DIY - Wise Craft Handmade

October 21, 2013

Make a Disappearing Nine Patch Quilt

Talking with Erin last week got me in the mood to some quilting, but I wasn’t sure where to start. Inspiration is always in my head, but too much and I’m frozen. So I decided to get back to basics. The disappearing nine patch block has been around for a while, but I wanted to document my process here. So many who claim to not have the skills to make a quilt could easily create this block, and its a very satisfying sew. I used a charm pack of Denyse Schmidt’s newest line, Florence, 1/2 yard or so of one of the prints in this range that reminded me of boxer shorts (actually, the whole range reminds me of boxer shorts!). I wanted dark centers in each of the nine patch blocks, so I used another Denyse Schmidt print (coincidence, but all her prints do work together well) in dark blue for each of the centers. Making the center of each block darker valued will create some continuity later on, but this is not a hard and fast rule. You could make every single square in your nine patch blocks a different fabric. Play with low and high volume prints. Experiment! That’s what this block is all about. Here’s how to do it.READ MORE

October 7, 2013

DIY Halloween Wreath

Maybe it all started with the Day of the Dead quilt, or maybe it’s the gloomy Seattle weather we’ve had, but for whatever reason, I’m into Halloween craft projects way more this year than in year’s past.
There was actually a whole bunch of Halloween decor crafting afternoon last week.
Which around here apparently means lots of spray paint.
Easiest wreath ever. The spray paint a bright fluorescent orange, but a green would be fun too. Our porch is a little dark, so the bright is a nice touch. The grapevine wreath is from Joann’s.
Two coats of spray paint later and I hot glued on every plastic bug, spider, mini skeleton head, and rubber snake I could find in our bin of Halloweens past.
The finishing touch is a cover with spider webs.

September 2, 2013

Make A Ribbon Brooch DIY

I recently received some gorgeous ribbon from Midori to use on some Fall projects. They carry so many gorgeous ribbons, but in particular I love their velvet ribbon. I had no idea which colors to choose (they have so many!) so I turned to the newest J Crew Women’s Lookbook to get some ideas. The colors of one of the tops caught my eye, so I pulled my choices from there. The folks at Midori sent an assortment of white, 2 blues, yellow, and a gorgeous persimmon for me to play with.

August 5, 2013

Crochet Necklace DIY

After a busy week of deadlines, topped off with replacing a laptop after mine died (the night before one of those big deadlines), I had a nice relaxing morning yesterday, crocheting these sweet little necklaces. Trust me when I say, these are quick and easy if you have crochet experience.
And fun! If you crochet a chain stitch and a slip stitch, you can make these. And if you’ve never done it, adding the beads is no sweat at all.

July 29, 2013

A DIY Inspiration Wall

Having some sort of pretty, inspirational area in my workspace has always been important to me. I tend to work rather chaotically, with huge messes, and I’ve come to accept that (I’ll never work neatly, drives Peter nuts!), so having someplace to rest my eyes, daydream for a minute, can really help me through. Even as a working girl, in my tiny workplace cubicles, I had things hanging that inspired me. There was a time a few years ago that I completely changed up the inspiration board that hung in my sewing room each season, in 2012 I even made a year of monthly inspirational desktop wallpapers.

July 15, 2013

DIY Quilt or Blanket Display Ladder

I’ve been bumping into a stack of my quilts in my studio for a few months now, that is until I asked my really nice husband to make a quilt ladder (also called a blanket ladder). Quilts that are not to be used right away, or given as a gift, what to do with them? After some thinking, I decided it would do my creative soul a lot of good to be able to have them out and see them each day.READ MORE

July 1, 2013

DIY Moth Repellent Sachets

Added 7/19/21- These are more important than ever now that we live in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Moths are RUTHLESS!

Living in the Pacific Northwest requires moth repellent. Growing up in North Carolina, a moth getting anywhere near my favorite sweaters was practically a nonissue. Windows were usually closed up all summer (I always say it was 68 degrees all year long). But in Seattle, air conditioning is not the norm, and windows are usually open during the warmer months. I actually kind of forgot about those pesky moths until a few summers ago when several of our sweaters were eaten up. Now every Spring, our sweaters are cleaned well, folded and stored for the season, and I make up a big batch of this lavender and cedar mix and fill up lots of muslin bags. It seems to work, and has the added benefit of making our closet smell great.
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April 22, 2013

Make Preserved Palm Leaf Bowls

One of the best parts of visiting our family is the creativity we all share between us when we’re together. On the island last week we did just that. With palm leaves! Palm trees are in abundance there, literally everywhere! Folks on the island preserve the leaves from these trees and use them for all kinds of things- as sculptural pieces in their home, to hold desk utensils, or to serve hor d’oeuvres at a party. I love the idea of bring natural elements like this into our homes, to enjoy up close.READ MORE

April 1, 2013

DIY Geometric Garland out of Vintage Sheets

I was quite entranced with Spring this past weekend, Seattle truly outdid itself with beautiful weather! We had dinner on the beach (I, of course, brought home more rocks), we walked the neighborhood, dyed Easter eggs, and had Peep jousting wars in the microwave, and made our traditional Easter dinner of ham, carrots, asparagus, etc. I wanted to make the Easter table feel as Springy and came up with this garland after seeing a similar paper version in an old kid’s crafting book from the 1960’s. I love that it creates a really geometric shape and gives a new spin to everyone’s favorite triangular bunting shape. I think these will stay up for a while, I smile every time I pass them.

Here’s how I made them.

February 18, 2013

Make Some Shrinky Dink Jewelry

So, I’m still stuck on doodles. I can’t help it, I’m just not tired of them yet! Over the weekend, I played around with an Ipad sketch I posted to our family’s sketchbook blog last week. I liked the colors in this one a lot and tried making some shrinky dink jewelry. Super easy and fun!
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