Calypso's Cave

4 years

2012-02-08T08:45:00.001-06:00

Somebody has a birthday coming up this Sunday (besides Honest Abe). I thought he needed a birthday crown.

he picked out the buttons himself.

The Little Soul Suckers...

2012-02-07T16:26:00.001-06:00

I used to be witty. Really. I was. I was clever, witty and (believe it or not) even funny. I used to have interesting conversations with people that did not involve my children or my dog. So what has happened? My theory is that my children are sucking my brains out. Like little telepathic zombies, it's not their fault, they are only trying to survive. Here's some stuff I've been working on while they have been actively lowering my IQ.....

christmas table runner for my sis


a roll out restaurant play mat for my nephew


valentine crafts with kids


melted crayon hearts

beautiful colors + green tea

Advent Calendar Project

2011-12-13T12:01:00.004-06:00

At the weaving studio we get lots of fabric and yarns donated. Some good, some bad, some that leave you a little perplexed. A couple weeks ago, after cleaning, the ladies of the weaving center found themselves with a whole box of upholstery samples to get rid of. Not wanting them to go to waste, we turned our minds to what we could do with them. For example, at the Warped Milwaukee show we used them in a window display, we cut letters out of them to put on the wall, and I used a couple of them to make the Best in Show Ribbon. I brought home almost a whole bin full of them and used some more to make Kumihimo bags for the Art vs. Craft show.

And now, I've found yet a couple more uses for them. I'll only show you one of them today. I'll save the other one for later in the week. Do you do advent calendars in your house? The Christmas my daughter was 2 was the year I started making her an advent calender. Sort of. I bought 25 tiny stockings, numbered them and hung them in her room. In each one was a tiny toy or a piece of candy and she would get to open one every morning. This went on for a couple years, with me buying more and more ridiculous pieces of, for lack of a better term, garbage to put in her stockings. Once my son was born it got even more complicated. Do I now buy him 25 miniature stockings and go through the struggle of finding little crap to put in them? Do I make them share? Do I just stop the tradition all together? Yes, that's what I did. It was too much of a waste. I had once again gone overboard on something and now it was time to tone it down.

This year, as I sat gazing at these upholstery samples I had an idea.

See the grommets at the top? It's already ready for hanging. And the edges? They are already finished! How much simpler could this get?

All this fabric needed was some mini pockets. And maybe a little decoration. It doesn't even need to be perfect because it's homey and it's supposed to look homemade. So the seams? Don't worry about them. I cut muslin (nina again!) into strips that I folded over, ironed, and laid on top of each other. The longest strips are about 8 inches by 4, folded over the long way and ironed. Then the folded side is placed to the top and the strips are placed a little overlapping each other.

Pin in place and then sew the bottom edges with a zig-zag stitch. Use a sparkly, festive thread if you have one. Start with the bottom strip. Sew the bottom edge, unpin it and fold it down to do the next strip.

Once all the bottom edges are stitched you can put all the strips back up again, pin back in place and stitch their sides in the same zig-zag stitch. Then measure out the size pockets you need. I think mine were 1.5 inches? Somewhere around there. I used a ruler and a pencil and actually drew lines. Then I traced the lines with a straight stitch to create my pockets.

I bought this really cool stamp set at the Farmer's Daughter Antiques (5th and National) about a year ago. It was perfect for this project.

Again, I wasn't really worried about anything being perfect. That's part of the charm of this project.

I deliberately left space at the bottom so I could put some little Christmas trees in. All done! Except for the candy.

One piece in each little pocket. Easy Peasy. They can be used year after year and all I have to buy is a couple bags of candy.

Total Time: 1.5 hours.

Warped Milwaukee Gallery Opening.......Tonight 6pm

2011-11-12T04:39:00.001-06:00

Weaving is a dying art. In America. It's not hard to understand why really. When you think about it. It's expensive, time consuming, and just plain difficult. There is no immediate gratification in weaving. There IS gratification, but it comes...........eventually. Plus, there's a lot of math involved. People don't like doing math. With this trend in mind, my friend Susan and I diligently try to come up with new ways to promote our Weaving Center. And thus, Warped Milwaukee was born. With the help of the Jazz Gallery, last year ABK Weaving Center hosted it's first Fiber Arts show. I won't lie, it was tough going. By the time of the application deadline I believe we only had 5 entries. I spent a couple weeks just contacting artists and jumping through hoops to get them to show their work. Who would have thought it would be so difficult to get people to display their art? All that hard work paid off though. 200+ people on opening night. It was a success! So here we are doing it all over again. This year we managed to more than double our applicants (I actually had people contacting me this time!) and only had to spend 1 week (not 2) in pursuit of more artists. The point is: The show is growing! Word is spreading! And this years show is even better than last years. I anticipate next years show to be better yet. If you come to our opening tonight, you might see a little bit of this:

a place to rest your head

2011-10-18T11:10:00.001-06:00

So here I am, just sitting by the computer waiting for etsy to let me change my shop name......ho-hum, what to do? I know! I'll post about the pillows I just made. I made some pillow covers. Someone (I shall call her Buyer) sent me pictures of pillows and asked: "can you make these?" because she wanted them as a gift for a friend. I answered "sure" without really thinking it through, because.....you know....that's how I roll. Anywho, the one pillow was easy enough:

I used blue and pink thread to make the lines of a piece of writing paper and then hand embroidered the quote that Buyer chose. It was fairly simple but I had to do it twice because the first white fabric that I chose was too thin and the embroidery started making little holes in it. The back is a brown linen type fabric sewn in an envelope style so it can be taken off and washed. It's lined with a pretty bird fabric. AND it pretty much looks exactly like the picture she sent.

The second pillow is this birds nest. It looks nothing like the picture she sent. The second pillow Buyer wanted actually had no image on it, just words. I tried. It looked bad. So I scraped the whole thing and did this with the hopes that she would approve. I stuck to the appropriate theme: Nest. It was also done in the envelope style, with the brown linen back and bird lining. Luckily, she liked it.

So that's what I've been up to. I should probably check back with etsy now. Before I leave though: Brussel Sprouts? Yeah or Nay?

Monday, Monday...

2011-10-03T12:57:00.002-06:00

Art Walk is over. So what's next?

Ok, ok, wait a minute, first let me talk about Art Walk a little. I can't remember if this is my 3rd or 4rth year participating in Art Walk but either way, it was the best year yet. Even with all the different sport games going on, we had more visitors than in any of the previous years combined. The weather probably helped a little with that but I'm going to give a lot of the credit to Susan Buss from the RAA . She did a great job of publicizing the event and getting artists involved. I'm already looking forward to next year and making plans for how to improve our display and make it more interactive. Just a small little toot! toot! for us: we did win an award for our display. A certificate and a $50 check to be exact. How cool is that? I will send a great, huge, massive THANK YOU! out to all my volunteers. They made this whole thing seamless. XOXOXOXOXOXOXXOXOXOXOXOXO Ladies!

I did have a couple pieces displayed this year. One piece was at the Jazz Gallery (I showed that in the previous post) and then I had a couple pieces up in the ABK display. 2 of them were older pieces but 1 was a new piece that I just finished the day before. It's another runner done in the Rose and Star overshot pattern. Didn't I say that I was never going to weave that pattern again? I must have forgotten that.

Here is my Butterfly Morning Woven Runner at the Jazz Gallery. I like were they placed it.

This is my Star and Rose Woven Runner. The warp is grey and the weft is a pale yellow.

So, next on my list is Warped Milwaukee. The deadline is Oct. 31st and I'm really, really hopeful that I will not have to enter anything this year. I just want to sit back and coordinate. After that is Art vs. Craft at the end of November (as a seller this year) and Hovercraft a week after that.

THIS WEEK though, this week I'm taking a break from weaving to work on some pillows. That sounds.....restful.

Riverwest Art Walk

2011-09-25T16:38:00.002-06:00

next weekend, saturday and sunday 12 - 5, is Riverwest's Art Walk and once again ABK Weaving Center is participating. in previous years we have hosted a sale in a Board members back yard and while it's been fun, it's never been successful. i mean as far as sales go. so this year i proposed that we set up the yard as a weaving gallery space. we will have different styles of weaving displayed as well as some different looms set up for demonstration and trial. i'm kind of excited about it. i've been planning out how to display everything and i think i've come up with a nice concept. hopefully i'll have pictures tomorrow. part of being in the Art Walk is having some art represented at the Jazz Gallery on Center st. i finished this weaving on friday and dropped it off at the gallery on saturday. look for it on etsy sometime in november.

Butterfly Morning woven runner. wool and cotton in shades of gold, yellow, and blue. overshot "trellis" patterns.

"i found you in the corner
down there sitting on the sea
gonna trace your footsteps
underneath the waves
on the petals of a wild flower
with the sun high at noon

i want walks in butterfly mornings
and wild flower afternoons" - hope sandoval

Bury the Hatchet woven runner

2011-09-21T17:54:00.002-06:00

it's been a month or two but i'm finally getting back into the swing of weaving. swing, tempo, groove, it really is about finding a rhythm. when i'm in it, things come easy and it doesn't matter if i just find 15 minutes a day to weave, those 15 minutes are incredibly productive. when i'm out of the rhythm i can weave for 2 hours and get just a jumble of mistakes. that's when it's not fun. luckily, i and my loom are one, for now. i finished a runner this week that i tied onto the last runner i did. that means that it's the same pattern but different colors. it was another color experimentation of mine. i've learned something about myself. i've learned that i'm not "into" a lot of colors in one project. i like simple color schemes. so for the next project, which will be another tie on, i'm toning down the colors. I'm tying all my knots tonight so i should have it done by friday evening. look for it on the horizon.....

oh, and i always name my pieces for whatever songs are going through my head at the time. this one is named for the "Low" song entitled "Hatchet".

