Must-Have Ornaments Treasury

Featured in the treasury:
The Little Door – Little Star House
Wee Whooly Whimsys – Snowman
karalmava – Elephant
DarylsRockWireWorks – Mountain Bike

5erg – Playful Kitty
leesasaur – Aqua Teen Hunger Force
The Offbeat Bear – Frightened Piece of Toast
pinklimed – The Christmas Pickle
buckster – Crocheted Rooster PDF
Sheep B True Designs – Felted Panda
artologica – Petri Dishes

Thanksgiving: Non-Traditional Stuffing
I really appreciate Lisa’s post on what she’s thankful for this holiday. Lots of food for thought – please pardon that one.

Heck Yeah!
You Grow Girl’s Gayla has a new feature on her blog for all the random bits she finds but isn’t sure where to put on her blog. Love it. great idea – heck, yeah

Space Invaders Quilt – The Plan
I can’t WAIT to see what Elizabeth comes up with for this design!

Cheez-It Scrabble – something tells me this game doesn’t last too long.

Keroppi stickers from the Dollar Spot? Ok, put it in the basket. He’s dressed like Santa? Ok, get two packages.

My teeth hurt just looking at this.

I bet sales really hit the roof on Election Day, eh?

Holiday Craft Swaps
Baby Romper Goes to Eleven
Spoonflower Veteran’s Day Fabric Tribute
Library Card Catalog Fabric Storage
Indie Art, Craft, and Market Posters
The Texas Quilt at Quilt Market
Miniature Political Yard Signs
Make Your Own Wooden Buttons

Good morning! I posted this on Facebook last night and have received some great pieces of feedback. A lil’ crowd-sourced crafting, if you will! I’m hoping for a bit more here, too! Here’s the original post:

Ok, crafty pals (and non-crafty pals!), I need your thoughts. I’m excited to be part of an ornament showcase next month, in addition to the Detroit Urban Craft Fair!, and I’m contributing quilted/patchwork ornaments. AAAAND, they might make an appearnce in some new kits I’m working on called Lishkits. I made a prototype tonight. I have tons of scraps, so the center of a Lincoln Log block makes sense. This is top-stitched, stiched in the ditch, and has a ribbon hanger. (I tried a grommet, but it was too much.) There’s currently no batting or stuffing.

I NEED YOUR THOUGHTS! Tell me what you think, please!

So there’s that

The biggest consensus so far is that the ornament should be hung from the corner, have some batting added, and to experiment with prints/solids. I couldn’t agree more!

Any other thoughts out there, crafty folks? Send ‘em my way!

After a wonderful weekend in New York for Global Maker Faire (more on that this week!), it’s safe to say I’m a bit tuckered out right now. But not so tuckered out that I couldn’t dream up a surprise for someone later on this week involving Halloween, one of my favorite holidays to craft for. I can’t get into the details right now, but this applique patch will be part of a larger accessory for this weekend… I’ll show off the whole thing next week.

I decided on some “rustic” applique for this pumpkin after hanging out in our Craft demo stage headquarters all weekend and watching crafty pal (and co-worker!) Haley show attendees how to make pet patches good for sewing on to anything. Keep an eye on her blog, The Zen of Making, to see if she posts a tutorial on how to do it.

I love this – makes me think of My Paper Crane! “Willow Shroom.”

This next piece isn’t Alexander Henry, but I LOVE it. It’s a Joann Fabric original print.

Not fabric, but I was obsessed with these pumpkin-flavored Pop Rocks in the check-out line.

I’ve been stocking up on my holiday fabrics for a busy fall. I’m not sure what I’ll be using these for yet. I’ve got a LOT of Christmas gifts to make – I need to get going!

I’m pretty excited – I’ll be sending a quilt I made to the gang up in Flint this weekend for the upcoming Flint Festival of Quilts. Participants were asked to create something that has a family component to it, inspiration from a family member, etc.

The details:
Greater Flint Arts Council
Flint Festival of Quilts (Downtown Flint)
Sept. 9-10
9 a.m.-5 p.m.

I had a lot of fun making this. I took my inspiration from some quilt blocks my great-grandmother started to make out of my grandmother’s old dresses from the 1920s. I love those type of fabric patterns and prints, so I used a Moda honey bun featuring Sandy Klop’s American Jane “Punctuation” line. The strips were perfect for doing rectangle blocks. Very colorful, definitely a bit of a retro feeling. This is a wall hanging, so when it returns it will be hung in my craft room.

I added some trim I had on hand across the front.

Since this is a tribute to my grandmother, I added one of her sewing labels she had made in the 1950s.

I can’t wait to hand off the quilt – it’s my first quilt show! Wish me luck!

I made this pillow for my friend Benita’s birthday last month. A basic Log Cabin block, I used a 16″x 16″ pillow form and corresponding block. I love this style of quilting as I can use lots of colorful scraps to make the finished piece.

Rachel just sent this to me in the mail today. I adore it. It’s supposed to be for my revamped craft room, but I feel like it might need to live downstairs for all to see… Tough choice!

This isn’t the first great gift Rachel has sent me. She made this “Totally RAD” sampler for me this summer, too. I still can’t get over the day-glo aida cloth!

Thanks, Rach

My fabulous friend Katherine sent me a treat in the mail, something not too shocking when it comes from your college pen pal of 10 years. Knowing what I do for a living, Katherine thought these paper tweets from Knock Knock Press would be a good fit for me. They definitely are.