I Get to Go to Quiltcon!

And I AM EXCITED. If you'll be there, you should say hi. This is what my face will look like:

Except probably even sweatier. I will surely smell bad. Touch me at your own risk.
Because I get to be the official-style pitcher-taker! Have I mentioned, that
I
AM
SOOOO
EXCITED.

Who else is going?!?!

Because, Why Not?

Sometimes my husband thinks of names for ridiculous fictional characters, and then I draw them. Hence:

Inspector Henspectre. JUST like Jessica Fletcher, but a chicken. And a ghost. Enjoy.

I Painted You a Little Green Apple

...because I think that you're nice.

That's all.

Pillow-Making, Print-Making, and Whatever Else I Remember.

I made a pillow cover. Monumental, right? Actually, in terms of FINISHING A SEWN ITEM, it kinda is. I can't remember the last time I finished something that wasn't for some outside project, something that was just for me to Make and Have. This is it: a pillow. Behold it's squishyness?

I've never made these hourglass blocks before, but I've been dreaming of quilts with them for a while now, so I thought I'd try. I did the 8 HST's at once deal-y, and then smashed them together like they weren't nothin' and did the HST dance. You know the one, yes? It was quite a bit of fun, and my points stayed pointy, all except for two. DON'T LOOK FOR THOSE TWO! It shames me. (Also don't look hard at my couch, it sorely needs some attention from the vaccuum.)

One thing I've thought about more and more lately is this: staged photographs are REEDEEKUUULOUS. Like, of course, this is a pillow on an old crate in front of a chalkboard leaned up against a wall. Because that's TOTALLY where we keep our pillows. Yet somehow, it just doesn't look as wrong as it sounds. Eyes, you are silly geese.

So. I made this print because of this song, and I sorta love them both so much. I don't really have a lot to say about it, but it makes me happy, and I feel a bit calmer when I catch a glimpse of it. I made meeself a desktop background, and if you wants to, you can download one by clicking at the"free thingies" tab at the top o' the page.

Desktoppy versions (download larger on the "free thingies" page):

'Tis all I can think of! Adieu!

Huge (Formerly) Secret Project.

So!

I've been photographing a book.
Like, a whole book, that will have pictures on every. single. page. Actually, more like between 1-6 pictures on every. single. page. That is MANY pictures. And I've been meaning to blog about it FOREVER, but my act has just never gotten itself together (responsibility, dodged!) and so, well, here it is: I've been taking pictures.

Shea. I've told you about Shea, the magical unicorn, whose coattails I would gladly ride forever, yes? Well, she wrote a book, an HAMAZING book, and she asked me, would you take the pictures, and of course I said YES! OH MY! YES! I WILL! I WILL! I WILL!, you get the idea. What made it even more exciting is who is publishing the book-- Susanne Woods of Lucky Spool Media, who I had met at market several years back, and I knew would be awesome to work with. 

It's called School of Sewing, and I want to shouw you every single picture in the whole book, but I am pretty sure I'm not allowed to do that. It's ingeniously written, and insanely thorough, and I might be biased, but I think it's just about the best sewing reference book that anyone who is learning to sew, or knows how to sew, or is teaching people how to sew could have. It's kinda perfect. I'll quote some of what Shea has said about it:

 There is machine buying advice, the what and why of sewing supplies, a detailed troubleshooting section and it’s filled quotes from actual beginners and I think that is my favorite part. It includes the storyline of my group of eight students who have been learning over the course of the last year!

My greatest hope is that not only will beginners pick up this book, but also experienced sewists looking to teach a friend, neighbor or co-worker to love our craft. The book is designed to tackle one project a month with each building on the skills learned in the previous lesson. The projects are functional, gift-able, and (with the exception of one project) can be made in one class!

Seriously, this project has been so awesome. Exhausting, consuming, and LOTS of work, but above all that, it's just been fun. And as soon as I can show you more, I will; but for now I can just give a few sneaky glimpses into the book, and I hope dig them even half as much as I have dug? (digged? dought?) taking them. Wooha! Bam! Boo-yah! 

All of the exclamations!

Technically, It's Called Washington's Birthday.

Have I ever mentioned that we don't really celebrate Valentine's Day in our house? And that a shared love of Lincoln-kitsch was one of the reasons why I ended up meeting my husband? And that our honeymoon was an Abraham-Lincoln-themed roadtrip? And that I sometimes get the urge to get Abe-Lincoln-faced-up and show up randomly at friends' doorsteps?

Because all of those things are true. For as long as I've known him, Brian and I have exchanged our declarations of love and affection on the third Monday of February instead of the 14th. We've always preferred the easy-going, apathetic vibe of Presidents' Day, or, as it is officially labelled by the federal government, "Washington's Birthday". Because who doesn't fondly remember the many filler worksheets of elementary school-- the endless stream of word-searches, scrambles and crosswords that teachers flung at us to escape, if only for a moment, the bleak monotony of February following the Valentine's sugar-rush? I suppose that the answer is: Everyone who isn't American. But 'Murricans, you know what I'm talking about.

 So I've been making silly little Presidents' Day cards for years, and this year I made some for, perhaps, you? Be they on etsy, but I'm also doing a special on instagram-- 3 cards of your choice for $12 + $2 shipping. You can purchase them via instagram, I'm @lauren_hunt, or, if you're not "on the 'gram" (that's slang that no one has ever before used), just send me an email (lauren at auntjune dot com) and I'll invoice you via paypal. What what?

And yes, that is a hand-carved bust of Abraham Lincoln, made by an African man who had never heard of him before. To our knowledge, we own the only one in the United States, or, at least the first one produced by that particular craftsman. It's a good story, I'll have to tell you later.

