Quilter, singer and entertainer Marie Osmond has partnered with Janome America, Inc., a manufacturer of home sewing machines, to support the Memory Craft 11000, Marie's choice in a sewing, quilting and embroidery machine.
"For me, sewing is great therapy," said Marie. "Creating a quilt is not only fun and relaxing, it's a personal and unique way to connect with others. Some of my best memories are times I spent quilting with my Mom, my children, and my friends, or making a quilt as a gift. The reliability and simplicity of the Janome Memory Craft 11000 gives me the time and the freedom for unlimited creative possibilities. I'm pretty sure a busy woman must have designed this machine!"
As part of the agreement, the Janome website, will feature instructions and patterns for a quilt project using fabrics from Marie's Blanc et Noir and brand new Blanc et Noir-Brights collections. The site will also feature instructions and patterns for an embroidered pashmina Marie designed for Janome. The direct link to instructions for Marie's Embroidered Pashmina Shawl can be found here.
2007 is going by quickly but that's no excuse to take another look at what's hot. The Smokey Mountain Sentinel is reporting that the National Craft Association (NCA) believes the following items will be hot trends in 2007 for both personal crafters and crafters out to make money with their crafts.
Metal crafts, whether they are stamped, sculpted, punched or embossed, are growing in popularity.
Pink - a favorite in the fashion world this season - is overflowing into the realm of home decor crafting. Other cheerful, bright colors are apt to follow.
Also in home design, "shabby chic," replete with peeling paint and an "antiquey" feel is being replaced with a more modern look that is clean and finished. Warmer tones with color and texture are very popular.
Needlecrafts, crocheting and knitting are still growing by leaps and bounds thanks to the extra exposure offered by celebrity endorsements. Plus, it's not just about baby blankets and scarves -- these handcrafted designs are also moving into home decor. Similarly, quilting has become more of an art form than a craft. Quilts are adorning walls, and the trend has also been carried over into papercrafting, where "quilted" looks are hot.
"Mixed m e d i a collage" h a v e become buzzwords in the world of crafting. These terms blur the lines between fine fine art and crafting and are fueled by scrapbooking, paper-crafting and other ideas about adding embellishments to art.
In a similar vein, embellishments in general - most notably beading - are current everywhere, from fashion to home decorating.
For those who dabble in sewing and fashion design, the preppy look is back, giving a nod to simple motifs, embroidery and monograms. And for patterns, stripe and polka dots are quite popular, while modern graphic prints are being joined with romantic and nostalgic prints to give them a modern flair.
You can also vist the National Craft Association (NCA) website at www.craftassoc.com. For more tips and resources be sure to also vist the Craft and Hobby Association's website at www.craftplace.org.
Robert at All Manner of Distractions used his processing skills to come up with a cool quilt design for his mother. His mother was able to sew a quilt based on the design.
I whipped up a version of the program that made the original image and spit out a few screengrabs with different compositions. Mom choose one and started quilting. This was back in January. Right away, we ran into a little snag. She wasn't able to find any fabric wider than 4' to make the backing. She asked me what I wanted her to do instead, and that is when I rocked her world with 5 simple words.
How about one inch squares?
I love my mom and when she showed me the final backing, several hundred bright red one inch squares, I knew she loved me back. She probably despised me as she was sewing, but the end result was quite lovely! Textured but not distracting. And hey, it harkens back to pixels in a way, so the thematic sensibilities were enhanced.
The quilt of the magnetosphere image looks amazing. Very impressive quilting. (via Make)
Quilter, singer and entertainer 
Robert at 