Gathering Dust

An Anthropologie Inspired Afghan, Floral Embroidery, a Quilt-adori and Playing with Paint

Just a random crafting update...

I love flowers- doesn't everyone? And I love embroidering flowers.  I've wanted to do a free-style stitched piece for awhile, but I really only know how to draw one kind of flower and it's the same flower I've been drawing since fifth grade.

Then I found this book, Draw 500 Fabulous Flowers by Lisa Congdon.  I picked out a bouquet of flowers from the pages of the book and traced them onto a man's handkerchief.

This probably isn't a recommended method for transferring images, but my stitching will cover any pencil marks.

Over Memorial Day weekend, I was digging through a closet and found a bag full of different patterned knitted squares in shades of white.  I first mentioned these in a post way back in Feb 2009.  I was inspired to knit them by a throw I saw at Anthropologie.   I stitched them together last week. It probably would look a little more pristine if I had blocked the squares first, but sometimes I just go my own way.  There is hope for UFOs (Un Finished Objects)!

In May I went back to the big red barn in Nebraska for Handmade U.  Our hostess, Rachel, showed us how to make these darling "quilt-adoris".  A quilt-a-dori is a take off on the Midori refillable notebook.  Our notebook covers are leather, covered in a piece of quilt top fabric.  

The notebook is refillable by just slipping a new set of pages under the elastic band that also keeps it closed.

We made four filler notebooks.  I decorated mine with roses to match the pinks on my quilt-adori cover.  (The rose in the upper right hand is a copy of a painting by Karla).

This is the back of the quilt a dori- you can see how the elastic bank wraps around the whole cover.

The other class at Handmade U was taught by Mindy Lacefield.  Mindy paints darling little girls on abstract random backgrounds. For our class, we painted on a board book.  This was something completely different for me- I'm not a painter or a drawer.  I was even a little freaked out by the supply list- oil pastel crayons?  What are those?

The class turned out to be fun- just experimenting with new supplies and trying new things...

...like this page, where I used the flowers from the paper towels as part of my collage. 

 One thing this class made me realize is that I really don't like to get my hands dirty with paint and glue.

Another thing it made me realize that it's HARD to draw faces.

It seems to me that all my girls look a little bit crabby. ..

I don't think I've found my new niche, but I'm glad I took the class.  And I'm not showing you my crabby girls because I think they are inspiring or my best work.  I'm showing them because like I've said before- for me, creating is about the process, not the end product.  It's about playing and trying new things.

And sometimes in between playing and experimenting,  you do get a finished afghan that's been waiting for you for seven years.

Crafting: No End Game

Many times when I craft in public, like waiting for an appointment, at an antique show, or sitting at an auction, people will ask "What are you making?"  or "Who is that for?".  A lot of the time the answer is "I dunno". 

If you've read my blog for very long, you've probably figured out that I craft just because I like to keep my hands busy.  I like the process.  And if I end up with a finished project that I can give or sell to somebody, that's a bonus.

And that's how it is with most of the stuff I've been making lately.  I'm still trying to find enlightenment and inner peace with Zentangles. Or maybe I just like to doodle..

I added some outlining to my Distress Marker flowers from my last post.

Knitting something pink just because it's easy to do while watching TV.

And stitching, just because it's something I love.

Just to show that I really can finish a project, I've listed some finished projects in my Etsy Shop.  Most were submitted or published in Sew Somerset.  When they were returned, I just stacked them up on a shelf in my guest room.  I might get a guest someday, so I need to make room on that shelf.

January Crafting

January really lends itself to crafting.  Here in Kansas, it's cold, windy and the days seem short; curling up on the couch under a quilt with a little crafting project is the perfect antidote.

This month, I've worked on a lot of different projects; but I'll just show some of the things that are finished, or finished part of ongoing projects.

My mom gave me this book for Christmas.  I've had a lot of fun doodling or "tangling" on lightweight coasters...

...and then hole punching them and sliding them on a big ring. 

