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ed blooms some involve stitching on ready made items while others include additional simple sewing i m particularly smitten with this dala horse and these little pom pom luminaries are adorable and practical finally stitched blooms includes an impressive 300 motifs for stitching on anything your heart desires a cd is included so you can download and resize the images to suit your particular project this is one of my favorite features carina s book and cd came in handy recently as i was trying to come up with a little something for a friend who was having a baby i got a text message that she was in labor and though i d already sewn a few other simple gifts i thought it would be fun to stitch something for her daughter while she was in labor i popped the cd in to my computer and found the image that corresponded with the one i d picked from the book resized it to fit the onesie and printed it out i used my tried and true method for transferring images on to fabric dressmaker s carbon paper and set to stitching the design was simple enough that i was able to easily complete it in a couple of hours and it was fun to do something for my friend while she was in labor it felt like a special way to keep her in my thoughts while she was working so hard to bring this sweet new life in to the world carina s stitched blooms is a fantastic book for stitchers looking to be inspired by color and nature she has a unique way of creating organic designs that can also feel very graphic and modern it s a great addition to any embroidery fan s library disclosure i was provided with a complimentary copy of stitched blooms to review but the opinions expressed are 100 my own posted by averagejanecrafter at 2 39 pm 4 comments labels book review craft books embroidery wednesday may 1 2013 quiltcon 2013 report slide show better late than never right back in february i was lucky enough to be an instructor at the inaugural quiltcon in austin the modern quilt guild did a spectacular job of putting on this quilt show and fabulous workshops and lectures i taught a class called redwork in modern quilting in which i looked at the tenets of traditional redwork embroidery and aligned them with the tenets of modern quilting to create my take on redwork embroidery in modern quilting we then got down to the work of basic hand embroidery it felt so good to be teaching again that s been one of the things i ve missed most about leaving austin and the stitch lab i was a little nervous about the subject of the class it was one that was presented to me and they let me run with it and teach it as i saw fit it ended up being great fun to research traditional redwork and see how we could translate that into modern quilting it also gave me the opportunity to make my second quilt top that i used for the example in my class it s the marquee pattern from the modern quilt workshop book i felt it was a nice modern take on that classic patchwork feel of traditional quilts sewing the strips together was dreamy and it made me want to make one big ole giant striped quilt somewhere down the line i was able to get a new sewing machine right before christmas nothing overly fancy or expensive but just enough of a step up that it made a huge difference for me and that puppy was singing while i sewed sewed sewed and cranked the quilt top out in just a couple of afternoons i had a blast the vendor booths were awesome particularly the stitch lab booth i know i know i m a little biased but deeeeeyam those ladies outdid themselves the fabric was phenomenal the booth layout was perfect and it was a smokin hot hub throughout the entire show it made me miss them even more one of the best parts of quiltcon was getting to see so many good friends but even better was getting to hang out with my aunt terry who came down all the way from santa fe new mexico to take my class and attend quiltcon aunt terry and i have bonded over quilting and it s been great fun to connect with her in this way we ve always loved her family and this gives us even more reasons to stay in touch and have fun together she became know as aunt terry as we walked around the show and she met my friends we had a great time looking at quilts visiting vendors and she even got to experience her first photo booth which was a total riot i loved having her there the quilt show itself left me completely in awe and inspired i went through it several times and found new things each time that i did i took as many pictures as i could but often found myself so inthralled in the quilts that i forgot to whip out my phone to snap a picture i also tried to take a picture of the quilt followed by a picture of the information about it i wasn t able to do that every single time but i did get quite a few there were several times where i d fall in love with a quilt and then read the story behind it and fall in love in a whole new way the stories behind the quilts and how they were made were fascinating i ve loaded all my pictures into a flickr set i m still working on labeling etc but it s an easy way to look through them all enjoy posted by averagejanecrafter at 2 06 pm 0 comments labels quiltcon quilting thursday april 25 2013 lessons learned from making my first quilt last fall i took my first quilt class i was terrified and not sure how i d do but i was also excited to try something new and though i started out shaky within a few weeks i got my quilting legs and took off and fell madly in love with this medium since then i ve complete another quilt top taught at quiltcon and am diving into my third quilt this week before i fill you in on all those things here s a look at my first quilt process and some of the things i learned taking a quilt class made a huge difference i have a hefty stack of quilting books that i love but taking a class really helped me understand how quilts come together and made the books make more sense having a person who can answer questions and share their personal tips was infinitely helpful now i can tackle quilts i see in books with confidence it was also fun to watch a group of students take identical patterns and create such incredibly different quilts i loved it it pays to press my sewing guru leslie always said it pays to pin in our sewing classes and she s right the same saying can go for pressing when it comes to quilting i won t iron clothes to save my life but give me seams to press and i m all over it mistakes are no big deal i don t have a picture of it but once i pulled my quilt out of the dryer i was fondling it with glee get yer mind out of the gutter my hand came across a seam in the middle of a block that had come completely out at first i was horrified but then i thought it d be a perfect place for a little embroidery maybe even a stitched oops no biggie seeing your kid snuggled up under a quilt you made while they watch tv is pretty freaking awesome after all the time and energy sweat and tears of course i put in to this quilt the happiest i was came when my son grabbed it off a chair and curled up underneath it so in love keeping it simple made it doable the quilt blocks themselves were pretty involved so i went super simple with the quilting an aesthetic i prefer anyway and kept the binding simple by just doing it all by machine i thought this might be a cheater method of binding but it turns out some of my very favorite quilters use this method exclusively it felt great to finally tackle making my own binding