« July 2007 | Main | September 2007 »
In the spirit of Back to School I have compiled some helpful tutorials I have come across.
Headbands
Barrettes
Wall Pocket
Embroidered Linen Tote
Quick Tank Top
Girls Dress
Make Up Bag
Lunch Bag
Binder Cover
Memo Board
Ladybug Backpack
Pencil Case
Kids Pants
Good Luck to all Students!
Fall is on the horizon. Leaves are changing color and slowly falling to the ground. Here at UCSC there are already leaves covering every path with more falling each day. 
I was driving down High Street yesterday and I saw 1/4 of a tree that had turned a brilliant shade of red. 
I have never been in this town in the fall but someone told me that Fall is Santa Cruz's best season. I hope that means lots and lots of colors and then the rains come! 
May favorite part of the changing seasons is the scent. Each season has a smell that associates itself with different feelings. With fall there is a crispness to the air. One day you wake up and something has changed outside; you cant see it but there is a difference. The air is cooler and smells of the north. For me it evokes memories of walking to the first day of school, leaves crunching underfoot, soaking rainstorms, and especially steaming hot cocoa (my favorite).
I finished another project! Yea!
This bag is more like a tote. Way too big to be a purse for me because I like my purses small. I love how it came out.
This pattern was easy to follow and I think if you left out the embroidery it would sew up quickly. Be careful though, I almost broke a needle going through the 8 layers of fabric and facing when I was doing the final top stitching even though the needle was a new heavy one! The flannel interfacing worked great though and I will definitely use that technique again.
I am adding this to the Bend the Rules Sewing Flickr group. If you haven't been there yet make sure you stop in soon. There is so much great inspiration there!
We planted the most of the fall garden this past week and everything seems to be doing well. Everything in the community garden has to be done organically (yea!). I have more room to plant more veggies but the selection at the garden center I visited was very small (surprisingly). I saw another nursery yesterday not far from us so I am probably going to stop by there today.
There are onions
We planted more lettuce then this, but I didn't get photos of the whole thing (why not?)
Snow peas...again there are six planted
My personal favorite. Not because I love peppers (I do) but the color is so pretty! Do you see the big green one right behind the red one? 
A baby pepper.
I enjoy gardening because it gets me in contact with the earth. Working the soil is stress reducing! Sometimes when I need a break for my family I will head to the garden to play in the dirt. I feel much better afterward and I can actually convince my husband that I HAVE to take a shower immediately upon returning, since I am covered in dirt. Its a double pleasure!
I love how this is coming out! I have never embroidered with beads before and I really like the effect. The purse I am making myself is the Pleated purse from Bend the Rules Sewing. The outside and lining is linen and cotton for the pleats and pocket. This is my first time sewing with linen and I love it! It is smooth but light and pliable.
These flowers are embroidered on the front of the bag.
The front pleat with a close up
Inside Pocket
Of course I will have more pics soon when its finished. Which will be soon, since...
I am not allowing myself to start another project until the current one is finished!
It will be hard for me, but I want to finish things! I hate having a bunch of UFOs cluttering my living room.
Hi everyone! I have had this photo in mind since the pattern series started.
I have been working on my genealogy for years. My grandfather and his father before him worked on it before they died. When my grandfather died I heard my father talking about our family tree with an uncle. I loved this sort of stuff and I was only 14. I begged my uncle to let me see Grandpa's work and for years he refused to give it to me (he was afraid I would lose it or wreak it). Finally when I was about 17 my uncle relented. I have been working on it ever since. My uncle still asks me if its still safe and that I still know where it is at that very moment. It is treasured.
This is my paternal family tree. My mothers side is what I am working on now...much more difficult. This side comes mostly from England and goes to France, Italy and beyond.
I love finding out where I came from and learning about those who share my blood. There are Romeo and Juliet type dramas set in the 16th century English countryside, tyrant kings, Popes, mistresses, and illegitimate children! Their accomplishments (or infamy) give me the determination to ensure that when my death date is written in by my descendants they can write down all the great things I did next to it and I can be an inspiration to them.
My workspace is a corner of my living room which is dedicated to my crafting habit. My family is very supportive of what I love to do so they give up a bunch of space for all of my crafting supplies. Someday I hope to get shelving installed to get some of the stuff off the floor. Most of the furniture I have in my studio I have collected over the years for free or they were handed down to me from family members. These pieces are the ones I treasure, since their history is also my own.
One of these cabinets I inherited from my grandfather, who was a terrific artist and photographer. In my family it is rumored that he designed the little characters on Otter Pops Popsicles, but I have no idea if this is true. When I got this cabinet it was full of old art supplies from the 50s and 60s; some I still have. Its nice to go back to his old drawings and look through them occasionally. He died before we had any chance to share our common interests, but I still have some of his cameras and sometimes I call for him to guide me when I paint. I have plans to sand and paint these drawers someday to give them new life.
I love to thrift and go to garage sales. I almost cannot drive by without stopping at a yard sale and sometimes I am filled with an urgent need to go sifting through bins of sheets, racks of clothes, and countless shelves of teacups, mugs and plates at various thrift stores. In the end, a lot of my supplies come from these places and almost everything in my house is second hand or handmade. Most of the fabrics below are vintage hand-me-downs or from thrift stores, however there are a couple in this pile that are not vintage.
Lately I have been trying to replace much of the plastic in my house with ceramic, glass, or wood. It is becoming more and more obvious that plastics are not healthy for people or the environment and I want to keep myself, my family and the earth as healthy as I can. Call me an earth lover if you want, but I am just one of an increasing community.
I love the large window that looks out across the deck in front of my workspace. The blinds (soon to be replaced by curtains, handmade of course) are always raised when I am working and it is a fabulous amount of light! I am not used to such huge windows! From these windows I have seen deer, raccoons, rabbits, many birds including a bunch of Blue Jays and a pair of Red Tailed Hawks. Its wonderful to have so much inspiration
right out my window. I cant wait for the rainy season!
I was inspired to write this post after reading about all the workspaces described in The Crafters Companion, which I give a full 5 stars! I love this book!
I finished an In Stitches sew along project!
Note to Self:
See what happens when you slow down and enjoy something again! You actually finish things and enjoy them!
These puppies are great :)
Whats next? I need a new purse...
I think I am in love...
One of the reasons I learned to knit was because it was supposed to be mindless and relaxing. For me it was all knots, counting and frustration... probably why most of the things I have knitted are still not finished. Embroidery is different...mindless, completely relaxing and you can have something small finished in under an hour.
I got the book Sublime Stitching, which I recommend to those starting out. She has a stitch lesson which I started, but when I got the hang of the stitches I started out on my own with some of the transfers she has in the book.
Great to learn on!
My first project ever was this adorable kitty.
Can you tell that I am loving the backstitch?
I love both of these!
I was wondering where I could get more patterns that were less traditional embroidery patterns and someone turned me onto coloring books! They are perfect and I found several great sites on line where you can print them up for free! I bet its easy to take the printed sheet to the copy shop and have them shrink it to any size.
Has anyone started thinking about Christmas gifts yet? I think mine are definitely going to involve a bit of embroidery and for what I have planned I need to get started soon. Besides I have run out of linen and I need an excuse to go back to Hart's to get more.
