Absolutely Small

Psst! I'm over here!

2012-05-14T10:39:00.000-07:00

The blog has moved to Chickenpants.com now.
Come on over and join in the chickeny goodness!

Change the topic!

2012-01-09T14:58:00.000-08:00

I'm embarking on a new batch of Chickenpants, so I have a feeling I won't be able to update the blog for a bit. So, to clear the decks, something bouncy and upbeat:

No? Okay, how about this:

Enjoy. See you in a bit.

Absmall Update - Pug Kokeshi

2011-12-28T11:15:00.000-08:00

Okay, I have to type this really fast and there is no time to edit so bear with me:

Cut and pasted from the Etsy description:

"I am one surly pug with nothing to say to you.
I'm still trying to figure out what to say about this piece. But some sort of explanation would really defeat the purpose, wouldn't it? Not to mention it would probably only make the pug surlier.

Anyway, some details: This piece mixes lots of hand stitching with lots of machine stitching. And lots of loose dangly threads hanging everywhere. The letters are adhered with, of all things, puff paint. Remember puff paint? And those horrible sweatshirts your grandma made you with kittens plastered to them, ringed by puffy plastic? Yeah, that's the stuff.
Oh, and this pug kokeshi sports little bat wings, ripped from an old book.

It's made from cotton, leather, wool, vintage paper bat wings, buttons, felt, all sorts of threads, and LOVE. Okay, not love. More like crabbyness."

Now. The last fabric painting I posted on Etsy received abysmal views, sending me into a spiral of despair, defiance, blah blah blah blah. And yet, I continue to make these things, despite how they may be received. Or not received.

Olive has been going through a barnacle phase, meaning she is only happy-ish when she is clinging to a parent. (Usually me.) This makes working on anything very difficult. She has a particular hatred of me using the computer, so I have to type this REALLY fast while she is napping. Hey, did I mention how she is not so good at napping? And how I might get 45 minutes TOTAL, all day, if I am lucky? YEAH.

So, the work continues at a snail's pace, and I am really not comfortable with that. But I'm trying to be.

Hoping to post more soon.
Chicken pecks and pug licks to you!
Claire

New thing.

2011-12-14T14:15:00.000-08:00

I just finished the most intricate, time consuming thing I've ever made. I feel a great sense of WHOOOOSH. I don't know how else to describe it. Anyway:

I've been working on this piece for a few months now. A little bit here, a little bit there. A little bit every day. I am SO relived that it is finally done. I have two other (non-Chickenpants) pieces in progress.

The thing is, I've been feeling really creatively stymied for a long time. I've been needing a new creative challenge. I've been feeling that proverbial pull towards the NEXT THING, whatever that may be. There have been fits. There have been starts. (And lots of stops.) And then I stumbled onto this fabric collage/painting thing idea. Holy cow, it's totally taken over my creative brain. I haven't been this excited about what I've been making since I first started working on the Chickenpants.

I don't even know what to call what I'm making. Fabric collages? Fabric paintings? Is this already a thing? I have been exercising a LOT of self control and deliberately NOT googling these terms. I'm sure there are already a lot of talented people doing this. I didn't want to be intimidated by what other, more established artists who know what the heck they're doing. Instead, I'm making myself breathe and figure this out on my own. It has been wonderful. (And I don't know how much longer I can go without googling fabric collage.)

I have too much to say about all this. Time to go process thoughts into something useful.

Phone blogging

2011-11-08T14:50:00.000-08:00

Can it be done? Experiment!
Truncated text, clumsy typing. Clearly this is the future.

Working on some new stuff...

2011-11-03T08:55:00.000-07:00

Nobody intends to take a break from their craftyblog, it just HAPPENS. Or at least that's what happens to me.
Anyway, while I haven't been managing to blog, I did manage to make some stuff. Like this:
[caption id="attachment_3458" align="aligncenter" width="620" caption="Willy Nilly Fabric Painting by Claire Chambers"][/caption]
I think of it as a fabric painting. Or is it collage? Or applique? I don't know. It was really fun to make, and I am really, really excited to make more. (In fact, I've got a more complex one in the works right now.)
I've had this Willy Nilly character kicking around my mind for awhile now, and fabric seemed the right way to get him out. I'm looking forward to making more images of him. And his friends. (Stella and Crackity Jones. Yes.)

