Coming soon...

Well hello there, internet friends. I'm very sorry for the long and unexplained absence. It all started with a studio re-do and then came summer and whoosh, suddenly it's early October. I promise to be back soon. I designed up some new fun felt projects that I'm looking forward to sharing. I just ordered myself some new felt and I'm resisting the urge to run out and check the mailbox. I know it's not here it. I only just submitted the order. Just now.

I've also been baking. Oh the joy! I'll be here soon to share it all...

Until then, hope you are crafting and baking and generally enjoying life.

Kate

Napkins for Easter

Easter is a lovely low-key holiday around here, providing me with the perfect opportunity to whip up some new napkins for our annual breakfast with the neighbors. Such a simple project, and yet one that I had never bothered to try before. I so enjoyed it that I will probably make them for every occasion and every-day use too.

For today's breakfast I wanted something with a slightly spring-y pattern but I'm not crazy about pastels or typical spring motifs. I had this fabric, called European Taupe by Kinkame (Japan) in my stash and it seemed perfect for a spring breakfast. (European Taupe is no longer in production but has been followed up by equally beautiful and similarly styled European Taupe collections II - V.) With the help of a favorite book of mine, Weekend Sewing by Heather Ross, a project was born. (This book unfortunately has lots of errata in the instructions but no matter, it's still a visually inspiring book with lots of great projects and yes, I would recommend it to anyone.)

I used two different prints for the cotton tops and because I wanted to conserve the print fabric I decided to back them in solids. For the European Taupe I used a linen-look cotton from Joann (frustrated as I get with that store, it's useful sometimes) and on the green print (also from Joann) I used a Kona cotton in off-white. I adore the look of the linen knock-off with the floral, though it is a bit thick and my napkins don't lay quite right. I've decided to come to peace with the imperfection I achieved and call it a day.

Heather's pattern calls for 2 fat quarters but after pre-washing my fabrics they were slightly smaller than 18" on one side so I used 17" squares to start with. I don't think anyone is going to be measuring my napkins for size standards, so I'm perfectly fine with the end result, which is a little over 16" square.

Happy Easter to you all! Hope you are having a lovely low-key (or high-amp if you prefer) kind of day.

Kate

More Magnets & A Puppy

Well hello there. You may have noticed that I haven't been all that active lately. Or rather, that I haven't been active at all in the last three weeks. Photographic evidence of my serious distraction follows. But I'll get to that in a minute. What I have managed to accomplish, and yes, it's not a huge accomplishment but right now I'm happy to have something, anything, if not something particularly significant in any way. I so enjoy this little patchwork pillow magnet project. This time, instead of using Bliss, I used some Cloud 9 polka-dot in a lovely aqua, Joel Dewberry's Modern Meadow, and...oh yeah, Bliss. The white on white dots are from the Bliss line. But don't they work well with these other two fabrics? I'm in love with the aqua dot to the point of not wanting to use it because then it will be gone. I do that all the time and then I'll end up being sick of it before I ever even used it. I really need to get over that and go use it up. Maybe I'll use it to make a tote for myself or to make the Henny Penny and her 6 Chicks pattern from Anna Maria Horner. But I digress...

So here they are, a few more of the many patchwork pillow magnets in the works. And then there's this:

Meet Avery. Our Bernese Mountain Dog puppy who came home 3 weeks ago today. She is now 10 weeks old and has already grown so much that I get sentimental over it. Not that that is a stretch, since I get sentimental pretty darn easily. But still, the point is, we have a new furry member of our family and we are in love. And tired. Puppies are tiring. Did you know? I thought I did. Now I know for sure.

She wakes up at 5 am and goes bonkers for 2 hours and then does this for about 8 hours.

She's a love.

And now do you understand why I'm getting nothing done?

Kate

Quilted Pillow Magnets

Well hello! Long time no see. That's my fault, I know. Sorry about that. But I'm back now, crafting my little heart out. I actually started these quilty pillow magnets ages ago but you know how it is - you get a little sidetracked and before you know it three weeks goes by and your dusting off and reviving an almost-forgotten-about project.

I wanted to try these fabulous little magnets after I saw the ones that Nova posted on her Flickr page. Hers are MUCH nicer. Her stitching is as near perfect as you can be and her designs make me swoon. Knowing that mine would not look anything like hers, I just couldn't help myself and had to give it a try. They were really fun to make! And when you make an utter disaster out of one, you don't feel bad about wasting fabric because you are only using 3 square inches at a time.

