pamgarrison

stitch along

Hello again!

Since my last post was about stitching, I thought it the perfect time to blog about more stitching...

Last year I was invited to participate in Stitch Along, a recent crafting book published by Lark Crafts. I received my contributor's copy and think it's a great book for those that want to start stitching, or long for some simple stitching projects. There are 10 other stitching artists, and each stitcher's assignment was to choose an embroidery motif, and then create 3 projects using those stitches. Right away, Jenny, the author, suggested I do "doodles" as my motif...of course, me being a constant doodler in many mediums, I thought it perfect. 

My first being a little stitch primer booklet...getting all those doodles down in stitch format. 

I couldn't resist a little rhyming signature inside ;), it seemed like what you'd see inside little primers of yesteryear. 

The stitch sampler is full of pages of stitches.

I found it fun to reasearch stitches and figure out ways to incorporate more than the standard in my doodle repertoire. Of course circles...love circles. 

and lines...

 hearts...

and stars to name just a few...

all tied up in a neat little bow. 

My second project was a guaze butterfly. I did find it a wee bit challenging to work with that material as background fabric for stitching, but it was the ethereal effect I was going for, so made it work. You know I'm about participating over perfection every single time anyway.

I was able to put my doodle stitches into play, using all of them in a free form pattern. Circles, scallops, hearts, diamonds and more...

The stitch guide is included in the book project, but I also have a couple similar butterflies in my etsy shop for those that aren't wanting to go the home made gauze pattern route...

I have both small and medium sizes and yellow and orange printed patterns. 

My third project was a doodle filled arrow pillow. It might be my favorite because I just love how it looks sitting on a chair in the living room. But it's hard to pick a favorite really...

Oh for the love of metalic thread (tip: use small lengths of thread)

and embroidery...

and arrows...love them all. Hmmm, I should do an arrow on linen pattern for my etsy shop... but of course, there is a pattern in the book, and that way you get 29 other patterns and projects too! 

Feeling ready to get your stitch on? I recommend Stitch Along, it'll get you well on your way! 

Happy Monday out there, hope it's treating you well! 

 

stitching at French General

Hello there! Hope those of you that celebrate Labor Day had a good one! It was a fun filled whirlwind over here. 

My biggest activity this weekend was teaching at French General. I didn't realize that it was Labor Day weekend when scheduling my Happy Day embroidery sample class, and was so happy to find that even though it was a long weekend, there were lots of stitchers still in town. We had a really nice group of friends old and new, and spent our Saturday stitching away. I wish I would remember to take photos, but once I arrive to set up it seems that the hours fly by without a second to spare. Thanks to each and every guest that spent the day with me, celebrating the art and craft of embroidery. I brought my 2 favorite stitch guides and promised I'd put links here. 

Carol gave me the Embroidery Pocket Guide and it is a favorite, especially for when I'm stitching on the go, it's so light and being laminated makes it nice and sturdy. The Embroidery Stitch Bible is a favorite because it is choc full of stitches with easy instructions. 

I moved all my floss into a clear plastic bag that my daughter's new bedding came in. I love being able to see all the pretty colors. I mostly stitch with Cosmo floss or DMC, rarely use Perle. Just because of what I was introduced to as I went along, I have plenty of friends that stitch with only Perle, I just don't have experience with it. Even though I have all the pretty colors above, it didn't stop me from buying more when at French General this weekend. 

It's so fun to choose different color palettes for a piece, and at $1.00 a skein, how could I resist? How different a piece made with the colors above would be than a piece stitched with these colors:

Really, can you blame me? Of course, my shopping didn't stop there, I half wonder if Kaari's invitations to teach aren't partially motivated by my inability to resist her finds, ;) especially when she's just back from France!

But I showed some decent restraint I think...besides the floss...especially if you've been there and have seen all the temptation!

Now to put it all to good use....

 

embroidery class at French General coming up!

Summer is really going by all too quickly! So quickly, that I'm not sure I've even mentioned here that I've got a class coming up at French General in a couple weeks (August 30, to be exact). We'll be using one of my embroidery patterns to stitch on. Specifically, the Happy Day pattern, but I'll bring my others if participants want to swap for another. 

I'm gathering goodies for the kits now, having learned that everything takes longer than I expect it to. 

...and I'm making little strawberry pincushions for each stitcher that cares to join us. Well, these look a little bit like strawarrots, I might have to revisit my design a bit and make them a little less long and a little more plump!

