Doll

I am so excited about Abby‘s book, The Artful Bird! I feel that it is a highlight on her incredible growth curve in softie making since I first met her in 2005. As I wrote in that post, she was the first blog friend that I met in person. Here is her post about that first visit. Wow- what a long time ago. She has had 2 more babies since then, made enormous leaps in designing in fabric, has had numerous shows, and now a book- Go Abby!

I was thrilled when she asked me to be part of her blog book tour- a first for me! The book is gorgeous and I love the interviews with the other bird artists. The interviews and photos of 4 other artists, all working with bird imagery, make it clear how much style shines through each artists’ (including Abby) creations. I loved seeing them all.

And look- I made the Wren! He (?) now sits perched on the living room window, supervising all the goings-on at the bird feeder. I made him out of wool- of course.

My intern, Tori, worked on one with me. She put her wings on with a button which I thought looked great! Also, she made her beak with needle-felting.

My take-away from this book? It’s not for a beginner, but if you have some experience with sewing and and love all the detail work, you will have loads of fun making these birds. I could imagine hand-sewing a bird like this, especially if you used felt. I also think that you could take a basic pattern like this one that I did and be very creative with it and make it your own. There are many useful techniques to learn from Abby. This book will be placed on my shelf of books by my friends, and next time I see Abby I am going to get her to sign it for me. Thanks for letting me be part of your book tour Abby- I loved doing it!

Ben and I took a mini tropical vacation on Sunday. We drove down to Connecticut and visited Logees and breathed in some warm, humid air. It was wonderful.

or maybe I should call it a gift guide for people who do assorted projects with fabrics, sort of like what I do…

These are things (mostly tools) that make me happy in my studio and I think would make great gifts.

When I was thinking about what to put on this list, it became obvious that I love my nice sharp cutting tools. My first suggestion is excellent scissors and Gingher’s are a good choice. I recently bought myself the 5″ knife-edge ones and they are my new favorites- sorry, drawer full of all the other little scissors that I have totally abandoned!  They are perfect for all the detail cutting work I do with the appliques. The big ones are good for cutting through layers of fabric and I use them to cut out the dolls. The little stork one, besides being adorable, is perfect for cutting threads in tight places, cutting out REALLY tiny things, and putting in my project bag if I am working on a carry-around project.

If the person you are shopping for already has good scissors, you might research a local place to get them sharpened. In my area (Boston), I can get mine done for approximately $7 at the local Fabric Store or Hardware Store.

My most recent tool purchase is this 18mm rotary cutter. It is perfect for cutting out shapes when I am using a template or little pattern piece- because I can hold the pattern flat and firmly in place on the cutting mat and cut around it. That means no marking on the fabric and no distortion from trying to hold the pattern in place and cut with scissors. The scissors and rotary cutter are available at most fabric stores, local and big name.

Last in the sharp cutting tool suggestions- fabric cutting, decorative edge shears. Unfortunately, my excellent Fiskar ones are no longer available, but I found this other brand. You might be able to find the Fiskars on Ebay sometimes.

On to other goodies.

Yes, a large piece of clear plastic is hard to photograph! This is a sewing machine extender table. I like this table even more then I was expecting. I thought I would use it when working on my bigger, bulkier projects but I have never taken it off since I got it! This is a special order item and fits whatever machine you have exactly. It can take a while to get if you have an older or more obscure machine. Looks like you can buy it online here for a lot less than I paid at my local sewing machine store.

If the recipient loves embroidery,  trying out new kinds of embroidery threads is tons of fun. Purl Soho has a huge selection. My new thread love of this year is Valdani pearl cotton- especially the variegated one. Next time I am in NYC, I will be restocking my supply.

Of course if they do embroidery, they might need some needles- I had fun shopping for needles at the Colonial Needle site. Seriously, how cute are these John James pebble packs-

embroidery and chenille needles

If you are looking for a last minute gift because you didn’t have any time to go shopping, a subscription to Selvedge Magazine will save the day!

Lastly, if you want to stick to handmade for the season, you could go over to my shop and get a pattern or 2, or maybe a tiny world pin cushion. Or my friend Liz’s shop and check out her  amazing selection of pin cushions. Or check out some of the other sewing goodness on Etsy. Try searching for pin cushions,  needle books, wool felt assortment, fabric collections, hand dyed threads….  Oh, the goodness! Happy Holiday shopping everyone!

Feel free to leave you suggestions for the perfect gift in the comment section- so I can add goodies onto my own wish list!

Yesterday, a friend and I drove down to Cape Cod to visit Salley Mavor and see her show at Highfield Hall. What a wonderful expedition!

First we stopped and chatted and relaxed in her studio for a bit.

I didn’t take a lot of studio photos (here are some old ones), but here is one- I loved seeing her thread in the baskets-

We went out to lunch and then to the show. It is amazing. The book photography is beautiful but a completely different experience then seeing the artwork in real life.

Here we are at the show-

If I could have taken any of the pieces home with me, it probably would have been this one of winter. I’m not sure why, but it really spoke to me. Here it is in the book-

And here is my blurry photo of it at the show. It is difficult to get a decent photo with low light and glass fronts.

I now have my book and Salley gave me a poster to hang in my studio-

And look at the wonderful inscription!

