Monday, September 28, 2009

Blog Love

Melanie at Fabric Shopper posted this the other day and I almost missed it! Thanks for the compliment!

And while you're on the Fabric Shopper blog, click on the Christmas 2009 Idea-Zine link on the right side of the page. It's a pdf download with ideas for Christmas sewing projects. And I am also featured there.

Happy Monday.

Thursday, September 24, 2009

Crafty Things

Cicada Fabric Coasters

Driven partly by my husband putting a wet glass on our desk, I decided to make some drink coasters using fabric and cork rounds. I had the idea for awhile and finally found some cork thingees locally (they are easy to order online but I wanted immediate gratification) at Michael's.
Cicada Fabric Coasters

I used Cicada Studio fabric, lovely hand printed fabric by Michelle Engel Bencsko. This fabric is linen and hemp.

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I just traced the cork form onto the back of the fabric, cut it out and used Mod Podge to glue it on. Then after that set awhile, I brushed on a few more layers of Mod Podge to seal it. The Mod Podge completely sealed the edges so there is no way the edges will ravel, pretty cool. Although we do use them now, there are a few things I might do differently next time.

The cork is dark so when the light colored fabric is on the cork, it does darken the color a little. I would use some white cardboard next time to a) lighten the fabric color and b) give the cork some more stability. Which is the second thing I would change. The cork is kind of flimsy and I was envisioning a more stiff coaster so I think a thick piece of cardboard would do the trick.

And one other problem I can't solve. If the glass is sweating, it sticks to the coaster, annoying. Not sure how to fix that.

Tuesday, September 22, 2009

Fall


It's been a crazy few weeks. First we were able to go on a last minute much needed vacation to the beach in Mexico. It was hectic getting ready and all and the travel was a little crazy but we arrived and prepared for a great time when my petsitter called to tell me my sweet pup Rocky had died. It was pretty devastating but his health had been deteriorating the past year and though his spirit was strong as ever, I could see his body wasn't keeping up. I made a tribute to him here.



We managed to enjoy the vacation, worrying a bit about the pup left behind who has never been alone but the sand and the surf helped to ease the anxieties.

Now on queue, as the last day of Summer rolls out and the first day of Fall arrives, it has turned downright chilly here! Yesterday we even had a few minutes of SNOW. Eek. But it's making me think quilts and other warm things.

Mod Sampler Quilt And speaking of quilts, I finally finished my Mod Sampler quilt!