We'll be taking my pattern and embellishing the edges (if desired) with French General scraps and the sewing machine, then we'll use beautiful Cosmo floss to hand stitch on the pattern. The class is for those that have never threaded a needle before (I bought lots of needle threaders to give out too, it's harder for me than it used to be!) to those that are quite comfortable embroidering and just want to be inspired, pick up a new stitch or two, talk design and color choices, all while in the charming surroundings of French General. 

It's a lovely place to spend a sunny Saturday, and we have room for a table more. Everything's provided, you just have to show up. We'd love to see you! Go here for more info. 

 

etsy re-stocking & happy mail

Just wanted to let you know that tonight I'll be re-stocking the samplers in my etsy shop, as well as re-opening the stamp section (for a few days). Thankful to all of you that have been patiently waiting for the re-prints! You can find them here. 

While talking shops, thought I'd mention Katherine Jalaty's cute shop. I am crazy for all things letterpress, and am super happy with all I purchased. In case you want more info:

And one more thing you might like...I recently bought this to-do list notepad and love it. You can see it's currently at my feet with a journal and some pens, challenging me to make a new list. It's full of illustrated pages by Mary Kate McDevitt. And while I was finding you the link, I saw this...sure looks tempting! 

I love good mail days, don't you? 

progress report: modern quilt

Hooray!!!! 

it's so hard to photograph quilts, ha! 

I am pleased to report that the modern quilt I've been making (for too long) is done. done. DONE!!! 

In case you couldn't tell, I'm super excited about it. Super. Excited. 

I love it. I think it's perfectly imperfect, hand made by mom (me!), to be loved up now, and handed down later. It's my first time making a modern quilt design. I pieced together the front using hand cut pieces of fabric that I then sewed in strips. All those fabrics together make me so happy. 

The back was pieced from larger pieces of fabric:

I'm still in the madly in love with it phase of a completed project ;).

Adding this one to the quilts-I've-made-for-our-family pile feels great. 

It's been a long time coming, that's for sure. This year I'm really wanting to finish up a lot of long ago started projects, and this one is a huge check in the finished column for me! 

As you can tell by my dedication stitching above, I machine pieced the quilt top and bottom back in 2013. Here's one previous post on it. 

At that point, after creating the top and bottom pieces (made up patterns in my head), then pinning the batting between, I did a lot of thinking about how I wanted to proceed; whether to hand quilt it (sewing the three layers together) or machine quilt it. I have made quilts before but never hand quilting any of them. After a lot of thinking (and even asking on IG), I knew that the truth was I wanted to hand quilt it, but was sort of dreading it. I began to work on it a little, but it got put to the side eventually and remained there until I was sick recently. 

As I lay there, sick in my bed day after day, it suddenly felt like the perfect time to hand quilt. It was quiet, and close, and clean, and I could have it on top of me keeping me warm as I worked. I made a lot of progress. As I've been getting better, I've been inching closer to finished one long (7.5 ft) row at a time. 

This weekend the "I must finish it" obsession kicked into overdrive. I sometimes stitched it on the floor, but mostly stitched with it on my lap. I didn't use a loom.

Stitch by stitch with that tiny needle I went along...it's so tiny it's hard to see there in the "ditch" as stitchers say. See it?

You can see above on the far right side I only had about 5 more to go. As I get to the end of a big project like this, I keep counting and recounting how many more.

I didn't measure, just eyeballed it. I figured since I was hand quilting it, the imperfection was part of it's charm. 

Finally, this weekend the handquilting was done. Time to square it up and bind it then. 

I decided to use a vintage binding that I had been hoarding for years. That pretty checked pink. Oh, and I also decided to do a couple of machine stitches over my hand quilting for good measure. I just did this on the two ends, in case the knots that were on the end were somehow cut in the squaring up. I have no idea if it will actually help, but it couldn't hurt, so I did it. 

Seriously, how sweet is that binding?!? The fact that it was ready made was an extra plus. I could feel my patience for this project waning...if I had to make my own binding, I might have set it down again...I was too close to finished for that! 

Late last night I finished hand stitching the binding edge and could not wait to get up and wash it this morning. Washing a finished quilt is my favorite step. It totally becomes a quilt at that stage. (Pre wash above, washed below)

Well, you might not be able to tell from the photos, but if you quilt, you know what I mean.

It just gets softer and a little bumpy from shrinking a little.

Even though I'd hand embroidered on the back, I couldn't resist adding one of my labels on the front, since I already have them...(labels bought here).

And now I just want to stare at it and touch it, turning it over and around, examining all the different combinations. Do you ever do that? Keep looking at something you've made that you like? I might even bring it in the car with me as I drive to the baseball game, haha!

I know, I have issues. 

RESOURCES:

Ok, I am no quilting expert, but here's what I used:

*I treasure this book and find it endlessly inspring. 

