Better Know A Crafter: Zumi

Zumi is just six and a half and already she is impressing us with her crafty designs. She was sweet enough to share her most recent--and first ever--one-of-a-kind felted book projects with us! We love it. Keep up the awesome work, Zumi!

Tell us about yourself.

What types of crafts do you do?


What makes you want to be crafty?


Tell us about what you've made.
 

Did you you use a pattern to make your book?

When did you learn to felt?


Tell us about the person who taught you to do what you do.

What is your favorite animal?


Thanks Zumi! Happy crafting!

New Spring 2011 Books! Craft your heart out!

Spring means rain, gardening, radishes and new books! We have tons of new books in the store to teach and inspire you. Here are some of our favorites this Spring...

There are two amazing quilt books that make me so excited for quilting! My favorite is The Modern Quilting Bee Block Party by Alissa Haight Carlton and Kristen Lejnieks. Alissa Haight Carlton is a founding member of the Modern Quilt Guild and this new book is a perfect example of what the Modern Quilt Guild is all about - stunning modern designs. I want to make every single quilt in here...

Also new and exciting is the Modern Log Cabin Quilting by Susan Beal. This book has lots of amazing projects using the easy and versatile log cabin design. You will love it!

We love Meg McElwee! She is the woman behind the Sew Liberated patterns and her first book Sew Liberated contains tons of awesome patterns. Meg's newest book, Growing Up Sew Liberated is one of the most adorable kids sewing books of all time. This book has everything from tee-pees to toys to clothes to baby slings. My favorite though, is the Reversible Hooded Play Cape - it's sure to make all magical dreams come true!

Harvesting Color is a new natural dyeing book that we love! It is awesome because it teaches you how to harvest your own natural dye plants and materials so you don't have to rely on purchasing natural dyes that are often coming from far away places. Now you can dye yarns with plants from your backyard using this colorful and environmentally conscious book. Author Rebecca Burgess even teaches you how to make your own mordant from rusty objects.

Vintage Modern Knits is a new book from Interweave that features vintage inspired patterns, updated for modern fit and yarns. We love that it includes a pattern for a traditional and olde-fashioned Gansey!

Just in case you missed it - Knit. Sock. Love. by Cookie A is hands down the most exciting sock book to be released in many months. It still has us knitting and dreaming of socks all day long!

Spud and Chloe at the Farm is an adorable picture book style story featuring patterns by designer Susan B. Anderson for all your favorite farm dwellers.

So...we don't really have supplies for terrariums (check out our new neighbor Ironwood for that!), but we couldn't resist this beautiful and informative new book on building your own terrarium. This includes information about different plants and habitats and crafting terrariums from found household objects!

Crafting Skye Terriers

You might remember Dusty, who made his first appearance on the Fancy Tiger Crafts blog modeling with my Parisville quilt. Dusty belongs to my mom, who has been breeding and showing Skye Terriers for over 40 years.

Ch. Royalist Dust Devil "Dusty"

Skye Terriers are a rare breed of terrier that originated on the Isle of Skye in Scotland and are one of the oldest terrier breeds. They have changed little since their beginnings as ground vermin hunters and still retain their long coat (for protection) and long bodies (for getting into small spaces). Because Skye Terriers are such a rare breed of dog, Skye "paraphernalia" is hard to come by. For this reason, crafting is perfect. You can make all the Skyes you want - sewn Skyes, knit Skyes, felted Skyes - the sky's the limit! The problem, of course is finding patterns, so for rare breeds or adorable mutts, it might be necessary to create your own.

Olde-timey Skye drawing

When the new book Knit Your Own Dog came out featuring knitting patterns for 25 dog breeds, I knew there would be a pattern I could work with to knit my mom a Skye. The 25 breeds featured in Knit Your Own Dog cover everything from wrinkly little pugs to sleek and muscular whippets, so dog lovers will be sure to be able to craft their favorite canine friend!

Sure enough, the Corgi pattern was perfect for the general long and low body shape of the Skye. I used the loop method described for other breeds like Afghan hounds to add long hair and we were good to go - a completely cute knit Skye terrier!

Knit Dusty

My mom (who is responsible for my crafting addictions) has also made her share of handcrafted Skye Terriers. She whipped up this beautiful needlefelted specimen. Needlefelting is perfect for making animals and is a great free-form craft that you can easily experiment with to make any breed of friend.

Needlefelt Skye by Karen Jennings

Yay for crafting and Skye Terriers!

Yarn Bombing Book Release Party Fun!

We had tons of fun times on Friday night at the Yarn Bombing book release party. The ladies of the Ladies Fancywork Society came out with homeade cupcakes and secret prizes, like crocheted book cozies and screen printed bandannas. The Yarn Bombing book was so well received that we sold out of copies in no time!


Thanks, LFS ladies, and everyone who came out to share in the fun times!


Thanks to Steven Wallace and Suzan Platzer for photos of the event!