The Aftercraft

Melly & Me Kaleidoscope

2011-12-30T19:42:00.000-08:00

Do you like unicorns, bunnnies and moose? Add in a cup of cute and you've got Melanie Hurlston's aka Melly & Me book Kaleidoscope. I bought this a few weeks ago and was literally squealing with glee as I thumbed through the pages.

The very night I had the book I was already cutting out "Bella-boo" the bunnie. I made Bella-Boo and the Moose Melvin for my cousins kids this Christmas.

The pair together.

With Bella boo I was fearful that the dress would be difficult since it was so small but her instructions are pretty good... as long as you read them.

back of dress detail

Her patterns are a little different then some as you have use some pattern parts as a template and SEW on the line.. not cut.

so carry-around-able

I used a doll's needle and attached the arms on with a strong cross stitch and DMC floss to create durability and also made the arms articulated.

articulated arm

I used fabric on her head flower instead of felt.

When I finished embroidering her face I started squealing all over again. The pattern is SO FREAKIN CUTE! Don't you think?

Now these are the first dolls I've ever made other than the Alien with no pants. I was pleased they turned out ok.

Melvin the Moose.. now he is for a little guy and I omitted all the buttons on his overalls and I had to make her overalls smaller than the pattern was when it was finished. I'm not sure why.

Again I used DMC floss on his arms and on his antlers. Time will tell to see how well these hold up I think they may come off quickly even though they are secured really well. IF I were ever to make another I might make the antlers slightly larger.

maybe back pockets would make a cute addition?

front pocket detail

He is pretty fun too though... I can say I made a moose. That's right up there with I ran away with the circus.

I can't wait to make the backpack on the front cover... and of course the unicorn.

Sewing Borders onto the back of your quilt.

2011-12-22T22:30:00.000-08:00

I made a quilt for a friend recently and after putting together the top realized I had totally goofed on the measurements and hadn't bought enough of the backing... but I had more of another fabric which I thought ok... I'll make a border on it no problem... but then I realized I wanted a perfectly squared border on the back.. how would I do this? Where do I find out how??

Well a few fruitless google searches later I sat in a huff on the sewing floor and stared miserably at my quilt.

Then "eureka"

This is how I did it.

My top had been finished already completed with borders. I basted my top to my batting and stretched amy backing which just extended past my borders on the bottom.

I then stitched in the ditch around the border of my top which just came through on my backing..

I then cut my backing borders larger then I needed and placed them right sides together just past my stitch line I had created.

I did the sides first and then the top and bottom as I would a normal border... pressed it.. and was able to complete my binding as per usual!!! I was so stoked! It looked perfect and beautiful!

Are the other methods? I haven't a clue!

I totally adore this line by Suzy Ultman Critters Community! It is just toooo cute for words. I had a blast working with these prints and just cut and spread these guys all over my design wall until something spoke to me.

added along with that linen texture line.. sublime.

Candy Cane Shortbread Tutorial

2011-12-15T21:41:00.000-08:00

Are you doing any baking for the holidays? It's a christmas memory thing for me.. especially making these cookies.I used to make these with my mom when I was a little girl using a sugar cookie recipe, but since I've got a serious love for shortbread I decided to give it a go.

I made my normal recipe and then split it into two and added red food colouring to half of it.

I then made two finger thickness "snakes" one out of red shortbread and one of my white. About 8-9 inchs long.

Smush them together a little..

Cut your snack into thirds.

Roll out your new bi-coloured dough so its about 5-6 inchs long.

Roll your left hand towards you while rolling your right hand away from you so you notice the cookie dough "twisting"

Place onto cookie sheet on parchment paper and shape into a candy cane...

Bake as usual.. and enjoy!!

You could get UBER stupid fancy and do one half white dough and 1/4 green and 1/4 red dough.

I missed making these!! Seasonal Greetings and happy cookie making.

What's your favorite cookie ?

Doily Lampshade tutorial

2011-12-13T23:26:00.000-08:00

I saw a doily lampshade some time ago I haven't had the chance until recently to explore this. A number of "string shades" have been used which my best friend and I also explored and using a tutorial we found using wall paper paste we built one which proved successful.

I was really surprised how strong the shade was using wallpaper paste making this lampshade.

