Well Wishes…

So last night, while at the bookstore I was looking through the craft magazines and this one caught my eye:

There are many lovely projects in this magazine, but the one that REALLY caught my eye was the featured project “Well Wishes” by Maureen Tarnok. This type of project makes my heart go pitter-patter! I can only hope to have the type of skill, someday, to complete something this detailed and gorgeous. What I fell in love with the most about this project was the tree:

Look at all those lovely french knots! Just about my favorite stitch! I am actually going to attempt, at the very least, to make the tree. I have some left over course linen from a Halloween project a couple of years ago and I think I will do it on there. I want something a little more substantial than just a cotton or muslin. We’ll see what happens!

Here’s a better look at the whole project:

Spring Sewing Party…

Click on the button above and find out all the details! Hope to “see” you tomorrow!

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First picture to share:

I bound two hand towels and one washcloth. The towels have a decorative strip going across the bottom. This was one of my stash busters, all binding was made with one fat quarter. Wish I had more of this material, I love how crisp and clean it looks!

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Update #2

This is the bag holder I have used for the last 11 years.  It was made from a sweat pant leg that was my now 20yr olds.

Here is my new scrappy bag holder!

 
My stash busting has gone well!

Next I think I’ll move on to hand embroidery.  Slower but no less satisfying!

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3rd Update

Well, I was gone for a little while doing Hubby/dinner stuff.  Spent a couple hours at the bookstore, one of my favorite past times.  As a result, I’m not quite as far as I hoped to be.  I should be able to get this project finished tonight and get started on the second one pictured.

We are going to watch Time Traveler's Wife while I finish my stitching.  I wasn’t sure I would get done with the movie before midnight, so I thought I’d do my post now.

This has been a lot of fun and SO productive. I look forward to doing this again sometime!

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Final Update:

Well I didn’t get to the second embroidery piece, didn’t even start on it!  I did manage to get the fishy one done though! 

I enjoyed this a lot! It was nice to be be able to see all the other projects that everyone was working on too!

Bias Tape…

I am going to be making something practical tomorrow and I need bias tape for it. What I found in my fabric stash, that I wanted to use, were two fat quarters. My dilemma was how to make enough bias tape to cover what I need. Well, I found this wonderful tutorial on how to turn a fat quarter into 5 yards of bias tape! Fantastic! If you want to learn how to do it, go here: Stop Staring and Start Sewing   Thank you Jona!!!

On another note, here are a couple of recent finishes:

For Valentines day I made myself a small heart brooch. It’s made of wool felt, vintage seed beads and various other beads.

I am also doing a free BOM offered by Cheryl over at Willowberry Designs. It’s called Under the Sea and it is absolutely darling! Here is the first block done and I will have the second one done in another couple of days! You can just glimpse some of the fabric I will be using, when it is time to finish it, in the background.

Happy stitching!

Beautiful…

Apparently, I’m A Little Blue…Part Deux…

I made myself a box.  It’s sort of like a camera case.  I got the pattern from youcanmakethis.com.  First let me say I LOVE how it turned out.  Having said that, it was very labor intensive. The instructions were fantastic!  There were just a LOT of steps.  As they say, though, nothing worthwhile is ever easy! I don’t recommend this for a raw beginner, but it’s easily finished by someone with moderate sewing skills.

I added a felt square for needles for when I use it as a craft case and there are removable dividers that Velcro in.  I used foam core board for the sides and bottom so it is nice and sturdy.  I am sure this is destined to become our camera case! I also made a pincushion with the extra material!

   

Giveaway!

You have to check out this sewing machine giveaway over at The DIY Dish!

Apparently, I’m A Little Blue…

Many of my projects lately have been relying heavily on the color blue! First up, a bracelet I made.I used some denim from an old pair of Baby Girl’s jeans from when she was little. The denim is so nice and soft and easy to sew. I added some vintage lace on top and pleated down the length of it. Then I embellished with ribbon, Swarovski pearls, Swarovski crystals, sterling silver beads and seed beads. I couldn’t find my snaps (big surprise! I’m so organized!) so I used Velcro dots that I also reinforced with Fabric Tack glue. I just don’t trust the adhesive on the Velcro to stay. I lightly frayed the edges and then used Fray Check to keep it from fraying further.

I love the way it turned out! It’s comfy and looks great with my jeans!

Stay tuned for part two of the blue…

And The Winners Are…

Here are the results on the “Felt Smack Down” contest!

Pretty cool, huh?!?

Illene’s Quilt…

Lyn over at “Welcome to Bluebird Quilts” has come up with a wonderful idea! A friend of hers, and a bloggy friend of mine, has been going through a rough time of it lately.  Her daughter has cancer and has been very ill at every turn.  Every time that something looks promising, something else comes up.  Needless to say, Illene could really use a hug from all her friends.  The blogging world being what it is, we have all developed friendships with others all over the world so, a friendly hug is not necessarily logistically possible.  This is where Lyn’s idea comes in.  She is making her a quilt.  What does that have to do with you and me???  Well, you can contribute to the making of the quilt and send Illene your own hug!  Check out all the details on Lyn’s blog!