July 31, 2008

One thing leads to Another

It all started with another custom pillow... this time in the shape of a book with a tea-related theme. As with most of what I design, I rack my brain for a few days trying to give myself a rough idea of how I might construct it. I then draw a few sketches and if I find it very tricky I may even make a muslin prototype.



I went through several failed attempts before I came up with a way to make a pillow that actually looked like a book. I was happy with the final product but I still needed to make the page part and cover separately and then hand-sew the cover to the pages. I need to find a faster & easier way!





I was making my prototypes at a much smaller scale. I found that if I left the front page loose and added ribbon to tie the book closed it would make a very cute sewing caddy! Thread and scissors can be stored in the slot at the book's binding, needles can be attached to the inside of the cover, and pins in the pincushion page unit. I am playing with the idea of sewing part of a story into the top of the pincushion part to make it look like a real first page...





Enjoy your afternoon tea & quilted crafts :o)

July 23, 2008

Crafting Tea Party

I had a great day today! Jocelan of Cutesypoo came over for a Crafting Tea Party! Crafting was only one of the many activities we enjoyed... We had a delicious lunch of strawberry spinach walnut salad made by Jocelan, and sandwiches made with freshly baked bread! After lunch, we iced and ate chocolate cupcakes. Claire had fun icing her own cupcake... could she have added anymore sprinkles before licking off all that icing?! Then we baked more bread as a short intro to 'Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day' tutorial. We drank LOTS of tea throughout the day, and even squeezed in some crafting!





Jocelan and I traded MOO cards and she also made this awesome gocco-printed mushroom aroma pincushion for me! Thanks Jocelan!



Enjoy your afternoon tea & quilted crafts :o)

July 21, 2008

Things I Love

Today I spent time doing things I love. Claire & I made our daily visit to the sunflowers that we planted together. They are much taller than her now! I whipped up a sweet little cupcake pincushion which is now available in my SHOP. NO, I didn't make twenty... I only made one while I waited for my bread to rise. We ate the whole loaf for dinner with spiced gouda and hungarian salami... I wish I had pear slices too because that's my favourite combination, but it was still delicious with cucumber!





After Claire went to bed, I planted some new plants I bought yesterday... antique pink chrysanthemum & pansies, a wonderful Rose of Sharon and some delicate white Bellflowers!




I hope you all spend the day doing things you love.


Enjoy your afternoon tea & quilted crafts :o)

July 18, 2008

Production Lines

I have kept myself busy the last few days with my little production lines. I have been reading a wonderful book called Craft Inc: Turn Your Creative Hobby Into a Business. It mentions somewhere in the book to always make more than one item at a time. I am queen of One-at-a-Time land especially when it comes to larger projects like handbags and quilts. I have always had my little production lines of pouches, tape measures and tags but have recently increased the size threefold.

The most fun was choosing the tiny buttons for the doorknobs on the little house tapemeasures. I also had a blast carving my own stamps for the Tea Time tags inspired by the ever-so-talented Craft Pudding!





I also made a cute little Teacup pillow... but I only made one...




I REALLY should have made more because someone purchased the CUSTOM order from my shop...


Enjoy your afternoon tea & quilted crafts :o)

July 7, 2008

Teapot Pillows

For the past couple months I have been taking a much-needed break from custom orders. I have been enjoying my time to design new things and to focus on making patterns. However, I never say no to a custom order that challenges me to design something new especially if it has anything to do with tea! How could I have possibly said "no" to Teapot Pillows! This cute Japanese cross-stitch fabric was perfect for the country tea kettle...




I was very pleased with how the fancy teapot turned out...




I used an elegant Japanese linen and I even had the perfect polka-dot wood bead stashed away waiting for the perfect project. I think I need to make one of these for myself! And they would look great with these Teacup pillows I made a while back! :o)



Don't you think some of these photos would make great cards?


Enjoy your afternoon tea & quilted crafts :o)

July 1, 2008

I'm a Designer!

Last week I received my copies of Pretty Little Potholders that I ordered directly from Sterling Publishing. I had been waiting since May 6th to scoop up a copy at my local bookstore but had no luck. As a contributor to the book, they are sending me a free copy in the mail but the suspense was killing me so I ordered 7 copies thinking that some family & friends might enjoy it as a gift. I was thrilled to see that my butterfly potholder also made it onto the chapter page AND the introduction (which is not in this photo)!!!



I figured if I had extras, I could sell them in my Etsy Shop but why would someone buy it from me and pay shipping when they could buy it from their local bookstore? Maybe I could sign my patterns in the book?

There seems to be some slight changes to the patterns that the editor made to simplify it so I really need to go through and read them again in case anyone gets stuck and asks me about certain steps!

I became ecstatic when I noticed that the word "Designer" accompanied my name for each pattern! I never thought that I would ever become a pattern designer or ever be published in a book!


Enjoy your afternoon tea & quilted crafts :o)

June 27, 2008

Rosemary & Cinnamon

I used the last of my adapted Peasant Loaf recipe from Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day. I made some fresh rosemary & oil breadsticks. I was hoping the rosemary would stick to the olive oil that I brushed on, but only the sea salt remained. They still recieved the highest praise from my daughter Claire who hums like a bumblebee whenever she eats something she loves :o)





It didn't go as far as the Boule recipe due to the dough not rising as much but it was yummy and where else in the world can you find whole grain Cinnamon Swirls?! ...that makes up for all the icing, doesn't it???





Would you like to join me for tea, cinnamon swirls & sewing!

Enjoy your afternoon tea & quilted crafts :o)

June 26, 2008

Things for my Shop

One bag finished... only 17 TeaCup, CoffeeMug & Hot Cocoa pouches, and 20 House Tape Measures to go! This bag is now in my SHOP!

It might take me a while to get through this pile now with the summer weather finally starting to arrive (very late this year). My plan is to sew up a storm after my daughter goes to bed and have tape measures ready to finish hand-sewing while she plays at the park the next day... That is the plan anyway ;o)






Enjoy your afternoon tea & quilted crafts :o)

June 25, 2008

Classic Car Pillow

Here's one that I couldn't risk posting until now.



I made this pillow for my Dad for Father's Day but couldn't give it to him until this last weekend. I could have mailed it but I wanted to see his face when I gave it to him. It is always so hard to buy a gift for Dad... When I was little he used to re-build these old cars... in particular the 1931 Plymouths like on the pillow. He is also a coffee-addict. Notice how I strategically placed the car applique over the fabric so that the man with the coffee is driving!





I got him a couple Hot Rod magazines too. He really liked it! Here is a look at the cover without the pillow...



Enjoy your afternoon tea & quilted crafts :o)

June 24, 2008

Artisan Bread

It all started a week before my birthday when I first saw "Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day" while lost in Blogland. The more I researched, the more I knew that I needed this book!

I made these loaves from the basic boule recipe right after the first rise... I let the bread rise again directly on a parchment-covered cookie sheet and it turned out great! Making this bread was so effortless! Just take a look at this video!



Then I made a HUGE cinnamon bun which didn't even make it to the photoshoot! Next I made some Cinnamon Apple Walnut filled buns which I was inspired to make after reading the Spicy Pork Bun recipe.



I finished off the boule by making 2 of the most delicious pizzas I have ever tasted!



It was torture taking all these photos and my husband was giving me dirty looks!

This week I am trying an adaptation of the Peasant Loaf. I used 5 cups of unbleached flour, 1 cup of whole wheat flour and 1/2 cup of multigrain cereal and sprinkled the large loaf with the cereal. Yum!




Enjoy your afternoon tea & quilted crafts :o)