The author of the book started making zentangles while waiting at doctor appointments.  She found it relaxing and helped her stress level when dealing with ongoing medical problems.  I'm not surprised, there is something meditative about simple repetitive motions.

Speaking of simple  repetitive motions, knitting is one of my favorites.  My sister in law gave me this beautiful skein of specialty yarn from Interlaken NY.  It's from a series called "Memorable Women" and this color is Dian Fossey, of Gorillas in the Mist fame.

(The short white fibers are not part of Dian Fossey, they're part of Buddy, who seems to be shedding enough that he could come up with his own line of yarn, too.)

I knit a shawlette- a shorter shawl meant for spring/summer.

The bind off on this pattern was fun- cast on two, bind off four, and you get this little ruffled edge.

I'm loving the journal Karla made me for Christmas.  I've never worked in such a pretty and BIG journal.

I just love the French net lace and velvet edging.

For my first page, I went back to playing with one of my old favorites, vintage wallpaper.  I don't really like the "Use the Good Stuff" medallion, but I figure that's ok- I can go back and cover it with a version I like better, later. 

I just want to keep it there to remind me that even though my journal is just for me, I should still use good materials.

Another wallpaper page.

And this page is a collage of one of my favorite color combinations: red, light blue and cream.

January was a long month, but doses of crafting made the days go faster.  I've got a lot planned for February, mostly finishing up things that were started in 2014 (or earlier).

This Is What I Know

...Just some very random and unrelated observations I've made since Christmas.  I spent Christmas Eve and Christmas Day in ND at my brother's house, and a few more days with my parents.

1.  If I fly at Christmas time, I will be sick by New Years.  Airplanes are giant incubators for colds and flu.  But I'm on the mend now and with a couple more days rest and ibuprofen, I'll be good to go.

2.  Cute idea for a Christmas decoration from my SIL- wrap a piece of foamcore in gift wrap, add a bow, and hang on the wall.

3.  Christmas decorations don't have to be green and red- or silver and gold.  I love this combination of green, purple and blue ornaments in a battery jar with a little string of lights.

4.  My Mom makes the best Christmas dessert in the world- Bavarian cream pastry.

5.  You can crochet this scarf in 3 hours.  Using a size P Hook and two skeins of  Isaac Mizrahi yarn, chain 130, double crochet in all the chains, make the standard three chains to turn and double crochet again until you run out of yarn. 

(When you're at the end of a row and it doesn't look like you'll have enough yarn to finish the next row, stop.  You want all of your rows to be equal width.)

6.  A beer candle is a cool gift for a beer "connoisseur", but it also smells a little bit like a frat house on Sunday morning.

My Mom and Dad have been married 55 years and they still make a cute couple.

(I warned you at the beginning, very random stuff going on here.)

Winter Day in a Deep and Dark December

It seems like forever since we've seen the sun and the days seem very very short.

My husband has been working out of town, so I've inherited dog walking duties.  If we don't get our walk in right after I get home from work, I feel like we should be wearing reflective collars so we can be seen in the dusk. 

After taking this picture, I realized my dogs are cuter from the front than the back.  But they do love their walks, so this is my view a lot of the time.

Of course, no matter what the weather, or what else is going on, I have to do some kind of crafting.  I'm convinced if I was ever on Survivor, I'd probably try to knit something using bamboo sticks and vines.

I made these sparkly vintage style Christmas ornaments at a wonderful craft day at Tami's craft day.

This is something I'm crocheting with a BIG wooden hook.  It goes really fast.  It's just a rectangle that eventually I'll fold down and tack the edges to make armholes and it should be a shrug.  But if it isn't, it won't be the first time I'm had a yarn fail.  It really is about the process.

My December 2013 Reverb Journal is getting a redo, too. The idea of the Dec reverb journal is to work with daily prompts and questions during Dec, kind of reviewing the year. Questions like:  "What do you remember most about the year?"  "What was something that surprised you this year?"  "What did you plan to do in 2013 that you didn't do?".

