The Mess

i was browsing through my recent photos to see if i had a great project that i hadn't talked about yet and all i found was "the mess". in a fit of spring cleaning i decided it was time to shovel out the holiday show leftovers and clean the studio. since it is a pretty small room, i just hauled everything out to the living room so i had room to work and sort and throw things away. but then some other projects conspired against me and i had to abandon the mess to finish some things with more pressing deadlines. so there it sat. for 4 days. poor andy was ready to move out. in another frenzy of cleaning i managed to get everything in to tupperware and trash thrown away and now there is a neat stack of stuff taking up a small corner of the living room. it's getting better.

on saturday, i had an enormously fun day quilting. in what could be our biggest class yet, 80 girl scouts and a small group of volunteer artists made 9 quilts to donate to a local childrens charity. it was a huge amount of planning, cutting, planning, setting up and more planning. but what a day. every group finished their quilt (my personal goal) and they were beautiful. i am still smiling thinking about how successful everything was.
becka on 01.30.05 @ 10:39 PM CST [link]

quilt art

there are more pictures of the great tsunami quilt blocks here at flickr. i didn't know anything about flikr before this project but it looks like a nifty photo hosting spot. it made it really easy for this group to put together a collection of photos. also a for me... the flikr blog entry for yesterday talks about our "group" and the picture of my square is one they chose to put in their entry. see it here.
becka on 01.27.05 @ 05:56 PM CST [link]

Illustration Friday: Gluttony

a cute suv having drinks at her favorite cafe.

becka on 01.27.05 @ 04:06 PM CST [link]

A Month of Softies: Vintage Catwalk

after several months of being too busy with holiday shows and classes, i finally had a chance to make a piece for Loobylu's . right now, the gallery is showing december's "Holiday Hangups" but the new gallery of "Vintage Catwalk" will be up soon, so check back. i am posting mine a little early so i have a link to send in.

technically, "softies" should be stuffed animals, but i am really not into cats. i have had many many requests to make cat puppets and i have tried but i am never satisfied. even stuffed cats are contrary. they never look cat-like. since i didn't want to go down that path again, i decided that a stylish bag was a must for a catwalk theme. so, i stitched the bag and appliqued my scene of a kitty, wearing a lovely vintage frock, taking her pet mouse for a walk. the bag is made from cotton fabrics and wool felt with an assortment of ribbons and buttons. you can see a close up here.

becka on 01.26.05 @ 09:43 AM CST [link]

spring is in the air

i bought my first iced tea of the year today and drove around with the moon roof open. i know we still have a while to go, but days like this make me happy.
becka on 01.25.05 @ 03:36 PM CST [link]

the mutual admiration society

while reading my collection of regular blogs this morning, i came across a link to myself on sharon b's "in a minute ago" blog. i have had a link to sharon's site here since i started blogging and her stitch dictionary is my favorite online textile resource. thanks, sharon!
becka on 01.24.05 @ 10:15 AM CST [link]

tsunamis & blizzards

'Rebuilding'

i created this quilt square for the tsunami quilt that is being assembled by a diverse group of textile artists. the organizers are hoping to sell the finished quilt and send the money to help the disaster relief fund. i read about this project on a couple of other blogs. some great textile artists from all over the world are making squares. you can see some beautiful contributions here, here and here.

this is my first paper pieced design. paper piecing is a way of making intricate or complicated designs easy to stitch. you can read up about paper piecing here. because i used fabrics that i had left over from other projects, my hammer design did not stand out as much as i would like it to, so i embroidered around it to make it contrast a little more. finally, i added my initials and "USA". it has been snowing all day here (they expect us to get 10+ in ) so i have been happy to have such an inspiring project to work on.
becka on 01.21.05 @ 05:39 PM CST [link]

Illustration Friday: The Seasons

what more is there to say?
if you would like to, you can see a larger image by clicking here.
becka on 01.20.05 @ 04:43 PM CST [link]

bamboo

things in our house that are made from bamboo: plant stakes, oboe reeds, skewers, chopsticks, and yarn...

i learned something new today. you can make yarn out of bamboo. i walked to our local craft store, Crafty Planet, on my way back from the shop where the car is getting a tune up. they have a great selection of yarns there and i stumbled across a skein of bamboo.



