What if I try ...

Wood Floors finally done

2010-06-12T08:26:00.000-07:00

It's taken us a while, but my husband and I have finally finished our wood floors. We've done a guest room, family room, and now the living room. He did the gluing and tapping into place, I laid out the pieces and sawed the end pieces to fit. Not bad for a retired couple!
We put the living room back together just in time for company! You can't believe the mess we had; well, maybe you can! Our two cats thought we had piled up all the furniture just for them to play on!
The rug under the coffee table is really thick and our one cat won't step on it. She uses the chairs and sofa to get around the room. Really funny to watch.

By the way, don't forget to come see us if you're in the Reno area June 24-26th. It's the Quilting, Stitches & Crafts Expo in Reno at the Grand Sierra Resort! We are booth 924-925!

Hope to see you soon!

Patti

Time for more free images

2010-06-12T08:19:00.001-07:00

Okay everyone, I haven't forgotten you!

One image is more patriotic in general, and the other one is celebrating the 4th of July.

These make great postcards to send to our soldiers, active or retired!

Have fun,

Patti

Frugal Gardening - Seed Mats

2010-05-30T11:18:00.000-07:00

May was a strange month this year. The weather was outright schizophrenic. Our annual garden is usually well on its way by this time, but the cool spring had moments of winter bluster. Twice in April and twice in May we had hail. Hail. Certainly not a four letter word you expect to attach to the mildest season in sunny California! I kept hesitating to dig in transplants until early May thanks to the fickleness of overnight temperature which doggedly hung in the low 40’s with the occasional crunch into the 30’s, nearly 20 degrees colder than average. However, while I wrangled with indecision, I did stumble across an interesting what if I try … I lost track of the original source, but there are several web sources that cover this idea … for making your own seed mats.

This simple brainstorm functions like those garden flower strips in a roll for the weekend gardener sold by big box stores or mail order house. Equally distanced seeds would reduce the thinning typical after sprinkling/casting to spread dastardly teeny tiny seeds. Gardening addicts know the ones I speak of … lettuce and carrots are the most maddening, invariably falling and germinating in frustrating clusters where handfuls of sprouts are wasted during back-breaking thinning for a single plant to achieve full growth. Using thin paper with water soluble glue to space those luscious future greens looked like a golden opportunity! I was excited. While watching evening TV with the hubby and babbling enthusiastically about reducing the dreaded thinning process, I measured off a 2-inch grid sheet for a pattern, marked thin paper towels, dotted with white glue and placed teeny tiny seeds with a toothpick. My ever-supportive mate smiled, nodded and made approving noises.

The process is deceptively simple and requires surprisingly less time than you would think. All you need is a sheet of regular paper to start; once the grid pattern is marked you can file it for future use. As shown in the photo above, my approach to marking a staggered planting grid was quick ‘n dirty: after penciling diagonals from corner to corner of the paper, I measured 2” lines to either side and completed a grid of diamonds, inking the intersections darkly to show through thin napkins or paper towels. Plants won’t care if the grid isn't square.

Here’s the simplicity of a Seed Mat:

Use a paper napkin or paper towel that will dissolve reasonably quick with water. Test by soaking a corner and pulling … the paper should shred promptly. You want the cheap stuff here … it’s a good use for those small fast food napkins that are stuffed in wads into your takeout bag (yes, I occasionally crave an In-and-Out Burger). Lay the paper choice over your pattern sheet and, using a permanent pen, mark off the intersections of the grid.
Any thin water soluble white glue will work. Squeeze a small drop on each marked dot on the paper.
Empty a packet of teeny tiny seeds into a small dish. Using the tip of a toothpick, pick up 2 to 3 seeds and tap into a glue dot. Start the first pass by licking the fresh toothpick. After the first glue dot, there will be enough glue sticky on the toothpick to inoculate the rest of the dots with at least 2 seeds to ensure germination.
Allow the glued seeds to dry. I worked in lots of 8 to 10 mats as clear horizontal surfaces are a premium in my house.

To plant the seed mats, rake the ground patch level and dampen the soil the night before. Lay the seed mats in an arrangement that will stagger and space the seeds across breaks between mats. In the photo I used handfuls of soil to weight the thin paper from blowing about with the breeze ... clicking on photo will allow a closer look.

Once arranged to your liking, completely cover the seed mats with thin fine soil … I used potting soil. We haunt the broken bags at the big box store (Home Depot or Lowe's) for half-off bargains. Wet thoroughly with a fine spray of water or gentle waterfall from a watering can. Keep constantly damp until germination.

Despite the fact that most lettuces require an average of 6” spacing for full growth, starting at 2” spacing still appealed to me. I like eating baby lettuces … ooo, microgreens! … and it will be easy to pluck 2 out of 3 plants in a pretty line versus sorting through a messy clump while the bent back shrieks a reminder of creaking age. Carrots easily cope at a 2” spacing and will require only one morning of checking to see if there are twin sprouts fighting for a single position in the grid. I’m excited again by this simplified process!