For each of these pictured, I used scraps of Bliss fabric by Moda (I think we all know I have a lot of those scraps laying around) and backed them with linen from JoAnn. I used Beacon Adhesives craft glue to secure the magnets that I got at Michaels. As you can see, my quilting designs are rather simplistic - mostly just 1" squares that I sewed together using 1/8" seam allowances. I stuffed them with a small amount of batting to make them pillow-like but I didn't want them to be too firm.

I confess, I have about 10 more in the works already. They are highly addictive to make because they are quick and easy and give you a chance to be creative with all those tiny little scraps. I have a long list of projects begging to be started but they are just going to have to wait a little longer...

How are your crafty adventures going this weekend?

Kate

Creative Fits and Starts

I've had a lot of creative starts and stops this week. I had a little unplanned hiatus, thanks to some delightful illnesses that the kids brought home, followed by a total fail of a project that I had hoped to complete for February's Craft Book Challenge. I can't even show you photographic evidence of the fail because I was so frustrated that I couldn't bring myself to take a picture. I didn't do anything rational like walk away or put it aside to see if I could salvage it later. Oh no. I immediately hacked it to bits (well, that's dramatic - I cut up the largest pieces of fabric to salvage for other projects) and tossed it into the trash. I won't even tell you what project it was. It's too embarrassing. I will just tell you that sometimes I think I'm taking a shortcut, or doing something an easier way, when in fact I'm actually just doing it WRONG. End of story.

Moving on. See the fabric above? It's from French General for Moda and I bought it last summer but haven't done anything with it yet. Since I'm also in possession of the French General book Home Sewn, I thought it would be fun to use these rich fabrics to create something for the Craft Book Challenge using a project from the book. As you can see, this is still in the conception phase and I will let you know how (and when) it materializes. If it does. Which remains to be seen.

Does this ever happen to you? Creative fits and starts and fails that kind of suck out your mojo?

Here's hoping your creative endeavors are going better than mine today!

Happy Crafting!
Kate

Sew Simple Heart

This little scrap of the paisley print from the Bliss collection seemed destined to become a heart. I already made it's sister scrap into a mug mat that lives near my favorite craft book collection and I decided that I have enough mug mats for now ("for now" being a relative term). So a heart was the fate of this scrap of my current favorite fabric. I love hearts anyway and with Valentine's Day creeping up on us it seemed appropriate.


Like with my heart magnets, I cut a heart shape out of paper, Kindergarten-style, traced it onto the fabric, and sewed. Not perfect but not too shabby either. I threaded some embroidery floss through the top because, well, frankly I just forgot to put in a hanging ribbon before sewing. Oops. Oh well, the thread works just as well. Now I have a festive little decoration in my craft studio. And because I generally like hearts and this one doesn't really scream "Valentine's Day", I will leave it up all the time.



Hope your Valentine projects are coming along well!



Happy Crafting!



Kate

Valentine Card

Today I have a Valentine card and tag duo to share with you. We still have a very wintry landscape outside, thanks to the buckets of snow that have been pummeling us lately, so the winter wreath seemed appropriate for a Valentine card.

I also wanted to make some very simple tags to go on Valentine treats that I have in mind (chocolate truffles anyone?). For the tags, I wanted something that would be very easy to make in numbers, and I don't know if it gets easier than using 3 punches and calling it good. (Tag supplies: Tag and heart punches, whisper white, perfect plum, and crumb cake cardstock all by Stampin' Up!)
The card is equally simple in design and I fancied it up a bit by dotting the wreath with some liquid pearls in White Opal and painting the heart with the sparkly champagne ink shown above. The stamps are from one of my favorite stamp companies, Memory Box. I purchased the stamps and liquid pearls at Ink About It and the cardstock, heart punch, and champagne ink from Stampin' Up! (Colors: Whisper White, Perfect Plum, Crumb Cake, ink is Basic Brown also by Stampin' Up!)

Now to go check the spinach-artichoke dip and potato skins in progress for our Superbowl viewing pleasure. Hope you're having a fun and craft-filled day.

Happy Crafting!

Kate

Felt Heart Magnets

I finished the felt heart magnets! The stitching is horribly imperfect but I can live with it. It adds character, or something like that.

This project was ridiculously easy to pull together. The felt and thread are from the Paris Flea Market collection at Prairie Point Junction. I made a small heart shape on paper and then traced it onto the felt. I cut out two felt hearts to make each magnet. I blanket-stitched the hearts together (getting the blanket-stitch down is always the hardest part for me. By heart #2 I had it and it really is easy) leaving a small opening for stuffing, stuffed them with a small amount of batting, and stitched them closed.