Now here in Canada you buy it at the hardware stores premade in a tub and it's going to cost 10-15 bucks.. England however run to the pound shop (poundstretcher was my favorite) you can pick up a bag of the glue flakes for a POUND! which is like a buck fiddy! No fair.. but aaaanyways. It works.

Due to the sheer gooeyness of the process I didn't get to take photos of the doing so I'll do my best to describe.

For the string lampshade we used my old exercise ball (finally a good use for it!) , but for the doily lamp I decided to use a balloon I had picked up at a dollar store.

Prep work:

We used a bowl to place our ball in to stop it from rolling around while working on it.

DO put a sheet down around your area. Between wallpaper paste and Vaseline you will thank yourself later.

use a bowl to do your submerging into the paste.. it just makes it easier.

This took about an hour between two of us.

1. Vaseline your balloon or exercise ball.

2. Take your doily's and saturate them in the wallpaper paste. Make sure you are leaving an opening where your lamp parts will go through. We left about a 4 inch hole. I put an extra layer of doilys' around the the hole for extra support.

3. Overlap by about an inch. Don't worry too much about overlapping since the more strength the better.

4. Once your ball is covered let it dry. It took several days for mine to completely dry.. but when it did.. and the balloon popped.. BOY was I excited.

My balloon is more "pendant shaped"

Now for the electrical I picked up the parts and assembled myself one with about 12 feet of cord. I wanted to hang in above my bed so I measured and installed the switch near the bottom of my cord.

We took wire and attached it to either side of the hole we left. I was happy to see how strong the opening was I had put an extra layer there so it was nice and strong. Then in the middle I created a hook or a claw like shape.

just needed a little bit to attach to!

With white electrical tape I created a large "bump" on my cord.

When combined the bump prevents my cord from sliding anywhere and it makes it easy to remove the light fixture to replace light bulbs

I hung from my ceiling...

and put another hook so my cord would fall down my wall.

I just LOVE it.

My cost breakdown

Lamp parts $20

Wallpaper paste $15

Doilys $15

-------------------------------

Total cost $50

IF I had shopped around or had a grandma to borrow some from I could have saved on the cost. I also could have had a friend mail me some paste from England.. I still might.

In retrospect I think even a cheap lace table cloth could be cut up and used.

How beautiful is it though? I think it's worth it.

Best shortbread recipe!

2011-12-11T20:07:00.000-08:00

My man is a shortbread fanatic. I have lost count how many times I have been asked at 1030 at night to "throw" together a batch of shortbread. We've tried a few recipes but this one by far is the easiest. I like to double it up to make about 24 large 4 inch diameter cookies.

Shortbread recipe Rara style.

1 cup of margarine or butter at room temp
2 cup of flour
1/2 cup of icing sugar
1 TBSP vanilla
1/4 tsp baking soda

Take all your ingredients and blend them all together until you get a nice soft consistency.

Heat your oven up to 375 F and pop them in for about 20 minutes.

My new thing is to crush up hazelnuts and dip half the cookie in melted chocolate then dip them in the nuts... oh heaven!

Adorable halloween project!

2011-10-24T23:03:00.000-07:00

Just a quick post.. if you don't already you simply must check out this website.. because look at what you can make!!!

www.paper-and-string.blogspot.com

Happy halloween!!

Excuse me I misplaced my summer...

2011-10-13T23:48:00.000-07:00

Have you seen it? where did it go?!? I've been hitting the whole work thing hard and blinked and am suddenly panicking because christmas seems FAR too close. The past few weeks seem to have been eaten up with a Cabin outting and thanksgiving.

Belated Thanksgiving Canadian folks.

I baked pies... lotsa and lotsa pies.

Oh and cheesecake....

And tried bagels for the first time using this really great recipe. How yummy do they look??

The best thing? It was like a three pot mess. One bowl for my yeast and sugar.. one for my mixing and a pot of boiling water... oh and my pan.. but seriously? Little to no effort it felt like ( Of course I couldn't do it without my trusty kitchen aid.. whom I should give a name...)

Spent the weekend at my friends cabin. Here are a few snap shots.

A fine collection of whirly gigs!!!

first fish of the day.

Quilt in the making!