By the way, the Seed Mats in the photos are batch #2. What happened to batch #1? Well, they didn’t make it to the garden. About a week of strange weather after creating them, I set them out on the table in preparation for planting the next morning in the prediction of warmth and sunshine. While drinking my coffee in an effort to fully awaken to the new day, I quizzed my morning lark mate of 26 years if he had perhaps moved my paper towel seed mats now missing from the table. His eyes went large and then squeezed into the trapped husband squint of oh-no-I-screwed-up-again and the sputtered feeble defense: “You NEVER told me about making Seed Mats!”. Ah, remember the cozy evening together before the TV that I described in paragraph two of this posting? You guessed it, selective hearing doomed batch #1 to an ignoble end in washing the truck windows. The bright light of my life made himself scarce with important errands while I started batch #2. Yeah, I know, I’m not a friendly person before that first full cup of coffee. However, batch #2 went quickly thanks to the practice run ... all in the perspective ... and he brought home a new seed package of Mixed Greens.

I will update on the germination success of the planted Seed Mats. I can’t wait! I’m checking morning and night. I have high hopes this is an ideal method for maximum harvest from those dastardly teeny tiny seeds with the huge plus of reduced thinning. Do make Seed Mats for those little corners of your garden … just make sure your head-nodding spouse is actually listening when you explain the reason for those oddly patterned paper towels.

2010-04-23T12:39:00.000-07:00

A Flexagon Initiation

A flex-uh whut?! Heheh! welcome to a new toy that knows no age! While I was cleaning up taxes earlier this month, I was distracted by following a couple of links on U-tube to a folded paper creation called a flexagon. I have a weakness for folded paper thingies and found myself sucked glassy-eyed toward this new attraction like a moth to the flame. However, priorities prevailed at that moment and I bookmarked sites for later exploration. Today I had slotted a couple of hours for playtime and all too easily gave up much more after downloading a basic software for creating a flexagon with my own images. And I’m going to share this new little addiction without any apology!

First, a smidgen of history for those who like to know everything about a new thingy (I had to find out!), although this devious paper contraption has been around for some time, messing with minds of all ages. Although I imagine that this construction has been discovered by many and likely several times over, the established story is that in 1939 a graduate student in England, Arthur Stone, trimmed his American paper to fit his English binder. Keenly sharp in mathematics, he began doodling and folding these scrap paper strips, forming a “flexible hexagon”, or, as it was soon named, the “flexagon”. Evidently he quite happily spread the infection of this mysterious paper invention that could flex to expose faces previously hidden. Historically much of the investigations into addictive variations … caution: there are MANY! … revolved within the circles of mathematically bent adults for several decades until it broke out and into the hands of the young and restless.

Relax, I’m going to woo your interest with the classic flexagon, and this is a hexaflexagon also known as a tri-hexaflexagon because of the three faces and hexagonal shape. While I’m playing with creating a line framework in my draw software (yep, I have it that bad!), here are two flexagons generated with a free plug-in software I found in my online research. If you’d like to mess with this yourself … it’s surprisingly easy if you have a decent photo software … here’s the url and instructions for use: Foto-TriHexaFlexagon. I would recommend printing the whole website page for reference while setting up this simple software for the first time. Or you can simply play with ones I’m giving you!

Below is the very first flexagon piece I eagerly generated, a “what if I try” of photos of spring flowers from my garden … bright Dutch iris and alyssum. Follow the images and you’ll quickly be flexing your own flexagon. Click on the image below for the largest possible image … right click to copy and paste into your photo software to save and print. I would recommend printing on legal size paper if you can (I use 24lb), to maximize size for better folding and flexing. You can go into your printer’s Properties to select Legal and Landscape orientation to successfully print the image … for most printers you can also adjust the size percentage if necessary up to 13 inches in width for maximum size. This creates a completed flexagon of about 4 inches across.

After cutting the image from the background paper, fold the strip of triangles in half along the long horizontal middle line carefully aligning the open edges. Use a glue stick on the smaller side, folding and smoothing to keep it flat as it dries. Gluing the sides together will leave two white triangles exposed at each end, soon to be the connecting tabs to the completed flexagon. Allowing time for the glue to dry, pre-crease firmly along all marked lines and be sure to crease each line in BOTH directions as this will ease the first time flexing through the faces of the flexagon (say that out loud quickly!). The image below shows the glued strip kinked from creased folds.

Make a mountain fold (crease pops upward) along the black line shown above … tucking the left end underneath to match the image below. Notice that the photo triangles are matching across the fold of the left side and top.

Make a valley fold (crease pushes downward) along the black line … folding the right end over to form the shape below.

The photo image matches now with the exception of the last triangle, pinned with my finger. To complete a flexing hexagon, slip the mismatched triangle underneath — below left. Flip the flexagon over and the white ends are now next to each other, one extending outside the hexagonal shape — below right. Take this extended tab and fold it over to meet the other tab, white face to white face. Glue these two areas together, only allowing glue on the white backs; don’t let glue touch other areas or the flexagon will not flex properly. Note to parents and teachers: kids under 9 years are going to need supervision for clean edges, crisp folds and glue in all the right places.

