Strawberries.

I’ve been making these strawberry sachets for years. I fill them with lavender, top them with leaves made from wool felt, or felted wool sweater pieces, and tie them together with vintage rayon or silk seam tape. Most of these are made from vintage fabric bits, or from men’s ties.

I saw instructions in the Martha Stewart Craft book when I borrowed it from the library, and again saw instructions in the June, 2011 issue of Country Living Magazine.

 So fun and so easy.

Babies and Bunnies.

Well, one baby that is. Our granddaughter was finally born 11 days after the due date. We went down to see her when she was one week old. She is so very sweet and well worth the wait.


 


As I wait for some slipcover job details to come together, I have been working on projects for my Etsy shop. I just listed one more Bunny, and will be adding a new Lingerie / Pajama Bag tomorrow.





I forgot that I had included the seam allowance in my pattern when I cut this bunny out, so he ended up a little bigger than the others. (More to hug.)





It’s just about time to break out the spring jammies, right?

Along the way.

I recently spent 11 days at my daughter’s house, hoping to be there for the birth of their second baby. I got to spend a  lot of quality time with my 3 year old grandson while she finished up some work. (She is a talented wedding photographer and also designs albums digitally for other photographers.)



One day we went for a drive looking looking for snow. We met up with another family and went for a beautiful hike. We didn’t find snow, but ended up at a gorgeous waterfall and found acorns along the path. I got some great pictures that I will attempt to paint.



I have always been a fan of Salley Mavor who does magical things with wool felt and embroidery. I mentioned to one of the two little girls we were hiking with that the acorn tops can be hats for little dolls. So of course, when we got home, I was inspired to make some tiny dolls for them and use the "hats" we found. I love to spend my evenings with a pile of hand sewing in my lap.



I came home a week ago and we are still waiting for the baby. I am so looking forward to making the trip back to see the little sweetie when she decides to come out of hiding, and to give my grandson the acorn hat doll I am making for him.

TEXTiles.

Paper and Fabric. Two of my favorite things! I just learned that the word “text”, usually associated with the written word, is actually from a Latin word that means fabric.




I can’t wait to visit the exhibit of Isabelle de Borchgrave’s paper fashions at the Palace of the Legion of Honor Museum in San Francisco. She has recreated clothing that she has seen in paintings, only out of paper, instead of fabric.




Nothing like a pair of pink paper shoes to make me want to do some paper mache.

 Another costume related exhibit I’d love to visit….



This one is at the L A County Museum of Art. It is a collection of European clothing from 1700 to 1915.
Lots of embroidery! Another activity I would love to spend more time on.

Over the river and through the cacti.

One of the interior designers that I work for lives in Chular, 10 miles south of Salinas. It’s a beautiful drive to her house, so I enjoy making the trip once in a while. I always see scenes out her way that I think would be fun to paint, but usually forget to take my camera. Last time I didn’t forget and got some great photos. This little prickly pear patch is around the corner from her house.
I enjoyed working on this painting and am looking forward to carving out some more painting time.
The husband and I are in an informal book club with a few other couples and we just read Sweet Thursday, a follow up book to Cannery Row by Steinbeck. It was really fun to read the stories and colorful descriptions of the places so close to home. It feels more and more like I am driving through a painted landscape when I travel through the area.

From workshop to hilltop.

I just delivered these fun slipcovered chairs, and matching covers for 4 more chairs to an amazing house on top of a hill. (The picture was taken at my house.) When I saw all the nice built-in storage and a big roomy, airy kitchen with tons of cupboards, a huge island and a corner window seat, I said “Did you design your house?” and the answer was “yes”. All the beautiful, personal features gave it away.
I like the mixture of fabrics she chose. When the bolts first arrived, I wasn’t so sure, but I think they turned out really nice and fit with her house and décor really well. I have been seeing a lot of ikat lately. Anthropology has a lot of fun stuff in the “home” section right now. After doing some reading, I found out that it is made by tying and dyeing the threads before they are woven. I found a good blog post about the process here. As it says, most of the ikat we see is more likely a print made to look like ikat and not the real thing. Either way it makes a house feel homey, like there might be sheep grazing in the backyard, and homemade bread in the oven.

Working it out.

In the past I have been reluctant to do artwork because I want the finished product to be really good…something that I can be proud of, but I am starting to enjoy the actual process more. That is a good thing since I will never reach the point where I am happy with my work unless I practice.
It is so easy for me to be drawn in to sewing projects because I do so much of it and my sewing tools and space are always set up, but I will be trying to give equal time to art projects that don’t involve sewing.

A few nights ago I gathered up my colored pencils that I bought decades ago. I found them in various trays and boxes throughout the house. They have been used by my kids to color many geography maps, charts of the human body, and to color in pictures that they asked me to draw for them. Well, I decided that I needed to treat myself to a new set, and I did.They are beautiful and drawing is a lot more fun without the huge gaps in the color spectrum.

This drawing includes a doll dress that I bought from a fellow sew-person in town who has the best yard sales you can imagine. I love seeing her and what she has rounded up to sell, and what sewing projects she is working on. The chenille pin cushion was made by another local sewing artist.