Working on summer reading with the kids? Print out this summer reading log I made for my post over at Alpha Mom.

I was excited when STC Craft asked if I’d like to interview Kaffe Fassett for the blog tour promoting his new book Simple Shapes Spectacular Quilts, co-authored with Liza Prior Lucy. They sent me a review copy so I was able to look at all the fabulous quilts.

If you’re not familiar with Fassett’s work, he is a leading textile artist who creates knitting, needlepoint and quilt designs. Head to any quilting shop and you’ll see ladies swooning over his fabric and designs. I’ve always had a great deal of respect for his beautifully designed and technically magnificent quilts shown in his books over the years.

But I must admit, this new book has caught my attention more than the others. I found these quilts to be simpler in design with the focus on geometric form. The book focuses on the sources of inspiration with photographs from around the world of places that have inspired Kaffe on his travels. From a tire yard to a mosaic wall, you can see what sparks his creativity and hopefully you in turn can find inspiration in your own surroundings. You needn’t travel far; just simply pause and look at things in a new way.

Here is my Q & A with Kaffe:

I understand that you come from a creative family. Many of my blog readers are mothers like myself, trying to nurture creativity in their young children. How did your childhood influence your art?

Interesting question. I’m working on my autobiography at the moment and addressing that question. Mom was a frustrated artist who poured all her creative urges into my education. She saw that I got to the Kabuki Theatre when on in our nearest city or the Balinese dancers or Shakespeare film knowing I’d get so much from them that I couldn’t get from Country life.

It seems to me that your fabrics often feature jewel tones, reminiscent of a traditional Asian color palette. What appeals to you about these colors? How has your interest in color evolved over the years?

When I used to try and do what I thought people wanted I did a very muted pallet. As I got into my studio and did what was closer to my heart I realised I was into a rich depth of colour but I try to evolve and antique faded tones are appealing to me more and more.

Do you make a distinction between decorative arts and fine art?

Not really. I just love what moves me and catches my eye. A great painting or a beautifully designed hat band can equally light me up. I have a great fondness for beauty in every day objects that furnish our lives and make them easier to get through.

With the emphasis on geometric forms, these quilts seem more modern to me than your past work. Do you think about how to make this traditional art form relevant in today’s world?

I don’t know if the quilts are modern or not. I just try to make them as full of life and intriguing as possible and yes the traditional art form of quilts is very relevant to today (in my humble opinion). The form is timeless, we just need to imbue it with our personal harmony of colour.

I see more and more young people trying their hand at quilting, but I think that for many it has skipped a generation. People are picking up skills on their own rather than being taught by their mothers. What do you see as the future of this medium?

I’m afraid I don’t really fret about the future. All crafts are ways to express ourselves in life. I can’t imagine we will ever out grow our need to show how we feel about living. We might get distracted for a little by all the new technology but sooner or later will all feel the need to make something beautiful.

I’ve been paying a lot of attention to the publications coming from Chronicle Books lately since my book will be added to that list soon, so I was excited to see this book from Kathreen Ricketson of Whip Up. The book is Whip Up Mini Quilts: Patterns and How-to for More Than 20 Contemporary Small Quilts.

As the name implies, the book features mini-quilts – and from some of your favorite crafters including Malka Dubrawsky, Alison Brookbanks, Betz White, Alicia Paulson and more. I think this is a nice book for anyone who likes to sew, but small quilts are always a good idea for those just getting started with quilting. Now I almost never follow project instructions (yes, strange coming from a person who writes instructions), but rather use sewing books as inspiration — and there are lots of ideas here.

One of my favorite quilts is Power-line Sky by Meg Spaeth. I love the simplicity and the way it seems to capture the essence of a photograph. And I like the option of a one-piece design or patchwork, but they look great together.

And for those you looking to make something a little more difficult, there’s A Little Birdie Told Me by Kellie Wulfsohn, pictured below. Since there are many contributors to this book, there are a variety of styles and difficulty levels. Mini-quilts are nice because they can serve as affordable artwork for your bare walls and they can be made quickly. This book makes me want to get some quilting done this summer. Now, if only I could find my scissors.

Apparently this week is Children’s Book Week, so I thought I’d write about my all-time favorite children’s book illustrator, Dick Bruna. Anyone studying illustration or graphic design should be familiar with his amazing work. The Dutch artist manages to take a drawing to its essence of line and color, creating brilliant work with zen-like simplicity. My kids love Miffy and I myself have fond memories of his work from my childhood.