Allow time to dry — oh, hard to wait! Pick up the hexagon and notice which lines from the center are open layers, not the smooth drawn lines. Pop these layered edges into mountain creases, pushing the hexagon into a tri-fold as shown — above right. These mountain folds will begin to open as the outside edges press downward. The first time these stiff edges are flexed, the tips at the center may need coaxing apart … this is why you did all the pre-creasing! As the center edges flex outward, a new face pops upward — below left. Repeat the same pinch ‘n flex to expose the third side of a two-sided hexagon. Come on, is this cool or what!

Ah, but wait! turn the flexagon over and the reverse side will show a face inverted … namely, what was on the outside corners of an original face is now at the center —below. Technically there are SIX faces; the original three, plus those three in flexed or inverted arrangement. Go on, play with it and find 'em all!

I’m handing off the second flexagon variation below because I couldn’t stop at just one (did I mention these silly things are addictive?). The second flexagon piece features fossil faces; ammonite chambers, suture pattern of an ammonite, and a seastar. This one should appeal to the guys, sons and grandsons, more than the floral variation. It is easy enough for a five year old to play with and charming enough to suck in an adult. And then, AND THEN you’ll start wondering about new combinations ….. maybe even coloring your own doodles ….. hmmm.

2010-04-11T14:22:00.000-07:00

Sunday Breakfast, Post-Tax!

Yesterday, day three in a row, was spent wrestling and finally wrapping up income tax. Ugh. There are few words that I should put into print that describe my feelings about dealing with this annual ordeal of fact-gathering and paper-picking. Present day has eased some of the frustration with somewhat user-friendly software plus filing via email and electronic signatures. Thanks to pdf files, actual paperwork is near archaic unless you enjoy finding a home for an insanely thick wad of complete forms for posterity (over a hundred pages!). Normally I would gleefully shove my information at a generously paid CPA, but the recession has pressed frugality. However, now that I have won, Won, WON! over Schedule C’s, wrought refund wonders with education and medical deductions, dealt with a mutual fund closing … I was looking forward to a new although gloomy, rainy Sunday (this is April??) with a guilt-free desire to celebrate with a leisure Sunday Breakfast.

The unusually cool weather invoked thoughts of hearty pancakes and there’s a favorite recipe I’ve tweaked over the years. My only child was a fussy eater when quite young and never liked mush, or any squishy, soft foods including bananas. Go figure. The only way to pry hearty goodness into her was to fry pancakes and offer lite syrup or chopped fruit as toppings. This recipe has morphed considerably from the original off the side of an oatmeal box, evolving into a sweet disguise of oats, yogurt, eggs and whole grain as I played with each “what it I try” in substituting ingredients. Remember, don’t mention the word healthy to youngsters if you want them to eat these solid pancakes — if they balk at the homeliness of these earthy flapjacks, make them half-size and sprinkle mini chocolate chips on the cakes before flipping. Call the mini version Pancake Cookies and their interest will shift quickly! Psst, leftover mini cakes are even good cold as a finger-food snack.

OATMEAL BANANA PANCAKES

1 cup non-fat yogurt
1 cup milk
1-1/3 cup old fashioned oatmeal
2 eggs
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 medium banana, roughly mashed
1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon

Mix the yogurt with the milk in a glass mixing bowl, warming in the microwave about 90 seconds, stirring at about 45 seconds. Stir in oatmeal until well coated and let sit about 10 to 15 minutes to soften. Add the brown sugar and mix well, breaking up any lumps. Stir in eggs, oil and banana until blended. Mix well the flour, soda , salt and cinnamon in a separate bowl before stirring into the wet ingredients until just blended.

Preheat lightly greased griddle or large skillet to medium heat. When hot, plop and spread the thick batter by quarter cup measure — a gravy ladle is my favorite. Watch the pancakes as you may have to reduce heat to medium-low to prevent scorching before the center is cooked as extra sugar from the fruit makes this a concern, but still worth the effort. Cook until the edges look DRY and the underside is golden, before flipping to cook until baked through. This recipe produces about 15 pancakes, give or take a dribble. Leftovers can be wrapped into the refrigerator and gently heated on small plate about 30 seconds in the microwave for a quick Monday launch.

Don't expect these to be the perfect-pour, pretty pancake of the white flour fame.

These pancakes are tender, so don't rush flippin' the cakes lest you tear the undercooked batter. Little ol' impatient me invariably messes up the first three in the pan. And watch the pancakes as they will darken if unattended (note a couple of deeply colored samples on the back plate below — they're still tasty with syrup!)

And here we are with a bit of fresh fruit, complete with hot coffee in a favorite mug and a well-earned chaser of the Sunday funnies. Oh yeaaaah. Perfect Sunday morning.

Mothers Day Postcard

2010-04-07T22:06:00.000-07:00

This image would make a great

fabric postcard for Mom. I hope

you enjoy it!

Patti

Giving Birth

2010-03-16T22:52:00.000-07:00

Patti and I sure had ambitious intentions when we set up the blog in late January to stay on top of fresh updates, but February darn well scuttled away from us. It was one of those months that we thought we had a handle on planned events, save the handle snapped off and we were both scrabbling after March in the blink of an eye. I don’t think I have to mention the little things in life that can abruptly collect into a flock and swoop all at once. Just catch a read of Patti’s misadventures below … it’s silly but I swear that appliances conspire to retire all at once! For me, February was a couple of shows, a healthy bite of family distraction, and a creative gestation that required prompt birth.

