We Have a Winner for the Americana Giveaway

We Have a Winner for the Americana package of goodies from Ewe N Me Printables.

Congratulations Linda Parker of Iowa on winning the Americana sampler giveaway.
You can meet Linda on her blogs.

http://parkersparadise.blogspot.com/
http://parkersgeneral.blogspot.com/
http://lindajskitchen.blogspot.com/


The winner was picked using the true generator on Random.org.    We want to thank all of you who took the time to enter and for all the wonderful comments.

Be sure and come back again tomorrow as we will have a new giveaway starting that you won't want to miss.  

Today's Featured Artist - Baskets By Rose

Our featured artist this week is Rose Clawson of Baskets By Rose.

Rose is married and a proud military mom.  She has two grown sons and one daughter-in-law.  Her oldest son and daughter-in-law are in the Army and her youngest son is out of the Army and going to school.

Rose has always been busy with her hands,  sewing and painting.  She took an adult education class in basket weaving in 1992 and was hooked by the time she made her fourth basket.    She started her basket business doing craft shows in 1994.

Since then has added some other things she makes, like quilts, to go along with the baskets. She has been selling online for a couple of years now.

Basket weaving involves lots of time.  First you cut the reed, soak it, weave the bottom of the basket.  Upset it to form the bottom, then weave the side, lace the rim.  Reshape it, let it dry, then stain it, and reshape it.  A small basket can be woven in 30 minutes, and the larger one can have 5 hours in it.
Because of the soaking and forming the basket, she works on them off and on during the day.  This way she can still take care of her home, and yard.

She favors the large baskets as they are easier to work on than the small ones. She also loves to change the weaving pattern on the side for a different look.  My favorites are her colorful baskets with the unusual side like this corn basket

and these tulip baskets.

Rose’s work may be found at various places online.
http://basketsbyrose.com
http://basketsbyrose.etsy.com
http://basketsbyrose.artfire.com
http://basketsbyrosebasketsbyrose.blogspot.com

On weekends you can find Rose at the local Farmers Markets and you may even catch her weaving a basket.
The Sunday Artisan Market – Ann Arbor, Michigan
Farmington Farm Market - Farmington, Michigan

Handmade Spotlight

Each Wednesday, we'll be spotlighting some items that are made "by your hands".

Today, we're featuring some handmade checkerboards that we found on etsy.com







Thanks for visiting!
Deena Davis
www.byyourhands.com

Fabric Needlebook Tutorial

Last week Deena showed you how to print on fabric. This week I am going to show you how to make this fabric needlebook using a vintage printed image.

Fabric Needlebook Tutorial

Supplies
1 8 ½ x 11 sheet of freezer paper
1 8 ½ x 11 sheet of muslin
5 inch x 15 inch piece of main cover fabric
5 inch x 15 inch piece of warm n natural batting
5 inch x 15 inch piece of lining fabric
2 pieces of felt, 3 ½ inches x 12 inches
Assorted embellishments

To download the free Vintage Image, Click here.

Directions:

Print your image on to freezer paper backed muslin. Directions for printing on fabric are found Here. Cut it out leaving a small seam allowance.

Iron it to the fusible webbing and then cut it out along the edges of the image.
Take your main fabric for your needlebook cover and fold it in half.

Iron the image on to the fabric at a slight angle.

Now you can embellish the cover with buttons, charms, ribbon, lace, whatever you have on hand.
I used some rick rack, a tiny yoyo, buttons and a scissors charm.  

With cover and lining right sides together, lay them on the batting and pin together. With batting against the feeddogs, stitch all layers together leaving an opening for turning on the back side of the cover.

Clip the excess batting away from the seam allowance. Turn right side out and press. Slip stitch the opening closed.

Center the two pieces of felt on the inside of the needle book. Stitch the felt to the cover down the middle of the needle book.

On the back of the needlebook, handstitch a piece of cording or ribbon which will be used to tie the book closed.

On the front cover stitch a button to wind the cording around to hold your needle book closed.

Disclaimer: Printing on fabric in your printer is at your own risk.

Thanks for joining us again!
Bette Shaw
www.byyourhands.com

Organizing Crochet/Knitting Supplies

Do you knit or crochet? Do you have trouble keeping track of your needles, hooks and yarn? If so, we've found some great organizational ideas to help you out.

On www.planetjune.com we found this really cute Roll-Up case for storing your crochet hooks. She has step by step instructions with photos. How cute this would be made from your favorite fabrics.

Here's another similar item made to store your knitting needles from multicrafty.blogspot.com Oh... how handy it would be to have them all in one place.

We also found this one that's made similar to the others. It's from www.turkeycookies.blogspot.com. So cute and nice with the different sized pockets.

And check this out... what a great idea for organizing yarn. There's instructions with photos on how to make it. www.leethal.net. It's a work of art in itself.

Need an easy way to keep your yarn clean and organized while working on a project? Check out this upcycled oatmeal box yarn holder from A Bit of Sunshine.

All of these are such great ideas. Do you have an tip or secret to keeping your crochet/knittng supplies organized? We'd love to hear from you. Be sure to let us know by leaving a comment.

Have a great week!
Deena Davis
www.byyourhands.com