My answers were so boring that I decided I had to make more of an effort in 2014 to do some living and say yes to things that sounded like fun instead of saying "someday". 

Like Ferris Bueller said "Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it."

I don't have any specific plans for 2015 but I'm practicing moving my head up and down to say "Yes", instead of back and forth to say "No".

Knitting and a Stitching and a Sewing: Craft Update

The title of this post is suppose to be read the way Lawrence Welk introduces songs "and a-one and a-two and a-three".  I was thinking about Lawrence because my mom emailed me to say she watching re-runs of his show, but her spell check insisted on calling him Lawrence Walk. 

I've been wrist deep in thread, fabric, yarn and lace lately. 

These bags don't look like my usual color palette.  The one on the right is a patchwork of stitching and bits of feedsack fabric that I got from Deborah last year at Christmas.

The yarn for the bag on the left came in a grab bag of sewing stuff from an estate sale.  I bought the bag because of some really nice button cards. I assumed the yarn was some that nasty pilly acrylic stuff, but it turned out it has a texture closer to fabric or twine.  I still didn't plan on using the yarn, but it kept calling to me.

Do your craft supplies ever call to you?  You're in the middle of doing something else, even another craft project, but you just have to accept the challenge of an unexpected supply or idea. That's what happened with this yarn. 

I knew I wanted to do something besides stripes, and after experimenting for about three hours, I finally got out Knitting for Dummies book and realized that what I wanted to do was a slip stitch pattern with changing colors.  Really easy once you look it up.

Another project- sewing bits and pieces of lace on muslin bags- great for small presents and gift cards.

I tried a little tea dying- with a fruit tea- for a different look.

What do you think?  Pinky, purple wine color or natural?

Some little stitched wool ornaments.  I think they have kind of a Scandinavian look.

The gold thread is a little tricky to work with, but a little bit of it adds a nice sparkle.

More wool stitching- a heart sampler that I'm making up as I go and a little house that looks like it has gingerbread trim.  I should probably make some more houses so I have a whole little neighborhood instead of one lonely cottage.

And what am I going to do with all of this?  I don't know - maybe my Etsy shop?  Right now I'm just having fun sewing and stitching.

Cooler Weather: Get Out the Knitting Needles

If you've read my blog for very long, you know I love knitting, but I'd given it up for awhile because everyone I knew already had multiple scarves that I'd knit.  In this post, I mention a few of the "challeges" I've had knitting.

When "Other Karla" mentioned she wanted an infinity scarf to wear while working, my ears perked up.  A knitting need that I could possibly meet!

I came up with an easy pattern and found a nice soft yarn in Tiffany blue.

I had enough yarn left over to make some matching hand warmers.  I'm sure Karla will appreciate these as she slaves away  in the drafty factory making matchsticks.

I enlisted the help of Elsie, one of the dolls my Grandma made for me, to check out the infinitiness of the scarf.  It seemed to meet with her approval and Elsie wanted to try out the handwarmers, too.

On a completely different subject, I've had a lot of people ask to see more of the souvenir postcard journal I made in Michelle's class at Handmade U. 

I'm having a great time working in it, adding flaps, postcards and pages, and I'll have a full post on it when I get a few more pages done.  Thanks for asking!

Craft Catch Up: Journal Quilt

 

It seemed like it was time for me to put together a blog post, but it really doesn't seem like I've been crafting anything really cool or bought any really great antiques- which are the two subjects I usually blog about. 

I'm sure you don't want to hear my thoughts on the weather.  I think just about everybody feels the same.

This box lot might be interesting to post about, but it'll be more interesting after I sort it.

Another craft project- but not a very inspiring one.  This was a sweater I started to knit last winter.  I got, oh, about 75% done when I realized it was never going to fit.  So, I "frogged" the sweater, and this winter, I'm knitting an afghan.  And I've vowed to never knit any kind of clothing except scarves.

So, I thought I'd show you pictures of the progress I've made on my journal quilt.  I first wrote about it here.

