my half of the brain

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

cottonwood diner redwork embroidery

zig zag mini quilt

son of frankentoile

• “Some of the most interesting works reinvigorate the tradition of the sampler, a piece of embroidery that offers a religious or moral saying.(…) The Romanian artist Andrea Dezso has embroidered 48 cotton squares with bits of Transylvanian folk wisdom passed down from her mother. One square suggests, “You can get hepatitis from a handshake,” while another claims, “Men will like me more if I pretend to be less smart.” Each warning or cautionary tale is accompanied by a small, equally humorous illustration.” ––The New York Times

OK, I can’t read this and not immediately subscribe to her blog. Lauri, I love you! I swear to read every post of yours from here on out.

“It’s just not fun playing tea party with a doll without a head.”

Holy Moly! And Lila says

this is my first substantial bit of embroidery, and the first time i tried many of those stitches.

What an accomplishment! I’m insanely jealous of her creativity!

Miss Lila Mae: #13 pink.yellow.red

These look delicious! In my mind, the frosting and decorations are made of marzipan. Just divine!

mr. monkeysuit: felt cupcakes

Back in November I made some felt cupcakes for Floyd’s cafe and a fellow blogger said she would like some for her daughter. Well four months later, and here they are ….or at least most of them. Of course, I haven’t finished them, of course not. I still have a couple of the larger ones left to finish but they are almost done now and soon the little swap we have arranged will be ready.
I love getting involved in swaps. It is neat to think of your things half way round the world (or even a few streets away) being played with by some crafty mama’s kids or even by the crafty mama herself. It kind of reminds me of keeping pen-pals in the 1970’s. Does that even exist anymore ? Perhaps the advent of the internet makes the idea of sending letters round the world to people you have never met before seem redundant. Ironically and fortunately the craft-blog world has reinvented it through swapping and I think that is so cool. I love that these will be in someone else’s little daidokoro, cocina, kuche, cuisine or cozinha and I may never meet the person who receives them but there is an invisible thread that connects us.