A Creative Journey...

I cherish the time I get to spend with my family during the annual trek to the Pacfic NW. This year, we spent a couple of days in Lincoln City, and I got to see the beach in what was an unseaonably warm winter.



Alas, this is what I returned to. Snow. In my backyard.



As I unpacked, I realized that I didn't buy as much of a variety of craft supplies as I thought I did during my vacation. Ho hum. The only thing I bought was, erm, fabric...gobs of fabric.





































And this little gem.



My mama took me to a new craft mall that I've not been to and I fell in love with this ceramic tile. As I was making my decision, it just so happened that the artist (Sheri Medford) who painted the tile was working that day so I got to meet her and chat for a bit. Nice!

I'm getting a headstart here! It follows (by reason?) that a fabric lover must love to sew, no? I guess it's also possible that a fabric lover collects fabric for petting or for visual stimulation? Anyhow, I digress. For the fabric over scavenger hunt, the categories are as follows:

* Something local

* Something green

* Something lucky

* Something vintage

* Something tiny (under 2")

* Something related to the letter "M"

* Something sharp

* Something bumpy

* Something cozy

* Sender's choice

And I get to select 5 categories to fulfil! Well, I'm sending the following items because it's sewing-related.

Something vintage...



Something tiny...



Now I need to work on ideas for three additional categories!!

And here's a little something (9 of 50) I whipped up for the girly girl niece. I've been saving cute scraps of fabric and the tiny bits were perfect for covering metal buttons! I did have a helluva time removing the metal shanks attached to the button. If I make another batch, I'm buying the button kits with flat backs!

I've been crafting in my mind...envisioning what I need to do to make an awesome mug rug (8 of 50) for my swap partner. After reviewing her answers to my questions (more than twice, I might add), here's what I came up with. Gnome...check. Colour match to kitchen decor (since she indicated that mug rug will actually serve as a coffee press rug)...check. Requested size of not to exceed 7" square...check.

Embroidery WIP



Embroidered gnome



As I was embroidering the gnome, this was the story in the back of my mind...

Larry is your average variety garden gnome. It has been rumored that he is a charity shop rescue, but he insists that he hails from Target (or was it Wal-Mart?). He is not happy with life in the chilly northwest. “Ah the cold weather is making me miserable,” he moaned. “There are icicles in my beard and my nose is redder than Rudolph’s!” The harsh winter conditions have taken a toll on his usually sunny disposition. Larry has decided that it is time to make a few changes in his life. He will be a garden gnome…no more! His plan is to spend the rest of his life, snuggled under the warmth of a coffee press (or teapot if it comes to that). He does not mind being squished…not if it means moving down south for good!

Front view



Close-up



Back view



The sewing bit for the mug rug was a breeze (what can I say...I love to sew!) but the embroidery bit was less fun. I kept things simple...but sometimes, simple is good. I hope my partner likes it!

Here are a couple of practice mug rugs (7 of 50) that I made recently. The mug rug with the pink binding is a scrappy selvedge piece (I've been wanting to work with selvedges for the longest time!) and the other mug rug is a collection of some of my favourite fabrics in green hues.





I like to think of them as mini quilts...because let's face it, I'm probably never gonna complete a full-size quilt in this lifetime. Here's the equation I'm talkin' about:

Large project + Short attention span = Dusty abandoned WIP

But I digress. What exactly are mug rugs? Essentially, they're glorified coasters, and size-wise, they're bigger than conventional coasters (big enough to serve as a mini placemat for a cuppa tea and a biscuit). The approximate measurements for my mug rugs are 6" by 8". So how well do these work? It looks just about right for a normal size mug, but I might have to make larger ones for monster mugs (i.e. my favourite mug, aka the soup mug)!





I have one more to crank out for a mug rug swap. And these two mug rugs are leaving my craftroom soon. One will find a warm and cosy abode down south, and the other will be headed north (hopefully warmed by toasty mugs of tea).

Once a year, when I head west to visit my folks, I splurge on craft supplies (typical, when one is away from home, no?). This year, in addition to my usual haunts, I also checked out SCRAP, a store which sells all kinds of junk suited for crafts.



In addition to interesting bits of scrap materials, I also found some fabric at this place. Amazing!











And some squishy goodes from Yarn Garden. I was mostly interested in sock yarns (since I have high hopes of knitting socks in 2011), but a skein of baby alpaca somehow made it into my basket (sis selected it for a specific project which I need to get started on)!



And fabric from Craft Warehouse and Fabric Depot. Lots of yummy fabrics were fondled at these places...but I only brought home, ahem, a few that I absolutely had to have.























And of course, some books for inspiration from Kinokuniya and JoAnn's. I've been searching for that house patchwork book for ages, and I was really pleased to find a copy of it! And since learning to draw is one of my goals for 2011, voila, I found a book to help me out with that goal. The sewing calendar, I'm not too keen on *sigh* The projects in it (yes, I already looked at all the projects) aren't all that exciting. Bummer.







And these two sets of clear stamps that I picked up while waiting to pay for my purchases...



Yep, it's safe to say that I should be good to craft in 2011!