Heavens, no, I’m not rushing into actual motherhood again at my age, thank goodness! The development I’m about to muse over is a new tool and the journey from idea to physical form. For a couple of years I’ve been selling a set of round discs with open notched edges as a simple cord maker, kitted by a gal living in the Bay area here in California. I really liked the disc tool for braiding bead strands but my wandering mind found the basic cord it allowed too limiting. Certainly there were a fair number of ways to arrange threads from ribbons to fine thread, metallic cords combined with bouclé threads, fabric strips, and that didn’t count the combination of bead strands with soft goods, but I kept thinking that there could be a single tool that would accommodate multiple braids that were not complicated to follow.

Then there was the discovery of a foam square plate last fall and the outright cool flat braids that was possible with that portable tool, but (now you knew there was another but coming, didn’t you?) those snug foam slits didn’t allow playing with textural threads or beads. Well, not without frizzing both the threads and your humor! The braids from the foam plate was quite firm but I was hoping for something pleasantly even and able to mold flat curves for sewn embellishment. And I believe those addicted to the handarts indulge in them because they really enjoy the full process so why not find a reasonable tool design for smooth technique. What to do? Uh huh, here it comes … what if I try a merge of needful qualities?

A scribbled sketch on a yellow pad plus a conversation with Edward, my handy-in-the-workshop mate, netted me a square plate of chipboard with open slots for experimental play. The hybrid worked precisely as I anticipated but the rough edges of the board wasn’t very kind to fragile goods and the time it took to hand cut a single plate was not cost effective for production. This prodded me into surfing the local sources and a few web sources for estimates in die-cutting different materials, such as chipboard or clear acrylic. The chipboard was quite inexpensive but, as you can see in the picture, not terribly attractive as the common color is a gray shade of kraft brown. Simply lovely! However, once past a particular thickness, the alternative choice of clear acrylic must be laser cut lest it crack or even shatter under a die press, so now the cost took a lively jump. Kind of like a drop of water in a hot frying pan. In order to have “picture pretty” and “silky to use”, both attributes needed a hitch of cost in time and hulking machinery. I took the plunge in mid-February with a small virgin run of 50 count, which nearly sold out with a debut at a relatively slow local show. Ever seen a middle-aged woman do a Snoopy dance? Uh, wait, maybe you don’t want to think about that too hard!

Now we are in mid-March with a new batch of plates under the laser, due to arrive in a few days. There were some small concerns with the initial run that were addressed in this new batch that prompted a small cost increase. A few additional slots were plotted into the sides to allow more potential in playing with kumihimo braids as there are many available books detailing more, MORE braiding stuff. It makes sense to tweak it fully early in the game! While I’m waiting for the shipment to arrive, I’ll be updating the plate image in the folded instruction pamphlet that goes with plate + bobbins + weight clip + ties. The ten page pamphlet covers three braid variations and helpful hints in using and traveling with the Braid Maid™. What’s in that name? … I wanted something that stuck in memory (rhyming truly helps), a Google-unique in search, and it is a tool that serves to keep those threads in the right place. No matter where, no matter when.

Here is an image of braiding playtime in ribbon, vintage seam binding, boucle threads, and satin cords in both flat eight strand braids and a chubby round K.I.S.S. braid. The expansive possibilities in trimming art-to-wear clothing, sweaters, ornaments, paperwork such as scrapbooking and decoupage, jewelry, and … and … well, I haven’t started on the beady potential yet. Or wire or chain or fabric strips or bias tape or metallic ribbon or twisted paper and, well, you gotta figure, there is always more. Do stay tuned.

Vintage Easter Chicks

2010-03-16T19:48:00.000-07:00

Here are a couple of darling Easter images for you to play with for the upcoming spring holiday.

Click on the image to bring up a larger file of the image. Right click to copy and paste into your own photo program to save and re-size for immediate or future use.

2010-03-16T19:24:00.000-07:00

OK, it's been one of those days! Our washer broke about 9 days ago. We called to have it repaired and wouldn't you know it the part had to be ordered. Well, 8 days later they came to install the new part. Of course it was the wrong part. Needless to say, laundry was stacked up everywhere! We are on our last set of sheets, undies, you name it. During this last 8 days we've been researching washers and dryers....just in case!
Long story short....we bought a new Bosch washer and dryer to be delivered tomorrow! Can't wait to do the laundry!
Now, during the mad scramble to buy a new washer and dryer, the kitchen sink stopped up. Now we are pretty good at the clogged drain bit. Lots of Draino, hot water and maybe drag out the "snake". Nothing worked, so a frantic call to the Rooterman was made. Then we noticed a puddle of water under the refrigerator...is this a conspiracy?
Meanwhile Comcast was here putting in an outlet for a TV in the master bedroom. The TV is a present for my husband's birthday. Got the picture? This house was filled with workmen for the entire day!

