Mug Rug

Not only was the Flock and Gather Springtime Handmade Market an overall lovely experience, I was inspired by all the talented artists selling their wares. Although I was very tempted to spend every last penny I earned over the weekend at other crafters tables, I restrained myself and only made a few purchases. However, I did regret not picking up one of Milkybeer's beautiful mug rugs. Not only do I find the term "Mug Rug" endearing, but they are so practical. I often have a few beverages on the go, or want a place to set down my phone and/or snack. So the other night when armed with some free time and an overflowing scrap basket (see below). I made my own little improvised patchwork mug rug (although I still may need to pick one of Kim's sometime soon).

The result of a month and a half of sewing = packed scrap basket.

My improvised patchwork mug rug, featuring my favorite fabrics and a lovely mug made by Cathy Terepocki.

Have a lovely day,
-Steph

Review: Flock and Gather Springtime Handmade Market

The Flock and Gather Springtime Handmade Market was a great success. So many amazing crafters! So much love and support! And it was busy too, over 1300 people visited the market throughout the weekend. It felt really good to get out of my studio and talk to people about my work and meet so many talented craftspeople. The Flock and Gather crew did an amazing job to make sure everything ran smoothly and beautifully; hand printed posters, handmade decorations, and homemade snacks for everyone made the weekend really special. I certainly would be thrilled to sell my work at another Flock and Gather event!

Here are a few photos that I took from the show.

Setting up the hall on Friday afternoon. (Note the beautiful handmade pinwheels!)

My table! From tea cozy's to cake pillows, I had a little bit of everything.

PD and I found this little shelf on the discount rack at Home Sense. It had seen better days, but some wood glue, clamps, and a coat of paint helped it out quite a bit. It came in handy to showcase my handmade bowties and pincushions.

The Flock and Gather blog has some lovely photos from the event here.

Have a lovely Sunday,
-Steph

Flock and Gather market this weekend!

I found out a little over a month ago that I was accepted into the Flock and Gather Handmade Springtime market! Needless to say, the last month has been very busy as I have been sewing up lots of one-of-a-kind accessories, home decor, and soft sculptures to share with you.

I will have a little bit of everything at the sale, from handbags, to teapot cozy's and bow-ties. Here is PD modeling a handmade bow-tie.

A nice pile of handmade goodies ready for labeling and pricing.

Because this is my first sale (of hopefully many), I was also busy designing business cards, ordering labels to sew into each piece, and building and gathering materials for display.

Everything is ready to go!

I hope you can make it out to the show, I'm excited to show everyone what I've been working on. Flock and Gather sales have a reputation for showcasing the very best in local indie craft. There is definitely something for everyone!

See you at the market!

-Steph

Creative inspiration and the kitchen chair cushion

Since stumbling across the site in December, I have spent many hours on Craftgawker. Not only do I like viewing user projects in a giant thumbnail grid, but I also enjoy the way the projects are sorted into categories. I found this tutorial for a quilted chair cushion in the quilt category and immediately wanted to make it for the chair in our kitchen. So after a visit to my favorite local quilting shop, I put together this lovely little cushion.


I made my cushion a little smaller than the orignal pattern and opted not to do any top stitching. Overall I am quite happy with the way it turned out. If I were to make it again I would possibly make it a little larger and add a little more stuffing.

I anticipate that I will make many more projects with inspiration from craftgawker.

-Steph

What I've been working on: Chuppah Quilt

For our wedding, PD and I built a chuppah for the ceremony. PD built the frame out of wood, and I sewed the top with the intention of one day making it into a quilt for our home.



Me and PD under our chuppah on our wedding day



A few weekends ago, after picking up some 100% cotton quilt batting on sale at Fabricland, I finally finished our chuppah quilt! My forearms were a little sore from wrestling the 6 foot x 6 foot quilt through my sewing machine. It was certainly worth it though.



The quilt now has a home on our couch with our pillows and our friend Earl the Owl.



 
It is a nice lightweight blanket that we will enjoy for many years to come. It also makes a great napping blanket, as PD demonstrates for us.

 -Steph

What I've been working on: Fabric storage basket

PD and I share the space that is our workroom. I wanted to make him something to help keep his area tidy. I found a really great post on Skip to My Lou with links to 10 tutorials on making fabric baskets - here. I chose to make a variation on #6 - fabric scrap baskets, and it turned out pretty good. Here are the photos!

Cutting out the fabric - my basket is more wide than the original pattern.

Finished basket

PD's work station before

PD's work station after! A nice tidy space.

-Steph

What I've been workin on: Party Bunting

I celebrated my 28th birthday last week! I wanted to decorate the house but wasn't interested in buying party streamers and balloons. So instead, I sewed up a scalloped fabric bunting banner that we can now use for many different occasions.



A pile of fabric to sew.





Lovely bunting!



-Steph

What I've been working on: The Dinning Room

As promised in my last post I am going to share with you some of the craft projects I have been working on. Since getting married in October most of my crafting energy has been focused on our home. Here are the things I have made for our dinning room.

After our honeymoon in Banff, we took a trip to Ikea to stock up on housewares and buy a dinning room table. I was also planning on getting some table linens but wasn't thrilled with the selection. So I sewed a improvised patchwork table runner for our table using some scraps from my stash.

I also covered the dinning room cushions with a nice bold geometric cotton.

-Steph

Workroom

After a busy year I am getting ready to get back into the studio. Before I show you what I have been working on I thought I'd take you on a tour of my workroom.

I spent many hours sorting craft supplies and hulling irrelevant and outdated materials, and sorting buttons. Lots and lots of buttons.

There is lots of organized storage!

And lots of sunlight!

Lots of room to work

Lots of room for sewing!

And lots of new fabric to work with.

I better get to work!

-Steph