Crafting With Cat Hair Giveaway - Winner!

2011-10-20T15:55:00.000-07:00

We have a winner!

Commenter #4, Anna - step right up! I'll be emailing you in a minute so I can mail you your book.

Thank you to everyone who entered. It just so happens that there's an Absolutely Small giveaway happening over on Funky Finds RIGHT NOW. Hop on over there and leave a comment to be entered to win a Chickenpants gift set. http://funkyfinds.blogspot.com/2011/10/giveaway-absolutely-small.html

Crafty Book Review and Giveaway- Crafting With Cat Hair by Kaori Tsutaya

2011-10-11T11:07:00.000-07:00

****PLEASE NOTE: The contest has been won! Hooray! No more comments on this post, please. :) ****

Want to win a copy of this lovely book? Read on!
[caption id="attachment_3443" align="aligncenter" width="540" caption="Crafting With Cat Hair"][/caption]
In the States, cat hair is generally regarded as pesky garbage, something we just want to get rid of. That's why I did a double take when Quirk Books contacted me about reviewing one of their latest offerings, Crafting With Cat Hair. The what now?
This was something too delightfully odd to pass up. Crafting With Cat hair was originally printed in Japan back in 2009. It's written by Kaori Tsutaya, and translated by Amy Hirschman.
But! Alas, I have no cats. What I do have are two pugs who shed like they're trying to make life size replicas of themselves. Clearly, they want to get crafty.
Do these crafts work with pug hair? Inquiring minds need to know!

The book is adorable. It's a nice square format with lovely thick glossy pages. It even smells like Japan! (Okay, it smells like books from Japan. Of which I have several. Japan itself smells like rain, concrete, cigarettes and cute, at least in my memory of being there. But I digress.)
Packed into the 90+ pages are: lots of really cute photos, multiple tip pages on crafting with cat hair and living with cats, and 10 projects. Most of the projects fall into the needle felting category.

So, onto the projects! I decided to try my hand at making a portrait. I've done some needle felting in my day, so I was up to the challenge. Plus, I was a little peeved at one of the pugs for some recent bad behavior. Let the stabbing commence!

And so, I stabbed the pug hair. And stabbed. And stabbed. And stabbed. Pug hair began to spread everywhere. More stabbing. More trying to compress pug hair into a shape. Ergh. Stab stab stab.
Okay. So it turns out that pug hair is FUNDAMENTALLY different than cat hair. Like everything else that is pug, it is STUBBORN. And I simply couldn't get it to felt. Ooops. Well, I tried.
There you have it. You can felt with cat hair, and (I have heard) bunny hair, but pug hair simply won't cooperate. Typical!

So! Crafty people! How would you like a copy of this lovely book? Leave me a comment below, and I will pick a winner by random Thursday the 20th.

*Want extra chances to win? Okay, we can do that.
Leave another comment if you do any of the following:
Link to this on Twitter
Link to this on Facebook
Link to this on your blog
Link to this anywhere else!

Want to see more? Check it out on Amazon:

Crafting with Cat Hair: Cute Handicrafts to Make with Your Cat

Good stuff.

2011-10-05T11:55:00.000-07:00

A few things making me smile lately:

A reader sent in a photo of the toy quilt she made with my tutorial. (Hi, Jenny!) Yay!

James Kochalka perfectly captures the inner struggle of the artist-about-the-internet, yet again:
http://www.americanelf.com//comics/americanelf.php?view=single&ID=43319
Oh good grief, do I know where he's coming from.

Speaking of great comics, check out this one by Gemma Correll:

Crafty Book Review - Microcrafts - Tiny Treasures to Make and Share

2011-10-03T14:39:00.000-07:00

The good people of Quirk Books contacted me, asking if I would like to review Microcrafts, one of their latest crafty books.
A book devoted to making itty bitty crafts? Oh yes, I would.

