Meet more participants of the 52 Weeks Challenge – Week 6

Last week I promised to introduce more participants from the 52 Weeks Challenge which is now in its sixth week. Before I do so, however, allow me to recap for you how the challenge works, and to show you what I worked on this last week. The challenge, which was started by Kym of Fabric Fascination, asks each participant to finish one project of any kind each week, and then to post a link to a photo of the completed project on Kym’s blog. Even if you are starting late (as I did), you are welcome to join the group.

I think it would be embarrassing to list how many unfinished projects are lying around in my house, but this challenge is allowing me to tackle the fringes of the so-called pile. This last week, as my husband and I watched a marathon of Jonathan Creek movies  during the evenings, I worked my way through nine felted wool needle books, sewing buttons to covers and crocheting beaded cords to close the books. I had previously crocheted the covers and fulled them in the washing machine, and had cut out felt circles for the pages. However, I had been putting off assembly because the sheer stack of books was so daunting. I am glad to report that these needle books are now completely finished, and are in the process of being listed in my Etsy shop for sale.

Let’s meet some other 52 Weeks Challenge members who have also been completing weekly projects.

Chadyienne, who posts about her quilted items on her blog, Cedar Point Designs, is an amazingly prolific sewer from Minnesota  with more than 20 years of quilting experience. She started selling her patterns on Etsy in 2009, beginning with her Sun Burst Tabletopper, and continuing with her Pine Forest and Jack O Lantern table topper patterns. Chadyienne’s shop name, Cedar Point Designs, is based on a piece of lakefront property she owns in Minnesota, where she hopes to retire one day. In the meantime, she is keeping her needle busy with her beautiful fabric bowls and coin purses, wall hangings, table toppers, table runners, and other quilted items. Most of her items feature her own designs. Chadyienne’s favorite technique is paper piecing.  Besides her Etsy shop, you may find Chadyienne’s work in her ArtFire shop, on Zibbet, and at the Calico Barn in Maple Grove, Minnesota.

Rose of Hawaii is the owner of Big Island Rose Designs on Etsy. She is a fellow BBEST (Boomers and Beyond Etsy Street Team) member, and blogs about her sewing interests at The Rose Journal. Rose, whose inspiration is her mother, Mabel, began sewing and crafting as a little girl, making doll clothes and toys. When she was 10 years old, she graduated to her first “real” sewing machine, and won a Singer district sewing contest with a dress she made. Her mother taught her how to embroider, and her father gave her stamps from his collection that Rose used for collage work. She is happiest when working with fabric, paper and buttons, and all three of those materials can be found in her Etsy shop, where she specializes in making fabric wearables, sewing notions and gifts—all of them featuring fabric yo-yos. Her blog is filled with tutorials and friendly sewing tips that she calls Monday Night Tidbits. One of her more recent Tidbits is to overlay your digital scanner glass with a transparency when scanning items (such as jewelry) that might otherwise scratch the glass. What a great idea! Among my favorite items in her shop are her Needle Nabber Flowers and Needle Candies, both of them designed to keep your sewing needles and pins in a handy place.

Stacy Lajoie Edell is both the mother of a seven-year-old and the manager of an auto finance company, but when she isn’t sleeping, she is thinking, breathing and dreaming about fabric. “I am a self-professed fabricaholic,” she says. “I visit a fabric store almost daily during my lunch hour and love to collect fabric. Unfortunately, I collect more than I cut. I am proud of my collection and often sew before and after work as well as on weekends.” Stacy now lives in Florida, but she previously lived in Maine for almost 30 years. She has been sewing and quilting for more than 20 years, and sells her quilted goods on Etsy at Quilting Diva. She has sewn more than 400 small quilts and wall hangings, and loves to make totes, bags and coffee cozies.

Jacqueline Gikow of Jacqueline Jewelry specializes in handcrafted semi-precious stone and precious metal jewelry, as well as beaded necklaces, beaded earrings, beaded bracelets and home decor accessories. “Whether you are looking for a trinket or a serious investment, my aim is to provide hand-crafted products that are well-made, lasting, and unique for the casual craft lover as well as serious collectors,” she says.This New Yorker who is inspired by stones and beads with bold colors brings to her work her experiences in pottery, graphic and industrial design, and computer programming. Although Jacqueline is a self-taught jewelry artisan, she is no stranger to the art world. She has degrees in sculpture and art history, environmental design, and industrial design. She has also written two books, Graphic Illustration in Black and White and Polymer Clay: Creating Functional and Decorative Objects.

Christine is a Tennessee graduate student in community agency counseling, but Mozella Designs on Etsy is her creative outlet. “My jewelry inspiration comes from current trends and classic fashion,” she says. “I’m still new to jewelry making, but I really love learning new techniques and making different kinds of jewelry.” Her shop name is a tribute to her mother, who passed away when she was younger. Christine writes in her blog, My Jewelry Box, about her enthusiasm for jewelry-making, which recently included attending the Intergalactic Bead Show in Memphis, Tennessee. There she purchased moonstone cabochons, freshwater pearls, semi-precious beads and handmade-by-women Kazuri stones from Nairobi, Kenya. I can’t wait to see what she does with these new additions to her collection!

Next week I will introduce the final members of the group. Meanwhile, please visit this week’s list of participants at their blog and/or online shop addresses.

© 2011 Judy Nolan. All rights reserved. Please note that the images in this post are owned by the artists and may not be used without permission.