"so you be my mary ann
and i'll be your yoko
and let's bury the hatchet like
the Beatles
the Beatles and the Stones". - Low

The Washer Necklace

2011-08-18T16:06:00.002-06:00

If you are into indie crafts at all than no doubt you have run across a tutorial for making the washer necklace. I have and I've always wanted to make some. Early this week I got a call from a friend who asked if I would be willing to do a make and take craft with children at the Bayshore Chalk Art Festival. I gave it some thought and decided that it would be the perfect time to try out the washer necklace craft.

First, you need washers. They come in all sizes and some are rougher than others. I got some nice smooth, shiny ones with smaller holes in the center. I don't remember the exact sizes. The smaller ones were .20ea. and the larger ones were .24ea. I spent about $14 total.

Some of these supplies are optional but some are not. Here we have glitter, a hole punch, sharpie, and small plastic bags in case the project is not dry yet when the child takes it home.

Mod Podge is pretty much a necessity as is some sort of string (I'm using left-over carpet warp). Beads are a nice touch.

This is the best part of the whole project! Get in your car and drive to Menards. Do it! Now! There you will find a 28 piece steel stamp set (all 26 letters plus a . and a &) for ..........$9.99. SERIOUSLY!
Now that you are fully loaded you can start creating stuff like this:

I made this one for myself to wear. It's to remind me that I have "enough" of whatever it is that I think I lack. I suppose it could also mean: "I've had enough!" Oh, the endless possibilities. This one is made with a larger size washer decoupaged with pretty paper and some glitter and then the smaller size washer is stamped and laid on top. To Decoupage, you first trace the washer onto the paper that you desire. Then cut out the circle and use the whole punch to create the inner circle. Next you spread the glue on the washer and on the back of the paper. Carefully place them together and then go over the front of the paper with some more decoupage glue and sprinkle on some glitter. It doesn't take long to dry.

This is another one with the two sizes. The bottom one is decoupaged with the pretty paper and the top one is decoupaged with plain paper that I hand painted. Both have glitter on them to make them sparkle.

This last one is Gl's. S is modeling it because he wanted to get in on the action. Gl chose the word "courage" because that is what she is going to need when going back to school this year without her best friend. Once you use the stamps to stamp in your word or phrase you go over it with a black sharpie and then wipe the extra off with a baby wipe. It works perfectly.

I also made GL one that says ALLONS Y ! for any Dr. Who fans out there.

Last weeks Projects

2011-08-08T09:18:00.000-06:00

We had a wedding to attend this past weekend so last week I had to finish two projects. The first was a woven runner for the bride and groom.

It's an overshot pattern (my personal favorite) in a blue/green/grey wool and the back ground threads are cotton that run through a range of colors from pale yellow to copper. It didn't turn out as long as I hoped. Something most have went awry in the math.

The second project was to make a dress for gl to wear to the wedding using the leftover sheets from a previous rag rug.

You don't even need a pattern for something like this. It's made up of two rectangles sewn together on the sides with a thin elastic around the top and 4 thin straps that tie up on her shoulders. To determine the size of the rectangle I just used the circumference of her chest for the width (24") and then I measured from under her armpit to where I wanted the dress to end (above the knees) and added an inch and a half for the hem. The dress can be worn with or without the sash. I like it without but she likes it with. Then I added one of my flower pins to the top. From start to finish: 2 hours.

Without.

She can even bowl in it.

On the agenda this week:

2011-08-03T14:46:00.000-06:00

A sun dress for Gl made from the leftover sheets used in the blue block rag rug and an over shot runner.
I'll be back in a couple days with pictures.

Summer Craftacular 2011

2011-07-28T10:04:00.001-06:00

So Craftacular was this past Sunday. It was held at the East Side Club in Madison and nobody could ask for a more beautiful setting. What was even better was that for ONCE the weather cooperated. Occasionally you could hear some thunder off in the distance but none of it traveled our way. Although it was hot and sticky there was a nice breeze coming off the lake and I was in the shade of my new canopy. It was fun. I have a couple of these shows under my belt now so I don't get nervous anymore and I had enough merchandise for a respectable showing. The people I met were really nice and personable and I even ran into a couple people that I had met at previous shows. It was nice to see Sally from Night Owl Craftworks again.

Here is the view of the show from the lake. There were also vendors inside the building on both floors. Unfortunately I didn't get up to the second floor to check things out but I did see everything outside and on the first level.

The club has these awesome chairs sitting out by the lake so my wonderful husband got to sit and read all day. He looked very relaxed. He did stay within site of my space in case I needed him. He was a great support for me, buying me food and Sangria (I was right across from the Tiki bar).

Remember this shag rug? It was my first sale of the day. Huzzah! I was so happy to see it go. I really didn't want to carry it back home. The lady who bought it asked if it could be washed in her washing machine. I responded "only if you want to break your machine". Seriously, this is one heavy piece.

Here's the other block rug that I wove. It turned out lovely and also got sold. In fact, almost all my rugs sold. I think I only have 3 left. I'm working on getting the rest of my unsold merchandise up on my etsy store this week. It'll be pretty sporadic. I put up some woven runners yesterday but there are purses, a quilt, and quilted runners yet to come.

So all in all, I'm glad that I did the show because I learned something. I learned that I will stay closer to home for shows. As beautiful as the space was, as nice as the people and the weather was, it didn't make fiscal sense. After adding up what I spent to get into the show, the canopy, gas, getting a tax number, and food, plus the inconvenience to my in-laws with the kids and the dog....... I really didn't make enough to justify being at this venue. I did get rid of a lot of items, which was nice but the profit margin was significantly cut down because of all that other stuff.

On to the next endeavor: Art vs. Craft (Milwaukee)

Craftacular

2011-07-21T11:36:00.002-06:00

This Sunday I'll be at Craftacular in Madison. I've been working my tail off trying to get my inventory up. Weaving is so time intensive that it is very hard to put together enough merchandise for a booth. Everytime I sell a piece on Etsy I'm like "WOO-HOO!" and "Oh NO! Another empty space". I'm feeling a little bi-polar.

I've set aside all my other projects to focus solely on weaving. It seems to be what most people are interested in. A few weeks ago I had a couple fails that had me down. Some wool that I had warped on a loom started breaking as I was weaving. There was no fixing it and I had to cut it off and throw it away. That was a lose of 2 days work. Another runner that I was weaving didn't turn out as nice as I hoped and a new technique that I was learning turned into a nightmare. But I started the next week energized and hopeful. This week went wonderfully. 2 runners and 1 rug (the blue check one from the previous post) complete and another rug should be finished this evening.

These are the rags for the rug I'll be working on this evening. Usually I use torn up sheets that I find at thrift stores but I couldn't find the bright colors I was looking for this time and I don't have the space to dye white ones. Some day I hope to have a studio with a large sink. Someday. Sigh. Anyway, I went to Joann Fabrics and bought this broadcloth for $1.79 a yard. What a great deal! They had so many wonderful colors.

This is one of the runners I finished this week. I'm really on a yellow kick right now. Probably because it's such a hot color. It's a diamond twill pattern with an off white, yellow, and grey/blue warp. The weft is primarily off white with just 2 yellow stripes. It's 100% cotton. It says "hello, I'm summer." Well, not literally but.. you know. It's really pretty and I'm a little in love with it so I'll probably put a higher price on it.

This is one of the fails I was talking about earlier. It's a rep weave runner. Rep weave is a technique that I've never done. My friend Susan weaves rep weave and I admire her work so I wanted to try it. Yeah, well, I can say I tried it. I made some mistakes but that's bound to happen when you're learning something new. The runner turned out OK and I will try to sell it but the pattern is not balanced and it bothers me. I pushed it to the bottom of a pile so I don't have to look at it. It mocks me.

Well, this is my last post until after Craftacular. The Husband and I will be there all day Sunday. A big shout out to my lovely in-laws for taking the kids. They are the BEST! Whatever doesn't sell on Sunday will be posted on my etsy site starting next week. Wish me luck!

currently on loom

2011-07-13T14:34:00.000-06:00

2 large rag rugs done in a block pattern. I just started this periwinkle and white one last night. I'm thinking that the second one will be a big mix of colors.

Wedding Flowers Part Final

2011-07-08T18:54:00.000-06:00

I was asked to make 5 headbands for the bridesmaids and 1 flower with a birdcage veil for the bride.

Done.

It measures a little over 4 inches wide and is made entirely of organza. There was a different button to use in the center but when I put it in it just didn't work. It was too white or big or something. It looked out of place. I ended up sewing in some pearl beads. It looked more fitting. The next thing to tackle is the bird cage veil which will attach to the flower with a little pin so that it can be removed if desired. I started experimenting a little this evening. At first I used the veiling that the bride sent over but I have to admit, I don't like it. It's very stiff and hard to form. I tried some other tulle that I had lying about.

(Gl is just thrilled to be modeling for me.) This is a real light weight tulle in grey. I cut it into a bandeau style that goes across the top of the head, in front of the eyes and then attaches on the other side with either a bobby pin or an invisible comb. Gl's hair is really thin so you can see the bobby pin falling out already.

