wistfulphoenix

[wistfulphoenix]

[wistfulphoenix]

Hello! I made a dress from scratch for the Renaissance Faire. It took me six months to make the chemise, hoop skirt, under skirt, over skirts, French knot embroidered bodice, crown and jewelry. I am very excited to wear it this year despite how serious I look in the photos!

[wistfulphoenix]

Square Bloom

quilt by Jo Wollschlaeger

2nd place in American Patchwork & Quilting Transparency Quilting Challenge, QuiltCon 2025

this challenge focused on the illusion of transparency in quilting.

[wistfulphoenix]

finally got some more medium-red 🌟❤️

[wistfulphoenix]

stiles: I've created a color-coded alert system to track derek's moods. erica: Okay, so what does blue mean? stiles: Blue means no depressing angst. erica: I see. stiles: We've never been at blue.

[wistfulphoenix]

A work in progress. I’ve been sewing this quilt by hand, very gradually, since 2020. It started life as a labour of lockdown love and was inspired in part by a hexagon quilt made by @nonasuch. All the fabric I’ve used is scraps gratefully received from friends and relatives who sew regularly, or old clothes cut up, or charity shop pillow cases. Individually I think some of these fabrics are horrid, but everything looks nice once it’s part of a patchwork quilt.

Now that I’m most of the way through the quilting step this is tantalisingly close to being a finished project - but I expect I’ll still be at it for another year.

Using this quilt pattern: https://www.talesofcloth.com/products/mandolin-quilt

[wistfulphoenix]

i’m screaming

[wistfulphoenix]

Had an idea this morning: a cute little 4” square EPP block, shaped like a book. It took about 2 hours from concept to execution, and I feel pretty good about it! Not sure what I’m going to do with it yet— maybe that’ll be my next project once my Ice Cream Soda quilt is done.

[wistfulphoenix]

RIP Joann, now what?

I wanted to make a post I could copy and paste and or link when I see folks asking where to buy fabrics when Joann is gone. I sew a lot, generally between 100-200 items a year and I don't do it on a big budget. Stores are not in a particular order.

Notions:

Wawak.com - start here, mostly stay here. Wawak is a supplier for professional sewing businesses and have the prices that show it. I will not pay for gutermann Mara 100 anywhere else. I buy buttons, tools, thread, and most elastic here.

Stitch Love Studio - this is where I buy lingerie supplies https://www.etsy.com/shop/StitchLoveStudio?ref=yr_purchases

Fabric:

Fabric Mart - this is one where you want to sign up for emails and never buy unless its on sale. They run different sales every day and they rotate. Mostly deadstock fabrics but I buy more from here than anywhere else. Fantastic customer service and if you watch you can get things like $6 wool suiting or $4 cotton jersey. https://fabricmartfabrics.com/

Fabrics-Store - again, buy the sales not the full price. Sign up for the emails but redirect them to a folder because it is TOO MANY. They stock linen or good but not amazing quality. https://www.fabrics-store.com/

Purple Seamstress - This is where I buy my solid cotton lycra jersey. They have other things, but the jersey is what I'm here for. Inexpensive and very good quality. If you ask she will mail you a swatch card for the solids. https://purpleseamstressfabric.com/

LA Finch - deadstock fabrics with a fantastic remnant selection https://lafinchfabrics.myshopify.com/

Califabrics - mix of deadstock and big brands, easy to navigate and always seem to have good denim in stock. https://califabrics.com/

Boho Fabrics - good variety, nice bundles. I have also gotten some really great trims from here. https://www.bohofabrics.com/

Firecracker Fabrics - garment and quilting fabrics, really nice selection and great sale section. I've bought $5 yard quilting cottons here several times. https://www.firecrackerfabrics.com/

Hancock's of Paducah - Quilting fabric and some limited garment fabric. AMAZING sale section. Do not sleep on the sale section. This is my first stop when buying quilting fabrics. Usually the last stop too. Not particularly speedy shipping. https://www.hancocks-paducah.com/

Itokri - This is something a little different. Itokri is an Indian business with incredible traditional fabrics. Shipping to the US is expensive, but the fabric is so inexpensive it evens out. I generally end up paying like $30 for shipping. Beautiful ikat and block prints. https://itokri.com/

Miss Matatabi - this is a little treat. This isn't where you go to save money, but there are so many beautiful things in this shop. Ships from Japan incredibly quickly. https://shop.missmatatabi.com/

Lucky Deluxe - Craft thrift store, always has an incredible selection and fantastic customer service. I need to close the tab fast because I never go to this website without finding something I need. https://www.luckydeluxefabrics.com/

Swanson's - the OG of online craft thrift stores, but I find their website harder to navigate. https://www.swansonsfabrics.com

Honorary Mentions: I haven't shopped at these places yet but I have had them recommended and likely will at some point.

