be in red

Friday Find: Nut Grinder

2009-09-27T11:35:00.008-04:00

My grandmother had a nut grinder like this one - that's probably the only way I knew what it was. You just put whole nuts in the top and hand grind them. It's perfect for one of my favorite recipes, Martha's Macaroons.

All kinds of swords, embroidered

2009-09-05T08:58:00.005-04:00

Here's the last in the embroidered children's drawing pillow series I did for parents at my school

for our fundraising auction. Here are the other two I made:

Friday Find: Kissing Salt and Pepper Shakers

2009-09-04T20:05:00.004-04:00

Aren't they great? On the bottom they're dated 1956. She has been broken and glued back together, but still looks great on my kitchen table. Here's my question: which one is for salt and which one is for pepper? Let me know what you think in the comments below.

Revived and ready for school

2009-08-08T12:54:00.004-04:00

I covered a back-to-school youth revival at a black church for the newspaper. It's so fun to be a journalist and to be invited places where I wouldn't normally go and have these experiences I wouldn't normally have. I love the way these folks made church such an enjoyable time with music and energy. Be sure to check out this photo Saul Young took of the choir.

Bon Appétit with Julia Child

2009-07-28T21:36:00.006-04:00

I'm on a cooking kick and I just discovered that PBS has 25 full episodes of cooking with Julia Child online to watch for free.

Maybe you've heard about the movie coming out soon that profiles Child alongside a blogger cooking her way through a cookbook Child wrote. I may go see it, but I don't think it'll be as good as watching Child herself in her kitchen.

As a side note, I'm thinking of trying this tomato pie recipe, even though it's more Paula Deen than Julia Child.

Summer Salad Shopping

2009-07-25T18:03:00.004-04:00

I'm making a salad for the potluck party I'm attending tonight with this awesome produce I got at the farmer's market, but I wanted to quickly share the tote bag I made from months of coffee packages and half a role of duct tape.

It's really strong. It looks ... very recycled, but I think it'll be handy for something.

Favorites from the AQS Quilt Expo

2009-07-24T18:51:00.009-04:00

Beauty from Within by Renae Haddadin of Sandy, UT

I love the design of this quilt. It reminds me of stamped leather from a fancy cowboy boot. The light coloring in the lightest section was done with shadow embroidery, a technique similar to trapunto, where a stuffing, usually colored yarn, is showing through the top fabric from within the quilt. It was the winner of the Best Longarm Workmanship award.

Silverlight by Betty Busby of Albuquerque, NM

Quilter's Choice first place winner

Dae Geun (Great Piety) by Shin-hee Chin of McPherson, KS

This is a portrait done entirely in yo-yos. So impressive.

These bras were made for breast cancer awareness. The sock monkey bra is my favorite.

You can look at photos of all the award-winning quilts from this show at the American Quilter's Society website.

Quilt Time in Tennessee

2009-07-22T14:22:00.005-04:00

Tennessee Pink Marble by Julia Needham

Today is the first day of the American Quilter's Association's Quilt Expo in Knoxville. I wrote about Master Quilter and Knoxville native Julia Needham's exhibit of 18 quilts for the newspaper. Read it here.

Find the list I compiled of all the quilting events going on in town right now here.

I missed Manuel.

2009-07-12T21:29:00.004-04:00

Here I am in front of Manuel's Exclusive Clothiers, the showroom for designer Manuel's amazing rodeo tailor work. I only got to peak through the window at the suits inside because the sign on the door says he's only open by appointment on Saturdays. I'll have to wait until my next trip to Nashville to go inside.

I am working on a project with some local Western wear collectors that I'll post a link to once it's ready. In the meantime, you can check out Manuel's website and last week's post for more links. There aren't many photos of his work, but there is a small sampling of photos with some of the stars he has created suits for (including one of Manuel taking Johnny Cash's measurements).

A friend of mine in Nashville told me that he heard that clients don't tell Manuel what they want in a suit. Manuel gets to know the person then makes a suit that he thinks suits them.

Yard Sale Finds

2009-07-07T17:27:00.003-04:00

Here's a piece I wrote for the newspaper about a mint green teapot I found at a yard sale. Share your best yard sale story in the comments below.

Fancy Suits

2009-07-03T14:06:00.011-04:00

I've been looking at more of the designer embellished suits I mentioned yesterday. These came from Nudies Online Fashion Museum.

Here's a great visual history of a few designers within style.

Next weekend when I'm in Nashville I'm planning to visit Manuel's Exclusive Clothiers, the storefront of designer Manuel (see photos of his work here.). I'm also hoping to get by the Tennessee State Museum to see Marty Stuart's collection. He owns over 400 of these suits.

Wilco (the photography)

2009-07-02T15:01:00.005-04:00

The newest from Wilco, entitled, Wilco (the album) is perfect for summer listening, and I love the photography by Autumn de Wilde in the liner notes. Inside there are six photos with either men or mannequins dressed in these embroidered/appliqued suits that I have been really into lately. Think vintage flashy Nashville.

The kitschy llama in a party hat above is the cover art. Oh and the actual cd has a picture of that lovely orange cake. I'd skip iTunes for this one and buy the actual album.

Watermelon Party

2009-06-29T12:06:00.020-04:00

Kids love parties. And parties can be easy, as long as adults remember that it doesn't take superhero plates and a room full of kids to make a party.

Here's an idea for a quick and easy Watermelon Party. All you need are Watermelon Party Hats and watermelon. The three and five year old boys I baby sit for loved it.

To make the hats you'll need:
White card stock
elastic cord for chin strap
a mixing bowl to trace
a marker
scissors
red, green, and black crayons
a stapler and hole punch

The hat is made from a half circle. To get the shape I traced around my 11 inch mixing bowl, then used a magazine as a straight edge to half the circle.

Then cut out the half circles. Have the children color them to look like watermelon slices. Fold the colored half circle into a cone. Staple twice. Then a punch holes on the left and right side of the hat. Tie one end of the elastic cord through the hole, put the hat on the child and measure the length of cord to fit his head. Tie the other side and party.

I cut half the melon into slices and let the boys practice their melon-balling skills on the other half. It's a sticky, sweet time, best finished off with a run through the water hose.

Maker's Notebook

2009-06-28T18:39:00.006-04:00

I won the new Maker's Notebook, a journal made by the creators of Make & Craft Magazine. It's a really nice book: well-bound, with good paper, plus lots of extras and I love the color.

I got an email from Make magazine a couple of weeks ago asking me to take a survey. I took the opportunity to let them know that I really missed Craft's print edition and that I think that Make is a good magazine, sometimes just for a bit different demographic than me. I must have been one of the first 100 to answer because they sent me a notebook.

I'm grateful. It's nice and includes all kinds of information like the dates of the next solar eclipses, pictures of screwheads you should know, Morse Code, sewing machine needle sizes, and all kinds of other things. The pages are thick, acid free graph paper with places for headings and each one is numbered. My favorite feature is the ruler on the inside front cover.My journals are usually companions to me for six months or so, going everywhere and holding me together with lists and dates and keeping all my of ideas until I can get to them. I think the Maker's Notebook will make a nice one.

ISBN:978-0-596-51941-4

Friday Find: dress for summer Saturdays

2009-06-26T14:41:00.006-04:00

I stopped in Goodwill today and found this dress. I'm going to wash it tonight and take it with me on my little excursion to Gatlinburg this weekend.

All Knoxville locations have everything 50% off the last Friday and Saturday of each month so this dress only cost me three bucks. Yeah. I also found a couple of tshirts for $1 a piece to cut up and sew.

