Noreen from Hankering For Yarn just got back from a trip and shared her “must bring ” projects that she can knit, crochet (or tat, or weave…) while on the road.
I’ve inherited that need to craft too, so when I’m traveling, I absolutely must have a bundle of pre-cut yo-yo circles, needle and thread so I can merrily “yo” along while my DH drives

I love the portability and “instant gratification” of ending up with a bag of finished yo-yos at the end of the drive.  I can tuck everything I need into my purse and not have to …read more

There’s hint of a chill most mornings, the tomatoes are ripening and there’s a hint of reds and gold in the trees…  I think autumn has arrived in my neck of the woods.
For some reason, September hits and I get the urge to clean.  I don’t know if it’s the knowlege that I’ll be cooped up in my studio for the next several months or the cold and snow that are set to descend.  But there’s something about this time of year that makes me want to get my studio whipped into shape.
What have I actually been doing?

Making yo-yo garlands!
Okay, …read more

The clever people over at Threads Magazine have come up with an ingenious way to speed up the production of yo-yos.
Now, I personally like the slow & meditative pace of hand-sewing yo-yos, but this method sounds fantastic for those projects that need to get done right now.
Basically, you’re using the embroidery hoop of your sewing machine to stabilize the yo-yo fabric as you sew around it.  Go check out the article for the complete details.

I’m getting inspired again…. I just came across these charming little hens:

image: Daily OM
They were originally created in Northern India to bring good luck – I’d like to try making my own. I think that if I used Bettsi McComb’s (of Tender Arts Studio) pattern for little birds, I could create something quite lovely.
I’ll keep you posted…

guest post from Kelly Saunders of Thrifty Mommy 

My name is Kelly Saunders and I write with my best friend, Karen, over at Thrifty Mommy. Our goals are to save you time and money in your everyday lives. Recently, I have begun a quilt. It was the biggest mistake I could have ever done because it is very addictive. I love to sit down and relax with my handwork. But I hated it when my thread would get tangled up and I would get so frustrated.
Then a co-worker told me about Thread Heaven. You …read more

It’s summertime – the kids are on vacation from school… and they’re bored!  What’s a fiber-aholic to do?
Why, get them crafting of course
I’ve got a few different kid’s crafts in the Tangled Thread archives, so I’ve pulled some of my favorites together for you.

Hand-painted t-shirts.
Create a bouquet of felt flowers.
These sewn projects would be great for an older child or teenager.
I’d recommend painting instead of embroidering these felt sweethearts if you’ve got younger kids.

There are more great kids crafts from other bloggers in the Lifestyles channel too!

Paint your own soccer ball from Play Library.
Make your own play clay …read more

I thought it would be a good idea to post all the links for the silk paper how-to… after all, we’ve gone from this:

 To this:

In a few weeks!

Step one: making the silk paper.
Step two: adding layers of paint.
Step three: making cartoons to help visualize the completed work.
Step four: painting the canvas background.
Step five: embroidering the canvas.
Step six: attaching the silk paper to the canvas.
Step seven: free-motion embroidering the silk paper.
Step eight: playing with the background colors.
Step nine: quilting the fabric background.
The final step – gallery mounting the entire piece.

So there you go – all the links, now go and be …read more

I’m down to the last few steps for creating & mounting the silk paper. In the last post, I had shown some options for different quilting stitches that I was thinking about using on the background fabric. I’ve decided that going with the simple green stitching was the best option.
I’ve sewn the canvas onto the quilted background, using straight stitching on the edges and just tacking down the top and bottom. I want to gallery mount the quilted fabric onto canvas, but I think it’s easier to show you how, rather than try to explain it …read more

It’s time to make a decision on the background color – I was still looking at different colors in the last post.  I’ve made a choice, and I’m going with this one for the background:

I’m going to make a quilted background, so the next step is to cut out the batting (I’m using Warm & Natural cotton batting) and the two pieces of fabric to “sandwich” the batting.
I cut the fabric & batting approximately 4 inches wider than the finished dimensions of the piece, enough so I can stretch it onto a canvas.  I’m using spray glue to lightly baste …read more

I’ve decided that I want to mount the canvas onto a piece of cotton, before it’s stretched onto stretcher bars (or cheat, and just use a pre-stretched canvas from an art store) But what color to use for the background?
I quite like the way it looks on black – it’s clean, simple and doesn’t add any extra clutter:

But how about red? I pulled out my trusty photo editing software and started playing.

I think the red is a little too much – it’s overwhelming everything else… green perhaps?

I’m still not thrilled with it – but there’s purple in …read more