Appleton Dance

by Linda Theil Cranberry Library announced today that it has published the Dutilh Centennial Cookbook Digital Edition on its new Local History webpage. They said: "Cranberry Library is pleased to provide access to the Dutilh Centennial Cookbook Digital Edition , published in honor of the centennial celebration of the dedication of the Dutilh Methodist Church on November 30, 1979." As organizers of this digitization project, we are grateful for and indebted to library staff Leslie Pallotta, Director; Rebecca Bess, Assistant Director; and Mallory Laporte.  This longtime wish and dream could not have come true without the generous support of The Reverend Tom Parkinson, Pastor of Dutilh United Methodist Church; who wrote a moving dedication to the digital edition of this work. We thank him. Dutilh Centennial Cookbook  editorial assistant Janet Duncan of Cranberry Township provided this contemporary newspaper clipping from the November 3-4, 1979 edition of the Butler county New...

  by Linda Theil I made this simple adaptation of Hedi Kyle's "Blizzard Book" as described in The Penland Book of Handmade Books (Lark Crafts, 2004) pp. 121-126.  To make the Flurries book you will need a sheet of lightweight paper 7 x 17- inches. Accordian pleat the 7 x 17-inch sheet of paper. Lay pleated sheet flat on surface. Fold inner and outer corners of top pleat to meet bottom of pleat.. Fold down top pleat, #1 and fold corners of next pleat, #2. Repeat for pleats #3 and #4. Fold final pleat #5. Pleated paper with corner folds compleated. Unfold the paper. Reverse fold the pleats -- push the ends of the folds inwards.   Completed reverse folds Reverse folded paper ready for next step, folding pages. Folding pages of Flurries book shown in video. I made a cover for my Flurries book by cutting a decorative sheet of paper 7.5 x 2.25-inches, wrapping the paper around the outside of the book, and tucking the two ends into the first and last envelopes of the book. You ...

by Linda Theil I found one lonely bee buzzing around in my scrap bin and wondered if it might be big enough to make a mini-backpack, bag-charm for my granddaughter's new bee-themed overnight bag, as described in AppletonDance post "Bee weekender" . Bee weekender Turns out the bee was not big enough to fit the four-inch pattern piece for the front of  Carolina Little Stitches' "Mini Bug Pack" , but I was able to use other scraps to piece a front and back for the new bee bag -- and it turned out real cute! Bee bag front Bee bag back Bee bag peek inside

by Linda Theil I have been following the Fat Quarter Shop's "Sewcialites 3" free, sew-along currently running on their social media and website. It's a really good program with a new designer block every week demonstrated by shop owner Kimberly Jolly on the Fat Quarter Shop's YouTube channel .  I became intrigued by a really intricate block debuted on week #13 titled "Back Porch" by designer Joanna Figueroaof Fig Tree & Co. I came up with my own coloring ideas, and went to my scrap bin to find some options for making the block. Since my scraps were small, I settled on making the six-inch block, although I usually don't sew such small blocks. All I needed to get started was a 2.5-inch feature square for the middle and I was off to the races. My design board in the photo is a stretched canvas replica of my grandson's artwork presented to me for my birthday in 2021. I filled in the back of the board with batting and held the batting in place w...

  by Linda Theil I pulled leftover lakeside prints from my stash to make a trio of mini-backpack favors for this year's trip to Sterling State Park on Lake Erie in Monroe, Michigan. Alisa made the prints last year on her ink-jet printer as described in the AppletonDance post "Sterling goodie bags" . I used the same "Bitty Bug Pack" pattern by Carolina Little Stitches that I used last year. (Their web site is currently shuttered.) I gathered some Tilda scraps to make the backs and gussets for this year's backpacks. There is a tiny slip pocket inside. Happy camping! Resources The Oklaroots YouTube how-to video: "The cutest bag I've ever made! The Bitty Bug Pack -- Carolina Little Stitches ..."

by Linda Theil  I bought Lori Holt's "Calico Home Decor Zippy Bags 2 Project Panel" in 2021 because the panel was printed on canvas instead of quilt cotton, and I thought that was an interesting innovation.  Although the idea of project panels was not new -- books, aprons, oven mitts, and placemat panels had been available for decades -- but bags! That was new and interesting, especially on a heavier substrate.  I  recently pulled the Lori Holt panel from my stash when I was looking for inspiration for a welcome gift, but I thought the "Calico" panel was much too elaborate for the simple zipped pouch as featured on the panel, so I searched for a pattern that would make the most of the intricate designs.  It turned out the large bags on the panel perfectly fit the front and back pattern pieces of the large-sized "Plover Pouch" by Noodlehead; and I could make a "Calico" duo by using the small-sized bag from the panel for a coordinating baby ...

by Linda Theil Our little May-the-Fourth birthday girl has forsaken penguins for bees, so I made her a sleep-over bag using a 2020 fabric panel titled "Bee Grateful" by Deb Strain for Moda. I have made this Spencer-Ogg design from the  "Escape Pod Travel Collection"  several times. The "Weekend Bag" measures 16x11x6-inches and is meant to meet airline carry-on requirements.I think it makes a nice overnight bag. With a sturdy interfacing the weekend bag has a solid structure; but I was interested in trying iron-on fleece as interfacing throughout the bag this time. The softer underpinning gives the bag a shabby, slouchy look that I think goes well with the insoucient bees. To accent the silvery grays in the bee panel, I chose a silver zipper and hardware. The pattern features optional non-woven accents such as zip ends, zip pulls, a bottom gusset-overlay, decorative zip placket overlays, and a front pocket overlay strip. For these elements I used a rich hon...

by Linda Theil Knowing my predilection for product advertising bags, a good friend gifted me with the packaging from her Michigan-made, American Spoon pancake mix. Following in the footsteps of other repurposed packaging -- like the slings I made of Starbucks coffee bags -- I made a Kandou "Mini-traveler Sling" out of the American Spoon canvas bag my friend gave me. With the addition of cuts from the "Apple Festival" collection by Jane Shasky for Henry Glass & Co. I widened the American Spoon bag enough to create the front and back of my mini-sling. I highlighted the advertising on the front and back of the American Spoon bag by making the front zippered pocket zip in a straight line across the top of the bag front instead of diagonally as shown in the pattern. I used the back of the American Spoon bag to make a large slip-pocket on the back of the sling, instead of creating the vertical, zippered pocket described in the pattern. I used an ivory cotton from m...