This well-loved copy of b is for bear belonged to me and the images are forever etched into my brain. Can you see that I wrote my name on the cover and tried to color the bear purple? This book is sadly out of print now, but you can see the emphasis on simplicity here. Read this interesting article for more about his process. I especially love the way he talks about whittling down his drawings to their bare essence by removing details like Miffy’s tears. His spartan lifestyle reflects his art. And who wouldn’t want a husband that makes you a glass of fresh-squeezed orange juice and a drawing every morning?

Pictured below are the “L” and “O” pages from the book.

I also had a copy of Snuffy, in which Bruna manages to tell a heart-wrenching story of a lost child found by a puppy with minimal words and details. My original copy was apparently loved to death, but I was able to find a new one. My seven-year-old read this book to my younger daughter’s class last week.

And then I bought the girls a vintage copy of Cinderella with sweet drawings of Cinderella in a simple yellow frock. And look at those stepsisters! I love the symmetry of that image. I think that all three of these books might be hard to find now, but there are plenty of Dick Bruna books that are available and the Miffy franchise remains popular. And take a look at the Miffy website for games and activities.

I recently got a few new sewing books that I thought I’d share.

First up, Martha Stewart’s Encyclopedia of Sewing and Fabric Crafts. This book is full of many techniques and projects, beautifully photographed and clearly illustrated. I think this one will become an essential reference book and I’d definitely recommend it. Among my favorite projects are the pinch-pleated pillows and dyed fabric ticking, shown below. But there are many, many more. The book has a beginning section about various techniques, then goes through projects A-Z. It includes a CD with printable templates.

And STC Craft sent me a review copy of Alabama Studio Style by Natalie Chanin. This book is full of inspirational sewing projects and southern recipes. As you would expect, there are beautiful photographs of Chanin’s detailed reverse appliqué work. And there are other projects for the home; I particularly like the woven farm chairs (stool shown below) and sewn furniture. Being from Alabama myself, I think the recipes are a good representation of traditional southern fare, but a bit too heavy. Overall I found this book to be more inspirational than instructional, but very pretty.

And then there’s Built by Wendy Dresses by Wendy Mullin. This is a practical, get-your-hands-dirty sort of sewing book with 25 dress variations all based on three basic dress designs. She does a really good job of giving you the tools to customize the dresses and make them your own. I was really excited about making dresses for myself this summer, but I’m actually thinking that I’ll use some of the pattern ideas to make them for my girls. It includes three full-size patterns. There’s a very thorough review of this book from Amy Karol here.

Sometimes having children is about revisiting the past. Do you have any of your childhood toys left? Lucky for me, my mother is a bit of a packrat and kept many of our things. Now we regularly drink from Smurf and Muppet glasses, my children play with my old doll house and use my handmade wooden doll beds. It’s nice to see things come full circle.

But these Ant and Bee books were a different story. I had them squirreled away on a shelf, intending never to share them with my children as they are too precious. The books were originally printed in the UK in the ’70s with a re-print in the late ’80s and early ’90s, but are  now out of print. They are selling for rather outlandish prices, as you can see here. But mine aren’t in very good condition and what’s the point in having something that you can’t share? So I pulled them down from the shelf and had a flood of memories as my daughter read them aloud. So sweet — and really great books. As my seven-year-old was reading Ant and Bee and the Rainbow, my five-year-old followed along reading the names of the colors. Angela Banner’s words and illustrations are still relevant today. They should print these again.

Then my friend Laura brought the girls a super awesome gift – her Barbie townhouse that she had as a girl, still in its original box and in perfect condition. My husband said this was the Death Star of Barbie toys. I took one look at that elevator and remembered that I also had this as a kid. Somewhere down the line it didn’t make it back to me, but it’s so nice to complete the circle. My younger daughter especially loves Barbie, though I have rather mixed emotions. But then I do that “Well, I played with them as a kid” thing that we as parents often do. You know, since we turned out so well. And this Barbie house has a working elevator. Now that’s just cool.

Check out the new downloadable book from Lark Books – Fa la la la Felt. The book includes 45 decorations, ornaments and stockings made of your favorite material — felt!  I’m excited to have three projects featured in the book.  So if you’re ready to deck the halls, head over here and buy the book instantly for $14.95.

And as a special gift, Lark Books is offering a free tutorial for this cute little mushroom ornament from Cathy Gaubert.  Click on the image below to download the .pdf file.

