Just Plain Fun!!

I just came across this Dutch department store product page while looking for something else! It's worth a look - enjoy!

HEMA is a Dutch department store. The first store opened on
November 4, 1926, in Amsterdam. Now there are 150 stores
all over the Netherlands. HEMA also has stores in Belgium,
Luxemburg, and Germany . In June of this year, HEMA was sold to

British investment company Lion Capital.

Take a look at HEMA's product page <http://producten.hema.nl/>. You
can't order anything and it's in Dutch but just wait a couple of

seconds and watch what happens.
 

Note Book Cover

Here is my latest note book cover. It's 4 1/2" x 6". A friend is having a birthday and she's into shoes big time!

The shoe is made from some left over 'fantastic' fabric that's bonded to the background and then satin stitched around.

Free patterns to make your own notebook cover:

Fabric Journal Cover Tutorial from Sewing Crafts
Making a quilted book or journal cover
Patchwork Notebook Cover Tutorial
Patchwork Notebooks from Sew, Mama, Sew!
Reverse Applique Journal Cover by Liz Kettle

Crafts and stuff

I just received the Eastern Edge Quilters (EEQ) February newsletter. One of the sites it recommends is Cut Out & Keep, which shares step-by-step craft tutorials. I clicked Sewing and found lots of stuff. Last month, one of our guild members used the Tsumami Kanzashi Flower in her project.

Now I need more time to check out the 'stuff' on this web site!

Here's some other craft sites to see:
All Crafts
Craft Site Directory
Art Craft Marketing
Free Craft Stuff
Free Pattern Site

 

Freebies on the Web!

As I was searching the web for 'stuff', I came across Patchwork Times by Judy Laquidara. I thought that her Design Wall Monday might be of interest. There are lots links there from quilters who signed up to show what was on their own design walls. Judy also has free quilt patterns.

Sew, Mama, Sew! has free patterns as well. The Blossom Bag shown on the home page is a down loadable PDF pattern. It's worth a look! Check out the blog too. 

Anja Rieger Design has interesting machine and hand embroidery designs.The project/gallery page is inspiring and may give you some ideas. Her blog is here.

Pins and Needles has some free stitching tutorials and patterns. This is well worth a look.

Have fun!

Sketchbook 01

I did sign up for the sketchbook challenge. I have to admit that drawing isn't my strong point, although when I take my time, I can copy fairly well. Here's the first thing I did in this year's sketchbook. Yes, I do keep journals, sketchbooks or notebooks of the work I do. However, they usually hold a lot more than just sketches such as samples of dyed fabric, stitching / experiments, lists, recipes for mixing paints, dyes, etc. A few years back I was glad I kept a journal as I had forgotten how I did something. I looked through my journals and found it. Since then, I usually do a write-up for anything new I do.

Highly Prized is the January Theme for the sketchbook challenge. My page above lists many of the things in my studio which I highly prize!
Check out the group page on Flickr.

Kameleon - Norwegian Web Site

I just came across a Norwegian web site called Kameleon. Eldrid Røyset Førde, the owner, is 'a quilter, teacher, and pattern designer who lives on a small island called Bremanger, on the west coast of Norway.' 
She makes wonderful kameleon quilts which have three-dimensional parts that can be flipped one way or the other thus changing the look of the quilt. Her photography is fantastic! She prints some of her photos on fabric to use in her quilted art.
This technique of transferring photos to fabric, is one that I have been using for quite awhile in my framed landscape pieces (go to gallery). 


You can view her web site here. It is worth a visit - very inspiring! Check out the links page too.

Birds

This post is dedicated to our feathered friends. Here's a red bird I did a few years ago for a show. It's done in silk.
Hummingbird Quilt Pattern  - paper piecing
Bird House Patterns
Blue Jay
Rooster
Darting Birds Quilt Pattern
Birds of a Feather Quilt Pattern
Free Bird Quilt Patterns
Bird Feather Quilting Motif 
Novelty Quilt Patterns with birds

Eye Candy

It's time to have a look at some art quilts for inspiration. I've listed a few quilt artists who do interesting work. Enjoy!

Denise Tallon Havlan
Susan Webb Lee
Rose Rushbrooke
Darcy Falk
Frieda Anderson
Jeannette DeNicolis Meyer
Judith Fredmund McIrvin
Marcia Stein
Michele Hardy

Snow

Yesterday, the grass across the road was green! Yes, green for January 12 - a first. Today St. John's got the tail end of the snow storm that came up the eastern seaboard. Here's the large tree on the front lawn. The next two photos of my back yard were taken just after dark. The globe lights shine through the snow. It's interesting to see the difference with and without the flash.

You will find lots of free snowmen quilt patterns here and here.
Build a snowman, make a Quilt! from Husqvarna
Snowman quilt and more.
Snuggle Snowmen Quilt Tutorial
Snowman Quilt pattern

Textile Tutorials

I've made a list of textile related tutorials for you to check out.

1. Texture Magic Videos from Superior Threads
2. Making Paper Cloth
3. How to make a Fabric Leaf
4. Making Fabric Wings
5. Transferring Patterns to Fusible Fabric
6. Fabric Flower Embellishment
7. Tyvek Beads
8. Thread Painting
9. Fat Quarters - Brand new to Quilting Series (for beginners)
10. Hollow Cube Quilt Block 

Please note: I haven't watched all these tutorials yet.

Totally Baby!

This post is totally dedicated to babies! It's so easy to just go buy things for the little ones but if you want to personalize a gift, you have to make it! Some new moms also want to use hand crafted items. I have found some interesting things for you to make. Check these out! Most of them are freebies.

Baby On The Go Diaper Bag  and Baby Burp Cloths & Bib Set from Moda Bakeshop
Burp Cloths from Homemade Mamas
Patterns for Bibs! Lots more here at Sewing Support
A variety of baby crafts
Vanilla Joy has a Tablecloth Bib Tutorial
Baby Bibs from Martha Stewart
Knitted baby sweater
Bitty Booties to sew
Miniature Applique Quilt 
Vintage Toy Baby Elephant from Baby Bloggie
Kimono Baby Bootie Shoes
How to Sew a Bandana Bib

Sketchbook Challenge

I did sign up to participate in the Sketchbook Challenge.
A while ago (year or two - not sure) I did an on-line course with Sharon B. from Pin Tangle called Studio Journal: A Designers Workhorse. It was the first on-line course I've done. It was quite a good one and I would recommend it if anyone was interested in that sort of course.
I have been looking through my journal as I had forgotten about some of the things covered in the six week course. Some of the pages from my journal are here on flickr.
January's theme is Highly Prized.