What to sew, what to sew

This has been a question lingering on my mind for the past week. Who am I kidding? This has been the question on my mind since I first picked up a sewing needle. The internet is a w-o-n-d-e-r-f-u-l resource, isn't it? You want to know how to make something you simply type it into Google. Hit Enter. Bam. Three-hundred billion sites full of useful information on how to do just what you are looking for. Great huh?

No. This is exactly my problem.

Google

------- And the over abundance of helpful websites.

This makes it impossible for me to make a decision. It is much easier to blame this on Google. We have a very complicated love/hate relationship. Google, why must you be so exceedingly helpful? Instead of just quickly finding how to make a circle skirt (344,000 results) or a pillowcase dress (35,100) or whatever random sewing project I can think up that day---I get lost in the thousands upon thousands of websites and before I know it—the entire day is gone and I have nothing to show for it except for a sore bum from sitting at the computer for a shameful number of hours.

Great.

However, this is good news for you! How, you ask? Well, thanks to this horrible addiction of mine, I have accumulated a smorgasbord of delicious projects that I will never actually have the time to complete. Or I might have the time to complete if I'd ever get off sites like Wiener Dog Tricks, Sew Mama Sew, Lolly Chops, Tallgrass Prairie Studio (to name a very few) and actually sew. Oh well, over the next few days/months I am going to start adding these under the "Need Inspiration" header (which should be located right over to the right ---->)

Or somewhere in that general vicinity.

Keep an eye out. Also, if you have any great sites and don't mind sharing please email us at: seamstome.hopkinsco@gmail.com.

Thanks, hope to hear from you!

Cassie

Log Cabin Love & Links

Hello out there in bloggyland! My name is Kellie and this is my first post on the Seams to Me Hopkins County Blog. I am so excited to have stumbled upon this great group of like-minded ladies who share my love of sewing! Lately, I've fallen in love with quilting and thought I'd share a tiny bit of that love with you today, via the log cabin quilt.

I love quilts in general, but I admit I have a thing for log cabin quilts.

photo source: http://www.historic-american.com/LogCabinsCrazyQuilts.html

When I see a log cabin quilt I imagine a pioneer woman traveling west in a covered wagon, saving scraps of clothing and bits of cloth brought from home or salvaged along the way to make a quilt for her family as a reminder of their long journey. I can also picture a group of women in the church basement, sitting around the quilting frame swapping stories and occasionally stopping to sample a baked good or three. I'll sometimes think of a child snuggling under Grandma's old log cabin quilt listening to family stories of days gone by. The log cabin quilt is friendly, cozy, and hearkens to a simpler, slower time. Nostalgic...that's the feeling I get from a log cabin quilt.

However, to say that this pattern is simply nostalgic and old fashioned would be an incomplete description. Log cabins can also be modern, funky and exciting! These are quilts that move and groove, that pop with unexpected colors, that make you stop, take a closer look, and say "Whoa"! They're touchy-feely works of art. Even many of those cozy vintage log cabins have a certain modern vibe. All this from a quilt design that's been around since Ancient Egyptian times!

photo source: http://www.quiltmasters.net/ideagallery.htm#logcabin

Just in case you aren't in love with the log cabin block by now(and I'll bet you are) here's the kicker, it's a relatively easy block to make! No points, no triangles or wacky shapes, just a square surrounded by rectangles! Even the most novice of quilters, can accomplish this one! Additionally, the log cabin is a bona fide scrap buster. If that hasn't convinced you to whip up some log cabin blocks, think of this: the humble log cabin block can be set in a bazillion different ways! OK, I exaggerate a little...perhaps not a bazillion. But trust me, this is a versatile block!

There's the love...now for the linkage...

• You can read about the history of the log cabin here.
• Ready to see the possibilities and get inspired to make your own log cabin quilt? Check out the Log Cabin Pool over on Flicker...and be prepared to drool.
• OK, so you're inspired but don't know where to start? Check out these super simple instructions for making a traditional log cabin block.
• There's another log cabin tutorial here.
• My personal favorite is the wonky-scrappy log cabin. Modern and playful with little or no math necessary, it's got all the right moves! Here's a wonky log cabin tutorial by the uber talented Jacquie at Tallgrass Prairie Studios. Take a while to nose around this blog. Her quilts are amazing!
• There is another wonderful tutorial on Flickr for the wonky-scrappy log cabin. Here's a peek at a few of my wonky-scrappy blocks using this tute.