This Tulle is just a little bit heavier (in peach) and is sewn into a much larger piece that goes all the way around the head and falls slightly slanted across the face.

5 headbands and 1 flower are being sent to the bride tomorrow. I am also sending over some different veiling that I would like her to play with so we can figure out how to cut it and what weight to use. This was fun to work on and I feel privileged to have been asked. I'm greatly looking forward to the wedding. I love when people in love get married. What I love most is when it's not all about the ceremony but about the joy of binding your lives together. People get caught up in making their weddings a big performance or a statement. It should just be about JOY! And joy is, at it's core, very simple.

Time Warp

2011-06-24T18:04:00.000-06:00

A shag rug? Really? Yes. Yes indeed. And it's a great size to boot. The colors are great and it feels so wonderful under your bare feet. The only down side was the amount of fluff that I sucked into my sinuses while weaving it.

It weighs a ton so I'm hoping someone will buy it at Craftacular in Madison. I can't even imagine how much it would cost to ship.

pipe cleaner bling bling

2011-06-21T15:11:00.000-06:00

i was hunting around on the martha stewart website and i came across this awesome pipe cleaner ring tuturial. i was like "shut up". really. i was. had you been standing here, in my home, you would have heard me exclaim "shut up". after rummaging in the basement for 2 minutes, i came up with just enough pipe cleaners to make 1 ring. 5 minutes later it was done. so cute and easy. perfect for a little girls birthday party or craft party. sorry about the fuzzy pictures. it's storming out so i couldn't go outside where the good light is.

so stinking cute! i have to run out to the store tonight and i'm planning on picking up some thinner pipe cleaners in different colors. gl and the neighbor girl are looking forward to making these tomorrow.

Birthday Skirt and other nonsense

2011-06-18T14:44:00.001-06:00

What a week! I completed an embroidered bag, got a final decision on the wedding headbands, sewed one and a half skirts and finally, FINALLY completed the weaving I had on the table loom.

This pattern is called "star and rose" and if I ever talk about doing it again, I want someone to hit me over the head with a shovel. What a pain in the butt. I'm so glad it's done I can't even began to explain what a relief it is. If you look close in this picture you can see that I even have a very big mistake going across the pattern. I need to decide what to do about that. I could fold over the fabric and sew a hem past where the mistake is but that would mean that I would lose about 4 inches of length. It is a table runner so length is desirable. Another thing I could do is ignore it and try to sell it as is. True story: I once had a piece with a similar mistake in it and I embroidered "nobody's perfect" (or was it "everybody makes mistakes"?) right across the mistake and somebody bought it. Sometimes we all need a reminder I guess.

It's my niece Bronte's birthday party on Sunday. I decided weeks ago to make her a skirt and for weeks I thought about what type of skirt I wanted to make. In my head I had a classic A line skirt with tiers of ruffles but the more I thought about it, the more I thought that maybe that style was a bit mature for an 8 year old. Don't 8 year olds like skirts and dresses that twirl? My second choice was a simple elastic waist skirt with just an ounce of tulle for fluffiness. I love elastic waists because they are easy and casual but what I don't like is the bulk. I remembered reading that for an elastic waist the measurement should be the hip measurement +5. Armed with that bit of info, I drew a small pattern for what I think is called a "dropped waist". It looks like this:

________________ waist divided by 4 +1

o distance between waist and hips

_____________________ hips dived by 4 +1

and then once sewn it looks like this:

Almost completely doing away with all that bulky fabric.

Here is Greenleaf modeling her cousins skirt. I love this fabric. I found it at Hobby Lobby on clearance. I also bought some other clearance fabric for a skirt for GL and it's mostly made up but not finished yet. Maybe next week I can post that.

This little embellishment was the hardest part of the skirt. Originally I had the grey fabric mimicking

the colored spirals in the skirt, sloping down the side and trailing off the bottom. I had it all pinned down and it looked really smashing but then I decided to SHUT. MY. BRAIN. OFF. I tried to machine stitch it. Sigh. It was a huge mess and the worst part was that the stitching was so tight and complicated that if I tried to rip it, I would have done damage to the fabric. Instead I ended up hand sewing some more grey fabric over the original mess and then putting some purple tulle in the middle. Not at all what I wanted or intended but it will have to do. So what would have taken me 15 minutes to hand sew ended up taking me a half hour to fix. BLAH! What was it again? Nobody's perfect? Yeah, that sounds about right.

headband part trois

2011-06-17T07:36:00.000-06:00

I made up a couple more flowers this morning and then pinned them to the headbands so you would have a better idea of what they would look like. We are getting closer to a decision here. The bridesmaids will be wearing grey so I made GL wrap up in some grey fabric that I have. I took a front and side view of each option.

Darker green silk. This is my personal favorite. It's simple, elegant, and the fabric handles like a dream.

These two flowers are sewn using the opposite sides of the saree silk. You'll need to click on it to really see the difference in them. They need to be a little smaller.

Lastly, we have one of each. The top flower is the saree and the bottom is the plain.

There you have it girls.

Headband part deux

2011-06-16T20:25:00.000-06:00

I went out yesterday and with tie in hand, I scoured Joann's for green fabric. I found a couple things I liked. 1silk, 1 silk saree fabric, and something else that I can't remember what it is. The flowers are a little messy but I just wanted to get them made up and the pictures out so that the ladies can see the different fabric. My vote is for the silks. I like the way the silk curves around itself. What say you?

No more pencils, no more books...

2011-06-14T21:21:00.001-06:00

Tomorrow is Gl's last day of school. So far, I have loved every single one of her teachers. Seriously. She has not had a bad teacher. They have all been caring and inspiring but this year's teacher, I feel, will stand out in her mind in years to come. Much like my own beloved Ms. Williams (2nd grade), Ms. Peterson (4th grade) and Ms. Sawyer (7th grade). Anyway, I of course wanted to make something special for Ms. S. I was hoping to get it done in one day but as I am also trying to potty train a 3 year old boy at the same time and said boy is running around the house in nothing but a long shirt......well, stuff happens.

Day 1:

The fabric that I ended up using is a lovely green rose, floral that I found at a "thrift store". I'm not telling you where because then everyone will go there and I'll stop being able to find such awesome stuff. Let's just say this place rocks and that I also found a couple yards (like 6) of lovely wool that I can't wait to use. OH MAN! You wish you knew the name of this place! Ahem, moving on... I knew I wanted to do some embroidery so I pieced together the green with some muslin (that gift just keeps on giving Nina).

Then I basted it to some batting and drew my image on some tear away stabilizer and pinned it in place. I've been using tear away stabilizer since I started doing embroidery but I'm not exactly sure how I feel about it. There were a lot of little details in this image and it took around an hour to get all the stabilizer off once I was done because I had to be very careful. I might have to try that washable transfer stuff sometime.

This is how far I wanted to get by the end of Day 1 but I couldn't get to this point because of this:

Ok. Ok. He's adorable. Don't I know it! He also likes to eat paint and poop in the driveway. And before you can say anything just let me tell you that I know it was crazy to let a 3 year old play with paint unsupervised. I KNOW! And yes, it was also not very smart to let a naked 3 year old play outside when he hasn't pooped yet. I KNOW these things. I know.... I know..... I know....

Where was I? Oh yes, Day 2:

This again? Yes. Because this is where I was around noon today.

And then (ta da!) I was here! Actually there were a lot of steps between these photos but the pictures were boring so I decided to jump to the conclusion. The back side is all green floral and the inside is....

this gorgeous blue and yellow floral that I've been hanging onto FOREVER! Every once in a while I would pull it out and try to think of something to use it on but I would always end up putting it back. Now I know why. It was waiting for this bag. I love the way the blue brings out the blue of the birds.

So, that's it. Ms. S.'s bag. I hope she enjoys it and I hope she knows just how much we have appreciated having her in Gl's life this past school year.

Lindsey's wedding

2011-06-12T15:00:00.000-06:00

I've been asked to make some headbands for a wedding. Fun. I love stuff like this. This is the practice headband. I had to sew it up and rip it apart 3 times last night just trying to get the size of the flowers correct. I still don't think they are quite right. The bottom one needs to be a bit smaller and the top one needs to be a bit bigger. I used (hey, i'm using caps!) some buttons that I had lying around for the centers but for the "real" ones, I'll go with some sort of pearl. I think. What do you think Nina? Jessica? Do you want to use the flower girl fabric or should I look for some different fabric? I can look for something a little dressier if you think these are too casual. What about the black headband and the size of the flowers? Is my assessment correct?

Gl kind of has a tiny head so I took another picture using the neighbor girl. She has a bigger head and she's a brunette. So now you can see how the black looks with the darker hair.

Here is a picture of some buttons I bought today. What do you think?

The pearl ones are what I was picturing when I was sewing them up. The store I went to today didn't have just plain, larger pearl buttons but I could definitely find some, if that is what you want.

Lastly, this is the two colors of green felt that I've been able to find. Neither matches perfectly but neither is horrible either. If you like the look of felt. Ok. I'll be waiting to hear what you think.

600 Haute

2011-05-29T17:17:00.002-06:00

We were able to drive down to Barrington yesterday to visit my sister Rachael Jaeggin at her new store, 600 Haute. If you are ever in the area, please go check it out. Lots of cool stuff at really good prices. AND if you, like me, love stories about people having dreams and just going for it, you'll want to support this store. Here's a peek...

Yes, those are Amy Butler bags. With leather handles. Pretty.

