Work-in-Progress Wednesday: Prepping for Paint

Posted on October 16, 2013 by Juliet Tiu

This past weekend, my son asked An-kong (Grandpa) if he would draw his Chinese name on his wooden shield. It turned out better than I could’ve imagined. Now it’s up to me to paint it. Wish I gesso-ed* before my father-in-law drew the characters, but no worries. I’ll make it work… (Hehe, “make it work”. I’ve been watching too much Tim Gunn and Project Runway! HA!)

I’ve also started a brown paper bag journal – made it with three lunch-size paper bags from our take-out dinner the other night. (Upcycled product project, yay!) This has been something I’ve been meaning to do for a long time. I totally want to break out all my paint… and if you’d like to follow the journal journey, hop over to the my Facebook page where I’m winging it, as usual.

*Acrylic gesso (jess-o), in case you’re not familiar, is a basically a primer you can use on canvas, fabric, paper, wood, etc. It makes the surface nice and smooth for painting or drawing.

Completed Project: the hexie pillow

Posted on September 6, 2013 by Juliet Tiu

Here it is! My pillow evolved from practicing and messing around with hexie shapes. (I posted yesterday how I cut my hexies.) Maybe it should be called “Molecule pillow” or “The Game Board pillow”, because that’s what I think of when I look at it. And, I’m not a gamer by any means, but I know that hex shapes are found in a lot of board games.

By the way, if you’ve played Settlers of Catan (or other similar games), then you know what I’m talking about. Check it out if you haven’t.

So… how are hexies put together anyway? I researched on Google for some answers. It all boiled down to : By hand, and carefully.

I found a few websites that show machine-pieced hexagons. Then I found a lot of information about paper piecing techniques, but I was looking for something that wouldn’t require cutting paper shapes for each fabric hex. Finally, I stumbled upon a tutorial for piecing hex shapes without paper. It worked for me, even if I didn’t print on my fabric. I’m pretty good at eyeballing distance and level lines.

I kept with neutral colors so I could gift the pillow to anyone – male, female, kid, adult. (In the middle of sewing the hexies together, I learned about some fabric printed with grass and rock graphics. Could be so awesome for a “Settlers of Catan” inspired project.)< Continue for what you need to make this pillow!

How to use an easy hexagon cutting template for fabric shapes

Posted on September 4, 2013 by Juliet Tiu

I’m smitten with hexies, fabric cut in the shape of a hexagon. They have been a big trend in the sewing and quilting world for probably four years now. You can even buy precut fabric hex shapes at the fabric store, in-person and online. People are using hexies in their sewing projects like crazy! Just do a Google image search or Instagram search and you’ll see. So, I bought this cool template to try my hand at hexie shapes – an EZ Quilting Tool 5″ Hexagon acrylic tool by Simplicity.

Let’s try cutting a 2″ finished hexagon. I’ll use paper to demonstrate.

1) Cut your fabric in a strip to the width you want. (1/2″ is added for your seam allowance.) Place the template over your strip of fabric, all the way to the edge, and using a rotary cutter, make cuts at the edge as shown by my dotted lines.

Note: I’ve heard that the smaller rotary cutter is much easier to use. Guess I’ll have to run out and get one of those too.

2) Flip your fabric over, and line up your cut edge with the template at the desired size. Now cut the other side of your hex shape.

3) You’re done! You can continue cutting down the fabric strip by just lining up your template edge with the corner…

…You’ll have cute triangular pieces to add to your scrap bin. (And I’m sure all the avid sewists have scrap bins.)

Short of owning my own die-cutting machine, I can make all sorts of sizes with this simple tool. *grin* And, it stores very easily.

Stay tuned for a pillow project that uses the hex shapes in an applique. THANKS!

Birthday Part 2: Painting Pottery

Posted on August 7, 2013 by Juliet Tiu

Really, this was “part one”. I kicked off my fabulous 40th birthday weekend with a ladies night out at our local pottery studio, If an Elephant Can Paint. What a treat to be able to sit and paint our own projects (not our kids’), and talk (uninterrupted).

I looked around the table at friends who span my childhood, grade school, high school, post-college and now, from my kids’ school. I am crazy blessed to have these people in my life.

We even learned a silkscreening technique.

My painted platter in progress

Salt shaker in progress

Special thanks to Vicky and her crew at the studio!! You can check out our finished projects album, too. It’s at my personal Facebook page… until I transfer some pics here. Enjoy!

Painting Rocks Shoe Style

Posted on July 20, 2013 by Juliet Tiu

My family and I had so much fun on vacation and even made time to craft. With a few river rocks and some acrylic paint, paint pens and imagination, we made a bunch of cute desktop doo-dads. The “fairy house” I painted (upper lefthand corner) will end up in a miniature fairy garden that my daughter and I have yet to make.

My sis-in-law found a flip-flop rock – ridges in the right spot for the “thong” part. The Converse-inspired rock for my nephew might be my favorite.

Mugshot Monday: Walls

Posted on June 10, 2013 by Juliet Tiu

PROMPT from Monday Mugshots Collaboration May 30th: My Walls. Do you have walls that you put up?
SHOOTERS: Shoot your mug in front of a cool textured wall.

I could have gone all deep and philosophical on this topic, but I just wanted to go for face value this time. This wall might not be super textured; it’s one wall of our home which we built on our own. (Well, let me clarify that, we general contracted on our own. My father-in-law and husband did the site management during the summer.) It seems like a long time ago now. Seven years.

My cup of tea sits in front of water-stained limestone, and next to a newly planted lemon balm plant. I’m dreaming of a tea garden where lemon balm, chamomile and lavender can coexist. We have healthy echinacea growing but I always forget that we can use the buds for tea.

This morning I snagged my husband’s Intelligentsia mug for a few sips while I worked on a friend’s subway art piece. (Needed more caffeine since I finished mine so quickly.) And yes, I cut out letters by hand.

I realize I haven’t been very timely or good about sharing tutorials this Spring, and now we’re into Summer vacation – oy! Friends, I’m primarily trying to do more, sit less… so not to worry, I’m still making, baking, creating. Join me at Instagram or at the Facebook page for more of the daily happenings. Thanks and do let me know if you’re keeping up with Monday Mugshots!

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