THURSDAY 13
I don’t have to browse yard sales.  I get creative ideas from the customers who stop by ours.  I often ask them what they plan to do with the items they’re purchasing and gain some wonderful ideas:

Beads for various crafts and for school projects
Buttons for Christmas stockings, fabric art, and decorating boxes.
Old tins to decorate in a variety of ways
Canning  jars for drinking glasses, to decorate for pen holders, to use as vases.
Old table cloths for collecting and to cut for fabric art.
Crayons to color paper and coloring book pages for gift wrap.
Broken jewelry to recycle into new jewelry
Children’s board …read more

I’m always looking for handy dandy quilting and sewing gadgets that make life easier.  I don’t necessarily invest in them all, but share ideas with others and like to hear what they’ve found, too.
Here are 13 that seem interesting:

Yo-yo maker
Mini quilt display stands (shaped like room dividers)
Needle sharpener
Compact travel sewing machine
Seam ripper and thread cutter combined
Pre-wound bobbins
Buttonhole spacers
Bendable sewing machine mini light
Sharpener for rotary cutter blades
Lazy Susan spinning carousel for holding thread
Wax pastels for enhancing landscape quilts
Rotary cutters to prepare fabric for hand stitching
Easel caddy for sewing/quilting tools

What are some of your favorite tools and gadgets?

I was browsing through a listing of arts and crafts on display at an upcoming festival.  My attention was caught by some I’d never or rarely heard of before.  Others are more common. I’ll mention them here because they may be ones you’d like to explore.  Some you even may want to try yourself.

Pine needle baskets
Old chairs with crazy paint jobs
Paintings on old windows
Hand painted pots & frames
Torch work glass beads
Origami
Kiln formed glass
Lace making
Turned wood
Creels
Sculpted candles
Forged silver jewelry
Silk creations and scarves

Have you ever made any of these?

In keeping with the Theme of the Week – Nature, in my Blisstree Parenting posts, I thought it would be fun to come up with at least 13 quilt patterns with names relating to nature.  I know there are many more, but here are 13 I selected from among the traditional patterns.
You may work in nature related themes in your fabric art.  Share with us something you’ve done in this area, whether it’s an original pattern or a traditional one.

Butterfly Quilt
Dresden Flowers
Blazing Star
English Flower Garden
Grandmother’s Flower Garden
Honey Bee
Maple Leaf
Ocean Wave
Palm Leaf
Spider Web
Strawberry
Sunbeam
Wild Goose Chase

What else can you think of?

Here’s a quick quiz for you…13 quilting terms.  Are there any you don’t know?

Binding
Feather stitch
Batting
Mixed media
Blind stitch
Calico
Quilting bee
Embellishment
Felting
Stitch in the Ditch
Grandmother’s Garden
Yo-yos
Batik

Of course, there are many, many other quilting and fabric terms.  However, it’s interesting to see how much we know when we see various words and ideas used in this art field.
What are some you’d add to a list you’d make?  Were there any you didn’t know here?
Image: sxc.hu

Many of the traditional quilt patterns of yesteryear carried names of  patriotic events or people.  As a celebration of the Fourth of July (sometimes called Independence Day), let’s discover these.
(From your knowledge of American history, do you recognize these patriots’ names or the event?)

Clay’s Choice
Lincoln’s Platform
Little Giant
Old Tippecanoe
Union Square
Union Star
Whig Rose
Democrat Rose
President’s Wreath
Alexander Hamilton’s Quilt
Burgoyne Surrounded
Yankee Pride
Fifty-Four-Forty-or-Fight

Do you have favorite patriotic quilt patterns…those of yesteryear or today?

I’ve discussed previously, in Floral Designs in Arts and Crafts, and explored various ways and places you could use them.  Quilts, over the ages, have reflected many floral designs with numerous patterns named for flowers.
Here’s a collection of thirteen:

Bud and Rose Wreath
Cactus Flower
Flowers in a Pot
Wild Rose Wreath
Rose of Sharon
Rose Petal
Star Flower
Peony
Prairie Flower
Kansas Sunflower
Mexican Rose
Triple Sunflower
Tulip

Do you have any favorite floral patterns you’ve made as a quilt or other craft?

Mysteries are my favorite reading, whether they’re for children or for adults.  I also enjoy mysteries that take place in actual settings, so I can learn more about other parts of the country and the world.
Do your youngsters like to read mysteries? Here are a few mystery books to check out for the youngsters (tots through teens) in your life:

The Boxcar Children Mysteries
Boxcar Children Graphic Novel Mysteries
Joan Lowery Nixon (author) mysteries
American Girl Mystery series
Ghost Cadet
Mysteries by Carole Marsh (Historical & geographical settings)
Mysteries by Beverly Lewis
The Undercover Kid Mysteries
Hardy Boys Mysteries
Mystery Kids Mysteries
The Adirondack Kids Mysteries
Mysteries by Mary Downing Hahn
Spine Chiller …read more

Thursday 13 – Take a look at star patterns with the names of states.
Have you made any star pattrns?  I made the Missouri Star  in a quilt for a customer.  It was a lot of work, but was a lovely quilt in the colors the customer chose.
My daughter created the Ohio Star in a wall hanging for her grandmother’s room in assisted living.  Her grandmother grew up in Ohio.

Ohio Star
Missouri Star
Lone Star (Texas)
Iowa Star
Tennessee Star
Virginia’s Star
North Carolina Star
Kansas Sunflower
California Rose
Indiana Puzzle
Kentucky Rose
Rocky Road to Kansas
St.  Louis Star (not a state, but a well-known city)

 Have you made any of these…or ones named …read more

Embellishing quilts, fabric art and mixed media has become very popular.  The artist might use simply a few items or can almost cover the piece in a technique called encrusted embellishing.
What types of embellishments are there?

Beads
Buttons
Charms
Scrapbook stickers
Handmade fabric buttons
Pieces of wood
Decorated CDs
Foil
Artificial flowers
Keys
Advertising buttons on pins
Postage stamps
Rubber stamping

Do you have any other interesting embellishments that you use? How do you use them?  What are your favorites?