crafty wonderland this saturday!

bright grey skies and blazing dandelions

All winter I didn't buy any new used fabric. I got creative with tinier and tinier scraps and did some limited edition items to use up some of my mountainous stash. Mostly it was invigorating to go through piles and unearth forgotten treasures, but my t-shirt bin was looking like the dingy pile of blue and blah that it had become. Then last week, maybe it was the hint of blossoms on the breeze or the way the dandelion's yellow will blaze against a stormy bright grey sky or some thrift intuition, I took the family to Goodwill and found exactly the colors I have been craving. It can be extra challenging to work with recycled materials when you have a color range in mind, so I was delighted to find dark greys and crisp browns to pair with acid greens and lilacs and yellows and turquoise. A celebration of northwest spring: mud and tulips and hope.

New reverse applique designs: dandelion, pie wheel and triple feather.


All of this is,of coarse, in preparation for the opening day of Farmer's Market this Saturday! This is the Market's 20th season(and moth and squirrel's 6th!)so there will be lots of extra celebrating from an opening day antique tractor parade to monthly 20% off days with cooking, crafts and kids days in between. As always I am excited to reunite with awesome customers, inspiring vendors, fresh produce and delicious snacks in my face.
I will be in the pavilion every Saturday from 10am-3pm to sell you hats and stuffed animals and to talk about the weather and what's growing in your garden and how franklin is doing and what to do with that sweater your boyfriend accidentally shrunk.

winter commission 4:Disaster! Tomorrow night!

Winter commission 4 is tomorrow night. (Sat. 7pm-2am at the Spark museum) I am hanging a reverse applique shawl in the art exhibition and leading a craft project upstairs. I really wanted people to have a way to participate in a positive way with the theme of Disaster. Since experiencing an actual disaster is devastating and even just hearing about disasters can be overwhelming and paralyzing. Yet by helping each other in tangible ways we begin to process the event and heal. So I am creating a space where folks can embellish a handkerchief to honor the blood, sweat and tears that accompany disasters.

sample handkerchief Franklin and I personalized with what he called "secret crayons." I have been staying up late to print all the fabric with "for comfort through disaster."

These are samples of the stamps I am carving,simple images that represent the ways we come together to help after disasters: rebuilding homes, collecting canned goods,etc. If people don't feel comfortable writing or drawing their own message of hope,they can use these as building blocks to create patterns.


click here for more info on winter commission.it's been a long winter, hope to see you there!

busman's holiday

On New Year's Day I had the rare pleasure of crafting with my dad and brother. My dad wanted to remake the hobby horse that was well loved and then forgotten for a few decades in a northwest basement. He and my brother engineered the stuffing and stick part while I made the face and mane. It was great to give my dad, the retired doctor, professional advice,"use the end of a wooden spoon to really shove the stuffing into the sock..."And everyone was really impressed by my new take on the horse's mane. The original was a blue sort of pompom toupee.

Franklin and his cousin Martin were ready to gallup around the house on it, but unfortunately for them,Baba and PapaPrice's house was not ready for toddler's wielding heavy sticks twice their height.

So we just took some awkward family photos and called it a successful holiday.

If it's any indication of the year to come,I think moth and squirrel is going to have it's best year ever!

piece of craft

So proud to have a little shout out in The Stranger this week. It is especially awesome because one of the most frequent comments I receive is that my animals are like Ugly Dolls. And although I appreciate what people mean by this,I like to think that my individually crafted critters made from recycled fibers are a little bit more special than the now mass produced Uglies.
The only two places to buy my whales and other recycled goodies this season are The Holiday Handmade Bazaar at THe Mill in downtown Bellingham and the Lucky Dumpster in Edison.
Thanks Seattle for a fantastic weekend at the Urban Craft Uprising. And thanks Stranger for continuing to support and promote all that is freaky fabulous fresh and local