angry chicken

my attempt to share more personal information

This is an amazing picture of my mom and me, circa 1973. It's on my fridge and I look at it every day. And, here's a bit more about me (excluding political issues for the time being-except I can say I am very liberal)

random bits:
My husband and I starting dating at age 15. Hence, we are very immature together.
my favorite band of all time is Yo La Tengo (huge statement, but true)
I thought I was going to be a film director when I grew up
I want to write a novel (who doesn't?)
I really love orange juice-a lot, drink it all day.
I'm good at sports and can run really fast .
I prefer the forest to the beach, fresh water to salt water
I have a horrendous (some might say creative) potty mouth - like my mom

Things that make me crazy (in a bad way):
glycerin soap
eating while standing
movies by david mamet (although parts of State and Main were really good)
my car being really dirty on the outside
polar-fleece (and synthetic fabrics in general)
ruining a baking project

Things I am into at the moment:
creatures with eye patches (in a non pirate way)
the idea of someone printing their own money or starting their own bank
finding the perfect punch bowl

grrrr

my recycled monster for this month of softies from an old t-shirt

he's a kind of mutated monster-that Sadie insists is actually a kitty.

I got the donkey bag!

swap-swap this week. I got this wonderful handbag from Laural of Thimble fame (what an amazing resource her site is! I love it!) and 2 mix cd's (which I love, thank you!) Sadie is really into "her" music, which is really good, don't get me wrong-but anything can wear on you after the 1000th time (as grammie can vouch for, she actually threw out the batman album my brother and I loved)

So, Laural also sent this little pin ( you know the 80's kind that are coming back now, and I feel old about it, but cool at the same time) with a photo of a little freaky lookin' chicken. You can barely see it on the bag, so you will ave to use your imagination.

oh-I really want this book

I saw this book in The Pine Needle (a great quilt fabric shop) yesterday and had never seen the inside before-oooh. It was so pretty. This book was written for young girls to learn sewing skills by making doll clothes and other fun things. SIGN ME UP. Jane Eayre Fryer has a lot of other books of the same nature, all written in the early 1900's. So, grammie-this is a not too subtle hint for my b-day (may 24th, you'll all be hearing more about that later) here's a original copy of one of her books-

and there are more-she has books about gardening, first aid, cooking, knitting. Oh my!
Does anyone have these? They all look wonderful. I actually have few vintage first aid books-I really love them, so this one will have to be added to my collection.

my goaty friend

I need to figure out the manual setting on my digital camera-

these are on our fridge-taken with my lomo back when that was all I used-I was cooler then.

dolls, animals, and business-oh my!

     

I was looking for a kit to do after this week-I'm pretty tired of "designing" right now-King Pod is about a week away from being updated and I'm craving to just do a project where I can follow directions and not be so CREATIVE. I dug in my pattern box and pulled out a kit from Gail Wilson, a mini dress form for doll clothes. (I never seem to make dolls only doll accessories) I was curious to see if she had a website-and boy did she ever! I get a little CRAZY for all the mini doll sewing notions, quilts, pin cushions,ironing boards, etc. I sort of bugged out last night about all the goodies she has. Not to mention the bunny and animals patterns above.

 

These are all available as kits (most supplies included) and I am super impressed with all the information she provides with how to's, supplies, and biographical information on her site. Wow. When you have a bit of time-it's really worth a look-even if this style isn't your cup of tea-tons of great doll/animal making info. Also-very cool business ideas like-

1.she does ONLINE classes, which sound very interesting and beneficial
2.sells finished dolls, patterns, and kits, so she can attract any level of crafter.
3.offers licensing agreements for people who want to make and sell her designs.
4. travels and teaches workshops all around
5. offers "clubs" which are monthly patterns/kits sent out with a good price break

I'm always looking for craft/art business models and this site is full of ideas from someone who seems to have a clear vision, design aesthetic, and general nice vibe. She's also been doing this a long time-and I have a soft spot for catalogs that have all drawings, no photos, like hers and Magic Cabin.

Pete had a good point too, when seeing the site-he said "you always want to buy things from people who are willing to give so much away for free" and he is so right. The generosity of how-to's (like the free download of a sample online class!) and accessibility of the craft-person/artist is so great-a very inspiring site for me to find.

quilt monday

I was going to show a dyeing tutorial today, but that will have to come later in May-so for now. . .

