Amigurumi World and Panda Crochet Along

I've been away in amigurumi-land again. Making these little crocheted animals is addictive. I just cannot get enough. I have wanted to make every critter in Ana Paula Rimoli's book Amigurumi World: Seriously Cute Crochet.

I have a pretty good start, too. These guys are easy, quick, and I think the cutest out there. There are instructions for large amis, but I like the little guys. This book is well worth checking out.

Also, I've joined a Crochet Along. This is a new experience for me. I know how to crochet, so I was not sure if I would get anything good out of crocheting with other people, but I could not resist the ami. It is a fuzzy panda. The yarn is brushed to make it look like fur. I figured that joining the Crochet Along is worth it, just to learn the brushing technique. If you hate working with those special fuzzy yarns, then this is the perfect alternative.

Check out the first lesson. There are several YouTube videos to demonstrate special techniques for the Fuzzy Panda. The best tip is to give your yarn an extra little tug at the end of completing a single crochet. This makes your stitches tighter so the stuffing does not show through.

Here are some tips that are not mentioned in the lesson videos for brushing your crocheted amis:

1. I found it easiest to collapse the piece so that it was a double thickness. This helped to protect my fingers from the brush and it did not pull the piece out of shape.
2. Be careful when brushing near the edge. Those stitches pull easily.
3. Start with a gentle brush stroke until you get the feel of the yarn's resistence. It is easier to brush more to get the desired look than it is to try and hide pulled stitches.
   

Friendship Bag Swap

When I saw the photo of this bag, I knew that I had to make one. When I saw that this is also a swap, well, I signed up immediately.

This bag is for the Friendship Bag Swap, hosted by the Quilting Gallery.

Here's the run-down,

• Sign ups are going on now and end August 20th.
• You receive your partner's information August 25th. It is a secret swap, so no telling who your partner is.
• People from around the globe are participating, but you have the option if you want to ship internationally or not.
• There is a simple online form to complete to sign up.
• There is an optional Flickr group that you can join to share your journey.
• The instructions are simple to follow with a lot of pictures.
• As of now here are the stats: 221 participants, 23 countries, 6 provinces, and 39 states.
  

Something that is not listed on the swap site, but I found when I looked at the Flickr site - people are filling the bags with goodies for their secret friend. I do not know if there is a dollar limit or any other restrictions. Once my registration is accepted, I intend to ask. -- UPDATE -- See Mishka's comment below. Goodies are optional in the swap.

Even if you do not join the swap, consider making these simple little bags to hold gifts for family and friends. Autumn weddings are starting and the holidays are closer than you think!

Have fun!

Amigurumi! Super Happy Crochet Cute

I am hooked (I swear, the pun was unintentional). I love the Japanese art of amigurumi. It is pronounced ah-MEE-goo-ROO-mee. Previously, I made a Frodo amigurumi. I recently found a book at my local library with several patterns for animals an food. What I like about the book is the introduction information. It details materials needed and helpful tips for working with the smaller hooks and embellishments.

The patterns progress from easy beginner to difficult advanced. I am not fan of decorating the house with crocheted items, but some of the food patterns are so cute, I could see them in little bowls in the kitchen. These patterns introduce working with stitches you may not be accustomed to and working with some embellishments like beads. It is a good place to begin practicing with increases and decreases before you get into the involved and time consuming larger amigurumis.

I strongly advice picking up a book about amigurumi from your local library or bookstore for all the tips and practice patterns before trying those awesome patterns you can find all over the web and esty.

2009 Dear Jane Siggie Swap

I received my blocks from the 2009 Dear Jane Siggie Swap. If you don't know what a siggie swap is, it is a signature block swap. Each person sews a specified block for each person that signed up for the swap. For this one, I made 79 of the same block. I then signed the center block with my name, city, state, and country. The blocks are mailed to the swap hostess. After receiving blocks from everyone, she sorts them so everyone receives one block created by each person.

I love receiving the package in the mail and then looking and touching each one. You cannot look at a block without wondering about the person that created it.

I received blocks from as close as the next city over and as far away as Australia. The creativity in these simple blocks is astounding. My favorites where the ones the used a stamp that represented their state. Such a simple idea, but so effective.

If you have never participated in a quilt block swap, I recommend that you do. Do a little research to make sure that the organizer has done a swap with success in the past. Do not hesitate to email the organizer and ask how many swaps they have organized. Remember, organizing and participating in are very different.

