Posted by Susan on Friday, Sep 25, 2015
It's that time of the year again... time to be creative and make some items to donate to the Iowa City Public Library Friends Foundation's Arts & Crafts Bazaar which will be held this year on Saturday, December 5.
The Library has many books to help spark your imagination or give you tips on how to improve your crafting skills. I currently have three checked out that I found on the NEW nonfiction book shelves on the second floor.
Learn to Sew with Lauren by Lauren Guthrie has lots of cute projects that start out "easy peasy" and work up to "more tricky". The language is understandable, the illustrations really show each step in a clear way. I think using patterns can be intimidating to beginning sewers and the chapter on using patterns is very good and also explains how to copy patterns using dressmakers' pattern paper -- a must when using the full size patterns in the book!
Present Perfect: 25 gifts to sew & bestow by Betz White is full of fun projects that would appeal to many shoppers at the bazaar. Tagalong Teddy, Kinetic Felt Baby Mobile, and Hexie the Turtle Floor Pillow all look like things I could handle.
For beginning quilters All Things Quilting by Alex Anderson covers all the bases -- from selecting fabric to the actual quilting. As a person trying to learn more about quilting techniques I appreciate the clear illustrations showing how to align different shaped pieces (having struggled with this on a couple of projects!).
Maybe sewing isn't your thing -- if you prefer working with yarn, or wood, or paper, or beads, or metal, or any other medium, the Library has books for you. Check out a few and be creative.
P.S. One of my favorite things about our bazaar is that for every $10 you spend you get chance to win one of 8-10 door prizes, which are -- you guessed it! -- books, that represent the many ways people can be creative.
About the Author
Susan was the Library Director of the Iowa City Public Library before retiring in 2018.
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