Spinster Handmade

Try, try again.

2010-02-26T09:11:00.001-05:00

Lisa Leonard Designs Jewelry GUEST GIVEAWAY!!!!

2009-09-26T08:22:00.000-04:00

Lisa Leonard Designs Jewelry GUEST GIVEAWAY!!!!

The Spinster Returns

2009-07-27T19:33:00.003-04:00

, originally uploaded by spinster sister.
1. On It's Way, 2. swap quilt sent to helen/mini millie, 3. Section of a mini quilt, 4. A wee quilt for me, 5. Quick!, 6. Great Aunt Irma mini quilt , 7. "In a Quilter's Garden II" by Karen Krueger, 8. bubble gum pink quilt #1, 9. Front of Doll Quilt Swap #6, 10. mini quilt, 11. 4W Quilt for Kromama, 12. little fabric houses, 13. Kaleidoscope - a colorful string quilt, 14. www.flickr.com/photos/treefalldesign/295596671/, 15. Quilt Dreams, 16. cabins in the city

da da da dum.....she returns from her long absence, drawn out of her silence by Doll Quilt Swap 7. How could she possibly resist? Check out those beauties! Now that my friends is what I call inspiration.

Playing Catch Up

2009-05-16T08:35:00.003-04:00

In between all the school events, soccer games, PTA meetings (what was I thinking?) I've gotten way behind on posting some of the great swaps I've received. Prepare for a post full of quilty photo goodness.

These two fantastic quilts and the book I was too cheap to buy for myself came from Denise. We were paired for two different swaps in the same month and I could not have asked for a better partner. Just when I thought it couldn't get any better....

Check out the flip side of Denise's little quilt! That's right people, its reversible! Not to worry...both sides are on rotation because we wouldn't want to miss out on the cuteness of it all.
You can look here and here to see what I made for Denise.

How do you like my new (seriously it matches my kitchen/dining room) tablerunner from Kelly? Kelly made this for me in the Mini Quilt in a Bag Swap in record time with an imminent moving date scheduled for way sooner than she had anticipated.

The obligatory action shot of the tablerunner. Did I mention that people are no longer allowed to eat at this table. Yes, we all just stand around admiring the beauty. :0)

And lastly, this sweet little Gee's Bend inspired mini from Susan. Along with it came some fantastic treats. Amelia has already claimed the white sprinkle fabric for a princess skirt and I'm pretty sure the embroidery kit is spoken for (by her sister) as well.

The plans for the week are to play a little catch up on some of my swappy commitments. I haven't missed a due date yet and I don't intend to.
In the line up are:
Finish the Mini quilt in a bag swap
6-12" block swap
Alphabet Mania Mini Quilt Swap --I have the letter V to work with...any ideas?
Oh, and I'm told my quilt for Doll Quilt Swap 6 is on its way so check back for some action shots of work in progress and if the post office cooperates, some doll quilt pics. Its going to be another busy week!

Busy Work for Busy Days

2009-05-14T16:18:00.001-04:00

Perfect for taking along to the soccer practice playground,

or sitting on the deck overseeing after school play,

or even after they're all in bed and the house is quiet,

but mostly to keep me occupied while they excavate the yard. (Please note the very fashionable purse, a must have for all digging expeditions.) The plan, as I've heard is to dig to the earth's core by mid summer '09. Theories are running rampant regarding whether or not lava will emerge from the crater.

And much like the tree house spirit that was last summer's guardian, I just have to smile and hang around.

Just Hanging Around

2009-05-01T13:12:00.006-04:00

One last finish for the Spring to Finish Challenge over at Tall Grass Prairie Studio. Just under the wire with this cute little mini that I'm calling 'Just Hanging Around'. Clever huh.

This poor thing has been taking up space in a drawer since last summer. I had intended to make a little bag out of it but.....yea... that didn't happen. Earlier this week I saw Jacquie's cute clothesline minis and decided my clothesline was destined to be a little quilt too.

The dresses and embroidery were already done. I just added some really fun (you should try it) sketchy stitching, some batting, backing, binding and a tiny bit more embroidery and look at that! Another finish! Thanks for the inspiration Jacquie!

Spring to Finish

2009-04-28T11:35:00.004-04:00

Well, since my pile of half done, to do and wip seems to grow each week from all those fantastic ideas floating around on all your blogs, I've joined in on the Spring to Finish project by Tallgrass Prairie Studio(yes, this is one of the fantastic idea inducing blogs). I love the idea of actually finishing all these little projects that seem to linger on my cutting mat.

Oh, and the added bonus to the finishing is that on April 30th I'll be able to leave a comment on Jacquie's post and be entered to win some fun prizes. Yep that's one entry per project. Alright, so here's my list of wip's that are on the table or completed since I signed up for this little adventure:

First up---Doll Quilt Swap 6~Done!! Labeled and everything, ready to go! :)

One Spring Garden Listmaker for a swap for some super cool woolsocks~
Done and done!

One lavender linen skirt with embellishments for Miss A(who has been
pestering me forever). Done!

One embroidered appliqued tea towel. Done!

One recycled overall ruffle dress (again for Miss A).

One clothesline mini quilt.

One snail tote.

One really late birthday gift for a friend. Oy.

One more embroidered tea towel.

So by my count that's four finishes and five more to go. You can laugh at me now. I know there's no way to finish the last five before Thursday but at least its a start at some finishes! :)
What's in your pile?

Inspiring

2009-04-10T08:12:00.004-04:00

Inspiring, originally uploaded by spinster sister.1. Fence, 2. Art to use - pincushion, 3. Bird on a Nest Brooch, 4. Textile collage, 5. lonely heart, 6. fly bird cushion, 7. IMG_7293, 8. Cotton Friend - Inside, 9. IMG_8313, 10. alphabet blocks, 11. handstitched necklace - front, 12. "I want to stand as close to the edge as I can without going over. Out on the edge you see all the kinds of things you can't see from the center." Kurt Vonnegut, 13. Front of Doll Quilt Swap #6, 14. Section of a mini quilt, 15. skitch - waiting for lambie, 16. My lovely Kaffe Fassett quilt top
Created with fd's Flickr Toys.

Holiday weekend plans,
company coming, nest cookies being made, family dinner with marshmallow peep smores made over a bonfire, bits of green reappearing, all the littles singing at Sunday morning service (some who may be afraid of embarrassing themselves), baskets filled, eggs dyed. Time to hang around and play together.
Happy Easter, happy Spring!

Seasonal Allergy Sufferers Look Away!

2009-04-03T19:01:00.005-04:00

Ragweed is in the house!
That's what I call her anyway...my quilt for Denise for the Mini Quilt in a Bag Swap. You'll see why in a minute, really, I promise.

Denise sent me a Moda charm pack ( I think it was Fig and Plum?) to use for her quilt and I sent her one to use for mine. Which by the way, I'd love to show you because I know its going to be really amazing. Unfortunately the mailman is not cooperating this week and my package hasn't arrived yet. Darn it!

So Denise sent me this charm pack which of course was really pretty but, not colors I usually work with. Yep, that is why I do these swaps, to try things I wouldn't normally come up with on my own. And then, there was the oh holy cow, what am I going to do with this? Hey friend in Virginia, these are your kind of colors...what would you do?

Ideas were suggested, considered, chewed on and dare I say dreamed about. As my pal will not hesitate to tell you, every time I start one of these little projects there's a sketch, an inkling, a fair idea of where it will all end up. And for each of these projects, there is the moment when my friend will check out the pics she's finally pestered me into uploading to flickr and say, "I like it, but that looks nothing like what I thought you were going to do."

Yep, that's what friends are for.

And so, finally after all those inklings and dreams about colors and fabrics, we have ourselves a little Ragweed. Nowhere in the original plan was the sketch stitching that I tried for the first time, or the free motion quilting that I've finally figured out, or even that patchy border.