All Kinds of Swords: Art to be Embroidered

2009-06-18T18:08:00.006-04:00

My next embroidery project is four-year-old Nico's marker drawing. It is, in Nico's own words, "all kinds of swords." I'm going to make this drawing into a throw pillow for his mom. This is the last of three custom pillows with a child's drawing I made as auction items for my school's fundraiser. If you'd like to look at the other two, they're here and here. If you are interested in having a pillow made from your favorite drawing by a child, please leave me a comment or visit my etsy shop.

back from Bonnaroo

2009-06-15T13:39:00.011-04:00

I've been on vacation since Thursday at Bonnaroo, a four-day music and art festival in Manchester, TN. I saw a LOT of live music, thoroughly relaxed, and got in some great people watching. The girl above is hula hooping to Merle Haggard playing Okie From Muskogee.

With 80,000 people at the festival, there was so much going on. I'm hoping that being over-stimulated for four days straight will do good things for my creativity for a while. I've got some fun stories lined up to write for the newspaper and I'm really wanting to get into some clothing reconstruction.

Thanks to everyone who entered my contest. I loved hearing about your childhood crafts. Congratulations to velmalikevelvet for winning the drawing for the throw pillow I made.

GIVEAWAY: Dutch girl throw pillow

2009-06-08T14:18:00.018-04:00

Today is my 100th post and I'm celebrating by holding a contest to win this throw pillow that I made. It's hand embroidered with a little Dutch girl.

To enter to win the pillow, please leave a comment below explaining something you made as a child by Tuesday, June 16th. I'll put everyone's name in a hat and draw a winner at random.

Here's something I made when I was in fourth grade:

Paper Rings and Bracelets

I colored scraps of paper, laminated them with clear tape, and made them into rings and necklaces. Then I sold them on the playground for quarters. I had all sorts of styles: hearts, peace signs, butterflies, yin yang symbols. I even did custom orders. I was coming home with my pockets full of coins for days, until a couple of copy cats put me out of business.

Remember to leave a comment below about something you made as a child and you'll be entered to win the Dutch girl throw pillow above.

Embroidered Kid Art Pillow

2009-06-01T11:21:00.005-04:00

I made this pillow for the mother of a child at my school from a drawing he did for her. It was what I offered at the annual fundraising auction.

Here's the back. It tells the story of the drawing.

(Lucas and his mother are French so he calls her Maman.)

This is how Lucas drew his mother's toe after the bee stung it.

I have enjoyed making these pillows from children's drawings so much I just made a listing in my etsy shop to make custom pillows from other children's drawings.

I hope I get some orders because school just let out for the summer, and I have plenty of time for making.

Small Space Gardening

2009-05-23T17:22:00.004-04:00

photo by Kathy Kimpel licenced under Creative Commons

I was looking into what I could grow in my tiny, shaded yard and wrote this article for the newspaper about what some of my neighbors are doing with their small spaces. I also wrote this sidebar tutorial on how to grow tomatoes upside in a five gallon bucket like the plant above.

In case the sidebar is confusing, here's a tutorial with step by step photos and another with illustrations.

Images of a Missed Quilt Show

2009-05-22T00:11:00.009-04:00

This quilt entitled Face the Music was made by Candace Tucker, Patty Ashworth, Tone Haugen-Cogburn and Bridget Wilson Matlock. It took 1st place in the group category at last weekend's Smoky Mountain Quilters' quilt show.

It’s only now, a week afterwards, that I am able to tell the story of how I let down hundreds of quilters while trapped on an island in East Tennessee. The Smoky Mountain Quilters Guild was having its annual quilt show and I had volunteered to be in charge of returning quilts, judging sheets and any ribbons to the respective quilters after the show was over on Sunday afternoon.

That Saturday morning I organized all the judging sheets into neat, labeled envelopes for the show. Then I went out to Maryville for a day of music and a night camping at Fleta Fest, a tiny festival on a little island in a fork in the river. We arrived with a cooler of picnic food and drink to this beautiful grassy place on the river with great live music.

Then that night it started to rain. It rained hard, all night long. When I woke up on Sunday the river had risen so much that I couldn’t drive my car off the island. The little stream that ran across the drive was now raging. I worried the river wouldn’t go down in time to get home, shower, and make it to the show in time to look at the quilts before I was in charge of taking them down.

A Wild Goose Chase by Carol Snapp, quilted by Denise Waymire

Hours went by and I began to worry I wouldn’t make it at all. I had all those judging sheets and a bunch of show catalogs that they needed at the show. When my cell phone would work,I was talking with the ladies at the show giving them updates on the level of the river.

In the end, I didn't make it. The guild had to scramble and return all those quilts without the judging sheets. I never got to see the quilts.

The river finally started going down at seven that evening, but by eight it was rising again due to rain in the mountains. My amazing friend, Felicia (who I now owe BIG time) drove 45 minutes to pick me up. I had to leave my car out there until the next evening.

Close up of Entry Riddle by Betsy Robinson

The photos of the quilts are from the Smoky Mountain Quilters' quilt show website. See the rest of the quilts from the show here. View some beautiful pictures from Fleta Fest, the festival I was at instead, at photographer Todd Reinerio’s website.

Craft supply shopping tip

2009-05-15T22:12:00.006-04:00

photo by Birds Nest and Paper

The next time you are having trouble finding something you need for a project, try searching Etsy Supplies category. I did when I needed some blue pom pom trim for a pillow and quickly found a good deal on this beautiful strand in the shop, Bird Nests and Paper. I feel good about supporting someone's small business. Plus it came right to my mailbox packaged nicely with a cute bird trading card and a little purple button.

Piñata party

2009-05-14T22:41:00.007-04:00

This image is from the children's book Angelo the Naughty One illustrated by Leo Paliti, 1942.

Cinco de Mayo came and went without me even having a margarita, but the holiday inspired me to make a piñata with the kids.

To make an easy piñata like this one:

1. Cover a balloon in newspaper strips dipped in a flour/water/school glue mixture, leaving a hole in the top (near the balloon tie) big enough to put prizes in later. Make sure to cover it completely. The more layers, the more whacks it will take.

2. Let it dry. This takes days.

3. Pop the balloon and remove the balloon remnants.

4. Put prizes inside.

5. Clear tape a layer of dry paper to cover the hole. Then cover the hole with duct tape.

6. Duct tape a long cord to the piñata. The cord needs to be strong and well attached.

7. Spray paint the whole thing, then let children paint designs on it.

8. Enjoy.

Shelf trimming

2009-05-10T14:33:00.004-04:00

I added the pink pom pom trim I had leftover from this pillow to this shelf. I think it's cute right now, but I applied it with Scotch tape rather than hot glue because I'm not sure I'll like it long term. Maybe a different color though...

Tea time thought

2009-05-08T19:35:00.004-04:00

The tea cup card making went over well today too. The cards sparked a lot of craft-related conversation with moms. One told me she was thinking of having an adult drawing party. She made me want to get together with some friends to create this weekend. Fridays always so feel so full of potential for me.

Teacup Mother's Day cards

2009-05-07T16:17:00.006-04:00

Today and tommorow are parent teacher conferences at school so that means I get the perfect circumstances for two days of making crafts with kids. I have a group of maximum five kids at a time to entertain for a half hour while their parents talk with teachers. I’m using the time to have children make these teacup Mother’s Day cards.

