ChicaCraft

Quilts for Quake Survivors

2011-04-11T20:44:00.001-07:00

This is a wonderful project being organized by Daniela and Susan to make quilt donations for the people of Japan who suffered the terrible earthquake in March. The theme was Log Cabin quilt blocks, to help commemorate the launch of Susan's new book Modern Log Cabin Quilts.

I had so much fun planning and making this quilt top. I even managed to rally up a group of co-workers to get involved and together they stitched up more than 100 quilt blocks!

You can find more photos here on their flickr blog. There is still time to donate and more info can be found at their Quilts for Quake Survivors blog.

Felt Hair Clips

2010-06-25T17:06:00.000-07:00

I've slowly been getting back into crafting.... I find stitching slowly and methodically by hand to be very therapeutic and meditative.

These clips are a birthday gift for my friend's daughter.

I used this tutorial from the "The Purl Bee" as a reference for how to assemble the clips without gluing. This is a super fast and easy craft project that makes a lovely handmade gift for someone!

Holiday traditions Gift Exchange

2010-01-01T20:28:00.001-08:00

Happy New Year to everyone!

The Christmas season came and went so quickly this year that I didn't get much time to prepare for it other than to take part in Meg's Holiday Traditions Gift exchange. It was a lot of fun getting to know Gwen from Silver Lining blog and prepare a little package of gifts for her. What a fun way to connect with new people all over the world! She put together some sweet gifts for myself, my husband and little guy - all versions of hand warmers which we definitely need here in chilly and rainy Vancouver. As well, we shared some of our own family traditions with each other.

Her gift from me included this hand stitched felt mouse ornament. I went on a felt ornament making frenzy about one week before Christmas. I just couldn't stop making tree ornaments and became completely obsessed with all the different color combinations of sequins I could come up with to decorate the trees! The lack of all around crafty pursuits in my life this past year just came bubbling up and spilling over. I needed to make something with my hands or go nutty! Felt ornaments was a good solution because they don't take up much room on the dining room table while under construction and didn't require too much brain power to dream up. I'm already looking forward to next year when I can make a few more.

Hopefully by then I will have managed to set up my jewelry studio so I can get back to designing jewelry. This is what my hands and my brain really would like to be engaged in. Until the bedroom gets painted I've put setting up my studio on hold....

updates

2009-11-09T12:25:00.001-08:00

My goodness does time ever disappear in the blink of an eye with a baby. I've found myself less than motivated to keep up with blogging these past few months. I haven't stopped blog surfing though, because I love to continue thinking about what I could be crafting up if I had the time and energy....I'm so impressed with how many moms manage to keep the blogging going with little ones.

So what have we been up to?

First off we moved again October 1st. (Yes this was our 3rd move in 2 years)! Although we are now thrilled to be living in a larger 3 bedroom townhouse, the place needs a ton of work to get it up to my standards. This is where all of my time/energy has been going outside of childcare. It will take me months to get this place painted; even the doors and door frames need fresh coats of paint! Luckily my mom helped me get started with the living room, dining room and front entrance. However, all of the upstairs rooms are waiting for me.

I've had fun scouring design blogs for inspiration, especially for kids rooms. I keep changing my mind about what to do with Alessio's room. One thing I know for certain is that I want to keep it looking simple and fresh. I know blue is such a typical colour for a boy's room, but I really think this would work best for all of the crafty projects I have in mind for accessorizing his space.

Secondly, we received news when Alessio was 1 month old that he has something called Metopic Craniosynostosis. Yikes, that is a very scary sounding word! A simple explanation would be the premature fusing of the skull plates at the front of his head, which will require another big surgery when he is 9 months old. Although it's really not that noticeable unless you point it out to someone, his forehead is very narrow and pointy with pinched temples. The good news is that it will not impede his brain development in any way, and it is fixable...we just have to get through another invasive surgery. He also has positional plagiocepahy or more commonly referred to as "flathead" syndrome. I hate that definition of it, but that's pretty much what it is! The right side of his head came out flat when he was born. We have been aggressively making sure he sleeps on the other side of his head, has lots of "tummy time" and doesn't spend long periods of time on his back, but nothing is working. He may have to wear a molding helmet to help reshape his little head. It doesn't detract from his cuteness in any way, but it has been a big preoccupation for both his parents!

This is a photo of us taken with my imac webcam last week. I'm enjoying some quiet time while he naps on this dark, rainy and blustery November day. This is the time of year when the weather closes in on you in Vancouver.

kitty loves you!

2009-08-17T07:43:00.000-07:00

My poor neglected blog...I don't have the intentions of turning this into a baby blog, but there isn't much else going on in my world these days other than baby. I managed to get my sewing machine out last weekend to make a growth chart for my friend's daughters first birthday, but that's it.

My little guy is growing by leaps and bounds every week and seems to be fully recovered from his surgery. Weasel the cat is warming up to him, and is always near by.

My favorite baby gifts were these socks knit for Alessio by my mom's friend. She made him 3 pairs in total and each sock is different! The patterns don't match perfectly which I love.

Welcome Alessio!

2009-06-16T15:35:00.000-07:00

This is a somewhat belated birth announcement, but wow - newborns really take up all your time!

Alessio was born May 25th at 3:42 in the afternoon after a very long and arduous 23 hour labour. He was rushed to the ICU ward minutes after his birth, as we knew ahead of time about his heart problem. He underwent closed heart surgery at only 46 hours old to correct a coarctation of his aorta. (a narrow portion that needed to be removed and reconnected so that the blood could flow properly). Even though we knew about his diagnosis ahead of time, it was still an overwhelming experience to have your brand new baby undergoing surgery so soon after birth!

His recovery has been remarkable. He is now 3 weeks old and a healthy and happy newborn. His insision is healing well, and he seems to have completely forgotten the trauma of spending 10 days in the hospital hooked up to more cables than my computer! I'm sure these experiences are far mor traumatizing for the parents. He received excellent care and attention from the doctors and nurses at BC Children's hospital. I have nothing but great things to say about his care there, and am so very grateful we live in a city with such an excellent Children's hospital.