These rings are marvelous. Seriously. Next time I go I got to take some close ups.

This whole series (again, I wish I had closeups) is amazing. It's vintage jewelery refashioned. Gorgeous!

Here's Rachael. She'll greet you with a smile. She might even have a granola bar for you if you're hungry.

Of course I couldn't leave without buying something. It was hard to make up my mind. It was between this wallet and a gorgeous ring. The wallet won.

Aunt Rachael gifted GL with a charm bracelot before we left. Eiffel tower on one side and...

a vintage chandelier on the other. Thank you Aunt Rachael!

and Congratulations!

something special for the girl

2011-05-27T16:47:00.002-06:00

i took a week off from working on "projects" to make some clothes for gl. i got this idea for a skirt combo in my head and it took longer to bring to fruition than i originally planned. i wanted to make a dress and another skirt as well but it looks like i'm out of time. they'll have to wait. here's what i did complete. thanks to Nina for the fabric which i found in the box of scraps she gave me.

it all started out with a petticoat. doesn't it always? i saw a picture on etsy of a little girls petticoat that i absolutely fell in love with. it was around $50. why buy it when you can make it? or, to be more exact, one similar to it. it's the ruffly cream thing that you see peeking out at the bottom.

then i made the overskirt. a striped black and cream piece that i finished with a ruffle at the hem, some gathering at the side seams, a corset tie in back, and ...

a hand sewn ruffle flower to embellish the front.

i love the completed skirt but the best part is that she loves it too.

the petticoat can be worn with many different dresses and skirts. LOVE! LOVE! LOVE! (the skirt and the girl).

long time no see

2010-12-17T00:59:00.000-06:00

it's been a while. i got really busy with a gallery show and then a couple craft shows and other life related stuff. here's a project that i just finished tonight for greenleaf's violin teacher, ms. megan. have i mentioned how much i love embroidery? unfortunately the light in our house is very yellow and the sun has gone to bed (and so must i), thus the pictures are not that great. this was fun and i'm pleased with how it turned out.

another rug

2010-10-04T12:44:00.002-06:00

i'm still trying to use up all the left over purple and green scraps from the quilt and quilted bag. here's one more use.

sold!

week in review 1

2010-10-01T16:56:00.004-06:00

i've had a pretty productive week and it's not even over yet!

my sister gave me this hat for my birthday and i decided to add some flair.

and

the obligatory bird.

a green winter headband/ earcover with purple flowers.
SOLD!

grey (gray?) with red flowers.
SOLD!

button closure in back. they have multiple button holes for different sized heads. they are made for adults and not children which is why it looks big on gl. i also have one in a dark teal with some burnt orange flowers.

latest rag rug. i have another one on the loom that i hope to get done before going to bed this evening.

handsome dansome

2010-09-25T16:42:00.001-06:00

he picked out the colors. same pattern as usual.

Tease #3

2010-09-17T21:50:00.000-06:00

miles to go before i sleep.

photo shoot of new winter hats

2010-09-16T15:35:00.000-06:00

Soren's winter hat. i have done this pattern at least a dozen times and i'll probably do it a dozen more. it's so easy that i don't have to keep track of anything. i can watch a movie or have a discussion while i knit. i added the bobble this morning. LOVE. a matching scarf will be forthcoming.

gl's hat done in the yarn she picked out last month. i have a tiny bit left over so i'll probably make her some matching mitts. i think she looks so much like her nana b. in this picture.

he's always trying to escape. it's a problem.

Tease #2

2010-08-24T13:25:00.000-06:00

about 6 days left before i start working on backing it. this week i've had to up my average hours from 2 a day to 4. 2 after the kids go to sleep and then 2 more spaced out during the day. today for example, the kids were playing nicely outside and i was able to sit at the picnic table and work for a good solid hour. now i'm going to put the boy down for a nap, do a little housework and then work for another hour. is my housework suffering? yes, of course it is. when isn't it? i'm not big on housework. it's that thing that i do when i don't have any other choice. like when my husband doesn't have any clean underwear or the stack of dishes by the sink is starting to stink. or i have guests coming over.

my so called woven life

2010-08-12T11:49:00.000-06:00

finally finished the woven runner i had on the demonstration loom. it's over 80 inches long, multi-colored warp and grey weft, bird's eye pattern with appliqued birds.

i will eventually put a back on it but for now i'm concentrating on finishing an art piece. let me repeat that... AN ART PIECE! i don't make art. not usually. i make practical, useful things to beautify my everyday workaday world. however, the WPCA's member show is in a couple months and i've decided to enter something this year. i've got 3 weeks to complete it. so far i've been averaging about 2 hours a night work time. if i can keep that up i might actually finish it. here's a tease:

this is about 3 inches of the 22 x 22 finished project. a very small part. it's not even close to being done or looking like the final product. i'll keep posting on it as i go.

my pot holders are cuter than yours

2010-08-05T14:20:00.000-06:00

i just spent an unspeakable amount of time sewing quilted pot holders. if there were any lingering questions about my sanity, they have been answered.

greenleaf: why did you sew pot holders?
me: because i can.

in actuality, this was a great way to use up some scraps. i have lots of scraps. bins and bins of scraps.

gots to get my folk on

2010-07-29T15:31:00.000-06:00

lovely Dawn brought me a large box of fabric at church Sunday. the first material i saw when i opened the box was this amazing blue cotton with a printed folk scene. it was begging to be made into a skirt. today i started cutting and stitching. this is what it became.

the image is on the front and back. i have enough fabric to make one more skirt if anyone has a little girl who would like it. it has a unicorn on it.

gl was in a pensive mood today.

summer time and the living is lazy

2010-07-23T11:43:00.001-06:00

i seriously had big plans for this summer. i was going to get so much done. i was going to be superwoman. i feel like such a loser.

i did end up buying this $4 suitcase from goodwill and painting it up for gl to take to camp. it was such fun. the lady on it looks like oprah, don't ya think? it's not. it was a stencil i had lying about. the braided strand on top of the suitcase is one that greenleaf made at weaving camp (more later). i added some beads to the bottom of it and hooked it on.

two of gl's favorite things: "Avatar, the Last Airbender", and "Dr. Who". i knew that the paint wouldn't last the week unless i put something over it but i didn't get around to it. it's scratched up but remarkably intact. she had an awesome week at camp by the way.

a tunic i just finished. it's based on a simplicity pattern and was supposed to be a dress but turns out i didn't have enough fabric. that's what i get for being a cheapo. the brown fabric was a remnant that i got for 75% off and the bottom is a sheet from Goodwill. i'm thinking of this as a practice run. i'm going to try to make the dress again with some pink fabric that i got from Rethreads. i'm pretty sure i have enough this time.

it spins nice enough to delight any little girl.

sold! (the hat, not the child)

i started this spiral hat on a train to chicago. it's the perfect project for when you don't want to have to count or keep track of anything. it's sized for an adult but looks cute on gl. i think i might make her winter hat this size.

so that's about it. i have something on the loom right now but i hate it. i tried to work on it yesterday. i couldn't go for more than 20 minutes. i hate it so much. but if i take it off, that's such a waste. right? i can't waste... can i? please, someone give me permission.

babies are nice

2010-05-20T17:24:00.002-06:00

babies are nice. especially big fat ones. i made some gifts for a baby shower. the recipient will probably see this post. just act surprised ok?

a tote because you can't have too many fun totes when you are "toting" around diapers, wipes, sippy cups, toys, blankie, butt cream, hand sanitizer, nursing pads, bottles, spit rags, bibs, etc...., etc...., etc......

i borrowed the embroidered design from somewhere else. don't ask me where, i don't know. i'm getting more and more into embroidery so it was a lot of fun.

a simple baby blanket. by hand, as promised. well, i did use the machine on the bird.

bird. old pants and some fun fluffy stuff.

back of quilt. i love putting two or more pieces together for the back. so much more interesting.

wrapped trees on Burleigh

2010-05-05T19:38:00.001-06:00

i spent the morning wrapping trees on E. Burleigh in Riverwest. i'm burnt and tired. thanks to all the ladies, and Charlie for helping out. your names are attached to your knittings.

i know that this one was knitted by Judie Wille.

i don't remember who did this but GREAT JOB!

by the wonderful JoAnn Norris.

again, i don't remember who knitted this one but it is enormous and bright. it's the first one you see when you turn onto the street.

the purple pain and more march madness

2010-05-04T12:28:00.001-06:00

the purple baby quilt is done. yes. it is. don't believe me?

ok, well, maybe there are a few pins left in it. it's 99.5% done in any case. i decided that this will be my last machine sewn quilt. until i can afford one of those fancy 3000 dollar sewing machines with the movable arm i will be hand sewing the rest of my quilts. i realized just how huge this is while working on a quilt last night. i had been sewing for about 45 minutes and i got (no joking) 12 inches? i'll have to up the price on my quilts because of this. i was thinking of asking $100 for this one. is that too much? should i go down to $85? what do you think?

here are a couple more pictures of items i worked on during my "march madness".

sold (left)! still hanging around and annoying me (right)!

tote bags. i don't like either of them. the one on the left i call the "floridian" because it reminds me of something tacky that you would get in Florida. AND the stencil smeared which doesn't have anything to do with the name but just made me mad. the one on the right is called "a very brady tote" because of the 70's style material and colors. i was really excited about it and then i put this record player stencil on it. nobody who has seen it can tell what it is. IT'S A RECORD PLAYER! i put a price of 10 dollars on them and i think i would even go lower just to get rid of them.