Here is my first ever foundation pieced quilt. And it is my first ever small quilt (despite what I may have said in earlier posts, I tend to be a liar) It's about 12" x 9 1/2". I remember I got a mini rotary cutter, a mini cutting board, min pins, all for this project. Not necessary-but really fun.I could fit everything for this project in a ziplock abg. It was so pleasing. I hand quilted this one, you can't see it in this photo-and always intended to frame it-but never did, and now it seems to float around the house. The small people love it. It's really a big doll quilt.

Using this foundation technique (which is quite old, I'm told, sometimes called English paper piecing) was a HUGE breakthrough for me because I was/am not super accurate at cutting and piecing and this fool-proof method really gave me so much confidence. So-the deal with paper piecing is that you sew your fabric strips/blocks to a piece of paper that has your sewing lines marked for you. You sew on a piece of fabric wrong side down to the paper block, flip and iron, and then do it again-then when you have sewn all the pieces in order-and you join your blocks, and rip off the paper. You can make one block, perfect for pin cushions, embellishment on clutches, or handbags, you name it-or make more and make a quilt out of the blocks. You can even go big, and make a standard size quilt with this method, like grammie did here (although paper piecing an entire big quilt involves lots of paper removal, not a fun thing to do.)

 

I love the scale of these together-what a huge cat!

Here is a tutorial and here is a great resource site and here are some free patterns you can print from home! (house and cat above plus more) I can go on explaining this technique for a long time-but these sites do it better. Also- you can design your own-very cool possibilities.
I have 3 tips to add:
1.THIS IS EASY, so if it seems hard at first, stick with it.Once you have the light-bulb moment, you will be happy. If it seems way too hard you are doing it wrong (I do this all the time!)
2. This would be a great first quilt project. You can do a mini quilt with the top, batting, and binding, and practice all the techniques for putting a quilt together and not have to spend a ton of $$$ and time (also, the precise nature of the foundation piecing method makes tiny quilts super easy)
3. Don't do what I do-I get a bit "frugal" and often cut my strips too small. This is a horrible thing to do because it makes the whole thing a huge struggle, and I have to change seam allowances, and it's a huge headache. Leave yourself plenty of room.

 

trying to make me fat

We were all at Whole Foods a few weeks ago and I had the most amazing curried carrot soup from their hot food section. It was the perfect thing for that rainy day-a big bowl of the best soup and a lovely piece of corn bread. So, I went back over when we were done to check the ingredients , so I could recreate it at home, and shit on stick! The second ingredient was HEAVY CREAM. Now, don't get me wrong, I have no problem with fat in food, but COME ON! it's so easy to make soup creamy with out 2 frikken cups of heavy cream-or however ever much they used-so I made my version at home that night-and I swear it was even better-and better for the size of my HINEY.

curried carrot soup
-Saute 2 diced onions in olive oil with 2 tps. of curry powder (less if you are afraid) and let them get nice and golden, about 10 minutes. My favorite curry powder is from dean and deluca, which I got at Whole Foods.
-Add about 4 chopped peeled carrots (all I had were the baby peeled ones, I used half a bag) saute another 5 min and then add veggie broth. I use the stuff in the carton-the whole thing.
-Cover and simmer 30min. Blend with a stick blender until nice and smooth and add 1 cup of canned evaporated skim milk (you could also use coconut milk if you are feeling crazy) add cilantro and blend more, the blender chops the cilantro for you. Salt and pepper to taste.
-serve with a dollop of plain yogurt and a sprig of more cilantro.
yummy!! And It's even better the next day.

happy links

wow-it seems like in the last 10 days or so there as been a FLURRY of amazing things out there in weblogville. What excites me so much is that there is so much creative energy out there-not about buying cool things, but MAKING cool things. Ahh the power of organized crafters-we could move a mountain, I say! Here are some things that have made me so happy-

-The craziness of Japanese craftbook collecting-which has been well organized by Hillary, Kelly, and Maitreya-(who has listed all the latest contributors, thank you)
-wonderful tutorial on needle felt flowers on Craftlog (I can't wait to try)
-check out the bird coin purse over at Bella Dia (she sure works fast! and it's BEAUTIFUL)
-zipper pouch tutorial at thimble
-the amazing softie at six and a half stitches

my vintage aprons

#1-nice bias trim on ruffle hem and pocket

I've been meaning to photograph and show n' tell my aprons for so long now, way back when I saw this over at buzzville-and then I went to Mama Unraveled 2 today(wonderful weblog) and that was it! Time to show and tell! so there are a lot of these, and yup, I'm gonna show them all. Minus this one and this one, which I've already shown. (I'm adding #'s for easy reference)

#2-plain jane work horse

#3-hostess apron-sheer organdy sides, sheer pocket right side, zig-zag finish on diamonds

#4-hostess apron-sheer organdy and gingham with tons of cross stitch! (thank you Rebbecca!)