View from my sewing machine...*sigh*

Well we might be heading out to the cabin for a final cabin retreat again... MIGHT. We will know tomorrow if we will be sitting in a hot tub lakeside by mid-afternoon...i really want to finish my scrap quilt! It's been a blast.

I realized I take LONGER to pack my sewing supplies then my clothes for my vacations... is this crazy?

Skelanimals!!

2011-09-25T01:13:00.000-07:00

This is a fabric which I have a serious crush on. Not only is it in rainbow colours. but it has animals and skeletons on it! How much more awesome does this get?

One of my new favorite customers wanted to make pillow cases for her Niece who is going through chemo treatments so I picked out a few different fabrics and this was one of them. She loved it sooo much she told her Aunt she wanted her WHOLE room done up on this.. Now although we can't actually do that her Aunt decided she did want a quilt done up and since she is very busy she asked me to make one up.

So I put my projector on the fabric and blew up the faces and made little appliques of the faces.

I think they turned out super cute.

And THEN just when I thought I couldn't make it any cooler.. I quilted it with.... wait for it.....

worst blog photo EVER!!!

GLOW IN THE DARK thread! That stuff has seriously been sitting on my shelf for like two years and I had a great eureka moment with it. I had a ton of fun just randomly quilting just letting my needle take me to wherever.. then needle down...and keep going. I think it kept the feel of the quilt funky.

LOVE! Can't wait to hand this one over too!

Silk tie Quilt

2011-09-20T20:23:00.000-07:00

After a few hiccups ( one broken sewing machine and a burst water pipe ) I finally got this commission done.

I was approached by a young woman who's father passed away, when she told me her idea of turning her Dad's ties into a quilt I couldn't wait to get started.

Truthfully I haven't turned ties into a quilt before, but I got some amazing advice from Mamaka Mills who helped me get over the fear of ties simply by interfacing them with a light weight fusible web made it easy to sew. You would never know there was so much fabric in a tie! I was surprised.

We used a Robert Kauffman dimensions fabric which is a beautiful weight and weave.

My friend Denise let me hijack her long arm and helped me quilt it up last weekend.

It turned out beautiful and I can't wait to hand it over this weekend. I'm so pleased with how elegant it is.

Tomatillo Salsa

2011-09-19T18:19:00.000-07:00

No I did not misspell tomatoes (Jen...:P) This year at a seed fair I spotted these at a table and snatched up a package. I've been using them for a few years to make an light and yum yum salsa so the idea of growing my own was a) rad b) surprising as I thought they would only grow warm.. but the evidence is clear......

YAY!!!!!!

And there are still dozens to be picked and made into... SALSA!

I wanted to share my salsa recipe with you.

You'll need:

about 12 med sized Tomatillo's

1 avocado

3-4 jalapenos

2 cloves of garlic

1 tbs ground cumin

1 tsp sugar

1 tsp salt

Cilantro fresh and minced

1/2 red onion

pepper to taste

Take your Tomatillos and mince up.

Mince up your red onions and garlic

Remove the seeds from your jalapenos and cut up... use more if you like spice like me of course.

Cut up your avocado in half and remove by spoon so you can dice it up.

I like to use a cup to "snip" up my Cilantro.. it's waaaay cleaner and easier to chop.

Add your spices.. I LOVE love cumin, Mr.Aftercraft doesn't quite as much.... so I add more when he's not having any.

squeeze some fresh lime over top... and viola!!

Oh did I mention wine goes fab with it?

Enjoy!

It's catching on...

2011-09-11T12:43:00.000-07:00

I'm getting pretty excited. I have had a few people trying out my pattern! Sales have been pretty good and I'm pretty fruitin' pleased.

My new CLAIM to fame is that the amazing Nettie from A Quilt is Nice who is one of the twelve ladies who wrote one of my new favorite books ( for me and my customers at work )

Click over to her blog if you haven't already and check it out!! She's a busy lady and I'm really chuffed that she agreed to test out the pattern.

Another friend whom I adore Knoxville girl gone Manchester who writes Stitch me Lane has been busy busting out blocks and I have to say I love love her choice in fabrics. Even when I was in England I got the joy of being able to raid her stash.

Thank you M'am

Thank you sooo much ladies! And to all those who have purchased the pattern. I would LOVE to be able to sneak into everyones sewing rooms and see what and how they are making them.

