Decorating your fabric.

Embellish Me by Laurie Wisburn. Interesting ideas, some are very simple, some not. The techniques included range from beading, applique, bleaching to digital printing.  If you are an aspiring designer the last section of the book features guidelines on marketing and selling your creations.

Here are three of my favorite.  Some snazzy ways to embellish a skirt or t-shirt.  Pretty simple. 

Art Journaling

I have been very lazy about blogging since the holidays.  I am resolved to do better!

No Excuses Art Journaling by Gina Armfield

I found this interesting art journaling book at my local library.  It is not technically a craft book, more of an art book but pretty cool looking.  Instead of writing about your experiences you draw, doodle, paint, and ink in your days.  There are plenty of examples of different types of techniques and where and how to find inspirations.  If drawing is your interest, setting aside time to journal your creative ideas is a great plan.  I especially liked the example color pallets the author assembled.  A great source of ideas for quilts, or just enjoy the creativity and color.  

I

Country Cottage Quilting

Country cottage quilting by Lynette Anderson

I enjoyed the cozy feel of the projects in Country Cottage Quilting.  The many of the designs combine applique, embroidery, with patchwork quilting.  The largest quilt is 63in x 83in but most of the quilts are sized for lap quilts and wall hanging.  If I put that much work into a project I would sure enough hang it on the wall for everyone to ooh and ahh over.  There are small project included for those who want to get their feet wet using a combination of techniques.  I look at the ideas and tremble, they are delightful but beyond my level of expertise. 



Lucky me, I found this craft book at my local library. If your library is will to accept request...it is  worth asking. This is fun book for ideas or just to drool over the designs.

More repurposing ideas.

Wise Craft

Repurposing items you find at garage sales, thrift stores or around you house into quirky fun stuff.  The author breaks the chapters down into the four seasons with ideas that range from the fanciful such as a troop of zombie Barbies to the practical scrap quilts constructed from old clothes. 
 

 

 My personal favorites being the “Summer Sherbet Picnic Blanket” made from striped woven dress shirts, and the Gathering Bunting made from family photos. 

 

I found some great ideas in this book, but would tweak several of them to fit my tastes,  which is the best part of repurposing.  

Patchwork Please, Zakka projects

Okay, I know I am out of the loop most of the time. I picked-up this book because on the cover it has "colorful Zakka projects to stitch and give." What is a Zakka?  I looked up Zakka on Wikipedia and found that it is a fashion boom, an explosion I didn't hear or at least the term. Zakka is defined as "everything and anything that improves your home, life and appearance."  

Patchwork Please begins like most how-to-books with the basics, followed by techniques and tips, then moves to projects with instructions. The projects are vary is size and difficultly. Pictured below are two of my favorites.

I found the instructions and illustrations for paper-piecing helpful and enjoyed the variety of projects included.

Quilt Improv

Modern quilts seem to me to use many bright and sometime discordant colors, asymmetrical piece placement, and a mixture of shapes.  The Incredible Modern Quilts from Everyday Inspirations: Quilt Improv by Lucie Summers uses all the above mentioned to create some very eye-catching designs. 

The book's first chapters illustrate methods on how to create 13 different quilt building blocks. Below are two of those quilt blocks.

The remainder of the book show how the author finds design idea from her world to create her quilts.  I liked how Summers organized her quilt idea.  She took pictures of the view she wanted to incorporate into her work, selected the various patterns and colors of fabric, and then made a detailed drawing of the plan. I particularly like the quilt Garden Wall.

What I take from this book is several great ways to piece together quilt blocks and how to organize my quilt ideas.

Crochet tips and tricks

I am having a great time with crocheting and have been researching how-to book.

A renowned knitter Lily Chin has published a basic crochet title. 

    

 It begins with describing hooks and yarns including charts showing US, metric and UK differences.  Basic stitches are described and illustrated in black and white drawings.  The book moves to making a swatch (boring but necessary) and how to adjust patterns to best fit your body.  The author includes all types of shorts cuts and tips to make your project easier.  This is the first book I have seen on crocheting that covers how to fix your mistakes, be they small or requiring major surgery.  Each tip or technique is described in detail and is accompanied with  black and white illustrations.  A great book to tuck into your project bag to refer to as needed.  Sorry no projects included.