wise craft

friday scenes

How are you? Our weather turned Seattle on us today, after a week of some gorgeous sun. Good excuse to stay around the house. I am feeling quiet today. Let me share some links instead.

-I am completely in love with Jan Eleni's home. Be sure and check out the wonderful way she combined some of her child's artwork into one amazing print (4th picture down).

-I'm wondering if anyone in the UK has seen the book, Homemade by Ros Badger? I have been meaning to mention it for ages, I really love her work and am curious about the book, its not available in the US.

-I'm undecided on the Liberty of London collection for Target. Its a lot of flowers. I wear mostly black, I'm afraid I might feel a little clownlike. I like the ties!

-I just picked up Rashida's book, I Love Patchwork: 21 Irresistable Zakka Projects to Sew. What a lovely book. With so many craft books out there right now, when the color combinations of the projects feel fresh and the projects are, not only photographed beautifully, but are clearly made really well, I pay attention. This book is a really good example of getting all that and more right.

-I also got a copy in the mail (thank you Erin) of Alabama Studio Style. This book continues explanation of Natalie Chanin's philosophy and methods surrounding her love of her Southern roots and her passion for the Slow Cloth movement. The projects in this book are absolutely lovely, I will have trouble picking what I love most. I loved her last book so much and it inspired my projects for the better part of a year.

-Speaking of getting inspiration from others, get a look at Kathy's Cog and Wheel quilt. Beautiful. I love her explanation in that same post of why we do other designer's patterns, and how we get our own inspiration from that. Sometimes I feel that there is an expectation of me to always do things that are purely unique, of my own design, because of my blog. But I too, realize that I learn so much for simply going through the process of creating a quilt (like the Hills & Hollers quilt I'm currently working on). It pushes me a little in some new direction, be it color combinations, techniques, or new methods I hadn't thought of. Truth is, I've been coming up with original things behind the scenes for months now, I just can't show you unfortunately (soon). Its nice to pick up a pattern that's had all the hard figuring done for you.

OK, I guess I wasn't that quiet after all. Time for some afternoon coffee though. Hope you all have a rejuvenating weekend!

flower market flora

 

 

 

Spent the morning at the Wholesale Flower Market, fiddling around with my camera and hanging out with my friend Christiane. As usual, when I'm at a place with so much good stuff, I am completely overwhelmed upon entry. How I do love things stacked in neat rows and color coded (Lisa, I thought of you).

I came home with my predictable favorite colors of green and white-

 

 

And a sprig for Emma's bedside table-

 

I was remembering Stephanie's lovely post about flowers around her house in winter and arranging them to get the most from them.

I thought of a lot of blog friends today, actually.

The biggest news of my week? THE EKTORP SLIPCOVERS FIT MY NON-EKTORP SOFA! Check it! I went with the dark gray twill and I feel like I have a whole new sofa (our sofa and chair in that room is the Pottery Barn basic sofa). Why is this so great? The IKEA slipcovers are much less expensive than Pottery Barn ones, so I am more than excited, (and Peter's eating crow because he didn't think it would ever fit).

excellent thrift

I really only buy what really really works for me when I thrift shop. You see, I am well aware that once it comes in the house, it may be a while before it leaves, and that makes me picky. But once in a while, something random just catches my eye, and the second I see it I know exactly what I want to do with it.

 

The patterns on this plate made it completely irresistible. But there was only one, which made it perfect for what I've been wanting to try. After I brought it home and washed it well, I glued down a bird motif over part of the patterned area, found some gray spray paint in the basement, took it outside for a couple of light spray coats, and voila!

I had my eye on this project ever since I read about it on Bloesem. Now, I figure I can enjoy the pretty patterning in this plate every day when I hang it on the wall. (I'm looking for 1 or 2 more, then I'll consider it a set). I added the red Swarovski crystal (only color I had on hand) on a whim and I think that might be the crowning glory, it really sparkles.

Check these out for some gorgeous inspiration.

Disclaimer- These are purely for decoration. You cannot eat on these, or wash them any more vigorously than a gently wipe.

