Telecast Thursday - Exploring Kraft Tex

It's Telecast Thursday and this week I'm exploring some new fabric, er paper, er fabric paper. Yes, I'm looking at Kraft-Tex. This combination of fabric and paper is really more like leather or canvas to me. It is made by C & T Publishing and is available in white, natural, stone or chocolate. I grabbed some white to check it out.

If you haven't yet heard about this product, you'll want to watch the video below or on my Youtube channel to see what it's all about.

I can already think of several ways I can use Kraft-Tex, rather than creating book covers or iPad covers. I think it would be great in a mixed media project where I can colour and distress it. I'm thinking 3D flowers, geometric shapes appliquéd to a fabric background...there are lots of ways to use this innovative product.

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Have you tried Kraft-Tex? Leave a comment below to let me know about your experiences with it.

Creatively,

Book Review: This is Mouse - An Adventure in Sewing by Brenna Maloney

I'll admit it: I'm basically a kid at heart. When I was young, I was always told that I was "so mature for my age". Now that I'm older, much, much older, I've decided that I want to be immature in some areas of my life. I love cute, snuggly, cuddly stuffies and can't resist anything fun or whimsical (just ask any of my friends about the many little animals hanging off my backpack), so I instantly fell in love with This is Mouse - an Adventure in Sewing by Brenna Maloney.

Photos courtesy of http://www.ctpub.com

Brenna apparently has the same off-kilter sense of humour that I do, as evidenced by her other books, Sock it to Me, Sockology and Socks Appeal (don't you love those titles?!).

Photos courtesy of http://www.ctpub.com

In her latest book, This is Mouse, you have instructions on how to make Mouse as well step by step instructions with photos on how to create his friends and accessories. 

Photos courtesy of http://www.ctpub.com

Each section of the book is another "world" and includes accessories for Mouse, creatures and buildings appropriate to that world. While all the chapters are delightful, I especially liked the chapter called "Blast Off" where Mouse goes into space in a rocket and meets some space aliens. Gotta love the foil helmet!

Photos courtesy of http://www.ctpub.com

You don't need to have little ones in your household to enjoy the critters and creatures in this book - it's okay to make them just for you :)

Creatively,

Singer Two Thread Embroidery Attachment

I'll show you one of my rarer vintage sewing machine attachments: the Singer Two Thread Embroidery Attachment (it's so rare it deserves capitalization).

Before we had sewing machines that could stitch out hundreds, maybe even thousands, of decorative stitches, you had to use an attachment to create anything other than a straight stitch. One of these attachments was the two thread embroidery attachment made for Singer sewing machines. While these are cool little machines, it's very hard to find them now. I was fortunate enough to find one mixed in with a lot of Singer attachments and snapped it up right away!

What does it do? Watch the video below to find out.

I can think of lots of creative uses for this attachment and it's really fun to watch it work (a bonus!). 

Now that you know what this attachment looks like, keep your eye out for one if you are a collector of vintage sewing machines. If you find one, grab it quick, so you too can have fun creating embellishments on your projects.

If you are thinking of buying a vintage sewing machine you may be interested in my eBooks for buyers (click here). If you are thinking of selling your machine you may be interested in my How To Sell a Vintage Sewing Machine eBook.

Creatively,

Antique China, Linens and Sewing Machines at Heritage Park

Twice a year Heritage Park holds an antique and collectibles sale. I only learned about this sale in October (where I purchased a lovely Singer 128 sewing machine), but wanted to be sure make it to its spring counterpart in April. 

It's fun to go to an event in the park during the off-season as you're allowed to drive down into the park and there's no fee to get in! The antique sale is held in one of the large Chautaqua tents and you can park right behind the tent so that makes it easy to carry out your treasures (you really didn't think I'd go to a sale and not walk away with something, did you?).

Some of the items in the sale are from donations that Heritage Park has received and some are from their collections. 

The items are all sorted and spread out on table cloth covered tables. I love how the china is all set out which allows you to see it very well. In addition to several sets of china, there were dining room sets, record albums, luggage, vintage linens (yum!) and tools. Something for everyone!

While I love china, I really don't have the space or use for more sets, so I contented myself with snapping photos of some of the more appealing sets. 

There are always a few old sewing machines at the sale and this year there was a treadle in a beautiful carved cabinet as well as a very old Singer hand crank model. I don't need another treadle in the house, although it was a gorgeous cabinet, and the hand crank Singer was too rusted to be appealing to me - and priced more than I would've paid for a machine in this condition.

I did like these antique china bowls - such beautiful colours on them - but at $139.00 for the set, that was too rich for me.

While I could identify most of the items there, this one puzzled me. It's a candle wick trimmer - and I really should've bought it, but the "as is" on the label made me hesitate.

There were lots of vintage linens though and these were reasonably priced. I did pick up several of these that were in very good shape. 

Interestingly enough they had received donations of yarn and were selling these at $1.00 a skein or bag. I picked up some linen/cotton blend yarn that looked like it would work for couching. At $1.00 for two large balls of yarn, I couldn't pass it up.

It was a fun way to spend a Friday afternoon and I'll be looking forward to the next show in the fall.

Creatively,

Telecast Thursday - Book Review: Stitches to Savor by Sue Spargo

Hi and welcome to this week's edition of Telecast Thursday. Today I'm sharing a book review of Stitches to Savor by Sue Spargo.

Photo courtesy of www.martingale-pub.com

Some of the embroideries of Sue Spargo are shared in this book filled with beautiful photos of her amazing work. This isn't a book of embroidery techniques, but it is a book to inspire you to create your own embroidered masterpieces.

Photo courtesy of www.martingale-pub.com

You can watch the video below or on my Youtube channel.

I loved browsing through the lovely works in this book and felt inspired to keep creating my own embroidery pieces. I hope that it inspires you to create some of your own embroidered projects too.

Photo courtesy of ww.martingale-pub.com

Subscribe to my Youtube channel to receive automatic notifications when new videos are posted. You can also click on the Chatterbox Quilts logo in the lower right corner on the video itself to subscribe. If you like what you see, please share my videos with your fellow creatives.

Creatively,