I made a quick template by drawing the outline of a teacup on the top half of a sheet of paper with a marker, then folding it in half to trace its mirror image, and copied it on card stock. I cut them out, which was a lot of cutting, and glued and folded for the younger ones. The kids decorated the teacup sides and two scraps of paper that are taped to a real tea bag. I taped a string to the teabag package and taped the smaller scrap of paper to look a tea tag.

One of the teachers saw what we were making and said that she has a project like this with a little poem on the cup. I also saw a beautiful (and much more polished) patterned teacup printable on the amazing blog that you should explore zakka life.

The kids like making these cards and it was a nice surprise for the moms after their conferences.

Embroidered kid art pillow #2 in progress

2009-05-05T21:46:00.005-04:00

This is just a little sneak peak of the pillow I'm making based on a drawing by five-year-old Lucas. It's got a really cute story that I will be posting, but right now I have to order some blue pom pom trim.

There's also a reuse project and a craft for children planned for this week so be sure to check back.

DIY Envelopes

2009-05-01T01:12:00.007-04:00

I always make my own envelopes to hold my rent checks. I usually use old magazine pages with interesting advertising photos or recipes and pretty food. My landlord has complimented them a few times. I'm about to walk this month's rent check down to his house in the envelope I made from scrap paper I practiced using my Spirograph set on.

Make paying this month's bills more fun with this envelope template or make your own template by taking apart a used envelope.

Embroidered kid art pillow #1

2009-04-18T21:15:00.002-04:00

I finished this pillow just in time for the fundraising event we had today. For our auction I offered to embroider a drawing made by the highest bidder's child and make it into a pillow. I made the pillow above to illustrate my offer and as a gift for the volunteer event organizer. The drawing was done by her daughter.

There were two mothers who really wanted a pillow. They were bidding against each other, but there was some confusion when the auction was over. So I ended up saying that I would make a pillow for both of them and the school made double the money.

So I'll be posting pillow #2 and pillow #3 in the coming weeks.

My all natural remedy

2009-04-17T23:07:00.004-04:00

I recommend that anyone with allergies or sinus problems read this article that I wrote for the newspaper.

My friend Maya introduced me to neti pots in college, but here's the video that got a few of my friends and family into them:

another kid art embroidery project

2009-04-13T14:04:00.006-04:00

We're having the annual spring fundraiser event and silent auction for the school that I work at on Saturday. Last year I made a quilt for the auction. This year I have decided to donate the offer to make a throw pillow embroidered with the winner's choice of a piece of kid art. I love both children's drawings and embroidery, and this will be the second time I have combined them. See my tutorial here.

I'm going to make a sample to illustrate what I'm offering using the drawing above. It's a picture of a little girl who stopped growing, but whose arms did not stop growing. Our fundraising chair's daughter drew it so it can double as a thank you gift for all her work.

My Easter pin cushion

2009-04-11T17:22:00.000-04:00

Friday Find: Tin for Ten

2009-04-10T10:59:00.003-04:00

When I saw the 10 cent price tag on this pretty green tin, I knew it was coming home with me. I may take it to a friend, full of macaroons, or maybe I'll keep it on my craft shelf to store Velcro and elastic in. Either way it's brightening my day.

A bit of the Knoxville Craft Scene history

2009-04-07T23:25:00.009-04:00

Today I am posting an article I wrote for the Metro Pulse in October 2006.

It’s Monday evening, and Claire Jamieson is rushing to her South Knoxville home after a late class. It’s her turn to host craft night. Soon her living room will fill with friends, creativity, snacks, scissors and thread.

Dawn Spencer scans a Fountain City café on a Saturday afternoon. She’s looking for the people she met online and made plans to knit with. She’s got the materials to make fingerless arm warmers for her young daughter. Once she spots some knitting needles poking from the top of a woman’s bag, she heads over to introduce herself.

Three young women sit around the bar at the New Knox Brewing Co.’s open mike night. They drink beer and discuss plans for a quilting bee.

The craft revival is on in Knoxville. My friend, Jude Ferrara, who is always on the cutting edge, explains it to me one evening over knitting and coffee in the Old City. It’s the nationwide trend of 20- and 30-somethings making things, not because they have to but because they want to. It’s about the desire to abandon strip mall homogeny, pick up some pins and needles and spend time creating something unique. It’s political, feminist and trendy—all pieced together like a quilt. That night Jude asks me to join the crafting club she wants to start.

Clubs are big in this crafting trend. Members hold regular meetings to work on projects, swap supplies, and share ideas. It’s the new book club. Rather than meeting to discuss literature, they make cell phone cozies and discuss yarns. Call it a circle, a bee, or a stitch ’n’ bitch.

Jude and I talk up the idea to crafty people and start meeting. We craft in coffee shops, living rooms, bars and restaurants. The craft of choice is knitting at first, and then it evolves into a smorgasbord of origami, cross-stitch, crochet and sewing. With the help of an online random word generator, we name the club Crafty Kittens and the Yucky Grandma.

Another crafting group is Knoxville SNB. (There’s been controversy over ownership of the term “stitch ’n’ bitch” so they use the acronym.) It has 82 members that have branched into three subgroups that meet in North and West Knoxville and in Oak Ridge. Modern-day crafters that they are, members organize meetings and post photos of finished projects online at Yahoo groups.

At an SNB gathering, I meet Kristan Wessels, a nuclear engineer at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. She’s knitting a tank top emblazoned with an image of the mudflap girl (the voluptuous, silhouetted woman who sometimes shows up on truckers’ mud flaps). Kristan says that she identifies with the image because she works in a man’s world.

Her comment makes me think about how feminist Betty Friedan frowned on knitting. Friedan claimed that such activities were oppressive because women had more important things to do. But today’s women don’t feel pressure to shun traditionally feminine activities in order to be respected. The craft revolution is, in a way, feminism at work. Instead of burning bras to demand equality, we are knitting bikinis to embrace what makes a woman different from a man and to say that being feminine doesn’t mean being less talented.

The surge in the interest in craft-making is a part of the third wave of feminism. The ideology of the third wave reclaims and empowers traditionally feminine activities and clothing. The third wave says that it’s OK for today’s liberated women to take back the domestic arts. The movement helps to equate things like embroidery and lipstick with talent and beauty—not feminine weakness.

SNB is more a knitting than a crafting club. Knitting is the most popular craft right now, but it’s only one of many activities taking a turn for the hip. People are quilting, crocheting, sewing, beading and everything in between. But none of this is new. Our grandmothers made quilts with appliquéd dolls in bonnets or crazy arrays of prints. They embroidered throw cushions and made covers for tissue boxes.

The new generation of crafters is just adding its own spice. One kitsch activity combines saucy phrases with old-fashioned cross-stitch patterns (think “Home Sweet Home” and teddy bears framed on parlor walls). A book of patterns entitled Subversive Cross Stitch by Julie Jackson holds my new favorite sampler. It has a border of pink hearts and simply reads “Rat Bastard.”
Monica Lewinsky made her knitting hobby public. She probably hoped that an activity with a wholesome reputation would sweeten her image. But anyone who still thinks that handicrafts are only made by affable homemakers should meet the Crafty Kittens.

Alison Miller is a river-rafting guide who weaves beaded bracelets. Erin Emory backpacked through Europe and surprised us with her origami skills at one meeting. Felicia McClung is a social worker who makes picture frames from hollowed books and sews covers for her fiancé’s bongo drums. Helen Yonts, an ex-truck driver, loves to knit and crochet. Alan Hollis ran a marathon and doesn’t care that her cats’ hair gets sewn into projects. Then there’s Jude, our Yucky Grandma, who practices Amigurumi, the Japanese art of crocheting small animal dolls. She just moved to New York City to be an archivist.

