Makeover Monday (better late than never)

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 I almost used these two pillowcases for my Craft Challenge project.  We've got honey gold, pink flambe, titanium and rhapsody represented.  The fabric itself is unbelievably soft- like the smoothest flannel, but not flannel.

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I decided that a coaster would best enhance the muted shades.  If you look closely, the delicate pattern can be seen peeking out from some of the stitches, too.  This would be perfect for a coastal cottage table!

Rag Ball Surprise

I like to crochet in public. There. Now my secret is out. It's great for business, and it's something constructive to do while I'm waiting for an appointment, or sitting at Tae Kwon Do lessons, or idling in line at carpool pick up.

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The other day I brought an old rag ball to play with while I was out and about. I was surprised at how sturdy the fabric was in this one, and how thick the strips were cut. I decided to use a large hook and see what happened. Well, this is the result!

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I wish I had about 50 more balls like this one to use for a rug. As it is, this is a one-of-a-kind rarity- a solid feedsack table rug/trivet/coaster that would look divine in a farmhouse kitchen.
Look for her in sosorosey soon!

New Custom Order Part I

I am currently hard at work on several custom orders, but the most challenging (and exciting) one right now is shown here. The beginning of it, anyway. I love to get a request for something I have never done before, and this is one of those for sure.

Last week I was contacted and commissioned to make a 24" (that's right, 24" = TWO FEET) rag rug style table coaster. My customer wants this to be the focal point of her round, antique oak table. I have some table coasters in my shop that are 8", but this is substantially bigger. You might be thinking, "Yes, Jennie, it is 3 times larger". Ah, but you would be mistaken.

Enter my techie husband, with his larger than life math skills. As I was laboring over determining a price quote for this creation, he showed me that it was a *simple* matter of algebra. Let me say that for me, the words 'simple' and 'algebra' don't belong in the same room, let alone the same sentence. So, what he thought would be a five minute conversation took most of the night. But, in the end, I understood that a 24" table coaster is actually 9 times larger than an 8" one.

The color scheme is to be pink, white, aqua, "funky green", and red. As usual, my first step was to gather fabrics. As it happened, I had all of these colors on hand- perhaps because they are some of my personal favorites. My customer approved the fabrics I showed her, and has given me lots of freedom with the design; her main desire is to have aqua with red and green with aqua. The rest can be worked in however I see fit.

I sent her this picture and two others this morning. As it turns out, she was out most of the day, and did not reply for several hours. I'm pretty sure I didn't breathe much during those hours; as anyone who does custom work, I just felt anxious and hoped that my vision would match hers. It does!! She loves it!!

This is about 10" across so far. The challenge in this coaster, besides color placement, is alternating my added stitches variably so that the coaster stays round versus multi-sided. I've got it figured out, though, and can't wait to add more colors. Stay tuned for Part II!