Category: Crafts
Carolyn’s new fabric for P&B Textiles and some more sewing projects.
Here’s our lovely selection of new fabric bolts by Carolyn Gavin for P&B Textiles. The quality of the cotton is really yummy. You can buy the fabric here.
Here’s a potholder I made of Carolyn’s Wild Thyme fabric.
A closer look. Check out the word, “Yummy” that my Bernina machine can do.
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A different potholder using fabric by me (the daffodils) and the pink houses are by Lisa Congdon, and the red line-art flowers are by Carolyn.
While I’m shooting snaps, I thought I’d show you this little fabric wallet. Sorry about the blurriness.
The inside..
A pretty leather wallet for my cellphone. I get the leathers on ebay.
Here’s the inside with velcro dots.
Monday: Mati Rose McDonough came to visit us last week from San Francisco and gave us this wonderful pillow.
New Ceramic Work by Trina Dalziel
Trina Dalziel writes,
“Hi Lilla,
This autumn I’ve spent a few days painting china at a wonderful shop /workshop in Bloomsbury, London. It’s called Cosmo China and it has been running for over twenty years. Artists are invited to paint, there work is displayed on their own shelf and if their work sells they are invited back…I have to wait and see if mine sells! Sitting around a table with artists and using a paintbrush is a lovely change from working at home and too much click clicking of my mouse!”
Charley Harper Needlepoint at Purl
Needlepoint has been one of the last areas to buy cool art. So I’m thrilled to see this. See more here.
Wednesday: Guest Blogger: John Coulter
Here’s some great stuff by Suzy Ultman with her kids. Love it!
Suzy Ultman’s charming stuffties that she made. Read more:
Suzy writes:
Hi Lilla.
Here are the images with some caption ideas. This photo shoot was done during last February’s nor’easter. The kids had a snow day, and my friend Jilly (www.jillywendell.com) was visiting from LA. She had packed her camera and we had a blast. My art is inspired by the joy of childhood, and it is amazing to have my boys to remind me of that every day. It was so much fun watching them interact with my art & the camera.
“BFFs”
“day dreamer”
“it’s all in the eyes”
“don’t look back: mischief makers & wise guys rule the day”
Monday: Lisa DeJohn’s new succulent paintings
Must-have (or must-make) Ladies’ Tool Belts
Great stuff. Found on etsy. I made tool belts for the studio ladies for our NYC trade shows. One of these days I’ll blog them. Anyway, tool belts are a great way to sew something easy, super-useful, and fun to accessorize. I’ve put pompoms, buttons, ribbon, etc., on mine.
Monday: Lisa Congdon’s work at Chronicle
Embroidery
Thought you’d like to see this artist’s lovely work: Kelly Harrison. See more here.
Wednesday: A lovely piece by Talitha Shipman
Hand-dyed yarn on etsy with charming story
I found this on Etsy today and wanted to share it with you:
Description:
This yarn is really special! It is one of a kind, all there is of it, and unrepeatable. This listing is for the skein on the far left. The fiber is a blend of angora and merino. I don’t remember the percentages. It’s seriously soft. It weighs 1.1 oz. I don’t remember the yardage. Here’s the story.
We had a little boy come over with his parents for a playdate with our son. They are two years old. It was a lovely day. We walked around our property (we just bought it in April) and there was a strange large plant that my husband commented on. I thought it was Concord Grapes. I suggested we all try one. My husband and our guests were hesitant and I assured them that, having grown up in this town, I knew what it was and it was safe. My husband and the little boy’s mom tasted the berries. So did I. They weren’t very good. I spit mine out, but the others didn’t. I loved the rich, vibrant color of the berries and I picked a large handful and brought them into the house to dye yarn. I cooked the berries in water, mashed the juice and added white vinegar. I stuck in two skeins of qiviut/angora and they came out incredibly lovely (they are listed separately)! I poured the liquid down the drain, threw away the seeds in the bottom of the pot and figured I ought to research the berries. Well, it turns out they were pokeberries, and they are poisonous to humans. I felt horrible. I called our new friends and explained. She was fine. My husband was fine. Nobody got hurt. I just got severely embarrassed. Thank goodness the kids didn’t have any!
So, as it turns out, pokeberry makes excellent natural dye! My husband went outside and destroyed (uprooted) the plant, because we have two young children and we don’t want them to get poisoned! I went outside with a large bowl and collected all the remaining berries. I cut up my legs in the bushes, but it was worth it! I prepared the dye bath as before, this time in a bigger pot and with an assortment of yarn skeins, including this skein. In the picture of all the skeins in the dye lot, it’s the one on the far left. The true color is somewhere in between the two pictures.
Yarn Stats:
Fiber: angora and merino
Thickness: DK 2 ply
Weight: 1.1 oz
Tomorrow: Trina has an amazing painting style, too.
Hand-Sewn Felt Doll by Mimi Kirchner
Purl Soho, the fantastic NYC yarn and fabric shop, writes:
“This week’s burst of inspiration came from the incredible artist Mimi Kirchner and the Hand Sewn Felt Doll pattern she created just for The Purl Bee! We’re in awe of the way Mimi takes simple materials like felted wool, stuffing and thread and with them creates these amazing dolls, each with charming personalities all their own. Her stitched creations are nothing short of magical and we’re so pleased to share them with you. We hope you’ll find inspiration in Mimi’s dolls and in this week’s featured yarns and fabrics, so that you can make a little craft magic of your own!
The beautiful handmade dolls pictured above were created from a pattern developed for The Purl Bee by the incredibly talented, brilliant and generous Mimi Kirchner. When we first discovered Mimi’s blog, Doll, we were in absolute awe of her work and knew we must invite her to create a doll pattern for our readers. We were so pleased when she accepted our invitation and even more thrilled when she brought the dolls with her to New York City and we finally got to meet her. We loved Mimi just as much as we love her dolls!”
Tomorrow: The pattern machine strikes again.
More Freeform Crochet
Amazing, amazing. Find out more here. Thanks again, Prudence Mapstone.
Tomorrow: What happens when Jillian Phillips creates a little playbook prototype for children?
tiffany sale
tiffany sale uk
MK Outlet
Michael Kors UK Outlet
Michael Kors Outlet
I googled “freeform crochet” and this is what I found.
Dear Prudence Mapstone,
I don’t know who you are, but you are a huge inspiration. I hope I can drive some traffic to your sites.
I’ve been making freeform afghans that are simply concentric circles. I like it because all I care about is working with lots of color and I love to change my yarn frequently, so when I googled “freeform crochet” this morning, and found this, I was so delighted. Wow! Does this open up lots of possiblities.
My latest theory:
there are 2 kinds of crocheters/knitters:
those who follow patterns
and
those who hate patterns and just love to paint with yarn, to be spontaneous and impulsive. We admire the pattern people. We are in awe of those of you who can read patterns so well; we just are not cut out for it.
Notice how Prudence uses very tight color palettes. There is a strong color point-of-view here. That’s a great way to set a parameter and not be overwhelmed by all the choices you have when you look through your yarns.
Order Prudence’s amazing books & pdf’s here.
Tomorrow: More Freeform Crochet