I couldn't find my E6000 adhesive, so I turned to my Beacon Adhesives craft glue. I used it to glue small magnets onto the back of each heart.

Here they are gracing my fridge. You can see I'm down to 3 from the original set of 6. The kids each comandeered one and I put one on my vision board because I just like how warm and cozy they look. A perfect little Valentine project. I hope you like it!

Happy Crafting!

Kate

Hearts in Progress

Shovel. Make coffee. Stitch (or sew or bake or watch a movie on the couch with the kids). Repeat. That's my life right now in the Northeast, where we have been getting pummeled with snow almost daily since December 26. But hey, that's New England weather and we're a hearty bunch so we're making the most of it.

Pictured are my hearts-in-progress. I realize it's February and therefore time to turn my attention to Valentine-y crafting. In general I don't go hog wild over Valentine's day, though I do enjoy it, but I thought it would be nice to make a few heart-themed projects to honor the occasion. Do you remember the pictures like this with the felt houses? They are still in progress and are currently my favorite project, so it was a natural leap from there to make some simple felt hearts. I am really enjoying using felt as a medium because it's so forgiving and easy to work with, plus it's a great way to practice my stitching.

The stupid blanket stitch confounds me every time and it's embarrassing because it's such an easy stitch. You can't really tell from the photo, but the dark pink heart is one big stiched mistake. I did the whole thing wrong! I managed to tie little knots all the way around instead of making a nice stitch. So, back to Jenny Hart's Embroidered Effects for the instructions once again and then success on the second heart.

Many more in progress. I'm thinking magnets for these guys...

Happy Crafting!

Kate

Coffee and a Card

I love snow. I really do. I will grant that it's starting to border on the ridiculous that we have so very much of it right now and that we got another 10 or so inches last night and that the kids are home for their fourth snow day this month. But, all that said, snow days inspire me to pop in a movie, make some coffee, and get my craft on.

Today I decided to give the sewing machine a much-deserved break and bust out some of my card-making supplies that have been sitting idle. The coffee and snow combination really warms my heart so I pulled out this old favorite stamp set by MFT and this softly colored snowflake paper, appropriately titled Snow Day, from the Wassail collection by Basic Gray. To jazz up the card a bit, I punched some snowflakes with a Martha Stewart punch (and while I like the shape of the snowflake, the punch is a big pain in the rump on the heavy cardstock that I favor because it's always getting jammed) and painted them in some shimmery gold paint that I got from Stampin' Up. I used Stampin' Up! cardstock in Whisper White and Crumb Cake (formerly Kraft). I also threw in some Martha Stewart twill tape ribbon, crochet ribbon from Wright's, a pearl sticker that I picked up at Michael's.

Now to go make some more coffee and see what else is on that long, long list of projects...

Happy Crafting!

Kate

Mug Mats

I hate it when my hot coffee gets cold before I get to drink it. And with freezing temperatures outside, and cold counters inside, that happens a lot in the winter (also that I rarely get an uninterrupted moment to enjoy a full cup of hot coffee). I've had my eye on these little coasters since last year when I saw this project by Joelle Hoverson on Martha Stewart's website and today seemed like the perfect day to test it out.

The project is fairly simple, even for someone who's quilting level would be considered "pre-beginner". Really, I don't even think "beginner" describes my skill set at quilting. But as you can see, I made my way through these and really enjoyed the process. I did, however, find another tutorial that I prefer to the one prepared by Joelle Hoverson (though it should be said that I'm a huge fan of Joelle's work). Check out this one at Adelaide Lemonade. I found her technique and instructions even easier to follow and she made me feel just fine about my inadequate quilting skills. I even enjoyed practicing making quilted concentric squares. What makes the method at Adelaide Lemonade easier is the use of fusible fleece, so you aren't fussing with trying to get your batting to fit just right. When I ran out of fusible fleece (I only had enough for 2 coasters on hand), I resorted to using the method described by Joelle. Finished measurements are 4x4 inches for all. (I started with 4.5x4.5 inch squares for all.) Overall, both were easy and I am happy with the imperfection that is my quilted coasters. Of course I used more Bliss fabric and had a great time mixing and matching the coaster tops and bottoms. The two pictures above show the two different sides of the coasters. I made each one different and I think I'll make a bunch more because it really was a fun project to make and they go together so quickly.

Aaahhhh, hot coffee...

Happy Crafting!