When I want to know something (like how best to start your thread when hand quilting), I first google it. I don't mind doing things "wrong" and making up a method as I go. That's what works for me. But, I know there are lots of quilting courses on the internet and also these books look fun and informative to me:

*book 1, book 2, book3

*I tried different thimbles, at the end of the day, this thimble (I have no idea why it's so expensive here, I would recommend going to JoAnn's or local sewing shop), and these were lifesavers. 

*I used this needle and this thread in white. 

I think that covers it!?! 

Oh! one more- I LOVE my new black cutting mat. It's thicker than the green standard and it's black. I have always found the green to be so displeasing. I wish they'd come in white or grey even.

upcoming class at French General

Wanted to let you know that we're bringing back this stitched heart class to French General Saturday May 3rd. Sign ups have gone live over on the French General workshop page. Hope to see new and old friends in class, all you have to do is sign up and show up, we'll have everything you need to join in the fun!!!

I made this heart as an anniversary gift to my husband, inspired by Sailor's Valentines. You can use it as a little pillow, a sachet, a paperweight, a pincushion...in other words, anything you want ;). To see another sample, go to the French General workshop page. The heart I made for Kaari is a little oversized and wonky, but super sweet I think. We'll have both samples there for you to use as inspiration. If you are joining us, you may want to bring along some special trinkets like buttons, beads or broaches, but we'll have all you need if you don't have any special treasures. And of course, there's the entire French General collection of finds to shop and use on your piece too!

 

and now crochet

Although I can not remember a time I was ever around my maternal grandmother when she did not either have a crochet hook or playing cards in her hands, I never learned to crochet, or had much interest in doing so. Suddenly, the bug has hit, and big. 

Pretty sure it all started with Jenny's book, "crochet love" arriving in my mailbox. After thumbing through it and seeing this:

and this, which I have wanted to make for a long time:

I was hearing the siren song...before you know it, I was following along:

I am not one for reading instructions or doing too much research usually, so love all the stepped out photos. I often google how to videos when wanting to learn something, but found that with crochet steps it was frustrating, as I kept needing to stop and re-start. Honestly, I can't believe I learned beginning crochet from her book. Well done Jenny, that can't have been easy to explain and edit succinctly, but you did it! After that, I did see Jenny in person, and she demonstrated a few stitches while I worked alongside, to make sure I was doing it right...(yep!).  

I made these two from patterns in the book as practice for reading and  following patterns:

And then I started pinning up a storm of blankets. That's when I landed here, and that was it, I was all in. Nothing like starting in the deep end, haha. Really, it's super easy, as this beginner can attest, but it's going to be awesome when done and I'll have gotten lots of practice along the way. I'm finding it to be an excellent activity when playing homework monitor or practice quizzer to my son. Pretty easy to get on automatic, whereas with embroidery or even journaling, I like to pay more attention to what my hands are doing. 

As I commented to one friend, I'm even slightly looking forward to the homework hours, and that is waaaayyy better than how I normally feel. Above is when I first started, and then it looked like this:

And now, it looks like this:

I'm not sure about the pink there or the pink/red combo. I feel like it took the color sense in a different direction. I'm still considering it. I guess I'd recommend that if you were going to do such a project, it wouldn't be a bad idea to stitch a small lenth of each color as a sample so you could determine more easily (before stitching it into your big piece) if a color wasn't adding what you wanted to the project. For me, none of it is about perfect though (obviously, if you crochet and are examining my work), it's really about how awesome it will be to have a blanket I made that is visually pleasing to me, and also, to hand down to my son and he'll remember my making it while he did homework. And I'm making sure he will remember that because I keep pointing it out to him hahaha. When I shared it on instagram and facebook, Iwas asked about colors or pattern, so here's what I'm doing:

• I'm following this pattern,found on belladia's blogpost, but I am using size 4 yarn, a G, 4mm crochet hook, and I chain stitched 300 vs. 250. I love that her concept is to use up old yarn remnants, but since I only had very little on hand from other projects, I did have to go buy yarn. 

• This is the yarn I've gathered:

I'm still debating about that hot pink (which is different than the pink already used that I have decided I don't like. I made sure that all yarn is size 4, even thought they seem to have a bit of variety in size even still. I know that what yarn one chooses for a project (bamboo, wool, acrylic etc.) matters, but other than trying to avoid 100% acrylic (which the hot pink is), I kept the focus on this being a starter project-so keeping the costs down and the gathering of materials as easy as possible as main priority. In other words, I went to JoAnn's and Hobby Lobby. As I grow and learn and decide what I want to make in the future, I can use the "better" materials. 