So, yeah, I think the whole swapping thing is working for me. Stretching what I'm comfortable making, leading me to try new techniques, meeting some really cool and talented people, and giving my friend something to make fun of me for. Because really without throwing her a bone like this once in a while, there really is nothing to pick on me about. Nothing. :)

Down the Bunny Trail

2009-04-01T12:51:00.003-04:00

This started out as just one bunny, really it did. Just a simple little Easter decoration, just for fun. As is the case with bunnies though, they seem to be multiplying rapidly...I could make a couple for my favorite kids in Virginia and surprise them. No big deal, right?

Before the first bunny was finished, he was named and claimed by one of my own. The others rapidly followed his lead, and so I had requests for four bunnies just from my own peeps, including one with vampire fangs cause you know, that would make him cool enough for the twelve year old to want one.

Sitting on the porch finishing up bunny number three and the neighbor kids arrive...whatcha makin Jill? Can ya make one for me? and me? and me? Umm sure, why not?
Add to the list the two more requests from some little friends at church and we are up to eleven. Eleven little bunnies, yes little, and yes each of mine has lost their bunny at least three hundred times in the last two days. Each time, a tragedy that makes us all stop what we are doing and go on a bunny hunt.
So far all the runaway bunnies have been recovered and returned safely to their owner. If your feeling the need to make some tiny runaway bunnies of your own, you can get your free pattern here from My Little Mochi. Just a word of advice though, you may want to add a little ribbon hanger or pet id chip as my husband has suggested. Just in case the inevitable happens. :)

Want to know who won?

2009-03-24T09:10:00.004-04:00

Hey everyone! Thanks for playing my silly, spur of the moment, I'm really bored today giveaway!
I'm hoping that Jill will have received her little quilt either yesterday or today so I'm going to do the big (drumroll please) reveal and show you guys what you've been guessing about. Jill if you haven't gotten that package yet and would like to be surprised DO NOT SCROLL DOWN! :)

Alright, and away we go!

I know this was a tough one to guess...and the answer is...Eric Carle 'Draw Me a Star'.
I love his illustrations and the way he creates his own papers and then illustrations from all those tiny bits. Kind of like a paper quilt in a way. :)

So enough babbling, the winner of the Spur of the Moment Tiny Giveaway is lucky number 9!
(I used a random number generator to come up with that lucky bit but unfortunately my computer doesn't seem to want to post the graphic.)
By my extremely complex computing method number 9 appears to belong to Jen! Congrat on your tiny win Jen! Please contact me with your info and I'll get the following super cool but tiny prize out to you asap! :-)

--One sweet little drawstring pouch, just big enough for your sunglasses, phone and some fun money...

--and one tiny scrappy little hex pin (not this one but very close ) made with some cool designer fabric scraps, ribbon and some vintage lace!

Thanks so much for playing everyone and I hope you'll check in from time to time and say hello!

When Leprachaun's Attack (and a little giveaway)

2009-03-19T19:02:00.005-04:00

Well, there really is nothing better on old St. Patrick's Day to wake up at the crack of dawn to a little Leprechaun mischief. I don't know how the little bugger gets in but he seems to manage every year. His name is Lep by the way and yes we are on a first name basis.

So the house was turned upside down, toilet paper strewn about, fruit was found in children's shoes, coins and candy were scattered about. Just another ordinary St. Pat's day, umm...and no we are not Irish. We're just extremely lucky to have been adopted by our very own Leprechaun. Yea lucky...Ahh...I almost forgot the classic Leprechaun signature graffiti on every writable surface. Yes that's right, mirrors, windows, the garage door and oh yes, even the minivan. I'm now the proud driver of the St Patrick's mobile. Woohoo!
So thank you Lep for all you do. St. Patrick's Day wouldn't be the same without you.

And on we go adding a new character to the walls of our lovely tp'd home. Sam I Am recently arrived bearing what else but green eggs and ham. This fantastic mini was my February Children's Literature Swap with Jill. This cute little guy and his accompanying ham were not in the house an hour before one of the kids ran by and claimed it for his own. Well, he really loves it so, how I'll get it back I'll never know. I think he can have it, I think he can, he really loves that Sam I am.

Alright, your safe, the rhyming is over.
Back to business as usual....This little quilt is currently winging its way (probably stuck in Canadian customs) to Jill as I type. So of course its only a sneak peak but I'll give you a hint, its based on a children's book and its not the Three Little Pigs.....anyone want to take a guess? C'mon you know you want to.

Alright, how about this? The first one to guess correctly (by oh let's say 10AM Sunday March 22) gets a little surprise in the mail. Go on, it'll be good, little but good. Thinking caps on...children's literature...good luck! :)
edited to add: Alright I think this is a tough one so, one more clue...the author uses bits of torn papers to create their illustrations. And just in case your not up on your kiddie literature these days, leave me a comment telling me about your latest project and if no one guesses the correct title I'll draw a random number by the usual super secret method. Good luck!

How To Make a Mobile

2009-03-08T15:53:00.002-04:00

...in 57 simple steps

Step 1 Stalk your partner's blog/flickr. (Excellent practice for the doll quilt swap stalking that I'm currently participating in.)

Step 2 Sleep on all those ideas running around your brain, hoping all the while that your subconscious mind will pare them down and spit out the best and brightest.

Step 3 Be severely disappointed in your subconcious for slacking off last night.

Step 4 Begin feverishly doodling, something...anything.

Step 5 Find a super cool preschool craft on line and immediately know what to make.

Step 6 Produce varying degrees and large quantities of successful cloud elements for your mobile.

Step 7 Realize that they are all too heavy to suspend in mid air and run to the craft store for the perfect weight ribbon.

Step 8 Be told by your all knowing ten year old that there's no way that ribbon will work.

Step 9 Be stubborn.

Step 10 Let ribbon dry over night and wave successful ribbon like cloud in ten year old's face. Ha!

Step 11 Totally change the original idea and actually use a few of the original cloud elements along with the new and improved ones.

Step 12 Gather branches from the yard in sub zero temperatures.

Step 13 Spend way to much time balancing all the new elements and last minute whims.
Step 14 Make all family members acknowledge that not only is this thing actually balanced, but the ribbon clouds worked and look, look at the super cute birds. Aren't they fun?!

Step 15 Figure out how you could possibly send this through the postal system without it becoming one giant ball of ribbon and string.

Step 16 Family members breathe collective sigh of relief that super cool mobile has left the premises and mommy no longer wanders around covered in yarn and glue.

If you still need a little mobile inspiration for that subconscious mind of yours, you can check out all the other really cool mobiles at Elsie Marley's Mobile Swap 2009.

A Little Doll Quilt Inspiration

2009-03-05T08:26:00.003-05:00

1. DSCN1715.JPG, 2. Great Grandma's Pink Dresden Baby Quilt, 3. Quick!, 4. "Roses by the Dozen" by Raewyn Khosla, 5. "In a Quilter's Garden II" by Karen Krueger, 6. vintage loot, 7. Alphabet Quilt, finished, 8. hooked house for Jill Berry, 9. Playing With More Chairs, 10. 4W Quilt for Kromama, 11. gift, 12. patchwork heart, 13. cosmetic bag "orange bird" - detail, 14. detail-profil, 15. village, 16. little fabric houses

Created with fd's Flickr Toys.
Created with fd's Flickr Toys.

Doll Quilt Swap 6

2009-03-03T15:28:00.004-05:00

An open letter to my super secret Doll Quilt Swap6 partner.