Do you have a blog and want to make a Union Jack quilt? contact me! I'd love to do a trade for a little exposure.

Alright than. Off to make freshly picked blackberry apple pie... as soon as this mountain of laundry is dealt with.

Queen Sized Log Cabin Pattern FREE!!!!

2011-08-23T12:12:00.000-07:00

This is the third "real" quilt I had ever made. It was for a long time friend of mine who was getting married. My co-worker had talked me into making it and I clearly remember sitting on the floor surrounded by blocks and wonder what the f%^k was I doing???? It was a monster huge quilt, but it came together pretty easily and is to this day one of my favorite quilts. My co-worker helped draft up a pattern for me and I have since made a few alterations and "drew" out some pictures for the beginner. It's a great bed quilt and I love log cabin because you can make it look SOOOO many different ways.

So.. Here's me giving back to the world information I have learned. I am ever grateful to the people who have helped me in my crafty life ( and real life ) thus far.

xoSarah

REQUIREMENTS

Fabric:

Center Fabric .40 Meter ( 5 strips )

1 and 2 0.6 Meter (12 strips) Light A

3 and 4 0.7 Meter (13 strips) Light B

5 and 6 1.15 Meter ( 23 strips) Med A

7 and 8 1.30 Meter ( 26 Strips) Med B

9 and 10 1.45 Meter ( 28 Strips) Dark A

11 and 12 1.80 Meter ( 36 Strips) Dark B

Accent border *OPTIONAL* –cut 1 ½ inch 0.46 meter (10 strips)

Border and binding ( if matching ) - 2.5 meters

These measurements give you more then enough

Cutting Instructions:

Center Fabric cut 3 inch strips then sub cut into squares

Accent Border Cut 10 of 1 ½ inch strips

Border Fabric Cut 10 of 6 ½ inch strips

The follow cut 2 inch strips:

12 strips of Light A

13 strips of Light B

23 strips of Med. A

26 strips of Med B

28 strips of Dark A

36 strips of Dark B

1.) Take 3 inch strip and sub cut into 3 inch squares.

2.) Take fabric “Light A” and place right side up. With right sides together place a 3 inch square near the end of the strip and sew your square, continue sewing on square until you reach with the of your strip ensuring that you leave space between each square so you can cut them apart.

3.) Sew ALL 48 squares.

Iron your strip away from the center.

Using your ruler square up your strip using your seam as your guide.

Log Cabin Rule **

** LAST IS FIRST**

This means that the LAST fabric you sewed is the FIRST when you are sewing on the next strip. Notice in Step 4 how the LAST strip you sew on in Step 3 is your FIRST strip in.

4.)Using another Light A strip sew right sides together starting near the end of the strip. Again leave space between each block to ensure you can cut them apart.

Sew all 48 blocks. Cut each block apart. Press seams towards the other two strips and square up.

5) Take a strip of Light B side up and place your block right side down. Sew leaving space again in between each block. Sew all blocks. Press seam towards center and square up.

6.) Take another strip of Light B and repeat. You should have something that looks likes this.

Starting to look like a log cabin!!

Continue this with each strip using the Log Cabin Rule **

Continue to do this until all strips have been sewn on. Once finished square off your blocks so the measure 12 inches (once you sew all your blocks together your block is 11 ½ inch )

Now the fun part. Lay out your blocks. There are so many patterns that this just might be the hardest part!

The one I used for this pattern is called “Raising the Barn” in a 6 blocks wide by 8 blocks long.

Once you’ve decided what pattern sew your horizontal blocks into rows. You will have 8 rows of 6. Then start sewing your rows together.

At this point if you’ve decided to use an accent border sew two strips together. Do this so you have two double length strips and measure down the middle of your quilt lengthwise.Cut and sew the sides on. Measure again the middle from side to side and cut your strips then sew.

Personally I find that placing your first strip down so it’s trailing to your left and then placing your next strip right sides together trailing towards you then sewing from the upper left corner to the lower right is the best way to connect borders and pieces when you don’t want to draw attention to borders.

In the same manner piece your borders, measure down the middle, cut and sew completing your top and bottom first then side to side.

This makes me excited!!!

