To Market, To Market!

Goodness, it's been a long time!  Guess I've been having such a great time substitute teaching these past few months I've forgotten about blogging.  Now it's time to switch gears and get back into Market Mode--because this Saturday, May 6, is opening day for the Des Moines Farmers' Market.  I confess it is probably my favorite day of the year; I look forward to it like kids look forward to Christmas.  Yes, it really is that much fun.  I will be there 18 out of the 26 Saturdays between May and October and am looking forward to another great season.  Our Market is the best!

Here are just a few of the journals I'll be bringing with me--I have been working hard for the last few months to create a big inventory with a varied selection.  This year, I'll have some journals with lined paper available at Market.  You'll also find some other new items in my booth besides the journals, some collages and art prints.

Always a favorite are Little Golden Book story journals: they have 40 blank pages, pockets at the front and back, as well as all of the story pages spaced in with the blank pages.  These are great to use as a journal, sketchbook, small scrapbook, or as a unique guest book too.  Here's an example of just one of the Golden Book journals I'll have available.  This is actually the first "Beauty and the Beast" Little Golden Book I've had:

This "Freedom" journal also contains all of the original book pages (which are full of simplified descriptions of our political system which seem naive today) as well as blank pages and pockets:

Vintage school books are among my favorites to make into journals.  Both of these are 1950's covers:

Journals make great gifts for teachers, graduates, and moms....if you'd like to shop in person this Saturday, you can find my booth on 4th Street south of Court Avenue, near the new downtown Hy-Vee store.

Window Work

Last week a good friend who is also an amazing artist generously shared some of her window collection with me.  They are some of the best salvaged windows I've come across and very inspiring so thought I'd share:

I love old-fashioned windows with panes like this one.  The moment I saw this window I knew what I would do with it--and I love that quick flash of inspiration.  The lovely pink floral background is a lotka paper that I've also been using in some journals and it is a dream to work with.  I think it sets off this window perfectly. This window measures 24 inches wide by 23.75 inches long.

Next up is likely the largest window I've ever done, at 57" tall and 23.75' wide.

Love the black window frame--not something you come across too often!  I think it's perfect with the book pages background.  Very happy with how both of these turned out!

On a side note, I'm often asked what kind of glue I use on these window collages.  I've used a few different kinds but a couple of years ago I discovered Martha Stewart Decoupage Glue at Michael's and it is my favorite.  Easy to apply and dries nice and clear without brushstrokes.  Gel medium and Mod Podge also work fine, but I love Martha's glue best!

Both of these will be available in my booth this Saturday morning at the Downtown Des Moines Farmers' Market.  You can find me on 4th Street north of Court Avenue;if you're there, stop by and say hello!

Back to the books!

If you live in or around Des Moines, you may have heard of the book sale: the Planned Parenthood book sale, which happens twice a year (April & October) and just happens to be one of the best book sales in the country.  It's one of my favorite events and where I find many of my best books for creating journals.  Since the Downtown Des Moines Farmers' Market starts on May 7 (I'm scheduled for opening day--always a great time!), I was waiting in line to get in the door yesterday.  Waitied in line in some very cold rain and little ice pellets....but of course it was worth it.  Thought you might like to see some of what I grabbed:

I love my Nancy Drews.  It's a treat to find some of the old blue ones without their dust jackets.  None of these are in collectible condition--perfect to make into journals.  

I haven't ever made a Charlie Brown journal before so these will be something new for me.  

This will obviously make the perfect journal for someone.  Victorian novels often have very amusing titles. 

Old typing and shorthand manuals are some of my very favorites to make into journals.  It's been quite a while since I've had an old typing book.  The typing books make perfect spiral sketchpads, while the shorthand books are just the right size for a journal to fit in your purse.  

I'll share more in the next month before opening day of the market.  If you're able to visit the market, you'll see some of the books pictured here transformed into journals.  Time to get to work! 

