Appleton Dance

We Cut the Tree L. Theil  ã  1984 We started cutting our own Christmas trees in 1978, the year that Ben was born. That was the year after Dad brought home a tree so dry it shed needles when you touched it. By the time we took it out of the house after the holidays, that tree was down to bare branches. The next year our neighbor said that he got fresh cut trees at a farm up the road in Zelie. It sounded like a good idea to us. My mom was real glad to stay home with the baby that year because she liked the quiet time for her and Ben. She went with us the next year, though; and we all went every year after that. Tree cutting is somewhere three boys and a girl and a mom and dad can go with very little aggravation. We didn’t need special clothes or a fat wallet. If my mom had her way we would have spent a bundle on big pine wreaths and yards and yards of pine garland. Dad always said, “Not this year.” The tree-farmer displayed the greens in the barn where he s...

Alisa gave me the most wonderful gift this holiday season -- a how-to for Appleton Dance! Felt Cup Cozy by Alisa Go to your favorite coffee shop and pickup your favorite drink and a cardboard cup holder. You'll need the cup holder for a template and you'll want refreshment during the project : ) Starbucks sells small-size giftcards that make a nice addition to the cozy if you are making it as a gift. Step 1 Pick two colors of felt and lay them out wrong sides together. I used craft felt that was 50% post-consumer plastics, but wool felt would be wonderful. Using cardboard cup holder as a template, outline the shape on the felt. Step 2 Pin felt to keep it from shifting and sew around inside of outline. I like zigzag, but any stitch would work. Cut felt along outline using straight or pinking shears. Add any additional 'quilting' or stitching. Step 3 Use your drink as a guide and pin felt cozy together. Step 4 (optional)  If you are going to make a pocket for a g...

Sometimes a pun is glorious. See Harriet Rosen's I-pod baby quilt at: http://benjaminste.in/post/1707639931/theres-a-nap-for-that-iphone-baby-quilt-by

Small tote with large outside zipped pocket I bought a cheap fabric tote at Oliver T's on Hill Road in Grand Blanc and liked it so much I wanted to replicate it for a goodie bag gift for an upcoming getaway weekend with friends. I liked carrying the tote because I could put my money and phone, etc in the large zippered outside pocket, but still had room to carry a book, and other bulky items in the pouch. I plan to add photos to the directions below, but in case experienced seamstresses want to give it a try right away, I've listed the unillustrated directions today. Photos added 11/16/10 . General instructions: Use 1/4 –inch seams. Press after every stitching. RST = Right Sides Together. WST = Wrong Sides Together Materials and equipment: Cut two outside tote shell pieces each 14 inches by 22 inches. Cut two tote lining pieces each 14 inches by 22 inches. (Stack all four pieces and cut a U-shaped piece 7-3/4 inch wide by 9-1/2 inches tall out of the top center of all four ...

Artist and poet Gwen Frostic (1906-2001) lived and worked in Benzonia, Michigan, not far from the great lake. She said: A tree each year, at the end of all the twigs, will form new buds. The limbs will grow a little longer and the tips of the branches will remain forever young. The same way with you. With each day, you reach a little further, each day you learn something new, the tops of your mind will remain forever young -- no matter how many years you count on your birthday. Quoted from The Life & Wisdom of Gwen Frostic  by  Pulitzer Prize winning journalist  Sheryl James (Sleeping Bear Press, 1999) I stopped by her studio on April 1. Her shop is closed. But her spirit haunts the site. And the branches remain forever young. Info: http://www.oldhouseonline.com/mushroom-houses-of-charlevoix/ http://www.gwenfrostic.com

A good friend saw a magazine story about a jewelry designer who displayed her raw materials on a huge board so that she could see at a glance what was available for her creativity. My friend decided that she could do the same with her costume jewelry collection so that she could easily choose appropriate accessories as she dressed for work or play. She made this jewelry board and mounted it in her clothes closet. Here is how she described her process: I used a 24x36" oak framed bulletin board from Staples, under $30 cut a remnant from 'Warm and Natural' quilt batting to cover the front inside the frame and tacked it down in a few spots around edge with a staple gun ( http://www.warmcompany.com/ wnpage.html ) cut a rectangle from leftover black satin that was about 6 inches bigger than the board.  Covered the batting with the fabric and stapled the fabric to the backside of the board. (Satin may not hold up to multiple pinholes; directions I've seen onli...

Alisa and I made this cute variation on Martha Stewart's felt shopping tote featured on page 42 of the January 2010 issue. You can download a full-sized PDF file template of Martha's felt bag from her website. Alisa and I made a couple of the totes out of gray, wool felt. The full sized bag is 16 inches wide and 27.5 inches high including the long handles. Alisa pinned on one of her felt corsages that we made at Christmas time and it looked really cute. For the Valentine's tote, I reduced the pattern size to 12 inches wide by 18.5 inches including the handles. The pattern piece is shaped like a square bib with long straps that you stitch together to make the tote handles. After cutting out two pattern pieces, stay stitch 1/4-inch from the curved edges of all four handles, using a decorative stitch if desired. If you want to applique a decoration on your bag, cut out your decorative felt pieces and stitch onto the front of one side of your bag. Then pin the two bag piece...

Alisa and I took a class in making cotton chenille scarves from Cindy Jones at Lake Street Mercantile in South Lyon, Michigan on Sunday. We each bought our own Olfa Chenille Cutter  and a yard-and-a-half of cotton fabric. We cut five-inch-wide bias strips about 40-inches long, stacked them, and sewed 3/8-inch channels down the length. You really need a walking foot for this job. We made our scarf double-sided by stacking seven layers of bias strips with a slightly longer piece in the middle position to act as a foundation for both sides. Then we used the chenille cutter to slice three layers open in all the channels on both sides of the foundation, leaving the center layer to hold the scarf together. Once the scarf is washed and fluffed dry in a dryer, the bias frays and creates the distinctive chenille nap. Cindy showed us a cute baby blanket that was chenilled on one side only. The stitched channels create a quilt effect the un-napped side. Lots of interesting patter...