2006 July « I knew that!

WIP Friday: Rainbow kitties

July 21, 2006 at 5:11 pm | Posted in Sewing/Crafts, swaps | 2 Comments

Don’t you love that little banjo riff at the beginning of the Rainbow Connection? Deedle-deedle-deedle, deedle-dee!

This month’s theme colors for the Swap-o-rama are redorangeyellowgreenbluepurple! So, my WIPs this week are these yummy little felt guys made from a pattern in a Japanese craft book.

I love that the pins in the unsewn ones look like little antennae. Take me to your litter!

Busy busy this week with work, so I haven’t had any time to blog. I’ll try to make up for it this weekend.

Made With Love

July 15, 2006 at 3:19 pm | Posted in swaps | 3 Comments

When I arrived home Wednesday, the mail carrier had brought me a package from Portugal. It was my July Color-iffic Swap-o-rama!

My partner in this secret swap was Sara (MadeWithLove on flickr.com). She must have spent a lot of time and care selecting and making these wonderful items. I am so grateful for the loving attention she paid to every little detail.

I’m impressed with her creative and endearing sewn toys. They’re truly “made with Love.” Her stitches are so nice and even; I resolve to take more care when I do my next hand-stitched project! Such personality in their faces.

The cat I’ve christened “Scott” because I love animals with people names. She wrote that he could be my pet now, and he wouldn’t give my husband Ryan allergies. She definitely did her homework, that one!

Sara also included a pretty button bracelet and great cards. Even my first two trading cards ever. I’ve always admired those! I think the seed pods and wood are her original photos.

Thank you, Sara!

Birds

July 11, 2006 at 12:57 pm | Posted in Cards, Papercrafts | 1 Comment

An envelope arrived today, along with some rain.

Claire’s etsy shop. The cards (from her original watercolors) are even more beautiful than I thought they’d be, and she kindly included the pretty tags you see above. Take a little break and feast your eyes on the handmade paper and fabric items Claire has for sale.

Speaking of birds, there are some splotchy cardinal-like birds out in the yard, but they don’t have crests. Could they just be molting cardinals with wet heads from the rain?

Modern Quilt-along

July 9, 2006 at 6:51 pm | Posted in Family, Quilting | 2 Comments

I e-mailed Kim last night about joining her year-old Modern Quilt Along. I’m glad this is such a long-lived project, or I would have missed out! I’ve enjoyed seeing the group members make progress and complete their quilts, all of which come from the Modern Quilt Workshop book by the folks at the neat-o keen Fun Quilts studio just up the road from us in Oak Park, IL.

I’ve chosen the Once upon a Time quilt as my project. I really want to use this oh-so-cute print, but it’s not the best quality. You can even see through it in this photo :0(

What to do? I know some of you have probably used vintage (or new for that matter) fabric, some of which, while darling, might be a little sketchy in the quality department. I’d appreciate any advice you could offer. I just love the little animals and town scenes though. Anyway, check out how Blair’s, Rose’s, and Karen’s versions of this quilt turned out. Cute, huh?

I hope to complete my own project before our nephew’s birthday in September. Here’s a picture of the little guy, who’ll be turning 6 then. He’s a bright, lively fella, and I think he’ll get a kick out of creating stories with this quilt along with his parents and little sis.

Share a past project Thursday

July 6, 2006 at 8:54 am | Posted in Sewing/Crafts | 2 Comments

Here’s my contribution to Barb’s Share a Past Project Thursday: more evidence of my geekiness.

I think most of these are truncated octahedra, or the Snowball pattern from Jinny Beyer’s Patchwork Puzzle Balls book. She uses a geometric shape for each side of the ball, which of course I find quite fascinating :)

They’re made over a period of time from fall 2005 to spring 2006.

These were a little tedious to make, but I love the results. Stuffing, for me, anyway, took almost as long as the sewing; they are quite firm!

They’re a great way to use scraps, too!

Winky Duck

July 2, 2006 at 10:33 pm | Posted in Sewing/Crafts | 3 Comments

Here’s my former WIP, now completed.

I only had one little eye left, so I gave this ducky a sassy little wink. Goes with the boa, I think, a la Mae West. It’s actually a little scarf I knit with some yarn given by Moki in the last color-iffic swap-o-rama.