The Crafty Kittens haven’t been able to find any male members. There is, however, sporadic male attendance at a weekly craft night held by an earthy group made up of mostly Tomato Head employees and ultimate Frisbee players. The group’s staple female members agree that there is something inherently feminine about craft night, but that they like it when men attend.
No crafters of the male variety are present the night I attend, but the women comprise the most laid-back crafting crowd I’ve encountered yet. Some girls don’t bring anything to work on. They’re just there for the ambiance and the salsa. Moni Vincent makes cards with ink and rubber stamps while Claire Jamieson sews some squares of fabric together. She’s still making the top layer of a quilt she began when she was in high school. Now a graduate student, Claire says that she isn’t concerned with when she will finish the quilt. She just likes working on it.

Claire’s attitude on quilt-making represents the beginning of an American shift from acquiring possessions to acquiring experiences. But crafting can still become a rather consumerist hobby. Almost every craft/knitting meeting I attended had some mention of mounds, closets, or even rooms full of excess materials and yarns. Crafters just have the tendency to hoard. One knitter admitted to hiding yarn so that her husband wouldn’t know how much she had bought.

At another SNB meeting, I meet Amy and a knitter I already know, Erin Bodine. Amy’s making clothing for her iPod; I later notice that she has it dressed in a handmade corset for the meeting. Erin is knitting clothing for herself: an ocean-colored tank top.

The conversation loops around unfinished knitting projects with the occasional frustrated deep breath or outburst of, “That was the longest three centimeters of my life!” At one point, Erin stops knitting and looks wistfully out the window. She sighs and then shares her dream of one day owning an Alpaca farm. She says she would like to spin yarn from their coats. Then she could knit sweaters while watching the very animal that provided the wool.

From that reverie, I get that the craft revival is also about the desire to break out of a society of ready-made everything. It’s a part of the larger DIY (Do It Yourself) trend that promotes the ability of people to learn the skills to make, fix and do things themselves. It caught on because making a necklace or bookshelf yourself ensures that you have something with individuality, something that Americans crave in today’s superstore market. DIY includes the wave toward citizen news reporting on blogs, starting vegetable gardens, even knitting iPod clothing.

Call it a stretch, but crafters are on the same search for freedom—and a self-sufficient means of achieving it—that punk music’s ideology stands for. Neither crafters nor punk-rockers want to pay for something they could make or do in their own way. Forget matronly; crafting is punk-rock.

Charlotte Tolley is the director of the Knoxville farmers’ market and attends the Frisbee/Tomato Head craft night. She compares the crafting trend to the slow food movement, which works to protect vegetation diversity and promote regional cuisines of the world. Slow food stirred up the broader slow movement. Slow encourages a less rushed daily life to improve its quality. Slowmovement.com advises using time saved by technology to appreciate a slow and simple activity like cooking a meal, taking a walk or knitting a sweater.

Making crafts definitely goes slowly. I finally finish the quilt I’ve been working on for months. It ends up wider on one end and there are a lot of crooked lines, but I made it myself. And according to my fellow crafting friends, that’s what counts.

Spirographs rock.

2009-04-02T22:08:00.006-04:00

I found my sister's old Spirograph set at my parents' house last month. I took it to school, and the elementary students really got into it for a while. They seemed satisfied with both the process and product. I brought the Spirograph home last night and made some designs at the kitchen table. I think there's something calming about working in a circle.

I heard from a teacher that Spirographs have become hard to find. I noticed there are a couple of collectible sets as well as some newer products with the basic idea on Amazon.

The best joke I've ever played

2009-04-01T08:11:00.003-04:00

Since today is April Fool's Day, I thought I would share a joke.

It was Christmastime and I was Japan, preparing a package to send home. I decided to make little candy bags so that everyone could have a taste of Japan. I included Mellow Kisses, these great little chocolate candies, hard candy losanges in pretty wrappers, a sweet bean paste filled cake, and the matcha (thick green tea) tootsie roll things that I had really started to like.

In the same bag with those yummy treats, I included some of the grossest things I had found in Japan up to that point. There was a shrimp-flavored rice cracker, candied okra, and the best was the umeboshi. It's a pickled plum to eat with rice, but looks like it could be some kind of cherry candy when individually wrapped.

Drew made a hilarious photo essay documenting his expereince with the candy bag. You should really check it out.

Felicia's Half Marathon

2009-03-29T10:46:00.004-04:00

Congratulations to Felicia, the CrabbyCrafter on running the half marathon this morning.

My favorite hat

2009-03-28T13:41:00.009-04:00

My good friend Kotomi made this hat for me before I left Japan. I love it. I wore it almost every cold day this year. I was thinking of putting it away today, but I think I may need it one more time before warm weather sets in for good.

Kotomi's father also made something for me.

He harvested wood from the forest near his home, then carved it into chopstick holders. My favorite part about them is that he wrote the kind of tree the wood came from on each holder.

I know that the one on the left front says sakura, which is the famous Japanese cherry blossom tree that is at the end of its bloom in Knoxville now. I can't remember what the others are, but maybe Kotomi will comment and tell us...

fresh local eggs for breakfast

2009-03-27T21:35:00.009-04:00

I got this dozen eggs today. There are no blue eggs in the batch this time, but I'm sure they are as rich and delicious as always.

There was the cutest story in the paper yesterday about the family farm that I buy eggs and honey from. Click here to read it.

Migoto Chou's bracelet tutorial

2009-03-25T19:59:00.011-04:00

I wrote an article for the newspaper about the Knoxville-based Etsy seller that makes these beaded cupcakes (read it here).

The artist, Amanda Hinson, was kind enough to let me make my first video tutorial of her demonstrating how to make the Treasure Tube bracelets she often has in her shop.

More vintage fun

2009-03-21T11:09:00.015-04:00

I found this image (cover of McCall's Needlework and Crafts Fall/Winter 1962-63) on my newest favorite blog. Cathy of California is a vintage craft loving window designer in Southern California. Her blog is a resource for information on craft and design and full of fun images like the one above. I have spent a lot of time this week reading back into her old posts. I hope her collection of craft books and ephemera ends up in a museum one day so people can explore it.

I love the respect she gives this stuff. I think a lot of people are influenced by the design from the 1960's - 1970's, but that it's sometimes thought of as kind of a guilty pleasure. For me, Cathy's blog has somehow validated my love for some of the color combinations and design elements of the era.

And as long as I'm talking about this time period, here's a cool clip my musician boyfriend found. You've got to love early 60's television.

Elizabeth Cotten on Rainbow Quest with Pete Seeger

Friday Find: vintage food photography

2009-03-20T09:56:00.012-04:00

When I spotted this book on a shelf of children's books at a thrift store, I opened it thinking I might find a Hansel and Gretel story. It's actually a book about German cuisine with amazing photography, entitled The Cooking of Germany. It's from the Foods of the World series from Time Life books, published in 1969.

Henry Groskinsky planned and photographed the pictures for the book made in the test kitchen and Ralph Crane traveled around Germany in a Volkswagen bus to take the field photos.

The caption reads, "Floral patterns of carrots, cucumbers, hard-cooked egg white, tomatoes, and leek tops beautify these pork chops in aspic."

Writer Ursala von Kardoff is pictured holding a crock of goose-fat spread.

I want a portrait of myself standing in front a cupboard full of my pretty dish collection and a tub of pimento cheese or something.

The cutest mushroom foray I have ever seen

eye candy

That's like the stove that Gretel pushes the wicked witch into on the right page.

