sandySTC @ blogger

basil

2012-01-20T11:12:00.003-05:00

for a winter windowsill garden

black-out

2012-01-18T08:07:00.001-05:00

Tell Congress: Don’t censor the Web

barolo - this was the first racking

2012-01-17T17:42:00.001-05:00

barolo - this was the first racking, a photo by sandySTC on Flickr.

my first cross stitch (or any stitch for that matter)

2012-01-14T08:42:00.000-05:00

I used burlap. Everyone is telling me about Aida cloth, so I'll try that next time. :)

botanical dye tea towel revamp

2012-01-06T16:45:00.000-05:00

This is a washed out natural color linen tea towel. It was one of several dingy looking towels that have been used for a year or two in the kitchen.
They are fine for use, but didn't look so good.

Before

Botanical dyed tea towels now have new life. :)

I feel like I have new tea towels.

From top to bottom:
alkanet - didn't expect that color, it's more purple in soap
indigo (2) - much lighter than I expected, but that's because i deviated from the directions
henna - i thought henna was auburn, but i do like this color
red sandalwood - this was a wonderful surprise
tea (2) - very subtle
turmeric (3) the bottom two were taken out allowed to dry and then put back in the dye bath - is this one great or what?

After

I am two pages away

2011-12-30T14:06:00.000-05:00

from sending in my 2012 Sketchbook Project .

Last year I didn't even get 4 pages done.

This year I did simple sketches in metal point.

2011-12-24T21:52:00.001-05:00

lavender & rice eye pillow

2011-12-23T19:13:00.001-05:00

These are great if kept in the freezer and then used cold like that. Most people I know use them when having trouble sleeping or when they have tension headaches.

meyer lemon help

2011-12-19T16:53:00.001-05:00

Does anyone have a killer recipe using Meyer lemons. I finally found some of these here and I'd like something for Christmas that is going to really make use of their unique taste.

penguin applique oven mitt will be a gift

2011-12-18T17:18:00.000-05:00

I made the penguin applique out of pieces of fabric. The penguin is the same fabric as the front.

Here are the red lining and a close up of the penguin.

potholder / hot pad

2011-12-18T08:27:00.001-05:00

potholder / hot pad

a strawberry for mother's kitchen

pink peppermint marshmallows

2011-12-17T05:08:00.001-05:00

pink peppermint marshmallows

latest sewing projects

2011-12-10T09:54:00.001-05:00

This was the first one. You can see I had trouble with the bias tape, but I didn't have time to redo it. Plus you can only redo things so much until you fix them to death! :)

The cork bottle fabric is sewn onto a linen towel.

chili pepper oven mitt

2011-12-01T07:00:00.001-05:00

Chili peppers with machine sewn accents. I love linen.

(should be the last one of these for a while)

cardinal applique on yet another oven mitt

2011-11-30T11:54:00.001-05:00

I made this one for my mother. Her kitchen has warm and earthy colors, so I thought this would liven things up.

It's made with linen and has a cardinal applique stitched on it.

three more oven mitts

2011-11-29T16:41:00.001-05:00

I love linen, browns and pears. :) I made the quilt lines curved so they would have a more organic look.

This one has dark green linen & a gorgeous red & orange hand dyed cotton from JacksonFabricArts. I'm sending this as part of a gift for my son's host family in Spain.

Here is my second oven mitt. I saw other people being more creative with their quilting, so I made this one a little different. The quilt lines are like rays which I think goes with the bright yellow.

The white is linen and the green and yellow are hand-dyed cotton from JacksonFabricArts.
I'm still having a little trouble with the layers moving, so next time maybe I'll both baste and pin.

oven mitt

2011-11-27T15:21:00.001-05:00

This is actually the most complicated thing I've sewn. There are double layers of everything so you can use it with either hand and not get burnt.

The fabric moved a little while I was pinning and again when I was sewing, so the thumb is too small. But other than that it's fine. (unless you have big hands)

I don't really like lavender, so will give this to a friend of my mother's. :)

breads today

2011-11-11T19:01:00.001-05:00

california walnut bread (with craisins & golden raisins)
pecan wheatberry bread

olive bread

three baked breads

bookbinding - gold leather & muslin longstitch

2011-11-03T13:17:00.000-04:00

I pasted a cut of muslin fabric to this metallic gold leather. The muslin is over-sized and can be folded into the book or left to hang when book is closed. The fabric is out of the way when the book is opened.

The binding is a longstitched limp leather binding.

The closure is a sheer ribbon that enhances the gold, but doesn't clash with the muslin.

There are 160 pages (320 both sides), the dimensions are approximately 6" x 5" x 1" (16 x 13 x 2.5 cm).

I was inspired by the glamour of the gold when mixed with the simplicity of the muslin. They belong together.

I have this listed @ my artfire store.

Halloween!

2011-10-31T09:30:00.000-04:00

Have a fun and happy Halloween! I plan to. :)

I am making mulled wine and candy corn cupcakes.

bookbinding - acid green leather longstitch notebook

2011-10-30T09:16:00.000-04:00

This is a small (5½" x 4" - 14cm x 10cm) notebook bound in soft unbacked leather. There are 192 pages (both sides) of Canson recycled drawing paper. I used black thread and a big black button as a closure for the leather strip wrap.

I really enjoyed working on this one. The bright acid green was fun and the black thread was easy to see against it. I also like this binding.

You can purchase this @ acid green journal.

bookbinding - leather spine sewn on cords

2011-10-27T08:02:00.000-04:00

A nice little 5½" x 4" (14cm x 10cm) hardback with 124 pages (both sides). The cover is Italian hand marbled paper. This is sewn on cords with leather glued directly to the back so that the cords show.

The paper is distressed with black walnut ink from WhiteDragonPaper.

I'm still making errors (leather at the tail was slit too far, for example), but I'm not making the same ones. I've been working more frequently and there is a slight bit of improvement.

bookbinding - warm white leather sketchbook

2011-10-26T15:27:00.000-04:00

I really like the softness of this type of sketchbook. The leather is supple and I've backed it with a gauzy linen for just a little more support. It's a bigger size at 9" x 11½"" (23cm x 29cm). This longstitched book has 160 pages (both sides) and the paper is Strathmore recycled drawing paper in a soft white.

bookbinding - headband squareback book Finished

2011-10-14T08:55:00.002-04:00

I decided to use this great hand dyed fabric from Jackson Fabric Arts. I like the greens of the headband and the green of the fabric.

bookbinding - headband squareback book

2011-10-12T20:10:00.000-04:00

This is a small book that I did my first by-the-book headband on. I was going to starch the linen tapes, but forgot.

I probably should have used less strands for the headbanding. But as this was my first real try, I thought it would be better to work with a thicker floss.

Dimensions are 4" x 5½" x ¾" (10cm x 14cm 1.9cm).

As you can see it's not finished. I am thinking to use a thick soft leather. If not that then probably a green dyed fabric from JacksonFabricArts. This leaf print fabric would be very nice.

The headband is slanting to the left & lumpy. I need to pay more attention next time - which I thought I was, but not close enough :)