Recycled Paper Basket from Brett Bara for Design Sponge.
Child’s Artwork Duvet Cover from A Thousand Words (via CRAFT).
Magnetic Me kid’s craft project from Creative Juice.
Criss-Cross Floor Pillow from Four Wise Monkeys for Sew, Mama, Sew!
Granny Square Quilt Block from Blue Elephant Stitches.
Starlings Quilt Block from Quilt Dad for Generation Q.
Robot Valentines from Lisa Storms.
Star Crossed Block from Don’t Call Me Betsy.
Aladdin Pants from Blooms and Bugs.
Since Valentine’s Day seems to be our next crafty holiday, I thought I’d share a photo of this heart bracelet I designed for the book Stash Happy Felt. (Shown here before I added the elastic strap). This was another project using the wonderful industrial wool felt from FilzFelt. For complete instructions and templates, you can check out the book, which has 30 quick and easy felt projects. In the book, there are two different templates — a larger size for adults and a smaller one for kids, as shown here.
Here are a few Valentine’s card ideas from the past. My kids have ideas for this year, so hopefully I will get to share those with you soon. Meanwhile, we are collecting toilet paper tubes! My husband asked why they were all lined up in the kitchen and I said we were saving them for Valentines. His comment was “Of course. Nothing says ‘I love you’ like toilet paper tubes”. So true.
Tweet, Tweet printable valentines.
Cupid’s Arrow Pencils with printable from my post for Alpha Mom.
Crayon Hearts with printable card.
Several ideas for simple handmade valentines in a post for Alpha Mom.
Recycled card ideas.
Cotton fat quarters, set of 3, $13.20 from UniqueShiny.
Love Plate, Ninainvorm, $57.
And We Rolled (detail), digital print, $30 from Amy Rice Art.
Needle Felted Pincushion, $15 from Felt Jar.
Turquoise Circle Lace Coin Purse, $24.50 from Humoresque.
Vintage Ring, $14 from Ripe.
Loveheart Screenprinted Fabric, $8 from Summersville.
Vintage Pinwheel Quilt Top, $45 from Estatehound.
Katy Kitty PDF pattern, $11.95 from mmmcrafts.
Quilt top by Rosie Lee Tompkins of Richmond, California. Quilted by Willia Ette Graham of Oakland in 1986. From Eli Leon’s collection, from the exhibition Who’d A Thought It: Improvisation in African-American Quiltmaking at the San Francisco Craft and Folk Art Museum.
Just thought I’d share a few links from around the internet. I’ve been thinking a lot about quilting, obviously. Why am I buying fabric, cutting it up and sewing it back together? That’s odd. So I’m thinking about necessity, hobby and art. People quilt for those reasons and many more, I’m sure.
I’ve also been thinking about quilting traditions and the differences in European style versus the folk art, improvisational style of rural American quilts made in places like Gee’s Bend. What I keep coming back to is the fact that when I see a beautiful, detailed and perfect quilt, I am amazed by the technical skill of the maker. But when I see a graphic, improvisational quilt, I often have a strong visceral response. I think any argument about which quilts and styles are better than others is nonsense. Everyone should make what they want for their own reasons.
I thought this article comparing improvisational quilts to jazz was really interesting.
And in unrelated news…
If you are thinking about trying to publish a craft book, Kathreen’s series over on Whip Up is full of helpful tips and guidance.
I’ve enjoyed reading the Reflections and Predictions series over at Sew, Mama, Sew! If you missed it, it’s worthwhile to go back and check it out.
A college friend and photographer, Kathleen Robbins, has an achingly beautiful photography project featured on NPR, called In Cotton.
And I thought I’d mention the internet piracy bills again. It’s worth educating yourself about this topic and speaking out if you feel so inclined. Although SOPA appears to be dead, this will continue to be an issue and we should pay attention.
And if you live in Atlanta:
the beehive is having its giant warehouse sale this weekend, so go check that out. I love this shop and so glad to see local, handmade things close to home.
Speaking of, Youngblood Gallery is having a nice show of local artists in February, and of course they always feature great artists in their shop.
The new fabric collection, Washi, from Rashida Coleman-Hale, is popping up in fabric stores. You can head over to Intown Quilters to check it out.