yo-yo runner. i'm in LOVE with this. you can see in the pictures that there is a pin still in the side but i did finish sewing it. i think i put a price of $50 on it because it's so cute. this piece was made exclusively out of repurposed materials. a shower curtain and some old pants were two of the main fabrics.

sold!

the gnome runner. to make up for the yo-yo runner this one was made mostly of new material. what happened is that i found the middle material, which is this delightful mushroom and snail fabric, and the rest just grew from that. large mushrooms and gnomes were the obvious choice.

this is one of my little gnomes. she's sleepy. shhhhhhhhh....

gl's wardrobe

2010-04-12T17:07:00.001-06:00

i finally finished this knitted skirt (pattern by 'barefoot knits') that i started last summer. i'm lucky it still fits her. who knew that i would be a little sick of this color by the time i was done? luckily, when i took her shopping for summer material she didn't pick anything purple. phew!

summer fabric that gl picked out.

she surprised me by picking out this one. i really like it. it's going to make a beautiful breezy dress.

this was my choice. i have a design in my head for it. we'll see if i can translate it to fabric.

this one was also my choice. i'm thinking a double layer skirt with a lace border. the rest of it i plan on using in another quilt.

purple pain

2010-04-10T22:11:00.001-06:00

i'm easily distracted. i've come to accept it and stop beating myself up over it. this time it was those extra quilt squares. i only needed 63 for the quilt and it turns out i ended up with about 120. i needed to do something with them. i couldn't let them go to waste could i? surely not. i layed them out and pieced them together with the thought that i might make a bag or a skirt from the material. sure, it's not what i was supposed to be working on but OH MY GOODNESS! i'm so glad that i did it. while working on sewing the blocks together i was reminded of one very important piece of information : VELVET IS EVIL!

i had forgotten that. i had forgotten just what it feels like to chase a scrap of velvet across a sewing table. to watch it shift out of position and defy every pin that you poke into it, then turn it's head and stick out it's tongue at you. i remember now! it sucks. i did an online search to see if i could get some tips for working with velvet and i didn't find anything different from what i was already doing. i also found an expert quilter from Romania named Geta Grama whom i saw had made some quilted velvet bags. i wrote her a note asking for advice and this is what she wrote back.... "if I would have a few options, I would never choose to piece velvet." good to know.

i finished a bag using the scraps but now i need to go back and redesign the quilt. luckily i don't have too many velvet blocks in it but enough to make me uneasy. i need to replace them all with some nice, safe cotton. looks like i'm already dropping behind in my april challenge.

quilted purple patchwork bag (12 x 14) with ....

pocket.
sold!

"purple haze is in my brain....."

2010-04-06T21:31:00.000-06:00

i started the purple quilt today. pulled up the purple stash from the basement and picked out my backing and my binding from the group. i've been saving purple remnants for awhile, just for this quilt.

the size will be 35' x 45' with 5' squares. i need 63 squares, a backing that is at least 2 inches bigger on each side and at least 160 inches of binding.

i think i ended up with more than 100 squares but some (like this green here) didn't make the final cut.

here it is all laid out on the kitchen table. i swear, someday i will have a work surface that i do not share with food. i like to take pictures of my projects and then look at them. it gives a different perspective and sometimes you see things that you didn't see with your naked eye. for example, i see that in row 4, 3 of the squares are the same material. i'll have to change that. otherwise, i think it looks good. i was aiming for sweet and feminine. i think i hit that mark.

the math is done, binding cut (2.5' wide) and rows put into piles and labeled.

tomorrow i start sewing.

if Baskin-Robbins can do it, why not me?

2010-04-05T16:56:00.002-06:00

i set myself a large task for March. it bordered on crazy. i was going to do 1 project a day for the whole month. that's 31 projects. i'm very lucky to have a husband who is not only fluent in crazy but very tolerant of it. once more my home was covered in fabric, pins, embroidery thread, and all those dust bunnies that you get on the floor when dealing with textiles. but alas, as Pierce said to Jeff on Community the other night,

" That thing that some men call "failure" i call living. breakfast, and i'm not leaving til i've cleaned out the buffet."

my goal for April is to finish 4 quilts in 4 weeks. to be completely honest i will say that i already have one almost done and a second one mostly cut out. that's my starting point. this week will see me working on a lilac and green baby quilt. ready, steady, broccoli on spaghetti...............GO!

these are a few of the march projects.

3 sold! i still have the yellow one.

i call these the "sweetness" bags because they remind me of spun sugar.

sold!
this clutch was inspired by my daughter who got really interested in babushka dolls for a couple days.

i love this blue fabric put unfortunately i was only able to get a small square of it. it was a sample that the fabric store was getting rid of.

sold!
i've had this lovely green material forever and didn't know what to do with it. then this little pink bird landed on my shoulder and was like "pss....embroider me on a field of green." you can't argue with an imaginary bird.

Sold and Sold! still have the floral in back!

i found a quarter yard of this navy blue bunny fabric that i fell in love with and if i ever find anymore i will cry with joy. it's so lovely and unusual. the bag to the right is a woven houndstooth fabric that i layered a flower on. the front purse is clutch sized, lined with black velvet and hand embroidered with a floral motif that i took from the gold fabric that it is on.

sold!
i call this the "nina bag" because i finished it and said, "doesn't this look like something nina would have painted?" it's a smaller version of this next bag....

Sold
the one on the left was a disappointment so i shall not speak of it. the one on the right however, that one i call the "Holly Hobbie" and it just needs to be cuddled. i'll post more of the March projects later this week.

weekend purse

2010-02-15T13:52:00.000-06:00

i tried a new pattern this weekend and i love it. in fact i love it so much that i plan on making four more before the end of the month. the pattern allows for a lot of play with color and the handle is pretty cool.

here are the fabrics that i chose.

outside of purse and the lining.

finished purse with braided handle.

my beautiful model pretending to walk down a crowded New York street.

this pattern comes from the book Seams to Me by Anna Maria Horner. i know i've referenced this book before and i really can't say enough good things about it. whether you are a novice or advanced sewer you will find something to interest you in this book.

by a thread

2010-02-12T08:35:00.003-06:00

it's that time of year again, when the The Eisner hosts it's annual "I Love the Eisner" fund raising event. this year the advertising museum is throwing a Masquerade Ball which will include lots of good food, music and the traditional silent auction of it's "250 Square Feet of Art". i have to say that whoever came up with this idea is a genius. the Eisner invites local artists to pick up a 12' x 12' wooden board from the museum and then do whatever they want to it. once it's done, it's returned and sold in a silent auction to raise money for the museum. this works on a couple different levels. firstly, it allows artists to test themselves and get some free exposure and secondly, it gives patrons the opportunity to purchase one of kind art work at affordable prices. maybe even from an up and coming.......

this year i decided to create a piece on behalf of the ABK Weaving Center.

this is what the board looks like when you first pick it up.

i had a general idea of what i wanted to do. with a handful of forgotten samplers from the studio, and a couple from my basement, i set out to make a small piece of patchwork.

i knew that i wanted to create at least one general shape out of the grouping. i found a tree. sure, it was the easy way out but i only had 3 days to complete it (due to other responsibilities) and whatever i did needed to be quick.

now the real work begins.

flowers

more flowers

even more flowers, cheeries on the tree and a frog that i was unsure about but which gl insisted " had to be there" (can't argue with a 7 year old)

a river, with fish, and a small vegetable garden

sun and clouds

a couple more little additions and it was done. i nailed it to the board with small finishing nails and then wrapped it with gold wire.

i'll be at the ball on the 19th taking pictures. come on out and buy some art. i know i will be. maybe i'll see you there.

new life for childhood artifacts

2010-02-05T16:47:00.000-06:00

it's february. have you noticed? and i have a brand new list of things to create. this week i was able to cross off two items. the first was to refashion an old dress of mine into a play dress for gl. the dress is a purple velvet affair that i bought for 13 dollars in 1994. i wore it to a college christmas banquet that i attended with my then boyfriend (now husband), dan. i can't even began to explain how much i loved this dress. i felt like a complete princess in it. i felt beautiful. come to find out, a few years after, that dan hated that dress. hated the way i looked in it. press pin to bubble. POP ! so anyway, i packed it away in a box and have only recently pulled it out to cut down for my daughter.

i left a long train on the back but if she let me cut that off she could where this dress out and about. it looks really cute on her.

oh! and she got a hair cut. she wanted a mohawk or a shaved head but her father said "no"! personally, i think she'd look cute in a mohawk. maybe when she's 8.

next on my list was some new curtains for gl's bedroom. i had made her old ones out of a plain white sheet that i had found at goodwill and then sewn butterflies on. they are old and grungy. out with the old and in with the.....really old? in my stash (which takes up a lot of my basement) i found the curtains that my mother had made for my bedroom when i was in high school. my bedroom was yellow. guess what? so is gl's! all i had to do was wash them and cut them down a little and VOILA!

it's kismet!

so let this be a lesson to YOU gentle readers! do not be quick to throw out good material, for you never know when or where it will come in handy. OR, you could just give it to me.

homage

2010-02-01T18:39:00.000-06:00

so i have this friend named Nina and she's beautiful and very talented. Nina has a son, named Malachi, who is also beautiful and talented. recently they were featured in an article on OnMilwaukee.com. read it. anyway, here's the thing, i really admire Nina's paintings but every time i see one my brain can't help but turn it into fiber art. when i saw the painting "you belong" that Nina and Malachi painted together my head nearly exploded. i was like "but...wha....no....but that....it's got to....where are my.....". the next thing i knew my previously clean kitchen was once more filled with piles of scrap material.

