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Crafty Round-Up

7-15-13

Smocked Summer Scarf from The Purl Bee.

Oilcloth Pool Tote with Mesh Pockets from Sew, Mama, Sew.

Braided Liberty Headbands from Clones and Clowns.

Tie-Dyed Wood Blocks from Whimseybox.

Honeycomb Garland from Oh, Happy Day!

Fabric Trays from Craftiness is Not Optional.

Some projects from around the web.

ellen-luckett-baker-pinterest

Plus, you can follow me on Pinterest to see all of the things I’m liking these days. I try to pin regularly, but also have to resist the time drain that can happen when I head over there. I also usually tweet lots of crafty links too.

This summer I seem to do more pinning and tweeting than actually making things. I’m just waiting for inspiration. I’ve started re-reading The Artist’s Way and have begun writing morning pages. I’m pretty skeptical at the moment, but willing to try. These days it feels like what I am doing is just scratching the surface. 

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Summer Perspective

Alaska Mountains

We just returned from an amazing vacation in Alaska, so it’s been tough to get back into the swing of things around here. It’s raining every day in Atlanta and my sweet 17-year-old cat is by my side dying. Sorry to be depressing. I feel like the internet reminds us that people everywhere are suffering in different ways, while others are obsessing over the minutiae of everyday life. Reading a twitter feed can sometimes give us a skewed perspective of the world.

Anyway, I thought I’d share a few links. I loved this piece written by Carrie Bloomston of Such Designs about turning 40. I connected to the piece in many ways and I’m also headed for my 40th birthday in a few weeks.

Now on to some crafty links, because although I usually have a lot more on my mind, the focus of this blog is on crafts and sewing — small ways to make your life happier.

Folk-Modern-Citrus-Trees-Gray

My Folk Modern collection is popping up in stores. I finally got around to taking photos of the fabric, which you can find here. This collection is printed on Kokka’s classic linen and cotton blend, which is a bit heavier than quilting cotton, but still perfect for quilts, home decor, bags or clothing. If you have a fabric shop or blog, feel free to share these images.

clara-the-chicken

Brooklyn General is having a summer chicken contest. Love this idea — reminds me of the Clara the Chicken ornaments (pictured above) that I made with the kids a few years ago.

the staple dress pattern

And I’m following along with the Staple Dress Blog Hop. I really need to make one of these handy dresses, designed by April Rhodes. You can order the pattern in a print version or a .pdf download in April’s shop.

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A Few Stamped Projects

Stamped-Projects-ironing-board

I finally got around to a few projects that have been on my list of things to do with my Stamped fabric collection.

First, I covered an IKEA side table with my scalloped fabric and some batting to turn it into an ironing board. I simply removed the top piece of the table, wrapped it in aluminum foil, then added several layers of batting, then covered it in fabric and stapled the fabric to the underside. Then I put the tabletop back in place. You can also get heat-resistent batting made for hot pads and things, but I didn’t have enough on hand so I improvised with the aluminum foil. It works perfectly well and has more surface area than my previous ironing board, plus it frees up extra space and serves double duty with storage below. I’ve seen lots of other crafters do this, so maybe there’s a full tutorial somewhere?

Stamped-Projects-curtains

And some quickie curtains for our laundry room. This is the circle flowers fabric, probably my favorite from the collection.

Stamped-Projects-sewing-stool

Then I covered my grandmother’s sewing stool with the triangles fabric. I have to say, I really enjoy using my staple gun. Watch out.