V&A Patterns

I always love looking at books that showcase different patterns, so I was thrilled when I found out that that we (meaning Abrams, the company I work for and of which STC Craft is a part) would be distributing V&A Pattern, a series of pattern books from the publishers at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. Each book includes over 65 pattern images, plus a CD with jpeg files of all of the images, ready to be viewed and manipulated for any non-commerical use. Below is a sampling of four of the patterns from each book. I love the idea of using these patterns to make customized stuff, such as gift wrap, note cards, notebook covers, screen savers, bookmarks, origami paper (or paper for nearly any paper craft), the list could go on and on. A few weeks ago my friend Hannah and I got together and made notebooks with patterns from the Fifties. I'll post a photo as soon as I take a decent one.

The Fifties
William Morris
Indian Florals
Digital Pioneers

Winner of the Kata Golda Hand-Stitched Felt Contest and Felt Photo Pocket Demo!

Congrats to Naomi, our lucky winner of a free copy of Kata Golda's Hand-Stitched Felt! Thanks to everyone who entered our contest. Stay tuned for Naomi's answer to the question: "What sort of adventures will your felty mice have?"

In the meantime, as a special consolation prize, here is the felt photo pocket demo that Kata did at the Etsy Labs in Brooklyn, NY.

This is a re-broadcast, in 2 parts, of the live webcast demo. There were some problems with sound, but hopefully these 2 videos will help fill in the gaps. Enjoy! I hope you'll be inspired to buy the book for friends and family (I plan on making nothing but felt gifts this year!)!

VIDEO LINKS:
• Felt Photo Pockets with Kata Golda (Part 1)
• Felt Photo Pockets with Kata Golda (Part 2)

Betz and Adina

This is the Halloween costume that my friend Adina made for her niece.

And this is the cover to our book Sewing Green by Betz White (with Betz's niece modeling).

Two great minds and two beautiful nieces.

Quilting for Peace Campaign

To celebrate the publication of Quilting for Peace by Katherine Bell and to, hopefully, help to spread some goodness, we are happy to be launching our new Quilting for Peace Campaign. To find out all about it, click on our Quilting for Peace widget at left. Whether you're new to quilting or an experienced quilter or don't quilt at all (yet) but are curious, please check it out.

"How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world." ---Anne Frank

My Kata Golda Dog

I recently finished making this little dog from Kata Golda's new book Kata Golda's Hand-Stitched Felt. I loved working with the wool felt (it's soft, the colors are great, and doesn't fray even when you make mistakes and have to rework stitches) and practicing my embroidery. I overstuffed him so his clothes are a little snug, but let's just call him muscular. I finished this guy in a couple of hours, such a quick and satisfying experience. To see more of these sweet characters, check out the video in my last post or the photos in the gallery here.