enJOY it

an archived personal and craft blog from Elise Blaha Cripe.

craft books are my favorite.

February 4, 2011

I have a thing for craft books. Obsession might be the right word.

I am trying to back-away from buying fiction (and non-fiction) paperbacks because we are running out of room and I am hoping to get an e-reader in the next couple months. But I don't think I will ever stop buying pretty craft books. I think it's the photos. Even when I don't do the actual step-by-step projects, I get so inspired my the images. Artists and crafters are smart people. They should all have books.

So my favorites from my collection are above. I have talked a lot about Quilts and Handmade Living the last couple days, so enough about those. (Though I will say, Handmade Living is not a how-to book. It's more of a magazine about adding handmade details into your home and office space. If you are looking for step-by-step craft projects, this not the book for you.)

Similar to it, but with how-tos is Crafting a Meaningful Home by Meg Mateo Ilasco. I got this for Christmas and didn't really know what to expect. It features home decor projects from various bloggers and small business owners from across the US. I liked reading about them and thought the projects were pretty unique.

Simple Sewing is by Lotta Jansdotter who also wrote Handmade Living. I have to be honest, I have not tried these projects yet. Part of that is because I bought the book before I knew how to sew because I though the pictures were so pretty. I really need to attempt some of the projects now that the quilt is done. She has an awesome fabric bag tutorial that I think is first on my list.

Printing by Hand by Lena Corwin talks about all sorts of printing methods from carving your own stamps to printing on fabric to building your own screen printing screen. I have this and Lotta Prints and while I like them both, I think Printing by Hand has more projects that I would actually attempt.

I have blogged about 5 before, but it's a favorite. Certainly not a craft book, but more of a life book. It's a fill in, write in, inspiration book. A good JUST START book.

Spilling Open by Sabrina Ward Harrison is just eye candy. It's an art journal in book form and Sabrina is an artist that I really admire. I have looked through most of her books in book stores and they are all stunning. A collage on every page plus some pretty raw journaling. Good stuff.

Thinking with Type by Ellen Lupton is one part history of type, one part design guide. I think it is actually used as a text book in some graphic design classes. I found it facinating especially after I learned how letterpress (the original type-setting) is done.

And last, Craft, Inc. by Meg Mateo Ilasco. I think this book is very overwhelming if you are just getting started with running a small business, but also invaluable as far as things to consider and steps to take.

So that's my round up. Any other great books out there that I am missing? I can hardly wait until we have a little one on the way to pick up The Creative Family and the rest of Amanda Blake Soule's books. Those are on my list for sure. There are also a lot of food/gardening books that I want to get once we have a backyard. Oh man, I love books.

*and disclaimer : I am an amazon affiliate so if you shop though the links provided, I do receive a small commission on purchases made. That said, these are my honest opinions and I was not paid to talk about any of the books mentioned.
our new quilt.

February 2, 2011
I finished up the binding this morning (and now this blog and my life will go back to normal as Quilt Watch 2011 is officially over). Thank you for your suggestions and sweet comments along the way.

I wanted to share the inspiration for this quilt. It's a picture from one of my favorite books, Handmade Living. I loved the mess of square patterns and bought fabric to replicate the look. I realized after I had them all sewn together that I was going to make a quilt instead of just a duvet cover.

This project came together quickly because I knew if I stopped it would become too daunting to finish. I purposely kept myself focused on just one part at a time and did not read the directions ahead of where I was. This simplified everything significantly because I had clear, manageable steps to tackle :
- pick color scheme
- buy fabric for top
- wash fabric
- cut squares
- sew squares into strips
- sew strips together
- trim edges
- iron top of quilt
- read about how to bind layers together
- buy binding supplies
- pin back, batting & top together
- sew, sew, sew
- trim edges
- read about how to finish off
- buy fabric for final binding edge
- cut fabric
- read again how to finish off because it seemed ridiculously hard
- iron fabric
- machine stitch binding on
- pin binding
- hand stitch into place
See how overwhelming that list looks? But I really didn't know what was coming next and took it one task at a time which saved me from panic.

Here's the other reason it came together quickly – I threw perfectionism out the window. This quilt is not for sale, it's for our bed. In the next few years we'll get tired of it and it will be an extra blanket for when guests come or when our kids build forts. It's just a quilt for our family. My stitches that hold it all together are very crooked (fortunately, it's hard to tell with the pattern on the front but the backing looks like it's held on with squiggles instead of straight lines) and I didn't do any measuring or lining up so the edges are not quite even.

But it covers our bed at that was the point. I realized while wrapping up this project that I am most effective with DIY projects when I care about something being vibrant, not perfect. Fear of imperfection is a big hold up. I think I've learned enough from this one that the next will technically be much better and hopefully I can gift quilts as gifts when my friends start having little ones.

If you are looking to tackle a big quilting project I can't recommend this book enough. Or do google searches for step-by-step instructions on how to get it done. This is not an impossible project at all – it's just a big one. I'll do my best to answer questions in the comments but will not be doing a tutorial. So many great books and blogs do it much better than I can.

