wise craft

☀knee deep☀

A pile of to-do's is eyeing me from across my desk, those beedy little eyes boring a hole into the side of my face. I always seem to find myself with divine, undeniable energy and inspiration just when I really don't have the time. Do you do that? The kids are on spring break, hence, I am on spring break. In between moments of bargained and bribed "real work" time, I will be also trying to:

☀hem 2 new pairs of pants (mine) that I can't wait to wear. (one pair denim, one pair white jeans)

☀finish a pair of pajama pants that were going to be Emma's, but unbenouced to me, she grew at some point, so they will now be given to Ian's friend Greta as soon as they are done.

☀a new top for Emma from this book (she asked for this one)- that's the flower print in the stack

☀organizing old tear sheet pages in my moleskine (okay, there's no deadline for this, unless you count any self-imposed one I apply to it, but I'm really over spare bits of paper strewn all over my desk)

Did I mention my little family is going to be headed to some ☀ sunshine ☀ soon? I need it. I physically and mentally need it. I can't wait.

I got a little ☀sunshine☀ in the mail this week from Erin. She sent me one of her beautiful (and impeccably made) straps for my camera. Silly me forgot to snap a photo of it before I put it on my calendar, so here's my attempt to capture it while on my camera. I just love it. Thank you Erin.

clay art for all seasons

Why not some more flowers??

I don't know how many of you get those Martha Stewart daily craft emails. I do. Every day, I get an organizing tip and a daily craft. To be honest, the idea of sitting down with my morning coffee, being hit with the idea at 6am that I could actually spend all day organizing my garage and it could be perfect is a little like being slapped. Most of the time it can make you feel you've failed before you've even started. But the other day there was the daily craft email, about clay flowers.

Hmmm, clay flowers... My interest was peaked enough to clicked through to the how-to demo and I have to say I was blown away by how beautiful the projects were, all from a gorgeous how-to book called Clay Art for all Seasons by Yukiko Miyai. I ordered the book so fast I scared the cat. I do not need another craft book....or another craft project... or another medium to play with. But still! I couldn't stop myself!

All these flowers are made from an air dried clay called Claycraft. Can you believe how beautiful? I really wish I could drop every thing in my life and just perfect making these flowers. The thought that this is someone's daily passion is as fascinating to me as the flowers themselves. I may have to give it a try at least once.

 

Look at those peony petals!!

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

I wanted to mention that a reader contacted me about wanting to do an Artist Trading Card swap with her Girl Scout Brownie troop. If you have a Brownie troop (they are looking for 8 and 9 yr old girls, this troop has 11 members) and are interested in doing this sort of swap, drop me an email. We're getting lots of great feedback from the participants of the swap, and if you didn't get in, or have a group of girls interested in swapping, this may be a good chance.

i'm blanking on a title today

Fresh flowers seem such an extravagance, I wanted to make the most from a recent bunch that we had. Kumquats...

yes, I ate some...

I think these are an orchid of some sort (not sure), but I know they are in my favorite vase, made by Emma way back in Kindergarten...

And the rest...

and the one that got away...

Jenny, these are for you, I hope you see them today. (She is continuing to do much better, thank you all for your good thoughts.)

And thank you for the lovely words about Emma's quilt. You're right, I probably should label it.

Today is so rainy. Spring in the pacific northwest...every day is a surprise. Its 6:45 in the morning and after some Boomerang blog work (the new episode is almost complete!), I'm thinking of what I might (or might not) do, time permitting...maybe I'll make a scarf...play plan a quilt for Ian's room...maybe make something for myself...listen to some good music...drop everything and clean out the garage...bake something...watch my kids do their forms in taekwondo after school...after we all share a hot cocoa...

There is a lot of daydreaming needed for all of this, which doesn't really work so well for productivity.

What will you do today?

warm hug

I am often in the middle throngs of a big sewing project thinking why am I doing this?....

This project was not one of those times. I put the final handstitches on the binding of the Single Girl quilt yesterday afternoon. I do not remember feeling quite this satisfied with a project in a while. This project started quite a while back in craft time, and as most quilts, it happened in stages...fits...bursts of energy really. Those curves took a lot of focus and concentration. Some days we're up for that, others...not so much. So, it sat, folded, until the next day of "okay, let's do this" motivation came.

I started this quilt with the idea of using only what I had in my stash. I have so much fabric, and always justified buying a little of this or that with the idea that I'll use it for patchwork patterns. There hasn't been a ton of patchwork coming out of here lately, so I thought this would be a great project to use every pattern I liked from my stash and just start cutting and piecing without much thought to placement of color or pattern. In my humble opinion, there is really no other way to piece 35 different patterns together, it could make a sewer crazy to try and find the perfect balance. I went slow on the curves (I've gotten several emails asking for tips on those curves and really, they are nothing to be afraid of, if you take it slowly. They take a little more thought that straight-line sewing, but really, anyone could have success at this.) The squares came together, and before too long I had a quilt top.