Also, have patience. It always takes longer to receive the packages than what is stated in the swap instructions, but life happens. Sometimes the hostess decides to wait for a few people that are late in sending their blocks. Sometimes the turn-around is too ambitious. Sorting all of the blocks is a very time consuming process and then you have to package and mail. Don't even get me started on shipping international. The hostess deserves all the respect in the world! (Thank you giggles2. I hope you know how much your work is appreciated!)

I am working on a map that marks the location of everyone that participated in the swap. I am halfway done. When I complete it, I'll post the link. It is interesting how a swap can cross seas and bridge language barriers. (Okay, that was a bit sappy, but it is neat!)

Going Green Never Tasted so Good - Candy Wrapper Purses

While on vacation, we stopped at the M&M store which featured Candy Wrapper Purses. The purses were made from M&M wrappers. They were very nice looking, but they were a bit expensive for me. My mom then reminded me that when I was young we would make chains from our of candy wrappers, which is the base part of the purses.

I started looking around on the internet and found several sites for making these purses. First, let me mention that there is a site called Save the World Designs that sells these purses and other fashion accessories made from recycles items, but if you would like to make your own, here is where you can find out how.

• Wrapper Purses - Has step-by-step pictures for creating a purse using potato chip wrappers.
• eHow - High-level instructions but there are several links on the side to other ideas.
• Purse Project - Contains a lot of pictures for different ideas and instruction for making a purse from cigarette packs (Keep our roadsides clean!).
• Nahui Ollin demo video:

• Starburst Chain Tutorial - slower, step by step instructions for making the base chain.

You don't have to ruin your diet to make one of these purses. I plan to pick up wrappers and bags (that aren't too gross) from the roadsides and in the park during my walks.

Gardening, Baking, and Amigurumi

I finished my Square Foot Garden. It was quite easy, though a bit expensive. Since this is my first one, I had to purchase not only seeds and plants, but also the wood and soil. It was fun building and planting it. As the season goes, I'll let you know how it works out. I planted beans, peas, four kinds of peppers, leaf lettuce, spinach, carrots, radishes, and onions. You can get more information about Square Foot Gardens from the book or from the web site Square Foot Garden.

I'm not much of a baker, but I can appreciate a good cake. I came across this blog that lists 26 Cakes Perfect for Geeks. There are Yoda cakes, Mario Brother's Cakes, Kindle and cakes with glasses. There is a cake to satisfy the geek in each of us.
Lastly, the creator of the cute R2 D2 anigurumi I posted about has finally released the instructions. You can find them on Esty.

Dear Jane Additions

I have not been completely inactive these past weeks since my last post. I have completed a few more Dear Jane blocks, but I have spent most of my time reading All New Square Foot Gardening. I am learning how to plant a garden using 80% less space with perfect soil. I have finished the book and intend to start building my new garden this afternoon. I will post pictures when I am done and let you know how it went.

Here are the Dear Jane blocks that I have finished.

C-2 Streak of Lightning	C-3 Rayelle’s Fence
C-4 Tic Tac Toe	C-5 Eye of the Cyclone
C-6 Ashley’s Aura

Oh, I also expect to soon receive my signature blocks from the Dear Jane swap. I'll be sure to post pics of those. too.

Anigurumi

I have discovered a new love - anigurumi. That is, the Japanese art of creating characters out of yarn by knitting or crocheting.

Last weekend I found an amazing blog about anigurumi. It first appealed to me because the site had patterns to create Star Wars and Lord of the Rings characters. I am a huge Star Wars and LOTR geek! The patterns were easy to follow and the result - I think - was great. Here is the Frodo Baggins I made:

I even made the elven sword, Lothlorien pin, and of course the One Ring. The site where I found the patterns is Geek Central Station. The doll pattern was free, but I had to purchase the clothing and accessory patterns. The prices are very reasonable and the direction very good.

I am not working on a Legolas doll - and then maybe some Star Wars!

Fabric Easter Eggs

Happy Hop-Hop!

I hope the bunny brought you lots of yummy chocolate. Unfortunately, my daughter is under the impression that all the candy is for her. Maybe I can sneak a peanut butter egg later.

I bring you a special Easter project today. Many of you have probably already seen these. Since the pattern was posted everyone is raving about them: Fabric Easter Eggs.
You can find the pattern at Retro Mama. They are really quick and easy to make. They are also a great way to use up some of your fabric scraps that you cannot bring yourself to through away.