Hello o super secret one! If you have found my blog in a effort to snoop out things I love to use for doll quilt inspiration, you've come to the right place. Have a look around, make yourself at home, check out the blog ramblings and flickr faves. I'm hoping to make this round easy for you! :)

So let's see, let's talk about color. Love color, lots of color...red,yellow, green, aqua...pink as of late, black and white checks are an all time fav. I'm more of a pure color girl too, in case you were wondering just how red we're talking about. I've never been a big fan of the darker more muted country colors (burgundy, slate blue, dusty pink etc.) or the crazy neons either.

Alright, assuming you haven't left yet, let's talk fabric. I think I have some pretty eclectic taste in fabric, love everything from the designer stuff, to Japanese prints, to one of my favorites 30's and 40's repro prints. If you get far enough in reading this blog you will undoubtedly come across several mentions of my favorite craft/thrift store where I spend way too much time stalking vintage fabrics, lace and linens. See? Eclectic, vintage, lace, linen, modern and repro fabrics, love it all.

Still here? Alright then, as far as style goes, I'll leave that up to you. That is after all the point of all this secrecy isn't it? .... a really cool surprise in the mail when all is said and done.

Well, o secret one, I can't wait to see what you come up with (the suspense is killing me) and to find out who you are. For now, thank you for reading this far and I'll leave you to your snooping.

Love, me :)

More Handmade Goodness

2009-02-25T08:53:00.004-05:00

Well, in addition to wandering off from the blog for a while, looks like I've neglected to post the swaps I've sent and received. Grab your coffee and get comfy...this could be a long one.

While we were out wandering the country, the Birds of Change Exchange flew into town. I love this idea for a swap organized by Creative Kismet. So perfect for this time of year. At least around these parts we could certainly use a little bit of spring and a lot less snow. Even if those bits of spring happen to arrive in my mailbox, I'll take it. Look at all the sweet little birds that have already found spots to nest in their new home. Good stuff!

Speaking of good stuff, I recieved my super cute little mini quilt in a bag swap from Heather.
Heather and I exchanged bags of fabric months ago and made each other quilt from them. Seems like this swap went on forever ( it had an extended due date because of the holidays) but it was worth the wait. Believe it or not this was Heather's first quilt and I think she did a great job! I know its hard to see in this pic but it really is adorable and already hanging on my wall. Thanks Heather!
Now, I know you've already seen bits of this one, but this is the final shot of the mini I made for Heather. This one was really fun to make and was inspired by some vintage dress patterns and the graphic on the box my new (vintage look) phone came in.

Inspiration really is everywhere. You just have to be willing to see it. :)

And finally for today anyway, here is a sweet paper pieced log cabin I received from Suzee for the February Swap Till You Drop group.
...oh and a sneaky peek at the paper pieced mini I sent to Suzee, winging its way to her as I type.
So tell me, what's inspiring you today?

Seems I've Wandered Off

2009-02-22T19:23:00.002-05:00

Alright, so who's tired of looking at that flickr mosaic? Seems I've wandered off in the last few weeks and abandoned this little space. The kids have been home on winter break, Valentine crafting has been finished, a trip to Virginia to visit some of our favorite people(who let all six of us stay in their brand new beautiful home. Thank you Neenee!) and lots of other good stuff in between has all left me without much time to spare.

Unfortunately, all that laundry from Virginia had to come before blogging (people need their clothes you know). We're nearing the end of the mountain of clothes, the family car is finally cleaned out, groceries were bought and school starts up again tomorrow. Almost back to what we call normal in this house.

Ooo! I almost forgot, on the way home we made our first ever trip to IKEA. The kids got bored fairly quickly and went to the playplace for a bit (not something we usually do) and while I was a little worried....they were a little disappointed to see me come to sign them out! Woohoo IKEA!
Great design, low prices and super cool playplace for the kids!

Also, if your wondering why there are no pics of our fun trip, the IKEA haul or my friend's pretty new house....yea, about that....I had the camera with me (new batteries too) and never touched it the entire time. Duh. So sorry...I'll be back tomorrow with an actual picture filled post full of crafty goodness from the "Wandering Days".

Feel the Flickr Love

2009-02-02T07:47:00.004-05:00

1. "Keep My Heart Close" Double Sided Collage Pendant, 2. sewing, 3. handmade zakka for baby, 4. Tulipas..., 5. pincushions, 6. Needlework (C365, days 332-5), 7. valentine bird, 8. happy fairies, 9. Pink placemat
Created with fd's Flickr Toys.

The temperature has risen above 15 degrees (at least for a moment). The calendar says its almost Valentine's Day and most definitely Groundhog Day. Spring is in the air, feel the warmth of some Flickr love. :)

Why I Love My Mailman

2009-01-31T10:21:00.006-05:00

Sometimes,
I walk to the mailbox and find, buried beneath the snow all around, a happy package just for me.

This arrived yesterday from Sara, my January Swap Till You Drop. This was Sara's first time participating in a quilt swap although you would never know it. The theme was Sing it, Read it or Watch it, and Sara made me a quilt based on To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee. She did a beautiful job on this and I love that she included quotes from the book.
Sara also sent a fantastic pile of treats for me including some really fun polka dot fabric. Thank you so much Sara! I really love it! :)

And, here's the final reveal on the Patsy Cline "Crazy" inspired mini I made for Sara. Some vintage lace, repro fabric, a little coffee dying courtesy of Starbuck's, pearl buttons and a vintage gold concho for a very 1950's country western, lipstick and high heels kind of quilt. Just for fun, I made Sara this scrappy little LOVE heart to make her mailbox happy too.

I hope your having a day filled with the things that make you happy too! :)

Pay it Forward

2009-01-28T13:37:00.004-05:00

Thanks to my wonderful January swap partner Sara, I'm now in on her Pay it Forward event.
Sara has agreed to send a little handmade goodness within the next 365 days, to the first three people who signed up for this round. I of course, am one of the lucky three!

In turn, I have agreed to Pay it Forward and send a little handmade something to the first three people who sign up right here. The only catch of course, is that to be one of my three lucky ducks, you must agree to continue this lovely chain of handmade happiness to three people of your own. C'mon, I know you want to...you can fit three more handmade little gifts into the next 365 days. I know you can. :) Come out, come out wherever you are.....who will my three be?

Winter Weekend or How Snow Can Make You a Crazy Person

2009-01-26T13:11:00.002-05:00

A recap of our still freezing cold, not a green blade of grass in sight weekend at home.

Pink Marble Marshmallows. Thank you Martha Stewart. This was Momo's idea but, of course she decided she'd rather go to the library half way through the recipe. Guess who finished making those.

Finishing up all those swaps I've signed up for. Seems I am unable to control myself with the whole swapping thing. Note new mobile swap on my sidebar. From left to right: Five birds for the Bird's of Change Exchange, a Gee's Bend inspired Mini, the January Swap Till You Drop inspired by Patsy Cline's "Crazy", and also destined to be in the mail this week, the Mini Quilt in a Bag Swap for Heather. Whew. Mini raspberry pie made by me. Totally my idea, unlike the marshmallows. I even stole the little skillet from the kids. The Monkey man spent more time pretending to cook that little thing than he did eating it.
A new do for me, oh and a little color too. That stripe down the center that I had working was not cute. This one's for you Neenee. You know how much I love having my picture taken. :0!
And to round out the weekend, a night of crafting mania by several of the kids and and adult or two. How was your weekend?

Spare Change Anyone?

2009-01-22T08:00:00.005-05:00

Don't be nervous, I'm not asking for money. :)
This is the pieced top made with the 5inch squares I received from the Spare Change Swap. Yes those are the very orange legs over there of one of my lovely assistants. They were the only two tall enough to hold that thing up so I could get some kind of picture of it. They were of course more than happy to help out . Yep, hardly any arguing at all.