I'm hoping all of you had a much better day than we did. I am really excited about the new washer and dryer. It really was what I wanted, but just didn't want to spend the money. I know you understand!

Enjoy the wonderful weather if you are in California. Right now, it's 77 degrees.
More later,
Patti

Vintage Sewer

2010-03-14T09:23:00.000-07:00

Hi, everyone, here is your first free vintage image. I used this darling lady to make a crazy quilted needlecase, of which the instructions for this project will be on the blog soon.

Originally scanned at this small playing card size, if you right click on the image you will be able to copy and paste it into your own photo program to save for immediate or future use.

Have fun with her and look for more free images soon! Or check out all of the images on my website as there are 5 CD's to consider!

Let me know how you like the freebies! — Patti

Scissor Fob

2010-02-03T14:11:00.000-08:00

You may call this beaded treasure a scissor fob, jewelry for your scissors, or use it (as I do) to hold a certain set of keys! A fob has many uses and is quite simple to assemble. This fob design is 6" long, but can certainly be easily adjusted. It can be as elaborate or as simple as you want to make it.

You will need:

Assorted beads ... I used one of the many wonderful colors of Bead Soup from Hofmann Originals. The pictured model is Foamy Azure ... a pretty assortment of beads from seed beads to medium and large pressed beads.
#10 beading needle or #10 "straw" needle
Beeswax or Thread Heaven to wax or condition the thread
Size D beading thread
Large lobster clasp
Fray Check to seal the knot

1. Reel off 30" of beading thread. Wax or condition it well and thread your needle.

2. String one of the medium size beads (Main bead), then 12 seed beads. This will attach your lobster clasp.

3. Now go through the lobster clasp and back through the Main bead as illustrated below, leaving a 4" tail. It's helpful to put a stopper bead or bead clamp on the 4" tail to prevent the beads from escaping.

4. Lay out your major beads before you start stringing. Use 3 -4 larger beads on each side, with medium and seed beads between to allow flexibility and interest, creating a 6" beady dangle. Play with the various sizes of seed beads in the mix, as the large-holed beads in a dangle will drape better with seed beads to either side of these beads.

5. Since the leaf bead has holes from side to side, I preferred it at the end of a dangle. String 8 seed beads, slide through the leaf, then add 8 more seed beads.

6. Take the thread back through the last larger bead in the line (white bead in the picture) and all the rest of the beads, including the Main Bead. Slip back through all the seed beads that go through the clasp loop and exit out the Main Bead to begin stringing the second dangle of the fob.

7. When you want to end a dangle with a centered bead, simply string on the bead and a seed bead. Return the needle and thread back through the larger bead and all the rest of the beads on that side until you arrive just before the Main bead.

8. You will see that both the beginning tail and working thread are now at the same place. Tie them into three snug knots one after another. After the knots are tied, thread each tail onto the needle and slip through an inch or more of beads on separate dangles and cut off excess thread.

9. Put one drop of the Fray Check on the final knot for added insurance. Now look at all the beads left! There's enough for several fobs and what a great gift this would be for your craft-addicted friends!

I hope you enjoyed this project, so be sure to check out the many colors of Bead Soup!

Happy beading, Patti

Crazy Quilted Fairy Book

2010-01-31T07:39:00.001-08:00

The inspiration for these books are my adorable grand daughters Sierra, who is 4, and Lindsay, just 15 months. Yes, I'm a doting grandmother. If you think I'm bad, you should see my husband ... talk about wrapped around a finger! There's something disarming about a little girl's smile for her Grandpa.

Although these directions feature "fairies" this process can be used with any subject. When you scroll to the end of these "what if I try" guidelines, you will see a book I played with for Christmas. What a delightful tradition this would be for a small child through his or her wonder years.

SUPPLIES NEEDED:

6-8 Crazy quilted squares, 6 1/2" across
8" satin ribbon, 1 1/2" wide for binding book spine
6-8 images, your own photos or vintage on fabric
Steam-A-Seam, 8.5 x 11 fusible sheets (fabric store)

1. In my previous post, I've given instructions for piecing the crazy quilt blocks with this project in mind. 8 fabric squares were assembled for this four-page book. If you don't want to make it that thick, just use 6 pages for a three-page book. So, go ahead and crazy quilt 6-8 pieces, measuring a finished 6 1/2" square.

2. If you have the Home Arts CD #3 or CD #5, available on my website, you will have the fairies I used in the first book sample. These images are from a vintage paper collection, printed on a wonderful cotton fabric called Printed Treasures. This paper-backed fabric is pretreated to accept the basic ink from any ink-jet printer (do not use premium photo ink). If you want to make this book with pictures of your grandchildren, check out this convenient product by clicking here.

3. Apply a fusible to the back of your images (I favor Steam-A-Seam). Arrange your blocks and images in the desired order, beginning with which one will be the front cover. Put a straight pin on each block to mark which edge is to be bound together. I'm having you do this because the binding swallows about 3/4". It's something I didn't consider until I started to assemble the first book. If I had realized the take up of binding the pages together, I would have moved the images more toward the center. Take a look at the picture below. The image on the left is almost tucked into the bound spine and would have looked more balanced another inch to the left. With this small warning, place your images and fuse them in place on each block.