#5-plain jane red rick-rack on hem and pocket. Nice gather center hem detail

#6-hostess apron-lined in red, scallop hem-Christmas party fun

#7 A personal favorite-patchwork (!) with bias covering all seams

#8 hostess apron-prized piece-you can see why. sheer organdy ruffle-oops,my feet.

#9-plain jane

#10 unbelievable! first pair of apron pants I've ever seen (thank you Heidi!) perfect for the capris. These are sooo cute on.

#11 hostess apron-sheer, notice rick-rack on hem and in center of pocket

#12 work horse-my only other full apron, tattered, but loved

#13-Sadie's new apron, not vintage (from anthropologie) but love the details-dig that sweet pocket, lined with the main fabric and tied in a knot! that would be a cute detail on a handbag.

Whew! and we are done.

bookgroup vote-update

Well, we had book group last night and discussed "The Girl With Curious Hair," by David Foster Wallace, which we talked about quite a bit before diving into Desparate Housewives, and we voted on our next book, a classic. "Little Women" by Louisa May Alcott. This vote was up for discussion a few weeks back (thank you all for your comments and suggestions) and surprisingly, was the LEAST mentioned book by the bookgroup members and weblog readers, but when it came down to it-none of us had read it (save one) and I am quite pleased. And we have an Amy, Beth, and a Jo in our bookgroup, all names of the sisters, so it is a sign.

This is the sort of book I should have read when I was a girl. I feel like I missed out on some girl things (don't we all?) like reading Little Women, being in Girl Scots/Bluebirds/Brownies (was it fun?I can't tell), being a horse girl (still have never been on a horse!) and watching Little House on the Prairie. I always watched the Carol Burnett show instead. (still laugh so hard every time I see it) And was a tomboy, and was too busy after school doing gymnastics. I also never read Sweet Valley High books, nor Nancy Drew, but did read the horribly terrific Flower in the Attic books, with my goth tendencies sowing up early on, so there you go.

quilt monday-felt wall

Many of you asked last week about using a felt wall-so here's the info

The "felt wall" is really just a huge piece of white cotton flannel fixed to the wall using nails or push-pins. The amazing thing is-fabric will stick to it! This is especially wonderful if you are using a quilt pattern that allows for variations (don't they all?) because you can piece your blocks, or cut your strips, and put them on the wall to see how the whole thing will work. Here's grammie's felt wall with blocks on it for a quilt for baby peanut Delia

so-the beautiful pink and white blocks on the wall are just stickin' there-no pins! Pretty rad, huh? We were able to play around with the block orientation forever, and never had to lay it all on the floor and stand on a chair to get a feel for how this will look. With my abstract modern quilts I throw up pretty big pieces, like sometimes half a quilt top, and it still sticks with some firm hand pressing. One thing: only one layer of fabric sticks-so if you want to add some applique pieces on the top, you have to pin.
I starting serious quilting after taking a break from painting-so this vertical "on the wall" way of looking at a project is the only way to go for me-and the best is that you don't have to put it all away-the wall acts as storage for a work in progress too. You can also use this wall as a place to just let fabrics hang out together-to see what you like and what works as a group-here's some fabrics I just put on there from my stash-

you need:

4 yards 60" wide white cotton flannel (approx-see quilt sizes)
a straight edge or big ruler
tape measure
push pins or small nails
big ol' hunk of empty wall space

To do:
Decide how big your wall should/can be.(see below quilt sizes taken from this book) Get a helper and stretch the flannel along the wall, trying to keep it level. Nail/tack the top a bit and then the sides tight and using a tons of push-pins-stretch tight and tack down all the way around, like you are stretching a canvas (it doesn't have to be super tight, just no wrinkles.) Measure and mark the various quilt top sizes with a pencil and label.

crib 30" x 54"
twin 65" x 95"
double 80" x 95"
queen 86" x 100"
king 106" x 106"

My wall fits up to a double-which is fine by me, although I wish I had room for a queen.

You are done! start a new quilt!

 

 

holy smokes!

Mark Newport handknits super-hero costumes. Wow.

here's a detail of aquaman's belt. (thanks Brenda for reminding about this cool artist)

thanks myra!

