And then there were three

First there were pear pincushions, next came the giant pear pillow, well now I've gone and made a mini-pear ornament! I adore the wonderful retro Michael Miller Christmas tree prints, and as I've mentioned before, I'm already feeling that holiday spirit so these fit the bill quite nicely. I plan to have pear ornaments available in my etsy shop as soon as I decide whether to sell them individually or in sets. What do you think? They're 4" tall and I can fit two in a box. Three is a nicer number for a set, though, alas...

My favorite part is the ric rac hanger. Love the ric rac. And now I need to go two things:

a) Go shut the back door. Somebody (the kids) seem to think that it's perfectly fine to leave the door open when it's 45 degrees outside.

b) Make a bunch more of these ornaments; I've got lots of Christmas prints and several yards of red ric rac begging to be put to use.

Happy Wednesday!
Kim

visions of sugarplums

Continuing in the trend of making things for my family, I've embarked on sewing a quilt for my elder son (to be followed, of course, by a quilt for the younger, although hopefully, unlike the afghan I started for him, fully complete and not just 3/4 of the way). Using the flock of triangles pattern from this book, I customized the fabrics to reflect his favorite things: lots of color, and lots of typefaces. Joey has been obsessed with books since infancy, so it was an easy decision to incorporate book inspired prints for his first quilt. Maybe it will keep him from removing all the clothes from his dresser drawers to read the fake antique newspaper printed on the drawer bottoms. Probably not, but a gal can dream.

Just a peek, because I haven't finished piecing it yet

I used 21 prints and solids for the quilt, which seemed daunting at first, but after making stacks from my fabric stash I ended up actually having to pare down the selection from about 35 prints. Michael Miller has this knack of using colors that go with practically everything, including many prints from other manufacturers. Amy Butler has the same knack, and you may be able to spot some of her polka dot prints in there as well.

Anyway, I hope to have both quilts finished in time for Christmas. I'm planning to have a homemade/handmade holiday this year and I'd love to hear about your handmade holiday plans, too! We finally gave up on the big tree with breakable ornaments--it just doesn't mix well with 4 dogs and 2 rowdy boys, so we're having a small tree (located way, way up high on a shelf), with homemade paper and fabric ornaments. There will be loads of paper snowflakes and other handmade decorations and hopefully plenty of real snow. And cookies. Lots and lots of cookies.

Happy Holiday Dreaming!
Kim

A little of this, a little of that

We've lived at our new house for almost 3 months now, and though I can't claim to have unpacked all the boxes, at least I can say I have done something toward decorating the boys' playroom. Inspired by this bookshelf, I found a cube shelving unit and fabric boxes at Target, some ridiculously inexpensive vintage children's books on ebay, paintbrushes and Mod Podge from a local craft shop, a sunny day, and went for it.

There isn't very much natural light down in the basement, but you get the idea.

I didn't fuss with painting the bookshelf, mostly out of laziness, though I imagine I will end up having to do so in the future when the boys ding this one up, as is the fate of all of our furniture.

Their favorite part? Pulling out the bins to see if there are pictures behind them. (again, and again, and again, in fact they immediately pull the bins out every single time Mommy puts them on the shelves...)

Tomorrow's Lesson: Putting the Bins Back on the Shelves

Also finished this week, a drawstring backpack I made for a trade

The bag is fully lined, the pocket has a button closure, and I got to use one of my favorite fabric combos ever, Amy Butler's Linen Morning Glory and Cherry Full Moon Polka Dot prints. I love how the polka dots travel diagonally on the bias trim

Well, it's a lovely fall day and the swingset beckons....Hope everyone has an autumn-y week!

Tagged!

Yay, I've been "tagged"! I love reading fun facts about crafty bloggers, and now I get to share a few things with you and hopefully learn something new about some other gals who blog, thanks to BackwoodSophisticate. The rules are below:

1. Link to your tagger and list these rules on your blog.
2. Share seven facts about yourself on your blog – some random, some weird.
3. Tag seven people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs.
4. Let them know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blogs.

My list of random facts:

1. I was a bit of a sprinting/jumping prodigy in middle school; 100m, 200m, long jump, and 4x100 relay.
2. I didn't like going to fabric stores until college. Now I can't stop fabric shopping.
3. I love blackberry cobbler.
4. I don't eat tomatoes. Except BBQ sauce. I craved BBQ potato chips when I was pregnant with my first kiddo, but only the ruffled kind.
5. My eyes change colors. They are somewhere between grey, green, and blue. My husband calls them "mood eyes".
6. I'm allergic to cats.
7. I have lived in 20% of the states in the United States: Washington, Colorado, Minnesota, California, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, New York, Oregon, Georgia, and Wisconsin (yes, in that order--and an even more impressive tidbit: my parents were not in the military, nor on the run from the authorities)

Here are the 7 people that I'm tagging:

Amy Crankypants
Kirsten kirsten*can
Joyce Joyce Makes Art
Jennifer Deckled Edge Bindery
Maria Made By Maria
Crystal Crysto
Leah Whiffy Bean Bags

Fun News

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.



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

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.

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?

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!

the back...

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".

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

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

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.

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

Kim

Not an unhappy post.

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.

So pretty. So carefree.

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.

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

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.

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

birthdays and bear cubs

I've just had one of those weeks where I look back and marvel at how differently my life has turned out than I might have expected (warning: contemplative birthday post to follow). For instance, would I ever imagine the following things come out of my mouth, and even more surprisingly, directed at my children:

"Stop licking the piano."
"Stop licking the TV!"
"Stop licking the window!!"

only to be followed by:

"Don't eat your book."
"Don't eat the dog kibble!"
"Don't eat that pencil eraser!!!"

I celebrated not only my birthday this past week, but also my 9th wedding anniversary--a little bit strange as I still see myself as a youngster right out of college. And speaking of which, I never would have expected that my current job would be: mom of two bear cubs and independent designer. Especially considering my favorite subject in high school was biology and even my parents expected that I would go on to study zoology or something similar (I ended up majoring in psychology, then worked in publishing in NYC, and went on to a graduate program in speech pathology, so in retrospect, I suppose it was the natural order of things to do something else completely different).

But, I love it. I get to be at home to nuture my two young cubs (see? I am studying animals after all!) and nurturing myself with creative endeavors (and possibly a little extra-curricular reading).

So, necessity is the mother of invention, as they say, or was it something about idle hands....? Instead of continuing with my "No, no, no" one-sided conversation about which household items are appropriate for mouths, I ran to my sewing table, cut out some fabric and whipped up some candy for Bear Cub No. 1 to chew on. It was pretty brave of me, too, as I used no pattern (which I never, ever do) and I even cut into one of my favorite fabrics for the occasion instead of practicing with muslin.

and...? Success!

It's the closest I've ever gotten him to a real lollipop (you think I'm lucky, but I assure you I'm not... he also won't touch anything containing nutritive value. Thank goodness they put vitamins in cereal!

He thinks the corduroy is the tastiest part.

It's back to real life for me now, and you know, I think I prefer it to the one I had imagined for myself as a young'un.

Take care,
Kim