How the Knittn' Kitten Made My Holiday

The holidays may be long gone, but I have to tell you that I'm still getting a lot of joy from what the holidays brought me. There is, of course, the extremely lovely hand-knit hat and scarf set from my great-aunt Billie, a print of my dear friend Leslie's painting Divide, a super-cool t-shirt from the Sweetie that says "And Buffy Staked Edward. The End." Oh, and let's not forget the air compressor and hand-beaded necklace from the in-laws! EEEK! All my crafty, arty, and geeky bits were well taken care of.

The real joy, though, is that I had a little bit of time to make some gifts for family and friends - of course, that also meant that I didn't post on the blog at all in December! I was way too busy making things like the tea towel in the picture above to blog about it . . .

Back in the fall, you may remember me talking about local crafters getting together and coming up with free project sheets to support our favorite craft supply thrift store, Knittn' Kitten. There were a lot of cool projects that came out of that effort. In fact, you can hop right on over here and pick up a FREE .pdf that includes all of the projects! The one that caught my eye, though, was a stash-busting, tea-towel decorating project from Sister Diane over at Craftypod. I picked up a huge bundle of cotton dish towels from IKEA and the Dollar Store, and started hunting through my fabric stash. Look at the cool bird and handwriting fabric in these!


I made at least one for almost everybody on my list, and even had energy left over to make a few for myself! I'm so glad to find a way to feature the vintage kitchen fabric in these! Check out those cups!


Now, with any luck, I'll be able to get back to a more regular posting schedule . . .

More of the Family Fabric Stash . . .

Here's Minnie again, my great-great-grandmother on my Mom's side. This photo was taken of her in the 1920s. And here is another item from the family fabric stash:

A very cool apron that my Mom thinks Minnie made . . . and wore. There's some very cool red rick-rack around the edges, and the little tucks on the side are very sweet . . . and it fits me!

And all of this sewing skill definitely got passed down . . . my mom made her own wedding dress.


And when my dad was stationed in Thailand during the Vietnam War, he brought my mom back beautiful Thai silk fabrics . . . my mom used white silk with a medallion pattern to make this western style shirt:
It totally fits me! I love the big collar . . . though it could do with a good ironing. And mom took this beautiful blue patterned silk and made this slinky halter dress lined with red:


When she first made it, it was floor length and had a very sexy slit up the side for a flash of thigh and red silk! She's since shortened it, but it still has that lovely slit . . . and sadly, it doesn't fit me up top. But Mom has given these to me anyway - knowing how meaningful they would be to me. So, I'm trying to figure if there's a way I can re-fashion it . . . maybe a skirt?

Thanks, Mom.

The Family Fabric Stash

I'm in Boerne right now, deep in the heart of the Texas hill country, just outside of San Antonio. I'm visiting my mom, and my mom is the Keeper of the family photos - and the family fabric stash. One of the main reasons I had wanted to come back for a visit was to scan a bunch of the family photos - like this tin type of my great-great-grandmother Minnie, taken during the 1890's (we think) when she was about 10 years old.


An unexpected side benefit to this visit is the fact that mom decided to share some of the family fabric stash - including 30 12 inch quilt squares that Minnie made during the late 30's or early 40's!


I love the fabrics - and her wonderfully quirky sense of color as she put the squares together!

I wish I had more of that brown floral for a dress!

Look at the little circus tents on this one!

This one's a crazy mish-mash of fabrics and colors, but it somehow works.

And I love how these florals go together - it's nice to think that some things are hereditary!
Now, I just have to figure out what to do with the squares . . .

Buttons! A Peek in the Travel Souvenir Stash

I've been delighted and inspired by some recent posts on buttons from Sister Diane and Average Jane Crafter. Buttons - those delightfully detailed and colorful closures that open up all kinds of great art and crafting possibilities. And I was reminded of the fact that when I visited Thailand in 2001-2002, one of the souvenirs I picked up was buttons - found at a little sewing shop in the northern town of Chiang Mai!


And this got me looking at a bunch of other wonderful buttons in my button collection . . .

Some of which really need to be made into rings or bracelets . . . But then that reminded me of the wonderful Hill Tribe textiles that I also bought in Chiang Mai:

I took some of the fabric (I believe this is an Akha piece) and stretched it over canvas stretcher bars to make a wall hanging for my living room:

If you're interested in more detail, the Hilltribe Museum (which I visited while in Thailand) has a wonderful website with information about the different the Karen, Hmong, Mien, Lahu, Akha, and Lisu. And naturally, wikipedia has some interesting (and perhaps slightly better translated) information on the different tribes as well. I especially enjoyed the information on the Hmong. A great book on the various indigenous and migratory groups living in Northern Thailand and their traditional crafts is Peoples of the Golden Triangle by Paul and Elaine Lewis (I'll bet you can find it for less than this - this was just the page that had the picture!).


And that brought me back to using buttons in my own art - including this piece: a button-encrusted shrine to craftiness called "Frenzy" that's on display right now in the Agora room at CubeSpace (the opening is Friday, March 28th from 6-8 if you want to drop by!)


Well, I guess that closes up this one . . .

Organizing

One of the things I did last week - when it felt like I didn't accomplish much - was organize my fabric stash.

It began, of course, with a trip to IKEA, a mecca for people who like to figure out how to turn cheap flat boxes full of laminated boards and little metal parts into things that will hold other things. I am one of those people.

I am also one of those people who really likes to be organized in my own deliciously chaotic way. Anyone who has ever taken a class with me can attest to the appearance of many plastic drawers full of collage papers, art supplies and found objects, all clearly labeled using a label making machine. The labels provide information as to the contents, using categories like "Cardstocks and Solids," "Critters," "Feathers - Pale," and "Pearls, Pom Poms, Eyes, Odd Bits, Shiny!"

I had been trying to organize my fabrics in similar bins, except that most of them simply read "Quilting." Which is misleading, as I have never actually made a quilt, per se. I have done a lot of fiber art and applique and piecework, but have never actually finished a top and put a layer in the middle and then put on a backing and actually quilted it. They were also so stuffed that I couldn't find anything.

Obviously, time to update the system. I decided it would be easier to use all the fabrics labeled "Quilting" if they were actually visible, and the Ikea Expedit bookshelf, 5 feet by 5 feet of lovely cubbies, looked perfect! I put it together in an evening, then spent a large part of the next day organizing the fabrics. Most of which . . . I did not remember buying. At all. And not all of them would fit on the shelf. I still have tubs of "Fleece" (left over from the Christmas when I was going to make everyone a hat) and "Felted Sweaters" (left over from the Christmas when I was going to make everyone fingerless gloves and matching purses). It goes on.

Yet, I am very proud that most of the cottons are now easily visible - which means I'll actually use them in my upcoming projects instead of just hoarding them like a fiber-addicted dragon. And it will be easy to find "Purple Fabrics," "Upholstery Samples From SCRAP," "Bright Patterns on Black," and "Fabric with Vegetables and Fruits on it."

Yum!