A Thrifty Notion - https://athriftynotion.com/

Creative Closeouts - https://creativecloseoutsfabric.com/ being rebranded to sewsnip.com on March 1 - quilting deadstock

Hawthorne Supply Co. - I just got this rec and I think I need to not look too closely or I'm going to slip with my debit card. https://www.hawthornesupplyco.com/

This is not an exhaustive list of everywhere you can buy fabric, or even a full list of where I shop. There are SO many options out there in the world. You also need to think outside the fabric store box. I thrift men's shirt fabrics for quilts and sheets for backing fabric. I don't do a ton of in person thrifting and my local stores don't get a lot of craft materials but every thrift store is its own universe and reflects the community it is in. Go out and find something cool.

Oh and final note: Don't shop at Hobby Lobby.

[wistfulphoenix]

He's just a softiewolf underneath it all.

[wistfulphoenix]

Doctor Beth's Patient Log --- A new newsletter!

This one isn’t a story…

This post isn’t about a teddy bear or a lamb, or a cloth doll.  

I wanted to let you all know that I have started a Substack, Doctor Beth’s Patient Log.  It will be just like the stories here, but if you subscribe (which is free) you can get the stories straight to your email.  

I’m still going to tell the stories here…. You all are my original audience and I wouldn’t dream of stopping.  But a bunch of you have had trouble with recent posts being inaccurately labelled mature (why is Felicia the frog or a Berenstain Bear mature?), and this way, if you want, you shouldn’t have to worry about that again.  I have contacted Tumblr (three times!) about the mislabelling and have not heard back.  And when I or my family have looked at the posts, they don’t have that label, so I’m assuming it’s corrected quickly, but I know it can still be aggravating.

Which is why I went and did some research on Substack (where I subscribe to a bunch of newsletters) and figured out how to duplicate my posts there for those who want (or if you have friends who aren’t on Tumblr but might be interested, they can always try the Substack).

The first newsletter comes out later this week.  It’s a retro story, Baby Bunny’s tale.  If you remember the Bunny with the samurai costume, it’s their story.  Then, starting with my Memorial Day post here, the same story will come out on the Substack newsletter too. If you’d like to subscribe, you can click here.

So, I hope you keep an eye out for that Memorial Day tale, about Navy Goat.  I’ve been saving his story for the holiday.  And if you’d like, or if you have friends who might be interested, you’ll also be able to see him on my new Doctor Beth’s Patient Log Newsletter.

More stories soon!

beth

[wistfulphoenix]

Putting Eeyore Back Together Again

Eeyore (as I may have mentioned) is my favorite inhabitant of the Hundred Acre Wood. I guess it makes me feel better, having him sitting around saying it could always be worse.

In any case, I care about all of my patients, but when there's an Eeyore, my small Eeyore collection keeps them company through surgery, and they become kind of honorary, far off members of that collection when they fly home.

The latest Eeyore in the hospital came in because, well it started off with him having some simple seam issues, but then Eeyore's person's beau brought him to an alterations shop and being familiar with clothes but not stuffed animals, they got his alignment off. These are the diagnosis photos I was sent next. Be warned, he is nearly headless wtih stuffing all over!

You can kind of see his mane is sticking out with nowhere to go. What you can't see is that they made new folds to sew his ears into, rather than putting them in the actual seams where they were, and of course, he's nearly headless!

Eeyore flew in for emergency reconstruction surgery. I took out all the stitches the alterations people had done (they truly altered him!). And repaired his injuries, reseating his ears and mane. Here he is, all better and ready to fly home:

His person's beau wrote "My girlfriend is going to ecstatic when she sees him!"

And to all of you, I hope you keep Eeyore's smile in those photos in mind. While it could always be worse, that means it IS better and perhaps worth a smile.

And as an added bonus today, I bring you a selection of my Eeyores, including one who brought his own teddy bear to the hospital so it could get better!

[wistfulphoenix]

Knitting project #1: Flip top mittens with flip top thumbs as well!

I've been working on these mittens since October - I used this pattern to make mittens for my mom a few years ago, and really liked them, so decided to make me a pair. And I could not get the thumbs to work. I must have redone thumb #1 at least a half dozen times before adding some extra stitches for a gusset and doing Judy's magic cast on to create a little hat that I then grafted on.

Pattern: Gabriella (free download) on ravelry.

[wistfulphoenix]

Knitting project #2: "Frog & Strawb Hat" - the yarn was super yummy: squishy and soft and it knit up fast. It was my first time doing colorwork and continental knitting so my tension is all over the place, but I'm pretty pleased with it.

I'm trying to figure out how to make matching mittens because I have left over yarn, so I've gotten a bunch of Norwegian mitten patterns from the library.

Pattern: Frog & Strawb Hat on ravelry.

[wistfulphoenix]

I was thinking through what else I’m looking forward to this holiday season and I realized I haven’t mentioned it on here, just on discord, but— MY MOMS BEEN MAKING ME A REALLY COOL ART THING??

I think I’ve talked about it before, but my mom has been a quilter for most of my life and in the last few years started doing these really cool fabric collages, and it was my turn to request one so I asked for a phoenix cause I’m obsessed with this one art piece I did in art therapy ages ago

Anyway, my mom has been working on it and THIS was the last update I got???

I’m so excited for it?? Can’t wait to see where it’s at by the time I get there this weekend

[wistfulphoenix]

This is consuming my thoughts