"you belong" by Nina and Malachi

dear Nina and Malachi, thank you for your wonderful painting. i stole a little of it for my own selfish pleasure. i am sorry. i couldn't help myself. it was always intended for you, if that makes my crime more excusable. i will send it via steev and jess. love, harmonie

pillow for Nina and Malachi

Goodwill Holds Up Nose at Undead

2009-11-02T11:21:00.002-06:00

my daughter wanted to be a corpse bride this halloween. i thought "great! easiest costume ever!" what i was picturing was walking into Goodwill and purchasing an old outdated wedding dress for around 20 bucks. WRONG! really Goodwill? REALLY? 80 dollars for that skanky, puffed sleeved, circa 1980's catastrophe? i mean, c'mon Goodwill! does that hand sewn, 1970's, polyester monstrosity carry so much hidden value? really? is it in the arm pit stains? or the torn hem? perhaps in the SMELL? but surely Goodwill, SURELY that dress with all the questionable stains on it will be below 60 dollars? after all, you're GOODWILL! people GIVE you unwanted items. i'm almost positive that the woman who gave you that bow bedecked, bedazzled, bohemoth would have kept it had she thought for an instant that it was worth 79.99. really Goodwill? REALLY? listen goodwill, i am your biggest fan. truly i am! the kitchen table that i am writing this on is from you, as is my living room wardrobe and a painted dresser next to my bed. you have treated me well in the past. i have found yarn and material in your hidden depths. this time goodwill, well, this time you let me down. we aren't talking designer labels, no hand sewn glass beading or intricate lacing here. you got greedy Goodwill. should we change your name to GOODGREEDY?

sigh. i'm going to forgive you and give you a second chance Goodwill. we all make mistakes and i did end up getting a costume from you. i had to sew it all together and do a lot more work than i originally anticipated but ok. i'm good at stuff like that so i'll let you off the hook.
one more thing before i go, just a little warning, if, in the next couple weeks, i go into one of your stores and find the prices dropped on all your wedding dresses, then i'll KNOW. i'll know Goodwill that you jacked up the prices for Halloween, and there will be a day of reckoning. i'm watching you Goodwill. i'm watching you.

. one cream, long sleeved lacy top, size 4: $4.99
. one yellowish, empire waist, sleeveless bridesmaid dress, size 4: $6.99
. one pair of size 11w, white dress shoes: $2.99
. one extra long, lace table cothe: $3.99
. one bag of bugs: $2.99
. one makeup kit: $6.00

one undead bride who clawed her way out of the grave to find her stolen wedding band: priceless.

Dear Heather Johnson

2009-10-16T11:30:00.000-06:00

i have a hat. i have an envelope. maybe this year i will send it to you. if i could find your address i just might. maybe. it's possible.

$6 dollars or less quilt

2009-10-11T09:41:00.000-06:00

it all started when i was invited to a baby shower back in June. i didn't want to buy a gift because, well, i'm kind of cheap. so i asked myself "what can i make?" and the answer came back "a quilt". i grabbed some fabrics from my stash and then sat down to draw out a very basic, easy pattern. the pattern that i came up with could've been completed in a day, maybe 2, but i am NOTORIOUS for being at least a couple months late on all my projects. so, per my reputation, i got 95% done with the quilt and then stopped. it has been sitting on top of my loom (another unfinished project) for the last couple months. i finally finished it this week. it only took an additional 2 hours. well, two hours and 3 months. here's the thing, as simple as this quilt is, it's still one of my babies. get me? it cost me 6 dollars and maybe 9 hours to make. it has flaws and it's not the prettiest thing i've ever created but that doesn't matter. i have a feeling it won't be appreciated and that bugs me. i have a fear of finding it at the Goodwill within the next couple months but i can't let that stop me from wrapping it up, planting a smile on my face and saying "congratulations" as i hand it over. not everyone will appreciate the things i make. not everyone will love them. some will put my creations into storage bins, shove them into the backs of closets, regift them at office Christmas party or yes, even give them to Goodwill. i can't let that stop me. it's not about how the recipient feels, it's about my attitude in the creating and giving. that's all i can control.

Greenleaf designed the silly creature for me. i said "draw me a silly creature." and she did.

Rag Rug

2009-10-05T13:33:00.001-06:00

I made this rag rug over the summer and then sewed a squirrel on it because i felt like it. that's right. i felt like it. it's going for $20.

gifted!

Sugar skull #1

2009-10-05T13:28:00.001-06:00

Because I want to make some Dia de los Muertos pillows i thought i better start with a sugar skull and see how i like it. i found a scrap of upholstery material in the basement with a nice big weave and started embroidering. my husband says it looks like a robot skull. i guess that's ok. the next one i'll do in white so that it looks more like a real skull. anyway, it was totally fun and i think i'm ready to tackle the pillows. after putting them off for a year, i guess it's about time.

i sewed it on a 2 dollar tote bag and tried to sell it for 10. it didn't go. i still have it if anyone wants it.

sold!

get close up and personal with death.

time to get my BUT in gear

2009-09-30T12:42:00.002-06:00

with the art walk this weekend i have to get some projects finished. here are a couple that i'll be selling. more to follow.

still have the yellow one.

some new hats.

ok this is weird. i can't get the picture to flip. just cock your head to the left and look at it that way. it's a woven runner done in broken twill with cotton and wool. i couldn't resist a bird applique.

sold!

detail of bird.

proceed with caution

2009-05-07T12:55:00.004-06:00

turns out these eggs were so pretty that we were reluctant to eat them. i ended up throwing away these last four today. they were even hard to throw out. i let them go with a sad sigh.

may to do list

2009-05-05T20:17:00.003-06:00

. nina's pillows
. etsy store
. quilt for etsy store
. rug on loom
. gl's knitted tank
. repair purple

i haven't added anything to it in the hopes of actually finishing it. if by some miracle i finish it before the month is over, then, and only then, can i add new items or buy more yarn. AND i'm not allowed to work on any other projects until these are finished. NOTHING!

for sale for sure

2009-05-05T20:04:00.003-06:00

sold!

the abk weaving studio is having a fund raiser this week and i wanted to donate some stuff. after looking around the basement i found 2 purses, 3 scarves, and a tote. then i took a couple days and made these knitting bags as well. i ended up having to do a lot of the stitching by hand and it was surprisingly satisfying. the green bag was easier because i had already made a bag like it for my sis-in-law. only difference being i put pockets inside for knitting needles, and i spelled out the word "knit" on this one. anywho, i don't know if they'll sell but i wish them luck. if they don't sell i'll put them on etsy. i swear, i'm still going to start a store. it just got moved to the may list.

quilt in progress

2009-04-27T06:56:00.003-06:00

i've entered the planning stages for my next quilt. this one i am planning on selling when i get it done.

finished camille bag

2009-04-26T22:08:00.003-06:00

finally! i sure took my sweet time.

the lining is a sweet purple flowered cotton i had lying about. and i got the bamboo handles at 50% off. huzzah! i'm going to try to sell it for 25. too much?

embroidery detail. i really didn't know what i was going to do. i made it up as i went and decided that less was more in this instance. in most instances actually.

soren's diaper bag

2009-04-25T15:46:00.003-06:00

i started this diaper (tote) bag when i was in the hospital after having soren. i was so excited to make my own diaper bag but when i was done i realized i had made the strap too long. as soon as i put anything in it, it stretched down to my knees. i was so disgusted that i put it in a drawer and deliberately forgot about it. until now. i frogged the strap yesterday and reattached it at it's new shortened length. it now hangs at a lovely hip height. it's lined with flannel (bad idea because flannel likes to stick to itself) with a couple pockets and a magnetic close. i knit it with a lovely alpaca wool. very soft. i used it proudly for zumba class this morning.

that's another one off the list.

quilt design

2009-04-23T09:32:00.003-06:00

this was my original design for ethan's quilt. i stuck to the pattern for the most part with only a few minor changes.

a quilt for ethan

2009-04-22T17:13:00.007-06:00

i made this baby quilt for our friends matt and michelle's new baby boy. honestly, i don't know ethan, so the quilt is more for matt and michelle than anyone else. to show them how happy i am for them and how much joy i wish them. when they had their baby girl, a couple years ago, dan and i were experiencing the loss of our own baby so we weren't able to rejoice with them the way we would have liked.

i met matt in college and was immediately drawn to him. not in a romantic way (anyone who knows me, knows that it was always dan. from day one. dan, dan, dan, dan, dan.) but in the way that we are drawn to beautiful things. he is a beautiful person. i recognized that right away. i took a philosophy course just to be near him. i wanted to soak up some of his beauty. he sparkled with knowledge, debating happily. i sat and thought about the poppy scene from the wizard of oz. lost in a red, blue, sleepy haze of words. dan and i didn't meet michelle until very recently. i admit, i was frightened. i needn't have been. from the first hello i could tell that she was a beautiful person too. two beautiful souls found each other and are devoted to creating more beauty. i am happy.

welcome ethan. you are a lucky boy.

a happy easter to all and to all a good dye

2009-04-06T10:58:00.004-06:00

i have facebook's invasive ways to thank for this idea. one of my friends bookmarked a site that i got curious about. here's what i found:
first, you go to goodwill and buy as many 100% silk ties as you can (or desire). i suggest dark colors and small patterns. they seem to turn out the best. you can probably use anything that's 100% silk. ties seem to be the cheapest and most easily found. greenleaf and i had fun picking them out.
rip the seams out of the ties and take out the lining so that you have a flat, one layer piece of silk. by trial and error we discovered that it works better if you cut enough silk to wrap around one egg and then get it wet. that's what gl is doing in this picture. soaking the silk.
next, wrap the egg as tightly as you can with the wet silk. smooth out the sides as you go, getting out any air bubbles. make sure that the right side of the material is pressed against the egg shell.
tie with a twist tie. then cover the silk wrapped egg with a light weight piece of cotton in the same manner in which you wrapped the silk. i used scraps from an old sheet and then tied that off with rubber bands. place wrapped eggs in a pot of boiling water with a generous amount of vinegar. boil for 20 minutes. let cool. unwrap.
unwrapping was the best part. this was so much fun that we are planning on making it a tradition. if you want to learn more, here's the site that i originally went to http://www.ourbestbites.com/2008/03/silk-dyed-eggs.html .

failure is an option, but not with this april to do list!

