My Creative Space

There was a lot going on in my creative space today, thanks to a day off from work. I finally completed my spring placemats, that I will be able to show later this week, and I got all the pieces ready for a new project. Can you guess what it might be?

I also received in the mail some fabrics that I had ordered a couple of weeks ago, see the neat little pile in the background. By the way, that is about the only thing that is nicely piled in my entire studio, which is why I will avoid taking pictures of a larger view for the moment...

Please join in the fun at Kootoyoo's, there are lots of lovely spaces to visit again this week!

Sylvie

No Sewing Required

Don't get me wrong, I did get some sewing done this weekend, but nothing finished, just ongoing hand quilting on a pair of placemats. However, I finally decided to make this fabric-covered memo board for my soon-to-be made-over studio.

I've had this fabric for a while and wanted to display it because I find it so pretty and soothing. The colors match those I chose for my studio, so turning it into a memo board became the obvious project for it.

I have not yet hung the memo board on the wall, but I'll have it right next to my craft table, so I can look at it while working, and keep in mind what I have ongoing, like these cross-stitched motifs waiting to be used in some new project.

The rooster design is what I find most attractive in this fabric, and so I have deliberately avoided to have ribbon crossing over it!

My new memo board will probably be used a lot to display little knick-knacks that I find inspiring, like this tiny yummy heart. This strawberry fabric is to die for!

Now, back to the (never ending) hand quilting, which I try very hard to find pleasure in doing...

Have a great week!

Sew and Tell - A small debut!

This is my first time at Sew and Tell Friday, but I think it is a great forum and it may motivate me to actually finish each project that I start.

This little project is one that I've wanted to make for a while, ever since I learned that the fabric shop in town was turning green and not giving plastic bags anymore to pack our goodies.

I totally agree with this and was interested in buying the bag that they offer, with the store's logo on it... That is, until I saw the so-called bag. You would think that a fabric shop would make them out of, well, fabric, but no, they are made of some kind of plastic, like a grocery bag.

This seemed incongruous to me, so I did not buy their bag and decided instead that I would make my own shopping bag to take with me when I go fabric shopping.

Here it is:

and it is reversible, so depending on my mood or the season, I can use the spring side, above, with butterflies and colorful ferns, or the automn side, below, with fallen leaves and squirrels.

The fabric I used is made of bamboo and is lighter than quilting cotton, so that I can fold the bag pretty small and put it in my coat pocket or handbag - although it might still be too big for any of my handbags, since they tend to be tiny things, unless, of course, I got myself a new bag. Not that I want one, but if I HAVE to...

I think it is a pretty simple pattern to come up with, but I used Indygo Junction's Building Block Bags IJ771.

Please head on to Amylouwho to check out all the other great finished projects of the week!

My own little success, and a winner

I've been done with this pillowcase for a few days, but haven't been able to post it before today. This is what I did following the Pillowcase Crochet Along hosted by Cassie. I was pretty scared of doing the crochet border when my experience of crochet was very basic and so far away in the past. To tell the truth, I did not remember anything about crochet, except the fact that I once loved it, when I was 10 or 12 years old. I actually had to watch crochet videos on the internet to understand how to do it. Pathetic, I know, but I was determined to learn it by myself, even though my sister offered to help me. It was part of the challenge. The result is far from perfection, but I am very pleased with it. And the great thing is that now I want to try other crochet projects. I've been eyeing some very tempting granny squares lately, here and there. We'll see where that leads me.

And now, time to announce the winner of my giveaway. I've put the names in a bag, and had my boyfriend pick one.

The lucky winner is:

Henria O.

My favorite sign of spring is when I can finally stop worrying about whether my kids are underdressed for the weather and start worrying if they are overdressed! In addition to that, I love the longer days....waking up to a sunny morning instead of a cold, dark one!

Thanks to all for participating and writing such nice comments on spring and fall. They were really cool to read, and they are linked to something I did over the last week. More on this tomorrow!

My Creative Space - A Celebration (and giveaway)

Today I celebrate my first blogiversary and decided to have a little party in my messy studio, so you are all invited to come for a visit and have some cake. Put a party hat on and please don't look too much at all the stuff lying around the place.

I am surrounded with Keri Beyer fabrics these days, what with the quilt I am making with the Proud collection, and some Urban Farm just turned into some pillowcases. So I thought it would make sense to share my love of Keri Beyer fabrics with you on this special occasion.

So, here it is, I've put together a little bundle of three fat quarters of Proud in teal and orange.

If you would like a chance to go home with these lovelies, it will be quite simple, because who wants to make things complicated and risk ruining the party?

Here are the rules:

1. Giveaway will be opened until midnight, EDT, on March 31st, 2010.

2. Everyone can enter, international visitors welcome.

3. All you need to do is leave a comment on this post, but to make it interesting for me to read, I ask that you tell me what is your favorite sign that spring is finally here (or fall, depending on which hemisphere you call home).

4. You need to leave a way to contact you, either an email address or a link to your blog. If I don't have any way to reach you, I will have to draw another name, and that would be too bad, wouldn't it?

5. Winner will be randomly selected and I will post the result sometime on April 1st, 2010 (no April's Fool, I promise!).

Thanks for coming to the party, and best of luck to everyone!

Don't forget to visit all the other great spaces here!

Sylvie

Pillowcase Frenzy

I don't know when or how, but I've become a little obsessed with pillowcases lately. I am still patiently working on Cassie's On The Edge Crochet Along, and we're getting closer and closer to the most dreaded - yet fascinating - part: the crochet border. I have sewn the pillowcase "with flap" without any trouble and I am very pleased with the result, but I won't show it here until is is complete (or ruined, haha) with the crochet border.

However, I've been working on another pillowcase project of my own, pictured above. I used a very quick and easy technique, the tube method, shown on AllPeopleQuilt, which I discovered thanks to my big sister.

All you need is too yards of coordinating fabrics to make two matching pillowcases in no time. My boyfriend likes cows (please don't ask why) and I, well, love Keri Beyer fabrics, as The Quilt shows without any doubt, so I had to get some Urban Farm as the main fabric for his pillowcase, and I matched it with lovely dots in light blue for mine.

I am sure I'll be making some more of these in the near future.

Sylvie

Crochet Study

I learned the basis of crochet from my mom, when I was a kid, but I had not given it much of a thought for over twenty years.

Recently, I couldn't help falling in love with these pillowcases made by Beata, and when Cassie annonced her project, I knew I had to join in and make my very own. I knew just which fabric to use and could already picture the final result.

Then I thought I'd better give a try to crochet before the time came to actually make the pillowcase border. I unearthed the only hook I've ever owned, bought a couple of yarn balls, looked at some directions on the internet and was ready to crochet away...

Until I realised that this whole crochet business, which seemed simple enough when I was twelve, just got a lot more complicated with the years. It took me forever to understand how to make the double crochet, and even after I got the hang of it, I still can't figure out how not to lose any stitch as I change rows.

Last night I crocheted a piece that could have become a nice triangle, had I kept going, and I thought it was pretty funny too, but then I was also very tired. I know it is just a matter of making "spare" stitches when I switch from simple to double crochet, but the answer still eludes me.

Hopefully I can find it in time to crochet a border to my pillowcase. I am off to once again undo my almost-triangle piece and start over again. They say practice makes perfect, but what I actually wonder is just how much practice will get me anywhere near good enough...

Have a good week!