Just look at that table cloth!

"a supermodern supermarket in West Berlin"

In case you are as into this as I am, I saw that the book is available on Amazon and here's the link: The Cooking of Germany (Foods of the World)

New sewing magazine

2009-03-16T11:56:00.003-04:00

I think this one’s got potential. I LOVE the cover. In fact I found the magazine visually inspiring throughout. There’s a how to on getting into design school, an easy to read account of how the fashion industry began with a go-getter in 1800s, fun, trampy waitress dresses and a few other edgy little tidbits.

You can download the entire first issue for free. If you like it, subscribe.

Photography tips from California

2009-03-15T15:45:00.009-04:00

pattern © Linda Roy 2009

This is what I got done in yesterday's trapunto class (read about the class here). The red thread is just basting so it will be taken out after the quilting. I just love those puffy circles.

Marisa Zucek, who writes the very good Quilt Otaku blog , has come up with a guide to photography that you should check out. She is giving away a bit of fabric she designed to those who post a photo of a handmade project both before reading her tips and after reading them.

This is my before picture. I just read the guide (after taking the picture) and got a lot of ideas to try out. Look for an improved version soon.

Going green...

2009-03-15T14:13:00.012-04:00

My boyfriend brought over a poster for his band's St. Patrick's Day show. I took one look and wanted to make it green. We spent some of the afternoon painting posters with watercolor.

I also found a tie perfect for the occasion, though I'm not sure he will wear it. He did nix the idea of me embroidering a shamrock on it.

UPDATE: He wore the tie.

Trapunto, my newest technique

2009-03-14T17:00:00.017-04:00

pattern © Linda Roy 2009
I took my first quilting class today. Of course my teacher, Linda Roy, did the beautiful work above. It was one of several examples she made for the class, which was entitled "A Touch of Elegance." She gave us the patterns she designed and during the class, taught all three techniques used in the piece above: ruching, trapunto, and stippling.

Rusching (pronounced roo-shing) is what makes the scrunched up flower in the center of the picture above. It's kind of a very sophisticated yo-yo.

Trapunto (which means embroidery in Italian and comes from the Latin "to prick") is a technique used to make something three-dimensional by outlining a shape then stuffing it with yarn or batting. Yarn makes those oval outlines and polyester stuffing makes the little circular puffs.

Stippling is the type of quilting used inside the oval outlines. The stitches are REALLY close together and function to flatten down the area it is used in.

The photo is Linda demonstrating stippling. She is very comfortable with this kind of intricate work. Look at her Irish Creme quilt to see why.

Linda recommended the tools and supplies she uses and even put together a kit full of some hard to find things for the class. It was organized and though I was probably the least experienced quilter there, I had a good time and learned so much.

I have tons of ideas for adding stuffing to my projects. Some of the other students were saying that if you used a colored yarn to stuff the ovals, the color would peek through to slightly tint the quilt. I like that.

The class was organized by the Smoky Mountain Quilters, a quilting guild that I belong to. They offer a lot of classes. One I really hate to have missed was a workshop given by Nellie Durand teaching her technique of collaging small scraps of fabric. Here are some examples of work from that class.

The Smoky Mountain Quilters are still accepting quilts for the show in May. More information about that here.

The end of color week

2009-03-08T20:45:00.009-04:00

After yesterday's visit to my mom and dad's house, I have the picture that I wanted for the blue day of color week. This is a teacup and saucer from my mom's Willow Blue dishes. She gave me this pair to add to my mismatched set of dishware.

Thank you Mom and Lynn at The Little Red Hen for hosting color week. She says she may make it an annual event. I plan to submit this year's photos to the beautiful color week flickr pool this week.

Stitches in Time

2009-03-08T17:39:00.005-04:00

I bought six of these raffle tickets yesterday at the Cleveland Museum's annual "Stitches in Time" exhibit. It usually runs from about January to March. Yesterday was the last day to view this year's display of 90 antique and contemporary quilts from the area. If you are traveling on I75 next year, stop and see the exhibit.

Violet

2009-03-07T08:53:00.002-05:00

I love when my African Violets bloom.

Blue

2009-03-05T22:11:00.004-05:00

I don't have a lot of blue. I made this doll because I wanted to give my friend's new baby something handmade, but I wasn't thrilled with how it came out.

Green

2009-03-05T08:42:00.002-05:00

This man is selling zunda mochi, sweet edamame (green soybean) paste and rice cakes, in a Japanese train station. Zunda mochi is one of the specialties of Sendai, Japan.

This was crocheted by my aunt Josephine for my granny. I love how green it is.

I took this picture as a part of the Eyes on LaFollette project when I was in a photojournalism class at the University of Tennessee.

Yellow

2009-03-04T09:04:00.007-05:00

Those are the lights from Fuji Rock Festival 2007.

My school's play kitchen set is cute, but it's nothing compared to this.

Scroll down to see more from color week.

Orange

2009-03-03T08:59:00.003-05:00

As a part of color week, I was looking for orange. I live in Knoxville, Tennessee, home of the Big Orange. The University's school colors are orange and white. I took this photo when I was in a photojournalism class.

I thought that was the only orange in my life, but then I noticed my coffee cup.

Red

2009-03-02T06:52:00.004-05:00

I'm participating in The Little Red Hen's color week. Here's the plan for the week:
today: red
Tuesday: orange
Wednesday: yellow
Thursday: green
Friday: blue
Saturday: violet
Sunday: all the colors of the rainbow

Roy G. Biv

2009-03-01T13:21:00.000-05:00

This is a quilt that I was making this time last year. I made it for a fundraising auction for my school. Lucky for me, I babysit for the family that bought it so I still get to see it sometimes. I have some note cards with the quilt image in my etsy shop.

I'm participating in The Little Red Hen's week of color. Today's theme is the colors of the rainbow. Here's another quilt that will have all the colors of the rainbow once it is finished.

I started working on it after I saw some of the Gee's Bend quilts. I love how they were made from big salvaged pieces often without any pattern. This quilt will be a display of my fabric stash arranged to look like the color spectrum.

Keep checking in with me this week for lots of color. Tomorrow's theme is red.

Keep on the sunny side

2009-02-27T20:20:00.000-05:00

I heard a story on the radio this morning about the great literature and film that documents hard economic times. Earlier this week, I heard this story saying "it's art time in America again, because everybody's broke."

Hard times are good for art. It's an idea I talked about some in my review of the Dollmaker.

I'd love to get some comments from readers about how changes in the economy are affecting your art.

By the way, I recommend reading the book mentioned in the NPR story today, Let Us Now Praise Famous Men, by James Agee with photography by Walker Evans. It's the story of a reporter writing a book about sharecroppers in Alabama in the 1930s. There's poverty, innocence, guilt, and a lot of details to set scenes. It's Agee's existential masterpiece.

broken dishes

2009-02-23T12:58:00.000-05:00

I love pretty dishes. My cupboards are packed with a delicate hodgepodge of teacups, dessert plates and juice glasses. This makes setting the table so much more fun because you can put together a unique setting for each place. But it is that much sadder when something breaks because you don't have another that looks just like it.

This glass (which was so nice to sip whiskey from) must have been what inspired me to make paper doll chains a few weeks ago. It broke last night during a collision with this coffee cup.

I always thought this mug would be so much better if it said "After While, Crocodile" on the other side. Now it has a large chip in the brim.

fabric on display

2009-02-22T13:10:00.000-05:00

I found a bunch of abandoned embroidery hoops, put fabric in them, them hung them up on the wall. I like how it brightens things up and gives me an opportunity to see some of my favorite fabrics even if I won't have time to do any playing that day.

