meet-up, portland, etc.

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The next crafty meet-up is this Wednesday, March 10 in Davis Sq. in Somerville (MA). 10 am. Other meet-up reports.

Ben and I drove up to Portland to pick up Peter for Spring break, see his new dorm room, have a great lunch, walk around on a beautiful day. There are some wonderful signs around the town.

I’ve got a lot of things on my mind and am in a bit of a funk. We are having beautiful weather though and that means I can spend some time in the garden doing the clean up that I never had time for last fall. Spending time in the sun at the end of winter is therapeutic.

I am trying to schedule another class for the end of April. Tiny World or Fresh Fish? At my house or a roomier venue? Any thoughts?

a little bit of this,

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and a little bit of that.

This happens to me all the time. I finished up the fish project, went to NYC, had my class and then … well I am completely scattered. I’ve got a group of tiny worlds started-

and I’ve been wanting to dye a pile of toile fabric- I’d been in the middle of that project back at the beginning of February when I veered off to the fish. And the pile of fabric, the pots, the dye, have all been sitting on the kitchen counter for the month. So, I did that at the beginning of the week-

Okay, and then there are the girl dolls that have been haunting me since last summer. They were cut out in August, put in a bin and have been sitting there, waiting for me.  I really think I need to make them before anything else. Really, yes, haunting me. There are 4. I sewed one together last night.

And lastly, there are the partially finished projects that always seem to get left behind when I move on to the next thing- one fish, one tattooed man-

It will sort itself out as it always does. Things don’t progress in a nice straight line- just wanted to make sure you know it is not just you.

* Fish Sightings! * Here and Here! See- nobody can make just one.

a class yesterday

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well, I think I have all the proof I need. Working messy is contagious. People catch it from me-

first hour-

later-

We had a great time and here is where everyone was at the end of the day-

There were 2 last minute cancellations so there were 6 instead of 8, but we managed to fill the table. I love seeing the different ways that people approach the same project. Endless variations.

I want to do a fish class next but have to find a venue for it. It needs a bit more space since it involves sewing machines and a larger finished project. I will try to figure out a date for a next class- whatever it turns out to be- in the next week, and post about it. I am thinking late April.

New York trip report

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We had a great trip- short but I managed to get everything done that I really wanted to do and ignored what I sort of wanted to do. Long post ahead…

It was pouring rain on Tuesday- we seem to specialize in that weather when we visit NYC. Wednesday was foggy and drizzly and actually very photogenic. I’ll post more ny photos in a separate post.

I went to the Jane Austen show at the Morgan. I had read some reviews of it and was therefore not at all disappointed with how little there actually was. It was amazing to see the neat handwriting, read her words, see her scratched out and messy draft of a manuscripts. Little windows from 200 years ago. I am glad I got a chance to go.

When I finished at 37th St., I walked over to the Fashion District. I stopped into Tinsel Trading for a while, enjoying all the goodies and especially all the containers they put those goodies into- old file drawers, book shelves, thread racks- eye candy, everywhere I looked! Then onto M & J Trimming for some more notions overload. Everything is so delicious. You might find this hard to believe but I bought NOTHING! I went into both of the stores having decided that I would wander around and only consider something that jumped out at me, I was sure I didn’t already have, and I couldn’t get locally. So, nothing.

I continued downtown toward SoHo, on foot and by bus. By the time I got to Purl, I was in desperate need of a sit-down, a cup of coffee and a cookie. Luckily, they have those on Sullivan St.  Sometime a cookie can be a lifesaver or at least it seemed that way at the time!

I knew what I wanted at Purl- more of this Valdani embroidery thread. My new colors (including variegated- swoon!) will soon be put away with the rest of the embroidery threads.

But wait *Look what they just got in*

That is ALL silk embroidery thread!!! I couldn’t let myself go there- maybe next time. *Update- HERE is the link.*

Wednesday morning was spent back in the Fashion district- it is just so much fun to window shop. I spent some time at Mood Fabrics– I just had to see it live after watching all those Project Runways. There was a gaggle (giggle?) of little girls doing a class project while we were there- so entertaining to see a kindergarten class learning about fabric.

And then to Brooklyn and lunch at Etsy. So Amazing! I met up with Tara who did the Handmade Portrait last year. I got to meet everybody including- who knew- the Etsy dog! I think they told me her name is Dot… but I’m very bad at names so I might be wrong…

I got to see the quilt that my friend Kiki of All the Numbers was part of. Gorgeous!

