Coziness

What says COZY more than Storytime book pillows and the smell of bread baking in the oven on a cold day! I have been a bit slow with my blogging lately so I will try to catch up over the next week. I finished all my book pillows...

I always ask people what kind of software they use for editing their photos so I thought it might be fun to share my secrets. For the basics, I use photoshop. I fix the levels to brighten all my photos, adjust colours and crop. Sometimes, I have fun editing my photos using free online photo editing software called Picnik which I used on these 2 Book Pillow photos. My favourite tools to Create are 1960's for a vintage effect, focal soften, and orton-ish for a dreamy effect!

I realized after I made these book pillows that I had transferred the writing for the title labels in three different ways! The first method I used was to simply write onto the fabric using a water soluble pen and a keen eye for copying what I had printed out from my computer. It worked well but was not precise and wetting the piece afterwards to dissolve the marker stressed me out! The second time I made a label I hand wrote the title onto the paper side of freezer paper. I then flipped it over and traced over it on the waxy side of the freezer paper with a fine Sharpie permanent marker. I carefully positioned and immediately ironed it. The title transferred lightly to the fabric.

Don't ask me how I come up with these things! I know there are easier ways but expermenting and problem-solving is half the fun! I made the last label while waiting for my daughter at preschool. I forgot to bring any sort of marker or pencil with me but I had printed the font out with my printer at home. How would I transfer the title without a marker? I positioned the printed title on the fabric label and with my needle I poked through the paper into the fabric following the line. I poked and embroidered the letters one at a time until the title was finished! Problem solved :o)

And I will end this post with my latest bread creations from the book Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day. After a lengthy fight with pancake-shaped loaves, I increased the flour for the basic boule to 7 cups. Perfect! I shaped them and placed them on a parchment covered cookie sheet and draped plastic wrap over top. I put them in the fridge overnight (10-11 hours) In the morning, I took them out of the fridge, sprinkled them with flour & scored the tops. Baked for 35 minutes in a 450 degree oven. The crust was crackley and full of tiny bubbles! Amazing!

I also made the tiniest loaves of bread I have ever seen! This one is 50% whole wheat and 2 slices fit on a teacup saucer! I can just imagine mini sandwiches for high tea!

Enjoy your afternoon tea & quilted crafts :o)

More about Me

I have been the Featured Artist on several blogs in the past few weeks! I want to thank:

Jodi of Simply This That and the Other, Catherine of 3400 Ave of the Arts, and Garlic for her profound questions on Path of Heart. I am Artist of the Week on Path of Heart so please keep checking for more of the interview! Please see the sidebar for direct links.

Thank you! I feel honoured that all of you chose me!

Enjoy your afternoon tea & quilted crafts :o)

Update: I am sad to say that Path of Heart has been deleted so my interview is no longer available.

Lucky Winner

As much as I would have liked to choose a winner the old-fashioned way, 323 names were way too many to write down on pieces of paper and fit in my hat! I was truly overwhelmed by the number of comments... definitely exceeding my expectations of 30-40!

Now it is time to announce the winner! The Random Number Generator chose #300. Comment number 300 belongs to...

Sabine from Hessen, Germany!

Sabine said:
It´s so wonderful, I would be happy to win it. You make wonderful things.
Greetings from Sabine

November 3, 2008 5:39 AM

Congratulations Sabine! The Peppermint pouch will be on its way to you this week! Thanks to each and every one of you who left a comment :o)

Enjoy your afternoon tea & quilted crafts :o)

Christmas Giveaway!

I am feeling full of Christmas spirit and thought it would be fun if I give away one of my handmade quilted pouches! For your chance to win this Peppermint pouch simply leave a comment on this blog post by November 3rd. The lucky winner will be revealed on Wednesday November 5th :o) Good Luck!

Update: Giveaway entries are now closed. Stay tuned for the winner!

Enjoy your afternoon tea & quilted crafts :o)

Quilt by the Bay

Never before in my life have I been able to spend 13 consecutive hours focused solely on quilting! "Quilt by the Bay" in Lion's Bay was my first ever quilting retreat and what a wonderful experience it was!

There were more than 20 busy bees working on all sorts of amazing quilting projects. Delicious lunch, dinner and snacks were provided throughout the day. We were even shown a fancy new way to fold fabric for cutting binding. Many thanks go out to the wonderful ladies I met there and Krista Hennebury for her hard work organizing the whole affair!

...and special thanks to everyone who purchased crafty goodness from me, and to the rest of you reading this... YES, there ARE leftovers!

Enjoy your afternoon tea & quilted crafts :o)

Retreat Goodness

Here it is... all the things I have been busy making over the last few weeks to take with me to "Quilting by the Bay" Quilting Retreat tomorrow. I was kindly invited by Krista to my first ever quilting retreat and was asked to bring some things to sell. I will be travelling to Lion's Bay early in the morning for a whole sweet day of quilting with just me and twenty-some-odd other talented quilters... I am so very excited!

