Olfa Cutter

It was a great Independence Day weekend here at the Susie Can Stitch house. I even got a little bit of sewing in! I had a Craft Critique deadline to meet and I got my article in on Saturday just barely on time.

I got to test out the Olfa Quick Change Rotary Cutter. Which is an indispensable tool for any sewer.

I used my rotary cutter to make a set of reusable shopping bags:

And I used specialty blades to make this frilly felt flower:

Comment on any of the Craft Critique Olfa posts running today and tomorrow, July 5-6, for a chance at our Olfa giveaway. I don't know how I could sew or quilt without one!

I love comments on my blog, but to qualify for the giveaway, you have to go over to Craft Critique!

Practical Guide To Patchwork Review

My review of Elizabeth Hartman's book The Practical Guide to Patchwork is up over at Craft Critique.

It is an excellent book with very good modern quilt patterns. I had fun choosing some modern prints for the quilt top I made.

She always presses her seams open which is.. um.. not a technique I prefer, but it was necessary for the pattern I chose to make. I started this project way back before Christmas but I had to set it aside to host the holiday and only finished it this spring.

Check it out at Craft Critique!

Hoopla Swap 3

Check out my Craft Critique review of the terrific book Scandinavian Stitches by Kasja Wikman. The article ran a few weeks ago and I did all the crafting in a flurry before Christmas.The book is full of terrific seasonal projects. I highly recommend it.

I also recently did another Hoopla swap on Craftster. For this one, we needed to exchange a tiny 2 to 3 inch hoop motif. Because if the small size and because my partner, pugwash, mentioned him in her sign up information, I stitched up a little Mario:





A few days later the hoop she stitched for me arrived. We were completely on the same wavelength because she did a piranha plant for me:



Swapping is really fun. Thanks, Pugwash!

Pillowcase Borders

I reviewed the terrific crochet book Around the Corner Crochet Borders by Edie Eckman over at Craft Critique. Check it out!

Block Tool Review

I reviewed the C&T Quilt Block Tool iPhone App over at Craft Critique.

I liked this app, and I made these simple blocks with it:
Go ahead and check it out! HERE

Since my kids are back in school and I am still not working (although I would like for that to change), I've been playing with crocheting borders onto our pillowcases. I love them They are totally durable and washable! The patterns are in a book I purchased and this project will be part of my next Craft Critique review.

Fabric Heaven

For Mothers Day, my mom and I planned our own trip to the Indiana Amish Country. We had a great time! This area is a quilters heaven, so I wrote about our adventures for Craft Critique HERE.

2010 Chicago International Quilt Festival

Last weekend was the 2010 International Quit Festival/Chicago. I did a review article for Craft Critique. Read it HERE. Go to that Craft Critique post to see my photos of some of the winning quilts.

Because I went as a reporter, I had a press pass! Which means all my photos this year are totally kosher. Everyone takes pictures, though.. I am supposed to disable any way that you can steal my photos to use them on items for purchase...okay, readers, please don't do that.

I take nice, but slightly blurry pictures some of the time, but you really have to come and see a quilt show in person. The details are amazing..


"Foxy Sisters" by Ann Horton


"Emerald Treasures" by Barb Forrister


The following photos were from an amazingly detailed quilt from Japan:




This is "My Quilt Room" by Yasuko Ito and Oharibako. Every detail is done by hand including the quilting. The quilt shows their quilt group members enjoying making a quilt in each member's room.

The show has a section of beautiful vintage traditional quilts. I love this graphic one. This is "Sunburst" by Unknown Quiltmaker c. 1800:


I will share more photos in another post later, but you can see my set from the 2010 International Quilt Festival/Chicago on Flickr HERE.

Cuddly Cute Crochet

I am still around, but I guess I'm just blogging less these days. I recently did some very cute crochet projects for a book review on Craft Critique (disclosure). You can read the review HERE.



I used Red Heart Acrylic to crochet this bunny hat and mousie bib. My daughter wants the hat, but it is sized for a toddler, so I'm planning to give it to a sweet toddler of some friends of mine who live nearby.



My daughter's teacher is pregnant with a boy, so she's getting the bib along with a receiving blanket my daughter will sew in boyish fabrics.

Giveaway

Leave a comment on THIS Craft Critique Post to get in on a giveaway!

Become a charter member of Club Creating Keepsakes to receive a whole lot of goodies and membership benefits. Membership to this Club is free, but become a charter member and to receive special benefits including a subscription to Scrapbooking Tips and Tricks magazine.

Go ahead and read about it!

Disclosure

Still making things, but slowly

I like winter, but I do get kinda lazy during these darkest days. It is clear that I have been neglecting my blog. My son, husband and I have been retreating into our XBox. We do play together and talk about all the gaming strategies and game plots, so it is sort of a family "activity" for us. I did make some cute things for Christmas, but I never photographed them! They were a cute apron and two sets of very cool potholders for my Mom. I'll try to get a photo sometime later when I'm at her house..

Yesterday my kids were home for MLK Day and fighting over control of the television. (They are deeply divided over the watchability of Supernanny.) I decided we had to turn off all media and do something else. My son is not crafty so he found other stuff to do, but daughter and I decided to do the Craft of the Day that came as an email from Martha Stewart. It's called a Heart Felt Bag and it was easy to make, although it is more decorative than anything because that cute little handle isn't very sturdy.



