Holiday Stitching Club

Isn't Latte Bunny the cutest?  

Wild Olive designs the most adorable embroideries.  I recently joined her Holiday Stitching Club (just started and still open if you are interested) and this bunny was our first project.  Small enough to get done!  I like that.  

Secret Santa Pouches

I never did share here a fun project we did at work for Christmas.  We had a Secret Santa type pouch exchange. It was so much fun!  

This is a great pic of our wonderful Pink Chalk Team!   Kathy Mack, the fabulous owner of Pink Chalk, is on the right hand side in the green sweater. 

Here are all the pouches that were made:

I made the one in the back with the embroidered girl on it.  

The pouch pattern is "The Essential Wristlet" by Dog Under My Desk.  It was pretty easy to make. Lots of pictures for those of us who love them!   :)

 I got the girl design from the book "Embroidery pour la Maison" by Sylvie Blondeau.   Such a cute little book.  I stitched her on Essex Linen White with regular DMC embroidery floss.

And I added some big stitch quilting in the circles with Perle Cotton. Love doing that.

A peek at the inside.  

I sure do love my job!  

Embroidery

I'm doing some more stitching for a tote bag I'm making for a swap.  I had so much fun with the hedgehog pattern by Penguin & Fish that I decided to do their fox pattern.  I enlarged it a bit to fit the pocket dimensions of the tote.   Aren't those fox fabrics yummy?  It's from the Timber & Leaf line by Sarah Watts.  They aren't my usual bright rainbow colors but I love them.    :)

Back to my stitching.

Hedgie Pouch

I just finished my pouch for the current round of the Pretty Little Pouch Swap.  

This is one side:

Isn't that hedgehog adorable?  I love him!   I used the Penguin & Fish pattern for the embroidery that I got here.  I love the instant gratification of downloadable patterns.   I stitched with Perle cotton onto Kona Essex Linen.  More love!    I used Elizabeth Hartman's "Perfect Zip Bag" pattern...also a downloadable and also bought from Pink Chalk.

Here's the other side:

Did a wee bit of paper piecing and some fussy cutting.

My partners inspiration mosaic was all aqua's and red's.....and she said she liked polka dots.......she should like the fabric choices.  :)

I'm mailing it off tomorrow.  Can't wait to hear what she thinks of it.  

Fab Little Pincushion

This is the pincushion I made for the Fab Little Pincushion swap and oh how I love it!!!   It's ok to adore your own stuff, right?    :)

I made it for Carol of Mamacjt.   I was peeking at her Flickr favorites and spied an embroidered sampler made in a grid and knew that was what I wanted do.  I loved trying out new stitches in the tiny squares (an inch).  Carol loves rainbow colors just like me so that was a joy too.  She loves it, thankfully!  I ended up being sick a lot so having handwork to do while laying around on the couch was nice.   

I got a great pincushion & extra goodies from Staci:

Staci used a pattern called  "Deep Dish Pincushion".  I had never seen it before.  She also made an adorable needle book with pockets inside for scissors and needles.  

This is one of my favorite swaps and I can't wait for the next round -- hopefully after the holidays!

Sewing on a Small Scale

I am in a swapping group over on Flickr called The Bitty Block Committee.  This group makes and swaps 3.5 inch blocks according to the monthly themes.  I've been following the group for several months but they didn't have any openings until recently.  I was soooooooo excited to be able to join..........and also a bit intimidated by the level of work they do.   There are always two themes per month and members can do one or both.  I am starting with just one!   This month I was in a Pirate group.

Here are the blocks I made - Captain Peg Leg:

I have received some wonderful blocks in return -- a ship, a treasure map, pirate girl, parrot & more -- but words just can't describe how amazing these little works of art are!  You have to go peek at the Flickr group pool.

Next month it's black & white with one other color (mine is aqua) with the design of our choice.  I already have an idea for mine and can't wait to see what the others come up with.

Clamshell Pillow

I'm taking an online class on curved sewing from Rachel of Stitched in Color.  Last week was our first week (out of  five) of class and I loved it.  I'm not new to curved sewing or curved piecing but I am new to improv curved sewing (which we are doing this week!) which is why I took the class.  Plus I love classes and always seem to learn something new.  Rachel is doing a fabulous job!