To keep the edges from showing, you could glue the fabric to the inside frame. I used masking tape because I anticipate wanting to change out the fabric. I think it'll be easy to have a new festive display for each season just by changing out the fabrics.

I will probably add more hoops. I'm thinking a large quilting hoop would look good.

Here is the other wall in my apartment covered in fabric.

Friday Find: fairy tale block puzzle

2009-02-20T23:06:00.000-05:00

I was immediately drawn to this pretty little box. Then I opened it to find blocks with these beautiful fairy tale images.

I have it in my living room and occasionally I'll rearrange the blocks to make a new picture. It's a really calming way to spend a couple of minutes.

a pin cushion for Ellen

2009-02-16T18:44:00.000-05:00

One of my coworkers mentioned that she needed a pin cushion so I made this for her. It's just a stuffed yo-yo with a little flower to hide the center. The wrist band is made of the good part of a worn out sock.

Friday Find

2009-02-13T18:41:00.000-05:00

I found this children's alphabet book today. The illustrations are embroidered applique and have sparked a lot of ideas for things I want to make.

The author/illustrator is Virgina Tiffany. Here are more examples of her work.
ABC (Golden Book)
Two Kittens
Tell Me, Cat

fun for Valentine's Day

2009-02-12T23:21:00.000-05:00

Today was the last day of school before Valentine's Day. The children were just giddy about the cards, candy, glitter, and stickers. They would all have been amazed by this Valentine breakfast from No Fuss Fabulous.

I wish I had taken pictures of the elementary kids' valentine bags decorated with hearts and letters made with paper quilling.

photo from No fuss fabulous

Craft Magazine Now Digital Only

2009-02-11T19:25:00.000-05:00

Craft magazine emailed its subscribers today to say that it won't be printing the magazine anymore. I am dissapointed.

They are going to continue with craftzine.com.

I heart neckties.

2009-02-10T21:04:00.000-05:00

I mentioned that I was making my boyfriend a valentine with material that he is familiar with. Here it is. I arranged the bottom of two neckties to make a heart then stitched on some rick rack to tie it all together. I got this idea (and tons of others) from Diane Gilleland. Here's her tutorial.

Homemade Valentines

2009-02-08T12:36:00.000-05:00

Last year I made my valentine a Fabric Window Valentine after seeing them on the Purl Bee's blog. It was quick and easy and turned out really cute. I recommend you check out the tutorial and make up a few before Valentines Day.

Today I will be making a different sort of valentine for my boyfriend using a fabric that is familiar to him. I'll post it later.

The valentines above are from the Purl Bee.

Refurbishing Bangle Bracelets

2009-02-07T11:33:00.000-05:00

I just put Japanese breakfast food stickers on this pretty blue bracelet. The stickers are rice, pickles, miso soup, chopsticks, natto, and umeboshi.

I bought sets of these breakfast stickers, along with sets of sushi and dessert stickers in Japan at one of the Maruzen chain book stores. I would love to find more of them one day.

I found the blue bracelet with this eighties survivor bangle in a thrift store . I have plans for it that I'll be posting soon.

cupcakes vs. pie

2009-02-01T15:57:00.000-05:00

I got the new Craft magazine yesterday. It's as awesome as always. Amy Sedaris is on the cover. She's a writer/crafter/renaissance woman and runs a cupcake business out of her home.

While reading about the cupcake trend (interesting article here and here), I ran across a New York Times article that said "in the modern age, the cupcake may be more American than apple pie."

That statement combined with my nostalgia for weekly doses of pie on the recently cancelled TV show Pushing Daisies inspired me to make a pie for my craft night. I used this tutorial to make a lattice crust. Everyone should do it at least once in their lives.

my Japanese bag

2009-01-31T19:40:00.000-05:00

When I was in Japan I took Japanese classes at community centers. My favorite teacher made this bag for me. I love the design with an inside and outside pocket and the little flaps that cover the outside pocket.

I think I could figure it out, but has anyone seen a pattern to make a bag like this? If so, I'd love to know where.

Folk Art, a Twonicorn, and the Simpsons

2009-01-30T21:36:00.000-05:00

The Simpsons has been satirizing aspects of American culture for twenty years. The newest episode "Lisa the Drama Queen" has some witty poking at young people's rejuvenating interest in folk art when Lisa and her new friend spend a play date admiring quilts and carved wooden miniatures.

In the same episode the two girls create a whimsical world with a twonicorn (a unicorn with an extra horn) that belches rainbows. I love that show.

A podcast to make by

2009-01-28T23:26:00.000-05:00

I found a podcast so enriching I have to share it. CraftyPod, produced by Portland craft scene queen "Sister Diane" Gilleland, has been inspiring me since I found it last month. She has been interviewing players from the art and craft movement for three and a half years, cultivating the craft climate and creating an incredible resource.

Sister Diane loves my favorite radio show, This American Life, and follows the model of audio editing, an art form of its own, that Ira Glass and his team use on that show. The result is an almost perfect version of the conversation that makes it easy to listen to.

As of now there are 84 episodes with information on everything from knitting to decoupage to how to publish a craft book. They are all available for free through the CraftyPod site, iTunes or another podcast collector. My favorite episode is #79 Crafting with Neckties.

Play Dough

2009-01-25T21:22:00.000-05:00

I have this really vivid memory from my childhood: At vacation Bible school someone handed me a ball of white dough and told me to knead it. I did as I was told and soon discovered this dark spot in the dough. As I stretched and scrunched the dough, that spot turned into veins of bright green. I was amazed as it turned into a green marbled design. It took a long time, but I obeyed the adults and worked the color in until I had familiar green playdough.

On Friday in after care the children made play dough the same way. It was hard for them to get the color dispersed, but they loved doing it. It's funny that once the play dough was made, they were ready to play with something else, not play with play dough. I bet I had the same reaction after I got my green play dough finished.

Here's the recipe we used:
3 cups flour
1/3 cup salt
2 Tblsp. vegetable oil
1 cup water
food coloring

We put only two drops of food coloring in each ball of dough, but the colors were more pastel than the dough pictured. Red turned out as more of a Pepto Pink. To make play dough colors dark, I recommend mixing the food coloring in with the water in the dough recipe because if you put many drops of food coloring into the ball of dough it will get everywhere when they knead it.

Paper Doll Chains

2009-01-21T21:04:00.000-05:00

We made these folded paper dolls today with two of the older elementary students this afternoon after writing letters to the new president. They made fat dolls, thin dolls and even a

row of smiley faces.

To make:

Fold paper like a fan (or an accordion) then draw the shape of a doll on the top layer. The trick is to make the drawing touch both edges and not to cut vertically on the fold. If you only want a pair of dolls like the ones to the right, fold a scrap of paper in half and make sure that the drawing only touches one side.

Snow Day

2009-01-20T21:01:00.000-05:00

There's nothing like a surprise day off to get caught up and relax with some embroidery. This little lady started off as one of Andrea Zuill's amazing free patterns, but I made a few changes (some by accident and some on purpose). I finished her up while listening to the glorious inauguration speech.

I don't know what I'll do with her yet, but I know I'm loving embroidery lately.

Quilt Documentation Day

2009-01-18T23:06:00.000-05:00

I got to see some quilt historians at work recently at the Great Smoky Mountain Heritage Center in Townsend, TN. As a part of the third annual Quilters Road Show, there were free quilt evaluations by Becky Harriss and nationally-known quilt authority, Merikay Waldvogel.

