A Picture's Worth 1000 Words...

And I've got three of 'em! In the early fifteenth century, The Master of the Rohan Hours summarized the logic of Cur Deus Homo in three miniatures...or at least that's what my term paper attempts to prove.




With the end of the academic year approaching, I've been crazy busy with papers and presentations and exams. I haven't really had time to craft. I miss it and I miss blogging! In the absence of new crafty stuff, I thought I'd share this instead. It inspires me and makes me want to create beautiful things. I'm now brimming with ideas to try as soon as I graduate!

What inspires you? Tell me or send me links!

I Lie Like a Rug

I know I said I wasn't going to be crafting much until I finished all my massive amounts of work, but I got inspired in religion class again! What's a gal to do?

Behold the Strip Tease Bag. I'm in love...I need to make another one! I have lots of scraps that are begging to but to good use. A tutorial is in the works, I just have a few kinks to work out!

The S**t Hath Hitteth the Fan

Ten points to anyone who knows what movie that quote is from!

As every poor collegiate sap knows, this, my dears, is crunch time. This is the time of year when yet to be started term papers are due. This is the time of year when exams over unread material take place. This is the time of year better known as H-E-double hockey sticks.

Consequently, I will won't be posting as regularly for the rest of the month. I'll pop up here and there, but sewing time is going to be short and infrequent. Plus, I have secret projects for swaps in the works, with means most of what I do sew is going to be un-postable.

I know this is very sad, but to cheer you up, how about a glimpse of what I've been doing with my Freshcut Fabrics?







A giant log cabin! I started off following a pattern, but the dang thing had lots of errors in it. Combine that with my own mistakes, and the end result is quite a departure. I'm fairly happy with it though. It think it will be really cute when its all quilted and I can scallop the end boarders.

P.S. I know this is badly in need of ironing, but the ironing board in my dorm is really rickety and it keeps trying to collapse on me. I decided to defer until a later date.

Fabric Friday

This week on the Sew Mama Sew blog, fabric aficionado Alicia Paulson was was invited to create a fat quarter bundle for the shop. She chose twelve different prints from various lines that reminded her of the view from out of her window. This seemed like way too much fun to pass up, so I decided to give it a shot myself.

Here's what I came up with.





I found it very challenging to do this online. I'm not sure how these will coordinate with each other. Generally when I order online I buy things that I've already seen in person or that are part of a line. That way I know they coordinate. Shopping like this is a bit scary...I really need to see the fabrics in person to make sure they work! I'm optimistic though. What do you think?

(Click on the individual photos for more info)

We Have a Winner!!!

I could blather on, but with free fabric on the line, who wants to listen to me talk? Without further ado, via random number generator, the winner of the four fat quarter pack is Mary with this comment:

I think I could spend a small fortune on toys for my puppy. They all look like so much fun. At least, if I were a dog, I think they would be fun. He seems to enjoy them when I give him a new one. I just gave him a new toy from the stash and he looks happy as a clam!

Congratulations Mary!!!

But wait, there's more. I had so much fun reading all the comments, and I was so thrilled that people were willing to share little snippets of their lives with me, that I was inspired to have another winner. I was planning on picking out the comment that I found particularly touching/amusing/etc, and sending that lovey person two Freshcut fat quarters. I felt really bad though trying to pick a winner. I love the Chuck Norris stories and all the woes associated with stolen wallets. I've also been through doula training, so I'm a sucker for pregnancy/birthing/baby stories. And then there are drunken nicknames stories...those are pretty fabulous to. And the all the daily life stuff, and who can forget the bunnies...YOU GET THE PICTURE. I just couldn't decide. SO this mini winner was randomly generated as well.

And winner number 2 is Sarah:

Oooh - I'm here from SMS as well - and I love your title "Ripping Out Seams" - my boyfriend thinks my creative process (which takes over our apartment) is hilarious as it tends to include more taking things apart than putting them together sometimes. Also, I totally appreciate these giveaways on April 1st - I tend to hate this "holiday" as I think some spite left over from elementary school makes me think it can generally just be quite mean! The fabric is wonderfully spring-y!

Yay Sarah! I hope this improves your April 1st aversion :)

I'll be back later this week with a look at what I've been making out of this Freshcut fabric.

Another Quilting Bee 2...For Chen

April is Chen's month for AQB2 and she sent around lovely packages of Tanya Whelan's Barefoot Roses line. This is normally something that I would never think to buy. I'm not a terribly flowery girl, but I make an exception for these. They were beautiful and so much fun to work with. That's one of the best things about virtual quilting bees...they broaden your perspectives and make you think outside your norm.