Leftover crafts will be listed in my shop on Tuesday :o)

Enjoy your afternoon tea & quilted crafts :o)

Tiny Troubles

A tantalizing collection of tiny half hexagons painstakingly cut out of scraps and sewn together with love...

As inspiration takes hold, you can hardly tame your excitement at seeing the patchwork grow. That is until a few rows later when you notice that these hexagons are turning out awfully tiny and you realize that you will not finish a 30x36 inch custom turtle quilt in a million years if you use pieces this small. Time to set that aside and make something else with it later...

And you start over again, painstakingly cutting half hexagons out of larger scraps and sewing them together with love... OH! So that's what those lines on the cutting mat are for!

Here is the inspiration for the turtle quilt. I made this little fish pillow a long time ago. It is the same patchwork, only this time matching the fabric to make full hexagons... perfect for a turtle shell!

Enjoy your afternoon tea & quilted crafts :o)

Not Tacky Anymore

During my latest search for country scenery fabric to use as covers for my new book pillows I found this fabric! It was on the verge of being tacky when I saw it at the store with its vibrant pink splashes among the pukey dairrhea-coloured trees but my imagination was churning and saw hope for this fabric. So I bought some and did a little coffee-staining at home which toned down and warmed up the entire fabric and I was quite happy with the results!

I wanted the embroidered title to look a little more elegant country this time so I turned to my computer for help. After choosing the perfect font, I printed it out the exact size I needed and copied it to my fabric. I hand-embroidered the letters using a tiny backstitch, french knots & 3 strands of floss.

I used an off-white corduroy for the pages this time. And I had an audience during the photo shoot!

Enjoy your afternoon tea & quilted crafts :o)

Fabric Labels Tutorial

Many people have asked me how I make my labels so I have decided to make this little tutorial including pictures and any little tips that I have learned along the way. You will find that making your own labels is quite simple and much cheaper than purchasing custom labels. Pour yourself a cup of tea and enjoy.

Materials needed:
computer, graphics program (I used photoshop) & inkjet printer
regular printer paper
iron-on transfer paper
utility knife, cutting mat & metal ruler
ribbon (I used 1/2 inch natural cotton twill tape)
iron & ironing board
scissors

Step 1: Design your image using your program of choice working with a resolution of 300ppi for a clear image. The height of your image should be smaller than the width of your ribbon. Print some out on regular paper, cut them out and see how they fit on your ribbon. Fill up an entire page, repeating images in rows and leaving about an inch between the images in each row. The rows can be fairly close together. *Remember to reverse your image! I can get 96 labels out of one sheet of transfer paper which I think is pretty economical.

Step 2: Print your labels. Follow the transfer paper instructions to set your printer for the right type of paper. Print a test sheet on regular paper first making sure that the image is reversed. Print a sheet of labels on the transfer paper (I have decided to print a few larger labels this time for my bags).

Step 3: Cut out the images preferably into long strips using your utility knife, cutting mat and ruler. Leaving them in strips will save time when ironing and you will be less likely to burn your fingertips. (I know you are not supposed to use utility knives on these mats but it's better than cutting up my new desk!)

Step 4: Iron the transfer onto the ribbon. Lay the ribbon flat. Place a strip printed side down. Press the strip down with the iron. Once it is adhered, slide the iron across several times. *Make sure the iron is not too hot. If your iron is too hot or if you iron it too long, your image will melt! See below.

Step 5: Peel off the backing paper. Wait until the twill tape has cooled before removing the paper. I always leave the previous paper strip on to protect the iron when I am adding a new strip. *The transfer will melt if the iron touches it!

Step 6: Use them! Make a whole roll of labels or cut them as desired. You can turn the ends under and stitch them to your project, or you can fold them in half and sew them into a seam to create a loop tag. Now you are ready to add them to all your wonderful creations!

You could also make laundering instruction labels, and quilt labels using this same method!

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***Additional TIP (added April 28, 2011)***
To remove most of the plastic feel of the transfer paper and to set the image even more, lay baking parchment paper over the transferred image and iron again with a hot iron. It really works!

Enjoy your afternoon tea & quilted crafts :o)

Two Hundred & Only One

Do you ever get those e-mails?

You know.

The ones that you think must be someone trying to joke around or super-spam or scam you if you reply. The ones where the word "you" is a one letter word. The ones that ask you for product prices and in the next e-mail want to order TWO HUNDRED House Tape Measures?! And it all sounds so ridiculous that it just can't be real! Of course you have to bring to their attention that your "company" is really only ONE little you, with orders booked until the end of October; with a house, a husband and a 3 year old to take care of. Then you realize if you finish one each day for the next seven months of your life you could actually fill the order!

There is always a chance that it could be real so you try to be polite, friendly & helpful but tread cautiously. You require a 50% deposit on a small sample batch and do NOT accept payment by cheque in the mail or credit card by phone. Paypal is my friend.

I await the next e-mail...

Enjoy your afternoon tea & quilted crafts :o)