I’d like to make this in a brown twill for fall.  Wouldn’t that be nice?  This is the slouch bag from Akiko Mano’s book Linen Wool Cotton. A very nice book full of simple, natural designs.  If you don’t have this one, it should go on your holiday wish list!

Check out the 20 free patterns from STC Craft publications.  Sewing, knitting, felt, and embroidery patterns from some of your favorite craft books.

This is it!  My first published work.  It’s strange to think that just a few years ago I didn’t know how to sew and now it’s all I want to do.  Thanks to all of you who read this blog for your comments and encouragement.  You guys are really nice.

I have seven projects featured in the calendar, all of which were previously posted on this blog.  With over 100 sewing projects on pull-out pages, this really is a nifty little calendar.  I wasn’t sure what to expect; but the editor, Megan Smith, did a nice job of pulling together projects from some talented sewers and bloggers including elsie marley, Bella Dia, Lucykate Crafts, UK Lass in US, Made with Love by Hannah, Pink Chalk Studio, goody-goody, Skip to my Lou and so many others.  It’s nice to be included in such fine company.

So, I thought I’d give a few away.  Three calendars are up for grabs.  I’m willing to ship internationally, so everyone is eligible.  Just leave a comment here before Sunday night (August 23 at midnight eastern) and you’ll be included in the random number drawing.  I’ll announce the winners Monday morning.  And if you don’t win, you can always go here to pre-order the calendar.  Not sure when they will actually be in stores.  Thanks for playing!

COMMENTS ARE NOW CLOSED!  Thanks.

This week we read Hansel and Gretel as re-told by Cynthia Rylant and beautifully illustrated by Jen Corace.  The Grimm Brothers told some creepy stories, didn’t they?  They were the fear-mongers of the 19th century; now we just have cable news.

This faithful re-telling of the story starts off:

It has been said that guardian spirits watch over and protect small children, and that may be so.  But there are also stories of children who find the courage to protect themselves.  Such is the story of Hansel and Gretel.

I really don’t recommend this tale for the littlest of children, but my four-year-old and six-year-old were able to handle it now that they have some semblance of rational thinking — enough to realize that there are no children-eating witches (but they are not ready to read The Road yet).  The illustrations have a handmade aesthetic with Hansel and Gretel sleeping under a very nice quilt and romping through the woods in cool indie clothes.  Ooh, and I love the witch’s wallpaper.  That witch has great taste.

Anyway, we decided to make a cake house for the story project.  Originally I wanted to make a printable paper house that the kids could color, but my kids wouldn’t stand for it.  ”It says that the house is made of cake and sugar!”  Okay, fine.  So we got a boxed cake mix and some hippie-style organic candy, and there you go.  Cake house.  Apparently our house has a pet elephant too.  I’m sure you can make something much more elaborate, maybe even with a house-shaped pan.  Give it a try.

This week we read one of my new favorites, Wabi Sabi by Mark Reibstein with illustrations by Ed Young.  It’s the story of a Japanese cat named Wabi Sabi searching for the meaning of her name.  She comes to discover that wabi-sabi is the simple, imperfect beauty that can be found all around us.  Its meaning might be complex for a young child, but I continue to be inspired by the book each time we read it and feel that the story offers a meaningful idea.  And since wabi-sabi is an essential element of handmade goods, I think it’s an apt concept for this blog regardless of your age.  Here is an interesting explanation of its meaning.

The story is beautifully written with a lovely haiku on each page.  Ed Young’s illustrations carry on the wabi-sabi philosophy with collages that include natural and everyday objects, humbly and beautifully woven into the work with an amazing sense of composition.  His final images for the book had to be created quickly because his original designs were lost while he was also undergoing a personal tragedy (you can read more about it here).  So Young changed his process and used splattered paint, magazine clippings, pine needles,  origami papers, cardboard and other found materials.  Take a look at this video interview with both author and illustrator here.

For our kid’s project, we read the book again and talked about the images while the children guessed how they were made.  We collected textured materials from around the house and in the yard including burlap, wool felt, bits of a rug pad, fern leaves and patterned paper.  My four-year-old enjoyed the splatter painting with watercolors, then she and I worked out the composition, cut the shapes and glued everything in place.  Then my six-year-old, who didn’t want to participate, came in and said that it wouldn’t be right until we scanned it into the computer and printed it out as a flat image.  She was right.  You can see the scanned version above.  Then she even began working on a collage book of her own while the four-year-old made a collage doll from scraps of paper.  It’s always interesting to see where new ideas take them.