The three of us are all still getting to know each other better, and the cat has finally accepted that she is no longer the baby, and just the family pet! We have had many sleepless nights, with many more to come, but I am looking forward to my new role as a mom.

Waiting - 37 weeks

2009-05-03T10:39:00.000-07:00

I haven't been much up for crafting this past month, although I need to get started on my own baby quilt soon....

I have been making some jewelry for myself, which I thought I would share here instead of on my terribly neglected jewelry blog. I'm calling this my "Birthing necklace" because I plan to wear it during my baby's birth (sometime around May 24th).

The necklace has a lot of personal meaning for me - and although I don't consider myself to be an over superstitious person, I figure having some "good luck" charms can never hurt. It's very likely our baby will require heart surgery to correct his aorta right after birth. Since receiving this diagnosis back in my 23rd week, I've been wearing a Malachite ring to help protect him. Malachite is a green gemstone associated with the heart chakra and as well it is supposed to help aide in childbirth. The emerald green stones in the necklace are also Malachite. The silver charms are Mexican Milagros (miracles) that I cast myself while living in Mexico and studying silver smithing back in 2001. I've been saving them all this time for the right piece of jewelry - this is finally it. The center charm represents me, the birth mother, the angel is the babies guardian and the heart charm appropriately has 2 hearts carved into it - representing my heart and my baby's.

Growth Charts

2009-03-21T14:50:00.000-07:00

I have a fun and easy sewing project I would like to share with you today. I was looking for a quick sewn gift I could make for my friend's children and came across this project in Alicia Paulson's wonderful Book "Stitched in Time". I used her Dollhouse Growth chart project as my inspiration for this project.

Here's how I made my Growth Charts:

1. I cut 16 strips of scrap fabric, each 8 1/2" X 3 1/2" (I didn't even need to dig into my stash). That's another great thing about this project, you can literally make it from fabric scraps.

2. I stitched each strip together along the 8 1/2" lengths. I use 1/4" seam allowance for these types of projects.

3. Once all strips were stitched together I pressed the seams flat and cut out felt numbers for 2,3,4,5. The chart is designed to be hung 2 feet or 24" from the floor. I added the felt numbers to the chart every 12" (or 4 sewn strips) to represent 1 foot.

4. I decided to glue the numbers onto the chart with fabric glue because they were a bit small to sew. I'm not sure if this is cheating or not, but it was nice and quick!

5. For the top strip (same size as the other strips) I embroidered the child's name.

6. Instead of sewing a bias binding around the edges of the chart like in Alicia's project, I decided to line it with muslin to give it more stability. I just cut out a piece of muslin the entire length of the sewn strips and stitched around the top and 2 sides with right sides together.

7. I left the bottom open so I could turn the chart right side out. I pressed it nice and flat and then topstitched around the top and sides of the chart at 1/4" and closed the bottom with an edgestitch.

This was a super fast and easy project that could easily be completed in less than 2 hours, including the embroidery. Oh and one last note - yes these charts were meant to be written on! Be sure to choose fabrics that are not too dark. A felt pen works best for marking the height and date.

Monkey Quilt & the importance of pinning

2009-02-22T14:08:00.000-08:00

I finally finished the baby quilt I started at the end of December. Now I'm very excited to get started on a quilt for my own baby who is due at the end of May. I set myself the rule that I couldn't start anything new until this one was finished...

I'm pleased with how the quilt turned out, and it didn't take me all that long to put together in actual cutting and sewing hours - it was just finding chunks of time to mess up my dining room, set up my machine and ironing board and sit down to work on it.

One tip I cannot stress enough when tackling a quilting project is the importance of pinning. Because quilts are made up of a sandwich of layers, it's so important to keep these layers from shifting while sewing. If your machine doesn't have a walking foot attachment (and mine doesn't) this is even more important. It's normal for fabrics to feed through a sewing machine at different rates. The top layer of fabric is being fed through the machine by the sewing foot, and the bottom layer is being fed through by the feed dogs. (Those little teeth that stick through the bottom of the sewing plate). If the fabrics feed though at different rates, you end up with a twisted mess. I know this inherently from more than 20 years of sewing every kind of fabric imaginable - even Goretex. Do you think I used enough pins on this quilt when I started my machine quilting - nope! I ended up with a completely twisted mess after my first line of machine quilting. I ripped it out and sat down to pin the quilt some more. I estimate I used more than 200 safety pins to tack it down completely, as well as some quilting pins. My next round of machine quilting was successful and I was able to stitch up the rest of the quilt with no further problems.

Domestic Bliss

2009-02-15T11:23:00.000-08:00

It's a rare Sunday I have all of my mundane domestic chores complete, so that I can putter around and spend time doing things that really interest me. I managed to get all the laundry, groceries and cleaning done yesterday so that today I can just spend time baking and sewing. My version of domestic bliss! I should be outside enjoying this beautiful sunny day, but I'm perfectly content inside with the oven on!

I saw this recipe for scones on the Design Sponge blog a while back and thought I should try it. It's one of Denise Schmidt's recipes who is a quilter extraordinaire, for those of you who might not have heard of her. I actually have an article about her that I tore out of a Martha Stuart magazine back in 1997 when she was just getting started with her quilting business. I placed that article in the "inspiration" binder I've been keeping since my mid 20's. Even back then, I thought that making a career as a quilter sounded like an awesome job. And that was waaaaayyy back before quilting became "cool" for us Gen X'ers. I guess I've always known in my heart that designing clothing is not my passion, even though I have a degree in Apparel design.

Next up for this afternoon, I will tackle the laborious job of machine quilting my friend's baby quilt. This project has dragged on long enough and her poor son deserves a nice quilt before he is walking.

Work in Progress

2009-01-11T18:45:00.000-08:00

What is it about cats and quilting projects? Whenever my cat hears the sewing machine motor start up, she is in my face! Much as I love my cat to death, she is hard to sew with. I finally got my butt in gear and started on my friends baby quilt. I've got the top part pieced, now I just need to machine quilt it. I always find that part more work than the piecing.

I've been tagged by my friend Sami to mention 6 random things about me. I've never been tagged before, so I'm sure there is a lot most people don't know about me.

Let's see....