As for price, these all varied from $2.99-$6.99 BUT, I had paper coupons and app coupons for 40% off most expensive item (JoAnn's will let you use both Michael's and Hobby Lobby coupons, so 3 rolls at JoAnn's were 40% off just with app coupons alone). I also had a 20% off entire purchase coupon for JoAnn's, so all in all, I spent around $55.00. I'm perfectly happy with them. Some (like the 100% cotton,) are harder to crochet with than others, but I'm having a pretty easy time keeping the edges straight and not shrinking, so it works to go with a harder to use material for me, in order to get the color I wanted. Color is super important to me in determining how much I enjoy working on it, and the finished result, both. I'm not going in any order though, I'm just grabbing whichever one I feel like using next. 

So, I'm off, on my first real crochet adventure. I'll be sure to keep the progress reports coming. It's going to take quite a long time, because this is a project only for when other work (class video editing for example) can't be done, and I'm planning on making a big blanket. Bella Dia states that each row took her about 25 minutes, I'm definitely not that fast, of course. But who knows, maybe by the end of it, I'll be whipping through the double crochet stitch like nobody's business! 

I'm glad I tried it. New crafts are fun! 

embroidery love

I love to embroider. Pretty much for as long as I can remember (in off and on phases, of course), I've enjoyed spending time hand stitching. It bums me out that I can't remember how or when I first learned embroidery. It was either from my Mom who embroidered a little, (and needlepointed a lot), or during 7th grade home economics class where I also learned to use a sewing machine. I swear, that home economics (and the typing class) I took as electives in middle school have been two of the best, most used school learned knowledge! Not sure what that says.

Anyway...last night I finally finished up one of my own sampler pattern designs:

Why do I always forget how good finishing feels?!? Going to keep track this year and finish all (whoa there Pam, maybe I should say most?) of the many started projects I've got going.

Here are some close-ups of my first finish of 2014:

My sampler patterns don't currently come as a kit or include stitch instructions. I'm thinking about changing that, as it's been requested as an option. I'll have to see after finishing some other things first. I am going to figure out a way to offer a how to on a popular embroidery project from the past and I'm wanting to drop everything and get started on it. So the way with me, thus I must remind myself how good finishing feels and focus on that first! When it does happen,I think you might want to play along, if you enjoy stitching. It's a good one. See my recent instagrams for a big hint. Do you stitch? If you don't yet but what to, I always suggest a search on google for "embroidery stitch videos" there are tons of free, really good tutorials. Or, Rebecca Ringquist has an excellent beginning stitch class over at Creative Bug. 

Also, even though I've been stitching for years, I still consult these reference books:

Carol sent this one and this one to me after I raved about hers. I love them both. I also keep this one in my embroidery in progress basket for easy consulting. It's spiral binding means it opens up and stays open so you can keep both hands on your stitching. And hey, check it out! I just found this when searching for the other links...Jenny has a new book coming out and I've got three stitching projects that I really love in it. Available for preorder now. That was a fun surprise, I can't wait to see it...I know I'll want to make some of the other contributors' projects already, having been privy to sneak peeks. Well, that should be enough to get you started if you want to, but here's one last reference just in case. Happy stitching!

 

charlotte's quilt finished!

I've finally finished the long ago started gift for my dear friend, Charlotte. It's a lap quilt, sized just right for her to sit in her cozy home stitching something...that's how I'm picturing it anyway ;). It's a crazy quilt of sorts, made up without a pattern, just a mix up of her fabrics and some vintage bits and pieces mixed in. 

I even included the selvage edge, having her name on it and all...

I did some hand stitching...

...and machine stitching both.

As you can tell, it's not about perfect, but instead the charm of handmade. 

Learning how to make and stitch on a proper binding wasn't hard with computer tutorials. 

Isn't that label cute? I got it here. It's stitched onto the back (fabric was from JoAnn's...I didn't have enough yardage of her fabric, but I think it matches nicely.) Here's the quilt all finished:

And after giving it a fresh wash and tumble dry, it's on it's way to it's new home, just in time for winter lap warming!

 

around here

Checking in with a currently-around-here report, photo essay style. I'm regrouping this first Monday morning of December and have big plans for a full week of getting.things.done! Wearing festive sweater and all. As a matter of fact, my entire outfit is from Target...not sure if that's a good or bad thing, but I have to tell you these Denizen dark jeans I bought there are one of my favorite wardrobe staples. I give them two thumbs up! (No affiliation whatsoever.)

 There's  a little mending of a holiday sampler from last year in progress...

and Fall decor is being gathered and put away. Although Thanksgiving was later this year, it felt like a short, but sweet, fall season. Kinda wish it would have stuck around a little longer. 

