Gathering Dust

Kits for Birdsong; Leftover Wool

I've been cutting and gathering, getting my kits ready for my class at Birdsong.  The little purple buds are lavender, if you hold your nose close to the screen, I'm sure you'll enjoy the scent.

The lavender has been my favorite part of putting the kits together.

Cutting the fabric wasn't too bad, but it took a long time- three pieces of fabric each for 35 kits was...105 pieces of fabric...plus cutting lace and ribbon.

But, believe it or not, the hardest part was taking the flowers off of this hat.  (Or, as Karla calls it, "deflowering").  It took about 3 hours. Everyone of those tiny little flowers was stitched on.

At some point, I was planning on pulling these apart, too- but I'm not sure that's how I want to spend the rest of my life.

One of the fabrics that I used in my kits was an old wool blanket that I felted.  I ended up with scraps, and of course, I couldn't bear to throw them away, so I started stitching with them.

The horse is cut from Charlotte Lyons' Rummy fabric.  The fabric design is based on old playing cards, and a fat quarter gives you a LOT of images.

Playing with these little bits of leftover wool has really been fun.  But I'm pretty sure that stitching on all of them is going to take a lot more time than pulling flowers off of hats ever would.

I Found Instagram

Over the weekend, I found Instagram.  Well, I didn't just find it, I've been looking at pictures on the site for a long time.  I just didn't USE it.

When I thought of Instagram, I thought of big groups of people holding their cell phones in the air snapping pictures.  I never thought about using it until the cover fell off my Ipad and I realized I could use Instagram for more than just looking at other people's pictures. 

It was an "aha" and "duh" moment all at the same time.

So, I've used Instagram to post some of my crafting stuff and estate sale finds.  If you want to check it out, you can find me here:

"Low Color" Recycled Wool Patchwork

Earlier this winter, I showed you this patchwork that I'd pieced together from wool from felted thrift store sweaters.

I've done some work on it, but it's still a work in progress.

The problem I have with this kind of project is I'm never exactly sure when it's DONE.

There's always room to add one more piece of lace, one more button, one more section of stitching.

I have a feeling I'm getting close to "DONE".  That's a good thing.  I don't think I'm going to want to spend time this summer working with a lap full of wool.

I Craft Everyday, Really I Do...

Knitting, or playing in my journal or just random stitching...I do craft everyday, I just don't FINISH something everyday.  I tend to think of myself as a long-term crafter.

But I did get some projects finished in the past few days.

A couple of ditty bags.

I made these bags after I took Lisa's woven bag class at Birdsong two years ago, but I just managed to get handles attached last weekend.

Speaking of Bird Song, this is one version of the class project I'll teach. 

If you put your nose really close to the computer screen, maybe you can smell that these are actually sachets filled with lavender.

I finished my "February" journal and started a new one.  I think I've shown the cover before, but I added a red Dennison label so I could add a date.

And like so many of my projects, I've STARTED a lot of pages with bits and pieces that catch my eye.

Here's a little guy that still catches my eye.  Can you believe Button was THREE years old this weekend? He looks very serious in this picture, he's probably thinking about the rabbits under the deck.

Hearts and Earrings

What I did this weekend:  Made earrings.  PAIRS of earrings.  I have a very large collection of single earrings.  Hopefully these will stay in pairs for a couple of months.

Cut up a vintage baby sleeper into hearts. Fuzzy hearts.

And decorated the hearts.

Probably not the most exciting weekend you'll hear about, but I found it satisfying.

Stop Snowing Geez, It's March Already

"Stop snowing, it's March already" she said in her whiniest voice.

We've really only had snow on the ground for ten days or so, but it's enough winter for me.

I am trying to "think spring" by working on projects for Karla's Bird Song 3 workshop.  Last week we did some brainstorming- maybe more storm than brain....this a bird cage Karla's working on.

These are creatures that were rejected as more "shrimp-like" than bird like.

Nothing better than some craft project rejects to inspire you, huh?

Here's a little bit more inspiring picture- Mary's glue book papers.

...and a page in progress.

 

Art Quilts and Samplers, No Brainer Books, and the Woolies

I've been using the month of January, cabin fever and winter weather to spend more time crafting.  I've used this excuse even if it was 72 degrees on Monday- it snowed yesterday and today, so winter weather is a very valid reason to want to stay hunkered down in your crafting chair and play with wool. 

This stitched sampler reminds me of the cross stitch patterns published by Vanessa Ann in the 1980's.  Does anyone else remember those?  I think the darker colors give it a kind of folk art feel.

I used wool I got from Lisa- she has more in her Etsy Shop.

Here's a freestyle embroidery sampler that I stitched using an old dinner napkin. 