and being able to attach it in one run through the machine satisfied my need to git er done i kept susan beal s modern log cabin quilting book right next to me during the entire binding process her instructions were so easy to follow and eased all my binding fears i m so glad that i fell in to quilting right now it s been a great way to rejuvenate me challenge me and introduce me to a whole other community that is vibrant and supportive i m looking forward to quilts number three four five one hundred posted by average jane crafter at 10 48 am 14 comments labels quilting tuesday october 2 2012 show me a story winner thanks to all who commented for a chance to win a copy of emily k neubuger s show me a story i truly love this book and even if you didn t win i encourage you to grab a copy for yourself or follow her blog tour for another chance to win a copy congrats to arielle clementine who said i am planning on homeschooling my kids and feel like this book would be a wonderful way to get them interested in storytelling i ll be in touch arielle to get your copy of show me a story headed to your home stay tuned for updates on my quilt class and my first ever quilt block spoiler i didn t die from fear over making it posted by average jane crafter at 8 40 am 2 comments labels book review craft books thursday september 27 2012 introducing show me a story by emily k neuburger one of my favorite things about the time i spent at craft was finding and following so many immensely creative folks through their blogs i love stumbling on new blogs keeping up with them and watching them grow over the years and it s even more exciting to see them make the jump from blog publishing to book publishing emily with her daughters hazel and leah telling stories using the traveling puppet theater project from show me a story one such case is emily k neuburger of red bird crafts whom i first connected with a couple of years ago after posting about some of her projects on craft i ve followed her work and stayed in touch ever since and was thrilled to se her new book show me a story that has 40 craft projects and activities to spark children s storytelling the story disks project is simple and cute and will end up providing hours of creative play for kids as a mom i have to admit that when i ve tried to craft with my kids they don t always jump right on board they seem to need some kind of additional hook to get going what i love about show me a story is that the projects have purpose it s not just about making something cute it s about making something that you then turn around and use to share creative stories and adventures with others that bumps the awesome factor right up through the roof for me the storytelling jar is an adorable project that would look cute on a desk or shelf and can then be pulled down to use for story telling whenever the mood strikes the projects are mostly pretty simple and use basic materials that can often be found around your house even in the recycling bin so it s a great book for families to have on hand for rainy days family activity nights or summer boredom busting it s also a book that would be a great gift for teachers because many of the activities would be perfect for the classroom emily s thoughtful and thorough explanations of the mechanics of stories and her rich prompts help readers jump right in to the story telling process emily doesn t just provide craft project tutorials in the book but she also includes incredibly helpful guides for getting kids in the right mindset to fall deep down the story telling rabbit hole she s prepared rich lists of prompts and explanations that help parents or teachers put the activities in to context for the children show me a story is filled with the kind of projects and inspiration that help create special moments between adults and children and it s really refreshing to see this kind of take on a craft project book i like when there is purpose to a project beyond just making it if all this resonates with you you re in luck i have one copy of show me a story to offer for giveaway to an average jane crafter reader just leave a comment on this post telling me how you would use this book with the kiddos in your life and i ll draw a winner at random on monday you have until 9pm cst on sunday september 29 to leave your comment sorry contest is open to u s residents only hey wait a minute i recognize that name under the quote up there posted by average jane crafter at 8 00 am 9 comments labels craft books crafting with kids giveaway tuesday september 25 2012 being ok with being terrified cutting precise straight lines scares the heck out of me y all last week i started my first quilting class i ve been meaning to try my hand at quilting for a while but the right moment hadn t hit me yet after being invited to teach a hand embroidery workshop at quiltcon i decided this was the perfect time this fall would be the time i finally learn how to make a quilt my initial fabric selection i thought we needed five fabrics but it turns out we only needed four i had to change this grouping up a bit i decided to get my fabrics before the first class and had a lot of fun browsing through bolts though the quilt we ll be making in class isn t my particular style it s very traditional piecing and i m drawn more to the graphic modern quilts i m excited to be learning so many techniques and decided i d try using more modern feeling fabrics in the quilt i figured i need to be in love with the fabrics so i can spend the next eight weeks staring at them and the next who knows how many years using the quilt even as enjoyable as shopping for fabric is though an unanticipated feeling emerged as i picked up swapped out and debated different fabrics terror the reworked fabrics for the quilt i actually like this grouping better you see i haven t tried any big new skills lately i ve been pretty darn comfortable with my infatuation with hand embroidery and dabbling in other simple crafts but i haven t really s t r e t c h e d much outside of my comfort zone recently quilting is big and pretty foreign to anything i ve ever done sure it s fabric and sewing but it s also precision straight lines matching points perfect quarter inch seams basting binding and quilting all these things are not in my usual bag of tricks i m a fly by the seat of my pants kind of crafter i take pride in not worrying if my seams are 100 perfectly straight quilting is going to take some time and thought and purposeful action there will be lots of practicing on scrap fabrics lots of measuring and remeasuring and most certainly without a doubt lots of mistakes i nerded out and used my light box to make a copy of the quilt pattern so i could color it in with different colorways and decide which fabrics i wanted to use in which ways don t laugh it s super handy i don t shy away from mistakes and i love learning new things but when i showed up to my class and realized i was the only one who hadn t made a quilt before hey it s an intro to quilting class i didn t think it would be so odd that i hadn t made a quilt before i felt the terror creep back up i m typically outgoing and enthusiastic in a class environment instead i became intensely introverted and i ll say it scared out of my wits my quilt ruler was futzy my machine borked out on me and there were a million other little things that just made the evening a bit crazy and uncomfortable and terrifying i made photocopies of the tracing and then col...