1. I'm left handed but I can only use right handed scissors.

2. I'm 21 weeks pregnant! This isn't really a random fact, but I haven't announced it on my blog until now.

3. I hate driving - it's my biggest anxiety. I would rather go out of my way to walk, ride my bike or take transit anywhere instead of getting into a car and driving.

4. I've hated jello for my entire life. I don't plan to start liking it any time soon!

5. I have this bad habit of opening the new bottle of dish soap before the old one is empty. I then end up with 2 bottles of dish soap on my kitchen counter at one time. I've no idea why I keep doing this. If it was my husband's annoying habit, for sure I'd be nagging at him about it!

6. My left foot is bigger than my right foot.

Now it's my turn to tag Amanda of Owl and Pussycat. I don't know too many other bloggers in person, so I'm only tagging you. Sorry if you've played this game before!

Here are the rules:

Here are the rules:
Link to the person who tagged you.
Mention the rules.
Tell six quirky yet boring, unspectacular details about yourself.
Tag six other bloggers by linking to them.
Go to each person's blog and leave a comment that let's them know they've been tagged.

Table runner

2009-01-06T18:23:00.000-08:00

While snowed in for weeks over the holidays I pulled out my sewing machine and fabric stash and set myself a challenge to quilt something! I decided to make a table runner for my dining room table because I thought as far as quilting projects go - it wouldn't take too long.

I always gravitate to warm earthy colours when designing for myself, and this project was strictly to design something that I would love. Most of my design projects (jewelry and sewing) are always for other people. I didn't let myself over think the design and cut strips of fabric and played around with the composition very loosely before starting to sew. I'm so pleased with the result, and now feel ready to FINALLY tackle my friend's baby quilt that I've been promising her since October!

Finding time to craft

2008-11-23T12:18:00.000-08:00

I always start off with the best intentions for my craft blog, but never seem to follow through... I guess my biggest struggle is just finding the time to craft. As well as this, I need to balance my craft projects with my jewelry design projects. It would be so much easier if I could just choose one hobby and stick with it, but that really wouldn't work with my A.D.D. personality.

My big craft project for this fall is a baby quilt for my friend at work who will be giving birth to a baby boy any day now. The quilt has missed 2 baby shower deadlines and I'm hoping to have it complete by Christmas! So far I've managed to cut out the quilt squares and plan how I will arrange them. That's it! I'm missing white sheeting for the background still. I've realized the quilts I like the most have lots of white space in them. Without it, they can get really busy. I love texture and pattern, but not when it's competing with everything around it. I chose a sock monkey theme (fabric by Erin Michael for Moda) for my friend's quilt because she is definitely not the "cutesy" baby type. The nursery is painted chocolate brown, and I think these prints will work out well.

Dia de los Muertos

2008-11-01T19:56:00.000-07:00

Day of the Dead is a Mexican celebration which takes place every year on November 1st and 2nd. During this time, families create elaborate alters to celebrate the memories of their loved ones who have passed away.

Today Saul and I are remembering his sister Lourdes Carolina, and his grandmother "Abuelita Lulu".

ATC swaps & Stitched by Hand

2008-08-27T19:44:00.000-07:00

Wow - was that a loooong blogging break! I guess summer is a bit like that as usual routines, and vacations seem to interrupt the normal flow of things. I haven't been crafty at all this summer. Leaving me feeling completely blank about how to fill up my blog space. I'm still working on fixing up our new place, painting, rearranging and planning how to turn my small walk in closet into a jewelry studio. That will be my project for this long weekend. I'll post some before and after pics next week.

In the meantime I thought I should share a photo of this amazing embroidery work by the very talented Penny Nickels. I was the recipient of her work in a Flickr ATC swap (stands for Art Trading Card) back in June. You can look at the Card I stitched for Purple Crayon, here. In my haste to pack up an move I forgot to take any pictures of it for myself!

There is another "Old School" sewing competition going on with the Stitched by Hand group on Flickr that looks like a lot of fun. If you love embroidery and hand stitching you should check this out too. The deadline to sign up is Sept 6th.

Have a great long weekend!
Jodi

new huaraches!

2008-07-09T07:30:00.000-07:00

Hola,

It's been great to have a laptop and internet access on this trip to Oaxaca, although it's like existing in two completely separate realities....

I thought I would share a picture of my new huaraches which I am completely smitten with! These are not the traditional huarache style with the woven leather, but I like them just the same. They were still made by hand and have that stiff new leather feel and smell which I love. If you would like to see more images of daily life in Oaxaca you can check out my flickr set titled Oaxaca Mexico.

Hasta luego!
Jodi

textile inspirations

2008-07-02T18:43:00.000-07:00

Today as my husband and I made our way to his Grandmother's house for lunch here in Oaxaca Mexico we stumbled upon this exposition by American Designer Christina Kim. Her line Dosa is carried in exlusive stores in the United States and London England.

The goregous textiles shown here were stitched by hand and dyed in India. A few years back my mother in law also knit beautiful wool sweaters for her line with intricate cables. You can see the passion Christina has for preserving textile tradions by the groups of people she chooses to work with. I was so happy to discover this latest work of hers on display here in Oaxaca.

And the winners are....

2008-06-24T16:43:00.000-07:00

Bari and Carly! Congratulations, and thanks for your comments on my blog. The earrings are in the mail and should hopefully arrive some time next week. I have been an absent Blogger this past month. After stating publicly that I am committed to my blog and updating it more often I proceeded to slack off! My only excuse was moving and then not being able to set up the wireless network with my husband's old PC and my Mac. They just weren't getting along and it required a professional IT guy to come and sort things out...

This Saturday we are off to Oaxaca Mexico to visit my husband's family for 3 weeks. I will do my very best to post some pictures of my trip along the way. We'll be taking a laptop with us so it should be possible! Oaxaca is full of rich textile traditions. The weaving and embroidery from this state is incredible. I'll try and capture some of this on my blog to share everyone.

Hasta Luego!

Blog Give away!

2008-05-21T20:41:00.000-07:00

Hi!