Microcrafts - Tiny Treasures to Make and Share features 25 projects by 17 different authors. (For ease of looking it up, it is compiled by Margaret McGuire, Alicia Kachmar, and Katie Hatz.) In other words, there is a wide variety to the projects. Everything from tiny bird feeders to hang on tiny trees to baby monsters to tuck into little spaces. Sewing, paper crafts and model making are just a few of the techniques you'll encounter. Many of the projects feature ideas for spin off projects. All the directions are clearly laid out, and a few of the projects even offer template downloads. The book itself is hardcover with lovely glossy pages, all beautifully laid out.

(photo from the book, by Steve Belkowitz)

But what does one DO with all of these tiny things? The authors thought of that, and include a bunch of ideas for how to use these cuties in the back of the book. There are also nicely illustrated sewing techniques, tips on making tiny patterns, and all sorts of resource information.

(another photo from the book, again by Steve Belkowitz)

Picking out a project to sample was tricky. (The tiny candy charms? The perfect mini books? Oh man, the little taxidermedied deer heads...) I settled on the little owls. My baby owl went together without a hitch:

She's only 1.5" tall! (That's 3.8 cm!) Perfect for tucking into a card or onto a gift to make it even more special. (Bonus: this guy went together FAST, and all with scraps. Nice!)
I'm inspired to try out more of the projects from this book.
Bottom line, if you enjoy tiny things and the making of them, by all means pick up this book. Oh look, here it is on Amazon:

Microcrafts - Tiny Treasures to Make and Share by Margaret McGuire, Alicia Kachmar, Katie Hatz and Friends

Why yes, I AM that shameless.

Craft Room Organization- The Best Way To Organize Fabric, EVER.

2011-09-29T10:51:00.000-07:00

My studio is far from all organized, but I just had to share this with you. A little while ago I came across a great tutorial by Sew Fantiastic on how to organize your fabric. She came up with the idea to wrap your fabric around comic book backer boards.
She is a GENIUS. I've been using this method for a few months now, and it is perfect. My stash is still organized, and everything is easy to see at a glance. And easy to put away. And pull out. Added bonus: comic book backer boards are CHEAP. My local comics place sells 25 of them for $2.

Basically, you fold your fabric neatly in half, then fold it around the board and pin into place. Simple, and it works. I'm using this technique for knits, silks, and even ripstop. (For unpinnable/delicate fabrics, just use a little binder clip instead of a pin. Done.) I have every thing from tiny, less than a fat quarter sized bits to multi yard swaths on these boards.

Life is good. Fabric is gloriously organized. It's like my own tiny fabric shop.
Thank you, Sew Fantastic! You can check out the full tutorial here: http://sew-fantastic.blogspot.com/2010/09/organizing-your-stash-on-budget.html Check out her scrappy storage tutorial while you're at it. I'm using this system, too. It also works really well for me!

A new custom Chickenpants - EMT CP!

2011-09-23T08:00:00.000-07:00

I recently completed this custom order, and I just had to share him with you. There was an awful lot of hand stitching involved, and I loooooved doing it! The idea of tiny working pockets just delights me to no end. So does the idea of making things that are ridiculously detailed to the point of one being utterly unable to make a profit on them. (Er, not that this guy was, but you know, in general.) Which begs the question: is miniature crafting some sort of mental illness? And is there a suitable name for it? Minimania? What would you call it?

Squirrels, Woodpeckers, and Treasury HTML-ing Tools

2011-09-20T23:27:00.000-07:00

I started this post because I was dying to try out the Etsy Treasury HTML Code Generator made by Whale Shark Websites. (And detailed on the Handmadeology blog. Thank you, Handmadeology!) "Aha!" I thought "What a nice idea for a quick blog post. Surely this will put me back on the path to blogging every single day!"
As is my habit, however, I blew this project all out of proportion, and now it's this monster post. Hi!
Okay. So. What better way to test out this tool than by illustrating the ancient war that has been raging on my porch all summer?
Squirrels. Woodpeckers. What do they have in common? They both covet acorns. Specifically the acorns that the woodpeckers have been *ahem* squirreling away under the eaves and in the walls of my house for, oh, eons. The squirrels got wind of this, and bam! Turf war, right on my porch. Right in front of my studio window, in fact. Now, before you accuse me of having a wild imagination and a lying cheating heart, BEHOLD THE FOOTAGE:

Squirrels hate Woodpeckers. And vice versa. from Absolutely Small on Vimeo.

