Fun News

9.30.2008

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I'm excited to share that my products can now be found at the Indie Fixx Shop! If you click on the picture below you'll land right on the page with my goodies.

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Make sure to browse around--there are lots of incredible finds at Indie Fixx. There are so many items that are perfect for holiday gifts (I just adore this birdie brooch, these tea towels, this adorable sketch book...oh who am I kidding, I love it all!) so you can even shop guilt free, because it's for somebody else!

Have a happy Tuesday!
Kim

Swaps and Storybooks

9.28.2008

I belong to a cozy little swap group and for a fun challenge, we decided to do a "Try a New Craft" swap. It was certainly tough to narrow down all the crafts that I wanted to try, but as soon as I had a glimpse of The New Crewel by Katherine Shaughnessy, I knew I wanted to do a crewel project. I absolutely fell in love with the ruby shoots design, so I ordered the kit and got right to work the day it arrived in my mailbox.

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The needlework was a relaxing way to spend a few afternoons on the couch, and the entire design uses only the split stitch, something you are probably familiar with if you have done some embroidery before. But what to make it into? So many possibilities! I eventually decided to do a patchwork bag, which, if you're anything like me, involved making piles and piles of fabric to determine what prints to use. I'm pretty sure that about half of my stash ended up on the ironing board at some point (that's where I play around with fabric combinations) and finally settled on a pretty strict red and white theme. At one point I threw a little more green in there than you'll see on the end product, and decided it looked a bit too Christmassy--not that there's anything wrong with that--but I hoped to make the bag a little more versatile than for one week in December. It may still be a bit on the Christmassy side, what do you think?

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I normally plan out the patchwork and things are pretty symmetrical, but I did a bit of improvising this time, switching out prints as I went along. There was a lovely moment when I happened to place the gingham print next to Little Red Riding Hood and realized how perfectly they worked together.

I don't know why, but Miss Riding Hood has always captured my imagination. When I was a young lass, I would lug an enormous volume of fairytales to bed each night and read until the wee hours of the morning. Mom and Dad never seemed to mind, so thanks to you two for never making me hide under the covers with a flashlight and a book! In any case, I'm a sucker for Japanese fairytale fabrics, especially this adorable one--check out the wolf peeking out from behind the tree. Love it!

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the back...

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The curly red shoots evoke a kind of fairytale forest feeling, and the wool embroidery thread creates such a lovely barky texture, so perfect for the "trees".

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Learning about a new craft was incredibly fun and I sure hope my swap buddy likes it! I can't wait to see what everyone else made for their partners. Now off to dream of future embroidery projects...

Hope everyone had an inspiring weekend!
Kim

Pearfection

9.18.2008

It took a few more (okay WAY more) drafts than expected, but I am finally in love with the result of this giant custom pear pillow for a gender neutral childrens' room

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I used Ginseng home dec fabrics from Joel Dewberry and a corduroy stem. I'm a bit of a late bloomer in coming around to home dec weight fabrics, but I'm now officially hooked. And a lovely discovery it is as it opens up a whole new world of fabric obsession/collecting for me.

This project was more of an undertaking than I first realized, but not in a bad sort of way. All I can say is that pattern drafting (at least on a larger 3D scale) is not for the faint of heart or easily discouraged. But it's worth it when you get the outcome you were aiming for.

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Thanks to those who were so encouraging on this project, I hope to soon have some of these giant pears available in my shop.

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Kim

Not an unhappy post.

9.08.2008

I was going to have one of those depressing posts where I complained about how the words "Get down off of the piano" came out of my mouth no fewer than 50 times in the course of an hour this morning, and my being irked about how our incredibly slow school district took two weeks to send me a letter indicating that I needed to register my son for school after my calling and speaking to an actual person, back when there was plenty of time, asking what I needed to do to get special services set up for my son, and he now has missed a full week of school after having received no services over the summer because of our moving across the country.

But instead I decided to play with my new pears.

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So pretty. So carefree.

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They like sitting in their new cherry colander. You can get a pear for yourself here tomorrow.

It was time that I started making the pincushions in different prints, although some of the old stand-bys are there too. I even made a ginormous pear after a request to make a large pillow-sized cushion for a child's room.

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This isn't the custom pear, but one I did for practice (okay, maybe I thought the giant pear idea was so cool that I needed to have a one for my work room). I enlarged my pincushion pattern by about 400%, and it turned out a bit squatty, but still very pear-like. I knew this would happen, as just simply enlarging a pattern makes it all wonky with the out-of-proportion seam allowances, etc., etc., but I do think it turned out cute. I'll post the custom pear later this week when it's finished.

Oh, and completely off-topic, but relevant to current events, please register to vote if you haven't already! I'm doing so today, even though in Wisconsin you can register to vote in person up to the day before an election (how awesome is that?!). Check with your state/county (I Googled "How to register to vote in...") to find out how.

Have a Happy Monday!
Kim

happy rainy day

9.04.2008

We have had a remarkably sunny summer this year, but today is rather drizzly and cold. Rico curls up on my lap, shivering, every time I sit down someplace even for a moment. I let the boys play outside (I sat just inside the house watching through the door, I know I'm a wimp because I hate being chilly, but they had a blast) until Jack's teeth were chattering and Joey was too cold to get down from the playhouse, they are so in love with mommy right now.

I haven't felt much like sewing today, but I have been playing with some new fabric and taking pictures of my new digs. My work space is in our basement, and though I do have a window, I don't get a lot of light, even on sunny days.

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Do you ever get a new box of fabric and just unfold it and roll it and fold it again and make pretty stacks of it until it's just right? I do. I think it's part of my creative process, to actually feel the fabrics, see how they look next to various other prints, put them in a fun display so I feel happy when I get a glimpse of them while working....

My work room is still very much a work in progress, in fact, there is no way that I will show you any more than just my nifty little storage ledge until the place is in better order. Which will be soon. I hope.

In the meantime, maybe I will go splash in the rain a little. Have a happy Thursday!

Kim

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