Summit of Awesome!!!

For the last few days, I've been wallowing in crafty goodness with some serious superstars. Hello Craft held their annual Summit of Awesome in Baltimore, a mere 15 minutes from my house!



This conference was geared to crafters of all sorts...jewelry makers, graphic artists, printers, knitters, etc. etc. etc. Some sell at craft fairs, some online, some both. Caitlin Phillips of Rebound Designs (shown above) makes the coolest book purses. She is a great teacher, too, and I loved hearing her tips for setting up booths and interacting with customers.




I met several kindred spirits from the world of science and technology. Richard is super-smart paleontologist/cartoonist from Ithaca, New York. His adorable fiancee Kelly is a screen printer and all-around crafty gal. Together, they form Our Secret Treehouse, which has the coolest critter-themed items. They specialize in woodland creatures and dinosaurs (of course), but they also dabble in undergarments :) .



I scored this great triceratops button for Louie - RAWR! Don't you love the raised brow? If you live in Upstate NY, definitely be on the lookout for them at craft fairs.




I couldn't resist hugging up on some of my crafty heros, and of course I had to get photographic evidence of my dorkiness. Pictured above is THE Scoutie Girl, Tara Gentile. In her talk, she did a fantastic job explaining SEO (search engine optimization) in simple, human terms.




I remember watching the first season of Project Runway and thinking "Gosh, I'd love to hang out with Jay!" He is such a honey, and even though he is a high-fashion icon, he has the soul of a crafter. It was so much fun being in sessions with him, and he gave a side-splitting keynote address on Friday. Check out his website to see all the fabulous things he is up to.




I got to meet one of my favorite authors, Kari Chapin. She wrote The Handmade Marketplace, which has been a bestseller for almost 2 years now. She gave a brilliant workshop about goals and intentions. I came away with a lot of tools that will hopefully make me more productive and organized. I actually got up and blogged today, so I must be inspired!

Jay actually took that picture of us, and my camera wasn't cooperating. He said "It isn't working" and I said "Make it work." He didn't seem amused...imagine that.




In between sessions, I got to play around with yarn, felt, and fabric in the "Make Something Awesome" area.



Button making is addictive. I knocked out a few Christmas presents at that table.

On the last day of the Summit, I had a one-on-one shop critique with Cheyne Little and Danielle Maveal from Etsy (Cheyne heads up teams and Danielle leads seller education...they are dynamite). They gave me some very helpful feedback, so I'll be able to make the listings more concise and the shop easier to navigate. I also found out that I should be linking to my shop in blog posts, so here ya go!




I had my guys in tow, so they experienced the awesomeness while waiting for the children's museum across the street to open. Honestly, they would have been content to make pom-poms all day.




After the summit, the family took a water taxi ride to lunch across the harbor. Can you tell someone is proud of his pom-pom? He is definitely the most huggable crafter I've ever met.

Circular Logic

Do you ever find yourself saying "I can't make anything round because I don't have a circular pattern"? I know I do. For smallish things, I usually trash the kitchen in search of appropriately sized round things to trace. The biggest thing we own is a 16" pizza pan, so for circles larger than that I have to do the trick with the string and the pen, which I'm not very good at. I wanted to make a tablecloth yesterday, so I finally took the time to make a large scale, printable circle pattern. I put the pattern and instructions together in a little pdf tutorial, which you can download for free!

The pattern is actually nested quarter circles. Simply fold the fabric into fourths and align the pattern at the indicated edges...couldn't be easier. Markings are provided to make circles from 1" to 58" in diameter. You can also use this pattern for making circles with perfectly centered holes so you can make things like poodle skirts, tree skirts, and giant stuffed donuts.




I used the full 58" pattern to make an outdoor tablecloth from Jennifer Paganelli's
Sis Boom Queen Street Line.




Look how beautifully this stuff cuts! No need for hemming...it will never fray.




I'm in love with this print (OCJP03 Jodi)...so perfect with fall flowers!

Click here to download the free printable circle pattern.

UPDATE: For some reason (probably the gazillion little lines from the circles), the PDF file was HUGE (50+ MB - gasp)! I tried lots of ways to print it smaller, but nothing worked. I ended up printing the patterns on my printer and scanning them back in. It isn't as pretty, but it is only 1.27 MB now. Thanks so much for your patience!

Do you love French Knots???

I know I do! I'm also quite fond of bullion roses, lazy daisy leaves, and running stitches. Hand embroidery is making a huge comeback, and my girl Bari J. is at the forefront with her lovely blog We Love French Knots.


I had the great honor of contributing this guest post and free project. Come on over and play dollies with me!

So much happening, but so little to say!

First off, thank you so much for all the great comments (and retweets, reposts, facebook likes, etc.) on my sewing room and periodic table! Wow...there are so many other Scientific Seamstresses out there - I love it!!! I'm just giddy knowing that the table was printed by/for those who enjoy the hard sciences and soft crafts. I do want to squelch one rumor here and now, however...I am NOT organized or neat (ask my mom). Just check out the labels on some of my storage boxes! Not real specific, but I can find what I am looking for in a few seconds.

For someone like me, the only way to stay semi-sane is to have a reasonable, easy-to-access place for everything. I have bins for scraps, beakers for buttons, baskets for ribbons, and a big recycling bin for pattern pieces that don't quite work. It makes for easy clean-up so I can transform my usual explosion of a sewing room into a serene, photo-ready space in no time.

Aside from a little stage fright, the real reason I'm not having too much to say isssss........I'm writing a book!!!! It is actually a collaborative effort with a number of rock star designers, bloggers, patternmakers, etc., but it is "my" baby! Now, I can't divulge too much about the subject at this point, but I can tell you 1) it involves sewing, 2) I am working with the amazing folks at Wiley, and 3) it is so much fun! More details to come, I promise!!! I would show you the obligatory contract signing photo, but it is gardening season, and my hands are disgusting. Instead, here is a picture of the freshly-weeded back flower beds, which look quite pretty right now (especially compared to my mangled mitts and cluttered sewing room).