I thought about these blocks for quite a while before actually starting. The fabrics are soft and feminine and pretty traditional, so I wanted to chose blocks that really complemented that. I eventually got the idea of a prairie braid stuck in my head, and I couldn't get it out. I thought it was perfect, traditional and feminine, but a little bit cockeyed, a little bit twisted.


This is the first one that I made. I knew that I wanted to feature the prairie braid in both blocks, but I wanted them both to have a very different feel. Chen had mentioned Shabby Chic as an inspiration, so I tried to mimic the flair of that. In this one, I was going for more of a repurposed vintage feel. I wanted a bit of whimsy and a bit of practicality and I wanted it to be something you couldn't quite categorize. I didn't want it to be traditional or modern, but rather something in between. I added brighter colors into the braid, to make it pop, but kept the borders pretty muted. I'm not entirely sure if I got that feeling across, but I love the way it looks.


The second one is traditional all the way. I cut really little strips of all the remaining fabrics and incorporated a few things from my stash for a more scrappy look. I then separated them with really thin white strips and left it at that. I think this block is so lovely, and it came out exactly as I envisioned it. Plus, I think it will blend perfectly with the other blocks that have been made so far.

I hope you like them Chen!

Fabric Friday

Wow, thanks for all the blog comments and entries into my little giveaway. I've enjoyed reading the comments...keep them coming here!

I've been feeling less of a compulsion to buy fabric lately, so I think my strategy is working!!! Success!!!! I have discovered that it is vastly satisfying to use fabric from my stash. I've been working on my April blocks for AQB2, and just adding a few various scraps of fabric from my stash was exciting. It forced me to look at combinations I would have normally never considered, with great results (at least in my opinion). I learned, I grew, I made a mess of my room...there is currently fabric EVERYWHERE.

That being said, less of a compulsion to buy fabric certainly doesn't mean no compulsion to buy fabric. These beauties would tempt a saint. Seriously, Heather Ross is so unfair...her Far and Away collection is too cute for words. The only thing that keeps me from buying it is that its printed on cotton double gauze at a whopping $17 a yard. That is not a student friendly price. Boo...:( These are a few of my favs from the collection...


I've been very pleasantly surprised by all the peacocks popping up. Keri Beyer has her lovely collection, and I just discovered his little cutie today.

Its part of the Monaco fabric collection by Dena Designs for Free Spirit, and I think its my favorite peacock fabric so far! It reminds me of French manuscript marginalia...in a very good way. Interestingly, in manuscript iconography, the peacock is regarded as a symbol of new life and the resurrection. It is used metaphorically in the same way as the phoenix. I expect peacocks will feature prominently in my swap project that the 6 o'clock stitch is hosting. It's not too late to sign up!

GIVEAWAY!!!!!

I absolutely swear this is not an April Fools Day prank. That would be far too cruel. One of my rules to live by: never come between a quilter and his/her free fabric. I have no desire to find myself on the blogging blacklist...

I was actually going to wait until my 50th post to do a giveaway, but I changed my mind and decided to do it now. Who the heck wants to be conventional? Certainly not me. So, to celebrate the most worthy month of April, I am giving away some Heather Bailey Freshcut fabrics. One lucky grand prize winner will receive all four of the fat quarters show below. I have been working with these fabrics for a while now, and they are absolutely perfect for spring. They make me think of Easter. In fact, every time I sew with them I start humming the Peter Cottontail song. Without fail.


So here's how this is going to go. Leave me a comment about something. I don't care what, but try to make it semi-interesting...I'm going to read these after all! Make sure you include some way for me to get in contact with you. Additionally, if you blog about this on your site, add a link to the post and I'll give you an extra entry. I'll leave the entries open until 11:59 pm Eastern time on Monday April 6th. I'll randomly pick and announce the winners on April 7th (seven is my lucky number, so I thought that would be an auspicious day). So have at it!

Finally, in the spirit of April, I'll leave you with this...

Whan that Aprill with his shoures soote
The droghte of March hath perced to the roote,
And bathed every veyne in swich licour
Of which vertu engendred is the flour;
Whan Zephirus eek with his sweete breeth
Inspired hath in every holt and heeth
The tendre croppes, and the yonge sonne
Hath in the Ram his half cours yronne,
And smale foweles maken melodye,
That slepen al the nyght with open ye
(So priketh hem Nature in hir corages),