2011-08-12T13:21:00.000-07:00

Isn't it beautiful? My darling southern bell Jen who I met during my "stint" in England is making my quilt and she blogged and sent me photos of her first block.

ISN'T it totally beautiful?? LOVE LOVE love your colours Jen! I can't wait to watch this grow.

My million Dollar idea....

2011-08-12T00:08:00.000-07:00

Yup, I could make MIIILLLIONS off this.. well maybe a few hundred..but I want to share it with you. If you are anything like me and like big bags you will marvel at this. Mr.Aftercraft often refers to my bags as "luggage". I like em big.. big enough to lose my keys, wallet, small children and my phone in ALL the time. (ok not small children but it's pretty bad) Although I have learned to use my cell phone pocket, my keys often elude me. So a few weeks ago standing outside my car in the rain having a total melt down I got into my car and asked myself... how can I make this easier??? and it came to me... a key chain... no... not like a las vegas gansta one... like a REAL CHAIN.
I introduce.. Rara-chains!

Never again will you stand out in the rain, the dark, in the cold or slightly drunk outside your door again searching for your keys!! Now you can also add bling to your bag and never lose your keys because they are attached!

And when you want to leave your purse at home.. fear not! rock out that old school style with a modern twist..

BUT WAIT! what if you need access to your hands AND your keys easily?.... simple! Clip it to the other side...

AND VOILA! instant necklace. I'm totally in love.. and wonder why I haven't seen these before or why haven't I made one before. WINNING!

You want one don't you?? Tell me I'm not crazy and this is a good idea!!!

I love Pies and Tarts!!!

2011-08-09T00:43:00.000-07:00

Sooo cute.

This weekend I ran away north into the Cowichan Valley to the Lake... It was a beautiful HOT weekend and spent hours happily sewing in sun with my feet dangling in the water.

i love the bright inside of the boat.

I finally got a few more pies and tarts done for my quilt! Oh I think I still have ONE more year left of this... GULP.

And this little guy showed up... weird looking isn't he?? Have you ever seen a bug like this before?

crazy looking bug!

AND the most exciting thing is....

Destiny's Child

NEW MACHINE!!!! First one in 20 years!! I can't believe it!! I have a needle up and down position.. no longer will I use my ninja foot petal skills!!! Rest in Peace Jalopy.. I loved you.

*working on secret project #2 tomorrow... wheeeeeeeeeeeee

Scrap = more scrap quilts

2011-08-02T21:59:00.000-07:00

Do you look at your scrap pile and just shake your head?

I used to sub cut the "end" of my fabrics into 2.5 and 5 inch strips... and then last year I made myself a scrap log cabin quilt. This was great I used up SO much.. but I also had to accumulate more lights.. and then over the last year I still continued to build up a bigger and better stash which of course equals a bigger and better scrap pile... and now... well now after a tidy up and thanks to the miracle of zip-lock baggies I have this:

My scrap basket all colour coded

This is even AFTER I have been working away on my Pie and Tarts Quilt by Sue Daley. I've been working on it for a while and it will be a year this fall.. but I am tackling one pie at a time... Like my "Pie" box?? ha ha.. get it?

That's a pizza pie!!

I thought I'd share my favorite tools for my english paper piecing (EPP)

Fons and Porter makes a AWESOME glue stick. I like it for three reasons.

1) it's got a great small tip for "basting" your paper pieces.
2) The blue tint lets me see where I've glued
3) it's got refills so it's cheaper to get more AND I'm not throwing away plastic.

more paper piecing.. I am addicted!!!

Foxglove makes these great straw needles and I have totally fallen in love with them. They are great and just cut throw my fabric like butter doing EPP.

using glue allows you to reuse your paper.

and of course my new favorite hand sewing thread by YLI it's egyptian cotton and it's one strand and feels great to sew with. I've been curious about trying some silk though.

Do you have favorite tools for hand sewing and EPP to recommend?

Secret Project revealed!

2011-07-30T10:16:00.000-07:00

For the past few weeks I have come up with two secret projects for friends.. because I obviously needed something to distract me from the lengthy list of projects I should be working on and naturally added more to the list. One down.. one to go. Please meet Jens new gallbladder.

A friend of mine earlier this week had her unhappy gallbladder removed. It was the first time she's been through surgery so I was pleased I could cheer her up with a new happy replacement.

