handprinted: a fabric swap II

Lately, I've been wanting to try my hand at printing my own fabric, so when I heard about the hand-printed fabric swap organized by Leslie over at Maze and Vale back in June, I immediately knew I wanted to participate.

After a bit of brainstorming, research, and experimenting, I settled on a simple triangle design.

I created a stamp using adhesive-backed foam and a plastic cap for the base and stamped away using black, aqua, and coral fabric paint. I made four fat quarters for my four swap partners.

I was super happy with the results of this experiment in fabric stamping---and only wish I'd made a fifth to keep for myself!

You can see the beautiful fabric I received in return here, here, and here.

stash report: sale fabrics

I couldn't resist the sale at Sew, Mama, Sew! a few weeks ago:

{Bottom to top: Heath in Black by Alexander Henry, Summersault Raindrops in Midnight by Erin McMorris, 1001 Peeps Pearl Bracelet in Green by Lizzy House, Summersault Pixie Stick Posies in Turquoise by Erin McMorris, and Summersault Raindrops in Turquoise by Erin McMorris}

screen-printed fabric by small talk

Two weekends ago, I had a chance to run through my very first Crafty Bastards Arts + Crafts Fair (I was on my way to work, so I couldn't stay long). While there, I picked up a swatch of screen printed fabric by Small Talk, a studio based in Baltimore. 

I still haven't decided what to do with my panel, though a pillow is on the top of my list.

P.S. Thank you, Seaside Siblings, for the lovely mention!

anna maria horner scarf

During a day trip to Burlington, Vermont, back in July, my mom and I stopped by Nido, a lovely fabric shop with a carefully curated selection of beautiful fabrics. I picked up two pieces of fabric from Cloud9's My Happy Garden line (which I used for this project), as well as a scarf kit which included two strips of voile from Anna Maria Horner's Little Folks line.

I completely fell in love with the voiles, which are soft and silky and so easy to work with.  The scarf came together very quickly and is the perfect weight for cool fall days.

quilting project: stitch dc quilt along

Our stuff finally arrived on Friday (though sadly, our beloved couch couldn't fit through our oddly shaped entryway, so we had to find another, smaller one to take its place) and I've begun to unpack my studio and slowly get back into the swing of crafting. I have a few things in my to-do pile that I started before all of the craziness of the move, and a few new things I've been waiting to start, including my quilt blocks for the Stitch DC Mystery Quilt Along.

I cut and sewed my blocks together this week, after a lot of time going back and forth on color choices. In the end, I wound up using a cornflower blue solid with two organic Cloud9 prints that I picked up at Nido in Burlington, Vermont, and two green prints (from Amy Butler's Daisy Chain collection and Heather Bailey's Nicey Jane collection) from City Craft in Dallas, Texas. My question to you is, do you think this color palette works? I've been going back and forth on the greens. In some lights I totally think they work together, and in others, I'm less sure. Any thoughts or feedback--and alternate fabric suggestions--would be much appreciated!

fabrics on my wish list

 Coloring Garden by Anna Maria Horner 

Cabo by Leah Duncan

 Ele-fete by Cloud9 Fabrics

Castle Town by Lizzie House

sewing project: bias tape bag

 

On Tuesday night, I came across this tutorial for a bias tape bag on Prudent Baby, and decided to try it out.

In under two hours, I had an adorable, reversible bag. I used recently thrifted polka dot fabric for one side, and Japanese fabric featuring sheep for the other. The light blue bias tape is handmade and leftover from the quilt that I made for my parents for Christmas.

I was hoping to use the bag as a new lunch tote, but sadly, it was too shallow for my needs. (I seem to have a history of making too-small lunch bags.) I may attempt to make another, deeper one soon.

behind the scenes

 My inspiration board (which includes a Polaroid from our wedding and plastic deer)

Over the past few weeks, I've been working hard to organize my typically cluttered workspace--our spare room--so today, I thought I'd share a few pictures.  

I keep all of my aida cloth, buttons, felt, and hardware (like snaps and D-rings) in these drawers, which I picked up at a yard sale in middle or high school.