I realized this morning that my 1 year blog anniversary just passed on May 19th. Although my ChicaCraft blog got off to a rather slow start and I only managed 30 posts in 1 year, I can feel it's momentum starting to grow. At least I am just as enthusiastic about the craft blogosphere as I was a year ago. In fact I am even more enthusiastic than ever, and for this reason I think it's time to give back to the blogging community! I really feel I've made a few friends through my blog and that is the most rewarding part of it all for me. Reaching out and connecting with other women who share my same creative interests and passion for fabric!

I don't have many sewn crafts on the go because I'm moving in 1 week. I do however, have lots of jewelry that would like to find a nice home. So, if you happen to drop by my blog before Sunday May 25th at 10pm, please leave me a comment and say hello and introduce yourself! Up for grabs are the two pairs of earrings shown here. The first pair are faceted aqua marine clusters with sterling silver lever back ear wires, and a finished length of 2 1/2". The other earrings are mother of pearl with a longer finished length of 3 1/2" Let me know in your comments which pair you would prefer.

If you are interested in any of the other jewelry I design, you can take a look over on my other blog Astarte Designs. I had great plans to re-open my Etsy store this month but the imminent move changed all my well laid plans! Hopefully by the end of August I'll have time to set up my shop again.

I Should be packing...

2008-05-19T11:22:00.000-07:00

But instead I'm sitting here carving rubber stamps. It's amazing how productive you can be when procrastinating about doing other more important things! You see, we are moving in 10 days! Yippee! We had a last minute opportunity to move into a 2 bedroom townhouse in a Co-op across the city. With the average price of a home in Vancouver now at $600 000 (yes that would be six hundred thousand)!! we have decided moving into a Co-op is the best option for us at this time. With the Winter Olympics being hosted here in 2010 the housing crisis is only going to get worse!

I've been sick with the flu for the past 9 days which gave me time to finally figure out how to save Illustrator graphics for the Web. Hence the new Blog banner and other embellishments. It took a year of me doubting my ability to teach myself how to do this, but finally - with absolute determination I gave myself an afternoon to figure it out. Low and behold I found a great tutorial on the internet and by following along, I was able to walk myself through it. If you are like me and still wondering how people put their amazing graphics into their blogs, check out this easy to understand tutorial. Just scroll down to the title "save for web".

If you haven't checked out Magda's blog Craft Pudding please do! You may just get the sudden impulse to start carving rubber stamps! I have all the supplies in my craft box from at least 10 years ago when I was messing around with printing on fabrics. My personal interests haven't swayed that much in all these years....at least I'm consistent!

Woolly Embroidery

2008-05-15T09:29:00.001-07:00

I've been meaning to share this discovery with all the embroidery enthusiasts out there. It's a new release from Chronicle Books titled Woolly Embroidery. Chronicle has been kind enough to translate the original version into English from Japanese. I love the modern simple shapes of the designs highlighted in this book, as well as the "woolliness" of them - which I guess is consistent with my love for crewel work.

If you collect books on embroidery you should definitely consider adding this one to you library!

Fashion Conscious - Tarisan & Blinkley

2008-05-07T18:23:00.000-07:00

As promised (although a bit delayed) - I want to continue sharing some of the inspirational designers I've stumbled upon in the past few years. What continuously inspires me are women who manage to combine their passion for design and craft with social consciousness. Another such woman who qualifies (in my eyes) is Sarah Takesh. Her heritage is Iranian but she was raised in the United States. After stints working as a design assistant for Donna Karan and Michael Kors, she now lives and works in Kabul Afghanistan where she creates her own line of gorgeous women's clothing.

Sarah works hard to create economic oportunites for the women of Afganistan that just wouldn't exist if people like her were not investing their businesses in this area. She employs the creative talents of local women to embelish her clothing designs of hand loomed silk with elaborate embroideries and bead work. She even encourages them to create their own designs instead of following a set template!

Her designs are elaborate and stylish without being too fashion forward. As you can imagine in a country with a history of the Burka, the clothing is also tastefully modest, but stylish enough to appeal to her foreign markets.

Check out some of her new clothing lines here.

People Tree - Fair Trade Fashion

2008-04-20T15:08:00.000-07:00

In the next few weeks I would like to share with you some of the inspirational designers I've discovered in the past few years. You will notice a common theme connecting them all, which is their interest in combining social responsibility with their businesses. These are values I respect a great deal, and I hope to some day make my mark in the world, while contributing to the economic livelihood of a community somewhere. (Most likely Mexico, because of my own personal connection to its people).

Safia Minney is an extraordinary visionary and pioneer in the world of Fair Trade Fashion. You may or may not have heard of her Fashion Company People Tree. It is based out of Japan (where she lives) and the UK (where most of her designers are located). The Mission Statement of People tree is "to use fashion as a tool to help the world's most marginalized people". Wow - what a great idea! It's so true that the world really doesn't need "another" new fashion label. So, why not at least make one with a good cause behind it?

People Tree works with 50 Fair Trade Groups in 15 different countries around the world to create beautiful clothing made of organic cotton, using fair trade practices and safe and natural dyes. The goal for the designers is to create fashion forward clothing using the MOST amount of labor possible! This goes completely against conventional thinking for mass produced clothing production. The designers for People Tree intentionally design hand techniques such as embroidery, beading or hand woven details into the garments so that more people will be needed to create the garments - thus giving more people a chance to earn money!

People Tree also offers internships to Fashion Students looking for work experience in the area of Fair Trade fashion. If such a thing had existed back when I was a design student I would have jumped at this opportunity!

A little progress...

2008-04-13T19:46:00.000-07:00

I've been working away at this embroidery project in my spare moments for the past two weeks. It's finally starting to look like something...I'm teaching myself as I go along (to be totally honest I haven't embroidered anything in at least 18 years)!

Three books I've found enormously helpful are "The New Crewel", "The complete Guide to Embroidery Stitches" and "The Embroidery Stitch Bible" .

Have I mentioned that I replaced my eBay "habit" with an Amazon one?! You see it's just that I really hate shopping. I loathe it in fact. Then I discovered you can shop from the comfort of your own home and I haven't looked back. You know you've got issues when the six books Amazon is "suggesting" you might find interesting, based on your "user profile" - you already have!! I've got 3 more on order that haven't arrived yet... I'll share them next week.

