my half of the brain

Do you swap-bot? I’ve just discovered, because none of you told me about it before now, a very cool (mostly) craft site, primarily for swapping crafts and the materials to make them. Too freaking cool, and you must check it out. I’m easy to find over there, as my name is myhalfofthebrain.

I joined a little over a week ago, and have already completed (sent and received) 5 or so virtual and snail-mail swaps. And I’m the winner in one of the groups I joined of something like 39 fat quarters—should start receiving them in a few days. Some of them will be coming from outside the US, so I’m very likely to get wonderful fabrics I’ve never dreamed of! Did I tell you already how awesome this site is???

I’ve started a group over there called Garlands, Bunting, Prayer Flags for the purpose of making available tutorials for and swapping of Garlands, Bunting and Prayer Flags, and you can sign up for my first swap as hostess. The last day to join and sign up for the swap is October 8.

I’m planning to start an ambitious new swap for a garland made of 1000 origami cranes, a symbol of peace. The cranes would be made, ideally, from recycled scraps of paper. The last day to sign up would be US Election Day, November 4, and the last day to mail your garland would be Inauguration Day, January 20.

Please do check out the site and my group and swaps. And a tip: if you do get involved, I recommend starting a spreadsheet, or you’ll soon be overwhelmed by keeping track of who you are sending to and receiving from. See you there!

Melissa

Winner of Fabric Giveaway #1

#18. Lesa Says:
September 19th, 2008 at 1:47 pm e

“I can see this in one of my projects — pick me please!”

Winner of Fabric Giveaway #2

#24. Corvus Says:
September 23rd, 2008 at 4:47 pm e

“Some day, I swear I’m going to try this bag: http://www.savvyseams.com/bags/flower.php

“I’ve also got a tutorial for fabric flowers going here: http://corvustristis.livejournal.com/8981.html

“Thanks! I’m convinced I’ve got to put together a giveaway of my own; there’s so many cool ones going on right now.”

Congrats, winners. Please send me names and addresses and I’ll get the fabric out to you straight away.

for a swap at swap-bot for which I learned how to make mosaics using fd’s flickr toys

these modern quilts inspire me!

1. babyquiltpink2, 2. What a Bunch of Squares Baby Quilt, 3. swish selvedge doll quilt, 4. Love Beads Quilt, 5. Love Beads Quilt, 6. bbl quilt 1, 7. Baby Plain Spoken, 8. martha quilt 1, 9. cecilia’s quilt, 10. amy butler quilt, 11. Hour Glass Quilt In Progress, 12. Modern Floral Quilt stitching, 13. Midwest Modern quilt block, 14. Modern Squares Doll Quilt, 15. textures 1 (aka, yo-yos!), 16. belle quilt - quilt top

I picked floss because I’m not yet beyond the beginning stages of learning embroidery, and the floss alone is inspiration!

1. Yummy floss!, 2. I like these colors, 3. embroidery floss. not so organized., 4. Embroidery Flosssssss, 5. Hilos de Colores I, 6. Bright floss, 7. Remember to floss, 8. New Embroidery Floss, Old Wooden Spools, 9. Floss bobbins, 10. Colorful nostalgia, 11. 18 Jewel Tones, 12. temptation, 13. Taming the Floss, 14. floss, 15. pinkthread, 16. the finished collection

DIYLife has a post from last year: Craft Like A Pirate: more pirate craft links than you can shake a parrot at

Pirates Roundup at Craft:

Pirate Crafts for Children at DLTK

Pirate Book Bag at sew? i knit!

 Skull Scarf at knitty

Another “Craft Like A Pirate”—The Skulls and Stripes Forever list of links from Crafty Minx

And because I don’t have much time this morning, a google search for pirate crafts

Up for grabs: 1+ yard Michael Miller Dysfunctional Family (1 full yard cut plus a separate smaller piece.)

To enter, leave a comment on this post and a link to a favorite online sewing/fabric-craft/quilting tutorial (it can be from your own site or another) on this post Comments will be closed Wednesday, 24 September, 2008 at 8:00pm Arizona Time (currently=Mountain Time, sometimes=Pacific Time). From those comments, I’ll pick my favorite tutorial that hasn’t already been published on my site, and send the fabric to the first person to link to that site. In addition, all of the tutorials will be featured in future posts on my blog, with a link to your website or blog, if you have one. Look for additional Michael Miller fabrics in future giveaways.

Up for grabs: 1/2 yard 2003 Timeless Treasures Fabric of vintage sewing patterns.

To enter, just comment on this post before Wednesday, 24 September, 2008 at 8:00pm Arizona Time (currently=Mountain Time, sometimes=Pacific Time). I’ll pick a winner using the random integer generator at random.org.