This is the clamshell pillow project from last week that I finished yesterday:

Matches my red chair so nicely, don't ya think?  :)   The printed fabric is Salt Air by Cosmo Cricket and the solid is Essex Linen.

I thought I had done pretty good sewing in the invisible zipper but it actually has a little bump on it.  Not sure what I did that caused that.  Will have to surf some other tutes and see if something jumps out at me so I can do better next time.  

Baby blanket

Finished this crocheted baby blanket on Friday.  Isn't it lovely?   I love making these soft and cuddly blankets.  This one is for one of best friends first grand child.....due in less than two weeks!   It'll be in the mail tomorrow.  :)      

Little Pouch

I made this little zippered pouch today as a thank you gift.  Its a pattern from Keyka Lou Patterns.  It was an easy pattern to follow and turned out pretty cute.  I did so much better on the zipper this time. Practice is definitely helping.  :)

Fully lined.  And see that cute zipper pull?  I got it from Zipit...a fun Etsy store.

Modern Row Robin Quilt Along - last row complete!

This is my last row.  As you can see it's hexagons.....oh boy...hexagons!   The row designer, Jen, had them straight across on a six inch background but I chose to change my layout.   Everyone seems to be doing something to make the quilt uniquely theirs.  :)   I also chose to fuse them on and will either stitch the edges or have the quilting secure them down...haven't decided that yet.

Here is a close up of the three large hexie's that I pieced:

And here is the final row lay-out that I decided on:

I just have to sew the rows together now and I can officially call the top done!  I've had so much fun making this quilt and absolutely love the fabrics.  Gonna be a keeper.  :)

Latest One Yard Wonder Project

I made this Classic Jumper for All-Ages (page 191) for my grand daughter.  It's my latest project for the One Yard Wonder year long project at Pink Chalk.   

Isn't it adorable?   I LOVE it.  Sewing for little ones is so much more fun than for me....no fitting fussiness.  :)

I made these covered buttons by fussy cutting the flowers from my fabric.  Much more fun than a plain button.   We started selling covered button kits at work and I've wanted to try making them but didn't have a reason....till this dress.  Gotta say, they are super easy!  

My next project is the only quilt in the book.   Woo hoo!

More "One Yard Wonders"

One of the fun parts of doing this project at work is that Kathy let's us have our pick of fabric from the store....woo hoo!   Some times it's hard to narrow it down.  I know...poor me!   :)

Here are the next three projects I did for the "One Yard Wonders" project.

This was the "Yoga Mat Bag":

And my first try at clothing....the "Summer Nightie":

LOVE this Valori Wells fabric for the  "Grocery Tote":

I'm currently making a little dress for my grand daughter, Heidi.  It's not due till the beginning of August but I started early because there are buttonholes...and it's clothing, not my favorite thing to do!   

Finished projects are posted every Friday on the Pink Chalk blog. 

One Yard Wonders

At the beginning of the year the team at my work, Pink Chalk, started working our way through the book "One Yard Wonders"  making every project - two a week.   We each take turns choosing projects to do...kinda amounts to one a month.

 Diana  is our photographer and takes way better pics of our work than I do.  I asked her if I could use her images instead and she said sure!   I'll share my first three today and the other three tomorrow.

The "Organized Bed Pocket" was my first:

Second was the "Tea Cozy":

And my third project was the "Not-Ugly Car Trash Bag":

You can see I picked easy projects to do.   I pretty much make quilts and was worried about being able to make these craft things.   Quilting lets you hide "not so straight" seams but you can hide a curvy top stitch!   :)

You can see all of the teams projects on the Pink Chalk blog.  Just click on "One Yard Wonders Sew Along" on the top tab.  

Seeing Blue

I sewed with my co-workers from Pink Chalk on Thursday.   Kathy let us finish up early and we sewed the afternoon away....each working on their own projects using a pattern from the store.  I chose to make a quilt using a Blue Underground Studios pattern called "Green Glass Door".   As you can see below my "doors" were blue!   :)

I had collected quite a few prints in various shades of blue and decided this would be the perfect pattern to showcase them....and be fast!  I got half the top done at our sew-in and the other half at Yaya day on Friday. 

A little close-up:

My camera (and the operator!) doesn't take great pics but you get the idea.   