When pulling the doilies off the pumpkin I'd covered, I realized that I now have some lace bowls...I've seen them before on pinterest and other sites, now I'm yearning to make one intentionally. All I used was ModPodge. Easy peasy. 

Haven't gotten out the holiday decor yet, but trying to gather up the items I've found here or there during this past year, like these above found in Kansas while there for Whatever Craft Weekend. (If only I would tuck all finds in the same place, it'd make it so much easier to remember where I put them!)

Pepperberries are being collected on each walk...a wreath might be in order this year...

Christmas cards were ordered early this year and are in the house! Time to get to the addressing. Usually, I try to take a photo of my kids during the holiday season itself, which with a daughter away at college makes for short turnaround time (and a bit of stress). This year, I decided to use one of the photos taken while we were in Spain this summer. (I used Minted, as I have for the past 4 years, and am pleased with the quality again.) Every year at this time I realize that we just don't take photos of our family of four...gonna work on that this year...even one would be an improvement!

Lots of printing of photos and printables going on right now. One of the best things I did this year was get over my fear/dread/ignorance of printing at home. Cute printables were free from Cathy Zielske.  They'll be used in my December Daily™. Speaking of...

I've got my  Studio Calico December Daily kit  out and am tossing some of those treasures collected through the year in there to use as well. 

I'm also pleased to report that I did day one! I loved this photo from yesterday and tried to write on it in PS...wasn't totally successful (that program gets me every time- in a bad way...so much to learn), but still pleased that I tried and got it done. I plan on 2014 being to PS what 2013 was to home photo printing for me. ;)

Last night's remains of Project Life® found on the family room floor where I was futzing while watching The Good Wife...(still love that show). I snapped some "animals in their natural habitat" ;) shots yesterday while my daughter was getting ready to head back to college and my son was reading his assigned reading material. I wanted to get the photos in the book while it was all still fresh in my mind. I like it much better when I enjoy the process while feeling caught up. (It causes me take a lot more photos, participating in Project Life, and I like that, even the photos that won't make the book, like this one below. Real life captured.)

I'll be putting away the poker chips. I instagrammed over the holiday about how our latest family game has become poker, and how while it is fun, it is bittersweet, because I don't think of poker as a younger child's game. In other words, my kids are getting really old; yay! and boo! both, emphasis on the boo! 

And I'm going to photograph and wrap up the quilt I finally finished (photos to come!) and take it to the post with my etsy orders. (Speaking of which, thank you for those. I don't say it enough but really appreciate the orders!) 

Ok! Enough talking about what I'm working on and time to get back to work! Hope you're feeling hopeful about the week and off to a good start yourself!

 

saturday around here

Ah Saturday, so much love for Saturday!

Here's a bit of what I'm up to in photo essay style ;). I'm working on a big "adventures in paper marbling" post,

and still doing some clean up from that above mentioned marbling!

Reflected on some recent paintings in progress and realized that no matter how badly I want to paint, I need to wait for daylight, or set up better lighting so that I am not displeased (as I am today) with the colors that looked so good when mixed in the dark. I went to town on three different paintings and frankly, wish I hadn't. They'll all be worked on some more of course, just sometimes wish I could excercise restraint!

Developing patience when painting is something I'm working on. Add it to the list.

I am however, still loving the colors of the recently made garlands, even though those were made by the light of the moon too. We're having a non-traditional Fall over here and I like it!

And I still love the colors on the big painting I made for our dining room with a little bit help (it was worth the arm twisting I had to do) from my family. I want to get some more giant panels built, I'm craving painting really big.

Taking stock of the recent stitching, progress on this one is slow and steady. I do have more of these larger sized embroidery sampler patterns restocked in my etsy by the way. 

A friend of mine just started up Project Life, and after she came over yesterday to show me her album, and talk all about it, I found myself inspired to open it up and work on it again. I stayed up super late editing and printing photos and am wanting to keep at it! It's always fun when I make the time. I am definitely doing it next year, but am going to develop some habits and processes that will make it easier for me to stay caught up. (More on that thinking to come.)

Always like to enjoy a little time outside on Saturday morning. 

Seeing the seaglass gathering at the bottom of a candle jar does make me want to head to the beach though...but for now, I'm going to get back to that paper marbling clean up. First things first!

 

Enjoy your Saturday!!! 

modified quilt project wip

Yesterday, I showed pictures of quilt pieces I was cutting this weekend and referenced yet another quilt project I was throwing into the mix. I know I need to finish up the others, but sometimes, an idea takes hold and I just need to pursue it a little to free the space in my crowded, idea filled brain. I think I called them octagons yesterday, but today when taking these photos I realized that they are actually hexagons. 