2009-04-06T10:49:00.007-06:00

i am a failure. there, i said it. my punishment is i'm not allowed to buy yarn for the whole month of april. NO YARN! i'm still going to keep going with this list thing though. i think it's good for me to set goals and try to reach them. one of these months i'll actually do it. i just know it! so the april list is the march list but with a couple additions. i wish myself luck.

april list
. nina's pillows
. re-do strap on knitted tote done
. silk dye eggs done
. etsy store
. make baby quilt to sell on etsy
. finish ethan's blanket (i mean c'mon! you're 95% done) done
. camille purse done
. rug on loom
. gl's knitted tank
. repair purple

nina's down-home country apron

2009-04-03T20:27:00.004-06:00

wanted: one apron, extra large, extra thick, with extra big pockets.

nina wanted a painting apron. one that she could get messy and grossed up. i found a yard or so of canvas and some denim in my stash and made her one. it's reversible. it's large. it's thick. it has big pockets. i'd say that's a job well done.

question: can denim ever not look country?

i refuse to buy anything if i don't have to. i had this pattern laying about. i borrowed a little something from it.

march update

2009-03-31T07:22:00.003-06:00

today is the last day of march and i have not completed my list. in fairness i have started and at least gotten halfway, on all items except the etsy store. i've gone back and forth on it and i've decided that because i did not decide on doing the list until march 9th (thereby wasting 9 days of march) i will give myself to the end of this week. is this cheating? yeah, probably. i'm not torn up about it though. i'll post and begin april's list on sunday. and now that i know myself a little better, it will be a shorter list then march's. with nina's pillows being priority #1.

another skirt

2009-03-27T14:43:00.003-06:00

this is the second skirt i've made from a pair of pants. green with inserts. made the same way as the pink but longer. we both like it a lot but she was not in the mood to pose for me. this is the best shot i could get.

THE skirt

2009-03-14T20:58:00.003-06:00

pants to skirt adventure

2009-03-14T19:51:00.011-06:00

my daughter grew too tall for these pants but they were still in very good condition. not to mention a pretty color. i started off by cutting them the skirt length that i desired (around knee) and then i split the inside leg seams. the front seam was split to the zipper and the back seam to about the bottom edge of the pockets. before starting this project i looked at many other web sites that had done the same thing. some of them split the outside leg seams as well but i thought that was over kill. make sure to split the seams very carefully avoiding ripping or pulling at the material. if you do it carefully the material will fold under on it's own making the edges much easier to sew. next, i let greenleaf dig into my stash of remnants and find a scrap that she and i could both live with. you could use the cut off legs to fill the gaps but we wanted to "pretty it up". i cut two inserts a size bigger than the triangles that i needed. the front insert i just pinned in place, making sure the pant hem was turned under. the back insert i pin tucked first and then played with to get it to lay just right before pinning it into place. i did this to give the back a sort of "princessy" feel. after pinning, i sewed the inserts into place being careful to use a long stitch, just in case i had to rip it out again. once everything is sewn to your satisfaction you can go back over it with a shorter or fancier stitch. with the inserts sewn in, all that was left was to hem. i pinned up the hem with greenleaf wearing the skirt. it looked even on her but when she took it off i saw that the back was longer than the front. i decided to take out some of the skirts from her closet and see what they looked like. i found that, when holding them up with the waist even, half of them were longer in the back and the rest were the same all the way around. after considering, i decided that i like it longer in the back. it makes sense. after all, the human butt sticks out a bit making the skirt rise up in the back AND having a little extra cloth in the back for when you sit down never hurt anyone. i hemmed once with a straight stitch and then went back
around with a fancy stitch a little higher up. that's all there is to it. it's really very simple and now that i know that, i'll be doing it a lot more.

March to do list

2009-03-09T07:29:00.006-06:00

because my attention span is short ( i no sooner start a project then i see something else i want to start) i've decided that i need to have defined goals for each month. by the time april rolls around these projects will be complete.

1. hat for heather (in beautiful blue) in beautiful green.
2. blanket for baby ethandone
3. turn gl's pants into skirts (2) done
4. camille purse
5. rug on loom
6.gl's knitted tank top
7. etsy store
8. have decided on designs and bought material for nina's pillowsdone
9. repair purple

these are in no particular order.
i haven't decided what my punishment should be if they are not complete. something terrible.

the camille purse

2009-03-06T18:33:00.002-06:00

my friend camille wanted to work on a project at the same time. we choose a "whimsical" clutch bag. i'm trying desperately not to procrastinate. this picture shows one almost complete side. the original pattern calls for a knitted butterfly decoration on the outside but i think i'm going to do a beaded tree instead. or a bird? i wonder what camille is going to do? hmmmm?

soren's quilted blanket

2009-03-06T18:16:00.002-06:00

i should have had this finished months ago but i procrastinated. this was inspired by a quilt my friend K had in college. i coveted that quilt. this blanket is made from dan's old shirts, some old trousers of mine, and some misc. scraps.

new hat

2009-03-06T18:07:00.004-06:00

at first i asked gl to model but then i realized, it's an adult hat so an adult should model it. it knitted up really quick and i was able to finish it on the train ride to chicago. i really like the color but i don't know about the style.

soren's winter hat and scarf

2009-03-06T18:01:00.003-06:00

of course he didn't need them today in the spring like weather but i realized i hadn't taken a picture of them yet. my pretty babies.

winter headband for leaf

2009-02-14T12:46:00.002-06:00

covers the ears for warmth

finished hat

2009-02-14T12:27:00.001-06:00

i love this hat. i think i'll make some more.

current projects

2009-01-22T08:25:00.002-06:00

hat in progress

scarf done in a cross stitch knit pattern.

christmas quilt '08

2009-01-05T12:57:00.005-06:00

quilt for baby noah that i actually started before he was born but didn't finish until this christmas. the top picture shows the front of the quilt and the bottom picture shows the skull applique and some of the back. i used 4 or 5 larger blocks for the back instead of just one piece. i really like that trend. i'm happy with how this turned out except for the edges. i ran out of suitable material and ended up having to buy some quilt binding and then to top it off my sewing machine's tension started going wack. i need both my machines tuned up. soon. anyway, it's done and out of my house. huzzah! maybe i'll finally finish soren's. nah. i got a couple years.

christmas bags '08

2009-01-05T12:24:00.005-06:00

i bought this awesome green fabric with raised velvety leaves off a clearance rack and the butterflies i cut off another scrap piece. after i stitched on the butterflies i then stitched flight patterns. the lining fabric is also a lovely flowered scrap piece. i need to take better pictures.

this one was for my mom-in-law. i love those felt flowers. quick to stitch up and they add such a nice flair. i made my sister a similar one with a flower, different material, but forgot to take a picture.

this bag i made for finny boy. i drew up the font myself and i'm a little proud of it. every letter is a silly creature. you probably can't tell. take my word for it. i figured he could use it for the library or sleepovers. whatev.

this bag was for cindy. my dad told me her favorite color is pink. i couldn't do a completely pink bag so i lined it with a pink flowered cotton and cut out some of the flowers to stitch on the front. i also used pink thread to stitch across some of the pin stripping on the navy. i thought it was a nice touch.

christmas '08

2009-01-05T12:03:00.008-06:00

classic but oh so stylish leg warmers.

applique t-shirt for samwise. designed by dan. sewn by me.

an old-fashioned knit bonnet for august. modeled by greenleaf who, coincidentally, recieved her own.

christmas '08

2009-01-05T11:44:00.006-06:00

what a busy hol! as usual i waited until the absolute last second to get started. pretty much everything was done on time. hip hip. but not without a great deal of break outs and gallons of breyers ice cream. chocolate mint. only one all-nighter was necessary. i have one more bag to finish this week and i've already started a new knitting project and have a new rug on the loom. the baby has been sick since last tuesday so getting anything done has been a bit difficult. that's alright, i think i needed a little break.

above are pillows i made for steev/jess and ben/kate. i tried to fit their individual tastes but i don't know if i achieved that or not. you can only try. ben and kate's are the skull and frogs laid out for dissecting. kate said "oh i love the dancing frogs." i was like "yeah, they're dancing. that's what they're doing." i would hate to disappoint.