There you have it...a little love and a little linking! Please share your favorite quilt blocks & patterns. If you become inspired to start a log cabin quilt, let us know!

Meeting Reschedule and Library’s 8th Annual Tasters Luncheon

Lots going on in the past few weeks! Several new faces at the meetings—more extremely talented folks! It is amazing how many artistic individuals are living in this town. I am really excited to see how everyone will grow as individual thanks to the input and advice given by other members in the group. I have already heard of ideas that I would never in a million years thought to try.

Our next meeting is off of our every-other-week time frame. The Hopkins County Madisonville Public Library will be hosting their 8^th Annual Tasters Choice Luncheon April 21, 2010 from 11am-2pm and will be closed at 1pm on Monday, April 20^th to prepare. Bad news is we must reschedule our meeting; good news is that we have another excuse to make something wonderful to benefit a good cause! The Library is in need of dishes to serve at the Luncheon. If you like to bake, broil, grill, sauté---prepare food in any way please give them a call. Their website is here. You don't need to know exactly what you'll be making. Just a category will be fine. Even something as generic as "I'll be making a salad/meat dish/vegetable dish/dessert/bread" will suffice. If cooking isn't your thing---you can come and eat all of the goodies! Tickets are $10.00. Bring your friends.

After much deliberation about what day would be best to reschedule we have decided on Wednesday April 14^th at 5:30. I know that this time isn't best and some of you may not be able to meet, but it was the best that we could do to try and include everyone and work around all the different schedules. However, our following meeting should remain as scheduled on May 4^th 2010 at 5:30. I hope to see everyone there! Be sure to bring a project you'd like to work on as well as your sheet and size N crochet needle if you plan on making a rug.

Also, we had several great donations for the "Seams to Me" basket for the Silent Auction. This is also an event to help raise money for the Library. Local businesses, groups, and individuals donated baskets to be bid on. If you are interested in doing this, visit the Parkway Plaza Mall. Items are located across from the Library next to Readmore.

I am beyond excited about the group! Thanks for making it great!

-Cassie

 

 

 

 

Crafty Corner with Candice from Golden Frame Cakes!

Hello, Candice.  Thank you so much for letting me interview with you.  First of all, tell us a little bit about yourself.

Hi!  I'm Candice--I'm almost 26, my current occupation is "student," and I live a very full life that includes my husband Anthony, our two dogs Snellie and Otis, my graduate classes, a still-unfinished thesis, running, cake decorating, crafting, and preparing for Anthony to leave for Marine Corps Officer Candidate School.  I have lived in Kentucky all of my life (for better or worse!), and we currently live in Bowling Green, which is more-or-less in-between both of our families, who we visit on opposite sides of the state.  I have big dreams, and I'm working really hard to finally
finish up with school so that we can officially start our "grown-up" lives together when Anthony leaves for the Marines.

Sounds like you are pretty busy!  What are your "big dreams?"  What do you want to do in your grown up life?

Definitely—but I don't know a graduate student who isn't busy!  As for my "big dreams," I want to be able to actually make a living doing what I love—of course, who doesn't, but unfortunately it seems very rare.  Right now my cake decorating and my Etsy shop are both for fun and for a little extra spending money here and there while I'm still in school, and a relaxing hobby for when I actually do have a free moment to take time for myself and do something I enjoy.  We also want to start a little family someday when we're good and ready—which is definitely not right now!—but it is on the radar, and I'd like to do even more to create a purposeful, handmade home when that time comes.

What made you decide to start "Golden Frame Cake Studio?"   How long has it been up and running?

I like to say it has been "unofficially" up and running since my little brother's sixteenth birthday—seven years ago!—when I first started taking an interest in cake decorating.  I used a box mix and icing from a can and a computer printout of his yearbook photo, and made him a driver's license cake.  I was so proud of it at the time, but I'm sure if I dug up those pictures again, I would be completely mortified! 