On top of the drawers is a spool rack made by my great-grandfather, who also made dollhouse furniture, as well as a Plain & Thimble sewing kit given to me by a friend.

On the wall above my sewing machine, I've hung a shower caddy, which I've loaded up with pretty fat quarters and scraps of fabric.

I also have embroidery hoops, a measuring tape, and a bag that I picked up at a market in San Antonio, which holds all of my knitting supplies, hanging from the caddy.

At any given time, I usually have a couple of projects going. Pictured above are blocks for a quilt that I'm working on (I'm using this Red Pepper Quilts tutorial), and pictured below are some French knot napkins in various stages, as well as the top of my little trees quilt, which I hope to finish this weekend.

wedding project: boutonnieres

First of all, thank you to Rachel for featuring my wedding quilt on the Craft blog on Tuesday! I'm so flattered! Also, thank you to everyone for their lovely comments, and welcome new followers!

Since a lot of the projects that I've been working on and photographing this week are for swaps (and I don't want to spoil the surprise for my swap partners!), I thought that I'd share another wedding-related craft project with you.

While planning our wedding (aka reading an insane number of wedding blogs), I came across these button blossoms on Martha Stewart Weddings and immediately fell in love with them. I made boutonnieres inspired by Martha's project for my husband and our justice of the peace to wear at our wedding.

I used fabric-covered buttons (this was my first time working with them) and flowers made from ribbon as my "blooms." The leaves were made with fusible interfacing and scrap fabric.

 Photo by Teresa Munisteri 

I really enjoy working with coverable buttons (as seen here) and have plans for cross-stitch pin-back buttons in the coming weeks. Stay tuned!

wedding project: quilt

Photo by Teresa Munisteri

Before our wedding last August, I collected fabric from some of our wedding guests. In the months leading up to the big day, I cut the fabric into isosceles triangles using pinking shears, and sewed the triangles together to create simple bunting to decorate our venue, the Richards Free Library in Newport, NH.

Photo by Teresa Munisteri

On the day of our wedding, we strung the bunting up in the library's ballroom, where we held our ceremony, and around the tables of pie and lasagna at our reception in the Library Arts Center.

Photo by Teresa Munisteri

After the wedding, I started work on a wedding quilt, made up of all of the triangles from the bunting. The quilt came together rather quickly (if you don't count the time I spent ripping out a few seams...), and is an eclectic mix of colors, thanks to the variety of fabric we received.

Being the first quilt I've ever done on my own, it has some wobbly and uneven seams, and is a slightly odd, longish shape, but I'm happy with how it turned out. It now resides in our living room and is a nice daily reminder of a memorable day.

quilting project: blocks for charity

A coworker and I are currently working on a quilt top that we will be donating to the charity Wrap Them in Love (I found out about the organization through Sew Mama Sew! back in December). We're working with tan, orange, and teal fabrics which we picked up from Thread-Bare, my favorite local source for inexpensive crafty supplies, and I'm excited to see the quilt take shape.

While the quilt is still in the beginning stages (I'll post pictures of it here when it's done!), I'm also working on a stack of blocks to donate as well, which are pictured here. Each nine-patch square is made from scraps I have in the studio, including vintage sheets and thrifted remnants.

birthday goodies

For my birthday last Wednesday, my fabulous family and friends showered me with lots of fabric and crafty goodies.

I received more super cute fabric from Japan...

 

 

...a pack of coordinated fat quarters from CityCraft, my favorite fabric store in Dallas...

...pretty fabric, vintage buttons, and darling straight pins...

...a rotary cutter and mat...

...and a patchwork pin cushion and sewing tool holder to drape over the sofa armrest (made by my mom!).

 

All in all, it was an excellent birthday. Thank you, everyone, for the thoughtful gifts!

diy fabric flowers

As I've mentioned in previous posts, I really love fabric and felt flowers--both making them and wearing them. In December, I used this tutorial by Heart of Light to make myself a ruffly headband from a black grosgrain ribbon and cream lining fabric.

christmas loot: fabric from japan

From my brother and sister-in-law, who live in Japan:

Four lovely yards of cotton fabric.