There. Actual, filmy proof of the hatred squirrels and woodpeckers harbor in their bosoms for one another. On my porch. And walls.
And here's the treasury to commemorate The Great Squirrel/Woodpecker Battle of 2011:

'Squirrels vs Woodpeckers' by absolutelysmall

Squirrels and Woodpeckers are mortal enemies. I know this because there is currently a turf war on my porch. At stake are literally THOUSANDS of acorns stuffed into the walls and under the eaves. Who will win? Only time will tell.

ORIGINAL Squirrel Water... WaterInMyPaint $40.00	WOODPECKER Bird Waterco... lorisworld $18.00	Still I Love Snow - Squ... mingtaphotogra... $15.00	ACEO signed PRINT - Woo... poordogfarm $5.00
garden woodpecker limit... beethings $25.00	Squirrel Art - Jane Ste... amberalexander $20.00	5x7 Print Downy Woodpec... studiotuesday $18.00	Peek - Grey and Brown S... ByTheWinter $12.00
Meet Sam The Smallest S... doodlebirdie $20.00	Woodpecker, Limited Edi... badbird $60.00	Love to Swing - PRINT JAustinRyan $16.00	Woodpecker print 5x7 berkleyillustr... $10.00
Red-headed Woodpecker W... SandraHealy $45.00	Squirrel Art - Dionysus... amberalexander $20.00	Needle Felted Red Belli... InspirationByK... $175.00	Needle Felted Wool Ani... darialvovsky $98.00

Treasury tool by Red Row Studio.

Look at that! You can click on everything! And I coded NOTHING! Hooray!
In other words, dang, this tool is fun. I see myself making a LOT more treasuries in the future thanks to this baby.
Go forth and add treasuries to your blogs willy nilly, people!

Crafty Book Review – Handmade Home by Amanda Blake Soule

2011-09-18T23:00:00.000-07:00

Handmade Home: Simple Ways to Repurpose Old Materials into New Family Treasures

I recently* picked up a copy of Handmade Home by Amanda Blake Soule of SouleMama fame. This book is a total delight!
I loved that this book focused on reusing fabric. There were several projects that called for used clothing, which is a really neat way to preserve memories, I think. (I know I'll be saving and crafting with some of my baby's finest.)
This book really opened my eyes to different sorts of projects, and the idea of sewing useful things for the home. Before reading this book, I'd really only focused on sewing plushies. But once I got started making useful things, I was hooked. Our house is steadily becoming filled with handmade textile goodies. It's really oddly satisfying.

There are tons of projects to try, especially if you have little ones to craft for. If not, there's still plenty to keep you busy. It's a huge project, but I'm dying to try my hand at making a rag rug, as laid out on page 39.
There's a wide variety of projects, and nearly all of them useful.

Check it out on Amazon, where you can peek inside:

*Ahem. Okay, by "recently", apparently I mean February. Because that is when this post began. Somehow**, it never got posted until now.

**This is probably how:

Couple of quick things

2011-09-14T09:50:00.000-07:00

I woke up to a really great link in my email this moring. Check out the felt ABC book a reader made:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/lvarney/sets/72157627543697203/show/
Yes! Awesome!

In other news:

I have two separate marketing posts in my drafts. One is whiny, one is a project I started and then needed to scrap. Sometimes not having the time to post your ideas immediately is a very good thing.

Been working on lots of custom orders. Such as this tiny showgirl:

She's only 11 cm tall. Actual conversation snippet:
Dan: She's a miniature showgirl Chickenpants?
Me: Yes.
Dan: So...that would make her a bantam?
Me: Yes! Nice useage of chicken terminology!
Dan: I thought so.

Important tip: marry a man who knows his way around chicken vocabulary.

Baby Crafting - Embroidered Bib

2011-09-07T12:58:00.000-07:00

I haven't been making as much stuff for Olive lately (shame!), but I have been making more stuff in general.
I wanted to test out the new Bunnies in the Kitchen embroidery pattern I designed, and we always need more bibs, so voila! Embroidered bib.

I knew it would get ruined within minutes of making it, so I deliberately chose quick stitches. This is not exactly an heirloom. :)

It went together very quickly. And yes, within a few hours, stained by something or other. But hey, it's still in circulation! So that's something.