As for my Etsy shop, I started Golden Frame Cakes this past October, with my upcycled cake plates.  I'm a huge supporter of making old and discarded things new and useful again, and I read a magazine article where someone was finding new uses for different types of dishware—it was probably Martha—and I thought what a great idea it would be to do something similar by upcycling pretty, individual plates that had lost their mates into unique and functional cake stands.  It was kind of a natural extension from decorating cakes to making cake stands, and now I'm also dabbling in other small handmade house wares for the shop as well.

Where do you get your inspiration?  What are some of your favorite books, websites, blogs, or other etsy shops? 

Oh my, I get my inspiration from a lot of sources—but especially for cakes, my inspiration usually comes from who the cake is for.  Cakes are often the climax of the whole party—and not only say something about the event, but also who is being honored, and on that particular moment in their life.  It's so much fun and such an honor to have a small part in the creation of someone else's fond memories—and it is also really inspiring. 

As for my Etsy shop, I am most inspired by the Etsy community!  It is such a wealth of information and inspiration—from the blog, to the forums, to other shops… there are so many fantastic ideas, it's very supportive, and there are a lot of people who like to actively help others succeed, even though in large part we're all total strangers.  All the items and shops I have marked as Favorites are here:  http://www.etsy.com/people/goldenframecakes/favorites (and my birthday is coming up you know, May 11, just in case you were wondering… ha!)

 
 

Off Etsy, I can never get enough of: 

Martha

CakeSpy

Real Simple Magazine

Cake Wrecks

Hostess with the Mostess

Bakerella

 And as for books, I am digging: 

One-Yard Wonders by Patricia Hoskins and Rebecca Yaker

Gorgeous Cakes by Annie Bell

Southern Cakes by Nancie McDermott

Martha Stewart's Wedding Cakes by Martha Stewart with Wendy Kromer

Handmade Home by Amanda Blake Soule 

What are your favorite items in your shop? 

My very favorite items are the cake stands that compel people to write in to tell me that their great-Aunt Bea or somebody had a set of dishes just like that—and share a story with me.  The nostalgia, and the warm memories that dishware can bring to people is amazing.  That has definitely been one of the most unexpected and rewarding aspects of running my little Etsy shop.

If money grew on a tree in your backyard, what would you buy with it? 

I'm pretty practical with money—I'd take care of a lot of things we have an need for first, like paying off our student loan debt (it would have to be a BIG tree, ha!), and putting a nice little pile of it away for a house, and then I'd get us a new vehicle.  After all that, if the poor little tree was actually still blooming, I'd get crazy with the fun stuff—craft and cake supplies, an electric scooter, a motorcycle for Anthony, a new laptop, a transatlantic cruise vacation, a personal chef… haha!

Do you have any advice for those who want to start their own etsy (or other crafty) shop?

Go for it!  The only thing holding you back is yourself.  It's not like I'm wildly successful and have all kinds of sales and features and am some kind of authority to be able to give this kind of advice, but I really believe that as with anything, you get out of it what you put into it—so if you make the time and find the energy and focus, if you're determined to read a lot and learn and constantly work on improving, then there's no reason that you can't be as successful as you want to be.

Thanks so much!

Candice, it really has been a pleasure to talk to you! Thank you so much! 

Thank you!  It really is an honor and has been loads of fun!

 

Crafty Corner

We are truly lucky to have so many talented members in our midst! I think it is wonderful that not everyone in the group has the same hobbies. We have quilters, scrap bookers, knitters, and bead workers, doll makers, photographers, cake decorators---lions, tigers and bears! Oh, my! The point is that everyone has their own little niche (or in some cases—several niches) where they shine. I feel it is only right to feature these brilliant ladies (and gents) in a monthly segment called “Crafty Corner.”

The inspiration for this idea came in several places: first from the gifted members themselves, and also from a picture on Kellie’s blog of her sewing area. We all have our little crafty area (or areas) so why not show and tell?

I’ll be posting my first interview later today. It is with Candice from Golden Frame Cakes! She is a renaissance woman who is talented in many fields. Check it out and check out her etsy shop!


P.S---If you know of anyone (yourself included) who would like to be featured in our Crafty Corner, send us an email!
Thanks!