Dear Jane Row B Complete

I finished up row B of Dear Jane and started on row C. Wow, three blocks in as many days. I think this is a new record for me.

The first is just standard hand applique and the last two are hand pieced. Nothing fancy or too difficult with these. That probably explains why I was able to finish them so quickly.

My Dear Jane Journey

In a previous post I wrote about the Dear Jane quilt. Well, I have finally taken pictures and posted them. You can view all of them here.

I am completely hand sewing the blocks and using Civil War reproduction fabrics. I have been working on this quilt on and off (mostly off) for nine years. It is a great little thing to work on while watching TV.

I only have 27 complete out of the 225 blocks.

If you have been working on a Dear Jane quilt, please post the web address where others can view your pictures in the Comment section.

New Direction

I have come to the decision to change the direction of this blog. It was beginning to interfere with the reason I started it in the first place - to encourage myself to quilt more.

I enjoy researching and trying new techniques, but that was all I was doing. I was not finishing any of my current projects, nor was I starting any new ones. I was only researching and creating wall hangings so I could write about the technique.

I also came to the realization that I was spending a lot of my free time promoting this blog, checking statistics, and thinking of new ways that I could update more (because more updates meant more readers).

I attempted to make this blog about the readers, but that is not the reason I started it. I know it is selfish, but I started this blog for me - because I wanted to do more with my quilting and my writing. I have decided to make this blog more personal. If this is not to your taste, I understand why you would unsubscribe, though I hope some of you choose to stick around to witness (and hopefully enjoy) my quilting journey.

Flower Pounding - Fabric Dying Technique

The art of pounding flowers to dye fabric was used by Cherokee women and has been rediscovered by Ann Frischkorn and Amy Sandrin. Their book, Flower Pounding: Quilt Projects for All Ages provides clear and succinct instructions, so I will not rehash everything they say. What I will do is to give you a few pointers that I learned and share a lot of photos of my experience with flower pounding.

Simply put, flower pounding entails placing flowers on fabric, taping them down and then pounding the flower with a hammer to dye the fabric with the flower's juices.

Tips:

• Be careful when taping close to the edge of the fabric. When you pull the tape you may cause the fabric to pull and fray.
• Start pounding in the center of the flower and work your way out. This keeps the shape of the petals and preserves the lighter centers.
• Pound the background petals and leaves first and then do the foreground. This give a nice dimension to the arrangement.
• Have a paper towel handy. Wipe the hammer head when you start to see frequent runs while pounding. Small runs will not show through, but the wetter the hammer head becomes, the more they show through.
• When you iron to set the flower dye, be prepared for a horrible smell. It is like moldy leaves. Maybe different flowers produce a different smell and I just picked the wrong ones.
• Dark fabrics and light colored flowers do not turn out very well. They just look like stains on the fabric.

The bad thing about this method is that the colors easily fade, so I did not want to put too much time into a wall hanging that is not going to last. Ann and Amy state in their book that direct sunlight and washing will cause the colors to fade. I am hanging my quilt where it will get occasional sunlight. I'll update to let you know how the colors hold up.


One thing that I did differently then what Ann and Amy recommended was how I outlined the flowers. They recommend using Perma pens and drawing outlines. I chose to use freestyle quilting with variegated thread. I think the effect worked well. It also gave me more practice using the freestyle quilting method. Not back for only a second attempt.

This was a fun technique and was great to do with my daughter. She had a great time.

If you cannot find the book for the instructions, they are also available online at http://www.hgtv.com/crafting/flower-pounding/index.html

Quilts for Causes - Beloved Quilts

This week's quilting cause is the homeless. The goal of Beloved Quilts, a project of Possibilities Factory, is to organize, make, and distribute 100 individual twin-size quilts, each reading "BELOVED," to those displaced by violence or poverty. They are currently seeking donations and volunteers to complete this work.

To help, contact Pascha Marlin Griffiths at pascha@pfactory.org.

Pascha maintains the Beloved Quilts' blog and provides great information on the current needs, efforts, and sew-in events.

Smaller Blocks, Bigger Variety - Sampler Quilts

Sampler quilts are great fun for several reasons. First there is the variety. Making the same quilt block over and over can become tedious. With a sampler quilt each block is different. Secondly, you get to use several different quilting techniques in one quilt. Some blocks are hand pieced, foundation pieced, appliqued, or sometimes machine pieced. Another benefit to sampler quilts is that the blocks tend to be smaller, so the blocks are very portable and easy to work on while waiting for ballet class to finish or school to let out.