Collectors, makers, and family heirloom holders brought a total of 50 quilts to the Center’s auditorium where Harriss and Waldvogel were set up on stage with a microphone.

They spread quilts out over a table, bed turning style, and asked the quilt owners to tell what they knew about their quilts. Then Hariss and Waldvogel looked at material, patterns, and technique to give each quilt an approximate date and noted information about the history of quilts as it was triggered by each quilt.

An expert on quilts from the 1930s, Waldvogel told us that pastels were huge during that era, and when a lady brought in a quilt colored mostly in a shade called Orchid, Waldvogel had stories about how popular that particular shade was.

A mother and her teen-aged daughter brought an unfinished quilt top that had belonged to a grandmother. After talking about how the appliquéd butterfly pattern was a symbol of rejuvenation in the 30s, Waldvogel flipped the quilt over and pointed out that the blocks were made from sacks of Lily White flour. She could guess when it was made because she knew what weights of flour were available in what years.

There were three quilts with the pattern known to much of the quilting world as Sun Bonnet Sue. All three of the owners present knew the pattern as Dutch Dolls, as is common in much of the South.

Among the 50 quilts evaluated were two that were made in Wheat, the community that dissolved in 1942 to make room for the Manhattan Project and Oak Ridge. There was a quilt dated 1924 and embroidered with the Elks Lodge’s crest and other images important to the fraternal organization. The oldest piece of the day was a white-on-white crewel coverlet embroidered with the Tree of Life from the early 1800s.

Waldvogel talked about a four-year-old Noah’s Ark panel quilt that a child had insisted his mother take to the event along with her antique quilts. Waldvogel advised the mother to make a label for the quilt by writing down the quilt-maker, the receiver, the date and the occasion on a piece of cloth and stitch it on the back.

Waldvogel asked the holders of the oldest and most interesting quilts to pass them on to younger family members because she finds that when quilts stay within a family, information remains intact better. She also urged those who own quilts with great cultural significance to consider donating them to museums.

Volunteers photographed and collected information on each quilt evaluated at the event so that the quilts can be put into an online database available to everyone.

Embroidered Kid Art

2009-01-16T12:25:00.000-05:00

Here’s a way to preserve a child’s drawings: embroider them onto fabric. Then you could make a quilt from a group of your favorite drawings.

Materials:
Cotton Fabric
Embroidery hoop
Embroidery needle
Embroidery floss
Writing utensil

· GATHER MATERIALS
If you’re new to embroidery, pick a drawing without much detail. The supplies you need are basic. Any craft store and most crafty friends or family members will have them on hand. Keep the drawing with you as you gather fabric and embroidery floss for the project and stay as true to the colors your child chose as you can. **Note: The embroidery hoop pictured is WAY too big for the project. It is much easier to keep the fabric tight enough to work with a 5" or 6" hoop. I have since purchased one, but I was working with what I had.

· PRACTICE FIRST
Familiarize yourself with some basic stitches through these video tutorials: Split stitch, French knots, chain stitch, and satin stitch . Put scrap fabric on your hoop and practice each stitch until you are comfortable.

· PLAN IT OUT
Look at the drawing you’re about to stitch. Try to figure out which direction the strokes were drawn, so you can work in the same direction.
Decide what stitches will work best for the strokes on the drawing. If the drawing was done with a fine point marker or pencil, the split stitch may work well (I did most of the picture above with the split stitch). If the picture was done with crayons, try the chain stitch.

· TRANSFER
There are several ways to get the image onto the fabric. I recommend putting the fabric on top of the drawing and tracing it. I use a pen with ink that disappears within 72 hours, but you could use pencil or anything washable.

If the fabric is hard to see through, make an improv light box with a window during daylight. Tape the drawing to the window. Then tape the fabric on top, leaving the bottom unattached so that you can lift it and look at any lines you cannot see through the fabric.

· EMBROIDER
Remember that the child created the picture and resist the urge to leave out even the fourth extra arm. Relax and think about the uninhibited way children draw as you stitch.

· LABEL IT
Embroidery tends to be something that people hold onto. Someday someone is going to be curious. At the very least, stitch in a year. You could also include the artist’s name, age and any title the child gives the drawing.

Kids Craft Supplies

2009-01-15T13:06:00.000-05:00

I'm making a shopping list for my after school program of preschool - 5th graders.

How about a Secretary of the Arts?

2009-01-13T12:56:00.000-05:00

Many countries have a minister of art or culture. The U.S. does not.
Here's a petition you could sign asking President-Elect Obama to appoint one.

Craft Sales Are Up

2009-01-09T19:34:00.000-05:00

Craft store sales are up in Knoxville. Read this article.

Assignment: Spa Director feature

2009-01-07T18:32:00.000-05:00

In the place where I grew up there are so many women like the subject of this article. I never would have thought of any of them as interesting enough to write a story about. Then I got an assignment from an editor that I wanted to accept. It turned out to be kind of amusing to really think about what these women are like.

Scrappy Kid's Craft

2009-01-06T22:16:00.000-05:00

Today was the kind of rainy day that demands an art project. I gave the children glue, some leftover pieces of card stock, and a basket of small fabric scraps I had been saving from the trash. Then I told them to make outfits.

I remember that as a child I loved picking out outfits for my dolls so I thought the kids might get into to the project. They did like the fabric, but I hadn't anticipated that the child scissors they can use aren't sharp enough to cut fabric. The adult staff members ended up cutting it into clothing shapes for the few girls that didn't turn to Legos in their frustration. Next time I plan to give small children fabric, I will cut it first.

Embroidered Necktie

2009-01-02T17:16:00.000-05:00

Today is my boyfriend's birthday. He's a necktie-wearing musician so I embroidered a gramophone on a vintage tie. I used thread that blended in to control the flash aspect, but you could certainly make a bolder tie for a bolder dresser.
I used this tutorial from Craft Stylist as a guide.

Felt Fortune Cookies

2008-12-31T17:31:00.000-05:00

I'm getting really into felt food. I am planning to make a nice set for the kids at my school to play with, but these fortune cookies are for an adult.

I learned to make them from a good video lesson by Hilary Seabolt. Seabolt is one of many designing and selling felt food. She owns Lily Bean Market, a small business that sells felt food and kits, patterns and material to make felt food. Lily Bean employs a few Amish seamstresses to do hand sewing.

Wooden Doll on display

2008-12-29T22:23:00.000-05:00

Yesterday I visited the East Tennessee History Center and looked at the "Voices of the Land" exhibit. In the collection of handicrafts is a wooden doll made by Polly Page. You can see an example of Page's work here.

Page taught Jane Fonda about whittling for Fonda's role as Gertie Nevels in The Dollmaker (read my review of the book). It's a shame this movie is only available on VHS. Levon Helm, from the Band plays Clovis, the handy husband.

The Crafty Sitcom Character

2008-12-29T19:15:00.000-05:00

Iola from the syndicated sitcom, Mama's Family came up in conversation recently. She was the next door neighbor who was always visiting the family, taking care of her parents or making silly crafts. I remember a toothbrush fashioned to look like the tooth fairy, lots of cozies, and that she liked felt. What else did she make?

More Handmade Christmas

2008-12-26T14:01:00.000-05:00

My friend Yumiko in Japan made this pop-up Christmas card for me.

My best friend Sarah made me a pouch to carry tea bags in.

My Aunt Peggy made these beautiful Christmas cakes.

She also made homemade candy for everyone in the family.