The pattern offers a template for a gorgeous hand-quilting pattern, which I thought seriously about tackling, especially after I saw this stunning example! But I know how much time I have these days, and didn't want it to sit idle anymore, so I handed it over to the folks at my favorite local quilt shop, The Quilting Loft, with instructions to make an open, loop-d-loop all-over pattern (many of Denyse's quilts in this book are quilted this way). I used dream cotton batting, and bought a full sized cotton sheet for the back (shown above), again, to save money (the pattern called for 5+ yards of 45" fabric for the backing, which can be expensive, this sheet was purchased on sale for $12.00 and was more than enough. I handed all of these components... top, batting, sheet for back, over to the shop, then picked it up about 4 weeks later.

What I got back needed to be trimmed down and squared up, then have the binding applied. I used the method of making and applying binding straight out of the DS Quilts book (by the way, this is still my favorite craft/sewing/quilting book, e v e r). I calculated I would need 9 strips (2 1/4" wide) of the teal quilting cotton I purchased, and I cut them straight, not on the bias as some instructions call for (this method uses a lot less fabric and you really do not need that extra stretch unless you are binding curves). Once they are cut, I sliced off the edges at a 45 degree angle, sewed the edges into one long strip, ironed all seams flat, then folded the entire strip in half (wrong sides together). I pinned the raw edge of the binding flush with the raw edge of the quilt on the right side of the quilt, stitched all the way around using 1/4" seam allowance, the pressed the binding back over the seam, and wrapped it around to the back, the handstitched it on.

The only thing more satisfying than handstitching binding onto a quilt is knowing you're going to throw the whole thing into the wash and have it come out perfectly rumply and clean.

I am really really happy with it. Every quilt I make is better than the last one. I push myself in some small way and learn more each time. This one will go on Emma's bed, and she has promised me she will not cover it with stuffies (we'll see if she holds true to that). I thought about putting some sappy label on it, maybe "my hug for you Emma, whenever you need one" or something like that, but I didn't. I still might. Its been a hell of a week for our family. We had a big health scare with my sister-in-law Jenny and have been very preoccupied. I'm happy to say she's doing well, but she is still in the hospital and we're not sure when she'll be able to go home. We can use all your good thoughts and prayers.

It was a good week to finish a quilt.

the happy list

You guys...

you are good therapy to me.

Thank you for your kind comments on the last post. I don't often declare to the world at large that, "yes, I am not feeling too shiny happy these days", but truth be told, I'm usually pretty upbeat. But there, I did it. And your thoughtful comments and emails really made me realize that it was okay to do that, made me smile. I don't know why it would surprise me that you stopped by, commented, and care, because you are gentle souls out there.

At the coffee shop I go to almost every day, around the corner from my house, they have this wall of words, stories, and blatherings that change seasonally, positioned at about the spot where you can read it easily if you are waiting for your order. It was recently changed for Spring, and on it was the author's "go to, Happy List", a list of things that made her smile. I came home and made my own. Things that bring a smile to my face, that warm up my soul, and remind me of what's good.

in no particular order...

ummm hummmm...

- Helping Emma with her spelling words and watching how proud she is when she gets finally gets the one that stumped her (immediate). Yes!
- Peter turning and asking me "would you like to get out of the house and do something you want to do for a while?" (Even if I don't...)
- Ian making brownies with me
- Adding binding to a quilt (Emma's quilt is all quilted, see photo)
- Peeking into Emma's classroom through the door to wave goodbye, then walking away only to realize she's come running out of the room to throw her arms around me and give me a hug.
- Hearing Ian explain how the leprechauns wrecked their classroom while they were at recess yesterday ("green footprints on our board! potatoes in our lockers! they were very mischee-vee-i-ous!")
- Living within a community of people who care deeply for my children.

- A husband who lets me by myself, and tolerates all that goes with that.
- Ian saying, "Mom, know what I love about you? That you're nice to us, even when we're in trouble."
- the idea of starting a new quilt
- Running
- Watching Emma make her stuffy.

- Seeing daffodils I'd forgotten had even been planted, blooming in the front yard.
- Wandering through a bookstore.
- Good coffee with a friend.
- The thought of the Seattle summer that lies ahead.

- Spring cleaning.
- Checking off a list.
- All of you.
- Being reminded that being a parent is a fantastic gift that we have.
- Drinking something warm out of my favorite mug.