I must have drawn twenty different designs for this one to make sure it would show off all that really cool fabric I received. I finally settled on this altered disappearing nine patch. Honestly, after the top was pieced and the red border was on I was not in love. Its funny what adding just a little more to a project can do. One eight inch white border later and LOVE.

I think this one might be the perfect little back of the couch snuggle quilt for the coldest room in the house. Clyde the dog has already tested for size and seemed happy, until I found him. It is all about Clyde you know.

Giveaway Winner!!!

2009-01-21T11:57:00.003-05:00

Random Integer Generator

Here are your random numbers:

Timestamp: 2009-01-21 16:56:29 UTC

Drumroll......and the winner of the first ever giveaway is.........clang, bash, cymbals crashing.......Affectioknit! Congratulations,! This cute little guy will be heading your way. :)

Please email me your snail mail address and I'll send you a little happy mail!

A big thank you to everyone else who stopped by and all the kind comments. They really do make my day a bit brighter. I'll be stopping by at all your blogs to have a look around and I hope you'll come back and check in here once in a while as well.

This was really fun and I have a feeling there will be more giveaways in the future!

First Ever Giveaway!

2009-01-20T08:08:00.005-05:00

Welcome giveaway people! This is it the first ever giveaway on Spinster Handmade! I know you want to be a part of it ....nothing like a little peer pressure in the morning. This Bird of Hope is a part of the Birds of Change Exchange hosted by Regina at Creative Kismet.

This cute little guy is handstitched by me in linen and cotton fabrics. He hangs from a wire perch adorned with fabric scraps, vintage lace and checked ribbon. Lucky bird. Oh, and just to make sure the little guy arrives in style, included will be a beautiful vintage handkerchief edged in blue. You can kind of see it in the pic up there so take a look. If you'd like to find this little guy in your mailbox, don't be shy. Leave a comment telling me what you'd like to see more of right here or just say hi, I like new people. Entries will close tomorrow morning at 10am EST. The winner will be randomly selected by some yet to be determined super fancy method and announced at high noon January 21st. Go ahead, leave a comment,talk to me, you know you want to. :) Good luck!

In the works

2009-01-14T14:39:00.005-05:00

A couple of sneaky peeks at works in progress. The theme for Swap Till You Drop this month is "read it, sing it or watch it". Yep, sounds simple doesn't it. Right up to the part where you start obsessing over how your partner could possibly make a quilt based on oh say, To Kill a Mockingbird or any of the other titles on the bookshelf. Hmmm...that's the part where it all goes plunk.
Lucky for me, my partner had just as much trouble coming up with a working title but we both narrowed it down to three or four choices. Number 1 on Sara's list was Patsy Cline's "Crazy". I know you know it, sing it with me....Crazy...crazy for feelin' so lonelyyyyy.....woohoo,
1950's, high heels, red lipstick, twirly dresses and a little country. What else could I ask for?
I pulled out all the vintage stops for this one, some old lace, pearl buttons, Patsy Cline's lyrics, and finally thanks to Starbuck's for their excellent coffee dyeing to make that little quilt so happy.

Next in my long line of projects is the Mini Quilt in a Bag Swap for Heather. Heather sent all this beautiful Katie Jump Rope fabric for me to work with along with some fun trims. After checking out Heather's site and her Flickr its pretty clear she loves a good twirly apron. She's participated in a bunch of apron swaps and her work is great!

I didn't think Heather would mind if I went a little retro with the theme for this one, so I used a vintage pattern for inspiration and added a little more twirl. I love the way this one is coming out and could so see it hanging on my own wall....I think I'll start on a twin for myself when the project pile clears out a bit. The swap deadline for this one is coming up fast so the full reveal on this one in the very near future! :)

Parts is parts

2009-01-13T07:59:00.003-05:00

Parts is parts, originally uploaded by spinster sister.

The beginnings of the Birds of Change Exchange. Some linen, a little embroidery, happy fabric, bits of vintage lace, a little wire and my favorite ribbon combine to make a very happy flock of birds. Five of those little guys will fly off to be part of the exchange very soon but one lucky bird could be yours! Don't forget there will be a birdy giveaway right here January 20th. Check back to enter! :)

Creative Birds of a Feather

2009-01-06T08:55:00.006-05:00

I've just signed up for the Birds of Change Swap hosted by Creative Kismet. Each participant will make 5 birds to swap and a 6th bird to giveaway on their blog on January 20th. There are tons of examples up over there for inspiration. Lots of Flickr fun to look at. So if you have birds on the brain, like I do go check it out.

Oh, and in case you missed that last part, there will be some bird giveaways on January 20th.
That's right people, Giveaways! Regina will have the whole list of participants on her blog before the official date but, I'll let you in on a little secret. Just between us, I'll definitely be participating in that birdy giveaway fun. So take a look at the swap info, sign up, make some birds, and check back here on the 20th for some bird love.

Quilt Love

2009-01-02T15:58:00.006-05:00

Happy 2009! Time for a little bloggy housekeeping...it seems I took a rather long break over the holiday chaos, so no time like the present to catch up.

First up is my beautiful mini from Quiltinkimmie for the December Mini Quilt Swap on Flickr.
The theme for this one was "My Favorite Things" and Kim certainly nailed it! Made with all reproduction 1930's fabrics and beautifully stitched. I love it so much, its hanging in my kitchen so that I can look at it all day. Yeah, I spend a lot of time in the kitchen.

Next we have the big Christmas gifting reveal, close your eyes and walk directly to the mirror...oh, that's the cosmetic surgery channel. Alright, back to the quilting talk. Yet another mini made for my friend and her new mini mansion. Neenee needed something to brighten up one of those many bathrooms and so we have the "Wash Day" mini. I swear it started out as neutral colors NeeNee. I don't know what happens once I get going. This little quilt took a lovely trip with the Monkeys (Stella and Irene, see post below) and from what I hear is now hanging prominently in the loo. :)
More Christmas fun! Rum balls for everyone! What could be better than balls made of rum, especially for the husband's co-workers. We all know no one gets any actual work done the day before Christmas. :)
And for those all important teachers in our lives, list takers from a pattern by JC Handmade. I'm told they are all currently in use (except maybe the one I gave my brother in-laws new girlfriend, you never can tell....). Not to mention the forty or so loaves of Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bread that went off to Middle School with G. Boy, that kid has a lot of teachers.
We've spent today organizing, chore charts have been made, new House Rules posted and an ABC Gratitude list compiled. The kids it seems, thought they were in charge for a minute there.
Not to worry though, order has been restored and chances are very good that no one will be smacked in the eye with a flip flop by a rampant sibling tommorrow. We'll see how long the peace lasts. How about a round of Kumbaya?

Signing off

2008-12-30T18:33:00.004-05:00

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3207/3151080751_8c82ff6d62_b.jpg

Signing off to ring in 2009 with a family camp-in, snacks and fun. See you next year with a holiday recap and some new work in progress.

Wishing you a sweet New Year!
Jill

PS: Look closely at the big man's features, all carved from a lovely butternut squash. The word for 2009 is "Improvise". :)

All is Calm

2008-12-28T16:10:00.005-05:00

1. Custom White Felt Wool Beads #2, 2. quick embroidered coaster..., 3. Vintage buttons and brooch bracelet, 4. White Felted Hearts Made From Recycled Sweater, 5. mummy and baby polars, 6. White on White, 7. blooms in white, 8. Handmade by me, 9. Handmade By Me, 10. Handmade Pink Christmas Ornaments-I love glitter!!, 11. Handmade bed, 12. handmade ornaments

That's my boy!

2008-12-19T20:16:00.003-05:00

"I feel sick mama."

What kind of sick bub?

"You know, like Jello mama."

Me thinks its all the gummies daddy fed him.