Hope you had a great weekend!
Jodi

Sustainable fashion & Organic Cotton

2008-04-08T07:16:00.000-07:00

My apologies for such a rant in my last post about pollution. That was a topic I needed to get off my chest! I'll try to focus on more inspirational topics going forward. Every once in a while it's good to think about the heavier issues facing our lives too....

Now on to fashion! It's an interesting topic for me because although I have a degree in "fashion design" I have never considered myself to be a fashion designer - probably one of the main reasons which led me to working in the Outdoor Apparel industry for my career. I've always been very intimidated by the fashion world, its sophistication and obsession with beauty. Much of it conflicts with my own personal values, and issues with self esteem, body image etc...

Then along comes a designer who knocks me sideways with inspiration! This does not happen very often but when it does it hits hard. A co-worker had told me a bit about her because she could see how much I would love her work. However, I didn't give it much thought until I stumbled across her new book "Alabama Stitch Book" in the blogosphere, then her blog and website. The woman I'm speaking of is Natalie Chanin. Yes, I'm sure you have already heard about her and Alabama Chanin, her re-launched business.

Her love of all things made by hand, passion for sustainability in fashion, commitment to working with organic cotton and desire to keep her business small and local are the perfect combination of an ideal business to me. I can't wait to receive her new book! Amazon.ca in Canada gets new releases after they launch in the USA which is frustrating but expected for us folks in the North!

I've already read numerous glowing blog reviews of her new book "Alabama Stitch Book" and you can link to them here and here.

Another inspirational fabric designer I would like to highlight is Harmony of Harmony Art. She has made a commitment to only using Organic Cotton for her fabric designs. How inspiring to read about a woman who not only designs her own fabric prints, but also produces the finished fabric! It has been a long slow labor of love for her to build this business from the ground up. You can read about her challenges and triumphs in her blog "The Journey is the prize".

That's it for today I must run off to work now!

Cheers,
Jodi

Manufacturing and Global Pollution

2008-04-03T07:33:00.000-07:00

How's that for a heavy blog title?! Thank you Bari for requesting more about my travels.... Because it was a work trip and not a personal holiday I've been thinking a great deal about what I should talk about. Should I make it funny and light hearted or talk about my biggest impression from the trip which was pollution?

First off I would like to say the company I work for is extremely progressive and ethical about their manufacturing policies. This is one of the reasons why I returned to work for them 3 years ago. You can link to them here (but I'm not going to type the name because they publish links to blogs talking about them every month to the entire organization). I really don't want my little craft blog highlighted to everyone I work with!! Please do check out the website, it has won all kinds of awards for online retailing.

This leads me to another related topic which is "The Story of Stuff". It is a video talking about the earth, our place on it, how we are killing our planet with our enormous demands for more "stuff" which is being manufactured in developing countries such as India and China. The video is very well done, and even though it is a heavy topic it doesn't lecture in such a heavy handed way as to make you flee! It's spoken in easy to understand English that even kids would understand. I couldn't stop thinking about this video while in China. We drove past factory after factory after factory and all I could see was the hazy silhouettes if large buildings though the thick smog of pollution. I do feel morally conflicted to be working in an industry that is still contributing to this global pollution.

I guess this is a contributing reason to my gravitation into the crafting community. I have a desire to return to live a more simple life where things are still made by hand....

I understand that manufacturing in developing countries helps the livelihoods of the impoverished people living there, but it needs to be done in a more responsible way. Organizations manufacturing in these countries need to put more pressure on factories to manufacture with less polluting practices.

I'm sorry this blog post turned into an environmental rant but this has been on my mind for the past week. Please check out "The Story of Stuff" and share it with your friends and family. It is a topic worth passing along.

I promise something more "crafty" in my next post! I've been working on some new embroidery projects.

Cheers, Jodi

Around the world in 20 days!

2008-03-23T15:44:00.000-07:00

Hi,

I'm back from what feels like a whirlwind trip around the world. It wasn't really, but I did visit 6 different cities in India in 10 days as well as Hong Kong and Shanghai in the following 8! It was not a tourist holiday, I was working and visiting clothing factories for the company I work for. I feel very fortunate to have had the opportunity to take such an interesting trip and get paid for it. We manufacture Organic cotton clothing in India and not only did we visit the factories which make our clothing, we also got to visit some of the local farms which grow the organic cotton. All in all a very inspiring trip.

Now it's time to get back to regular life again - I sure did miss reading all my usual blogs. It feels like so much has happened in the past 3 weeks. I didn't take nearly as many photos as I had hoped. I can pin this down to 2 reasons: the first being that I really wasn't prepared for traveling with a digital camera. Boy did I learn a lesson! Always travel with an extra battery and memory card. So many photo ops were missed due to my camera malfunctions!! The second reason being that most of the trip was seen through passenger windows as we whizzed by in a car! I'm not used to traveling this way, but it was necessary with the packed itinerary we had.

I also traveled with way too much stuff and ended up naming my suitcase the elephant! Did I really think I would have time to embroider?! That was very ambitious of me to think so. I found lots of inspiration though, but very little time.

Here are a few of my favorite photos from the trip. It's so good to be home!

Done!

2008-02-25T19:47:00.000-08:00

Well - not done really, but planned! I'm off to India and China for 3 weeks to visit apparel factories for my work (day job work that is). I need some crafty projects to keep me entertained while I'm gone so I've planned to dive back into embroidery.

My signed copy of Doodle Stitching arrived today and the other 3 embroidery books I ordered on Amazon were shipped yesterday! I only wish I could embroider on the plane. It's that darned "no scissors" rule that really gets in the way. I have 15 flights in total on this trip so there will be a lot of waiting around time....

I'll try and post some pictures while I'm away. I'll have a laptop with me and hopefully I'll be able to find a few good internet connections. Even though I'll be looking at Tee shirts and pants during the day, I'll be hunting for embroidery and colourful fabrics in my off work time!

Jicama Salad

2008-02-17T18:50:00.000-08:00

I didn't do any Crafting this weekend so I thought I would share a recipe instead. This is a fast and easy Jicama salad and works as a great side dish with Mexican food. I served mine along side Chicken Enchiladas.

