wise craft

friendship

I have had a string of such nice occurrances this week. Just simple things that no one would notice really, yet to me they felt especially nice. Nice words, a friendly gesture. So infectious. I ran home the other day and made a batch of brownies and took them over to my neighbor's house to say hello. I need to do that more often.

On the subject of nice things, Emma keeps making friendship bracelets, one of her favorite pastimes this season. Every limb is covered. I loved making these when I was her age. Its nice to know that with video games, computers, wii's, Ipods, and all the other ways there are to pass the time, a kid can still find joy in weaving floss together.

things

*It's Sunday night, and everything in the house feels clean and tidy, with the exception of my camera lens. Check out that first photo, where has that camera lens been?

*We are beginning our last full week of summer vacation. Ian feels an immense amount pressure to have as much fun as possible. He wants to go to Legoland. I don't think I can arrange that, but I'll see what I can do.

*I have a new quilt pattern almost ready to add to the shop! (That only took a year.) This one has some sentimental significance to me, I am so happy how it came together.

*I am also going to create a video tutorial (vlog, vidding) to show how to sew on quilt binding, I had some questions about how I did mine. I have stumbled through some pretty awful bindings, but that's how I learned, and I really believe that in many ways a binding makes or breaks a quilt in the end.

*Lastly, I leave you with this song from Over The Rhine that I can't get out of my head. What a beautiful voice.

 

 

 

17

All done. And super comfy.

Tomorrow I will be celebrating, with the rest of us here in the wise craft house, the number 17. 17 years of marriage. I would do it all again in a heartbeat.

The traditional gift for year 17 is furniture and three out of the four of us have been trying to justify how a TV "is so furniture".

I think I'm going to give in.

On the subject of marriage, our friends Michael and Farrah finally tied the knot a few weeks ago on Bainbridge Island. You can peek at their beautiful ceremony here. Congratulations you two!

 

Have a wonderful weekend. Those of you on the east coast please be safe!

don't touch art exhibition and sponsor email

If you live in Chicago, tonight is the opening of "Touch/Don't Touch", a collective art exhibition at the Fulton Street Collective at 8pm. My sister in law Jennifer, niece Cate, and friend Josh all have pieces in this exhibition. A fun evening to see some wonderful art. I wish I could be there.

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Also, I was a little aggressive cleaning out my emails yesterday and accidentally deleted an email asking about sponsor information, please resend. Thank you!

garden formula

Gardening took a back seat to other things this summer. But a cartload red and green coleus, a few flats of white impatiens, combined with our perennial favorites blooming (despite our neglect) and I'm left wondering what else we needed?

happy

I am.

Summer is finally here in Seattle.

I am back from a great visit with family in North Carolina.

We are now back home and here to stay for the remainder of our summer break.

The kids are either in camp or otherwise engaged, so I plan to be in the studio (the coolest spot in the house temp-wise).

Working on some a new "happy" pillow.

Why not, right?

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I did some inspiration looking online for the first time in a week and quilts are on my brain. I love this. This is absolutely stunning. I love that the fabrics take center stage in this one. I have actually dreamt of this quilt. What about a cathedral window quilt made entirely of Marimekko prints?

Don't forget about registering for the Schoolhouse Craft Conference. Hope to see you there!

mid mod quilt blocks

The blocks from the Mid Mod Quilt Bee have been trickling in and each one is just as exciting to see as the last. Thank you ladies! I've put them up on the design wall to see them en masse. I'm still liking my original concept, although I may play with the original idea I had to alternate the direction of the blocks. The colors are great, not my usual palette, and that's good. I think 2011 has been all about me exploring colors (and techniques) I haven't normally been drawn to.

jewel boxes

I was anxious to continue working on my jewel box blocks from the Improv Workshop. The other night I had about an hour of time and energy after dinner and that's what I decided to do. (The beauty with using Denyse's paper bag piecing method is that its so easy to pick up where I left off last.) I made 3 more of the tiny jeweled centers, trying to decide what I like about the ones that seem to work, what I don't like about the others. I still love the teeny pieces, but there are definitely shades and colors I prefer for these jeweled centers. I called Peter in and he suggested more monochromatic centers... all oranges, or blues, etc. I hadn't thought of that, although, to be honest I feel its my job as wife and the co-creative in the house to disagree with him on matters like this.

This is a fun little exercise to work on!

thursday's beach trip

We are so lucky that we live so close to the water. When I was growing up, it was a 4 hour drive. Different types of beaches, yes, but there is something very renewing about just being at any type of shoreline to me.

Ian is determined to be able to build a driftwood structure he could actually sleep in.

Emma is on her usual hunt for interesting rocks and things.

And me? I was setting up a little photoshoot, and admiring my binding on this one. I am finally getting it right.

I have finally finished a new pattern for lonely little shop (talk about being a little lazy this summer, how long did this one take me?). It won't be ready to release for about a week, but I'm really excited about it and I hope you will be too. I'll be able to show you the whole thing soon.

Meanwhile, enjoy your weekend! We are off to celebrate Ian's birthday.

You see, my youngest has turn double digits on me.

 

 

schoolhouse craft conference and winner

 

I am honored to be speaking at the Schoolhouse Craft Conference being held here in Seattle at the Phinney Neighborhood Center September 23, 24, and 25. This conference is being organized by the one and only Kristen Rask, owner of Schmancy, president of Urban Craft Uprising, and a huge supporter of handmade crafters, both local and beyond. She is providing such a valuable resource to all of us by creating these conferences and packing them full of such useful information.

I am a part of the the Blogging 101 panel, held on September 23, from 12:30-2:15, along with my partners-in-crime, Molly, Miss Orangette, and Megan, Miss Not Martha. We're going to be talking about blogging... something we three have done for a very long time and know quite a bit about. We'll talk about what its all about, why do it, what makes a blog interesting, how to build readership, how to use a blog to your advantage as an independent artisan, and basically anything you want to talk about regarding blogging. Once you get us started, well... I hope you will join us, you can download a list of all the classes, speakers here, register on this page, "like" Schoolhouse Craft on Facebook here to keep up-to-date on new info, follow on twitter here, answers to frequently asked questions here.

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The winner of the Tea Collection giveaway is :

lulubeans said...

what beautiful clothes!

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The photos have no relevance to this post. I fall hard for those button mums and right now they're all over the house.