Monkey love

2008-12-19T19:30:00.003-05:00

Meet Stella and Irene. I've been feelin a little bit of that monkey love this Christmas and these two cuties are now in the hands of two of my favorite girls. I was lucky enough to be on the phone with the mama (who is also listed among my favorite people, and its a short list you know) of those two while they open up their monkey friends and yes there was a little squealing.

Stella and Irene had to travel a bit to arrive in the hands of those girls but from all reports it was worth the trip. The legwarmers worn by Irene were custom made for this special monkey as was Stella's super cool hat. Both were whipped up by Miss Momo, ten years old and an eye for monkey fashion.

We love you and miss you Stella, Irene and the monkey keepers. Merry Christmas to our favorite peeps. :)

December's Mini Quilt Swapping

2008-12-16T07:37:00.004-05:00

Kim already received her package for the 6-12" Mini Quilt Swap, yay USPS! The theme this month was 'My Favorite Things'. Each partner lists five of their favs and you can choose which of their favorites to work with. Kim had a great list of favs so it was hard to narrow it down.
My first thought was to fit each of the five in the quilt somehow. I must have sketched out forty different way to make that happen. In the end though, the sketch I liked the best was a pared down Wizard of Oz theme (Kim's favorite movie, and one of mine too).

I pieced the background in greens, reds and golds for the Emerald City and the sky from some fun cow jumped over the moon fabric . Yeah, I know there's no cow in Oz but the fabric worked so I went with it. I drew the witch pattern after a quick looks at some movie stills to get the right pose and of course one of the best quotes from the movie is stitched alongside the wicked one.
Each of the hanging charms is made from fabric handstitched (quilted almost) onto two layers of wool felt. I know I said I simplified this quilt but I still couldn't fit everything in that little quilt and so the charms were born. I think they might be my favorite part and I'll probably make more of them eventually. I think they might make really cute little pins.
Kim sent me a beautiful mini as well. I love it so much that it deserves a post of its own. Yes, I did make the happy noise when I opened her package. Check back and see how pretty Kim's mini is! Its already found a very happy spot on my kitchen wall. :)

Cozy

2008-12-15T09:06:00.007-05:00

1. Tea Cozy, 2. ( home = heart ), 3. Playing with Scraps of Color, 4. Yo Yo Quilt, 5. patchwork grubs, 6. The Little Pink House, 7. teapot, 8. petite village, 9. "Tea Party" - Sewn Collage Art Quilt

Created with fd's Flickr Toys.

mmmm....cookies

2008-12-12T18:26:00.003-05:00

mmmm....cookies, originally uploaded by spinster sister.

It smells like Christmas around here. Cookies are beginning to pile up in the most unexpected places. Unexpected because someone's children have already eaten at least half of the stockpile. Its alright, I'm a very creative cookie hider.

The latest batch making my house smell so good is the classic Alaska cookie. Named by G when he was to young to pronounce Molasses and during a time when the grandparents were driving from NY to Alaska every summer. Alaska cookies were born. G won't touch chocolate anything but will eat a spice cookie anytime. Go figure, if I couldn't positively identify that giant head of his I would have sworn they switched babies at the hospital. We love him anyway of course, aversion to chocolate and all.

If your in mid-Christmas baking hysteria or haven't even started these are a great, make your house smell amazing cookie that will keep until the big day (if you hide them well).

Alaska Cookies

1 1/2 cups butter
2c sugar
2 Large eggs
1/2c molasses
4c flour
4tsp soda
1/2 tsp salt
2tsp cinnamon
2tsp ginger
1tsp cloves

So you mix them in the typical cookie like way, roll into balls, roll in sugar and bake at 375 degrees for 10-12 minutes. I'd watch the first batch to see how long it really takes. Apparently my oven is a little quick and I swear they were looking done in 6 minutes so use your own judgement. Let me know if you give them a try!

Let's try this again...

2008-12-11T15:34:00.003-05:00

So, the camera works fine. Yup, did you know that there should be software involved when your trying to upload photos from a new camera ? Not normally something I would miss but after eight weeks alone with four kids, I'm not exactly functioning at my best. Yeah, I think I'll be using that excuse for awhile. :)

This is the package I sent to Heather for the Mini Quilt in a Bag Swap. Nothing like a little procrastination. I decided to add the piece of vintage dresser scarf that I embroidered the night before the package went out. Sorry for the wait Heather! The pattern is of course from the Hoop Love group on flickr. Good stuff over there if you like vintage. Heather will be making a mini quilt to send back to me out of these materials. She picked out some great stuff for her own mini which I received a little while ago. Heather sent tons of Katie Jump Rope fabric and some great trim too. I've already got an idea in the works for that one!

Thanksgiving weekend seemed like a great time to start a few more Christmas gifts. The dress and swingy little shirt will be for Miss Mimi. Both are really cute simple patterns which probably would have been done already if I hadn't sewn one of the ruffles on upside down. See first paragraph for my standard excuse.

The red and white is a super soft flannel and the pink paisley is baby cord.

Wrapping up for today is a very poorly lit pic of a quick linen and wool pillow I made from a thrifted embroidery. The couch needed a little sprucing up for the holidays.

I'll be back soon with some pics of the amazing fabric stash I received from Oh Franson for my lucky Giveaway Day win. Oh lucky day!

Darn Camera

2008-12-04T13:33:00.003-05:00

Another pictureless post today. Not to worry though, the new camera has been recovered from the sticky kid hands. Today however, I can't seem to figure out how to upload all those pics. Frustrating little camera it is . I'm usually just a wing it kind of girl, no instructions for me thank you very much. This time though I've read the manual (which by the way had all of six words on how to upload) three times and my computer is still staring blankly at me, or maybe its the other way around.

On to bigger and better things, I won something ! Woo hoo! Can I get a Woo Hoo? Yes, I did make the kids do that for me at breakfast. They already know I'm crazy, it will be okay. I left comments on an embarrassingly large number of blog giveaways yesterday, all organized by Sew Mama Sew. They hosted a great blog giveaway day and Elizabeth at Oh Franson deserves a great big thank you from me because oh, did I mention, I won! Elizabeth had up for grabs four postal boxes filled with all kinds of cool fabric and one of them is headed my way. She has a great site with tons of tutorials that I'll be adding to my bloglist. Alright, so one more woohoo for me and off you go to check out Oh Franson.

PS:Neenee-the curtains are awesome! Now get off this site and go paint something...Christmas is coming! :)

Thankful

2008-12-01T20:56:00.004-05:00

Well, I hope everyone had a nice Thanksgiving and plenty to be thankful for. I'm most thankful for my husband home again after an eight week business trip. Whew. That was possibly the longest eight weeks of my life. Anyway, home safe and sound and the kids are so happy they won't even let him out of their site. Like I said plenty to be thankful for.

I've actually had a pretty productive couple of days making Christmas gifts, unfortunately I have nothing to show you because one of those adorable kids has wandered off with my camera. Someone's probably making an awesome video of the dog. I'll be back soon to post some actual photographic proof of gift making but until then I'll be hanging out with my husband. We'll probably just be looking for the camera together but it still counts. :)

Happy December 1st!

Red and Aqua Swap

2008-11-24T09:30:00.002-05:00

Red and Aqua Swap, originally uploaded by spinster sister.

Red and Aqua Swap

2008-11-24T09:15:00.015-05:00

Red and Aqua Swap, originally uploaded by spinster sister.

Mail from Australia

2008-11-24T09:15:00.014-05:00

Red and Aqua Swap, originally uploaded by spinster sister.

My Red and Aqua Swap package arrived all the way from Tracey in Australia. I want to say right now that, yes, I was ridiculously excited by what I received. Tracey did such a great job with all the little projects she made. Her tiny little stitches are amazing. Sorry about the slightly blurry photo but the winter light is not making it easy. I've already starting sketching some new ideas in the cute sketchbook holder and the little house magnet is making its way to the refrigerator once I clear off a two inch spot. The kids have been making and hanging tons of art these days. I know its probably hard to see in the cruddy pic but Tracey also sent some kangaroo and airplane confetti, tags, embroidery thread and make sure you check out the close ups of a couple other projects below. Thank you so much Tracey, I love it all!