This was a fun quilt to make and would be perfect for that stash of fabrics you don't want to cut into little pieces.  

Quilted Lampshade Hat

I am a Red Hatter and for this months luncheon we were to wear a hat made from a lamp shade.   I decided mine had to be quilted!   Of course!    I made a template of the shade and cut it out of batting. Glued down red squares of fabric till the batting was completely covered and then machine quilted it to hold it all together.  Added binding to the bottom  nd top edges.....added some pom-pom trim and a fabric flower....and voila.....a cute hat!   I wore it today for lunch and now it proudly sits a-top a lamp.
Fun project!    

Lunch Bag

I bought this book over a year ago so I could make myself a bag.  I take it out every month or so and browse through it but that's as far as I've gotten.

Till yesterday.

When I made this adorable bag to take my lunch to work with.  Isn't it cute?

I used laminated cotton for the bag exterior and interior...and regular cotton for the top cover and handle.  I had a teeny bit of trouble with the directions but eventually got it.   It seems like whenever they have books with lots of projects in them that directions get edited (for space?) too much.   There were things not written that someone with more bag sewing experience would probably just know, but I didn't.  

Anyway.   I like how it turned out.

Butterfly Garden block

I finished block 3 (out of 9) of "Butterfly Garden".  A soft and romantic quilt by designer Leanne Beasley of Australia.  It's quilt that includes simple patchwork, applique and embroidery.   Each 18 inch big block is made up of nine 6 inch blocks.  

Here's a couple of close-ups of some of the embroidery.

This one is on one of the 6 inch blocks:

And this one is just in that little square in the upper left hand corner of the four patch....so cute:

I bought this as a block of the month a couple of years ago.  Unfortunately I've been a bit crazy buying appliqued block of the months.....currently have 3 going!   And doing bits and pieces on all 3 means I'm not finishing any one of them.  So I'm putting Butterfly Garden away till I finish a different one that I want to finish first.   

Knitted Fingerless gloves

I tried knitting some fingerless gloves in the round this fall.  It was slow work…all those double pointed needles were tricky.  I got the hang of it and managed to get one glove done.  But decided I didn’t like the pattern so took it all out    I was determined to have fingerless gloves this year, though!  So I dug out a pattern called “Waffle Stitch Fingerless Gloves” by Jill Toporkiewicz that I got on this site.   They are done flat and seamed up the side.  Wow!  So fast.   This is the way to get it done.  

Here they are:

And here is a close up:

Beach Projects

I just had 3 fabulous days of fun at the beach with my Yaya's.  This was our tenth time to go to the Washington coast for a girls get-away.   We spend our time creating, eating, laughing, walking on the beach (though, this year the weather didn't cooperate much), hot tubbing, dancing,  talking....and talking....and talking.  :)

I was more productive than usual.  Here are pictures of two of my favorite finishes.

LOVE this bag!  This is a pattern by Kathy Mack of Pink Chalk called "Mail Sack".  Isn't that fabric gorgeous?

We all made fabric wrapped clothesline bowls this year.  Mine is the bright long skinny one in the foreground.   I added a fun circular embellishment on the side....and may add some beads, not sure yet.  I made one of these bowls before....super easy.

Every time I finish projects I'm always motivated to finish more.   It's time to start digging in my unfinished project bins.   :)

Machine Lace

I joined the Machine Embroiderers of Oregon and Washington (MEOW for short) group this year.  I have a wonderful Viking sewing machine that can do amazing things besides sew a straight seam.......except I don't know how!   I figured years of ignorance was enough and it was time to learn new skills.   This group is all about machine artistry. The ladies do incredible work and I am excited to see what the year holds.  

The project this month was machine lace.  Cynthia Keim was our teacher.   She is truly an inspiring woman who makes spectacular quilts despite major physical limitations.  

Below are some pictures of Cynthia's lace work in quilts.  Some times she cuts holes (yes, I said holes!) in her quilts and then creates lace work in the opening....and some times the shapes are created separately and tacked on the quilt afterwards.

I only worked on creating shapes in a hoop.....no holes in quilts for me.  :)     The thread work is done on water soluble stabilizer that is put in a embroidery hoop and free motion stitched.  As you can see by the picture below I have a long way to go in learning this technique!   :)     Fun class!