Have a great Thanksgiving weekend! We’ll be back next week.
From Charlotte Warr Anderson's upcoming book, One Line at a Time.
It’s an addiction. It seems that I must try every new craft that I come across.
Not only do I want to try it, I must purchase everything I need to try it and to make at least two finished projects. I rarely finish two projects. I sometimes finish one of them. Sometimes I define “finish” pretty loosely.
Felt Wee Folk painted faces
I’m sure it’s not just one addiction… You have the overwhelming need to purchase all of the supplies and the equally overwhelming need to organize those supplies by color, size, or whatever makes sense. Putting them in cute little boxes or baskets helps. That has to be at least two major issues.
Continue Reading…
Designed by Sam Bova
Teach a young child the joy of reading with this soft quilted learn-to-read picture book. Each word is inked on a tag that flips up to show another word hidden beneath.
SUPPLIES:
• Ready-to-Go!® Blank Canvas Book 7”x 8” 2-pack
• fast2fuse® Double-sided interfacing, standard weight
• Fabric scraps to coordinate with your theme
• Cotton batting
• Coordinating Thread
• Fun trim, embroidery floss or other embellishments
• Sewing machine
• Rotary cutter
• Straight edge
• Self healing mat
• Sakura archival pen (I used black 01)
Ever wonder about the glamorous goings-on at a film shoot? Join the ladies of Piece O’ Cake Designs, Becky Goldsmith & Linda Jenkins for a behind the scenes look at their new DVD Becky Goldsmith & Linda Jenkins Teach You to Appliqué the Piece O’ Cake Way: At Home with the Experts #1.
C&T Authors Lynn Koolish and Becky Goldsmith preparing for the cameras.
Becky Goldsmith in action.
Linda Jenkins surrounded by Piece O’ Cake Designs.
C&T Authors Lynn Koolish and Linda Jenkins strike a pose.
I am new to the quilting world, but I have been a paper crafter for many years. I love working with paper, punches and glue… but fabric, needles and thread have always intimidated me.
A couple years ago, I went on my first Shop Hop here in Northern California—and I was blown away! I visited four shops, each unique in their ambiance and service. The common thread between them was, of course, the stunning array of fabrics. I had never seen such beautiful colors and patterns, both coordinated and contrasting. The communal feeling of the shops was warm and inviting too, I could tell it was exactly where those folks wanted to be.
I suddenly “got it”—the unconditional, unadulterated, and undeniable love of fabric that so many quilters have. I became an impulse fabric buyer on the spot. And the fat quarters! Another thing I had never heard of… but how great is it to pick up little bits of every single fabric that appeals to you, all cute and adorable, for only a few bucks each? They’re just like candy!
I especially love fat quarters for covering my blank board books, like this project I did for Color Your World with Princess Mirah Batiks. The theme was “tweens” so I designed a 5×7 board book with pockets that a young teenager might like for holding pictures and notes from her friends. I used texting acronyms for themes on each page, like “omg” and “bff.”
I finally decided to change my guest room into a craft room, because I have accumulated so much fabric now (not to mention all the scrapbooking, papercrafting, needlefelting, beading, and embroidery stuff). So if you come to my house to visit, you’re sleeping on the couch, babe.
I am still afraid of the complexity of quilting though. So far I have made just one small sampler quilt in a 4-day beginner’s class that Laura Nownes taught. I learned so much from her, but my points were soooo not on point. I had to add some beads and embroidery to cover all my wonky points!
But I will try, try again… and I will try, try to make a more respectable dent in my fabric stash. In fact, I’m really excited about making some projects from our Super Simple Quilts series of books, I think those are totally my speed!
I knew the whimsical characters featured in Fantastiques: Whimsies had the potential to create amazing papercraft and altered arts projects, but when talented designer Lauren Nwachukwu used the 27 posable characters as chess pieces it made my crafting heart skip a beat. The chessboard was featured in the October 2008 issue of Altered Arts Magazine. Check out the article here: Fantastiques Chessboard
Sorry to make anyone else out there jealous, but I really have the coolest job in the world! I’m the Acquisitions Editor here which means it’s my job to find wonderful authors to submit book proposals to us for potential publication. You won’t be hearing a lot from me because it’s also my job to fly under the radar. I travel the globe (okay, maybe the nation) in search of the next great author….hey, maybe I need a cape!
Hmmm…anyhow, my most recent talent search took me down to LA last Sunday for the Felt Club Holiday fair put on by the lovely Jenny Ryan, the author of the popular blog Sew Darn Cute. There were about 80 vendors there all selling their handmade wares with a live DJ and entertainment from the totally over the top Leslie Hall and her ring-a-ding-ding gem sweater madness. The lines were around the block and around the block again to get in to the event.
I’ve been holding off blogging about it because I wanted to know the final numbers on the attendance, but haven’t seen them announced yet. As you can see, there were a LOT of people…
My 007 status means I can’t show you the specific wonderful vendors whose handmade items I was drooling over, but it was exciting to see so many people come out on a smoky, ashy, Sunday afternoon to sew, swap and to buy local handmade.
Usually I’m into instant gratification, but I’ve been remarkably patient on this one.
I’ve been hording gift certificates and the completed quilt shop punch cards my mom gives me for my birthday. (Mom’s a more avid fabric shopper than I am these days and I benefit from her largess.)
How would you spend these?
My husband encourages me to buy fabrics when I want to (as I encourage him to buy wood for his shop projects), but I don’t feel free to do so unless I have a particular quilt (for a particular person or occasion) in mind. I suspect that if I very regularly exercised the freedom to purchase, my husband might not be so encouraging. (I know I wouldn’t.)
So I’ve hoarded the freedom to splurge… a “just because” fabric shopping spree. I can add to an existing collection (I could use some more black/red/cream fabrics and my cowboy collection needs some rounding out) or start a new one. I’ve been bolt browsing (my quilting equivalent to window shopping) periodically, waiting for inspiration or an overwhelming feeling of covetousness. Purples, greens, large-scale prints, Valori Wells‘ new line, plaids (plaids?)… they all beckon.
What would you splurge on?
Congratulations to Tim and Jen on the birth of their adorable little girl, Addison May. She was born Monday, November 17, weighing in at 7 pounds, 10 ounces. What a cutie!
My grandmother was a wonderful seamstress; she made lots of clothes for my Barbie and me. I was the envy of all my friends on my sixth birthday when I opened her gift to find dozens of new outfits for Barbie—sleepwear, play clothes, work dresses, and a ball gown.
She left me her beautiful wicker sewing basket when she died, which was mostly bursting with thread. Grammy used to save every single piece of thread that was longer than 6 inches; she had dozens of wooden spools in that basket, each with several colors of thread carefully wound by hand next to each other without overlapping. She probably wouldn’t have been too happy if she knew I just UNwound all those cool vintage spools and tossed out all the bits of thread. I’m designing a flip-picture puzzle (sort of like an abacus) using Ready-To-Go! Blank Board Blocks with the spools in between…I’ll post the project here as soon as I’m done!
