Spring baskets

These four baskets were made with lovely fabric bundle a friend picked up for me at Purl Soho. I started with the teeny basket with small squares following an online pattern, now at home in my kitchen holding tea.


Then I made three more of varying sizes and patchwork designs I figured out along the way. The last one got a bit tricky, fitting together enough pieces from the dwindling bits.


These baskets are so bright and perfect for spring. All the fabrics are lovely, but I especially like the pink one with the simple, hand-drawn looking flowers.

Cameo

This project is barely worth mentioning, but I like the photo. I recently got a new phone, switching from a flip style to one with a sleek, but easily damaged glass face. Knowing my tendency to drop and then often kick my phone across rough surfaces, like a gravelly garage floor, I thought it wise to give the new gadget a little protection.

So I whipped up this phone pocket using a batik fat quarter and flannel left over from another project. It's simple, but serves its purpose.

What's noteworthy is the reflection I caught in the phone of the sweet face of my cat Aurora, who of course had to check out what I was doing.

Finishing and starting

I finally finished my second mug rug, after waiting so long for a chance to do the binding. It turned out super cute. Unfortunately the strip on the left side of the hippo disappeared under the binding. Next time I have to be careful pieces don't get lost at the edge.


I didn't have too much time for crafting this weekend because I've launched into the huge task of painting my new house, which is white, so white. I figured I'd start easy with a small bathroom. Right. The problem with small rooms is there are lots of corners and nooks and crannies, and little room to manoeuvre in. The bigger challenge with this room is getting an even colour. I chose a very dark cranberry - inspired by a decorated room I saw in an Icelandic museum - on a base of very light, not so great paint. This is the second coat. I'm hoping the third one will do the trick.


I have to say, this colour a bit of a shock. My old house was all painted with rich colours, but my new one is a blank slate. Soon that will be remedied. Now that I have a splash of colour, I want to get the whole house painted! Next I'm going to do my bedroom a very delicate, but still bright purple.

Jumping on the mug rug

I kept reading about mug rugs on all the great handmade blogs I subscribe to and just had to make one, too. Ah, crafty peer pressure.

Here's my first go:


A mug rug is a good chance to try a few new things on a small scale. I hadn't done much piecing or machine quilting before, so I learned a lot along the way. And I got to try binding again, this time without my coach to get me through the tough spots. Although I ended up doing a quick online search when I got to the corners and just could not remember the trick. God bless the internet!

Mug rugs are also a great way to use little scraps. I dipped into a scrap bag I got at a great fabric shop in Burlington, Vermont (www.nidovt.com) for my second mug rug, not quite done yet:


I think this one is already a step up from the first. I did more piecing and with smaller bits. I normally wouldn't pick these colours (yellow - eww), but I really like them together. It's very bright and cheery. I need to quilt and bind it, then it's onto the next project. I am thinking I need to start one of my quilt kits. Considering how slow I am with sewing, that should keep me busy for quite some time. A very long time.

Elusive organization

Here's the current state of my new craft room. It's pretty good, but needs a bit more tweaking. There's lots of room for cutting fabric and spreading out projects. There's plenty of storage. There's separate space for sewing and beading (after a rather tricky process of moving the desks around in the cramped space by myself when the large desk proved too wobbly for sewing).

I don't expect perfection in a craft room. It seems complete organization is elusive and a mess always appears once I start on a project. As long as I can find things and have room to work, that's all that really matters.

This is the sewing area:


On the other side is the beading area and storage cupboards - one for fibre and one for fabric. I was a bit surprised/guilty/aghast at how these two cupboards filled up quickly.


I'm really eager to paint the room, but just can't bear the idea of moving everything now that I've got the room set up. The colour I've picked is a kinda crazy and totally awesome pink. Check out dragon fruit on behr.com. I was inspired by this year's Pantone colour of the year - honeysuckle. I may also throw in a few dashes of last year's colour - turquoise. I recently bought paint for four rooms, so I'm a bit relieved I need to do those (far easier) rooms first.

Sew, sew wrong

The whole process of making a chenille blanket is wrong, wrong, wrong. Fabric is meticulously sewn together, then the scissors come out to cut it all up. Crazy town! Thankfully the result of all that painstaking sewing and snipping is a super cuddly blanket.

Cottony dreams

These pillowcases were a bridal shower gift for a friend. I used two lovely Kaffe Fassett cotton prints with deep reds and purples.


It seemed silly to cover the fabric with wrapping paper, so I tied them up with a ribbon and slipped the card underneath.