This is really only the beginning, this list is going to get a lot longer. When the world is weird, as it is right now, I tend to mentally move inward, concentrating on the basic pleasure daily happenings of my family even more. I know its because that is the part of the world I can make okay, the part I have some control over. When I stop to break it all down in my mind, I smile at my life.

A lot.

Thank you all, hugs for each and everyone of you.

Blair

king of the mountain

You saw this one coming, right? A whale made from a cycling jersey? A Tour De France "King of the Mountain" jersey?  Peter's request, naturally. Turned out pretty cute, no?

Not much time to write today, but truth be told and without going into detail, I've been feeling a bit blue. Rare for me, but it happens to the best of us. I just wanted to take a moment to again, say thank you for stopping by here, connecting with me here in this space. It is a bright spot of my day.

As Emma's recent self-portrait did-

I do love that she loves Gracie the cat so much.

done, and just in time for tea

Hector, the giraffe, is done. Finishing it was a true test of Emma staying on task and, as a result, reaping the rewards of work done thoughtfully, and well.

After the tea party she made a pillow and blanket for him? her? (gosh, I don't know which it is). 

Making something yourself, that you can hug and love, is, as we all know, very good stuff.

weekend of books

In my opinion, today would be a really good day to have a secret hideout to run to. I'm grumpy and stressed, our heat isn't working, the weather can't decide if it wants to hail, rain, or snow (except is has decided to be cold), and I just...want...cake... I need some (and I have none). Someplace to be quiet and worry-free for a little bit would be nice, and would be made even nicer if someone would bring me a bowl of soup somewhere around the dinner hour. With more cake. Red velvet, to be specific. (I'll worry about all that red food coloring later.)

So, how nice it is that I have so many new books to cheer me up? I mentioned last week that I would be reading over the weekend, and that's exactly what I did. Perfect weekend of weird cold weather to sit and read. I spent most of the time reading Molly's A Homemade Life. Seeing as how I have the special privilege of knowing Molly in real life, and the ability to meet up with her and her cute canine Jack for a walk around Greenlake, I knew liking her book would not be difficult. But let me chime into what you are probably reading all over the internet these days, Molly can write. Incredibly well. Just as exciting, did you know that the illustrations are done by the lovely Camilla Engman? Which perfectly illustrate Molly's words. There was a great piece about Molly in the Seattle PI last week. My favorite line from the article-

"For me, food is really never just food," she said last week in the small kitchen of her Ballard home, a 3-pound jar of castor sugar on the counter and Polaroid film in the fridge.

This is a great book that you will fly through and be sad to see it end. Shanna and I want to run off to Paris now, and its all Molly's fault.

I have also been looking through This is For You by Rob Ryan, an amazing papercut artist. This book is full filled with tales of love, and whimsical papercut illustrations. The inside cover says, "If you believe in love, but find it difficult to explain, this is for you." I'm curious, is there a Rob Ryan font? Anybody know? Well, there should be. There is a Rob Ryan skirt kit that I have wished for, that is true. I'm truly awestruck with papercuts (I've only done a teensy bit and couldn't feel my pointer finger for days after). Books like this stay our around the house for a while, they really can't be taken in all at once.

The MixTape Issue #8 is out and it is in complete full color, cover to cover! A true indie magazine that has inspired me since 2007 when it began, and this issue is full of all the good stuff you expect from Justine and Nichola. I'll not spoil its contents and leave them as a surprise for you. Congratulations girls, on page after page of color.

And lastly, the new English translations of the Japanese Make Good : Crafts and Life books, Linen, Wool, Cotton by Akiko Mano, and Patchwork Style by Suzuko Koseki. The latter, in its original Japanese form, was probably one of the first Japanese craft books I fell in love just as I was starting this blog. For many of us. It was from this book that I started making patchwork handbags. I still love the projects this book features, and I think my current favorite is the log cabin quilt. (I need a new quilt project, since my last one is at the quilter's for another few weeks.) Reading about it english suddenly makes it seem much more doable than in the original Japanese book. Both of these books came at the perfect time for me. I need home to feel special...paid attention to...cared for. There is no budget for anything else but creativity and ingenuity, which is okay by me. These books offer beautiful projects to inspire me to sew for home, use what I have, and make it special.

Oh! And this lady's new CD is in heavy heavy rotation in our house, I am just in love with it.

Well, now that I've looked back over my weekend reading, maybe I'm not as grumpy as I thought I was. But I do still want cake.