"Bamboo" Yarn
As a part of the series of unique, innovative fibers, South West Trading Company offers outstanding, high quality "Bamboo." Made by processing the bamboo grass stalk and combing the fiber strands from the actual plant itself, this yarn is 100% bamboo with nothing else added! Often compared to premier ramie, it's cool and silky soft to the touch and works up beautifully in sweaters, tops, dresses, skirts, really anything where a flowing drape is important.
becka on 01.19.05 @ 12:31 PM CST [link]

monsters

i got inspired by a piece of Monsters Inc. fabric and had to make a "monster bag". hee hee.
this is the couch monster that lives at my house.
becka on 01.17.05 @ 05:45 PM CST [link]

Illustration Friday: Balance

"balance" made me think of the balance beam we got to try out in gym class when i was in elementary school. i loved it so much that my dad built me a little low balance beam of my own to play on. my dad is cool.
becka on 01.13.05 @ 08:36 PM CST [link]

the "rachel" bag

i made this little bag this week from scraps i had left over from a duffle bag that was a christmas present for my sister. i really like the pink piping on the sides and the sparkly pink button i had in my stash. i am teaching a beginning sewing class, making purses and tote bags, in march and i wanted a couple of really cute examples.
becka on 01.13.05 @ 08:33 PM CST [link]

a page

here's a page that i finished last night. i have discovered that we have really mediocre pictures. no slights meant to the wonderful family members who took pictures. we didn't have a photographer and i wouldn't have _any_ pictures if it wasn't for you guys. but a lot of the pics were taken on disposable cameras (at my suggestion). i had not realized how much i LOVE digital cameras. i take so many more pictures that there are always a few good ones. i remember days of film and getting a whole roll of lousy prints back.
becka on 01.12.05 @ 04:31 PM CST [link]

robot love

i am completely in love with this little stuffed guy from weewonderfuls.
becka on 01.12.05 @ 10:35 AM CST [link]

scrapbooking

another blog got me thinking about scrapbooking this week. this crafty blogger was making a scrapbook of the quilts she has made as gifts so that she has a record of her creations. a great idea. however, that would require that i remember to take pictures of the art i give away, which is something that absolutely never happens. so much for that.

so, i daydreamed a little more about scrapbooking craftiness and it occurred to me that i had the perfect project. the long procrastinated wedding album. in a little over 4 months, we will be celebrating our 10th anniversary and i have no wedding pictures in any sort of state to be sappy and sentimental over. i have wedding pictures in cheap frames, random envelopes, little plastic sleeves, goofy little vinyl albums and scattered hither and yon, but no book.

i started a couple of pages of wedding pictures about 8 years ago and gave up in disgust. i was going to scan them and post them but i had to rescue the pictures from them and i forgot to scan first.
what i learned from that experience:
- cutting pictures into heart shapes is not a good idea
- pastel assortment paper from office max is not pretty no matter what you do
- tiny rubber stamps of flowers do not make it better
- 3 ring binders and page protectors are not just as cute as a real book

so, today, i started over. i got all kinds of paper in colors that all go together. i got a new "real" scrapbook. more to come as i try to walk the fine line between "artsy album" and "cutesy wedding book"....
becka on 01.11.05 @ 11:19 PM CST [link]

Added to Library Shelf....

hooray for readers of young adult lit! i have added another 6+ books to my list and i think it will continue to grow. i have also made a link on the side of the page so it will be there all the time.

Library Shelf
becka on 01.08.05 @ 04:39 PM CST [link]

Sneaky Reading

i have run across several bloggers in the last couple of days talking about lemony snicket's "a series on unfortunate events" books. there is a movie out right now based on these books, which is what is motivating many people to pick up a copy and read it. the funny thing is that nobody wants to get "caught" reading a "kids book". when do you reach the age that reading a "kids book" is beneath you?

i probably read about 3-4 books a week. i never keep up with the "what i am currently reading" link over on the side of the page. i just read too fast. at least half of what a read is considered "young adult" literature. i love young adult lit. it is light, creative, positive, it makes you laugh or think "what if".. these are all things that i think i can always use a dose of.

if you haven't read Harry Potter or A Series of Unfortunate Events, do so.

if you have, check out my new Library Shelf for some titles that you might not have seen. these are all favorites of mine.
becka on 01.05.05 @ 05:26 PM CST [link]

Christmas gifts

christmas cards and note cards in production. we silk screened our cards, envelopes and made several sets of note cards for moms & grandmas.

now that everyone has recieved their gifts i can reveal a few secret projects. however, in typical fashion, i neglected to actually take photographs of several things before i gave them.

here are the yarns i used to knit my dad a striped scarf. "wool-ease" wool and acrylic blend in forest green heather, chestnut heather and pines.

a wizard amulet bag for my mom-in-law. we made her a giant card with a wizard on it a while back and she liked it a lot. so i thought she needed a "portable wizard" that she could wear around with her.

the project i brought with me to work on in the down time was this scarf. it has been dubbed the "yak fur scarf" by my dad. it is mohair and eyelash yarn.
i also embroidered a table runner for my mom with this pattern. it is a charles rennie mackintosh design.
becka on 01.03.05 @ 12:37 PM CST [link]