Thievin'

The theft of intellectual property is always disheartening, but I suppose it's been going on since the beginning of time. I've seen several examples in the crafting community recently. German Dolls discusses buying knock-off Japanese prints. Keyko Lou offers links to help spot these fakes so we don't purchase stolen designs.

Apparently this sort of theft happens in the US too. How About Orange sees her graphic designs all over the place. Jeez. And Tula Pink discovered her fabric collection being sold at Walmart, and to make matters worse, it was a poorly reproduced version. There's even a blog called "You Thought We Wouldn't Notice" devoted to outing copycats.

I knew a Creative Director that always said "Nothing is Original," and I've seen numerous examples of plagiarism in my marketing career, but you have to draw the line when these plagiarists blatantly profit off another person's intellectual property. It's not right. Luckily, in this internet age, thieves are noticed and hopefully learn their lesson. I hope everyone learns to play nice and only sell what they own.

Now that I've realized and shared the seedy side of our beloved crafting community, I'll show you what I've copied been inspired by lately. Of course I would never try to profit off tutorials and patterns so graciously shared with our community. These people taught me to sew and quilt and I owe them.

Pumpkin pincushion. This Fiskars pattern uses patchwork pieces for the pumpkin, which really looks neater, but I didn't have two normal orange fabrics that looked okay together. My orange fabrics tend to be loud. Here's where I found the original inspiration and even more adorable pumpkin tutorials.

A little selvage coaster to say thank you for another batch of selvages gifted to me. Notice my china has selvage dots too. Never met a polka dot I didn't like. And see my new little toy on the right? It has kept me entertained for days. Who knew a cell phone could be so fun? Sure wish I had bought more Apple stock back in the day.

Another little organic coaster for someone. I really want to make some of those nifty mug rugs or mug mats flying around blogland, but I haven't had a decent idea for one yet.

I've seen these notebook paper mini quilts and have wanted to make one for a long time. Great straight-line quilting practice. My hand embroidery looks a little like kindergarten writing, but my catch phrase is now in stitches. I've lost all the links for other notebook paper quilts, but they are all so darling. When I find them, I'll show you. Until then, check out this little notebook paper pouch with a doodle. So cute!

I found these recipes for my ma, so I thought I would share them with you too. Both recipes make a gob. I half them and it still makes plenty. If you're having a party, make the entire mushroom recipe. Shrinkage happens. The mushrooms cook nine hours and they are incredible.

Pioneer Woman's Cheese Grits

Pioneer Woman's Burgundy Mushrooms