Thursday, September 28, 2006
True Confessions.
Here are some fantastic antique store finds. I have a secret. I &hearts old photos. Don't know why. I have a ton of 'em. It was all I could do not to buy this entire box.
I have this great photo of a baby in 3 different poses. It's from the 20's or 30's I think. Who knows. Some day I'm going to have a lightning bolt idea of what to do with all these old photos. For now, I'm just going to enjoy sifting through them when killing time before actually getting down to work. 
And this is some sort of skirt-shortening apparatus. Hilarious! I shoulda bought it. Oh well.
Must go. Just found out today that I am indeed doing Franklin's Pumpkinfest. Okay I must go spaz out right now. Bye!
Labels: obsessions
Tuesday, September 26, 2006
slouchy purse x2
I'm working on tweaking this pattern. I'm so thrilled with the fabrics in this. They're Alexander Henry (at least, i'm pretty sure) I used my trusty pin-tucking foot. I'm in love with little tucks. I still need to work on the shape. The last one was a little too wide, this one is a little too narrow.
Still awaiting word back from Franklin's Pumpkinfest. I'll have to kick it in high gear if I do get in. Anyone want to participate in the Beth Howard Studio Sweatshop? Didn't think so. At least I'll have a month this time instead of 2 weeks.
I'm super stressed at work, so that accounts for the lack of blogging. I have plenty 'o subject matter, just no time to write.
Go out and enjoy the beautiful weather! Or at least open the windows in your sewing rooms!
Labels: handmade
Wednesday, September 20, 2006
Some small things
Trying desperately to make stuff, even when I don't really feel like it. 
This is a photo album cover that I made. I bought one of those cheapy plastic ones from Target, then made a cover and slipped it in. I think it's really a testament to my whole back-to-school nostalgia from last week. In the background are 2 photo frames that I made from scraps. I just love being resourceful! And the fact of the matter is, I love patterns and color and fabric. And I have a lot of it. Might as well use it.
NEXT!!
This is a slouchy type bag. It's my prototype for a series I want to do for the show I'm going to be in in October (if I get in. fingers crossed.) I have a whole lot of fabric that I think would make lovely bags. Have any of you had much luck with Etsy ? I really have not been impressed. It's so frustrating to see a bag that you know took 30 hours to make be listed for $4. But maybe it's just my luck or layout,, or something. Anyway.
I sewed little pockets in the inside, and a larger pocket on the outside. Finished with a grosgrain ribbon. Next up: elongating the width and evening out the curve of the bottom. Off to bed!
Labels: handmade
Sunday, September 17, 2006
Crafty Goodness
I'm so excited to tell you all about the Nashville Craft Mafia I went to the first major meeting on Saturday and met some fab crafty folk. Lots of us are day-job designers and weekend knitters, sewists, purse-making, camera-wielding types. If you live in Nashville, and make things, you must go to their website and sign up. We plan to have shows, fundraisers, and generally support craft artists in a fun-loving way. These girls are serious and determined. We must band together!
And I met some people signed up for my Fabric Collage Class I'm so excited. I just sent the finalized supply list to the aRThOUSE. I'll post it here after Whitney sends it out. I can't wait. I want to inspire my students to think beyond their normal imagery vocabulary.
Speaking of classes, here are some prints that I made when I was at home on vacation. I made stamps and used thickened dye. The thickened dye makes for such lovely saturated colors. I'll be teaching this class on October 21st at the aRThOUSE . It will be so fun! Next stop on the class list: Quilting from the Hip...from the BH school of "Sew crap together"
I'm working on some photo albums and purses. I applied for Pumpkinfest in quaint little Franklin, Tennessee the last weekend of October. I'm not sure if I really want to jump into the production that it may require, but on the other hand, I would love to sell some things and get my name out there. We'll see.
Labels: handmade
Wednesday, September 13, 2006
It's that time of the Season
So, fall has come in a hot blustery rush. And now it's cool and all, well, autumnal and it makes me sad. Sad is perhaps the wrong word. More sentimental. So sentimental that it's a little too much for me to take. Today I worked 10 hours in a windowless office. I had no idea if it had been sunny or rainy until I walked out the door at 6pm. Turns out it was a glorious day. The kind that makes me wish I could walk home from school. But alas, I'm neither in school nor capable of walking home from work.
Maybe it's that this weather triggers all the wonderful memories I have of wonderful times at this time of day. First days of school, new beginnings, break-ups, new relationships. Major life changes. And also the smaller things: coming home from float trips with my favorite people in the world, driving to high school football games when I was still completely thrilled to be independent, cruising country roads just because, driving by myself to Nashville from Missouri for my first real-world-on-my-own-type-job.
I promise I'll try to soak up this season while it's here, not hide from it because I don't want to know what I'm missing while in my dark little office. Stay away, dreary winter! I'm not ready to abandon my flip-flops yet!
Here is the quilt I made while on Vacation. It's lap-quilt size, and quilted with only small frustrations on our new John Flynn Quilt Frame. I hope to make a few more style/designy quilts and sell them somewhere. Or maybe market them to a mass-market company. Who knows. Any ideas?
Love you guys. I know you're out there reading, and I'm eternally grateful. See? I told you I'm really sentimental right now. I even had to edit out a "freakin'" because I was trying to be faux-non-chalant.
Saturday, September 09, 2006
Chihuly and Flowers
Here are some photos of the Chihuly exhibit at the St. Louis Botanical Gardens. It was incredible!! I'm going to post more pics on my Flickr Slideshow, so please be patient.
I took lots of photos of flowers, too. It's always nice to have your own photos to source from instead of getting them online. Any of you who are taking my fabric collage class: send me an e-mail, and I'll send you a more specific list of items to bring. I know the aRThOUSE is sending out a supply list, but I probably need to clarify.
Back to regularly scheduled vacation time. I finished a lap quilt that I'm going to post next!
Labels: who I am
Wednesday, September 06, 2006
A week's Vacation!
I'm vacationing so luxuriously at my girlhood home in the middle of a soybean field, in the middle of Callaway County, in the middle of Missouri, in the middle of Middle America. It's lovely! We've been bike riding on the Katy Trail (farm scene) I spotted some fellow North Callaway R-1 High School Alumni, and I even went to an MU Football Game where I witnessed a dispute over a student "accidentally" stepping on a ketchup packet, which squirted "accidentally" all over this old guys "F&
*^$*#ing $50 shirt!" oops. Good to be home.
New quilt!! On my mom's HUGE design board. (That's here round robin quilt on the right side)
I'm trying to get quite a bit of sewing done. Mom and I bought this quilt frame a couple of weeks ago. We've been trying it out, and it's amazing! Now we have to find some extension rods so we can quilt this quilt top I finished on Monday. That's right, I actually one entire project done in one day. More interesting because I usually wear the lovin' off a project until I can't even bear the sight of it. Well, this quilt ain't quilted yet, so you never know. I may hate it in the end. I'm also dying some fabric. I have perma-prune fingers right now!
Anyway on tap for the rest of the week: Haircut, eating in the dorm cafeteria with my lil' sis, more sewing, more dying, and the St. Louis Botanical Gardens I'll try to post some other cool stuff.
Labels: who I am