I picked up this started and abandoned quilt top in Kansas. As a creative type that leans towards more projects than time, I can understand how such a thing comes to be and I love the thought of putting all that love and work to good use by collaborating with the original quilter. You can see there are some hexagon flowers off to the right that never got added to the quilt top.

I'm pretty crazy for all the vintage fabrics. I am constantly inspired by the old quilting fabrics, always have been. I plan on someday making a line of my own too, somehow mixing the vintage feel with a more current style. One of many dreams. :)

Colors, pattern, scale, combinations...so much to see and learn from. 

I have ideas for the piece of already sewn together quilt, but for now, I was itching to use some of these loose pieced flowers...

I also bought this quilt while in Kansas. (There are some mighty good deals to be had in Kansas, especially at Whatever Craft Weekend.) I believe this finished quilt cost $40 when all was said and done. All that work!

The truth is, I was attracted to the chartreause color, and the white (with that sweet bit of pink thrown in above), and the overall the clean lines of the design. I am not attracted to the hand painting, it really gave me pause when considering whether to purchase. I'm sure many people find it beautiful, just not my thing here.

And that's where the old quilt pieces come in...

I'm thinking that I'll like the quilt better if in the center of each square I put one of the pieces surrounded by white to cover all the painted parts. (Sometimes I think the part that is original would look good showing in part, but not this time.) I haven't decided how I'll enlarge the fower with a white border yet, you can see I was trying more hexagons, just not sure yet...

I didn't have enough flowers for all 20 squares, so I made a cardboard template based on the vintage pieces, and began cutting fabric this weekend. I went to my stash and chose vintage fabrics, reproduction vintage fabrics, and new fabrics.

 

I started hand sewing them together too, but just today decided it was taking too long and that machine stitching would be fine in the name of progress.

The top three left are machine stitched, those on the top right are vintage, the middle is the sets still to stitch, (down to four!) and the bottom row is all handstitched from this weekend.

When working on a project like this, I count down over and over, it helps me keep going when at first the number feels large. I'm sure some of you out there do this too? I especially do with repetitive sewing things- numbers to cut, number to stitch etc. A means of  crossing items off a mental list? I don't know.

Anyway, after I stitch these four I'll experiment with white border ideas and then likely apliqué them on. As far as quilting projects go, this adaptation of an already completed quilt shouldn't be too time consuming...I'll keep you posted! 

a change of plans

 

Remember the scraps from a few posts ago (that many of you were kind enough to give feedback on, thank you for that) ? Well, after playing around with them for a bit, I ended up going a different route. (if you follow me on instagram you already know about this change of plans and if you commented there, thank you, too)

I took the scraps and appliquéd them onto an old piece of fabric that has faded remnants of a cross stitch pattern. You can see it in blue if you look closely:

I love the idea of using up all the bits and scraps and remants of crafts gone by.

Still love the scraps together:

You can see, I didn't worry too much about clean or hidden sewing ;).

I simply laid it out, then pinned and machine stitched away. Here they are in the planning stage:

Unfortunately, I didn't look at this photo before stitching, because I prefer the E this way above to the taller one I created when sewing different pieces on...but of course, it doesn't really matter.

After stitching the letters onto the front piece of fabric, I sewed on a label that I rediscovered recently onto the back piece. I ordered them years ago from namemaker.com .I remember being disappointed that the labels were broken up, and not one continuous ribbon, but the single is perfect for this type of project.

Once the front and back pieces were done, I sewed the three sides together and inserted a down pillow purchased at IKEA. Then I simply slip-stitched the 4th edge closed by hand. Super easy pillow, but love that there is not another one exactly like it anywhere!

quilting update

 

I've been working on all the quilts I showed you before in fits and starts over here since that post. Thought I'd share a little update. Above, you can see a shot of my latest obsession, stitching all the itty bitty pieces that have been cut off edges or scraps from who knows what. Some of these are super tiny, (like 1cm x 2cm), some bigger. I'm just finding shapes and colors and patterns that I find are pleasing together, either becuase they clash perfectly, or compliment each other, and then machine stitch them together. Seeing them grow is quite satisfying. I have always been a lover of scraps, be it paper, fabric, whatever. Hate to see anything go to waste, and love the challenge and the resulting organic nature of what's created, since it certainly wasn't the plan from the outset.

It's really fun to iron these patched toether pieces too, they clean up nicely ;).

Can you see how tiny some of the pieces are? So fun to see them all crammed together willy nilly.

