I just finished making this cute bracelet, using a kit by Handbehg Felts I purchased at International Quilt Market last week. You can buy a kit just like it on their Etsy shop here. It retails for $39. Kinda pricey, but it includes all the beads, findings and the 50 wool felted balls, which are pretty expensive on their own.
The kits come in four finishes (silver, gold, antique copper, or gun metal). If you want a bracelet with a specific color of felt balls, you can buy the findings separately from the felt balls.
It was pretty easy to put together, but you do need to know some basic jewelry skills, such as how to open and close a jump ring, and how to roll the wire at the ends of the beads. And you need small jewelry pliers. The bracelet is surprisingly light to wear, but makes a big fashion statement!
Friday, November 5, 2010
International Quilt Festival, Part 2
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| “New York Jazz” by Patricia Mayer & Karen Watts won first place in the Traditional Pieced category |
Here are more beauties from the 2010 International Quilt Festival in Houston!
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| “Dancing Granny” by Neva Waldt http://www.artdollsbyneva.com/ |
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| “Time for a Nap” by Pearl Gonzalez |
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| “Metropolis in Bloom” by Kathryn Botsford |
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| “Are They Real?” by Jan Campbell From the ArtBra exhibition http://www.artbra.org/ |
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| “The Bayeax — Tapestry to Quilt — Sample” by Pam Holland http://web.mac.com/pamholland3/Pam_Holland_Designs/About_Me_1.html |
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| “Dream Story” byYoshimi Umemoto |
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| “Last Chance, Last Dance” by Moira Cannata won third place in the Traditional Pieced category |
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| “Last Chance, Last Dance” (detail) by Moira Cannata |
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| “Orphan Blossoms” by Timna Tarr http://www.qtailoredquilts.com |
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| “Facade” byMelissa Sobotka won a Judges’s Choice award http://msfiberart.com/ |
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| “Tiny Dancer” by Margo Fiddes http://www.margoquilts.com/ |
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| “Heron Happiness” by Kathy McNeil http://www.kathymcneilquilts.com/ |
Turn-a-Tie Flowers
As they say on Monty Python, “And now, for something completely different…”
I’ve been posting like mad about Quilt Market and International Quilt Festival (and there is lots more to come) but I thought I’d take a break for a moment, because this is my 500th post! Wow.
You can use either old ties or regular fabric. I made the one pictured above last night, and the directions are very clear and easy to follow. They were fast and fun to make.
I’m going to make some flower brooches to give as gifts, and some for embellishing wearables, and some for pretty pins for holiday gifts. And don’t you think this would be darling to do for men’s boutonierres at a wedding, instead of traditional flower ones?
If you don’t have a huge bag of old ties in your attic like I do, they are very easy (and cheap!) to find at thrift stores.
GIVEAWAY! Leave a comment on this post before noon EST on Saturday, November 13. Tell me if you have old ties hanging around your house. If so, what you were planning to do with them? Or maybe you have already made a cool project with them; if that’s the case, tell me about it!
There’s still a bit more Quilt Market loot to give away in my next few posts, so please come back for a chance to win!
WE HAVE A WINNER: Melinda wins the Turn-a-Tie pattern!
Thursday, November 4, 2010
2010 International Quilt Festival, Part 1
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| “Ruffled Feathers” by Roxanne Nelson |
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| “Ruffled Feathers” (detail) by Roxanne Nelson |
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| “Ruffled Feathers” (detail) by Roxanne Nelson |
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| “Peony” by Noriko Endo |
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| “Peony” (detail) by Noriko Endo Read about Noriko Endo’s new book here: http://www.dragonthreads.com/ |
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| “Group of Pansies” by Melinda Bula |
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| “Group of Pansies” (detail) by Melinda Bula See more of Melinda’s work here: http://www.melindabula.com/ |
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| “The Girls of Tyrone Farm” by Beth Miller |
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“Portugal (Minho region) Fokloric Dancers” by Leslie Gabrielse of The Netherlands
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| “The Geisha and the Serving Girl” by Claudia Clark Myers & Marilyn Badger Won first place in the Art-Painted Surface category Learn more about Marilyn Badger here: http://www.apqs.com/artists_marilynb.php |
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| “That’s Graphic!” by Diana Sharkey Won an Honorable Mention in the Art-Abstract, Small category |
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| “Madonna” by Laurie Tigner Won an honorable mention in the Art-Painted Surface category Learn more about Laurie Tigner here: http://laurietignerdesigns.com |
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| “Innocence” by Hollis Chatelain |
