Author Archives: brigitdermott

Denyse Schmidt’s new book

Posted in Sewing, Stuff to make by

 

Denyse Schmidt’s new book Modern Quilts, Traditional Inspiration doesn’t come out until April (which happens to be the month of my birthday, fancy that) but I’ve already looked through the picture gallery on Melanie Falick‘s site (um) several times.

Denyse’s first book is really wonderful, and first got me interested in quilting. This next installment looks to be just as inspiring, so–in case you need something to look forward to after the holidays–take a sneak peak and mark your calendar for April.

Paper garland and wooden block village

Posted in Holiday, Kids, Paper, Recycled materials, Stuff to make by

A quick tour of my mantelpiece. Here is the finished paper garland, which was fairly laborious to complete–I cut out 120 paper flowers in all, and slowly slotted them together. It is a perfect activity if you want to feel productive while watching a marathon of Christmas movies. And my Christmas village! Met with approval by all. The houses were really simple to make. I ordered some plain wooden blocks in three shapes (square, rectangle, and triangle) and glued the triangles to the squares for the houses. I used a little wood filler to smooth out the seam. Then I painted them using “Folk art” acrylic paint. I used a fine point Sharpie to add the details, and then painted on the final touches like the wreathes.

Felt tree skirt

Posted in Holiday, Sewing, Stuff to make by

It’s a rare occurance when I am able to dream something up and then make it just as I imagined. This tree skirt was one of those lucky projects. I used Wollfilz felt by the yard from purl soho in red and ecru. This felt is so lovely and forgiving to work with. My first circle was a little ovoid, but it was easy to trim the felt into a nice round shape. For the design, I wanted something playful but not too cutesy, and I think the limited palette helps. I drew the animals on cardstock to make a template and then traced three of each animal directly on the ecru felt. Then I cut out the animals and sewed them onto the red background using a simple running stitch. I added some minimal embriodered details to give each animal a little personality. My greatest accomplishment?  Dusting off my geometry skills to figure out the measurements for the circle and the petal border.

The little houses are my next project. I am going to paint them this week, so will post the finished product soon! If anyone would like pattern details for the tree skirt, let me know and I would be happy to share.

Paper garland

Posted in Holiday, Kids, Paper, Recycled materials, Stuff to make by

I am getting pretty excited about decorating my house for Christmas. Oh the crafty possibilties! I saw this post on How About Orange this morning and thought these paper ball ornaments would look pretty great strung together to make a garland. It seems like a nifty update on traditional paper chains, which I also love.  All white would be quite sophisticated, but it’s hard to pass up the chance to use some pretty colored paper. For those people who save wrapping paper, this would be a great way to use up some of your stash. I plan to get my little elf to help me. Stay tuned for the finished garland!

Tulip pillow, and more pillows!

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Here is my Jessica Jones, Outside Oslo pillow, with orange piping. I’ve been in a sewing frenzy the last few weeks–all thanks to my magical zipper foot. I was so inspired by Margaret’s beautiful piping that I finally gave the foot a whirl. I also made these cushions using Marimeko fabric, and brown piping.