Got a minute?

2011-08-29T12:25:00.000-07:00

Hello lovelies! I just put together a tiny little survey thing. I'm trying to figure some stuff out (and I hope there will be a verrrrrry juicy blog post to come out of this). And of course there's a coupon code in it for you.

Click here and take the survey. You know you want to.

Thanks very much! I really appreciate it.

A quick peek inside the crafty life of...me, actually.

2011-08-26T09:40:00.000-07:00

I've been working like a plush making machine over here, readying all new creatures for Craftland. (Hence the lack of new Chickenpants lately.) Here's a peek:

I shot the video with my new phone, so the formatting is a little weird. Anyway, there it is. Hopefully the next one will be bigger. (Er, if I even should do a next one. We'll see!)

Easy toy quilt tutorial

2011-08-24T16:36:00.000-07:00

Okay, calling this thing a quilt is a stretch. Or possibly an insult to quilters everywhere. But! It does make a fantastic baby toy. I whipped this up in a hurry one day when I was in need of quiet baby toys. Olive's got a thing for scrunching up textiles. (hooray!) My goal with this was to make something with a variety of textures for her to enjoy.

Here's what you need:

3 - 4.5" x 12" (11.4 cm x 30.4 cm) pieces of cotton

1 - 12" x 12" (30.4 cm x 30.4 cm) piece of fabric for the back (I used a cheap, silky one...the better for scrunching.)

4 - 4" x 12" (10 cm x 30.4 cm) pieces of fleece (Please ignore the obviously 14" long pieces in the photo. I was going to try something else, which wound up not working. IGNORE!)

Step 1- Sew together the cotton
Placing the right sides together, sew the long sides of two pieces together.

Connect the third piece in the same way. You'll wind up with something like this:

Press the seams open in the back:

Step 2 - Assembly
Pin the back fabric to the front, wrong sides together. Lay one of the fleece pieces underneath at the top, and fold about half of it over like so:

Pin into place, and sew the bottom edge. Repeat this process with the opposite edge:

Place another piece of fleece on one of the open sides, making sure to overlap the already sewn on fleece. Pin, and sew as you did the last two. Add the final fleece piece in the same way. (Yes, I could have been typing "binding" all this time, but you have to admit "fleece piece" is much more enjoyable to say. Try it.)
Using a 1/2" seam allowance, sew around the outside edge of the quilt:

Trim the threads, and baby, you are done!

Notes:

This is totally machine washable. And dryable. Unless you use some fancypants fabric that is not, alas, machine washable.

I wish I had spent a little more time on this project, honestly. The tiny format would be perfect for trying out new patterns.

Clover Embroidery Hoop Review

2011-08-18T11:02:00.000-07:00

***Let me start by saying that this review was totally done on my own dime. I was sponsored by no one. (However, if you'd like to have me review something, by all means email me!)***

Okay, the Clover Embroidery Hoop. I am a huge fan of all things Clover. Blame my Japanophile tendencies. I've been checking out the Clover embroidery hoop for awhile now, picking it up and putting it back. As far as embroidery hoops go, it's very spendy. The 4.75" one runs $10.99. Compare that to the average plastic hoop, which runs around $2.99 for the same size. (Bamboo ones run about $1.29)

I decided to compare the Clover against a typical plastic 6" embroidery hoop (Susan Bates), and a 5" Bamboo hoop.
[caption id="attachment_3324" align="aligncenter" width="676" caption="Hoops in action!"][/caption]
MOUNTING:
The Clover is a little easier to adjust. It has a larger lip on the inner hoop, which makes getting the fabric to stay in place easy. Instead of the typical screw and nut fastener, the Clover has a really nice screw and nut fastener cased in plastic. At least, I'm assuming that's what's in there. The little dial is very easy to turn, and adjustments are really smooth. But it takes a lot of little spins to open and close the hoop. Actually, it kind of takes forever.
The plastic hoop had a much smaller, almost nonexistent lip. The fabric slipped around quite a bit. The fastener can be flicked open really easily- wheee! - which is fun. But your fabric is slipping around, so you probably don't want to mess with that much.
The bamboo hoop held the fabric well, despite not having any sort of lip at all. However, the screw and nut fastener is super cheap, and feels like it's going to break right off. It's tiny, and tough to adjust.

