United We Stand

It's hot and firecrackers are popping over head. That must mean we're getting close to the 4th of July! BBQ, lawn chairs and horseshoes with a late night lighting of the sky. This is a great time of year to really appreciate our great country. In honor of that, here's a neat little project to get you in that patriotic mood. This pattern is provided by Hawk Woodworking Tools. I believe it first appeared in Scroll Saw Woodworking and Crafts (Spring 2002) designed by Mike and Vicky Lewis. This patriotic scroll saw pattern is provided in PDF format for easy printing. Check it out!

Woven Box With Bead Accents

There's no doubt. My favorite blog is Scroll Saw Blog written by David at Tuliptree Crafts. Its on my daily read list and I look forward to each entry. He has so many clever ideas. What I like most about his blog is that he writes while he develops these ideas into a final piece. So you get a chance to witness a pattern come together from idea to prototype to final product. It may take a couple of days, or it might take a couple of weeks. But it's always a fun journey.

David's been working on a woven box pattern. We've seen these before, but what makes his unique is the incorporation of beads into these boxes. Plus, in order to save lumber and money, he has broken each level into 4 strips/sides. Most woven designs I have come across uses a solid piece of wood for each level, which has a lot of waste. David has made his pattern available to those who would like to try their hand at this beaded/woven box (called The Evealle). Check it out. And be sure to read his previous posts on how he developed this pattern. Very interesting reading!

Poll Results for May 2008

I'm a little behind, but here are the results are in for our little poll. It looks like weather doesn't play much of a part in your scrolling habits! 54% say that weather doesn't make a lick of difference. The rest is pretty evenly split between weather being too cold scroll or too nice to be stuck indoors. Here are the results!

Do you scroll more or less during the Summer months?

• More - Shop is warm, I'm scrolling! - 18% (6 votes)
• Less - I'm outside enjoying the weather. - 27% (9 votes)
• Makes No Difference - I'm still scrolling. - 54% (18 votes)

Garden Bird

Got twenty minutes to kill? Here's a quick and fun little project that'll use up some of that scrap lumber. Uglier the wood, the better! Then plant this lil' ol' bird in the garden to keep the other blackbirds company! This garden bird pattern is provided by Free Wood Puzzles. Check it out, and while you're there, be sure to check out their puzzle patterns. They have a lot of great stuff.