Red and Aqua Swap

2008-11-24T09:14:00.001-05:00

Red and Aqua Swap, originally uploaded by spinster sister.

Another Giveaway!

2008-11-21T07:29:00.006-05:00

Film in the Fridge is giving away some very cool stuff to celebrate her 100th post! Check this out!

Love the cute napkins with ric rac and the fabric scraps would be great for adding to some of my Christmas gift projects! All you need to do to enter is head on over to Film in the Fridge, congratulate her on all those posts (you should read some of them too, good stuff!) and tell her about some of the gifts you'll be making this year. Good luck, and if you win don't feel obligated to share with me or anything...

Australia or Bust!

2008-11-20T13:54:00.002-05:00

Red and Aqua Swap, originally uploaded by spinster sister.

Tracey received her package for the Red and Aqua Swap so I can finally post what I've been busy working on. Of course, a big woohoo! goes out to the US Postal Service for shipping in what must be near record time. I think it took longer to ship to Canada!
This package was really fun to put together. The shiny thing in the center is a pack of tiny vintage Christmas ornaments found at my favorite shop along with the vintage handkerchief that I embroidered. The notebook holder is from a pattern by JCHandmade with an embroidery design by moi. I'm lovin' the hexagons these days. Two tea towels are embellished with doily type things from yup, you guessed it, my favorite store. That tiny little necklace is a handstitched patchwork pendant with a linen backing and vintage button. I liked it so much, I made myself a twin. A little Chai spice tea, chocolate bar with dried cherries, a magazine to read and an amazing smelling candle wrapped up the swap. Hope you enjoy everything Tracey!

Handstitched Patchwork Pendant

2008-11-20T13:42:00.006-05:00

Handstitched Patchwork Pendant, originally uploaded by spinster sister.

Tea Towels

2008-11-20T13:42:00.005-05:00

Tea Towels, originally uploaded by spinster sister.

Stitching

2008-11-19T19:10:00.002-05:00

Stitching, originally uploaded by spinster sister.

Look at all the cute stitching done by our group of fifth grade American Girl Club Members! They did such a great job and really took their time with this project. So proud! The girls used crayons to tint the fabric and stitched the outlines to finish it off. I spent the morning looking around for fun embroidery patterns for the girls to stitch. As usual, I found some really cute patterns but even after downsizing them they were either too intricate or too big for the hoops.
I really did think I'd bought the larger hoops. In the end I drew up some simple designs myself.
I think you can see for yourself which were the most popular. (hmmm...cupcake....) I was so impressed by how much time and patience the girls put into this project. They really did a great job and its pretty clear by the lack of whining that they really are growing up. :)

Swap Till You Drop Mini

2008-11-18T11:35:00.004-05:00

Early November Mini Quilt, originally uploaded by spinster sister.

This is my November Mini Quilt for Swap Till You Drop group on flickr. Its my first time participating in this swap and it was so much fun I've already signed up for December! The theme for November was a two color mini, so of course I went with my all time favorite red and white combo. The embroidery is a free pattern from Andrea Zuill of Badbird's. If you haven't already been over there, now is the time to go check it out! Andrea posts a new free pattern each month and they are fantastic. This is the first time I've tried a disappearing nine patch pattern and, not only was it almost too easy, but I love the way it looks with all the white. What do you think? Is this a possibility for the Spare Change Swap? Oh, and yes I finally stopped ogling my squares for the Spare Change Quilt, but just so you know, I am not at all embarrassed by my behavior. :)

Spare Change Swap Fabric

2008-11-17T18:37:00.004-05:00

Spare Change Swap Fabric, originally uploaded by spinster sister.

This amazing package was in my mailbox today. This is my Spare Change Swap fabric all ready to be made into a quilt. I can't even imagine how long it must have taken Juliette to put all these packages together. Although, it must have been fun sorting through all that fabric ( for the first couple of hours anyway)! Did you see the cute apron one in the center? And the apples, and the retro flowers on the top left? Good stuff! So, now that all the squares have arrived its time to decide what the quilt should be. Any thoughts?
Now I know this is repetitive but, did you see the aprons?! Umm... wow, and where do I get more of that? I 'm gonna go roll around in my fabric now. :0)

A Little Bit of This

2008-11-14T14:10:00.002-05:00

Aqua and Red Swap, originally uploaded by spinster sister.

Just the tiniest bit of a couple of projects for the Red and Aqua Swap winging its way to Australia. Okay, its probably sitting in some bin in the post office but still its on its way Tracey! Cross your fingers and make a wish and maybe customs will be quick! I hope you like your surprises Tracey, its been so much fun making them for you! I'll post pics of the whole shebang once it makes across the world.

Oh, and some of our favorite people are picking up and moving into their shiny new mansion today. A house fit for the Queen in all of them! We love you Neenee and hope you'll make it through the moving mania! I'll be making tiaras for everyone, except you Mr. Bones. Happy new house!

Quilt, quilt, quilt Giveaway !!!!

2008-11-13T14:43:00.003-05:00

Yup, its another quilt giveaway in blogland. How amazing are these? The Old Red Barn Co. is giving away each of these three beauties, and yes in yet another lame attempt to up my chances in the drawing, I'm showing them to you. Now, as usual, you may look but of course please do not enter the contest...there, I knew you wouldn't. Thank you in advance for your good luck wishes on the giveaway. :)

November Quiltie Sneak Peek

2008-11-12T17:24:00.002-05:00

November Sneak Peek, originally uploaded by spinster sister.

Here's a quick look at a mini quilt I just finished November Swap Till You Drop group on flickr. Its a two color theme so I used my all time favorite red and white combo. The full reveal coming soon!

Swaps and more swaps

2008-11-11T14:38:00.003-05:00

Goods for the Mini Quilt in a Bag Swap, originally uploaded by spinster sister.

These are the fabrics and other goodies I'll be sending to my partner for the Mini Quilt in a bag swap. Most of the chocolate and aqua squares are from a Moda Tula Pink Nest Charm Pack. I bought them from Hancock's of Paducah (really great customer service and super fast shipping). The others are an Alexander Henry (blue and brown mod print on the far left) some chocolate and natural linens and a little aqua piece, some vintage lace and crochet hexagons from the local thrift craft store. Seriously, I'm developing a real problem when it comes to that place! Stay tuned for the upcoming intervention.....I also found a vintage dresser scarf that had seen better days. I'm thinking about stitching a small design and including that in my swap bag as part of the mini quilt. Any suggestions on what exactly to stitch? I can seem to make up my mind. See how I went right back to what else I bought at that store?! A sure sign of addiction! Anyway, I can't wait to see what my partner sends for me to work with and get started on her quilt.
I'm also wrapping up my package for the Red and Aqua Swap, hosted by Selena and Sarah . That will be sent out tomorrow to my partner in Austrailia so I'll be posting a sneak peek at that in the next few days. I don't want to ruin Tracey's surprise! :) You can also check out all the other swappers goods on their flickr group.

A little something and a swap

2008-11-07T07:14:00.004-05:00

List Maker, originally uploaded by spinster sister.

Well, I 've finally made something for myself. It seems like most of the things I make are gifted to others. I'm not complaining, I love making things for the people I love.
I saw this pattern on JCHandmade a little while ago and couldn't get it out of my head. Its a great pattern, ridiculously easy and quick to produce the finished list maker. There are so many ways to make it your own too! The flower parts are all handstitched onto chocolate linen. I found them at my favorite thrift/craft store. I think some of the fabric is older (some distinctly 80's fabrics in this bag of parts) but all pre-cut just waiting to be made into something fun. Just another attempt to look super cool at those PTA meetings. Its hard but I have to try.

