Fuel

Life is ironic........as soon as I thought that my quilting days were over and the bulk of my fabric sold on Ebay, what do I decide to do?....Go to the International Quilt Show! That was all it took to suck me back in...well that and the fact that I had taken on a commission to stitch a quilt for a friend of my Mom two years ago, when I was leaving Santa Fe....yes that's right...2 YEARS AGO...I unearthed the remnants while cleaning out the stash.

The quilt show refueled my interest and gave me the spark I needed to get the ball rolling on this project. I came home with one small bag of fabric for the quilt and one tiny bag of treasures for me (featured on the plate above).

All those little treats, with the exception of the felted beads, came from a dealer that was selling "dead stock" from a jewelry factory in Venice, Italy...one of my favorite cities. Doesn't it all look yummy!

Victorian Collage...30 Minutes for Creativity

Here is a little 30 minute creative project I did last week. I came across an old book that I bought a few years ago in a used bookstore...a great place for inspiration...the book, Book of Collage by Gloria Vanderbilt, one of the original "craft maven's extraordinaire" is full of wonderful and simple ideas for putting together keepsake Victorian style collage but also features many of Gloria's wonderful fabric collage works of art that are very contemporary in look.

I was able to put this piece together quickly because I had just finished sorting through a box of ephemera that I was going to list on ebay. The box I was about to list was an accumulation of odds and ends that I have gathered over the year from box lots that I have purchased at auction. As I was looking at the pictures that I had had uploaded to the listing I started having second thoughts but went ahead and listed anyway. The very next day while I was in the bookshelve I stumbled on the Gloria book and immediately ended the listing (this is not usually a good idea!)and that afternoonI snatched out these elements, grabbed some fabric scraps from the now "highly edited fabric stash" and there you have it...all it needs now is a nice little frame (or not)...I am on my way to the auction house tonight and will surely be able to find a frame in another one of those box lots!

Liberty Print Fabric Bead & Button Necklace

I am really pleased with my version of the Anthropology fabric, bead and button necklace!

This necklace was amazingly easy to make and requires very few skills, if you know how to braid and sew on a button you got it knocked. I was going to share instructions on how to make this necklace but then I had what Oprah would call "an aha moment"....I am going to sell DIY packets! I have been contemplating an etsy shop for over a year now. I just need to DO IT.

Most of the projects that I do are unique because of all the collected elements that I have to work with. It takes time to hunt down a collection and a certain eye to put together the pieces...and that is my specialty!

Until I get the etsy gig working I would be happy to take orders so send me an email and I will put together a kit with your color choices.

Signs of Spring

I have spend a lot of time recently weeding out my fabric stash. It has been a long and arduous process but it was time to let go of some things and get down to the bones...keeping only what I really like and only what I will really use. My rule has always been if you haven't worn it, looked at it or used it in a year you never will....for most of my fabric it has been more than one and nearly seven years. I also believe that in order to make room for new growth to bloom you must weed the garden.

While sorting stacks of potential lots to be auctioned on Ebay my mind was already a buzz with ideas and little piles were starting to form...this is one of the piles. This pile is about to become a necklace like the one pictured above that I saw in an Anthropology catalog.

Now that I am out from under the "ground cover" of my fabric garden I can finally see the little heads of crocus peeping through!