Peggy's mother, Janie gave me Pear Honey and Strawberry Fig Preserves.

I made this birdie on a ribbon for baby Maddie's carrier (find the pattern to make your own here.)

I bought these recipe cards from Kiss + Tell's etsy shop for Mrs. Goddard (who made me a wonderful coffee cake I should have photographed before I ate.)

I ordered this pair of birdie notebooks from Story by Mia for my after care staff, but I ended up keeping one for myself.

These earrings were made by HModine. I gave them to Sarah, who made the cute tea pouch above.

This article says that more people gave handmade gifts this year. If you gave or received a handmade gift this year, share it by posting a comment below.

All Natural Handmade Heating Pads and Hand-Warmers

2008-12-26T13:04:00.000-05:00

For Christmas gifts for co-workers, family and friends I made hand-warmers and heating pads. They were so simple - just a cotton cloth bag filled with rice and sewn shut.

For hand-warmers cut two 4 1/2" squares of 100% cotton. Fold them in half with the pretty sides touching each other and sew the long edge and one of the short edges. Then turn the pouch inside out so that the pretty sides show and fill half full with rice. To close the pouch tuck in the edges of the open end and sew along the edge. Then microwave until warm (about 45 seconds in a new microwave) and put inside your pockets or gloves.

To make a heating pad start with one 14" x 14" piece of cotton and follow the directions above. Microwave for about two minutes then put on any aching body part or use to keep a covered dish warm.

Readers: Please share what gifts you made in the comment section.

Purple Polyester Find

2008-12-23T10:14:00.000-05:00

I love this dress. The sheer sleaves, the pleated ruffle - could I be any luckier? I found it last week when I ran into Goodwill on my lunch break (in the same trip I found a vintage pop-up book that I will post about later). I wore it to my work Christmas party and had so much fun.

Visions of Sugar

2008-12-21T12:43:00.000-05:00

Last night I woke up at 2 a.m. with the vision of this candy cane in my head. Then I couldn't get back to sleep, so I whipped it up. It'll be a cute decorative stocking stuffer.

Creative Baby Gift

2008-12-16T20:02:00.000-05:00

I love the idea of making up a little story and illustrating it. With these blank board books, homemade can still be sturdy enough for a baby.

I'm picturing a book of collage pictures. Or maybe a simple contrast of stamped or doodled images in one primary color.

The Dollmaker by Harriette Arnow

2008-12-14T18:31:00.000-05:00

Harriette Arnow’s The Dollmaker tells the story of a woman’s struggle to take care of her family in unfamiliar surroundings. Her story is sad, but honest. I feel like I am better for having read it.

Set in Detroit during World War II against a background of union picket lines and the threat of closing factories, it’s a novel that speaks out against the industrial revolution and voices the complaints of someone who never spoke very loudly.

Though readers meet protagonist Gertie Nevels as a strong heroine, they soon find out that a strong woman today and a strong woman in rural Appalachia in the 1940s have a different level of obstacles.

Gertie packs up her children and the life she loved to trudge alongside husband Clovis in his chase of the American Dream. Gertie only finds peace in her cramped housing project when whittling. She makes dolls and toys for children whenever her hands have nothing else to busy themselves with. When people begin admiring her woodcraft, she starts earning money for her family with a little whittling business. That makes me hope that in difficult economic times, more people will find the drive and the time to make things.

Gertie’s life is filled with struggle, yet she is a character that I missed after I finished it the book. At 599 pages, I had enjoyed spending time with her.

Avon Books published The Dollmaker in 1954. It got good reviews, became a bestseller and was even first runner up to one of William Faulkner’s books for the National Book Award. The current economic climate could inspire another wave of interest in the book.

Tutorials Galore

2008-12-11T21:45:00.000-05:00

I've just made an amazing internet find. Kymy, who writes the Everything Your Mama Made blog, has compiled an amazing list of tutorials. It's basically having access to the fruits of an internet-savvy, organized and experienced crafter's search for good how-to articles.

She calls it a bookmark clean-up. The number of tutorials is nearing 500, and they are organized into categories.

You could make a gift for everyone on your list from this list. There are links to quality tutorials on everything from a fabric dollhouse to a plastic bag dispenser to quilting techniques.

Gifts

2008-12-11T18:56:00.000-05:00

I always feel like gift-giving is so telling of the giver and reciever's relationship. Giving someone something that they don't like means that 1) The giver doesn't know the reciever well enough to get them something that suits them or 2) The giver didn't care enough to search out something that would. Giver just wanted the task to be done.

With that in mind, holiday shopping is so hard.

Applique circles

2008-12-06T19:50:00.000-05:00

Who knew aluminum foil is the secret ingredient to a better circle? I like this trick I found on Anna Maria Horner's blog.

Buy Handmade

2008-12-04T12:32:00.000-05:00

Going to the mall makes me disapointed in humanity. I will enjoy the holidays so much more if I just don't do it. I'm buying and making handmade gifts instead. The things I find on etsy.com and at craft fairs are unique and interesting. It's satisfying to buy something from the person who made it.

Buying something handmade is benefitting society so much more than buying something mass produced.
If you aren't convinced, read more here http://www.buyhandmade.org/why-buy-handmade.

Handmade Thread Earrings

2008-12-03T09:53:00.000-05:00

I bought these earrings for my sister for her cosmetology school graduation. They were made by SincearJewlery out of Atlanta. They are made of thread handwoven around what looks like a spring from a pen. This pair was designed to look like a sunset, but there are a lot of different color combinations available in SincearJewlery's etsy shop.

World Class Chef in a Strip Mall

2008-11-30T12:11:00.000-05:00

I wrote this article for the Knoxville News Sentinel after reading tons of praise for Chef Chang on foodie networks like Chowhound, Don Rockwell , and Atlanta Cuisine . The food is awesome.

Happy Gloves, Happy Girl

2008-11-29T11:36:00.000-05:00

My mom gave me a craft book for my birthday that I love. Happy Gloves by Miyako Kanamori has instructions on how to make cute little creatures from gloves. I have been wanting to make toys but haven't ever gotten into crochet. Kanamori's technique uses a cheap and readily available material to make quick and easy stuffed toys.

Functional Handmade Gift

2008-11-16T22:52:00.000-05:00

Reusable grocery totes are pretty prevalent these days. I made one for my mom and one for my sister-in-law. My sister-in-law's was made from one of the tablecloths from her wedding rehearsal dinner. She seemed to enjoy the sentiment.

I used a basic folded method to make theirs. They work just fine, but I wanted a roomer bag with a flat bottom. I found this pattern that I plan to try out sometime. If anyone beats me to it, let me know how it works or post a picture.

Fabric Stash Spectrum

2008-11-09T01:44:00.000-05:00

I am making this quilt for my own bed. The idea was to make it out of the stash of fabric I have been collecting for so long. Today I finished sewing the blue section. I am keeping it up on my living room wall until the entire top piece is finished.

The fabric sticks to the flannel sheet I thumb-tacked up on the wall. (Fabric sticks to flannel magically...unless you have a fan on high). Ideally the sheet would be plain white, but I improvised.

It is helpful to see the entirety of what you are working on at one time. Another benefit is that when my quilter-friend Felicia comes to my house she can see exactly what I am doing and has donated many pieces from her stash to this project.

I recommend a fabric wall for every quilt designer.

New Crafty Podcast

2008-11-08T22:08:00.000-05:00

Hello Craft has started a weekly podcast of crafter's stories. I liked the first two episodes and plan to keep listening. They are requesting contributors.