my last shop post in the month of January.

Latest Trend: Fabric Feathers

Stephanie Congdon Barnes

Sian Keegan

Little Love Blue

Maybe it's not a new trend, and I'm actually just behind, but these pretty little feathers have been popping up all over my Flickr contact pages lately. I would like one of each I think. 

My Quilts:

As requested, here are some pictures of my quilts. I'll start with this log cabin that my mom made for me when I was ten or eleven I think:

She took me and my sister to a quilt shop and let us pick out our own fabric. I remember that was really exciting. (I sewed on the skull patch in high school. With dental floss, of course.)

I made this quilt for Justin in 2006, I think: 

It's a log cabin, but I made the blocks really really big. (This picture was taken in our bedroom in Beverly before we moved out to Western Mass. We actually never really slept in this bed. Instead we had a mattress on the floor in the living room. It was more fun to feel like we were having a sleep over party every night- especially since our stay in that apartment was brief, and we knew all along that it was temporary, only for the summer. Plus, it was really hot those few months and the ac was in the living room. We should have just turned this room into a second studio.) 

In July of 2004 I drove out to California with my friend Lauren. That was probably my best trip across the country. We had her dog Nia with us, which was great because it meant that when we stopped for breaks, we wouldn't just get out to pee and then get back in the car - we would look for the nicest rest stops, with grass, and we'd run around and throw a frisbee. I actually just found this photo when I was cleaning a bit the other day: 

I hung my camera in a tree to take this picture. But isn't this a beautiful rest area? I don't even remember what state we were in. This trip was amazing and significant for so many reasons, but, to get back to the quilts, we were able to stop on our way through Ohio to see the Gee's Bend Quilt Show at the Cleveland Museum of Art. Have you seen it? Or at least seen the book? Well, seeing the show and those amazing quilts in person inspired this next quilt, and it's simplicity in design and colors. I made it once I got home from California (this one is also based on the log cabin pattern):

The pink squares are corduroy. In the Gee's Bend book, the quilts made from corduroy are my favorite -the colors, the way they look once they are faded and worn. I didn't even consider the use of materials like corduroy in a quilt before then. The green in the top quilt is also a soft corduroy. 

That same summer I also began a quilt that I intended on sewing completely by hand, like the women of Gee's Bend, and like my Great Grandmother. I used the same bright pink corduroy (found at a thrift store no less) as the base fabric for this quilt and tried really hard to not be a perfectionist about quilting and to not follow a pattern. This proved to be even harder than sewing by hand. I couldn't just sew the strips together without considering which colors and patterns were touching each other. I ended up completing about a quarter of the quilt by hand, but grew impatient and started using the machine (all of my hand-sewn stitched kept falling out because I was tearing blocks apart and rearranging too much). Still, it is not yet finished. I ran out of the corduroy and was having a really hard time finding a good match to complete the quilt. I'm pretty sure I saw some great shades of pink corduroy during my last trip to Osgood's though, so maybe I can pick some up and finally finish this quilt after almost five years. Here's a picture I took last winter of the quilt top hanging in my studio window. I loved the way the light shone through and made the room feel more cheery on those grey days. 

And finally, the best quilts of all, made completely by hand by my great grandmother. I found this first on as just a quilt top in a bin in my parents basement a few years ago. 

I took it home with me, found some matching vintage fabric a the flea market and set to hand quilting the layers. I made a point of finishing this quilt all by hand (quilting the layers in each center square and sewing the edges) since my g. grandmother had done everything else by hand. It made me feel closer to her, sitting all those hours working on this amazing quilt that she had spent hours and hours stitching together. There are even little spots where she must have pricked her finger and dripped a little blood on the fabric. I love that. 

This last one is another that my g. grandmother made: 

I remember covering up with this quilt when laying on the couch as a child. And my mom can point out fabrics that she had dresses made from as a child. But one summer my family took care of a dog for my uncle, and he ripped holes in every blanket we had (including the hole that I patched in my pink quilt) so I took this one apart a couple years ago with the intention of replacing the torn hexagons and sewing it all back up by hand, but I haven't really gotten any work done on it yet. Sewing hexagons together is much harder than I expected it to be, especially fitting one into an already sewn quilt. For now this one will have to wait until I can find some good fabric matches for replacement pieces and maybe for a few days when my mom can come visit and teach me how to sew this kind of quilt. It's amazing being able to see the back side of the quilt top though. All those teeny tiny stitches. It's incredible. 

So, that's that. All my quilts. My mom has many more that my g. grandmother made. I'll have to get some pictures of those some time. They are all amazingly beautiful. I started on my pin wheel scrap quilt this past week. I'll have to get some progress pictures up. I am already in love with it. 

Have a great weekend!

For Kira

Custom Order / Completed January 2009

A funny thing happened the last time I took on custom orders, before Christmas: out of four different people/orders, two of these green hooded animals were requested and two wearing the plaid suit. What a strange coincidence!

Some Current Favorites:

Love Craft by Justin Durand / Heart Pump Arts

Custom Birch Silhouette by Jenny Lee Fowler

Recycled Linen Pouch by Forest Bound

I am in love with all of these!