Some technical notes : I used about nine yards of fabric for the top and brands can be seen here. The quilt squares were not measured but are about 5 – 7 inches square. I used a gray queen sized sheet from Target for the backing and a queen size piece of batting picked up on sale at my local fabric store. For the hand stitching and the hand binding, I used 100% cotton quilting thread from Gutermann in white (it took less than one 220 yd spool). The light gray binding was about a yard of fabric that I cut and sewed into one long three inch strip. The finished quilt measures about 87×92 inches. If you missed it, here is our handmade headboard.
home stretch.

February 1, 2011

Blind-stitching the binding around the edge might be the most tedious part of this whole thing.

Almost. Done.
month wrap up & new goals.

February 1, 2011

See you, January.

Overall, it was very productive month. The best part? I ran 51 miles. And 19 of those were ran outside which is something new and as it turns out, works much better for me. Though I am far from the rest of this year's goals, I think I'll get run 365 miles tackled by August. Work-wise, I was very glad to get past workshop PDFs released.

And of course, in January I got started on that crazy quilt. Guess what? The quilt layers are all joined together. I finished the hand-stitching over the weekend thanks to Arrested Development seasons 2 and 3. That's the best show to quilt along with ever. Now I just need to get the binding around the edges and it's complete.

GOALS for February : finish decorating our bedroom, buy plane tickets for travels next fall when Paul is deployed, complete my 25 @ 25 book (I turn 26 this month) & start serious planning on the web design for bloggers workshop.

It's going to be a good one.
40 loaves / garlic rolls.

January 31, 2011

Bread no. 3 : garlic rolls, adapted from this recipe.

Adjustments : Two cups of white flour and about two cups of wheat instead of just white. Substituted splenda for the 1/3 C white sugar (but used regular sugar for the first water & yeast mixture). Used garlic salt instead of regular salt for the topping.

Notes : Perfect size and easy to shape in the cupcake tins. I might try this garlic bread recipe which looks a bit more involved next.

Review : We're obsessed with garlic and these were amazing. Highly recommend the wheat flour substitute.
she + he in january.

January 30, 2011

She can't believe this is the only photo of the two of them from January.

Especially considering how much free time they had this month.

He was on an "easy" rotation & she matched his schedule.

Highlights include : wine tasting, football watching, Disneyland and a massive quilting project.

Lowpoints include : when she went to take out the trash and ended up locking herself out.

Let's just say a locksmith was involved.

And she has become obsessive compulsive about checking door locks.

The weather was what can only be described as "out-of-hand-GOOD."

To celebrate, they have been running outdoors.

And she's got to say, he's a much more entertaining running partner than a treadmill and BravoTV.
january minibook & the BIG mini workshop PDF.

January 28, 2011

For the first time, in a very long time, I made a mini album just for fun. I loved my first roll of mini diana film and I had a bunch of random cards & papers that seemed perfect for this project. Super random mix and semi-awkward journaling, but getting down thoughts is always good.

Supplies : staples, paint, vintage lace, american crafts slickwriter, gluestick, amy butler & michael miller fabric, paint chips, paper source scalloped cards, hambly circle paper and clearly heavy overlay, office depot paper arrow paper clip, washi tape, star stickers, paper source "the end" stamp, camera image from 1canoe2 on etsy.

I thought about it, and decided to release the BIG mini workshop as a PDF. For more information, click here. This is my favorite of the classes I have offered and is the most jam-packed. Give yourself a lot of time to get through this one.

$20 for complete PDF of the BIG mini workshop

As always, thank you for your support.
what i’ve learned about hand quilting so far.

January 27, 2011

I am definitely a fan of the quilting hoop.

There is a grove to it, and I think once you're in the grove it's cake.

I have no idea now to use a thimble.
disney via mini diana.

January 27, 2011

DUDE. This is a fickle camera. I got eight (well technically 16) cool images from a roll and a half in Disneyland. I think my counter is off because I was left with half a roll of empty film on each roll I took. (Thankfully, my local developer only charges for by the print so I didn't waste any money on blank images.)

But on the plus side, no accidental double exposures this time. So at least I'm getting better. And man – bright sunlight is clearly the way to go with this camera.

A million and one cheers for Kal and little baby Poet. Kal makes great art and great little ones. And picks the very best names ever. Congratulations Dan, Kal, Pilot & Penn on your newest family member. I can't wait to visit. 🙂
sewing hangover.

January 26, 2011

The top of my quilt is done.

I worked on that thing from 8:30AM to 3:30PM yesterday. Whew. My back and neck are sore and my sewing machine is going to spend the rest of the week mad at me for making it overheat. But I love how it turned out. And after some thought and a re-read through the first chapter in this book, I decided to skip the duvet cover plan and just turn it into a real quilt. Complete with batting on the inside, binding around the edges and … hand quilted stitches to hold it all together. I might be out of my mind. But I want it to last, and I think a quilt is more likely to stick around than a duvet cover.

So that's that. I have to order batting, pick up a lot of hand-quilting thread and find a large gray sheet to act as the back. It's going to take awhile to get supplies and then longer to sew it all together. But I am excited for a relatively mindless project to tackle as we watch TV. And also? I have a feeling I am addicted to sewing quilts now…