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| “Innocence” (detail) by Hollis Chatelain See more of Hollis’ work here: http://www.hollisart.com/ |
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| “Square Dance” by Jamie Fingal Jamie’s website is: http://www.jamiefingaldesigns.com/ |
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| “Stone II” by Jean Wells Keenan Won second place in the Art-Abstract, Small category See more of Jean’s work here: http://www.jeanwellsquilts.com/ |
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| “Freedom” by Helen Godden |
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| “Freedom” by Helen Godden See more of Helen’s work here: http://www.helengodden.com |
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| ”EIEIO” by Nancy Brown Won an honorable mention in the Art-Pictoral category Nancy’s website is: http://www.nancybrownquilts.com/ |
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| “Port of Cassis” by Lenore Crawford Won second place in the Art-Pictoral category Lenore’s website is: http://www.lenorecrawford.com/ |
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| “My Rhino” by Pam Holland Pam’s website is http://web.mac.com/pamholland3/Pam_Holland_Designs/Welcome.html |
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| “Rare Catch” by Diane Steffen See more of Diane’s work at http://www.dianesteffenartquilts.com/ |
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
2010 Fall Quilt Market, Part 6
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| Marcia Derse with her newest fabric line |
Of all the fabric lines I saw at Market, the new one by Marcia Derse called “The Third in Line” for Troy comes the closest to looking like it was hand printed, stamped and painted. If you love surface designed fabric but can’t do this stuff yourself (or don’t want to), this is the line for you! It is spectacular. I wanted a yard of each one!
Marcia had small pieces of her fabric pinned to a backdrop of one of her more neutral fabrics, which made for a striking, yet very simple display.
And she had yardage of each of them hanging from clips on a rod, inviting attendees to touch, feel and savor the hand and quality of the fabrics.
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| Susan Walton of Rubber Stamp Tapestry |
Rubber Stamp Tapestry is a company based in Seagrove, North Carolina that was new to me. Susan Walton and her husband Don are potters (the Seagrove area is very famous for ceramics) who started designing “peg stamp sets” — rubber stamps mounted at the end of wooden pegs — in 2002.
Susan stamped this design using several peg stamps – the leaf, the twig, and the berry – while I watched and talked to her. She uses Speedball inks on a small sponge when she stamps. (Speedball, by the way, is another North Carolina company; it is based in Statesville, just 20 minutes from me!) They sell the inks on their website in 1.5 oz bottles. But other some other brands of ink and acrylic paint – including Liquitex — work well, too. You can see lots of details of their process here.
All their peg stamps have placement lines so you can see exactly which part of the design is up when you are stamping. I thought it was cool the way they had them stored in their booth. They are primarily botanical designs. After stamping, you wait 72 hours, then heat set with an iron. After that, you can use the designs in quilts or other projects that can be laundered.
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| A creation by the folks at HandBehg Felts |
The Handbehg Felts booth is always abuzz with creativity! They sell nifty wool felt and felted wool balls, and a bunch of kits to help you use them. Their kits include pincushions, necklaces, eyeglass holders, brooches and bracelets. If you want to purchase their products retail, check out their Etsy shop.
That’s my “Magical Mistletoe” — which I made for the 2010 Quilting Arts Gifts issue — hanging in their booth. They said I helped them sell several thousand of the little white felt balls I used as mistletoe berries! Quilting Arts Gifts has 148 pages of great handmade projects you can make for holiday gift-giving, and it is available online or at Barnes & Noble bookstores nationwide. Time to get hopping on those gifts if you haven’t started yet!
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| Ellen Medlock with some of her new designs |
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| Pam Goecke Dinndorf of Aardvark Quilts |
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| Angie Steveson of Lunchbox Quilts |
“About Trout” is one of Angie Steveson’s new patterns for Fall Market. She designs for Lunchbox Quilts and many of her patterns include CDs with embroidery designs. Angie has a pretty breast cancer awareness pattern called Pink Ribbon Quilt that is available for free on her website; it also comes with embroidery designs.
On Saturday, I posted this photo of me with Alex Anderson and Ricky Tims at the launch of Accuquilt’s Go! Baby, a smaller version of their wildly popular die cutting system. It retails for $139, and will be shipping in late November.
GIVEAWAY! Leave a comment on this post before noon EST on Friday, November 12. Tell me if you have an Accuquilt cutter, and what you think of it, OR if you think you might like one, and why. I'll pull one name at random and send that person the t-shirt and the tote bag. (Note: the t-shirt is size large.)
There’s still a bit more Quilt Market loot to give away in my next few posts, so please come back for a chance to win!
WE HAVE A WINNER! Carol Hansen won this give-away. Thanks!
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