(Amy K.'s going to freak out when she sees this little weck canning jar (a whopping 79 cents), its kind of perfect for Lemon Curd.)

I've also been collecting interesting glass bottles for another project I have in mind, that I'll tell you about later. Bottles and vases are so plentiful and cheap at thrift stores, but I really try to focus in on only the truly interesting and unique shapes and leave the other ones behind.

I now keep a running list of the items I am most interested in right on my Iphone, so when I walk into a thrift store, so I don't stand there drawing a complete blank.

On a totally unrelated note, Subversive Cross Stitch has all new sayings from the South and I couldn't be more excited. I mean, if this isn't from one of my relative's mouths?....well, it is!

Hope you all had a lovely weekend. Thanks for all the well wishes, I'm happy to report we're all almost back to full health here.

clean slate

 

 

There is some major cleansing of the ol' color palette going on at our house. My sister in law mentioned to me that she read somewhere you should freshen your living space every five years.

We are overdue.

For starters, some walls around here are going to become Ben Moore Vanilla Milkshake very soon.

I just need to get over this nasty cold first. For now, the transformation is all in my head. (As well as the DIY projects I want to share with you.)

sniff...sniff...achoo!

Back to my knitting.

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Last year, I created a children's appliqued and stenciled T-shirt project for the upcoming book Craft Hope (due out in August of this year). I have donated the original sample, the Tree Shirt, to the Craft Hope Etsy shop, please stop by and take a look. There are wonderful items added to that shop almost daily, and all proceeds go to Doctors Without Borders to aid victims of Haiti's earthquake, go take a look.

mix and match

(from Goodwill)

I am chuckling at the idea that I can let a load of household laundry sit in the dryer for unspecified amounts of time (I don't run to get it, in other words), but give me old fabric of any kind to wash and I'm sitting by the dry cycle, tapping my foot, full of impatience.

(purchased on ebay. I used a bit of this fabric a while back to recover our kitchen chairs.)

I went searching through the inner sanctum of my fabric stash today. Man, there is a lot in there. I am completely and fully focused on freshening things up around here, and I am going to put these fabrics to work once and for all (I save them cause they're pretty, and never use them, what sense does that make??)

 

(a piece of linen from Melissa)

(printed cotton from Neicy)

I am currently fixated on lovely photos like this one, from the book Fabric Inspirations (another one of those library books getting me through the gray of February).

I'm smitten!

back to basics knitting

In my continued effort to use up the many craft materials I have, and finish some unfinished craft business, I am rediscovering knitting. For those who may not have read far back enough on this blog to know, there was a time in my life when I was quite an obsessive knitter. My grandmother taught me simple garter stitches when I was 4 or 5 (I had not yet started school). I managed a few stitches here and there, but it never really caught on in my head.

When I was pregnant with Ian I took a beginner knitting class at Weaving Works here in Seattle. I was smitten with the whole process of my fingers and 2 needles manipulating yarn into cloth, I just loved it. I became quite obsessed with knitting for my new baby and for Emma, and I remember many evenings sitting in my favorite chair, with needles clicking away, the trail of a new panel of something spilling down my very large belly. I knitted a blanket for Ian (out of Little Badgers, my all time favorite kids knitting book), a fair isle sweater, a fisherman sweater, a pirate sweater, pillows, toys...you name it. I was eager to try anything, and tried almost everything. Having bobbins of 7-8 different yarn colors dangling from my knitting didn't phase me a bit.

Then, just as could have been predicted, I burned out completely. I had grown tired of it. I was over the counting, the blocking, the sewing together, the not fitting. I remember the last project was a sweater I knitted for Emma from Pipsqueaks (a lovely book full of good patterns) and I just loved it. I had stayed up late the night before I gave it to her to sew it all together, had it out for Emma to put on the next morning. She squealed, pulled it on over her head and within five minutes mumbled something to the effect of "its itchy right here" and promptly took it off and never wore it again. To say I was crestfallen is an understatement. I didn't decide to stop simply because of that sweater, but I definitely took a giant step back.