WORKING:
The fabric seems to stay in place really well with the Clover hoop. I've noticed that the bamboo and cheap plastic hoops tend to let your fabric sag the more you work with them. However, it's really fast and easy to adjust the bamboo hoop once this happens.

INDENTATION:
I left some cotton mounted in the hoops for about a week. I intended to just leave it in there overnight (You know, like you're never supposed to do, because it stretches out the fabric or something).
The Clover by far left the biggest marks. They're raised really high, and very clear.
Oddly enough, the cheapola bamboo hoop left the least amount of marks. The indentations left behind are very faint.
Ironing and a little spray of water took care of all the indentations. Poof, gone. Really not a big deal.

OTHER NOTES:
The size of the Clover hoop (4 3/4") is a little unusual, but very nice for the smallish scale stuff that I do. Also, it looks so cute.

THE WINNER?
The Clover hoop is pretty nice. But is it actually worth it? Meh. Honestly, you may be better off with the cheap bamboo ones. Weird! The bamboo is the hoop I reach for most frequently now. It's faster to adjust, and doesn't leave too much of an indentation. But by all means, pass up the cheap plastic. Those things are terrible.

The Hex

2011-08-10T13:50:00.000-07:00

Hello, dear readers. You may recall a post, not so very long ago, where I attempted to quilt. So frustrating was the process that I vowed never to quilt again. Ever. Never, ever.
I did finish that one quilt, though. It sits on our bed right now, and it is rather awesome. I love how it looks, all imperfect and handmade and cozy. Olive loves it, too. She scrunches it up and studies the patterns. It buys me up to an extra half hour of sleep most mornings.
Clearly, quilts are fantastic. I am now a convert.
A friend made an amazing hexagon quilt for Olive. It's hand finished and utterly perfect and lovely. I've been staring at it hanging on her crib for far too long. It started to look doable. I stared to visualize a nap sized quilt for Olive and I to read under. She could drape it over chairs to make forts. It would be handmade and cozy and lovely.
Thus, I began working on the Hexagon Hell quilt in early June.
I had a vast array of pink fabrics gathering on the shelf, begging for a project to be part of. I wanted great big hexagons. I went with a 5" size, because that was the largest one my ruler would make. I also wanted to make an embroidered centerpiece. I had recently finished designing the Bunnies in the Kitchen embroidery patterns, and I wanted to try them out. I figured they'd be perfect for this.
The cutting progressed perfect and uneventfully. Man, I love cutting fabric. With the first quilt I made, I started with a charm pack that turned out to be...less than square. I only found this out once all the "squares" were sewn together and the strips would. Not. Line. Up. I was determined to not have the same problem happen twice. (See The Quiltening part 1) I bought a special plastic cutting guide, and I very, very carefully cut each piece. The initial phase went so well that I pretty much failed to document it. "Wow! This is going perfectly. I don't think I'll get a blog post out of this at all. Wheee!"