I've joined yet another swap because apparently I can never have enough to keep me busy during the holidays! Woohoo! Is there a deadline?! I thrive under stress. Really, I just couldn't stop myself. This one sounds like too much fun. Its the Mini Quilt in a Bag Swap. You and your partner each put together a bag full of fabrics, trim embellishments etc. and exchange them. Then each partner will use the bag of fun they've received to make a mini quilt to send back. Now, I already know what I would do with all the stuff I 'm sending, I can't wait to see my partner's ideas! You can check out the flickr group to see the swap from the beginning.

Kidmade

2008-11-06T15:30:00.002-05:00

Button Jar, originally uploaded by spinster sister.

The latest and greatest in kidmade art .... a button candle jar, made with silicone and a ton of buttons all by himself. This was a project we originally did for my daughters birthday party, much more glam and shiny of course.

The Monkey-man found the extra supplies and spent the better part of an hour making this beauty. Perfect for my favorite polka-dot candles and vintage doily from the best store ever. We may be making a few more for holiday gifts!

We interrupt this blog...

2008-11-03T07:27:00.002-05:00

Tip me over Tea Towels, originally uploaded by spinster sister.

I guess I took a little break from blogging, so my apologies to my two readers. I think it was all the Halloween that did it. I usually start those costumes much earlier but some people have a habit of oh, waiting till the last minute to decide on their costume. Others just like to change their mind a few times. I don't even have proof of all the costumes because in my semi-dazed stupor I accidentally deleted all the pictures. We'll be having a reenactment of Halloween very soon.... you know, like at a wedding where you pretend to cut the cake for the photo op.
In my spare time I've been working on a few gifts. Tea towels for my mother-in-law for Christmas. I found this vintage pattern on the Hoop Love Flickr group, an amazing group of free vintage patterns.
I'm loving the happy teapot and the creamer and sugar bowl are obviously involved in some sort of dispute. Next up are the dancing spoon and fork. All the happy towel guys will be wrapped up with a nice new teapot that I hope she'll like.

Random Craftiness

2008-10-21T12:58:00.003-04:00

Can you guess what the Monkey Man is going to be for Halloween? I bet you can! Here's the sneak peek with the full reveal not far behind. We're running out of time before the annual extravaganza. Only three more costumes to go after this one, wish me luck.
Yards and yard of wool from the nicest lady who was trimming down her stash on Craig's List.
These were all estate sale purchases and she wanted to give them to someone who would put them to good use. Ooo! Over here! This isn't even all of it, there is still a ton more to wash.
She was so happy to hear that I was teaching my daughter to sew and passing on those skills to the next generation. I love meeting people like her, who talk to you forever about their lives and how things used to be.
Another addition to the stash, this time a request from a favorite teacher. More bibs for the twins who have apparently already outgrown all the infant bibs I'd made and are moving on to the real deal. Bibs for wiping off all that mushed up, smeared on, used as hair gel, baby food.

And finally a craft from an afterschool club I run with a friend. Some really fun Rainbow Spinner's made by twenty girls. This one took a while to dry. :)

We don't have a huge budget to work with so we try to recycle quite a bit. This time it was two old CD's. Each girl decorated one cd with fabric paint and gems. A little hot glue (done by the adults please) and some ribbon for a hanger and you have a really cool spinner to hang in your window.

Quilt Giveaway

2008-10-14T09:02:00.004-04:00

Lizzie Ann Quilts is having a giveaway for a beautiful quilt! I love the frayed edges on this quilt. Its a great design too! So now that I've told you about it, you can go take a look at this beautiful piece. However, since I was nice enough to tell you about it (you know, purely for inspiration) please do not leave a comment on her blog and try to win it. Clearly I can't afford any more competition over there, so many comments already. Alright? So, pinky swear that you won't comment and enter the giveaway and then you have my permission to go have a look.

I know, the suspense is killing you...

2008-10-14T07:17:00.007-04:00

Finally, the finished mini quilt for the Spare a Square Challenge. I loved making this project and using other people's scrap fabric really was fun. I think my favorite is the green in the center with the little circles and flowers. See it? How cute is that one? I'd love to get my hands on more of that. Anyone know where to find it from my tiny little piece? Get out your magnifying glass and have a look.

I had some trouble coming up with a working idea for these fabrics when they were full size. There were too many competing patterns and colors none really stood out, except the numbers of course, its hard to miss those. I knew I definitely wasn't cutting into those they are too graphic and needed to be kept whole. I started out with a confetti theme and sketched a little girl tossing fabric in the air. The sketch got tossed out, pared down along the way. I really like the idea of making something from nothing so we have all the tiny bits of fabric becoming a whole. Oh, and a limited edition numbered quilt. Only 6,313 more to go in the series according to my cool numbered scrap. :)

Becoming

2008-10-13T13:27:00.004-04:00

The beginnings of my Spare a Square project for the JCHandmade Challenge.

Little scraps of great fabric on their way to becoming something new. I should have taken a picture of the scraps as soon as I received them but I was too busy kicking around an idea for the project. My scraps were from group four and in a week or so you can take a look at the flickr group and see what everyone else came up with for this challenge. There are a few projects posted there already and they look great.

Vintage Bits and Pieces

2008-10-11T19:22:00.003-04:00

Another good day at the local craft/thrift store. Love that place! So many fun things to show you. I know I can't be the only one who makes the squealy noise when finding a whole bag of vintage silk thread spools for....ready? Two, yep two dollars. My family thinks its a little weird that I'm not planning to actually sew with it. Maybe someday...okay, probably not. Right now they look fantastic in their little vintage pyramid on my grandmother's desk.
Also from the amazing thrifty crafty place, a huge bag of quilt pieces already basted and waiting for a project to call home. I found a place for some of them on a new notebook holder so I can look ultra cool when I go to those PTA meetings. Its hard to be cool at PTA. :)
On a totally unrelated note, I received my scraps of fabric from JCHandmade for the Spare a Square Challenge. Its amazing how being handed a few fabrics you probably wouldn't have combined yourself can make think. I wasn't really sure where this project was going when I first saw the scraps. After a day of ignoring them and then waking up the next morning thinking about it, I finally got started. The project is going in a totally different direction than I thought, but I really think I like it. Oh, and here's a teaser, I used a little bit of some vintage goodness to pull it all together. Stay tuned for a WIP photo hopefully tommorow.

WIP Winter in October

2008-10-06T15:34:00.004-04:00

I know its only October but its been awfully cold here lately, maybe the temperature has something to do with the look of this project. Last night I pulled out my basket of vintage odds and ends and played until I found a combination I liked. I started with the snowflake and pulled in some subtle winter colors. Miss Mimi has decided it looks like a snow globe and so, a snowglobe it will be! The background is vintage linen recycled from an embroidery I was given, which will soon be a new pillow for the bedroom. I don't have any plans for the snowglobe yet....

but I do love the way the late afternoon light shines through.

Spare Change Swap

2008-10-04T14:41:00.007-04:00

Have you seen this?!
Chickpea Sewing Studio is organizing a scrap challenge. Sign ups are open until October 15th.
Basically a 1/2 yard fabric swap (cut into 5x5 inch squares). The squares will be used to make a white and scrap quilt. I may just be able to check a Christmas gift off my list after this swap!

An example of a white and scrap quilt made by Chickpea herself. I love the way the white makes all the fabrics stand out. Go check out that swap for yourself and let's make some quilts!