Here's what I've got so far:

I laid them all out and thought about making them all (or most) a similar size and then adding a white edge to them all for similar sized quilt squares, (yes, I've added yet another quilt in progress to the mix with the addition of this new one - that makes four) but after I placed them all close together, I really am not sure which way I like best:

Feel free to chime in if you have a strong opinion. Not sure where it'll end up, but I'm sure I'll love it when it's done! How could I not love a quilt made from orphaned scraps, right?

Stay tuned for progress updates and decisions made...you'll likely know as soon as I do!

 

i am not a quilter

I don't consider myself a quilter, (I think of quilters as artists that follow patterns and have studied and learned the art of quiltmaking and therefore know what they're doing), but I have made some quilts none the less.  Above are two quilts that I have made- one a simple square patchwork I made for my family to use and my daughter to inherit, made before my son was even born, and the bottom one is that Big Crazy Summer Journal Quilt I took on a year or two ago now. 

When my son was born I made him a baby quilt made of patchwork squares and alphabet letters. I went looking for it today, but couldn't find it anywhere. (It's somewhere, I'll find tucked away safely one day.) All my friends that had children at the time recieved the alphabet baby quilts too. It was back before I had gone digital, so I don't have any of those photos readily available either.

Recently, my firend Charlotte gifted me with her second fabric line and I wanted to make her something out of it. What started as a small pillow or journal cover has turned into a little blanket, or lap quilt. I ordered more of her fabric and grabbed what I had left of her first line and began a crazy quilt of sorts. I'm still working on it (shown above), but will show it here for sure when done.

Anyway...while I was working on that quilt, I started thinking about the quilt I had started long ago, intending it to be another family quilt used regularly by all so that my son will have a quilt from his childhood too. Out it came and I finished piecing the top last night. I'm going to batch quilt I think- do the stages- top, binding, quilting etc. at the same time vs. one all the way through. I plan on showing finsihed photos of it too, when done.

But late one night, while playing with the pretty fabrics, an idea came to me and in order to be able to move on from obsessed with the idea, I pursued it. I kept picturing a white quilt with pinwheels scattered on it. By starting some pinwheels, I felt like I could then get that "I can't wait to try this idea" out of the way and finish up the other quilts. But then again, Maybe I should finish this top and batch all three. :)

Yes, I'm a crazy person.

But you already knew that by now.

All this play at quilting has really got me more interested in it than ever. Currently, I just muddle through and try to figure things out as I go along, but I'm feeling a desire to learn more, understand more. Last night on my instagram feed I showed a picture of my completed top for my son's quilt, and when someone asked for a good starting quilting how to book, Jemellia suggested this one. Maybe I'll start there...

 

more ♥ love

 

So far I've only sewed the felt hearts from last post in lines hanging up and down. 

I then taped them to the bottom of one of our blinds so that they look like those beaded curtains from the 70's. 

They make me so happy. Such simple materials, such a simple way of putting them together, but sooooo pretty. 

I couldn't stop trying to capture a good photo to share here.

I'm glad I hand cut them without any stencils so they are all different. I'm going to stitch them this way too:

A lot of my felt is from Heather Bailey's shop found here. It's awesome quality and comes in so many pretty colors. 

Just so fun, right?

I'm thinking these are going to go in my office/art room after Valentine's Day has come and gone. As for those that have asked for more pics of that...will do, whenever I get it done...it's still a mess!

new embroidery sampler patterns on etsy

 

I've got three new embroidery stitch patterns listed in my etsy shop today.

 

Love Lives is the embroidery stitch version of one of my hand illustrated prints. It's been simplified for stitching, but still has all the charm and whimsy of the original illustration. This version is quite large compared to my other samplers (I've got a smaller version of it in the works), but would make an awesome pillow or wall hanging once done. Here's a closeup so you can see the pretty seafoam blue/green color:

The second new pattern is Butterfly. It's quite small in size actually. It'd be great sewn on something else when done, like a tote, or bolster pillow etc. I'm also working on making some of this design that are a bit larger in size. What a cute cluster they'd make.

 

It's printed in a burnt orange color on white cotton.

 

The third new design is Flower Delivery. It's sized in between the other two.

It's printed in the prettiest chartruese color.

Three new patterns for my fellow stitchers out there.

Hmm...which one to stitch first, that's my current decision of the moment. A fun question to ponder :). Happy stitching!

playing catch up

I've returned home from teaching and am shocked to realize it's mid November already! As you can see from this photo taken in my living room moments ago, we are still living in October. {Darling pumpkins by my super sweet friend Mary Stanley} I seriously need to catch up. The fact that  organization and scheduling don't come naturally to me leaves me feeling constantly behind and I hate that feeling. I worked on it hard this year, but it seems teaching an old dog new tricks takes awhile. I have big hopes for continued improvement in 2014!

