“When I found myself on my feet, I looked about me, and must confess I never beheld a more entertaining prospect. The country around appeared like a continued garden, and the enclosed fields, which were generally forty feet square, resembled so many beds of flowers.” - when Gulliver looked over the tiny land around him. Gulliver’s Travels

why are miniature things so appealing?

i love miniatures, maybe too much. they make me feel greedy, and covetous. i want to have them and keep them. my precious… there is something about tiny things which invokes voyeurism, secrecy, nostalgia- some little interiors you can peek your eye into, imagining yourself there. i spent ages when i was little dreaming in miniature spaces.

nowadays, i’m such a weirdo, i buy re-ment miniatures in the combini (convenience store) in japan, and i bring them home and greedily open the package, then hide the fact that i bought them because i feel guilty i spent money on something so useless.

miniatures have always been fascinating, but hard-to-get. as small as they are, they are always expensive because of the time and effort that goes into them. just think of the damage one artist did to her eyes making miniature crocheted items- check out these pics of sage trytle’s miniature crocheted afghans which were featured here on whip-up.

the club little house is for people who make scale miniatures. it was invented by amy powers at inspire co. and there’s only 12 people allowed in each swap… so that makes me feel even more covetous. i first heard about it from posie gets cosy, who recently finished her cute miniature cabinets complete with plates.

i love to look at the pretty doll houses, like this one from all sorts renovated in march, and the one at turkey feather’s site. the blog at About.com also has consistently good posts on miniatures. however, i’ve got something too intensely practical that would probably not allow me to actually own and decorate a dollhouse, without at least having a daughter to ‘cover’ for me.

fake it!

if you can’t make miniatures, you can always fake it! on flickr, there is a trend of making and faking miniature scenes. with the judicious use of the blur tools in photoshop, they are acheiving some fascinating images. in this tutorial, a photographer shows how to make your own photos looks like minis: miniature toy effect.

the flickr community may be weary of this trend, but i haven’t even started yet. i want everything in miniature!

over at bobolina are wonderful.

crochet earings at its your life - very groovy ones too.

great crochet stars at chuculeta con raton she gives instructions in spanish - and I believe there is an offer of a tutorial - yes please!

bit of a sock yarn rave of sundara yarn over at Black olive.

Am enjoying seeing progress of the knitted quilt from mason dixing knitting book over at january one

Our home and studio are littered with suitcases, there are piles of clothes and quilts that need to be laundered, folders are bulging with business cards, orders to be filled and taxi receipts. There are more voicemails and emails to respond to than I care to admit—must be ICFF season.

The ICFF, which stands for the International Contemporary Furniture Fair, is the preeminent contemporary design show in the US and is held annually in May in New York City. It is juried and is the only trade show we do every year. The psychological, emotional and physical demands of it make it both exciting and exhausting at the same time. The people who attend this show have the ability to change our lives and have. It’s a media bonanza. (“Look, there goes Martha Stewart…”) Although there are lots of international manufacturers of contemporary furnishings, there are also other artisans like us who runs small businesses selling things they make themselves.

The work of the other exhibitors is like nectar to us. We arrive before the show opens each morning to walk the floor without the crowds, admiring all of the combined creative energy of the exhibitors. So many beautiful things that I’d love to live with but can’t afford or would look too bossy in our 1914 Arts and Crafts bungalow. There are also things that Bill and I place in a category of “just because you can, doesn’t mean you should.” There are lots of overly designed plastic chairs that I imagine my thighs sticking to on a humid day or sliding straight out of if I were wearing satin. But mostly there are beautifully designed and executed rugs, textiles, furniture, lighting fixtures and objets from around the world. Elegant, wacky and inspired things everywhere. Too many to photograph, so I thought I’d just post some images of interesting textures – visual espresso of a sort. If you are planning a trip to New York in 2007, the dates for next year’s show are May 19-22. I promise it will put a smile on your face.

quilt sold through etsy

What a great cooperative idea …
Baby girl’s quilt co-produced by 5 Etsy members from 5 different countries; BloodyBunny from Germany, AtelierJade from Japan, Momo from Hong Kong, Keymistress from Singapore and Pamkin_Girl from Australia. The theme and colour-scheme of the quilt were chosen and agreed upon by all members then the blocks were made and snail mailed to Australia to be assembled and quilted!