I swapped Myra a little felt for felt and got this sweet tissue holder too! (and other fun goodies!) Oh I love swaps! I was hoping upon closer inspection, I'd figure out how she made this wonderful felt flower brooch-actually now I'm even more baffled. LOVELY!-good thing I don't have to figure it out-'cause it lives with me now!

happy book #2

 

Here's the other book I picked up.(ISBN4-89396-783-5) Lots of patterns in this needlework book. All projects inspired from the alphabet and it is so sweet! This on above is "c" for cat (made from a sock)

A is for apple. . .sewing accessories. Needle case with apple button closure, sewing basket and a needle felted apple pin cushion! (Karen-do you see this?!)

"B" is for buttons-these are amazing. The directions just show a bit of needlework attaching felt on a white circle, then sewing a gather stitch around the edge to pull it tight around a button form (like making a yo-yo minus the button) I'm temped to try it with a button covering kit-to get the back on tight.

"F" flower vases (test tubes)

"M" felt leaf and stick mobile

"V" is for violets-this is a brooch and a hair band in back-in felt. Obviously, there is more in this happy book (all the other letters!)

happy book

I'm so happy-I found some great books at the Asian superstore by my mom's house.It's pretty hit or miss. But, man I did good. It was hard to edge in there with all the crafters looking, but my yelling baby helped clear the way. Shopping there beats the heck out of the prices on ebay - the shipping kills me.

LOVE!

wow! A bird coin purse? I really have to make this whole dang bag/purse thing, I mean come on now, how great is this?

I've never tried this closure on the coin purse before-has anyone? The directions get a bit spotty here (me not reading Japanese and all) they just show the fabric sort of "shoved" into the clasp. So many more good ideas in this book, I'm very pleased. I will show the other one tomorrow.

pink snow

we woke up to pink snow this morning.

glue?

sad.

quilt monday

Here's one of my modern quilts which is called "somewhat reminiscent of a Japanese sunset" It's all hand-dyed fabric, machine pieced and appliqued, and then machine quilted. You can see all the lines that go across the quilt radiate from this point on the left side (detail above)

Here's a detail of a "hill". I composed this all on a felt wall while I pieced it, taking it up and down, over and over, making changes. For the longest time is was something I only turned vertically-and didn't even see the landscape, cloud, hill thing until I was almost done.

 

book arty

Seeing an inspiring link from design*sponge got me revisiting some of my books I've bound. I need to incorporate all my new swanky fabrics into new books. This one I did with a Liberty fabric (again) and used glassine bags as the pages, so I could keep lovely photos and little special paper items at hand in the pages-it's a post binding on this book-

and here are some journals with the Coptic binding, so they lie completely flat. There are wonderful instructions on how do this binding in this book, a favorite of mine.

and here is the design*sponge find (via one good bumblebee, another superb site!)

wow-oh wow, bricollage sells book and matching pins! For you bookbinders out there, I *think* these lovely creations are commercially bought books which are hand-covered with fabric, not hand-bound books. Please, someone correct me if I am wrong on this. If this is the case-well good idea, I say, because binding a book is hard work! But a wonderful thing to do. . .I really love the fabric and images they have chosen, not to mention that wonderful photography. (Do they sell clothes too? They should!)

new amy butler

Amy from peapies emailed me about this free quilt pattern on freespirit (thanks Amy!)-with Amy Butler fabrics-for anyone afraid of lots of pattern-this will surely break you of your fears! (I think I qualify for this)

    

 

I also noticed the new Amy Butler line, Charm, is out (is it available yet in stores? I haven't actually SEEN it yet, but they are all available online here) all the patterns are shown on the freespirit site-these above are some of my faves.

Overall, this collection is a bit too sweet for my tastes-and I can't seen to get enough brown lately, which dosen't show up very much- but I'm sure not complaining either-it's always nice to have new fabrics to choose from.

donna hay

            

I got these Donna Hay cookbooks at Costco last year, super cheap, and I love looking at them, but have not made a single dish out of them-why not? I see her magazine all the time and love it, but have never bought it-so $$$ for the airmail and all. I think I stay away from her because I don't eat meat-and her dishes are pretty meat heavy, but I do eat seafood-and she has a lot of options there.

does anyone cook from her books/magazines? Her food styling is so lovely-and I saw her on Martha years ago and she was so nice and sweet. She has a kids cookbook out too. I am kind of looking for a Martha replacement (!) for food because I think in the past her food testing/research has been spotty. I've had to make changes to more Martha recipes than I care to remember-

   

So-is she super famous in Australia? I don't seem to hear much about her here-I can't gage how well  known she is and how big a reach she has. Her books are really beautiful.