Of course he came with instructions.

And I added a pocket so I could put in hazelnuts and she can remove or store more "stones" if she wants to. Which she might actually store her real ones in there????? I think she should be making a ring out of the biggest one. I think it'd be hilarious when people are like.. ooohhh what kind of rock is that.. and you can say "homemade".

i want to kill Cancer

2011-07-27T17:57:00.000-07:00

Oh that would make a great campaign slogan wouldn't it? I finished my binding and my quilt will be picked up Friday and donated and raffled for the Island Breast stokers, a local dragon boat team to help raise money to eradicate this terrible bastard of a disease.

Oh that sounds so dark and miserable!! I love my colours! I was inspired by the cover of my latest favorite book the Modern Block Party.

I love the binding I choose for this.. even though it wasn't in the actual quilt it pulls all that yummy chocolate fabric together.

And the backing! A total score for 5 bucks a meter!! Perfect colours and I really like the print too.. But I only bought enough to finish this project.. I'm officially on a fabric diet.

So sweet.. another one off my list of doom!

I really hate it when..

2011-07-26T23:01:00.000-07:00

My clothes fall off my hanger.. Does anyone else have hangers that look like this?

I just did Mt.Laundry this weekend and started having a fit after trying to twist and bend some of my hangers to ensure my shirts wouldn't fall off.. I have a few that are wrapped like this... but of course I don't have time no patience.. so I came up with this.

Aren't they cute? I showed my mom who asked who these were for ( I think she thought they were for someones kids.. ) BUT NO I am the biggest kid there is.. and I will have my smiley whale covers if I please..

I love unicorns.

2011-07-25T01:34:00.000-07:00

Oh my god... I want a shirt...Seriously..http://twitpic.com/5veeyp

STOP! and smell the tomatillos..

2011-07-22T23:26:00.000-07:00

I'm growing all sorts of fun things this year like habaneros peppers..

Bee Balm

Tomatillos

And of I course I've been just enjoying beautiful flowers to stop and sniff...

Happy Saturday!!!

Things Cancer Cannot Do

2011-07-13T23:40:00.000-07:00

I was approached by a lady about a month ago who's best friend for 40 years had been diagnosed with breast cancer last fall. With tears in her eyes she explained she wanted to see if she can bring some satisfaction and help pave the road for abolishing this horrible disease during her fight. Unfortunately it has spread and it doesn't look good. Her friend however designed this panel and hoped I would donate fabric and make one up so it could be raffled for cancer research.

Although I don't have anyone close to me who has died.. I have two co-workers who have had it AND one of their husbands died last month. A few of my customers have had it.. just too close for comfort.

OF course I said yes and happily got to work pulling fabrics. She wanted something bright...

Something that is gender neutral and that can be dragged to chemo treatments and hospital stays etc.

It whipped up SO fast!! What a change of pace after that mystery quilt!

If you want to purchase one of these panels you can buy them here along with a free pattern.

I love it when...

2011-07-13T11:30:00.000-07:00

My fruit matches my nails!!

I made cheese cake this weekend and managed to harvest a full pint of strawberries from my garden..

Mmm... It's already gone.

Proud of Pride

2011-07-13T00:13:00.000-07:00

Whoa what a weekend. Pride 2011 was on Saturday and was a total blast. Although I did end up going to the wrong park to begin I ended up in right place. I invited my friend Sue to come along with me.

She loves her photo being taken.

My gazebo was a total Gong show and we thought FOR SURE we were being Punk'd trying to get that thing up. I was in stitches before we even began.

THEN I had breakfast/lunch AND dinner all in own sitting.

A proper foot long.. I thought these long existed in New York!!!!

(oh yeah btw welcome to the 21st century NY)

I didn't manage to get a photo of my stall at the beginning.. I apologize it looks so bare! It was good because I realize what I am missing which is MORE levels which I hope to gain by my next stall experience.

~~I think~~ my favorite customers were two clowns!

Doesn't her flower look nice????

All in all it was a great day. Sue and I are scheming for next year already.

Sewing and Wine

2011-07-11T13:10:00.000-07:00

Just don't do it.....

*scrambles back to her design board mumbling*

That is all.