Thursday, October 27, 2011

Terrarium

Terrariums are hot.  I remember making them as a child in the 1970s- any glass jar I could find, whatever plants I dug out of the back yard, a few miniature toys or ceramics, etc.

I attended a conference in September where they used simple terrariums as the table center pieces in the lounge/break/snack areas. I think that's where I got the idea to make one myself. Here it is:



Know what's fun about terrariums? You can make them little magical worlds. This one has a little mouse:
Here, the little guy is hanging out on the moss I dug up from a dark, moist spot in our yard.

And a (relatively) giant butterfly:



There is also an enchanted crystal and a teddy bear snuggling up to his favorite quilt.

I hope it lives! It's so cute.

Monday, October 24, 2011

PJ Pants

Using my find from J&O Fabrics, I made these pajama pants. The fabric is totally silly - it is a large scale print of male-stripper looking models in traditional Halloween costumes. A pirate, a vampire, a devil, a skeleton showing a bit of skin.  I'm saving them to wear on Halloween and then to lounge about the house in.


 

I really should be working on my quilt guild project for the Jay McCarroll challenge using his Habitat line. I have an idea, I just need to finish the design and make the darn thing. I started my friend's Christmas quilt, but only started!

It's the sprint to Christmas. I'd better get sewing!

Friday, October 14, 2011

Tuesday, October 11, 2011

Pictures from J&O Fabrics

Here I am at J&O Fabrics on Rt 130 in Pennsauken NJ

As promised, here are my photos from my visit to J&O Fabrics on Monday 10/10/11. Evidence! There really is a real brick and mortar shop in addition to their online business. Pennsauken is in south western  NJ, not too far from Philadelphia. After we had attended to some family obligations in northern NJ, my husband, my father, and I had to drive back to Dulles airport for our flight back home. It was not hard to take a detour off the NJ turnpike to stop in. 

...long story why we flew into and out of Dulles instead of Newark, NJ. Not worth boring you with that story. 

Here's the storefront.

Look at all this cotton!

I like this shop (online and now, in person) because of their selection of novelty cottons. Some of these prints can be found in major chains, like JoAnn's, but this shop really stands out for the selection. Their online store is done well because they put in a good amount of keywords for each print. It makes it easier to find. 

Their most popular fabrics are the team prints.

They sell the cottons and the fleece. One of the sales people told me that the most popular team print is Dallas Cowboys, hands down. They have more choices of Dallas Cowboys than the others....but there is usually 2 choices for each team.

It was a nice way to break up a long day of driving. After I picked out my selections, they were kind enough to ship my order home. Fabric gets heavy in a hurry and we didn't have a lot of room in our bags to pack all the yardage. Since, I'm already in their database, they printed a label, I paid the shipping, and I was all set. 

Nice folks. I definitely recommend them. (As a satisfied customer only, of course)

J & O Fabrics

I went to J&O fabrics yesterday. So exciting - I've been on their email list for about a year now, joined up when I was looking for a special fabric for a scrub cap (back when I made scrub caps to sell on Etsy).

I have been in NJ for some family business and a little time away, and our travels took us near Pennsauken, NJ. I was driving at that time, so I told everyone we were stopping. No if, ands, or buts about it.

J&O Fabrics specializes in novelty print cotton fabric. They have the widest selection of cute, rare, and curious prints. Need fabric with Spiderman on it? A potato chip print? The Jetsons? Boy Scout prints? Any American pro sports or college team? They have it, and usually more than one to choose from.

This store is the kind of old time fabric store that speaks "authenticity" to me - racks of bolts and rolls in a warehouse-like building located in an industrial part of town. About 1/4 of the store is home dec, upholstery, and utility fabric. They also offer a selection of vintage 70s cotton prints in all their Holly-Hobby glory, and they have a decent offering of garment fabrics. They have a nice selection of trim, as well. No fancy displays, no sewing gimicks, no kits, no sewing machines, no furniture. There's a small no-nonsense section of essential notions. A couple of pattern books. This place is for serious fabric shoppers. Ya just gotta dig through it.

I was looking for a print called "Halloween Hunks." Beefcake men dressed in slightly naughty Halloween costumes - they look like a bunch of Chippendale's dancers. It came out in 2008 (no pun intended) but not reprinted, so it's not easy to find right now. Lo and behold they had it! Totally goofy but it will make some terrifically tacky pajama pants.

Dear husband was with me, so he needed fabric in the coordinating cheesecake ladies Halloween print for his matching pair of PJ pants. Dad was also with us - he spotted the University of Virginia fleece.  He's a big fan. I told him I'd make a stadium throw out of the orange and blue panel. That was added to the collection.

They had the best selection of the fruit and vegetable prints I'd seen anywhere, so I added a 1/2 yard each of tomatoes and peppers to my collection

I have pictures at J&O Fabrics, will post when I get home later today.