I am fully committed to my porch project, and making a lot of progress. Even though I have a lot more that I want to do, it’s now my favorite spot to hang out. I can eat out there, sit and knit, read, or even take a nap.

I finished two pillows and have a couple more pillow forms waiting for covers. I played with batik again , and again, it was a lot of fun. This time I went bright with pink and orange dye. I originally added the orange to the pink dye bath when I was finished with it, hoping for more of a coral color. Obviously, I should have added less orange for that to happen. I’m fine with the bright tangerine, though.

I just used a paint brush and beeswax on drop cloth fabric, like last time, but I think if I do this again, I’ll invest in this special tool to see if it gives me a little more control. I just keep calling this sort of imperfect outcome ‘organic,’ to legitimize all the gloppiness of it.

I love the texture of the drop cloth for these pillows, which will be outdoors much of the time. The cushion covers are simply two squares of the dyed fabric with an invisible zipper in the bottom seam, so they’ll be easy to remove and wash.

I know, I need to paint my rocking chair. It’s an old, cheap one from Wal-Mart that Mr. Heylucy surprised me with one day, years and years ago, so I can’t complain. Painting it is on the to-do list, but it’s at the bottom for now.

Completely unrelated to all this, I made a little rosemary wreath after work the other day, just for fun. I have two giant rosemary bushes in serious need of pruning, so I cut enough sprigs for this project. And you can’t even tell, the bushes are still spilling over the walkway. I could probably make a couple dozen wreaths from those monsters.

Here’s a quick how-to, in case you want to make one yourself (it’s super easy and fun!): cut lots and lots of rosemary sprigs. Strip the leaves from the bottom few inches, and bunch three or so together and wrap with floral wire (I have a paddle of very thin, green wire, so it’s easy to wrap). Don’t cut your wire. Gather together another bunch, again striping the leaves from the bottom, and overlap the first bunch, wrapping the two bunches together and continuing down the stems of the second bunch. Keep repeating with new bunches until you have a string of rosemary long enough to shape into a circle. Wrap the last bunch to the first bunch. If you have a lot of wire showing, you can just add more sprigs here and there with short bits of wire to cover it up. And that’s it! Hang up your wreath and admire your handiwork, and marvel that it just took a few minutes to make. If it’s a bit wonky, just call it ‘organic.’

And going back to the porch, here’s a gratuitous picture of Pulley, who likes hanging out there as well.

My little studio is a disaster area right now. I have too much stuff. So I’m determined to either use what I have or get rid of it. The two quilts made a dent, but there are still four vintage quilt tops and a couple other in-progress quilts. I was happy that my batik project used materials I already had, except for a $3 box of dye that I had to buy. I’ve even done some more batiking (new word, I just made up), which I will share soon.

Then there were two boxes of tiny yogurt bottles I had been saving for years, because: cute! Also, it was delicious yogurt, which Trader Joe’s no longer carries, so sad. They are the perfect size for tea lights and I’ve had this vision of an elaborate chandelier to hang on the porch to be all romantic and stuff. I decided to just whip something up with what I could find laying around. A bit of weathered branch from one of our dead oak trees served as the hanger for all the little jars, which I just strung together with some copper wire. It took all of about fifteen minutes

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, and viola! I have a chandelier.

I’ll be honest, I don’t LOVE it, but it looks pretty magical when it’s all lit up. It’s just a little too rustic, but we’ll just call it Organic, and let it be for now.

I was, perhaps, too impatient, because then I went and did some Pinterest research, and found some inspiration for some lights that I like better. I have some chicken wire, and lots of scrap wood, so I’m going to think on what I can do with those materials, and maybe some day I’ll disassemble the whole thing and try again.

In other news, I had the best Sunday afternoon nap ever right out there on my little cot. It was cool and breezy and birds were tweeting in the lilacs.

I actually pinned something on Pinterest, and then made it, and it might not be quite as pretty as the original, but I really like it. Plus I learned something new and it was really fun.

I love how this takes a traditional (and beautiful) technique and imagines it a little differently. Also, now I’m in awe of artists that do create traditional batiks.

After sketching out a design I used melted beeswax and a small paint brush to fill it in. I didn’t have much control over where exactly the wax went, but it ended up looking very organic. Since that was the whole idea behind the botanical garland, I think it worked out well

It took awhile to paint the whole thing

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, but it was a nice, meditative process. And then it went into the dye bath. I didn’t get too crazy, and just used a box of Rit dye. I had hoped for it to come out a little darker, but in the end, I like the grey.

I ironed the fabric between paper towels to remove the wax, although there’s still a little left in there. Since it’s just going to be hanging on the wall, it’s not a big deal.

Then I just stitched up one side and inserted a piece of scrap wood and braided some cording that I had for hanging it.

There’s a huge breaker box in my office, and it’s the perfect cover-up. I love that I made something with stuff that I already had, the only thing I bought was that box of dye. I’d like to learn more about dying fabric, though, and do some smaller pieces in bright colors to make into cushion covers for our living room. And there you go

, a fun weekend craft project that came out just right!

I have a book to give away here on the blog this week, and you can give away 20 books if you hurry! I'll tell you about mine last, because it's not as important or exciting as World Book Night! Have you heard about this? I should have mentioned it sooner, but I signed up at what I thought was the last minute and then didn't think about it again until I got an email the other day that I had been accepted and would get the opportunity to share twenty copies of a favorite book. 

So, what is this World Book Night thing, you may be asking? It started last year in the UK and has expanded to include the US and Ireland this year! It's a charity for the promotion of literacy and reading, which is very dear to my heart. Anyone in these three countries can apply to recieve twenty copies of a favorite book (you choose from a list of 30 very good books-I had to really think about which I wanted to share) to be given away in a location of your choosing-preferably to non-readers, on April 23. I chose Peace Like a River, which is that rare kind of book that stays with you for years and years. Narrated by a young boy whose voice has been compared to Scout Finch or  Huck Finn, it is the story of a family and a tragedy and miracles and goodness. I can't wait to share it!

Go apply right now, the deadline is Monday, February 6th at midnight EST. You don't have to write long essays for each question, just give succinct but thoughtful answers and I think you'll have a good chance at being accepted. At least that's what I did. 

Now for a little blog giveaway. It's been awhile since I've done one, but I just received a copy of the new paperback edition of Creative Quilting with Beads, which I contributed to a few years ago.

It's got lots of fun projects, and even if you don't want to replicate them exactly, it's good for inspiration for everything from bags to wall hangings to fridge magnets (I think theses are super cute and would make great little brooches). I recently cleaned out my bead stash, so I might even include an assortment of seed beads and a little sewing kit along with the book.   

To enter, just leave a comment and tell us about a favorite quilting project or beading project (links to pictures are encouraged!) you've done or dream of doing. I'll leave the comments open until next weekend. 

Some random things I wanted to share, with nothing in common, other than the fact that I enjoyed them:

I think this song and video are just beautiful. Passenger was definitely my favorite album of 2011.

This is making me want to bind a book. It's been a long time. So many crafts, so little time.

When you find yourself with fifteen minutes to spare, go watch The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore (inspired by The Wizard of Oz, Hurricane Katrina, Buster Keaton and a love of books. Trust me, it will make sense).

"When you knit something for someone, you're thinking about them. I think it just conveys love" 

We've had some beautiful days lately. Sunday afternoon I went to a winery in Escondido, in support of a friend about to start chemotherapy. The view was lovely.