A variation of modern and traditional quilting technique were used for the creation of this quilt. Blocks from Japan were hand-pieced, blocks from Germany and Hong Kong had a combination of machine and hand-embroidery, and blocks from Singapore were silk-screened. All fabrics have been pre pre-washed.

Every month seems to bring a new craft meme lately. This month, it’s Finish What You Have, a spin off of the very popular Use What You Have month a while back. Great idea, Turkey Feathers. I’ve got an unquilted baby quilt calling my name for this one.

Time for a little summer knitting, and MagKnits comes through with some patterns to keep you cool! This issue includes two tank tops and a lacy sweater called Rufflette made with Rowan’s Kid Silk Night — yum! I also liked the Saturday Market Bag, which would be useful for carrying around all those seashells collected at the beach or treasures hunted for at the flea markets. And how could your eyes not be drawn in to the hot, hot, hot Tropicana socks?

Bad News, 44″ x 54″, by Lori Lupe Pelish (copyright the artist)

Lori Lupe Pelish is a fiber artist from upstate New York. Her work has progressed over the years from abstracts to nudes to some mighty compelling depictions of herself and her family that seem half real, half imagined. In her artist statement, she explains: “My imagery expanded as I took a more detailed look into the makeup of the individual and their coexistence within contemporary family life. Freeze frame dramas concerning age, gender, motherhood, and the varied circumstances that shape and mold our lives. These quilts are made to draw the viewer in and question the roles and responsibilities that we all endure.” Pelish’s work has been widely exhibited and rewarded — most recently, her Safe in Suburbia won the People’s Choice Award and the Brakensiek “Caught our Eye” Award at Quilt National 2005. Don’t miss her amazing hooked rugs either.

Young Archer, 51.5″ x 41″, by Lori Lupe Pelish (copyright the artist)

directions at ihanna

So the final post of whiplash the first edition.

Lots of teething problems and great suggestions for making it bigger and better in the coming weeks. But first I must announce the winner of the Fun quilts prize - a wonderful basket of goodies donated by funquilts

This basket of goodies includes a copy of each of the books ‘the modern quilt workshop’ and ‘colour harmony’ as well as 1x yard and a fat quarter pack of their freespirit fabric range, and a pack of gift cards.

We could not decide who to give this to so we have split it between polvoron de limon and Moki. Congratulations.

Now another prize that is a bit unexpected. An invitation to be a contributer on Whipup goes to Flawed Maude whose original and quirky entries each week I and many of you too followed with glee. Each week she came up with something witty and unexpected, I am really looking forward to seeing what she might bring to us here. Please welcome her in the coming weeks.

Now for some thank yous.
To Rob and Jon who have given lots and lots of behind the scenes technical help (the plugin for adding links can be downloaded for free for use with wordpress from here)
To Heather who did page editing and html editing.
To the judges who wish to remain anonymous but who each week looked through each and every entry and gave their unbiased opinion about each one.
To Jan who designed the whiplash badges.
To the sponsors for donating funds and prizes to get this idea off the ground and for believing in whipup enough to take a chance on a relatively new website.
To all the websites and blogs who gave a shout out about whiplash and whipup.
To everyone who entered once or many times, what wonderful entries.
To everyone for checking out the entries.
To the readers for supporting whiplash, for the taking the time to give your opinion and suggestions and ideas.
To the contributers for keeping on keeping on.

Every now and then I find a link which takes my breath away.

The other day I discovered the ebook of Beeton’s Book of Needlework originally written in 1850.

The preface states:
The Art of Needlework dates from the earliest record of the world’s history, and has, also, from time immemorial been the support, comfort, or employment of women of every rank and age. Day by day, it increases its votaries, who enlarge and develop its various branches, so that any addition and assistance in teaching or learning Needlework will be welcomed by the Daughters of England, “wise of heart,” who work diligently with their hands.

While needlework now transcends gender, it largely remains in the cultural conscious as “women’s work,” a term which in itself has been denigrated over time. Despite language seen in modernity as old-fashioned, it also speaks to what is perhaps craft’s greatest gift, allowing the transferral of knowledge without worrying about stolen ideas or copyright. Craft has a legacy that is beyond legal confrontations or who had what idea first, it’s about taking skills and passing them on.

To me, this is where craft truly diverges from art, in the radical notion that knowledge can be given to others without fear of someone else running away and profitting from it. I have found myself trapped by this at times, and have had to remind myself that what matters to me is that transfer of knowledge and the perpetuation of ideas.

Also available is The Ladies’ Workbook by Unknown, thanks to The Gutenburg Project.