Vintage Pattern Love

Clearly, I love vintage patterns.  This isn't a new thing; I've been collecting them for a few years now.  It all started with this:

The image on these three collages came from a pattern I picked up at Market Day way back in 2009....long before I knew how to sew.  There was just something about this image.  The look on her face, that full skirt, the tiny waist...I'm not quite sure exactly what it was, but I  had to have it, and so I bought it.  Just because. (And it was only a dollar.) I had it about a year before I did anything with it, and it then led to a whole bunch of collages that I just had so much fun making.  I sold all the others, but the first one I did was always my favorite.  Here's a closer look:

If you've followed along with me here, you may recall that I even had this image printed on fabric a couple of years ago.  One of those mini-quilts was featured in Art Quilting Studio magazine last year, which was exciting for me.  This collage is available as an art print or a blank greeting card in my etsy shop, too, in case you might like one.  I've also used old pattern envelopes as journal covers too.  There's just something about those illustrations of the vintage fashions.  I find them irresistible!  I'll be making another batch of pattern journals for opening day at the Downtown Des Moines Farmers' Market on May 7, because they make perfect Mother's Day gifts.

Yesterday I took a little time to tidy up my sewing room and hang these three collages up together.  The colors in these pieces seemed to go well with the apron I was working on.  I love the combination of aquas and reds together.  Here's the apron:

The fabrics used are from JoAnn's; the pattern is a vintage McCall's from 1966.  It's a "sample" pattern; I've never come across one of those before.  I bought it simply for the envelope illustration, which is retro and yet looks very contemporary to me:

Eventually I want to frame some patterns and hang on the wall and this will likely be one of them.

What's just as much fun as vintage patterns?  Vintage pattern print FABRIC, of course!

This fabric is by Michael Miller.  Love it.  I'm tempted just to re-cover a message board with it rather than sew it, so I can enjoy looking at it all the time.

A Whole Lotta Making Going On!

Ah, summer, how I love thee!  Afternoons at the pool are our favorite activity.  When I'm not swimming with my little guy, I've been using my weeks off from Farmers Market to get some new inventory ready.  I've been inspired by some new papers:

Boy, do I love that bicycle print.  It comes in other colors and previously I had the green & teal on gray version, but I think I might love this gray & white on black version even more.

I'm also excited to use this leaf-print paper:

I've been working on a new batch of vintage dress-pattern journals this week as well.  These have been a popular item at Market so it was time to make more:

These are much more time-consuming to make than vintage-book journals, because I have to cut the book board, then glue the cover papers to the board...but I really love these.  I hate it when I hear people say how they've thrown away so many old patterns...because even if you aren't going to sew the garment, the artwork on the envelope is beautiful and there are oh so many uses for the pattern tissue.

I'm also doing a few Bingo Books for a customer.  I used to do make a lot of these back when I first started doing shows, but then online sellers really raised their prices on vintage Bingo cards so I don't do so many any more.  These cards actually belonged to my grandparents, and since they weren't heavy chipboard, I just glued them to book board so they would be sturdy enough to make a journal.  These are nice sized, a little bigger than 4 x 6.

So that's what's been going on around here.  I've got one more Saturday to sleep in before I'll be back at the Farmers Market on July 25.  You can find me at 2nd & Court with lots of new stuff.  Come say hi!

Hello again: another Black & White quilt

My but it's been a long time since I've shared anything here...seems like years ago instead of just a mere eight months!  Much has happened (we moved!) but in those busy months I have managed to keep creating, both for work and for fun, and thought I would share one of my favorite projects today.

You may recall that about a year ago I shared a black and white quilt that I made.  It found a home with a fabulous friend of mine, and after it sold I started thinking about another one.  And as it happened, I found myself at the Quilting Connection in Ames, (aka fabric heaven!) and lo and behold they had a lot of outstanding black and white prints that came home with me.  Here's what happened to those prints:

I got a little crazy this time and put some gray in with the black and white.  Notice the adorable retro pickup-truck print--how cute is that?  I also made the hubby a Christmas stocking out of that print. He wasn't quite as excited as I was about the truck fabric, but he managed to look interested for a moment or two.

I wanted to do something rather unexpected for the back of the quilt so I let the top sit for a couple of weeks until the right quilt back presented itself to me.  That's how my process often works: I just wait for the right fabric to find me.  And it always does.  In this case, it was this unbelievably cool bird print that I found at Stitch:

The inspiration for using yellow binding came from Maureen Cracknell's blog, which is one of my very favorites; she's an amazing quilter.  She showed a photo of a recent quilt of hers which she had bound in yellow and so I thought I would use yellow on this quilt.  Love how it turned out.