Jicamas are not the easiest thing to find in Vancouver but sometimes the Chinese veggie markets sell them, and the gourmet grocery stores usually always have them (at twice the cost)! I suspect they are more abundant in the United States.

Ingredients for Salad:

- 1 Jicima peeled and sliced into long strips
- 1 red sweet pepper sliced into long strips
- 1 orange sweet pepper sliced into long strips
- 1/2 red onion diced small
- 1 can of corn
- cilantro chopped fine

Ingredients for Dressing:

- 1 Tbsp. Olive Oil
- 2 Tbsp. orange juice
- 1 Tbsp. grainy mustard
- juice of 1 lime

Mix all ingredients for the salad together in a large bow. Wisk together the Dressing ingredients and pour onto salad just before serving.

Enjoy!

Feelin' Stitchy Valentine

2008-02-14T07:06:00.000-08:00

I've been so excited to use my new Crewel wool embroidery thread that I decided to stitch up these little hearts for my Valentine. I used wool from the charm packs I purchased from this lovely Etsy seller Feltpro. I stuffed them with cotton balls to make them a bit "plump" and that was it! I was pleased with how they turned out, but I need to practice my stitching skills. I'm rusty...

Happy Valentines Day everyone!

Jodi xxx

So Crewel!

2008-02-06T16:48:00.000-08:00

Sorry I just couldn't resist the pun! This Crewel embroidery thread was waiting for me in the mailbox when I arrived home today. I'm bursting with excitement over this! I've been wanting to get back into embroidery and was totally inspired when I discovered Aimee Rae's book Doodle Stitching. This is exactly the style of embroidery I love so much. I have to travel over seas for work in March and I think this will be the perfect project to take along for those long boring nights in hotels.

The thread is from Renaissance Dyes in France. The colours are gorgeous and earthy, all done with natural plant based dyes & it's 100% merino wool. The quality is excellent and their shipping is fast and reasonable, considering it is coming from Europe.

Now I just need to find a nice linen fabric to embroider onto!

Tie One On!

2008-01-31T22:46:00.000-08:00

I finally managed to whip up an Apron for this month's "Tie One On" Flickr group. The theme for February's Aprons was Polka dots! I've been "thinking" about making an Apron for this group for the past year - every deadline comes and goes, and my apron remains untouched. Finally tonight I gave myself only 2 hours to come up with something simple. Better a simple Apron than no Apron! I've named this Apron "How does your garden grow"....The fabrics are random scraps that I had on hand and some vintage rick-rack I purchased on eBay (about a year ago) when I first started thinking about making Aprons!

More fabric!

2008-01-14T19:18:00.000-08:00

I forgot to mention that I won some fabric in a blog giveaway before Christmas. I was lucky enough to score these great fabric prints from Linda Lum DeBono. If you aren't already familiar with her work, be sure to check out her blog or website! She is an accomplished quilter, knitwear designer, fabric designer and author.

Now, what should I do with these fun fabrics? Maybe a new Polka dot apron for this month's "Tie One on" Apron theme?

Something new!

2008-01-02T20:21:00.000-08:00

Hello!

Finally a new project to warrant a blog post. The crafting has been few and far between these past few months. I spent the better part of my Christmas holidays making a cover for our new down duvet. I wanted it to "feel" like a quilt which is why I chose to do a patchwork composition for the main top part of the cover. I've been collecting Amy Butler fabrics for almost a year now and I finally had a place to use them all - yes I used every last fat quarter I had for this quilt top!

I really let the design of this duvet evolve organically. In the end it turned out quite different than what I imagined it would be when I started. This was due mostly to the limiting colours of sheets for sale after all the Boxing day madness (which I avoided). By the time I showed up in the stores all the good sheet colours were well picked over. Originally I thought would like blue borders and pillow cases. However I couldn't find any blues that worked with the colours of the prints. In the end I settled for something I like a whole lot more (and might not have even considered) if I had found blue right from the start. The coordinating sheets I picked are white with a small beige geometric print. I decided to go with beige and brown as my two border colours (due to lack of blues) and because browns are really the secondary colours in these prints.

In the end I think the cover turned out looking more modern with the brown accents. I'm glad I was open enough to consider other options - I also had cut out another Amy Butler print initially as the final border but decided it was just too much pattern and opted with the brown....

I tried to plan the quilt and lay out the measurements in Illustrator before I started but in the end resorted to quick pencil sketches and my trusty calculator. I still find this the fastest way to work!

As with any good quilt photo - I asked my cat Weasel to pose for me! She didn't really get into it until I had already started shooting with her stuffed cat toy....because she got jealous!

Apron Giveaway

2007-11-06T21:06:00.000-08:00

Carrie of Sommer Designs is having an Apron Giveaway over at the Apronista Blog. If you would like a chance to win an apron (and you get to choose your favorite) leave a comment for them. If you create a link on your own blog you get an extra chance to win.

Check out Carrie's Apron's - they're almost too nice to get all dirty and greasy!

Happy Halloween!

2007-10-31T07:32:00.000-07:00

Happy Halloween everyone!

Pictured here are two felt craft projects I designed for the Girl Guides Craft night. This is a group of 20 girls aged 9-12. I was impressed with how well they executed the projects (many of them chose the Bat project which my friend designed - it was much more complicated). They did a great job and fun was had by all. Whew was I tired at the end!

new fabric and a little bit of inspiration

2007-10-29T07:24:00.000-07:00

This is another piece of fabric that arrived in the mail for me last week. This time all the way from Melbourne Australia! The fabric was designed by Lara Cameron of Kirin Notebook Blog fame. This is my favorite fabric print of hers to date - but they are all fabulous. If you haven't already checked out her designs and her blog you should!

The other photo is my "inspiration board" It's not a great photo but the best I could muster the other day. I vow to work on my photography skills in the upcoming year. Especially for my jewelry, which is so hard to shoot well. Anyhow the inspiration board is a collection of images and colours that I thought might look great as bags or quilts. In truth I just like having it on my wall because it's colourful and nice to look at!

Dreaming of Prints and Patterns.....in Blue!

