Cabin fever

I spent a few hours today sewing with Michaela. I was champing at the bit to make a pillow out of some log-cabiny fabrics I found last weekend at Boersma's Sewing Center in McMinnville. I'm thrilled with the result. One side is a wood-grain print and the other is a cool mountain map fabric.

And check out the adorable kid's dress Michaela whipped up without a pattern in just a couple of hours (completely lined with muslin).

We both brought out the Brother 6000s. After Michaela tried mine out and found out that it was $139.99 on overstock.com, she had to get her own to add to her machine collection!

Backcountry Betty podcast online!

I did a podcast with King County Library System last month and it's been uploaded to the KCLS site. Go to this page and scroll down to the "Hear the author" section. Another reason to love the library.

McMinnville craft motherlode

My friend Jessica and I were in McMinnville, Oregon this weekend for a wedding and we took time to enjoy the haunted Hotel Oregon (art adorns the rooms, the hallways, pretty much the entire building). Then we discovered Boersma's. We started at Boersma's Knitting Basket and each bought some gorg yarn. In my "spare" time, I'm going to start a smoky grey shawl. Then we moved onto Boersma's Sewing Center.

Sweet baby Jesus.

The store was huge and packed with scrumpdilious fabric and great, modern ideas on how to use them creatively. We started picking out bolts and piling them up at the counter.

Then we found out the sale fabrics were in the basement.

Sweet sassy molassey.

Needless to say, our stash grew by leaps and bounds yesterday. I am already fixin' to make a cool cabin-style pillow with the retro mountain map fabric.

In my spare time, of course.

Token necklace tutorial online

My tutorial on making a lariat necklace out of tokens has posted on craftstylish. Check it.

Rainbow sighting

I haven't seen any unicorns in Seattle lately but I did spy a double rainbow on Saturday night. Thank goodness I can't seem to go anywhere without my new Canon Powershot.

Stitch 'n' Pitch

A few images from tonight's Stitch 'n' Pitch event at Safeco Field. The weather was lovely, the food was delish, the yarn booths were plentiful, the knitters were industrious, and the Mariners were victorious. All in all, a perfect evening. (Please forgive my skewed angles on the photo; collectively, they look like an old episode of Batman. POW!)

The hits keep on coming

I just received another etsy package, this time from XO Handworks. I noticed that Tam had Nancy Drew pendants on her page and then when I investigated further, I noticed she was using text from my book, Nancy Drew's Guide to Life, on the back. So I immediately ordered up a pendant (she's graciously including a credit line with the pendant descriptions). I also asked her to make me a pendant using a section of map from my hometown of Benton Harbor. Being the heart of the fruit belt, she added a cluster of cherries to the back. I'm wearing the Michigan pendant right now and I absolutely love it, seeing as how all the significant towns are representing on this little piece of map: Benton Harbor, where I lived during high school; St. Joe, where I went to high school; Coloma, where my mom and stepdad now live; Stevensville, where my dad and stepmom now live; and Sodus, the tiny farm community where I spent my formative years B.D. (before the divorce) shucking lima beans and swinging from ropes in the barn. Thanks, Tam!

Crow up

My Mid-Century Mod art from Four Crows Art came yesterday and I hung the prints in my breakfast nook-turned-office. Don't they look fab?

Beachy keen

I spent the weekend in Oregon, celebrating my friend Gina's impending nuptials with her friends and family. We drove through McMinnville, where the wedding will be next weekend, and I was completely charmed by the farmland and vineyards in the area. Then we got to Lincoln City and I was bowled over once again. I love the craggy, windswept beaches of the Oregon Coast and had a glorious time collecting driftwood and all sorts of stones that have perfectly round holes dotting them. I don't know what's up with that, but I thought it was magical. My favorite is currently serving as a paperweight on my desk.

The driftwood, however, is bound for a project for Backcountry Betty: Crafting with Style, coming in Spring 09 from Skipstone Books.

Of course, I also loved roadtripping, eating bad fast food, and looking for ridiculous bumper stickers...

Host a Fun & Fancy Craft Swap

Another CraftStylish article has posted. This time I'm discussing how to host a craft swap. Check it out!