softies

 

I'm
in the home-stretch of a many-months' design project.  With a name
chosen, a logo and some final print-outs, my next fabric collection
will head off to the mill and my brain will be my own again.  I've been
twittering as a welcome distraction.  Next I'll need a new phone plan
so I can twitter from anywhere.  Then I can get input on whether to buy
the yellow shirt or the blue one, have help choosing a dessert at the
grocery store, or discuss any number of random ponderings while on the
go.

For instance, I've been thinking about Magic Shell
a lot lately — well, more than usual, which is never — probably
because ice cream consumption increases in direct proportion to an
increase in workload.  Magic Shell can't be natural.  But, it sure
tastes like chocolate and not as much like plastic as I'd expect.  I
twitter-tweeted my love of Magic Shell and WhipUp twittered me right back a link to a make-your-own-Magic-Shell recipe here.

For my last 2009 MOT post, I'm singing praises for the Stuffing Fork by Barbara Willis — my favorite tool for stuffing stuff with stuffing : )

— like pincushions, dolls, toys, etc.

This
simple tool is awesome.  You can use it to push stuffing into just the
right spot.  And for teensy stuffed things, like doll fingers and
noses, the small Stuffing Fork
is great.  If you poke the fork into a small tuft of stuffing and give
it a twist, you can maneuver your stuffing bit in place.  They really
are great.

We just stocked a handful of each size, large and small, in our store (10% discount here
till April 5th).  I have an old-school, wooden-handled Stuffing Fork
that's been well-used and well-loved for the last decade or more.  Now
I've upgraded to these new ones which have a molded plastic handle and
are even better — a necessary tool for your sewing arsenal.

And
because April is upon us, I'm going to bullet-list out a few more tools
I love, then call it done for the year.  Totally random though.  No
rules.

• Color Munki.  New tool for us.  But you should hear Isaac's shouts of
  'whoa!' from the other room.  When you're in the design business, color
  calibration is big.
• Great Lash Mascara.  Tackiest packaging, but good mascara.
• Beeswax for thread. 
  For quilting or applique, if you run your thread through beeswax &
  press it before sewing, your thread will be stronger and will suffer
  less wear when pulled through the fabric stitch after stitch.  I'll
  blog about this one in more detail sometime.
• Water-soluble markers. 
  For marking match points or drawing tailoring adjustments in sewing. 
  Or for drawing out an embroidery design onto fabric.  Where were these
  when I learned to sew with chalky, messy, white tailoring pencils?
• Art Gum erasers. 
  I have these erasers all over my studio.  When I only had one or two,
  I'd lose them, or the dogs would chew them up.  Isaac bought me 10 at
  once and now I'm all set.  Having an abundance of good erasers is a
  luxury anyone can attain.
• Pentel Twist-Erase mechanical pencils. 
  My new favorite pencil, because the eraser actually lasts for a while
  and can be re-filled.  Of course, as a result, my art gum eraser
  collection hasn't been as important lately.  Dave says this pencil has it's own following.
  
• Typepad.  I've used Typepad from the beginning and have always
  been impressed with their interface, customer service, customizability,
  upgrades, etc.  And I've never had a post go missing. This is the second or third time they've featured my blog on their sign-in page and I'm completely honored. 
• Twitter.  I've always described blogging as a form of conversation, and micro-blogging is even more conversational (see tweets in my sidebar).  It's been less than a week since I started twitter-chatting, but what fun.

Okay, so I'm off to polish up a logo for the fabric collection, then
it's back to a more normal pace — and a movie & a milkshake.  Any
movie recommendations?