Monthly Archive for March, 2009

CROSS STITCH PENDANT

Published on March 27, 2009 in accoutrement, DIY and stitchery. 30 Comments Tags: , , , .

Sorry about the teaser the other day, I was just so excited that I had to share a wee bit. Here are the beginnings of my idea. I’ve been wanting to cross stitch into wood for a while, of course the thought of drilling hundreds of tiny holes (in a perfect grid formation) into wood does not appeal to anyone. Luckily, the workroom possesses a magical machine called a laser cutter. (That statement alone deserves its’ own post)

After a little computer fiddling, I came up with a few very simplistic designs. I hope to refine them much more. These wooden cross stitch pendants are tiny little canvases that you can stitch little designs or monograms into. How fun! I’m just learning about cross stitch patterns, so my first one is just a simple heart. If you look closely, you’ll see it’s not symmetrical.

In my cross stitch research, I came across the site, Radical Cross Stitch which is full of fun, modern cross stitching. I especially love the Banksy cross stitch. Hmm, embroidered graffiti…

Also, the Antique Pattern Library is a huge (free!) online resource for vintage needlework patterns, including knitting, crochet and embroidery. There are hours of fun there.

Of course, now my mind is racing with a thousand ideas and it’s keeping me up late at night!

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SNEAK PEEK

Published on March 25, 2009 in hello. 9 Comments Tags: .


Sneak Peek, originally uploaded by the workroom.

I’ve had this idea in my head for a long time… over a year. I am finally working on my first sample. So far, I’m REALLY excited!!

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FAKE SPRING

Published on March 24, 2009 in hello. 8 Comments Tags: .

Fake Spring

It’s so easy to carried away this time of the year. I cut out this comic years and years ago and use it to remind myself that although the calendar says spring is here, I’m better off wearing my winter coat for just a little bit longer. It’s still really cold out there!

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DOUBLE WEDDING RING QUILT FABRICS

Published on March 23, 2009 in colour, patchwork, textiles and the workroom. 3 Comments Tags: , , , , .

After a lot of hemming and hawing, I’ve finally decided on my colours and fabrics for my Double Wedding Ring quilt. The class is finally starting this Thursday!

Originally, I was thinking red, blue and cream. This palette has been refined to coral, aqua, navy and creams with multi-colours. The inspiration basically came from all the new fabrics that came last week. The new Tula Pink ‘Neptune’ collection and Anna Maria Horner ‘Good Folk’ collection are so pretty that I can’t resist including them in this quilt. The background will be a soft grey Anna Griffin fabric.

I’m really excited, it’s been a while since I’ve done one of Johanna’s quilting classes. Her clever tips and tricks are always so invaluable. If I can stay on track then it’s possible I’ll have a completed quilt in four weeks!

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TAKE ONE!

Published on March 22, 2009 in art, found and local. 2 Comments Tags: , .

I never know what little treasure I’m going to find on my walk to work. Looks like Martha’s been up to some more happy-making art. This appeared the other day on Brock, on the same pole as her knitted cozy. Is anyone else inspired to make a little public art?

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PATCHWORK PILLOWCASES

Published on March 21, 2009 in local, patchwork, scraps and stitchery. 5 Comments Tags: , , , , .

I’m doing well with my goal of working on more ‘house-related’ projects. I just finished these simple patchwork pillowcases. The patchwork strip is an off-cut from the queen sized quilt that I’m currently hand quilting. Since it will likely be quite a while since I actually finish the quilt, I thought a few pillowcases might motivate me to move faster. I can’t wait to get the finished and washed quilt on the bed! I can’t even imagine how satisfying that will feel.

The pillowcases are very simply done, with an envelope pillow-style opening at the back. I just copied the pillow cases from our new Dwell bedding. (bought at the cutest little shop – La Merceria). I’m planning on doing a duvet cover next but I just figured out that it will require about eleven metres of fabric. So, I’m going to need to do a bit of planning.

I’ve also got a couple window treatments in progress and I’ll post those once they are complete. With the nice weather approaching I’m trying to focus on doing these home projects before I get the itch to start making dresses again.

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I MISS YOU

Published on March 19, 2009 in art, found and local. 8 Comments Tags: , .

This made me stop while riding my bike down Queen Street on Monday. I guess someone was really missing someone else in Trinity Bellwoods Park. Sweet.

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VINTAGE SHOES & SHOES

Published on March 18, 2009 in accoutrement, local and vintage. 5 Comments Tags: , , .

