Pillows could work, although I think I might end up with a bunch left over. Maybe I could do pillows for each person and one normal-sized blanket to live at the house we all visit in the summer.

So, here's the story:

When my cousins and I were kids, we spent the summers together, and we used to all sleep outside sometimes to look at the stars or watch meteor showers. One summer we had the brilliant idea to make a giant quilt together that would be big enough for all of us to sleep out under ("all of us" being around a dozen, when everyone was there). We spent years working on this thing, but it never got finished, we all went to college, got jobs, etc. Then, a few weeks ago, I found out that my grandmother had The Quilt in her closet, so I dragged it out and took it home with me. This monster is slightly larger than 12x12 feet, with no backing or anything (it's all handsewn out of rectangular patches of whatever fabric we could get our hands on). It is in remarkably good shape, considering some of us were about 6 when we started making it).

At this point, I think I can safely say there is no way we will all be sleeping under the stars together under this blanket. We're all in the 20something to 30something range, and I think we may have passed the point where sleeping on the hard ground, and getting bitten up by bugs and drenched with dew sounds like a great adventure.

I'd like to divide The Quilt up and use it to make some kind of awesome Christmas gift for each of the cousins that was involved in the making (or at least the ones who were the most invested- if I took into account everyone who sewed one patch in, this would get unmanageable!). This probably means dividing it into 6 or 8 pieces. I'd like to make something fairly functional- it is more fun and funky than beautiful, and would make a fairly unattractive wall hanging, so that idea is out. I'm considering making throw blankets, but if I have to divide it into 8 pieces, they might come out more as lap blankets, which seems not very useful for my cousins.

That's about all I've come up with so far- I'd be interested to hear any and all ideas you clever people have!

Ok, so I have some experience with batik, but I have always done vat dyeing, I've never hand-painted anything.  I have a design in mind that requires hand-painting.  So my question is- is it really necessary to use sodium alginate to thicken the dye?  Most of the areas I'm doing have a single color within the wax border, so that seems like it shouldn't be a problem, but there is one spot where I want it to be yellow fading into orange.  If I don't thicken the ye, will the colors bleed too much?

TIA for your help! 

Hmm, interesting idea.  I'll have to find a picture of it to refresh my memory and see how  would make it.

So, my boyfriend and I have been invited to a Star Wars themed Halloween party.  Any ideas for semi-last minute costumes that would be cheap to make and not too boring?  So far, our best idea is to dress my boyfriend up as a lightsaber (black parts with a switch taped on, and paint the top 3/4 of him with glow in the dark paint- ok, that may be ridiculous, but I think it will be highly amusing). I still have no idea what I will wear.

Any suggestions are welcome! 

I saw a really cool wire basket today that was covered in pistachio shells.  I wish I had a picture, it's kind of hard to describe.  The shells were hung all over the outside of the basket, and some of them had a bunch of tiny holes drilled in them, whick made them all lacy looking.

This is a brilliant idea! And your kid is adorable.

Thanks for the suggestions! That pine cone owl is pretty cute.

I run a summer nature camp, and I'd like to phase out crafts with styrofoam and paper plates next year.  Any suggestions for fun crafts with natural or recycled materials (preferably with a nature theme)?  Website/book recommendations would be welcome as well.

Thanks!

My reasons for not knitting with acrylic yarn are mainly environmental- it's made from fossil fuel, which means it's a non-renewable resource, and it's not biodegradable (I don't love the feel of knitting with it either, so it's not too hard to give up).  But, I realize that not everyone is concerned about that , and even if you are there are many economic and personal constraints (like allergies, not having time to be fussy about washing stuff, etc.), so to each her (or his) own, I say.