Goods for the Gratitude Swap

2008-09-28T10:55:00.011-04:00

No more sneak peeks! Here's the real deal, this is my completed Gratitude Swap package winging its way to Tonya. She should receive this today. Hope you like it Tonya!
I used Soulemama's free Gratitude Wrap Pattern. You can find the downloadable pattern in her sidebar. This pattern is great, easy to follow and quick to produce. So simple and yet so cute!

Tonya likes a good surprise so I hope this is fun for her. My only clues were greens, browns and she loves hedgehogs. The wrap is mostly linen with recycled denim (with four kids we have a lot of that around here!) and some other fun scraps. I used denim and chenille for the inside pockets for some added texture. The cute hedgie embroidery pattern is a freebie from Pimp Stitch , another fun pattern!

I filled those pockets with some handmade cards, made with stamped linen scraps and stitched onto cardstock. I really like the way these turned out. Oh, and if you look closely, the thread ends were left on intentionally. I thought it looked kind of cool.

Also included in the package were a few local treats. We found some yummy candy, popcorn on the cob, apple jelly and a beeswax candle with a (plastic) bee in it at the local farm market. They have the best stuff and the coolest Halloween Teepee filled with Jack-o-lanterns so it was no hardship for the kids to go shop there! Although the littlest one did leave the teepee in tears. I think it was the hanging skeletons at the end. Oops, forgot about that part.

This was a great swap, hosted by Melissa and I had so much fun putting all this together!
Alright, now go check out those free patterns!

Waahahaha......spooky!

2008-09-27T08:52:00.006-04:00

Wow! Its really hard to photograph a table runner! You'll have to forgive the weird angle because short of standing on my head to get the shot, and I did consider it, this is the best I could do. :)
So its almost October and in our house that means a trip to the attic to release the ghouls and goblins. New for our table this year is this slightly wonky modified log cabin runner with spookies. I feel little like a game show host with my description... so, "Come on down ghouls and gals! Its almost Halloween!"

(Cue sinister laugh) Waahahaha..........................................

Whoo Knew?

2008-09-22T13:36:00.003-04:00

Who knew it would be so much fun to color paper reinforcements? Mr. Man and Mimi spent the better part of an hour coloring the stickers and making pictures out of them. Check out the tie dye ones! I wish I had more pictures to post but they were all gifted immediately upon completion. I can tell you though, they do make excellent owl eyes!

Sneak Peek

2008-09-21T18:46:00.007-04:00

A sneak peek at a WIP for the Gratitude Swap. I'll be wrapping up a few loose ends and mailing it out this week. I hope my swap partner likes it.

The Colors of Fall

2008-09-21T15:24:00.008-04:00

Sunflowers from the village Farm Market.

Apples fresh from the tree.
A new school bag with a Gnome (embroidery design from Badbird's) to tag along.
Happy Fall!

Magic Carpet Bag

2008-09-15T14:23:00.007-04:00

A little late for a beach but, a finally a bag big enough to fit all our towels for swimming at the Y. This beauty holds six beach towels, keys, sunglasses, snacks and a small sketchbook. What else could we need?

Made using linen and my favorite Japanese nesting doll fabric and some recycled jeans for the pocket and strap. I made up the bag as I went along and was able to finish it in an afternoon. I think my favorite part is the pink chenille scrap that I used to line the top four or five inches of the lining. It gave the bag a nice weight at the top and kept it from being to droopy.

Totally unrelated to the bag, I've also signed up for a few swaps/challenges. The Gratitude Swap is being hosted by Melissa and the Spare a Square Challenge hosted by JC Handmade. For those of you Seinfeld fans.....the challenge is totally unrelated to the toilet paper episode. I do love the name though and can't wait to get started! I'll post pics of the Gratitude Swap as soon as my partner receives it.

Campy

2008-09-02T15:02:00.006-04:00

Another spectacular family portrait. This is the hike on which G thought it would be fun to jog up the 400 stone steps on the side of a waterfall. Some of us may have to start working out more if this camping/hiking thing is going to become a summer tradition. Also, I was at a disadvantage having to make sure Mr. Man and Mimi didn't dance themselves over the edge of the cliff. So really, its not just about the 400 steps and the wheezing, its a safety issue.

So here we are the last bits of summer. Only a few days left until school begins and we are cramming in every last bit of fun. Our second ever camping trip went surprisingly well. Hot dogs were roasted , marshmallows toasted, six people sleeping in one tent, 42 trips to the bathroom each day and none of the children fell into the fire pit. That's what I call a successful trip.

The photographer (ahem) may want to consider which way the wind is blowing the smoke in the future.

Monkey McFly

2008-09-02T12:24:00.006-04:00

The latest addition to the family, meet Monkey McFly. Two birthday gifts for Mr. Man made with love ( and very little time, I'm a last minute kind of girl) on his big birthday number five. We think he likes them. (See happy boy photo.) Monkey has a matching cape suitable for all high flying adventures. Mr. Man tested his cape out last night on the lawn. It turns out that you can actually fly higher if you hold the ends before you run. Oh, and it also helps to have your sister waiting at the end so you don't accidentally fly into the road.

Birthdays R' Us

2008-08-24T12:14:00.006-04:00

Another birthday gift, this time made for Miss Mimi. A very pink apron with a pink chenille pocket, and hiding inside were two stuffies a bunny and bear. The stuffies were free embroidery patterns from Wee Wonderfuls. There are some great freebies over there and while I do love free I also purchased the felt Gnome Pattern last year for Christmas gifts. Unfortunately, I don't have pics of those but they came out great! They were so much fun to make and were definitely a hit with the 7 to 10 year old crowd. Its going to be hard to top those gnomes!

A Box Full of Fun

2008-08-23T16:05:00.005-04:00

Morgan received her Sewing Kit from Sarah and Emily last week. We're so glad it arrived safely after a lovely vacation in customs. Morgan had been stalking the poor mailman everyday waiting for her kit. Sarah and Emily, you were too kind! Everything was just beautiful and completely color coordinated. Morgan received lots of polka dot fabric, tons of ribbon, yarn, buttons, the coolest scissors ever as well as, a make your own magnet kit made by sweet Emily.
Thank you both for your kindness! I know Morgan already has some ideas in the works for this kit!

Our First Swap

2008-08-23T15:26:00.013-04:00

We've just participated in the Children's Sewing Kit Swap hosted by Melissa. This was our first swap and it was a great experience! Melissa has such a great blog (so many fun ideas!) and did a wonderful job organizing everything! This is the kit that Morgan and I put together for our swap partners Sarah and her daughter Emily. The cool pincushion in the corner was made almost entirely by Morgan with a little help from me. She did a great job! Since I can't figure out how to make two photos go where I want them you can find Morgan's kit from Emily on the next post.....arghhh. Any advice is appreciated....please?

Mmmmm ....lunch

2008-08-22T08:06:00.006-04:00

I've been making lots of birthday gifts for some of my favorite littles. In my usual style most were made at the absolute last second.....yep, thats me, the day before the party. For our friend Riley who was turning four, a smorgasbord of felt food and an apron to cook it in. Now I did make all the food, but at the last minute had to purchase an apron. Shocking that I couldn't squeeze in that apron too! Lucky for me there is a small craft store in town whose owner make children's aprons and sells them for a crazy low price! I love that store. Little Riley is currently up to her elbows in pizza, ravioli, a mystery meat sandwich with all the fixings, bowtie pasta ( I know, a little heavy on the carbs!) an ice cream cone, orange slices and various other goodies. I still owe her a blue cotton candy. Its coming Riley! Hold on!

Give and Take

2008-08-21T17:18:00.005-04:00

Alright, I admit I've been lurking around these parts for some time now and been completely inspired by so much of the creativity going on around here. Its about time for a little more give and take from me so, here I am. I'm not only de-lurking myself but committing (I think) to posting some of my projects here, hoping to complete some and begin others. Anyway...... here I am .......let's see what happens......