I made this quilt as we found our new home and as the weather began to change from winter to spring.  The black and white reminds me of winter and the birds, of course, are the quintessential harbinger of spring.  And here at our new home, we are lucky to have lots of birds visiting our yard and birdfeeders all the time.  That's just one of the many things I love about our new home.  I'll be sharing some more about our new house as I get some pictures.

With spring comes the Farmers Market as well, and this year  I will be there on opening day, which is May 2.  If you're in Des Moines, please stop by my booth on 4th street, north of Court Avenue, and say hello!  I'm looking forward to being part of this wonderful event again this year, which marks 40 years of the Downtown Des Moines Farmers Market.  

Happy spring to all and bring on the warm weather!

I love spring: photo edition.

Spring tends to get very busy.  Here's what's been going on around here in recent weeks:

A small quilt for a small boy. 

Small boy with a shirt full of small pockets for "pockets" day at preschool (you can't see them all in the picture but I managed to get 24 little pockets on this little shirt--and for some reason that made me very proud of myself!)

A furniture painting project in progress.  This Annie Sloan Chalk Paint is just awesome.

Someday this will get quilted.  Someday. 

It finally got warm enough so that our hostas could make an appearance. 

This year I am attempting veggies: peppers and one tomato plant.  We'll see what happens.  Gardening is a bit like gambling for me--I have no guarantee of good results.  If I can get one decent tomato and one pepper I will be pleased. 

And of course, one important thing I do each May is decorate at the cemetery.  I enjoy doing this.  My grandparents are in a small country cemetery in Grundy County, near where they farmed, and I always find it to be a peaceful place. 

 

And of course, spring also means I am busy making stuff for the Downtown Des Moines Farmers Market!  I'm so pleased that I am part of this event.  It's a great Des Moines tradition and if you've never been, you should.  There's so much there to see, so much good stuff to eat, and such a diverse group of people.  I'll be there for the next three weeks in a row if you'd like to say hi.  I'll have lots of new journals as well as a few other things.  Such as this:

In case you're keeping track, this is Nancy Drew quilt #4. 

 

Happy spring to you.  Enjoy the sunshine. 



Experiments.

As I mentioned in my last post, I had so much fun making my Nancy Drew quilt that of course I had to play with the leftover fabric.  I had just as much fun experimenting with the leftovers as I did making the quilt and I like the results.  Here's what I came up with.

Both of these pieces are 11 x 14, fabric on canvas.  The "Secret of Shadow Ranch" piece has mostly all fabric from the Get a Clue with Nancy Drew line by Moda Fabrics, such as I used in my quilt.  "Ghost of Blackwood Hall" features the book cover panel by Moda, and then various other random fabrics that I had on hand.  I also made one smaller panel using mostly the Moda fabrics:

This book cover art featured on this piece is actually a post card from a collection by Chronicle Books that I've had for a few years.  Sometimes I like something so much that I almost hate to use it,  but then I remind myself that there's absolutely no point in that.  So I adhered that "Secret in the Old Attic" postcard and framed it with a laser-cut wooden frame (from Michael's) that I painted.  This piece is 12 x 12 on canvas. 

I haven't been limiting myself to fabric, as much as I love it.  I also picked up two old windows at a sale last week.  I bought them for no real reason other than I thought they were neat and they were cheap.  Here's what I did with the first one:

"Live, travel, adventure, bless, and don't be sorry."  --Jack Kerouac. 
I love this quote and it worked with the window: one word per pane.  Easy peasy.  The messy part of this project was cleaning up the window: the glass was covered in white paint but I managed to remove it without too much trouble.  Someone has also apparently tried to paint the wood purple on one side but I got the awful purple paint off too, to reveal layers of pretty pale seafoam green and white paint.  I like the shabby chic look of the window and I didn't want it to look all shiny and new, but rather to show some of the layers that had been added through the years.  I don't know how old the window is, but my guess is: pretty old. 

So, that's what I've been up to lately, in addition to making books, of course.  I've got a bunch of new journals that I'll be bringing with me to the Downtown Farmers' Market next Saturday (July 13).  Des Moines' has one of the best farmers' markets anywhere around, and if you're in the area, you should check it out.  7 a.m. to noon in the Historic Court District, downtown.  My booth is on 4th Street, north of Court Avenue.