But I really miss having a project...and easy project...to do with my hands at night when Peter and I are sitting quietly and watching TV. The lighting in our family room is not good for embroidering (although I've considered extra lighting, I haven't gotten around to it yet.) I really need something to grab and just do. But I didn't even think about knitting at all. But I suddenly had the perfect inspiration last week. Something that would use up my existing yarn stash (or at least begin to), would require no concentrated counting after the initial cast on, could be picked up or put down easily, and could also be completely portable. 

I pulled out my wool yarns (which feel like Cascade 220-ish weight, but the labels have been lost, so who knows) and my number 7 bamboo needles. Both these were essential components in those knitting lessons where everything really clicked (and they still feel very nostalgic and easy for me for that reason). I've been knitting 8" x 8" squares of simple garter stitches (knitting every row). When each swatch measures a square 8" x 8", I cast off, and grab another color, and begin a new swatch.

What will all these swatches make, you're asking? Hopefully a blanket (or at least a throw). I am just going to keep knitting and not try and figure out how many of these squares I'll really need for now. The most important thing is I can carry on a conversation, and interact while I knit these.

If you're looking for a more comprehensive how-to, the basics of this project are described in Thrifty Chic (I know, I keep talking about this book, but I love it. The garter stitches remind me so much of my grandmother, its the only type of stitching I ever saw her do. She made us all slippers and mittens using garter stitches (the slippers had a big pompom on top).

Seems I've rediscovered knitting at its most basic level, and I'm so happy to have this project. When I sit down at night, I knit and talk and interact and can almost knit without looking at what I'm doing. Exactly what I was looking for.

Now if I could quilt and knit at the same time I'd be golden.

Oh, and thank you all so much for the lovely comments on the sunshine quilt!

sunshine quilt completed

The quilt for our school's auction is done. It turned out really pretty I think.

 

Hopefully it will feel very Spring-like displayed at the auction next month. Starting from here and getting to what you see today was way longer than it needed to be. After sitting in my studio room closet since I finished it, I finally pulled the quilt top out and just did it already. Why did I wait so long??

I used the orange palette from Denyse Schmidt's Katie Jump Rope fabric collection when I began this because I loved all these prints best when they were together this way. I had always wanted to try this Hope Skip, Jump pattern (in Denyse's book), so that's how it began. I finished it, then folded it up and promptly forgot about it. Not that I didn't like it, but I tend to be impulsive creatively, so I'm sure I went on to something else that excited me even more.

When I pulled it out recently to finish it for our auction, I wanted to try tying it instead of quilting it. I've never tied a quilt, but we have a rather old one that was tied and it holds up so well, I was intrigued. Then one day at school I talked with another quilter who ties all her quilts. Hmm... Thinking the ties might add some nice texture on the quilt's surface I decided to try it. I created a 4" x 4" grid and used cream pearl cotton (next time I might use wool and let it felt into a ball in the wash). Overall, the effect is nice, and it feels sturdy.

 

I chose a pale gray for the backing and the binding to give it a modern feel. This is definitely a sofa, "throw" sized quilt, it will need to look nice on a sofa.

 

My binding gets better every time. I'm now in the "one quilt down, let's start a new one" phase.

But first, my assistance was needed on the Valentine-making. It was quite easy this year, as I mentioned. Neither kid wants sappy sweet sentiments on their Valentines, so I found some super cute printable ones on etsy, and the kids loved them. And hey, we did make the chocolate, so these are kind of homemade right? (I may have to steal Erin's idea for next year, I love them.)

current state

*The house phone did not for two days because apparently I had accidentally unplugged the cable box cord under my desk. No wonder it was so pleasant around here.

*Operation Dining Room Redo was temporarily halted when I became aware through careful measuring that there the IKEA Ektorp furniture slipcovers will actually (supposedly) fit our non-IKEA family room sofa. This is quite possibly life-changing on many decorating levels for me. (I love IKEA!)

*In the process of trying to convince Peter how much we need those slipcovers, I did spiff up the aforementioned ugly sofa with new pillows out of some really fun IKEA fabric (with piping made from a thrifted green velvet shirt in an XL. (I've decided I want to party with the dude that wore this shirt.)