The finished edge and hem stitch border made it an easy piece to finish.  The back is an old baby blanket.

Both of these pieces are in my Etsy Shop- Gathering Dust.

And I'm still working with paper- a couple of journals I made yesterday. 

I was particularly proud of myself for finally stitching paper into a journal- the one on the right.  I had the holes in the cover all poked and lined up with the paper and went to find some quilting thread to stitch in the pages. I couldn't find any, so I used dental floss, and my book has a minty fresh smell.

It's just 10 pieces of nice paper, a piece of folded cardboard and some...dental floss, but it did give me a very satisfied feeling.  Who knows what's next- 20 pages, 30 pages, full size books--- the possibilities are unlimited!

But first, I have to finish this.  Its a patchwork of different colors and weaves of wools.  It sounded like such a good idea, but it's getting to be HARD.  I stitched the wool squares to a piece of batting and the batting is STIFF and not fun to stitch through. 

I wish I could shave the layer of batting in half.  There must be some kind of tool I could use- the first thing that comes to mind is a really SHARP cheese cutter...

I think if I could get a bit more stitching, some appliques, lace, buttons etc on it, it might be something I'd be really happy I finished. 

That is the risk of trying a new project- they don't always go the way you planned, but sometimes they turn out better.

Crossing my fingers (and my embroidery needles) for better.

 

Hudson Bay Cut and Sew

Right before Christmas, I showed you this stack of wool pieces I'd salvaged from a Hudson Bay blanket.  It was an old, worn blanket with holes that my friend Susan had received in a box lot at an auction.  She didn't want it and knew I liked to play with wool, so she gave it to me.

If it had been just any wool blanket, I probably wouldn't have been as interested, but I've always loved the iconic look of a Hudson Bay blanket.

(The blanket pictured is from LL Bean and is priced at $495!)

I cut it in the direction of  the stripes, and then cut out and got rid of sections with the holes.  Then I sewed it back together in strips, and sewed the strips together.  It was really a pretty fast project.

No way does it look like the original, but I like the way it turned out.  It really doesn't fit the style of my house (because I don't live in a log cabin) but we'll use it for a nap blanket or a TV blanket.

Do you think I should finish the edges? A satin blanket binding might feel nice, but take away from the rustic feel of the blanket.

I did manage to salvage just a bit of the original label, in case anyone wonders where did this blanket come from.

(on a completely different subject- new jewelry and sewing notions in my Etsy shop, SugarPinkMoon

Slow Jam Crafting

Christmas time is full of hustle and bustle for a lot of people, but I do my shopping on-line in my slippers, I don't bake and I don't decorate anything but my booth at the antique mall- I know, bah humbug Beth. 

But I've had extra time to craft lately and have actually FINISHED a few projects.  Like the patchwork covered wallpaper box on the right side.  It's a project that shouldn't take more than 45 minutes, but it started as an after thought, like so many of my projects do. 

I was working on something else, saw the box on my worktable, saw a couple of small pieces of wallpaper that looked pretty together and glued them on the box- and then I set it aside and finished whatever else I was doing. Every so often, I'd add another piece of wallpaper.

That is slow jam crafting.

Not everything takes me so long.  I put together this little afghan for Button in about a week.  It's small- just "Button size".

DH thought that since Buddy had his own afghan, Button should have one, too.

I've been watching reruns of Downton Abbey.  This is probably my fourth time through.  If a TV show is really good, I can watch it over and over. 

Some of that might because I have very little short term memory, and I'm usually doing something else (crafting) while I'm watching, so I miss things.  TV-wise, I'm kind of a cheap date.

So lately while I've been watching, I've been stitching these little bits, and then putting a pin on top and calling them "pinnies".  If I didn't put the pin on top, I wouldn't have a name for them at all...

Next project- taking these pieces of a wonderful old Hudson Bay wool camp blanket that has seen better days, cutting it into squares and patchworking them back together.  I bought a rotary cutter to make sure I got the edges as straight as possible.  But I'm not sure where I put the rotary cutter...but I know I bought one, the receipt is right on top...

Yeah, this is slow jam crafting.

Favorite Estate Sale Find: Vintage Sewing Stuff

At the same estate sale where I found the crazy quilt in my previous posts, I also found one of the best stashes of vintage sewing notions I've seen in a long time.

Usually I find sewing stuff from the 50's, but I think these are from much earlier.  Some are from Germany, so I'm guessing 1920's or earlier.

I love these little pin cubes- beautiful graphics.

One side of this cube has a dice graphic.

German scissors and handmade scissor sheathes lined with velvet.

Bobbins for winding sewing or embroidery thread- made of celluloid and mother of pearl.

I'll be bringing these to sell at the  Old Summit Antique Show on Jan 19.  It'll be here before we know it!