SUMMER STUDIO | Studio Clean-Up Finds #1

I've been cleaning up my studio for the summer and have run across some interesting finds! Most of what I have found are magazine clippings of books, art events, catalogs and profiles of artists. What I like to do is revisit and "follow-up" with the subject of the clippings. Then, I decide if I want to


This week I found the following tidbits:

1) Creative Home article on Kathy Cooper - Kathy is one of the most popular floorcloth artists. She creates artsy, whimsical designs.  Still going strong, check out Kathy's Cooper's website at: www.kathycooper.com.

Creating Painted Floorcloths, Creative Home, September 2002, pp. 30-32

2) Course catalog for John C. Campbell Folk School - this school offers an extensive list of courses in art, music, and dance in Brasstown, North Carolina. Be sure to visit their website HERE.

KNITTING | Simple Coffee Table Mat

I just finished a knitted mat for my coffee table. It came out great and didn't take too long to do. I used 6.5mm Bamboo knitting needles to knit with a purl stitch of 65 stitches across and 67 rows of some of my favorite colors. Then, I finished it off with 2 rows of a single crochet stitches. These tighter stitches gave the overall piece a little more structure. 

QUILTING | Making Doodle Quilts

I've been really doodling a lot lately.  Webster's dictionary defines doodle as a "scribble, sketch, or design on paper often while thinking about something else".

In any given afternoon, I can probably doodle up to eight 5 x 7 drawings. They are fun and easy to do. I use my Strathmore sketchbook to draw out a repetitive set of curves and shapes.

SUMMER STUDIO | Finished Knitting My Skinny Scarves (Part 5)

So, here's a recap of what I've done:
So I started this series to document my experience learning how to knit this summer. I learned two basic stitches - the knit stitch and the purl stitch. I decided to make (3) skinny scarves based on the purl stitch for my mom, mom-in-law and myself.

Finishing my scarves

SUMMER STUDIO (Knitting 101) | My Skinny Scarves (Part 4)

For the past few weeks, I've been posting on my experience of learning how to knit.  So far, I've learned to do a knit stitch and the purl stitch. I like the purl stitch so much that I wanted to make a few scarves for my mom and mom-in-law.  Although there are tons of websites out there, many do not work for me because I am a REAL beginner to knitting and that I'm a leftie. Although, there are MANY of the videos out there, I've found some sites online to help me in my journey.

Here's where I am now:

SUMMER STUDIO (Knitting 101) | Learning to Purl (Part 3)

Okay, so it's been a few weeks since my last post on learning to knit. I set out to learn a few things about knitting for this summer. I'm really enjoying this art form. Mainly because it is relaxing and keeps me from eating at night. 

In this post, I summarize learning the purl stitch.

SUMMER STUDIO (Knitting 101) | Learning the Knit Stitch (Part 2)

Okay, so it's been a few weeks since my last post on learning to knit. I set out to learn a few things about knitting for this summer. I'm really enjoying this art form. Mainly because it is relaxing and keeps me from eating at night.
Here's a recap of what I've done so far...

SUMMER STUDIO (Knitting 101) | My first skein of yarn arrived !!! (Part 1)

Just got my first skein of yarn. I want to make a simple scarf and so wanted to use a variegated yarn with multiple colors. The yarn is soft and made of 100% acrylic. I figure I would stay away from cashmeres or wools for now.

SUMMER STUDIO (Knitting 101) : Learning to KNIT !!!

I'm so excited to blog about my summer studio plans!!! I'm super-psyched about it. For those of you who may not know, I suffer from Carpal Tunnel in my left hand.

This is what brought me to sewing and then to quilting.