See? Cute! We need to reglue with hot glue because the hearts are slipping off. The handle and top of bag also form these cute hearts:



In other news, I am super excited to finally get to attend the Craft and Hobby Association trade show in Anaheim, California! CHA is a big deal in the crafting industry. I'm going as a reporter with my friends from Craft Critique. Prior to the show, on Friday and Saturday, January 22-23 is a big Craft Supershow for anyone and everyone who is crafty. Read about what Craft Critique is planning for the Supershow HERE. We even have a discount coupon if you are planning to attend!

Come and find me at the Supershow! We are in booth 1101. If you can't attend, be sure to follow Craft Critique for the latest news about products and trends in crafting. I will make it my mission to find the cool fabric and fiber craft products!

Glowing Stitching

I stitched a glowing snowflake for Craft Critique to review Glow in the Dark Embroidery Floss by DMC. I liked it and it really glows a lot!

Check it out HERE.

Geekery with Quilters Interfacing

Check out my article at Craft Critique to see what I made with Quilters Interfacing. It's a really fun and easy product to use. The only hard part is trimming and ironing the seams on the back to reduce bulk.

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I also spent some time listing inventory at my Etsy shop. Click through to see some great gift ideas! I have lots of new pouches, felt hairclips, and hand dyed wool flowers.

Bias Tape Maker

I reviewed the Dritz Bias Tape Maker over at Craft Critique. Read my review HERE.



I managed to bind my tea towel successfully, but my feelings on this particular tool are: buy the Clover brand one instead. The extra dollar cost is worth it.

Sewing Tool Article

I tested the Dritz Magnetic Seam Guide. It is a useful little sewing tool. Read about it at Craft Critique HERE.

Pom Review and Wedding

I reviewed another pom pom making tool for Craft Critique. Read my thoughts HERE. Turns out that even though it's cheap, it is still not worth it.



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Today is my 18th Wedding Anniversary! The years tick by faster and faster all the time. I was almost the first of all my friends to get married right after college. We were so happy then and it has just gotten better over the years. We sort of only celebrate the big anniversaries every 5 years, but I think we'll go out to a nice restaurant tonight.


It rained on our wedding day in 1991, and that is supposed to be good luck. It was! We had a big traditional wedding early in the day. I was blissfully ignorant about wedding planning and just went with the flow. I remember my Mom planned the food and my younger brother figured out the wine-and-beer bar offerings. We hired a talented florist who was just starting out. I told her that I liked big romantic flowers and pink and she did the arrangements and they were perfect. Actually, the florist was a nervous wreck and my mom and I were calming her down.

Our cake was a delicious chocolate with raspberry cassis. Our baker was being featured in Better Homes and Gardens and she called us up the week before the wedding to tell us that our cake was being photographed for the magazine! It was in the batter stage and the photos never ran, but still! That was fun!

We married in my north suburban Chicago hometown, but at the time we were living in hot and steamy south Texas and hoped for cool honeymoon location. My husband and I do not tolerate hot weather very well. It was our dream to go to Alaska, but we were young and low on funds, so we went to San Francisco instead. It was chilly and rainy there that week, but we loved the weather. Alaska is still our dream vacation and we have never been able to go. We have been to Hawaii and it was nice, but it was not Alaska... Maybe for the 20 year celebration.

Winding Ways

I wrote about a great quilt book called Winding Ways Quilts by Nancy Elliott MacDOnald. Check it out over at Craft Critique. I even made a short how-to video so you can hear my very northern-midwestern accent. It is also hard for me to talk and sew at the same time.

C&T Publishing is doing a giveaway over at Craft Critique, so leave a comment on one of the C&T vendor spotlight reviews before midnight tonight (Friday) to qualify.

Embroidery Floss Review

I reviewed DMC Linen Embroidery Floss for Craft Critique. This floss is slightly expensive, but I liked it! Read all about it HERE.

Last month I also reviewed Satin Embroidery Floss. I was decidedly less enthusiastic about this floss. I'm told that it is more cooperative if you use beeswax with it but since DMC did not specifically recommend this, I used the floss as it came out of the package. Read my Satin Floss review HERE.

See how wild it looks in that photo? It was the same to stitch with...

Craft Critique Giveaway

My friends at Craft Critique have a HUGE giveaway going on.

Pop on over there for a chance to win a large collection of papercrafting supplies, stickers, stamps, and all kinds of other cool stuff.

You can follow Craft Critique over at Facebook too.

New Computer

Goodness, it's like we died and went to computer klutz heaven!  Since neither my husband or I cares to ever really learn the ins and outs of Microsoft, we purchased an iMac over the weekend.  It is so nice!   I am happy to find that much of our family photos were uploaded to Flickr or Shutterfly so we only have a small window of missing photos.  My craft pictures are all on Flickr and we did a bare minimum of word processing on that computer.  Transferring the Flip Videos we took and uploaded to the laptop has not been working...

There is a new call for reporters at Craft Critique.  Click HERE to read all about it!  Craft Critique is a popular craft product review site. 

Basic Grey

Paper giveaway at Craft Critique!

If you join Craft Critique at:

Facebook

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Email Subscriptions

Blog Carnivals

and then you leave a comment on THIS Craft Critique post. You will qualify to win a paper and stickers package from Basic Grey.

Please note that I'm not doing the giveaway! It's over at Craft Critique. They'll choose the winners on Feb. 14.

Good Luck!