So...even though I returned home from teaching at Spellbound late Sunday, I still have much to unpack:

Everything is still in the living room where my son and husband put it after unloading the car for me. I did start to unpack my finds from the Rose Bowl flea market, which was part of the Spellbound event (gotta love a craft weekend that ends with a flea market!) Here's an IG taken when entering late Sunday morning:

It's always fun to revisit what you bought once home:

So there's unpacking, and the laundry of course. Added to the trip laundry are the guest towels I ran in and bought yesterday after dropping my son at baseball.

We've got a house full of guests coming next week and towels were on the list. Heather turned me onto these on sale at Cost Plus, in case any of you have company coming too and like them. Much less than the Anthropologie version, although in all honesty, I think Anthro's are prettier and thicker, but I'm sure my brothers won't notice. Thanks for the tip Heather, {and by the way, love the new Souvenir issue!}, you can see a free preview here. 

But before I completely unpack and recap the event for you, I've had to get on a stitching assignment I'm behind on. To show you some snipets of the work in progress, I had to move the belt I made in Amy's class (that I sadly forgot to pack-argh!. Another frustrating result of disorganization.) I am still madly in love with it and still can't wait to make another.

Here's what it was hiding though, some of my gathered materials for the stitching project:

My notes:

A bit of inspiration found in an old crochet sampler book:

A fresh start:

And a work in progress IG:

And now, since it's almost time for my son to come home and I'm still in my pajamas, I've got to shower and get at least a quick trip to the grocery store in! Where does the day go?!? Hopefully, you are managing your time better than I am today! More tomorrow I hope...

what i've been making recently

Here's an IG of the belt I made in Amy's class at Studio Crescendoh this weekend. It was so fun and I can not wait to make more! Here's another instagram of it before it was completed, but dangerously close:

And here are photos of it:

And look what Amy had as an example...genius!

Yep, she made a strap for her camera! Awesome, right?

She also had bags and bracelets for inspiration and for sale:

I failed to get pictures while there, but you can go to Jenny's blog and see more about the class. Everyone made really cool things. Thanks a lot Amy, for a new obsession, haha, no, but really, for sharing your genius. Hope she teaches it again so more of you can take it! 

a few questions answered about the Spellbound classes

After posting about the new day passes for classes at Spellbound, I received a few emails that I thought best answered here, as the questions apply to everyone really.

Q: Do I have to know how to embroider to take your Joy Stitched Sampler class?

A: Nope! Not at all. If you have never stitched before, we will set you up and get you going! I'll  teach you a few different stitches and you'll have more than enough skill by then to finish your project. I'll also be bringing the stitching projects shown here to class for inspiration, as your project can be as freely designed as you wish.

Q: Do I have to bring anything?

A: Nope! We'll have everything you need to complete the project on hand, but you may want to rummage around a bit and bring a few found treasures that will make your project extra special to you.

Q: Will you teach me how to free motion stitch?

A: Sure! That'd be a fun thing to incorporate on your project, good idea!

 Q: I know you're bringing a bunch of your vinatage findings and trims to sell at the market, but will students be able to purchase them to use on our projects?

A: Sure! I'll bring things to share and things to sell that would work well on your project.

Q: As for your Joyeux Noel Banner, I've seen you make something similar before that was more ornate. Can I do that on mine if I want?

A: Absolutely! I'll bring all the items and glitter and varieties so that you can make the banner of your dreams, be it more simple and refined or bold and beautiful.

Q: Will you have extra kits for sale so I can make 2?

A: Yep! If you are speedy, you might even complete them both in class :).

Q: Can I write what I want on my banner?

A: Anything that will fit, sure, and I'll help you write it out if you don't love your handwriting.

Q: Will you be bringing your handmade ornaments?

A: Yes indeedy, and for those of you that were at the Silver Bella years ago where my table runneth over, the scene this year will look familiar.

For those that weren't there, here's a photo...I'd gone through a major letting go phase and am amassing a similar scene for this sale as well. I'll have loads of vintage items, handcrafted items, and supply items with me.

Q: Will your cute friend Kelly be coming like she has to other events?

A: Yes!! And she'll be bringing her jewelry for the Dreamland Mercantile too!

 

And another question that just came in:

Q: If I buy a day pass can I take both your classes that day?

A: Yep! You can take both mine, or one of mine and one of another teacher's, whatever you choose.

Pretty sure that's all the questions I've received so far, don't hesitate to ask another in the comments here if you want!