4. Now comes the fun part! Embellish, Embellish, Embellish!!! As you can see I love to get carried away with the embellishments of laces, ribbons, and painted lace motifs. You can also add fusible to the back of an fabric image such as birds or butterflies, cut it out to fuse on a block as part of the embellishment. Click on the book to see a larger image.

5. Each page of the book will consist of two crazy quilted squares sewn together. Sew each set of "pages" with right sides together, leaving the spine edge open for turning. Trim excess fabric off the corners. Turn pages right-side out and press. Stack pages in order. To hold the pages together while you are working with the binding, sew a basting stitch with your sewing machine along the binding edge. This stitching will be covered up with the binding.

6. You can see the next two pages in the fairy book below.

7. For the binding of the spine, take the satin ribbon and place it with slightly less than half of the width to the front. Leave 3/4" at the top and bottom to finish the cut ends of the ribbon. Sew the front edge of the ribbon only where the ribbon rests against the blocks. To sew the back edge, tuck the ribbon ends at the top and bottom edge, then wrap the ribbon over the spine edge and pin in place. If done with care, you can machine stitch along the front edge of the ribbon (the ditch of previous stitching), catching the back edge in place. An alternative would be to hand stitch the ribbon edges along back and ends. Click on the binding assembly below for a larger image.

Okay, here's the shameless advertisement. All of the vintage images are on 5 CD's. There are hundreds of images and at least 12 pages of projects on a CD for $20 each. To see the page of samples for each CD, click here! Enjoy the samples of the Christmas Book in picture below (note the bound spine with small loop at top), worked in snowy whites and metallic golds. You'll find too many excuses to collect and swap fabric scraps for these charming childhood memories!

Thanks for joining me, as now I'm off to play with a Halloween crazy quilted book ... there is wide potential for those precious grand kids!

Patti

Crazy Quilting How To....

2010-01-30T14:22:00.000-08:00

How to crazy quilt? I can't tell you how many times I've been asked for instructions for crazy quilting. I finally have a way to share this with you. This is a very forgiving process so please don't be afraid to try! Remember....what if I try!!

1. Gather some favorite fabrics cut into strips, assorted widths. Mine were from 2" - 3" wide, and as long as the fabric allowed. This is where you will really use up your scraps.

2. Cut more strips than you think you'll need. It's better to have a lot to choose from.

3. This particular process will work around a middle piece. Choose a fabric and cut it into a 5-sided shape. As you can see, it measures about 3".

4. Choose a strip of fabric and lay it along one side of the five-sided fabric, right sides together. Sew along the edge and press to the right side. Trim off excess as shown below.

5. Choose another fabric and lay it, right sides together along the edge of the previous two fabrics. Sew and press open as shown. Trim off excess.

6. Choose another fabric (the blue in the picture), set it along the newly sewn pieces as before. Sew, flip, iron and trim.

7. Continue in this manner until you have a little more than you need. A 6 1/2" square is what I want you to have so I can show you how to do the next project. When you get to the end of the first go-round, you will probably be trimming off the tails of the previous fabrics as seen below.

8. You can lay your square ruler on the sewn fabrics to see when you have enough. If you don't have a square ruler in your stash, cutting a 6 1/2" square out of scrap shirt board or poster board to lay over the growing square will help to let you know when it is large enough. When you are satisfied, mark and cut the newly pieced square.

9. We're almost there! Now is the time to add your embellishments, images, etc. Decorative stitching is a must! I fused a vintage image of a lady at her sewing machine a little off center and slightly askew. Few crazy quilt projects are precisely centered which makes the process that much more forgiving than precise patterns. It's ready for trims, lace, beads, etc.

My next project will be a soft crazy-quilted fairy book using the above process. Take a sneak peek at the fairy book and please join me for more fun! (click picture to enlarge).

The Light Cube

2010-01-30T14:00:00.000-08:00

A good deal of our separate businesses has shoestring details that we handle ourselves, including the photography. For myself, photos have been challenging as the lighting is never ideal or the natural light is rarely wonderful when most needed or simple white background just isn't very simple! So I went Internet shopping for a photographer's light box, a lovely pop-up fabric cube that isolates the subject in a bright surround of diffused glow, all pretty and precious.

Yes, well, after thirty gasping minutes of sticker-shock, I stepped back from spending $50 and up (UP!) to fashioning something useful albeit frugal. The light cube needed to be light weight, able to flatten for storage, and allow light to diffuse through the sides. After several days of stewing the construction on a mental back burner, the "what if I try" that follows is what sprang forth in near full form. Sometimes I get lucky.

These are materials and tools I gathered ... for less than $10 as I had everything except the board and interfacing.