A great book with block patterns ranging from traditional to farm animals is 501 Quilt Blocks: A Treasury of Patterns for Patchwork & Appliqué (Crafts)by Lynett Chiles and Joan Lewis. There are wonderful blocks for every holiday, season, and mood. The block patterns are for four inch blocks and are ready for your template paper (I use freezer paper).

Another sampler quilt is the State Fair Sampler. Patterns can be found at Sentimental Stitches. From this site you can download and print PDF patterns of each block. The patterns include instructions and printed patterns for six inch blocks. I am doing mine in red and white since the quilt won second place in the Ohio State Fair in the early 1900's.

Finally, one of the most famous sampler quilts is the Dear Jane Quilt. Brenda Manges Papadakis mapped each 5 inch block by hand. The original quilt was sewn by Jane A. Blakely Sickle in 1863. The Dear Jane Quilt has a large following and the friendliest list-serv I have ever encountered. I will not turn this post into a Dear Jane post, but take a few moments to look at the Dear Jane site for information on the quilt, the pattern book, and the "List-That-Knows-All." I have been working on my Baby Jane (what copies of the original Jane Quilt are called) for several years, and am still enjoying my journey.

Quilts for Causes

This week's feature quilting cause is Wrap Them in Love Foundation. They collect donated quilts and distribute them to children around the world, so they can be wrapped in love and comfort. The foundation feels that a quilt is a very special thing. It isn't just a blanket; it has been lovingly created by a real person. A quilter leaves a part of themselves in every quilt they make. The child who receives it will be able to snuggle up in all the love that comes in that quilt.

Their guidelines are simple:

• Make a quilt or quilts and send or deliver them to:
  Wrap Them in Love
  2522-A Old Hwy 99 S
  Mt. Vernon, WA  98273
  USA
• Tie or quilt them fairly close so that they can hold up to lots of loving and washing.
• Quilts of 40" X 60" size are recommended, but you can make them any size. There are older children as well as babies who need them.
• Please be sure to put a label on each quilt that includes your name, where you are from, and the date you made the quilt.

The web site includes some wonderful pictures of children that have received these quilts.

I know a lot of quilters make quilts as gifts. Why not make one as a gift for a child in need?

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How to Make Yo-Yo's - The Fast and Easy Way

There are a lot of great things about making yo-yo's and now it is easier than ever to make a lot of them. For a quick introduction on what yo-yo's are and to learn the traditional method of making yo-yo's, see the Quilting site at About.com.

The fast and easy method is to use a yo-yo maker. I use a 45mm size maker by Clover. The makers come in various sizes and shapes, including hearts and flowers. Each yo-yo took me approximately 5 minutes to complete (after making a few practice ones).

To make the yo-yo's:

1. Cut a scrap of fabric larger than your yo-yo maker. I keep the scraps at least one inch larger than the maker at the smallest point.
2. Place the fabric face-down onto the base of the maker.
3. Put the disc part of the maker on top of the fabric and then snap it into place. Make sure that you properly align the disc and the plate.
4. Trim the fabric leaving a 1/4" - 1/2" seam allowance.
5. Fold the seam allowance toward the center of the disc and insert your threaded needle into the starting point on the disc side.
6. Push the needle all the way through to the base side of the maker.
7. Bring the needle up by pushing it through the notch on the base side up and then through to the disc side.
8. Continue doing this all the way around the maker.
   TIP: Do not sew outside of the holes in the maker.
9. Push the maker apart, and gently remove the fabric from the disc.
10. Pull your needle and thread to gather the yo-yo.
    TIP: Shape the yo-yo as you pull.
    TIP: Pull gently so you do not break the thread.
11. Knot the thread and cut it.

Yo-yo's are a perfect way to use up some of your small squares of leftover fabric. You can make up the yo-yo's from leftover fabric when you complete a project. Each time you finish a project, add to your yo-yo stash. Before you know it you will have enough to make a blanket, toy animal, or wall-hanging. Check out Yo-Yo Cat & Mouse Pattern By Indygo Junction.

They are so easy to make that it is the perfect project while watching TV or sitting in a car. My 11 year-old daughter loves to make yo-yo's. I'm not sure what she does with them, but whenever she has a scrap of material she asks for the yo-yo maker.

Pick one up and give it a try. I'd love to see some of your creations!

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