Kate

Craft Book Challenge - January

I have what some may call a bordering-on-the-ridiculous number of craft books. What can I say? I love craft books! I love to peruse the pages of a new craft book, soaking up all the gorgeous photographs, being inspired by the possibility of so many new projects, enjoying the artistry and style of each author. I'm a craft book junkie. So when I saw the Craft Book Challenge on Liesl Made I knew it was the perfect challenge for me to undertake this year.

To kick off the challenge, I used my current favorite fabric, Bliss by Bonnie & Camille for Moda, to make Tone Finnanger's fabric basket in Sew Pretty Homestyle. I've been wanting to make some fabric baskets for the craft room so this seemed like the perfect first project for the challenge. In theory, it is both beautiful and practical. In reality, a fabric basket made this way is going to have some give, so I have to be realistic about what I'm going to use it to store. It's not exactly as practical as a plastic bin but it's a lot more attractive, despite my imperfect sewing, so I will make up a few more and use them for storing things that I like to look at, like my embroidery supplies, yarn, and favorite scraps of fabric.

I changed the dimensions slightly, from Tone's original instructions, only because I wanted to use this spotty red fabric and I didn't have quite enough. Overall the project was easy to complete, but I did find it a little bit fussier than it seems when you read through the instructions. I got some puckering in the fabric and batting, and I was slightly frustrated that I couldn't get the bottom exactly right. However, I suspect that if I try it again I will have a little more success, since I now know firsthand what are going to be my trouble spots. For now, I'm going to call it good and go make the kids a snack.

Happy Crafting!

Kate

Sunday Afternoon with Bliss

I spent today having a love affair with my new fabric and my red polka dot mug.
On my recent visit to Candlelite Quilts

I bought some of this, Bliss by Bonnie and Camille for Moda, and now I'm in love. I first saw it in the shop near Christmas but at the time I was too focused on Christmas-y fabrics to fully appreciate it's sweetness. Now that I've turned my attention to things besides Christmas crafting, I have all kinds of projects in mind for this delightful line. Pictured here are the scaps from the gazillion squares I cut out of my stash of Bliss to make a quilt for a certain niece of mine (who still hasn't gotten a Christmas present from us - gasp!). The quilt is in process but today I couldn't stop thinking of other things I'd like to make with these prints. Unfortunately, as always happens to me, I have many more projects in mind than I have time to spend crafting. I promise to post any finished projects just as soon as I finish them. Don't hold your breath.

Work in Progress

With my Jenny Hart Sublime Stitching: Embroidered Effects book in hand (lap), I'm attempting these houses that I sketched out in December but never got the chance to make. I thought they would make nice little ornaments for the tree but I'm also thinking other ways to use them. More on this when I've actually completed one...

Merry Christmas Spoon

It may be January now, but I haven't completely let go of the Christmas season, as evidenced by my ever-present snowman mug. Right now he is serving as the backdrop for this gorgeous spoon. Let's talk about that spoon. Just look at it! It was a gift from my aunt and uncle and cousins and came with a tag that said "The Merry Christmas Spoon: This spoon is one of a kind, handmade especially for you by our friend Dean Roberts of Turner, Maine. For Christmas 2010 we commissioned the creation of 10 spoons made from apple wood from Century Elm Farms. Happy Cooking with lots of love" Not only is the spoon itself a work of art, it is made with wood from the farm in Maine where I grew up, and given to my family by people that I love and adore. I absolutely love it! Maine Handmade at it's finest!

Yarn Snowballs

Happy New Year!

I get very melancholy at the end of the hustle and bustle of the holidays but I have also come to cherish this time immediately after Christmas. I love winter and once the holidays have flown by, as they always do, I get to bask in the quiet coziness of a long New England winter. I love the snow, the hot chocolate (even better, the hot coffee with a little Kahlua), the relative calm.
My love of winter inspired me create some yarn snowballs to place on my mantle. The mantle seems so empty after the Christmas decorations come down, so I wanted to decorate with something that is everything I love about winter - shades of white, soft, and cozy.

The yarn balls are ridiculously easy. I used styrofoam balls, pins, a bit of tacky glue, and three different yarns to add texture. For this project, I used the inexpensive yarns found at the nearby box craft store.
To start the ball, I secured the yarn with a pin and just started wrapping. And then I wrapped some more, occasionally dabbing glue to hold it together. It's really a very cathartic craft. I whipped up 6 snowballs in no time and they look great on the mantle. A perfect wintertime decoration.

Here's to crafting up a great 2011!