32" x 40" piece of white foam core board (office or craft store)
1 yard of feather-weight fusible interfacing (fabric store)
Craft knife + extra blades
Straight edge ruler
1-1/2" tape (blue painter's tape used for contrast in photos)
Household iron
Fabric or good sharp scissors

Since the board was 32” wide that determined my cube pieces to be 16” x 16”. Before you charge ahead, you will need to cut:

TWO pieces 16” x 16” square

TWO pieces 16” x 16-3/16” … wait there’s more for these pieces …

Using a black marker, place a small mark at the center of a 16” side of the last two larger pieces; this will help you remember which two squares are slightly larger and serve for placement later during assembly. There are two marked pieces in the first photo below with the red circle to draw your attention (look, look here!).

NOTE: foam core is a pesky thing to cut and utterly horrid on blades. CHANGE the blade in your knife before you start, even if a used blade still feels sharp. I didn’t and had several ragged edges, which you’ll spot in photos below. To cut foam core, do not attempt to plunge the blade through on the first cutting pass, but use several passes to ease through the thickness. I often turn the board over, bend the cut open and then slide the blade along the fold to cleanly cut though the paper on the back of the board.

The next step is to take ONE of the true squares and ONE of the slightly larger squares and measure a 10” window centered on each piece. Cut the windows out. It is useful to turn each board over to finish cutting the corners from the back with a nudge of the knife. Once again there are small red circles showing the marked squares, one with a window, one without.

I laid the feather-weight fusible interfacing on one window square and with a DRY iron heated to the lowest level of steam, fused the filmy fabric to the board. A little practice with scraps of board and interfacing is advisable. Most interfacings use 10-second holds of a hot iron to fuse, lifting and overlapping fused to un-fused areas. Do not press down on the iron; hold it still. Once the interfacing is attached all across the window square, let it cool and trim away the interfacing. This is tidier than cutting a square of interfacing and trying to fit it cleanly (trust me, that never works!). Repeat on the second window piece.

Most of the work is already done and we’re heading into assembly. What I’ll describe now will sound complicated, but there’s a photo for each step … and a method to my madness! Start with the two TRUE squares, one with a window and one without. Lay one on top of the other (interfacing fabric is on the inside), squaring one edge, and use small pieces of tape to secure at center and each end.

Every time a piece of tape is laid against the edges of foam core board, be sure to burnish the tape firmly against the thick edges before crisping a fold along the edge and rubbing the tape onto the board surface. Use a full length of tape to complete the hinge between squares.

If you open these two squares and set them as shown in the photo below, you have the base and right side of your Light Cube.

Open the hinged squares flat and lay the next solid square over the window square, lining up the right corners. The black marked edge should be at the left side edge of the new piece (see the red circle below), pushing it past the hinge of the previous two squares. Stay with me, this works! Use small pieces of tape to secure the edges, followed by a full piece (shown before folding tape over board edges, note the small extension at left).

If you open up the newly hinged squares wide, dropping the original base back to the table, this is where the cube is now in its assembly as you draw the slightly larger square up to meet the base piece. You guessed it, that extra smidgen of board is to compensate for the thickness of the base and keep the cube level.

Lay the back and side of the cube flat, folding the base up over the side attached to it (the base is lifted slightly in the photo below). Line up the final window piece at the far left edge of the previously attached back piece of the cube. Check out where the marked edge is placed for this final step (red circle) and secure with small pieces of tape. Finish with a full piece … I did this by slipping this new hinge to extend beyond the table edge rather than trying to stand it up. NOTE: remember how the cube is collapsed in this photo, as this is how you’ll store it flat.

Unfold the base and lift up the three sides to stand on edge … here is the relaxed cube in all its glory!

Here’s how the Light Cube works: snuggle up the sides to base and place lamps on the outside of the fabric windows. In the photo two desk lamps are inquisitively peering into the cube from each side, their light diffused by the fabric to reduce stark shadows. A third light perches on a stool above the cube doing a sun-in-the-sky imitation (out of photo).

Although the desk lamps are presently too anemic in their wattage for my satisfaction, surprisingly anything I’ve attempted to photograph within the cube has not provoked the camera into demanding any flash thanks to the all white walls bouncing light into the desired glow. All right! Score! Maybe a couple of lamps with those bright daylight bulbs to peer through the sides (more power, less wattage) ... and what if I try a removable window square across the top to diffuse a stronger light from above? Hmmm, I have some tall pieces to photograph so what if I try clipping a 16” x 30” white poster board (or black for a change of background) from the front edge of the base curving up to the top of the back to blend out out the back seam … oh my, I think there’s definitely some evolution ahead for this Light Cube!

Fairy Necklace

2010-01-30T08:01:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone! This is my first blog posting, and I'm so excited to get started. I have a lot of ideas I want to share with you. My latest project is the Fairy Necklace. I don't know where the name came from, the words just popped into my head. It started out because I got a new 'toy' a few days ago and just had to play with it. It's a leaf-shaped cookie cutter for polymer clay. Well, be still my heart! Such possibilities! Up to now I've been using polymer clay molds for my 'artistic impressions' of ladies' heads, but the cookie cutters were a new technique for me.

As you know now, Ruthmarie is the owner of Hofmann Originals, and one of her main products is a fabulous bead mix called Bead Soup. It occurred to me that "what if I try" combining the Bead Soup and polymer leaves in a necklace, how cool would that be!!