Sewing Vs. Quilting

It seems like every time I spend weeks and months working super hard for a craft fair (or in this case two craft fairs) and sewing up animal after animal non-stop, I always gain a new motivation for sewing - sewing anything BUT animals! Over the past few months I have had such a quilting urge, but no time to quilt because I needed to focus on Fern Animals. Recently I finally let myself start cutting blocks for a new quilt I have been dreaming up for our bed. 

Working at Reprodepot has allowed me to daydream about all the things I could make with the beautiful fabric that I get to touch every day, and I am finally catching on that if I see something there that I like, I can't hesitate, I need to buy some quick before it's gone (which happens so fast! I have lost so many loves already and I have only been working there for a few months.) Now, while I'm waiting to save up enough money to buy a large amount of a nice ivory cotton to use as my base fabric for a new scrap quilt, I started making these little quilt block pincushions. I love them! Of course, I really believe that you can pair anything with a nice grey linen and it will look beautiful, but I am also getting to use some of the great fabric I've gotten from Reprodepot (the ones I bought impulsively before really knowing what I'd do with it). And I am completely obsessed with the pinwheel pattern. Needless to say, this is the kind of quilt I am planning on making for our bed, though the blocks will be bigger. 

I'm really excited about these little pincushions and about trying to make some with other quilt block patterns as well. There are so many different patterns I would like to try out, and making just one block, but being able to turn it into something functional is a really good way of sampling. When visiting Skinner State Park in Hadley, Ma back in October, I came across this bed in one of the rooms on display. I love this quilt, the simplicity in fabric choice, the pattern, and how it is faded in the middle. 

For Christmas, Justin this this great book wrapping paper featuring quilts. This one one the cover is my absolute favorite (I carefully unwrapped those gifts and saved the paper), and I would really love to try to imitate it. (Sorry for the slightly blurry scan)

My Mom taught me how to quilt when I was ten (I think? - maybe I was younger? Older?) I'm not really sure, but I specifically remember making my first queen size quilt when I was thirteen, when my Mom owned a quilt store. My sister got to make one, too, and we were allowed to pick out and use any fabric we wanted to from the stores shelves. I remember mine was so matchy-matchy in fabric choice, lots of flowers and busy patterns, but all from the same collection, by the same designer. I would probably hate it now, but I loved it then, loved having complete control over my choices. The deal was, though, that if we used material from the shop, we could each make a quilt, but then we had to sell it. I remember that once someone came in and decided to purchase mine I felt a mix of pride and heartache. 

Quilting always makes me feel closer to my Mom and her mother, and her mother's mother. I can't wait to teach my own children to quilt, just as my Mom taught me, starting of course with the log cabin (the first pattern I learned, and the one I always go back to because it's the simplest for me.) I love that during the cold months, Justin and I always sleep with every blanket we own on our bed. I love sleeping beneath the weight of a bright pink log cabin quilt my mom made for me when I was eleven, a green log cabin quilt that I made Justin a few years ago, and, the most beautiful, an aqua scrap quilt that my great great grandmother made. I'm excited about adding another quilt to the collection. 

But until I can start putting it together, I'm looking forward to trying out new patterns and turning them into little pincushions. I'll be putting them up in my shop from time to time, to share these tiny bits of quilting with all of you. 

Carrie and I have talked recently about quilting together. Is there anyone else living in the Pioneer Valley interested in quilting with us? I would also love to get an idea if anyone would be interested in attending a pincushion making workshop. I don't know how much detail I can go into at this point about a new series of classes that are going to take place out here, but I have been invited to teach anything I'd like, and I think starting with some strawberry pincushions and quilt block pincushions would be fun. More details about this will come after I figure out more details myself. 

New Birds!

For some reason the approach of Valentines Day always brings on the desire to make birds again (love birds?). It's funny how I always go through these little phases. For a while I'll make hooded animals almost exclusively, then little lions, then fawns, and then I'll start making birds again, and remember how much I love making birds! This one will be in my shop this afternoon and hopefully I will be able to finish up a couple others I have started this morning for the post as well. 4pm EST.

Small Shop Post: this afternoon

This little one (made from beautiful handprinted fabric) will be in my shop today at 2pm EST along with a couple other new wintery Ferns and some strawberries. 

just to say:

Hello again! I just wanted to take a moment today to stop and appreciate you. This past November was Fern Animals three year anniversary (how did I let that slip by?) and I have been thinking about how I wouldn't still be here if it weren't for you. All of you, my wonderful blog readers and Fern Animal friends. You are the reason I can afford to spend most of my week sewing up cute little animals to share with the world. 

I began making these little ones because I needed to bring some cute happiness into my life, not realizing that they could bring happiness into the lives of others as well, and because of you, I know that I have the ability to do just that, bring big smiles with tiny animals. I wouldn't be here without your support and love and devotion, and for that I want to Thank You. 

But more than that, I want to give all my lovely blog readers a special discount that I am offering no where but here. For the month of January I am offering 15% off the purchase of any number of Fern Animals or goods. All you have to do is add the discount code THANKYOU2009 in the message to seller during checkout and I will adjust your invoice and either send you a revised bill or a refund. 

This is really only a tiny thank you, but it's a start. I will be showing my appreciation for all you have given me over the last three years in the months to come. Feel free to use the discount over and over again for the rest of January. I will be working hard to make some of my best animals for you to choose from before the month is through. My first shop post will be next week. Stay tuned for details on the exact day and time. 

And, again, thank you so much for loving these animals as much as I do. 

Thank you.