Before too long, I had lovely stacks. I laid them out in a pleasing arrangement, pinned post its in place to guide the assembly, and got crackin'.
Super careful assembly of the long strips began. Seam guides were used. Seams pressed open. Blah blah blah.
And then.
And THEN.
I had 11 perfect rows. I was rarin' to attach them to each other. I laid the first two out and...
Drew a total blank.
How the heck do these things fit together?
I couldn't figure it out, but I found a helpful tutorial that made it click. The stitching commenced.
AND THEN.
The hexagons simply would not line up properly. I watched the video again. I ripped the seam again. I watched the video several more times. I ripped the same darn seam many, many more times.
This is where the fit of pique happened.
The sounds of angry grunting and frustrated whining brought by husband into the room.
"Why won't they line up? WHY?!?! I was so careful!"
"Hmmm...why are they so much longer on one side?"
"They're not! They can't possibly be! I used a RULER!"
I felt like such a failure. How could I have made the same mistake again? I threw in the towel for the night. But every time I closed my eyes, I saw hexagons. Gahhhh.
Throwing the towel (er, quilt top) away was not an option. Not that I ever give up that easily. (If my mom is reading this, she just said "HA!") I had used up a bunch of my favorite hoarded fabrics. Laurie Wisbrun lambs were in there! And a bunch of Japanese imports from Superbuzzy that I bought when I was pregnant with Olive. The quilt must go on.
However, it soon became apparent that doing things the "right" way wasn't going to work for me, either. I realized again that I simply do not have a straight line in me. Trying to force perfect geometric shapes out of me was making me crazy. I have such limited time to create things these days. Picking a painful project just seemed insane.
I couldn't stop thinking about those darn things. I kept rearranging them in my mind, and coming up with other ways to salvage the quilt. I even dreamed of a really fantastic quilt that night.
I had a small window of time the next day to try out some of my ideas. I stumbled upon something that worked for me. Real quilters will probably want to puke when they hear it, but I think we've established that I am not a real quilter.
I simply laid both strips right side up, and folded the second strip on top of the first. I then sewed on top of the folded hexagon. Boom. Done. It worked! I no longer felt like a looser. Nay, I was a sewing wunderkind!
I'm really pleased with the effect. The rows are layered almost like roof tiles. It makes me think of Necco wafers tiled on a gingerbread roof.
For the backing, I happened to have snagged some cute vintage-y green rosebuds at the local thrift store. A couple of seams later, and that was done.
Now, the basting. Man, was I dreading the basting. The last time I quilted, the basting went on forever. Thread and needle. Hands and knees. Pregnant lady on the ground. Fun stuff. This time, however, I took my mother-in-law's advice: I bought a basting gun. That lady knows her stuff.
Boom, boom, boom, click click click, and 20 minutes later, I was done. A revelation! One does not have to suffer to baste! Sure, this makes for a less interesting blog post, but it also makes for a FINISHED QUILT. And less pain.
Okay, now comes the part I was really, really dreading. (If I dread so many parts of this process, why was I doing it? This is a question that I asked myself a lot during the making, and one I still have no answer for.) THE ACTUAL QUILTING. I decided to bite the bullet and try to quilt it on my machine.
And...it went fine. More than fine, actually. It was so easy, and so fast. I really wish I had attempted to machine finish the last quilt.
Can I confess something to you? I actually like making binding. I spent a blissful couple of hours while the baby napped ironing. IRONING! And listing to the Judge John Hodgman podcast. It was perfect.
And thus, the quilt was finished. I actually finished it on July 17th. Not bad!
Here's the finished quilt:

And here's the embroidered centerpiece:

I LOVE how it turned out.

Okay, who's ready for a nap?

Five Hundred Chickenpants is a LOT of Chickenpants.

2011-08-05T09:56:00.000-07:00

You guys, I can't even wrap my mind around this. FIVE. HUNDRED. 5.0.0. That I've made five hundred of anything is a wonder. I know I've mentioned before that I was the sort of artist who for years (seriously. years!) had a hard time finishing anything, and certainly couldn't stick to anything more than a few weeks. I still sort of think of myself as that person, even though I'm clearly not.
Then I made a Chickenpants, four years ago. Almost exactly four years ago, actually. And I simply couldn't stop. I still can't.
I've been trying to make some sense of this, to get some sort of revelation about my own creative process, or sense of accomplishment, or something, but honestly, I can't. I just keep my hands moving. It make me feel good. It makes me feel like myself.

Every so often I get bored and think of quitting. Then some irresistible idea or other comes along and I'm sewing again.

I really want to convey my gratitude to you all for reading my posts, commenting, clicking, and of course, buying my Chickenpants. I certainly would not have been able to make as many of these guys as I have without your support! Thank you, thank you, thank you.
I made a zine as a way of saying thank you. I wanted to give a little something to everyone. You can download it here.
And of course, there are festivities going on like crazy. For fan page/ mailing list members, there's a Celebration Pack I'm sending out with all orders. (Until I run out. I only have a handful of these things. A steadily decreasing handful. {Thank you!} Just let me know if you're a fan page/mailing list member in the notes to seller.)