 

*Even though we've gotten no snow this year, lately I'm secretly pretending that we are snowed in and must amuse ourselves with things like sitting together and folding paper cranes. We are planning to use cranes for our school's auction decor this year and we need, oh, maybe ten million. I was a little nervous about how I wasn't getting this one fold, until I looked over at Emma and realized she'd folded 15 and was reading a graphic novel at the same time. I have since then chosen to sharpen up my delegating skills (although I did figure out the fold.)

*I am relieved to realize how easy the kid's class Valentine's will be this year. Thank you Ramen Noodle.

*A commenter a few posts back (thank you Kathryn!) reminded me of the all-too perfect home interiors book Home Is Where The Heart Is by Ilse Crawford. I have blogged about this book before, but its definitely worth mentioning again. I love not only the photography within, but also the words. The cover is a red satiny fabric and the image in the center is a photograph pasted on. Its a keeper for sure, lovely.

*If you are reading this through google reader, click over and take a look at the "inspiring me" category up there on the left sidebar. There's so much good stuff around the net these days, my list is changing almost daily.

I hope if you're snowed in, you're happy about it, and if you're not, I hope it melts away soon.

xo,

Blair

winter's white and blue

 

I will admit to not being a huge fan of Valentine's red, but man am I loving white right now. There's no snow here (I know other parts of the country have snow to spare), so I'm finding my own... my friend Sam's chandelier, and some haphazardly-arranged daisies.

But sense we have a ton of wood tones in our house, white will need to be sprinkled in where it makes sense. I'm planning to make a string light fixture to put over our dining room table, like the one in the photo above (I'm sorry I lost the source for this image, if anyone knows let me know). I have white crochet yarn all ready to go for this project, but I'm waffling over white, maybe a bright blue? Undecided. Which is probably why I'm still doing all this research and not actually starting anything.

To further complicate things, Peter and I purchased the entire collection of Benjamin Moore color fandecks when we began Story Trading, so I have them right here at my fingertips, to pick a new color for the dining room walls. To many choices could be a bad thing for me. What am I saying? It is a bad thing for me.

I have this stunning (and large) print (Girl with Locket by Neicy Frey) to hang in the dining room once its redone, and I'm taking the blue and white cues from it.

Can you tell I'm am having a blast forming all the ideas in my head. I should take before pictures of the dining room as it is now, so I can get some input from you guys.

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Just a bit of business...

Pink Chalk Fabrics, one of our sponsors, is currently having a 40% off sale on the fabric collection Hushabye by Tula Pink.

Have a great day all!

more inspiration

Seems there are a couple of us doing some shoestring redo's to our dining rooms (me me!), and I'm definitely thinking about dining room inspiration in these images. I love the idea that each of these chairs has a cushion in a different print. (Click on the image to enlarge it.) Beautiful.

 

I love the bright mix of whites and neutrals in the above photo, but I really love the textures mixed in too, like the sheepskin piece on the windowseat.

 

I do love the idea of using a quilt as a tablecloth, although I'd never have the guts to do it! The yellow and gray is so nice paired up like this, with the casual flowers, the mismatched dishes.

 

I absolutely love the bluish gray shade of that napkin (hmmm, looks a little like our bedroom walls).

 

I love the flashes of bright pink in this space (above), the simple curtains, and this makes me feel a little better about my black table and chairs. I am planning to make a large string pendant lamp for above the table, for some reason I really don't mind inexpensive light fixtures like this globe lantern above a table.

I am really in love with this shade of blue right now, and I really like the daffodil arrangement in the center, as well as the mismatched dishes.

 

Again, I love the mismatched cushions against white.

We have seen tin cans recycled into flower vases before, but they are usually painted, this one is so nice just as it is, I was looking at the can of tomatoes I was using for dinner tonight in a while different way.

The thinking part of this dining room redo is overwhelming me right now, so I'm trying to make sure to write everything down (and scan everything in). We have zero budget for this makeover, but I'm not deterred. Spaces in our home redone for near nothing are my favorite spaces.

(These images are from two other books from my library stacks of interiors books, The Find, and Recycled Home. Both very worth checking out!)