Abraham Lincoln! Theodore Roosevelt! John Quincy Adams! Just go with it!

Pre-Beard Abraham Lincoln Sure Looks Sassy.

I've been drawing presidents and listening to Bruce Springsteen covers on repeat. Winter does strange things to people, amiright? The presidents are for some cards I hope to have done soon, so at least they have a purpose. As to the cover, I have yet to determine whether I have discovered a dormant love for Bruce Springsteen or for Justin Townes Earle, though perhaps it is just this singular combination of the two?

 

  It remains a mystery for now. I seem to have made Theodore Roosevelt's hands a bit too small for his head, or maybe his head too large for his body? Oh well, I don't tend to fuss around with accurate human proportions. Theodore Roosevelt was kinda amazing, by the way, not only did he wrestle bears, make up his own political party, and give a 90-minute speech immediately after being shot in the chest, but he was a really sweet dude. This is his journal entry for the day that both his mother and wife died tragically:

Commence with the weeping. 

What was my point, internetlings? I do not remember, but enjoy the historical tidbits. I will sew something again, some day.

Studio Stitches For You, Stanford Marshmallows, Pattern Sale, Yee-haw.

Ok-- I said I would get this post up last week.

I am a liar. BUT, I am a liar with good intentions and a heinous cold, and I do apologize.
Aaaaaaaand, since my brain is still slowly leaking out of my nose, this will not be a long and flowery post: Would you like to win a copy of this pattern? It is the result of much, much love, mixed with a potent combination of blood, sweat, and tears. Not literally, that would smell awful. I'm sleepy, can you tell?

THE POINT IS! This pattern is my baby, and I love it, and it has both iron-on and traceable templates and a TON of images and DIAGRAMS! Oh, the diagrams, I love them dearly. It's a great excuse to buy shiny happy floss and sit in front of a heater and watch movies and stitch away to your heart's content. I'mma do this differently than I have in the past-- for every 20 comments, I will give away 1 pattern, and each winner will be drawn from that specific segment, so you have a 1-in-20 shot of winning, no matter how many people comment! Sound good? Cool. This time I'm going to make it easy, you don't have to answer any questions, just comment with anything. Although, if you're an overachiever, you can comment with your favorite quote from a Christmas movie. Or any movie. Run with it. I'll draw on the 18th!

And, if you've decided you'd just like to get one, all quick-like, Empty Bobbin now has a shop with downloadable PDF patterns! Instant gratification-- it's pretty awesome. You can eat your marshmallows right now-- no harm, no foul.* AND, To christen the newly launched store, Shea is offering a 20% off code through Monday the 16th at noon on ALL of the patterns! Just enter the code GIVEAWAYDAY at checkout for 20% off your PDF pattern order. Check it outsies.

And now, I shall scuttle back to my lair and return to coughing up phlegm! Victoire!

*When I was a kid, my mom would always tell me about this study in order to encourage me to be a more patient and productive human being. I don't think it worked. And, apparently, no one elses' parents used this as a cautionary tale? My kids will know what I mean when I yell "Wait for your marshmallows, delinquents!"

The Somewhat Sad-ish Sampler, or: How I Learned to Embroider, Kinda.

After deciding to dip my toe into the delicious-flossy-rainbow pool that is embroidery, I realized that it would be prudent to, well, uhm... actually learn to embroider? I think maybe I'd done it a few times before, but I can't imagine I had produced anything with any degree of aesthetic appeal or skilled craftsmanship. 

Which is to say, I sucked at it. Thus was born, The Somewhat Sad-ish Sampler! Shifty, shaky, and utterly without skill! It was insanely fun to make.

You could probably guess, but this was not a well-planned project. Basically, I decided to start randomly embroidering concentric squares in different stitches, and it just became a sampler by default. Did I have any idea what I was doing? No. But I DID have a book on embroidery, and a lot of West Wing episodes to burn through. Netflix streaming is the jet fuel of the 21st century crafter.

I think I learned a lot, because that's easiest to do if you know almost nothing. And it was just so much fun to play with pretty colors and spent almost no time thinking about what I was doing-- bumbling along, picking stitches at random and being generally unconcerned by the many, many mistakes and irregularities in the design. When you're in the habit of thinking about projects as (to some degree) commodities, it's really refreshing to make something so haphazard and unappealing that there would never be any question of re-making or marketing it. 

Clearly I'm still no expert, but it was great practice for the MANY hours that I would put into sewing up the Studio Stitches sewing machines, several of which I stitched multiple times before I had acceptable samples. More on those soon-- I promise, I really am getting around to giving some of them away; this week it IS happening.

(For the record, I didn't embroider it in this hoop, but since I had put no forethought into display, there's really no good way to do it. Stitch tension, heh, heh... it was an issue.)

Winner, Winner, Goose-y Dinner.

I must say that I greatly enjoyed reading all of the goose-names submitted, and if it were a vote, I think our collective goose would definitely be named Lucy (or Loosey, or other variations thereof), or Grey. Quilters and vodka-lovers, it seems that a venn diagram would have a significant overlap, amiright? Anyway, drumroll, please...

 Elizabeth! You have done won. I shall email you shortly.

I really do wish I had a bunch more to give away, especially since there were so many interesting and hilarious suggestions. A few of my favorites:

 

Awesome, right? And, even if you didn't win on this one, I hope you'll be comforted knowing that I'm going to try and give you as many chances as possible to get some free stuff in the next few days! If you haven't already signed up to win an Overdue Book Calendar, you can do so here. Also, I just received a nice stack of Studio Stitches patterns, and I am itching to get some of them flying out the door and into your hands... look for it soon!