Soooo, here are a few pictures and instructions to lead you astray.

YOU WILL NEED:

One Bead Soup and one Bead Gravy of your color choice. I used Black Truffle Bead Soup and Black Portobello Gravy available at Hofmann Originals.
Five polymer clay leaves. One large, two medium and two small leaves of your own creation, or find sets available at Home Arts.
Fireline, 6 lb, or 19 strand ultra-flexible bead stringing wire, .015 diameter
#10 beading or #10 straw needle.

GETTING STARTED:

1. Cut about 30" of preferred stringing medium and thread on a needle (Tip: fold only a 2-3" tail as the bend through the needle's eye will leave a permanent kink). Start out with the Bead Gravy and spill beads onto a bead mat or hand towel spread in a small cookie pan. This will prevent your beads from escaping off the table or, more problematic, your lap. String about 20" of beads centered in the working thread. I would recommend using a stopper bead at either end or bead clips to prevent beads from slithering off the open ends.

2. Slip a piece of colored thread through a bead to mark your place at the middle of the strung beads. You may also prefer to mark the placement for the other leaves at measured intervals. My spacing was about 1 1/2" apart. Cut a second length of beading thread about 60" long. Yes, you will need most of it and I would rather you have 5" too much, instead of 5" too short!

3. Open the Bead Soup and add to your Bead Gravy. Yummy!! Combine your new stringing thread with the old thread at the beginning and secure them together by adding to the first stop bead or clip. Slide the beading thread through the first 4 inches of the strung beads. Use the illustration below as a guide for creating dangles off the necklace line, inserting your beady or leafy dangles where you will. See chart below and click on picture to enlarge.

4. Half-way finished!

5. When you complete your necklace, you can adjust the length by adding or subtracting beads at each end, which is the best reason for leaving long tails. Add your favorite clasp. I used a toggle clasp .....

WE ARE UPDATING THE INSTRUCTIONS WITH A FINISHING ILLUSTRATION ... CHECK BACK SOON!

Cut extra thread closely. Repeat for other end of necklace. Look....FINISHED.....now that was easy and fun! Hey, look at all the beads leftover! Probably enough for a second project, perhaps a matching bracelet of beady dangles easily accomplished by simply shortening the strung base length plus length of clasp to measure around the wrist.

Here's the picture of my finished project.

I hope you had a good time as I know I did!

Update 2/8/10: Shown below is another option for your necklace as I wasn't completely happy with the first necklace attempt. I liked it well enough, but the main line of beads looked thin in contrast to the beady dangles, so I strung an additional 20" of the seed beads and wound it around the leaves and dangles for new texture and interest as well as visual weight.

About Us

2010-01-27T20:04:00.000-08:00

Eighteen years. For the solid flow of that many days, Patti and I have been friends, traveling together to shows, sharing booth space and hotel rooms, lending a empathetic ear when days were overcast, cheering when light shone on accomplishments for self and our respective families. We enjoy companionable silences, babble like nuts when inspiration has our brains on fire, and delight in sharing our discoveries in teaching gigs local and national. We are remarkably comfortable in our friendship, which made the decision to share a blog so easy it surprised us.

Each of us has our own home businesses: Patti is the force behind Home Arts, I share blame for the products within Hofmann Originals with my husband, Edward. Patti’s business interests lie toward vintage images on fabric or paper, fabric covered boxes, mixed media, and jewelry. My business interests lean heavily to bead mixes, fiber embellishments, and fabric/bead jewelry kits. Yes, you will encounter postings that utilize the goodies from our businesses and will be shameless promotions hand-in-hand to the educational moment. Survival is needful in these days of recession and the small business is on the front line to recovery.

However, who we are and why we decided to partake in a blog is not confined to a business advertisement. We are haplessly addicted to our creative muse, the demanding little imp that we let out of the box early in life (stay tuned, each of us have one!). Many folks have insisted we are talented. Personally we suspect genetic predisposition, a.k.a. parental eccentricities that led to the fearless approach of “what if I try”. Practice this mindset daily and you’ll have others murmur, “Well, aren’t you just the clever one!”

Ah, no tsk-ing on your part, no insistence that YOU have never been creative, because we’re firmly convinced that the core of humanity is our relentless need to tweak everything around us. The inventive impact of our species has swung towards both good and ill, but we’re going to stick to the bright side on our blog venture and hopefully encourage the hesitant to step out. We will write about the flash of inspiration versus stubborn persistence, the successes, the not-so-successful, and the interesting twist of opportunity that most apparent failures provide … there’s always a silver lining!

Please join us for the ups and the downs, the sideways slams of surprise as we document our own “what if I try” inspirations in our daily life. Somewhere along the carnival ride, if it hasn’t happened already, you’ll find your Muse has popped the lid of creative denial. It is inevitable, don’t resist. A note worthy of mention: once the little dear is loose, your shift of perspective will never permit shoving the urge to play back under a clamped lid. Instructions will become guidelines, recipes will never be carved in stone, and some light bulb ideas will even deny you sleep. Relax, this IS a good thing, because another facet of being human is we never stop learning and the joy in the ride is everything.