ms. laurie's bag

2008-08-09T07:28:00.003-06:00

i've been meaning to make a bag for greenleaf's kindergarten teacher for the past 6 months. i finally got around to doing it last night. i love this material and of course i enjoyed making the flower pin to go along with it. the material for the lining is also really pretty but i didn't want to post 3 pictures on this. just take my word for it.

faerie

2008-08-08T16:53:00.002-06:00

we took greenleaf to a faerie festival last weekend. she had fun dressing up and playing with her cousins. here's the costume i made for her. it was fun taking it from a drawing into reality. i also made a costume for soren, which was completely adorable but i don't have a decent picture of it.

missing in action

2008-08-08T16:44:00.003-06:00

i actually have been doing projects this summer but i haven't been taking pictures of them. so.....i haven't been as lazy as it seems i have. here's a recent bag that i made for my cousin-in-law's new baby girl. i received a cute bag for greenleaf a couple years ago and we use it for everthing. sleepovers, library, what have you. they come in handy.

sheet

2008-04-17T14:21:00.005-06:00

soren has a compact crib and it's been impossible to find sheets for it. i bought some queen size sheets from goodwill, washed them very well, and after one failed attempt managed to make a fitted sheet that fit his mattress. the formula was problematic but after tweaking it, i got it just right. now i should be able to whip up a couple more in just a matter of hours. one queen size sheet should give me 3 compact crib sheets. the formula for fitted sheets, in case you are wondering, is as follows:

L + (2xd) + (2xt) =L
W + (2xd) + (2xt) =W
L=length
d=depth
W=width
t= tuck in + hem ( the tuck in is however much you want to go under the mattress. usually half the depth. hem should be at least a half inch.)

.once you do the math and have your sheet cut to size, you cut a square out of each corner ( i made my squares equal to my d +t. so in my case they were 5 inch squares.)
.with right sides together, pin and stitch the cut sides of your squares forming pockets.
. measure ( i used d +t here as well) 5 along each side of the corners and mark.
. stitch a .5 hem all around the hem leaving one inch openings at each of your marks.
. thread elastic through one gap, around the corner and out the other gap.
. pull the elastic taught so that it gathers the corners.
. stitch the gaps in the hem securing the end of the elastic into the stitches.
. trim off excess elastic.
finis

i love this picture of soren. he never stops moving.

knitted purse

2008-04-12T12:53:00.007-06:00

finally finished this purse. knitted with a button closure and an over the shoulder strap. i really like the strap because it's nice and thick with just the right amount of stretch. it feels good to finish things. i should do it more often.

soren in knitted hat

2008-03-13T11:09:00.003-06:00

my friend camille made this hat for him. it's adorable.

tree princess

2008-03-12T15:04:00.002-06:00

i wanted to get these pictures up a long time ago but kept forgetting. greenleaf wanted to be a "tree princess" for halloween. i wasn't exactly sure what a tree princess looked like but i did my best. i couldn't decide which picture to show, so i'm showing all.

soren kipling baker

2008-02-16T20:17:00.004-06:00

i've been working on this project for the past 9 months. greenleaf and i are happy with the finished product. what do you think?

updates

2007-12-27T20:52:00.000-06:00

a runner i made for my brother and his fiance. i'm really happy with the way it turned out.
another runner for my brother and sister-in-law. this project was the one that eventually led to my getting a new sewing machine. i'll always remember it for that.
a purse for my sis. i saw one in a store and decided "i can do that." so i did. i also made one for my sis-in-law but forgot to take a picture of it. i love the way you can change the ribbon to match whatever outfit you are wearing.
the patchwork afghan, 2/3rds done. luckily my sister in law is very understanding. i'll try to have it finished before she leaves for school. it's turning out wonderful. very thick and the colors are so vibrant.

while doing a lot of knitting over the holiday season i was able to watch two movies that i really enjoyed. the first one was called 'once' and the second one was the more popular "reign over me", with adam sandler giving a really stellar performance. he has come a long way from snl.

fyi, starting on sunday, january 13th, pbs will be playing 'the complete jane austen'. all 6 novels with 4 new adaptations. i'm very excited. check it out on pbs.org/janeausten. if you can't watch all of them let me recommend that you at least watch 'persuasion'. next to pride and prejudice it is my favorite of her novels.

sewing mashanigans

2007-12-15T18:09:00.000-06:00

that's it! i've officially had it! my stupid sewing machine decided to call it quits. can you believe it's timing? 10 days to christmas. humbug! we ordered a new machine from amazon.com, it should be here on tuesday. we'll see. in the mean time, i guess i'll concentrate on weaving.

christmas presents

2007-12-09T19:17:00.001-06:00

this project is totally fun and if i had a better attention span i'd be done with it by now. it's a "crazy" quilted runner done in reds, black, and gold. it's so much fun that i'm planning on making about two more after this one. a purple and gold one and a blue and gold one.

sold! (the scarf, not the family)

i finished this scarf last week but still need to tuck the ends. it's a new pattern that i never attempted but was really fun and easy. i don't have anyone in mind to give this to but i'm sure someone will come up. greenleaf had to get into the picture and i guess honey wanted in as well.
this is a patch work afghan that i'm working on. i need to finish two more panels and then sew them together. it will end up being the size of a throw. very colorful and warm. i'm looking forward to giving this gift. i need to hurry up though because i have a purse and a rug that i want to knit. i really shouldn't have more than three or four projects going at one time.
my loom is warped with enough material for at least 5 or 6 rugs. i'm working on a christmas rug right now. when i'm done with that i have a beautiful blue material to make a "river" pattern rug and then a bright, primary colored one. after that, who knows?

buttonhole scarf

2007-11-17T13:51:00.001-06:00

you can see the hole in the middle picture. one end of the scarf slips through the hole and holds it into place. can be worn up or down, as greenleaf very nicely models.

little bird in the cinnamon tree

2007-11-17T12:38:00.000-06:00

some christmas bird decorations i whipped up after seeing something similar at a craft show my mother-in-law and i attended. the flying frog was a gift from dan about 5 christmas's ago. he's held that place of honor since i received him but this year he's wearing a festive holiday ribbon. i LOVE christmas.

Oh Joy, Oh Bliss!

2007-11-17T12:29:00.000-06:00

thanks to my wonderful husband and even more wonderful brother-in-law Ben, my loom is now upstairs in the living room. the move was a tough one but thankfully, no bones or beams were broken in the process. unfortunately, i did have to give up my computer. there was just no room for the computer desk and computer once the loom was put into place. oh well, i'll survive. i'll be able to use dan's laptop once in a while to update. if you need to reach me you'll have to do it through this site or my face book account. no more e mail for me. now, hi-ho, it's off to weave i go.

honey love.

2007-11-07T10:16:00.000-06:00

currently there are about 4 unfinished projects sitting on my kitchen table. a purse, a quilt, a tote bag, and an apron. i should be working on these, but all i really want to do is cuddle with my puppy on the couch. i mean, look at her! wouldn't you?

blue bird on my shoulder

2007-11-02T12:14:00.001-06:00

i can't believe i finally finished it. now i just can't decide if i want to give it away, sell it, or keep it as a diaper bag for myself. i'm too close to the patient. i have emotional ties. maybe i'll let someone else decide.

fly free little birdie. fly free.

2007-11-02T12:08:00.001-06:00

another "bird on a wire" bag. what can i say? i love birds. i've been trying to get dan to let me have one for years now. a real one. one that will sit in a cage and sing pretty for me. oh my gosh, that sounds terrible. i sound like a terrible person. what kind of person wants to keep something wild and free in a cage just so she can look at it? maybe i'll just stick to putting the birds on bags. free to rest on other people's shoulders.

soft blue bag

2007-11-02T12:05:00.002-06:00

sold!

i might have bitten off more than i could chew with this floral design but it was fun to see what would happen. i love the colors together and the bag is really soft.

meet you at the soda fountain.

2007-11-02T11:56:00.001-06:00

sold!

i'm so happy with how this turned out. i was inspired by this 50's style material and the felt corsage was really fun to make. the corsage is removable, so you can even wear it on a jacket or sweater.

2007-06-18T10:53:00.000-06:00

made this from an old work shirt of dan's. took about 45 minutes. i have two more work shirts to modify. this was a good trial. i found out what works and what doesn't. it's more form fitting than i would like so i'll keep that in mind for the next one.

back on the craft train

2007-06-15T19:02:00.000-06:00

i made this shirt and one other, slightly different (more maternity looking), from an old dress of my mothers. i woke up the other morning feeling hot, sticky and lamenting my lack of non-clothes. non-clothes (n.) harmonism. cloth sewn in such a way that it covers the body while allowing plenty of air flow. so i went into my basement and dug up some old clothes to modify.
i had two old worn tank tops and decided to make one new, exciting shirt. wohoo! exciting isn't it? i added the little bird for a touch of whimsy. don't laugh at my farmer's tan. please.
knitting these mitts is how i kept myself busy between scenes during my 'sound of music' performances. the play was fantastic and a lot of fun but i have to say that these mitts helped me maintain my sanity. i think a lot of people got a kick out of taking my picture while i was knitting in my nun outfit. wish i had one of those to show you. don't.

so.... these are my recent projects. i'm hoping to spend the remainder of the month focusing on finishing all my old projects. we'll see how far i get. i have a lot of half finished stuff lying around. shameful.

other than that i'm working on a production of 'joseph and the amazing technicolor dream coat' ,trying to lose weight, growing vegetables, and contemplating taking some contemporary dance lessons. so far, so good. on all counts.