There is so much energy, such a buzz at Etsy. The new office is beautiful. I left feeling very good about the direction things are going. Full steam ahead!

Now, onto the weekend and my next tiny world workshop. I’ve got to pack up some orders and go to the post office, clean the house and make my samples and here I am on the sofa… yes, time to get on that.

next bag

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I am calling the post “next bag” because it turns out that I already have several posts named “new bag”. I seem to be on a 2 year or so cycle.

This bag was totally worn out. “Make a new bag” has been on my list since the New Year. When it suddenly turned out that I am going to New York, that was the push I needed. Trip = new bag it seems. This is the second bag I’ve made from this fabric- the first one is here.

the inside-

and stuffed-

Part of the problem with making bags on a two year interval is that I can’t really learn from my mistakes. I forget everything I learned in all that time. This time I had a problem with my inside fabric stretching- I’d be sewing along and end up with puckers. Arg! The other problem is the difficulty of finding just the right hardware. I was looking for something in particular but couldn’t find it so ended up cutting my old bag apart and reusing the hardware. Not exactly what I wanted but I need the bag finished for Tuesday. I took it out on a test run and it works just fine!

the winner and the pattern…

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it is so exciting… drum roll please.

The winner is, #38, Katie Agnew! Congratulations!

When I hear back from her and she picks her prize, I will put the rest of the available fish into my Etsy shop. I will update this post when that happens.

*Update* She picked this one. The other 8(!) are now in my Etsy shop.

In the mean time, the pattern is ready, available, and in my shop- right here! And, I have started another flickr group for posting finished fish. It is so much fun to see what people create with my patterns- really, I get all choked up when I see the wonderful creations. Check out the other groups– there is some amazing artwork.

And, 2 fresh fish-

oh so fishy

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If you want to get into the giveaway drawing, today is the last day- just leave a comment on the giveaway post. The fish pattern is just about done and I will put it up for sale in my etsy shop when I announce the winner- tomorrow at some point.

Here is the fish I worked on for the pattern-

It is a very rare breed of snow fish. And I asked my friend from next-door to model for me-

What a cutie!

It looks like I might get to go to NYC next week- Tuesday and Wednesday probably. Just in case anyone wants to meet up or has some great suggestions. I hope to get to the Jane Austen show at the Morgan Library. Alicia had so much fun last week, I might be doing some of the same things she did!

Hey! It’s a Giveaway!

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Do you know what day it is today? It is my BLOG BIRTHDAY! !6! Oh the places I’ve been, the people I’ve met, the friends I have made, um, the stats I have gotten totally obsessed with. Yes, six years. I won’t be linking back to early posts though. Somewhere along the way, during some computer or server change-over, the early years posts are a big mess so I try to ignore them.

In celebration of 6 years of blogging and launching the fish pattern out into the world- I hope it will be finished in the next few days- I’m having a giveaway. Pick a fish! Any fish!

My school of fish is growing even larger as I work on the pattern. The winner of the giveaway will get to choose whichever one they want before I list the rest in my Etsy shop. All you need to do is leave a comment of any kind on this post. The giveaway will close on Wednesday night 2/17 midnight est. Random number generator, announce on Thursday, you know the drill. Anyone can enter the give-away, but if you win and are not in the US, I will need to ask for a contribution towards shipping which might be around $32.

Here is my desk now, as I work on the pattern-

Still taking Photoshop baby-steps.

Other news of the week- the second meet-up was just as fun as the first. There were dire predictions of snow, but none materialized. There were 2 new people- Hi Linda and Trisha! As always, all are welcome- 2nd Wed, Starbucks, Davis Sq. Somerville, 10am. Kerry’s report here.

in cotton

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a couple of things-

a nice interview with me here at Hand/Eye.

Meet-up this Wednesday at Starbucks in Davis Sq., Somerville, MA. Starts about 10 am.

And, I made 2 more fish. I wanted to try the pattern in cotton fabrics- this one has repro barkcloth for its body, a corduroy head and the fins and tails are made from cotton knits.

This one is made from quilt type fabrics- all woven cottons.

I’ve gotten started on organizing the pattern and I want to make it as accessible to as many people as possible. I am trying the design out in cotton because it it so much more available then wool. And, some people find the thickness and stretchiness of the recycled wool to be a challenge to work with. Is there anything else I should be exploring? If you were going to make a fish, what would you want to make it out of?

Cotton vs wool-

The pile is getting big!