I’ve had shoes on my mind recently. Now that it is almost time to put away my winter footwear, I’d like to find some lovely spring-y flats. In my ideal world, they are a) comfortable b) hardy (i walk to work & home each day with a dog) c) cute as heck d) go with everything. This might be impossible, but I’ve been scouting around.

Last week I enlisted the help of Jane and she put together a drool-worthy selection that seriously threatens my bank account. Those Maloles are so so lovely! Thank you, Jane. It is now my mission to add a pair of Maloles to my shoe collection one day very soon.

Then EZ posted about Marais USA. Colourful, sweet and affordable. As soon as this collection is released, I’m going to order a pair.

Yesterday, Ellie posted this selection of grey & mustard flats. I’m pretty much about to buy #3. I’m just debating the right colour – black (practical) vs. grey (my all time fav) or both?

On Thursday night, I went out to dinner with Dominic and we stopped into Franny Vintage, just a couple blocks west of the workroom on Queen. What a cute shop! They sell a mix of vintage clothing, shoes and Cheap Monday jeans. I couldn’t resist buying these Bandolino navy pumps. I have an awesome pair of navy pumps already, but these fit and have that amazing cut-out detail and I do love navy.

It never fails, even when Dom & I don’t mean to shop, we end up finding awesome little treasures that we can’t help buying. Our shopping karma is perfect together. Do you have friends like this? It was always rather dangerous when he came to visit me in NYC and we would hit the shops. The weekend would end with such an enviable stockpile of goodies that I couldn’t even feel guilty about all the money I had spent. Now, that’s a good shopping partner.

I just looked in my closet, I’m getting those #3 flats in black!

{This photo below is Franny Vintage, not my closet.)

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WEEKEND TULIPS

Published on March 15, 2009 in spotted, textiles and the workroom. 4 Comments Tags: , , , , , .

Andrew bought these lovely tulips yesterday and for me they are the perfect marker for the end of a crazy work week and the start of a heavenly two day weekend.

I wanted to share a few bits and bobs before I head off to devour some rare free time.

Glorious new fabrics arrived this week including Tula Pink’s Neptune collection and Japanese treasures like nani IRO, kokka and echino. Oh dear, what to make next?

I’ve created a new page on the blog where you can see all the ‘Tutorials & DIY projects‘ in one place. Hopefully this will make it easier to reference some of my past projects and get me going on doing some more tutorials for you!

Reva told me about a new sewing magazine that has just come out called, “Modern Seamster“. You can download the first issue as a pdf. With all these magazines closing, it’s so nice to see something new.

I love Audrey Tatou, so I’m really excited about the new Coco Chanel movie. The trailer is in french which makes it even more intriguing. I am marking this one in my calendar, I want to see this in the theatre. Wanna make a date? {via NOTCOT}

The Globe & Mail’s article on craft and the economy came out yesterday. This seems to be a very big topic of interest with the press. I’m wondering what your thoughts are on this? Are you crafting more right now? Do you craft and sew to save money? Are you buying more or less locally made and handmade stuff?

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ORANGE, GREY & NAVY

Published on March 12, 2009 in colour, patchwork and scraps. 6 Comments Tags: , , , .

I have a new obsession.

Over the weekend I started making these mini log cabin blocks from scrap fabrics from my stash and from the scrap bin at the workroom. I collected all my favourite scraps and then sorted them all by colour. Then I started creating little mini colour palettes for each log cabin block and so it began…

Here’s what I love about this. Each tiny block is an exercise in colour. I can try out dozens of different colour palettes without committing to an entire quilt or large scale project. I can be experimental, spontaneous and playful without worrying about the outcome. It’s soo much fun!

Also, I’m using up tiny scraps. A lot of these are leftovers from all my past projects or leftovers from YOUR past projects. I’ve been swiping your little scrap bin throwaways for months and finally I’m using them.

This particular block was inspired by a spread in one of my visual diaries. I’ve been making these visual diaries/collage/scrap/inspiration books since university. It is one of my favourite all-time activities to sit down with my bottle of rubber cement and endlessly arrange the bits and pieces of magazines clippings and ephemera that I collect. Every time I open one of my books I’m immediately inspired. This particular colour palette stood out and I gathered my orange, grey and navy scraps. These are colours that I never would have put together on my own, but they look so delicious!

A crafty nod goes to Jen, whose log cabin heart medallions made me want to do tiny patchwork.

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