 

bookgroup vote

So, my bookgroup is trying to decide on a "classic" to read-and I offered up Angry Chicken as a voting forum. (Hello bookgroup!!)
Please vote in the comments section by friday-if anyone else has anything to add-feel free! I will let everyone know what won and if you all are interested, I can let you know how the discussion went as well, heck, you could even read along and share you thoughts! (this book is for the month of May)

I'm going to skip suggesting-too many good ones here, I think-

Joanna-
The Feminine Mystique, by Friedan
Travels with Charlie, by Steinbeck
Mary-
Brave New World, by Huxley
For Whom The Bell Tolls, by Hemingway
Beth-
Seize the Day, by Bellow
Herzog, by Bellow
Lori-
Little Woman, by Allcot
Patty-
Sometimes a Great Notion, by Kesey
Moby Dick, by Melville

new work

So-I'm madly working on my small quilts for king pod and had to take a break and make something simple, and even smaller.

this "surprised squirrel" is framed in a "6 x 6"-and was so fun to make-it's in a shadow box type of thing-because mr. squirrel is stuffed, so there the 3-D component to deal with. I'm think about making 6-8 more, all woodland creatures-

quilt monday-vintage quilts

Here are my amazing vintage quilts. I think this one is from the 1940's or so, maybe earlier, looking at the fabric. Lots of shirtings.

it's machine pieced and tied off-no quilting.

look at the browns and oranges! It's pretty dirty. I haven't washed it-I probably will put it on delicate in the machine and hang dry-and then never wash it again. I know it's best not to wash it at all, but I think the dirt can contribute to the wear and tear if it's left on for too long. Notice the creative piecing where she didn't have enough fabric to make the plaid square.

This amazing beauty is earlier-I think 1920's. It's HAND PIECED! and tied off, no quilting. Notice the border at the bottom, but not on the top-and the crazy irregular border on both sides. This quilt is so full of strange love.

lots of shirt fabric in this one-and VERY creative piecing-look at the 2 stripes used on one block! (on the right)

I need to research the name on this block-I think it's "milk bottles", or something similar.
Again, it's sooo dirty. I can't tell you what a steal I got these for. Well, actually, I can, they were $40 each. I found them at a vintage furniture shop stuffed in a basket under the table. I have been pretty luck buying vintage textiles at shops that specialize in furniture-mostly because they don't know/care about quilts/textiles.
You just can't make quilts this quirky (although I'm always trying with my small quilts) but there is something so special about the "make-do" quality of these. *sigh*

my scissors

My extended family on Grammie's side are a bunch of collectors. Usually vintage folk art things-nothing new or QVC-ish. So,I come by it naturally and get beautiful gifts from them-lucky me.

Like, my prized scissor collection. Almost all given to me over the years by my Uncle Lenny-a semi-professional junk hound-thrift store guru. They are hanging from a wood board that I wrapped in velvet on tiny brass brads I hammered in-so I can hang them and use them easily.I started collecting years ago, and Uncle Lenny would mail me these in Eugene and Seattle. They would be tied to a gift, or later in Portland, left randomly in my mailbox with no note.



Henckles egg top cutter, with a chicken! Wiss scallops dress shears and pinking shears, little scissors form an old Catholic school classroom, and a lot of tiny embroidery scissors and a button hole cutter. A pair from an old barber-they are all sharp as hell.

and Clauss rose trimmers-see the rosebuds under the loops. I love using really sharp scissors-it feels so good to cut with them (I mean this in an un-creepy "I'm not a killer" way) Thanks Uncle Lenny and my crazy collecting family!

swanky garden apron

Here's my updated version of the swanky garden apron. I've had aprons on the brain lately. I'm making several right now and I can't seem to stop. This one is from my favorite sewing book-and is headed to coffeegirl.

Back detail. Love the 1970's emphasis on top stitching. My god, does the pattern call for a lot of top stitching. I had to leave some out 'cause it was just too much. The pattern runs SMALL, it's not really one size fits all, like the book says-especially small across the HINEY area-which is why I was so happy to have my lovely dress form model this-because I seem to have a post-pregnancy, bigger bootie, thing going on. Ahem.