Back in School

Well, not exactly. But after sitting in a couple of 8-hour training classes this week I kind of feel like I’m back in school. I’m taking full advantage of having a week without the kids. Shopping, eating, meeting new people, enjoying Chicago nightlife. Oh, and going to class and learning new things. The proof is here.

So far, I think that the highlight of the 'after-hours' portion of the conference was getting a chance to have a drink with Chiara Fox, an Information Architect for the company hosting the event. Chiara is also a crafter and put together these amazing quilted and knitted wireframes. She showed me some photos of them (you can see one here) and I fell in love with the concept. For those of you who don't know -- wireframes are used to express the physical location of items on a web page before you start working on the visual design of the page. Anyhow, I loved that Chiara was using traditional crafting methods to express a relatively new artform. Look for a story about her and this project in the next issue of Craft magazine.

Too Many Stitches

This was a week of catching up on all my ignored sewing projects. After five days of sewing every evening (thanks, Kevin, for putting up with a noisy machine all week) this is what I got done – three pairs of hemmed pants :: a scrap belt for my sister’s sweater :: two kimono scarves for my friend Lynne :: a new lining for my friend Jolie’s purse :: and this baby quilt for Moon’s second son who will be here soon.


I feel caught up enough to go our of town next week without worrying about my sewing stack. When I get back, I’ll be ready to start on some summer handbags. In the meantime, I’m sure going to miss these sudsy bunnies!

While I was out

It's been awhile. I've been trying to get caught up a few things: work, the house, taxes, friends, family. I was sick (for about a month) and went to New York for business. Twice. There hasn't been a lot of time for crafting. In the whole month of March I was only able to complete one project.

I have two handbag orders already for this month, and two friends who are having babies. I'm going to try making a couple of baby quilts.


Messenger bag for a new online friend.


Amy Butler fabric for two baby quilts.


Fabric I picked up at a shop in Harlem. Time to get started on those summer handbags!


Getting ready to celebrate Easter with handmade Easter baskets for the kids.