Hedgies from abroad

Don't forget! You still have time to enter to win a copy of Embroidered Effects!

I've followed the work of Eva of Apple and Eve since I first saw her gorgeously stitched plush animals in the Flickr embroidery group. Her stitching is pristine, as is her sewing. I was an instant fan.

So when I saw her post about a "crazy hedgehog project" last month, I couldn't help but jump at the opportunity. Here's what she posted:

well, I was thinking about two tiny hedgehogs I made of vintage cotton, remeber? Sadly, I had only small scraps of that fabric, so maybe only one hedgehog will be available in my shop later. But then I thought, that you, my dear friends, have maybe some lovely bits of fabrics in your homes too. So, what if I could make a tiny hedgehog for you from your own fabric? For free?

Like most crafters, my fabric scrap cup runneth over, and I thought this would be a perfect opportunity to de-stash a bit, support Eva and get one of her hedgehogs for myself. I happened to get the fabric in the mail to her the next day, and within a couple off weeks, I had these three adorable hedgies back in my hands. I love the way she used the fabric, especially on the one little guy who ends up with a leaf on one side of his body, and a flower on the other. You can tell she put a lot of thought and work into situating the pattern to make fantastic hedgies.


I'm so thankful to have been a part of this "crazy hedgehog project" (partly because it's fun to have emails in your inbox with the subject line "crazy hedgehog project" and I love my sweet little collection of hedgies from Eva. It was such fun to think of moving some fabric I've had for ages and haven't know what to do with yet across the ocean to Germany to Eva's hands and then to have it returned in such cute form so quickly! I haven't seen the others listed in her shop yet, but do check it out - her work is amazing.

A weekend filled with craft & community

Lace up yer craftin' shoes, 'cause this weekend, Austin is chock full of seriously awesome crafty events. Let's get right to it, shall we!?

Handmade Nation Austin Premiere
I've heard a lot of "Finally!"s with the announcement of the Austin Premiere of the documentary, Handmade Nation. Austin is home to at least four of the folks featured in the film, so it's hugely satisfying to see it finally making its premiere here. Jessica and Mary of Sublime Stitching (and their own production company) have been working tirelessly to put together a great series of events around the two screenings of Handmade Nation. There will be a book signing party, and craft bazaar, two film screenings with Q&A sessions with director, Faythe Levine, and a post screening shindig. You can get full details on all the events over at the Sublime Stitching Web site.

I'll be there all day on Sunday, representing Craftzine and doing embroidery demos and a couple of demos on the Yudu with Jennifer Perkins! Stop by and say, "Hi!"

I attended the Handmade Nation premiere in Portland back in April, and it was a fantastic opportunity to connect with other crafters and celebrate the craft community. The film is great, and having the opportunity to see it and have a Q&A with Faythe is awesome!

Swap and Sew + Sweeets
The Austin Craft Mafia, Space 12 and Communicrafting are hosting a clothing and craft supply swap and bake sale on Saturday from noon to 6PM at Space 12 in East Austin. From their event page on Facebook:

Clean out your closets and your craft supply drawers and come participate in a community swap! Bring any unwanted clothes - both adult and kids clothes welcome, and crafting supplies like fabric, thread, yarn, notions, buttons, etc. etc. Get rid of stuff you don't want and go home with new stuff that you love. Any suits or professional clothing and accessories left over at the end of the day will be donated to Dress for Success, a non-profit organization that helps disadvantaged women get dressed up for job interviews. Any crafty supplies left over will be donated to "Sew What?", a free after-school sewing program. Everything else will be donated to a local charity shop. Bring your sewing machine or knitting needles or embroidery hoops or whatever and spend the afternoon hanging out with other crafty types fixing up your swap finds, having fun and sharing ideas.

This sounds like a total blast! It combines all my favorite things: crafting, community, charity and ... BROWNIES!

Creative Spark Gathering - Mini Lego Movies

This is a picture I took at the massive Lego display at Maker Faire.

This is at the same time as the Book Signing party, but it looks like it would be worth shuttling between events. My son is obsessed with Lego, and I've caught his obsession. I'm hoping to be able to go so I can make a mini-Lego-movie for him!

From the event's Facebook event page:

Think flip books, think clay-mation, think spaceships and adventure! Please join our special guest, Creative Spark Stephen Bohls for the low-tech magic of stop-motion animation--and some serious fun! Bring your camera and make your own mini movie—or just come and play with one of the best Lego collections in Austin. The Creative Spark Gathering is a FREE opportunity to have fun, learn, and meet other creative Austinites.

Whew! That's 36 hours of insanely rad, crafty, creative, community events. Rest up and get ready to have some fun!

A special little treat from doe-c-doe

OOoooooooOoooh y'all. I got the most awesome thing in the mail this week. Straight from doe-c-doe herself, it's one of her gorgeously hand-embroidered quilt pieces. And it. is. s-t-u-n-n-i-n-g.

Here's a little back story: I've followed doe-c-doe's blog for ages. I can't remember exactly when I stumbled upon it, but I'm thinking it was from one of her projects she posted in the Flickr embroidery group. I've been absolutely hooked ever since, and she is at the top of my must-read blog list. Her photography is gorgeous, her projects are pristine and her aesthetic is just ... peachy keen. I'm consistenly floored by her perfect stictches (which, let me tell you - having seen them up close now ... holy smokes are they perfect!) and I've loved watching her projects evolve on her blog.

Some of my favorite doe-c-doe projects are the following:

Tree of Life

Doilie-turned-snowflake necklace

Your A Doll

Embroidered Insects

I Love Lucy Pillow

She also has the most incredible luck with thrifting that I've ever seen, and her dog is insanely cute (and appreantly very tolerant of being made to wear things like bonnets, aprons and ... mustaches?)

But more than anything, I've found that in my occasional correspondence with "g" (as she signs all her emails) is that she is incredibly sweet, kind and very sincere - some of my favorite qualities in a person.

A few months ago, she announced that some of her fabric/paper/embroidery vintage sewing pattern collages were being made available in her etsy shop. About 30 seconds after reading that post, I forwarded the link for the collage I coveted to my husband with a not-so-subtle "Gee, I'd *love* this for Christmas" message. A few days later, I noticed the collage had sold, and thought he'd taken the hint.

Sigh.

He hadn't - someone else had purchased the piece.

Later, after I commented on Niku's picture of her doe-c-doe purchase, apparently Niku tipped doe-c-doe off to my coveting of her work. The next thing I know, I have a very sweet Flickr mail from doe-c-doe requesting my choice of emrboidered image and my shipping address so she could send me something. I sent a picture of my favorite embroidery scissors and - viola! - soon arrived a gorgeous quilt circle with the scissors perfectly stitched right in the middle.


I was floored! The piece is so gorgeous, and it was such a generous gift. I feel totally underserving and just hope that the good karma will go back to doe-c-doe ten fold. Head on over to her blog and let her know how utterly rad she is, and be sure to check her etsy shop for some additional priceless pieces. Tell her Average Jane sent you. :)

Because Crafting and Community are two of my favorite things

I'm all about building community, and being able to do that in an environment that has people engaging in the creative process together ... well, that just makes me giddy. So I'm very intrigued to see what knitting guru, Vickie Howell, has going on with her latest project, Craft Corps. You can check out her blog for information on how you can possibly be a part of this project that "will focus on the community perpetuated by craft and the designers & hobbyists who feed it." Wowza! Those are most of my favorite words in that sentence!