In addition, all prints in the shop are now buy one, get one free. Simply tell me which one you'd like as your freebee in the "Message to Buyers" box during checkout.
I'll be posting links to Chickenpants friends and supporters all day on the fan page. (Er, as much as I can. Still have a 6 month old in the mix, of course.) And yes, there will be a special coupon code. (Fan page, won't you?)

So, Chickenpants 500! If you'd like to read his bio, he's over on Etsy.

Baby Steps

2011-08-03T11:16:00.000-07:00

I always thought that baby steps were tiny measured forward movements. Always forward. But slowly.
Then, my baby started to take steps. I was so wrong.
Baby steps are more akin to a tiny drunken sailor on leave meandering down a dark alley. They stumble. They're uneven. They don't just go forward, they go backwards and left and right. They go fast! Then slow. Then stop. Then fast again! There is no plotting ahead, just crashing forward. (And backwards and left and right.)

Nothing on the coffee table is safe!

A little while back, during one of my "aaahhh, my life is different and I can't do as much creating as I used to" complain-a-thon posts, someone commented about baby steps. And they were right. That's me, drunken sailor baby stepping all over the place. Baby in one hand, needle and thread in the other. Then stop. Then fast, knocking out a quilt and Chickenpants all over the place.
Thusly, I have calmed down (sort of), and I have half a million unfinished projects all over the place. It is good.
Thank you all for your kind and thoughtful comments! I appreciate them all so much.

The ideas...they're multiplying! We can't stop them! Aaaagggghhhh!

2011-07-24T10:06:00.000-07:00

Hello. Has it really been almost 20 days since I last posted something? Yeeesh. And this? Right here? This thing, that I am typing? It's not a real blog post. Nope. Just filler, filled with excuses. I only have a teensy smattering of time before The Olive wakes up. And I should be showering. Or cleaning the house. Or something.
ANYWAY.
1. I really want to keep on blogging, but I simply don't have the time at the moment. Consider this an unintentional blog pause. I'll be back as soon as I can figure out how to squeeze a little more creating time into my day. IT WILL HAPPEN.
2. Ok, I'm not updating this very much, BUT! I am updating the Chickenpants Fan Page pretty much daily. Are you on there? You totally should be. It's awesome. http://www.facebook.com/TheChickenpants I've actually been working really hard on it. We have a members only part now, and I am working on a super wicked awesome downloadable thing for it. So come on over.
3. Oh, my goodness, I have IDEAS for blog posts. So many. Tutorials! Good things!
4. Projects I am currently working on: Doctor Who (Tom Baker) Chickenpants, Free downloadable thing I previously mentioned, gift quilt, more Chickenpants.
5. Projects I should be working on: Knocking down cobwebs, vacuuming (that looks wrong, but spell check insists it's correct), writing a thank you note, uploading baby photos, exercising, loosing baby weight...
6. Projects I really want to get started on, already: Some cute tunic-y tops for Olive, decorating this one boring wall in the dining room, Chickenpants adventure sets, writing more blog posts, editing photos...
7. This blog postlet has gotten completely out of control.

I think I hear The Olive. Got to go. I'll see you all...soon? Ish? I hope!

Maker's Manifesto

2011-07-06T15:35:00.000-07:00

When people ask me what I do, I usually fumble for an answer. "I, uh, I make these chicken dolls. And I sell them. Online, mostly. And some other stuff." After this, people generally just say "Okay" and look at me like I'm crazy.
This is pathetic. I've been making "these chicken dolls" for four years now. I've made nearly 500 of them. And I've marketed my butt off. I've built a business around the things I make, with taxes and licenses and everything.
It's time to stop fumbling for a description.
Part of the problem is labels. Am I an artist? A crafter? An entrepreneur? Sort of, yes, all that. Labels are limiting, but they're useful. People don't want a paragraph. How do you sum up what you do in a sentence?
It finally hit me today.
I am not just an artist. I am not just a crafter. I am not just a mother. I am a MAKER.
A professional maker of stuff.
Now that's a definition of what I do that feels right.
In any given day, I might sketch up new ideas for a dozen different things. I might sew up some Chickenpants, or baby toys, or a quilt, or some clothes. I might make cookies. I might write something. I might paint or sketch or photograph something. I might do some or all or none of these things.
I am a maker.

Your turn. What do you do? I'd love to hear about it.