Appleton Dance

by Linda Theil I just finished making the "Crafted Life Companion" notebook-cover designed by Australian Ali Phillips of Arabesque Scissors . I've made several of Phillips' patterns and have come to experience Phillips as creating at the same stratospheric level as English designer Diane Spencer Ogg for brilliant design innovation and attention to minute specificity in their patterns. Both creators are also highly professional and skilled presenters in their step-by-step demonstration videos for every design. Please see Phillips' video at the end of this post. The Arabesque notebook cover is designed to fit an A5 notebook size, and includes a sleeve for notepads up to 4 x 8-inches. Other pocket options are included in the pattern -- most of which I left out in my first version. I did take advantage of a marvelously useful innovation Phillips provided: a beautifully designed "coloring page" that helped enormously to keep all my pattern pieces organized....

  by Linda Theil Once again Jess at Oklaroots has drawn me in with her video titled "Kandou Patterns Mini Travel Sling Turorial" on YouTube. I ordered and downloaded the pattern, and put the mini-sling together with fabric from the "Jubilee" collection by Tone Finnanger for Tilda.  Unlike Jess, I did not find the pattern at all easy; but, it was beautifully written and designed, and interesting to put together since it has no actual interior, but just a large slip pocket on the front, and two zippered pockets, front and back. Lots of fun! Update: December 9, 2024 I accidentally discovered that the Kandou Mini Travel Sling can hold a Kindle reader in the front slip pocket!

by Linda Theil I saw a quilt kit using this block online and wanted to give it a try, so I looked for the block and found a few YouTube videos showing how to make it and also some blog posts showing how to make the block. All but one option built the block using a piece-by-piece method that struck me as old-fashioned and tedious. A single YouTube video titled "How to make a perfect woven star quilt block" featured an updated piecing process. This is a very good tutorial that will be very useful to a quiter wishing to create the woven star block, but the demonstrator did not include any measurements for the pieces she was using, so while the method looked interesting, quiters would have to figure out the piecing sizes on their own.  After some trial-and-error I came up with the following piecing measurements and diagram for a Woven Star block that finishes at 11-inches square. NOTE: The joke's on me! A full cutting guide is provided by the videographer Tulip Square linked...

by Linda Theil Jess on the Oklaroots YouTube channel created a video titled, "The cutest bag I've ever made! The Bitty Bug Pack -- Carolina Little Stitches will have you OBSESSED!" I ordered the PDF "Bitty Bug Pack" pattern from Carolina Little Stitches, and the pattern included a link to another sew-along with The Crafty Reporter . While the pattern is comprehensive and nicely presented, inexperienced crafters will find the videos very useful. The pattern includes many options and features to make the tiny 3.5x4.5x1.5-inch backpack an ideal copy of the real thing, but I stripped mine down to basics, eliminating straps and exterior pockets and trims. I am not normally a fan of creating tiny things, but Jess at Oklaroots was right, I am obsessed. My version of the tiny backpack includes a single, exterior loop and D-ring that can carry a carabiner or wristlet; and a single interior slip pocket that can include a feature badge or label.  The bag is finished by b...

by Linda Theil Tools and a toolbox are essential elements to any creative endeavor; that's why the Livingston Educational Service Agency plans to distribute 1500 backpacks full of learning tools free to Livingston County schoolkids on August 8, 2024. The agency is in the midst of their 23rd annual "Fill-a-Backpack for Kids" project. "For this project to be a success, we need your support," said project coordinator Robin Schutz of Great Start Livingston. "We need school supplies and backpacks -- supplies can be dropped off 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Thursday at LESA, 1425 W. Grand River Ave. in Howell, Michigan until August 2, 2024."  Alisa and I have supported the project since it began and this year we are filling 12 backpacks with colored pencils, crayons, pink erasers, folders, glue, highlighters, markers, paper, pencils, pens, rulers, scissors, spiral notebooks, handmade pencil cases for our Livingston County learners! This year the pencil ca...