Around Valentine's Day I really enjoyed  embroidering hearts free hand.  Then I cut them out and added them to the journal quilt.

My latest addition to the quilt is this sampler. Like so many of my linens, it came in an auction box lot.  I bought the lot because I wanted the doilies and lace runners.  This sampler isn't something I'm make myself, but I like it, and I thought it would add a little variety.

I'll probably add some more stitching around the border after I consult with  my chief creative advisor.

Missed It By That Much...

My very first blog post was Feb 9, 2007; I missed posting on my blogiversary by two days.  In honor of seven years and two days of blogging, I'm doing a post about what I've been doing lately, which isn't really all that interesting, but what the heck?

Trying to "bust my stash" of yarn, I've made two small afghans, lapsize for watching TV or reading.  I divided up my extra and half used skeins into blues and pastels.  The afghan on top is the blues.  The pastels are below.

Button thinks I made them both for him.

I found this great gooseneck lamp, but the plug was old and scary, with only a little piece of cardboard holding in metal wires, so I put a new plug on.

(I did warn you that this wasn't going to be the most interesting post...)  I used to rewire lamps a lot, and in theory, it's easy, but in practice it takes time and patience.

Estate sales have been few and far between lately.  I think the weather has something to do with that.  I did go to a great auction and I bought even more than the "auction I went to when my dog died".

At the auction I indulged in my fondness for silver vanity and desk items that no one would use today.  Button hooks, metal nail files, metal tools to dig at your cuticles- no way!  I didn't get all of these at the most recent auction, I just added to my collection.

Two of my favorite new pieces- fancy scissors and and a fancy knife that wouldn't cut much more than warm butter.

So there you have it, my two days late anniversary blog post.  I thought about doing one of those "how blogging has affected my life" but it just didn't feel quite right.  Maybe that's because my goal for 2014 is to be mindful of the present, instead of reflective of the past.

But I will leave you with some pictures of the recent past- like last Friday when I hauled a ton of stuff from that auction into my antique booth.

Buys and Makes

First Make: Elf shoes. I got the pattern and instructions from Dawn at The Feathered Nest.   Dawn's tutorials are so easy to follow with pictures and full size patterns. 

I "make up" a lot of my craft projects, but sometimes it's nice to have someone else work out the kinks for you, so you can just be creative and have fun. 

You can see the angel wings I made from one of her tutorials here.  If you'd like to check out Dawn's tutorials, you can find them in her Etsy Shop.

Another make: An afghan I'm knitting to use up all those little half skeins and leftover bits of yarn that aren't big enough for a project, but I can't stand to throw away. These yarns are all pastels and kind of have the same color intensity, so I just knit until I'm out of yarn and then tie on another skein and knit on.

A Make project follow-up.  I posted about making this little quilt here, and now I've finished it.  It will be in my Etsy shop in the next day or two.

Speaking of the etsy shop, I've added some "low color" pinnies to it.

The Buys:

I've mentioned before how much I'd like to have one of these old general store type thread cabinets,  but the prices are sky-high.

I lucked out and found this Star thread cabinet at a price that didn't require a bank loan.

And it came fully loaded- with mostly new supplies.  Love that sweet little floral pin cushion.

Another thing I've been coveting is a Victorian hair wreath.  I know, I know, some people think the idea of making things from hair is gross.  It really is a skill and an art form that's mostly lost.  My piece isn't technically a wreath, it's more of a spray.  It's in front of an 1880's wedding announcement.

If you'd like to learn more about the art of hair, check out Leila's Hair Museum. 

The hair museum is only about 30 miles from here, but I've never been there.  And that's too bad, because like my friend, the Other Karla says "if you have a chance to see a hair museum, or Princess Diana's wedding dress or  Monet's Water Lilies  or anything else that's different, unusual or once in a lifetime, you should make an effort to do it."

Another way to think of it:  You're much more likely to regret things you didn't do than things you did. *

That's a pretty deep thought that came from talking about hair.

*this does not apply to things like robbing banks or texting while driving.