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

We announced the winners of a full free episode of Boomerang! over at the blog, be sure and notify me if you are a winner and have not done so already.

some ~little~ girl organizing

When there is a lot of 'round the house tasks to be done, I like to think that's just all part of the quality time my family and I spend together when we all take part. (There are those here who would disagree.) Emma and I spent most of Saturday afternoon in her room, attempting to get it a little more organized. I really have to psyche myself up to take on that room. It easily overwhelms me, I look in there and want to turn and do something, anything else. There are a lot of teensy things in a 10 year old girl's world...things the owner is usually unwilling to part with. I'm getting the sense that a 10 year old girl's world seems to float between little girl and growing up girl. (That one would be the girl who made our dessert on Saturday night.) One side wants to have tea parties with stuffed animals, one side wants to get her ears pierced. Realizing this as I have has made me a little more sympathetic to the piles of stuff in Emma's space. I realize that there's hidden meaning there, even she doesn't quite understand.

I took it as a sign when Betz talked about making some shoe bags, and Heather's new book had a project for drawstring bags, that I should make some storage pouches for Emma using what I have in my stash (still trying to more of that, and the beauty of starting a project at 9 pm is that you have no choice!). These bags are about 11" x 14" (I think they are same as the medium sized ones in Heather's book), although I sort of made these up as I went along. They're quite easy to sew yourself, so clever and useful. These can be used for just about anything. I pulled a page from a decorating magazine of a girl's bedroom in a summer home that had pegs along one wall with simple bags like these hanging from them. I have something like a row of pegs I'm going to dig up and use to hang these. Then I am going to make some more for traveling, thinking ahead for when we head out to sunny Florida in a few weeks. Shoe bags... lingerie bags...electronic cord bags...anything bags...

But especially bags to keep those tiny, special things altogether.

Not that we play with those, of course (wink)...

"the daily" placemats

I was at my friend Lisa's house the other day. She has this wonderful built-in rustic kitchen banquette where the family eats their meals. There were these simple placemats out on the table that day, which looked like the caning cloth you use for furniture, laminated in plastic.

Me:     "Those placemats are great. Plastic and cute. I've been looking for some plain placemats like that forever, everything I see is too crazy and we're too messy for cloth ones."
Lisa:     "Would you believe these are the same ones Paul's family used when he was a kid?"

Paul is her husband. Not an old man, but there's a little age on those mats, and they still seem to be going strong. It got me thinking. My instinct these days is to move away from plastics in most areas of my life when I can. Perhaps it is because I am a child of the 70's, but no casual dining experience is complete in my house without a plastic placemat. (Of course, if you came over for a meal, we would use the nice, cloth ones~handmade, even.) But for our 3 squares a day plus snacks, durability and wipability are absolute necessity.

I thought I'd try making some out of fabric I like. We have lots of these plastic ones from school projects, and I love those, don't get me wrong, but I wanted to have a more uniform looking set.

(shows both sides)

Here's how I made these:

To make a set of 4 placemats, each 11" x 17" finished.

1 yard each of 2 fabrics (my fabric A and B are from the Lush line)
1 yard of fusible webbing (I used HeatnBond Lite, but there are many to choose from)
iron set to cotton, no steam
laminating machine (I used our local Kinko's)

*Cut out four 11" x 17" rectangles from fabric A, and four from fabric B.
*Cut four 11" x 17" rectangles from the fusible webbing.
*Iron one fabric A rectangle smooth, right side facing down. Then add on the layer of fusible webbing on back, follow instructions for ironing on to fabric (careful not to iron it onto your ironing board or get it on your iron). When you've ironed it completely on, allow to cool slightly, then peel off fusible webbing backing. Iron one fabric B rectangle smooth, then lay on top Fabric A, printed side facing up
    layers are like this-  Fabric A, wrong side up, with fusible webbing ironed on
                                    Fabric B, right side up, on top
*Carefully iron Fabric B, to adhere it to Fabric A. Trim rectangle down to 10 1/4" x 16 1/4"
*Follow directions for laminating machine, centering each fabric "sandwich" in the laminating sleeve so all 4 sides will adhere well (I ran each placemat through the machine twice, to be sure all the edges adhered together nicely. I highly recommend this extra step, and don't worry about that person behind you giving you a dirty look).

These just happen to go very nicely with my Orla melamine plates (which we also use everyday). I ended up making 5 placemats because I often look up and find an extra kid at my table, and they should feel a part of the group too. I actually looked at the Orla cork backed placemats at Target thinking those would work, but decided to keep with my original plan. The cost to laminate each of these was $4, so including the cost of the fabric, there was no real savings doing it myself in the short term. But I figure if these last half as long as Lisa's, they are completely worth to me.

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Thank you all so much for you Boomerang! enthusiasm. I posted over on the blog today about Dr. Seuss's b-day, which was this past Monday (my kids are actually celebrating today at school due to no school this past Monday). If you're looking for a Boomerang story on Seuss, check out episode 4-10. Its what Emma, Ian, and I will be listening to this afternoon. I plan on spending this weekend reading, I'll let you know what I read next week. Have a great weekend!