Etsy Book Swap

I recently joined the Bookbinding Etsy Street Team (blog). We share ideas, tricks of the trade, and questions on anything and everything. Every three months or so, we hold a book swap, where we all mail in one book and receive another in return. I can't wait to see which one I get! This is the one I'm sending in. It's a blank journal made with black 100% rayon bookcloth (it's swirly - see the lines in the fabric?) and orange and gold marbled end paper. The headbands are 100% silk and I sewed the text block using linen thread. I also cut the fore edge text block with a guillotine to give it a nice, clean edge. Can't wait to see the one I'll be getting! :)

New placemats and napkins

I had President's Day off so I spent it watching it rain and making new placemats and napkins. I chose the two fabrics you see above, which makes the placemats reversible. For the placemats, I sewed both sides together right side in, leaving a gap. When I flipped it right side out, I ironed it flat and inserted a piece of Timtex through the gap. I then sewed all the way around the edge at 1/4" to secure the Timtex inside. I did the exact same thing for the napkins, except without the Timtex. The placemats are nice and think and very sturdy. I hope they look just as nice after going through the wash! That's my only concern. I'm currently using one of the napkins as a mini runner that holds a candle (we like to eat by candlelight every evening) and our new salt and pepper cellar. What do you think??

Indigo shibori

In my new craft room, I put up a piece of Indigo Shibori that I got in Japan. Isn't it beautiful?
I eventually want to make some of my own. I don't have an indigo vat just yet, but it's something I want to have soon. Gotta start with planting those plants in my garden this spring!

Home Sick

I'm home sick today with a pretty bad cold. The kind where your back feels like that of an 80 year old arthritic man? Yup. I've been drinking lots of tea and watching it softly snow outside. I wish our couch and sofette had arrived so I can snuggle up with a comfy blanket. :\

Singer

Just thought I'd show you my awesome old Singer sewing machine. We found it at an antique store. It has a wooden cover to it, but we couldn't get the cover off at the store to see the machine. The owners had apparently lost the key.
We struggled with the lid, but had no luck. We told the shop owners that it was okay, that we just wanted to see it. They took down our contact information just in case the managed to get it open one day.
Well, a couple days went by and they had gotten it open! They said we could come pick it up anytime -- for free! What a great score!!

It has gorgeous details and Singer still sells parts for all their machines, even the oldest ones. So I'm planning to refurbish it and use it. Can't wait!

Craft room chairs

The chairs in my craft room I believe I got at Ikea. They are very simple chairs that can be folded up and stored. They don't make for very pretty chairs just sitting out though, so I decided to make slip covers for them. I started with the back of the chair and chose two matching blue and two matching pink fabrics.These particular fabrics are from an old stash of Amy Butler fabrics I had from a while back. They will add lots of color to the room. I made the slip covers reversible and the flap gives you a little taste of what's on the other side. :) The floral patterns are actually the same, one blue and one pink, which brings the chairs together.

The pink chair sits in front of my sewing machine, while the blue chair sits at the table, where I have my next projects lined up.Here you can see one of two books I will be rebinding. The covers are pretty beat up, so I'm looking forward to the challenge.