2007-10-21T13:58:00.000-07:00

This fabric arrived in the mail for me this week. It's some fat quarter bundles of Amy Butlers new Belle fabric collection. I'm designing a new patchwork duvet cover for my worn out down duvet. Our new apartment has icky pale blue walls in the bedroom which do not work with my colour preferences. In hindsight a should have painted the bedroom a warmer colour before we moved in - but I just wasn't up for it at the time. Now, instead I'm going to make a new cover that works with the blue instead of fighting with it like my current duvet cover which is an Indian Block Printed textile of olive green, sage and terra cotta. I can't think of a worse colour combo for icky blue walls. I grate my teeth every time I walk into the bedroom. This is one sewing project that cannot be delayed. My colour sensibilities will tolerate it! Now I just need the Wrought Iron Head Board I've been dreaming of to go with it...

Squash Soup Recipe

2007-10-08T14:15:00.000-07:00

Happy (Canadian) Thanksgiving everyone! I thought I would share this festive harvest soup recipe today. It is very easy, delicious and nutritious.

INGREDIENTS:

- 1 butternut squash
- 2 leeks (thinly sliced)
- 1 Tbsp. olive oil
- 2 carrots (chopped)
- 4 small potatoes (cubed)
- 2 cups Chicken or Vegetable stock
- 3 cloves garlic
- salt & pepper to taste

HOW TO PREPARE:

- cut squash in half lengthwise and place face down in a baking dish with enough water to cover the bottom of the dish. (This is to prevent the squash from burning)
- add 3 peeled cloves of garlic to the dish (I find the roasted garlic adds a lot of flavor to the soup).
- Place in oven at 350 degrees Fahrenheit and bake for approx 1 hr. or until soft.
- add more water if necessary while squash and garlic are baking.

- In a large pot saute leeks until soft.
- add carrots and potatoes and a bit of the chicken broth. Cook covered for approx. 10 minutes then add the remaining chicken stock. Cook for another 1/2 hr. until veggies are soft.
- When squash and garlic are ready remove from oven and add to the soup pot.
- Blend with a hand blender or regular blender until smooth.
- garnish with cilantro, paprika, sour cream or yogurt.

- ENJOY!!

What colour of Orange are you?

2007-09-18T14:21:00.000-07:00

I have nothing crafty to share today... Instead I thought I would let you know what colour of orange I am. Such random things we can discover on the internet! You too can find out what colour of orange you are.

I'm an apricot! Soft and sweet, over time you let your provocative nature shine through. You are definitely unconventional, but you don't broadcast it. You offer people a fresh perspective on life - so fresh that it can be shocking!

I'm not sure this is true, but fun none the less!

Just follow the link!

Cheers,
Jodi

back from a long break

2007-09-08T19:26:00.000-07:00

Wow, my last post was August 4th! Summer just flew by this year. Most likely because August for us was filled with a 3 week visit from my mother in law. It was her first time ever stepping foot outside of Mexico. She absolutely loved Canada! We spent lots of time taking in the sights of Vancouver as well as a move to a new apartment during the last week. We only moved across the hall which I thought would be a breeze. Wrong! It took 4 days to move everything, set it up in our new space and clean the old one. My thoughts are not much into crafting at the moment but on where to hang all my pictures and various "stuff" I've collected over the years.

Today I'm posting a photo of my friend's son with his frog quilt! He really loves it and I hope it becomes his favorite "blankie". I can't wait to make more. I've got a big enough fabric stash to jump right in any time....unfortunately it will have to wait until I recover my sofa. First things first!

My mother in law is an amazing knitter. I had great plans to learn how to crochet granny squares while she was here but we just ran out of time....I'm still trying to figure out how to make basic loops. Oh well, at least I can sew just about anything!

Cat quilt

2007-08-04T18:26:00.000-07:00

Here are some photos of my very first quilt. It was inspired by Owen & Weasel and I made it as a baby gift for my neighbours (Owen's owners) when their son Daniel was born last year.

I didn't want this quilt to be a traditional baby quilt, so I chose to use a more sophisticated colour palette of black, brown, beige and cream. I wanted it to have a "cat theme" without being too "catty" if you know what I mean....Both of Daniels parents are quite scholarly and academic - they have an entire wall of their living room covered with books! So, when I found the beige fabric with script as a pattern I thought it would be perfect. The brown I associated with coffee which was perfect because Daniel's dad was working part time for Starbucks while completing his Masters in Theology.

I was very proud of my first attempt at quilting and it inspired by second frog quilt which I have photos of a few posts below.

That's all for today. Have a happy and safe long weekend (we will be celebrating BC Day here in British Columbia on Monday)!

Jodi

Owen loves Weasel - a cat tale

2007-08-01T17:43:00.000-07:00

This isn't going to be a crafty blog entry, because I haven't had any time this week to get my hands busy with anything other than preparing wheat free food!

Because I don't have any kids of my own, I can justify sharing a pet story with everyone. Six years ago our neighbours cat Weasel adopted us. She is a wonderful fat tabby cat with the most mellow personality. She is the kind of cat who always wants to be petted or picked up and apart from her relentless shedding and occasional bathroom neurosis she is the perfect cat. Eventually her owner moved to California to get married and asked us to adopt her. We happily agreed because by our account she had already adopted us way back.

Three years ago a new couple moved into the same apartment that Weasel came from. Along with this new couple came a frisky orange male cat named Owen. From day one he pursued Weasel with relentless energy! After six months of rejection Weasel finally gave in and let Owen into her life. Owen is a handsome cat on all accounts but what makes him unique are his blue eyes. For the past two years Owen & Weasel have been inseparable. One year ago last March the unthinkable happened - Owen's owners had a baby! Well he packed his bags the very next day and moved in with us as soon as he heard Daniel's first holler. We made room for Owen in our place because we really didn't have much choice. Owen had decided he would rather be with Weasel. Owen is not a mellow cat. In fact he is the complete opposite. Demanding and vocal - he will not take NO for an answer! Not even at 3:30 am when he wants me to get out of bed and pet him while he has a snack!! He has us very well trained. In fact I don't know how I will figure out my own schedule when he's gone because right now he sets it. Which brings me to the sad part of my story.....