After the show, we were on our way. Since I was on the Cape, I wanted to make a few more stops. We made it to Yummygoods and said hello to Melissa! I got to visit her gorgeous little shop, see her studio when it wasn’t all gussied up for a photo shoot (real life workspace, I love it!), and see the new fabric line, all close up and personal.

And then to Tumbleweed, one of my favorite fabric store destinations. It was a great day!

I do love it.

The Tuilleries-

From the top of the Musee les Arts Decoratifs-

At a random bus stop-

The top of LaFayette department store, in the rain-

and a few other things. I love the car with the trailer-

Tour de France in a toy store window-

and really, this made me laugh-

I started out with a clear picture of what I wanted and “needed” (ha ha!)

I bought a variety of stripes.

And then I got distracted- fabric sensory overload! Who could resist???

paper dolls-

red ridinghood-

it was the embroidery on this one that drew me in-

don’t ask me what I will do with this- I just couldn’t leave without it!

The red and white polka dots probably fall into the sensible purchase category. The other 2, 60s/70s graphics, not so much.

and there is more, but these are the highlights. Some fabrics were in bags where there was something I couldn’t resist and other bits that I am not interested in. So, it might be a good thing if next year I had my OWN table at fabric-a-brac!

On an entirely different subject, I listened to this podcast on RadioLab about face blindness. I fond it fascinating, especially how these 2 intelligent and successful men have dealt with their disability in completely different ways. I think the discussion would be interesting for anyone who deals with learning disabilities and/or the people with them.

31 packages of rick rack plus 3 bundles that aren’t in packages. Mostly cotton, all vintage and antique. I love the old package graphics.

14 packages of cotton bias tape.

5 packages of cotton twill tape, 1/4″ and 1/2″ wide.

Some other misc. trims and embellieshments that I might use or else I have an idea of someone who might like it. And, what we think is a purse top, and a box of bobbins that look like they will fit my Bernina. I’m going to try them out later.

Some wonderful old cards of fasteners. You know, it causes me great distress to use fasteners that come from a card with a price above 25¢. And more fasteners in a wonderful old box. “Anti-Colic Nipples- the Sani-Tab. None Genuine without the Blue Band”

2 McCalls Needlecrafts magazines from the early ’70′s.

And then the fabric. I”ll put that in another post instead of drowning you with photos in this one. I forgot to take a photo of the room with all the tables, piled with goodies. I had a wonderful time!

Ben and I went down to NY on the Megabus.  Wifi, a table- I swear, the light was better then in my studio. I’d prepared some projects to work on during the way down (about 4 hours). Coming home was crowded and we didn’t get the table, but really, it is a very relaxing way to get to NY.

I went to an opening party at the new Purl location. Yes, it is amazing.

The display window-

The felt- love it!

btw- they have bolts of felt at the store if you are looking for larger amounts.

Color is all at Purl. It is intoxicating. Even the refreshments were beautiful!

Going back to the hotel- all the lights at night-

We stayed down by Wall Street and the hole in the ground that was the World Trade Center. This promenade was just a few blocks from the hotel. Lovely. The weather was perfect which I must say is a unique experience for me in NY- usually we are there in pouring rain, no matter what the season!

On Friday we went to the Museum of the City of New York and saw a show of Chas Addams artwork.

But really, let’s get back to the party. I met Heather Ross (yes, I gushed and told her I was a big fan),  Liesl and Tamar Mogendorff. Diana Eng was there but I didn’t have a chance embarrass myself with her- I would have told her that I stopped watching Project Runway after they bumped her… but probably, that would have been weird. There was a big crowd and I can’t even say how thrilled I was to be there.

Tomorrow I will post some crafty aspects of the trip, but that’s enough for now.

I’ve been getting a lot of questions about what inspires me- well, this does! Jan’s post about her trip to the Chicago Quilt Fest is full of wonderful inspiration and be sure to check out the flickr set that she put together. So much deliciousness!

walking around town- it’s Spring!

I wasn’t the only one taking photos.

I love these antique slate gravestones. There are some very interesting geometric and repeating patterns around the words, willows and urns.

On Wednesday, I went on an Arlington “craft crawl” with 3 friends. The first stop was Balich’s 5 &10. That store never ceases to amaze me- all the crazy old stuff they have there. I bought some snaps that were originally priced at 35 cents. That had been blacked out and repriced to .65, in pencil this time. All ready to raise again in another 10 years or so. They also have some of the funniest clothing ever and it is no wonder it never sold back in the 70′s or whenever it was new stock- like the chartreuse and white plaid bellbottoms size 10 girls. I was thrilled to find the peach Rit dye that has been discontinued- 4 boxes! Yes, I snagged them all. Here are some photos from Kerry, since I forgot to take any pics at all. We also went to Playtime and ArtBeat. Never made it to the Fabric Corner so we’ll save that for next time.

I am trying to be on a stats diet- I think once a week is a good idea. No blog or Etsy stats, no google alerts. I’ve been totally addicted and it is not good for me- since I can’t really do much to determine what direction they are going on any given day.

Peter is coming home for the summer next week. That means that I should take advantage of the open floor space that is available for just a few more days. I’m thinking I’ll cut out some clothing and possibly move the quilt to the next stage. Life seems to have switched gears around here and all of a sudden my calendar is filling up and there are travel plans in the offing. Busy!