Owen is American an his Visa runs out at the end of August. His owners are moving back to Seattle. I keep telling him and Weasel to elope so they can stay together. They could run away to Tofino and get married on the beach. Feast on wild salmon and such (no seriously). It's sad because I know his owners want to keep him. I don't even feel like I can broach the subject with them. It will be a sad day the end of August when they all leave. Weasel will be so lonely and we will miss Owen's demanding cries for attention and food. When he makes that same pleading face as Puss In Boots from Shrek, my heart melts and I give in every time. Yep, he's got me trained!

I know there are lots of other wonderful cats out there needing homes and this consoles me a little bit....we get so attached to our furry friends!

Ratatouille

2007-07-28T18:23:00.000-07:00

Inspired by the movie Ratatouille, I decided to make this dish for dinner tonight. My husband and I are trying a 1 month Candida cleanse and it's really hard to find dishes which don't contain wheat, gluten or sugar. I thought of this dish because we saw the movie last weekend and really enjoyed it - Two thumbs from me for sure!

The dish got a thumbs up from my husband - another tough food critic (if you've already seen the movie), so I'll be adding this one to my dinner repertoire.

I used this recipe - the "Our Method" which takes the traditional French one, but cooks it all in one pot. Less dishes is always high on my list which is why I chose it. Oh - and last but not least, I served it on a bed of Lundberg rice (brown and wild rice mix). It has a yummy nutty texure and tastes even better if you cook it in chicken stock!

prints and patterns

2007-07-26T20:01:00.000-07:00

Last weekend I came across these rubber carvings I did about 8 years ago. Do you ever discover things you've made or designed and forgotten about because they got tucked away for years?....When you re-discover them years later you are surprised and impressed with the thought and skill that went into creating them. I hardly ever feel this way when I just complete a project. It's still too fresh in my mind all the technicalities that didn't work or weren't executed perfectly. (I went to design school where perfectionism is preached and expected). The good thing about 8 years later is that all those imperfections have long been forgotten and you can look at your creation with fresh eyes - and surprise! Then you realize the person you were back then and the person you still are, and hope to yet become is all in the same? Does that make any sense?! When I look at these carvings now, I can see the interest I had in the patterns and their repeats.

Six months ago I had an epiphany when I decided I wanted to focus on developing my design skills in the area of pattern design for textiles. I even went out and purchased myself this swanky new iMac computer to work on (which I am still learning how to use by the way)! I thought this was a "new" idea - something that I had just discovered as an interest. After looking at these carved stamps I realize it's something I've always loved, but just hadn't considered in the past few years. If anything it at least re-confirms that I am on the right path with this new goal....to become a fabric designer. Wish me luck as I have a LOT to learn - especially about computers and computer programs.

Bag it!

2007-07-21T14:36:00.000-07:00

Hello again! I've finally got a July project to post. Nothing too fancy just a new bag idea I've been playing with. This is the 1st prototype - and as most crafty sewers know - it's never totally perfect! My goal was to create a simple bag that wouldn't require interfacing. (I've nothing against interfacing, I just don't happen to have any at the moment).

I used fabric from Amy Butler's Lotus collection. I had originally planned to make a skirt with it, but in the end decided on a quicker project. The bag is fully reversible with bias binding on the handles. The other goal I was trying to accomplish with this bag was a shoulder strap that would stay put on my narrow sloping shoulders! I angled the seam at the shoulder joining area and it seems to work "sort of". It still slides if there isn't enough in the bag, but it does stay put when it's loaded full of "stuff". After finishing the first sample I've decided I want the bag to be bigger. It also needs a zippered pocket on the inside for my keys so that I'm not fishing around for them.

I'll post a tutorial on how to sew zippered pockets. I know some sewers still feel nervous about zippers but they really aren't that hard. Having done my time as a sample sewer of Outerwear clothing (which are full of zippers) this is one sewing technique I have definitely mastered. Stay posted for the tutorial....

I'm making a real conscious effort to cut down on the number of plastic bags I collect from grocery stores. I can't believe that cashiers still look at me as if I have horns when I tell them I've got my own bags. We are seriously clogging the earth with them....I'm just trying to do my little part.

Baby Quilt!

2007-06-13T19:38:00.000-07:00

Whew! It's been almost a month since my last post. I've realized if I want to have a craft blog I need crafty projects which aren't so labor intensive. I suspect this might be why "doll" quilts have become so popular as of late.

I just finished this quilt for my friend's baby boy. I had intended this gift to be for him when he was born. As it turned out, he was one month early (I hadn't even started it yet) and then some family circumstances put all my craft projects on hold for a few months. Tonight I am delivering the quilt 1 year, 2 months and 23 days late. Luckily my friend Vicky is very understanding.

I used a combination of Amy Butler fabrics mixed in with some cute frog prints that I found on eBay. I was so happy to discover the colours were a perfect match of greens and blues. As I don't have a machine that does free motion stitching I had to improvise with stitches I could manage with my regular sewing machine. I think the stitches turned out ok but I can't wait for the day I get my own Bernina quilting machine!

Inspiration for a small Urban dwelling!

2007-05-18T07:42:00.001-07:00

Well hello! This is the first official post from my new blog ChicaCraft! I'm so excited to be joining the blogosphere of uber talented crafty women - I've been lurking for way too long! It knocked me completely sideways when I discovered this blog world. Here I was feeling like the only 30 something woman who liked to make quilts and do crafty things with my hands.

I'd been searching for this community for a long time...It's funny how technology changes everything. I thought I should be able to find these people in person, where I live - but you know how hard it is too meet people in a large city. It's interesting how much more friendly and open we are on line. Can you imagine having some of these blog conversations on the bus or subway?! It would be great if we could.... Might make the world a friendlier place.

If you haven't already seen the latest copy of Blueprint Magazine, check it out! They have done a feature on Joelle Hoverson of Purl. If you don't know about her already she has two amazing stores in New York City; Purl (yarn store) and Purl Patchwork (fabric store). She also has an online store and blog. What inspired me the most were the photos of her small rental apartment. She has managed to create a beautiful living space, complete with quilting area. As an urban dweller I struggle to find room for my crafts in a 450 sq. foot apartment that I share with my husband, two cats and two bicycles! This article gave me a new resolve to keep working at my own setup.