DARE TO BE CREATIVE!

Wednesday, June 30, 2010

Embroidery Week with backing


Today we added the backing and quilted our embroidery piece.  I brought my backing fabric to the front and secured with fusible tape.  I then did a running stitch with decorative thread around three sides.  I added the fringe to to last edge and stitched in place with the same decorative thread used for the running stitch.  I hand quilted with a metallic thread.  I did not trim the piece but instead went with the uneven edges that resulted from the original embroidery stitches.  Tomorrow we are learning how to display our finished piece. 

Tuesday, June 29, 2010

Embroidery Week on FAT





This week on FAT Diana is hosting Embroidery Week.  Our first step was to choose a piece of fabric (approx. 8 x8), batting, some decorative threads, and other shapes cut from fabric.  This is what I started with.  We basted the fabric to the batting.



Our next tast was to use running stitches and decorate the fabric.  We could add other pieces of fabric if we wanted.


Then we were to use another embroidery stitch.  I decided to couch on a decorative yarn.  It is a little difficult to see here.



We then added embellishments.  I added the rickrack and attached it with beads.  I also added buttons and beads.  Now to wait until the next step.


Monday, June 28, 2010

Another Family in Fabric Page



I finished this Family in Fabric yesterday.  The photo was taken on Easter 1970.  I was home for the weekend from my very first teaching job in Northern AZ.  I made my suit from the fabric above.  The skirt was plaid and the jacket was a matching solid yellow.  My sister made her dress from the pattern above and my Mom made my little sister's dress. 

My sister still had her pattern and let me borrow it.  A few month's ago my DH was organizing his shop out back and came in with a few pieces of fabric.  He said they had been in my Dad' camper which we sold a few years ago.  The pile of fabric included some old curtains, a sheet, and my fabric.  Don't know why my Dad had put them in his camper but I'm glad to have the actual fabric to use on my Family in Fabric page. 

 This is my fifth completed page.  Links to the other pages are here, here, here, and here.

Sunday, June 27, 2010

Crocheted Charms


These are six charms that I made for the "A Charming Summer" trade on Fiber Art Traders (FAT).  I made the little flowers from a pattern I found on the internet.  I then embellished with buttons and beads.  The only requirement was that they be 2" or less and have a jump ring attached.  Fun trade.  I'm anxious to see the charms I get in return.

Friday, June 25, 2010

It's Pink Saturday








Little girls in Pink Dresses

For Pink Saturday I am sharing some of my vintage dress patterns.  Each features a little girl's dress in pink. I love the images on these old pattern envelopes.  It's hard to resist then when I see then in the thrift stores.  I have a collection of vintage patterns that my sister and I use in our craft projects.  Our most recent project is our Family in Fabric book.  You can see one of the pages here.  I have compiled the items for three more pages and hope to work on them this weekend.

Thanks to Beverly at How Sweet the Sound for organizing Pink Saturday.  Check her blog for a list of participants in this weeks Pink Saturday.


Thursday, June 24, 2010

Whenever you wear your hat....


My friend Gayle gave me these hats for the GDs dress up box. She was rearranging her room and asked if the girls would like the hats. I was sure they would and as you can see they loved the hats. This is my first Smilebox. Hope you enjoy it.


Click to play this Smilebox collage: Sheer Stripe Collage
Create your own collage - Powered by Smilebox








This picture collage created with Smilebox









Wednesday, June 23, 2010

Chair Redo






Last week I found these these two ice cream parlor chairs at Goodwill with a $4.99 price tag.  The cushion was an ugly blue vinyl but the chair's iron metal was in great shape with a few scratches and little rust.  I decided to redo them for my guest room.  The guest room is also my GDs playroom.  We recently replaced their small table and chairs with a taller table/desk to accommodate growing girls. I needed two new chairs for the table and thought these had great possibility.

My DH was such a help with this project.  He cut new wood bases for the bottom of the chairs.  I was impressed that he could cut out such a perfect circle.  I was able to use the old foam cushion as it was still in great shape.  The fabric is another thrift store find.  It is vintage barkcloth.  I was able to cut two of the large flower motifs for the cushions.  I touched up the white paint with spray paint.  Now I have two beautiful small chairs for the room .

Tuesday, June 22, 2010

Monkey'n Round Bag






I finished this little bag this morning.  I didn't follow the pattern in the book but instead developed my own design.  The body of the bag is quilted.  The top edge has been bound as you would a quilt.  The flap and strap were attached.  I did a velcro closure with a botton sewn on top.  It will go in the mail tomorrow to a little girl in Calif who is having a 4th birthday soon.  I hope she likes it. 

If time allows I'll develop a tutorial and post later this week.  I plan to make a few more with other novelty prints in my stash.  Fun project and everything was in my studio.  (My little Featherweight is stitching wonderfully. It is such a wonderful little machine.  I received it as a birthday present two years ago.)

Monday, June 21, 2010

Today's Project


This is my project for today.  I continue to use fabric from my stash.  This lovely Monkey fabric was purchased at a little quilt shop in Danville, Kentucky last fall.  The fabric is Monkey'n Round by Moda.  I don't remember the name of the shop but it was right on the town square and filled with beautiful fabrics.  Yesterday I found this great book at JoAnn's and decided to try one of the simple little bags from the book.  I'll post the finished purse later.  I had my Featherweight serviced last week and was told to bring it home and sew with it.  So I'm following orders!  LOL!

My GD wants to learn to sew this summer and I decided I would have her use the Featherweight since it is small and simple.  We are planning on doing the classes in July.  I'm going to make a special place for her in my garage (it's air conditioned) with a table set to her height.  I think this will be easier than having her sew at my Koala cabinet.  She is looking forward to learning to sew and wants to make a pillow as the first project.

Saturday, June 19, 2010

Happy Father's Day


This is a photo of my Grandpa.  He visited our family in Arizona one December.  This photo was taken in the desert near Phoenix.  The young "skinny" blonde at the top is moi.  My sister and cousin from Kentucky are also in the photo.

I have many fond memories of my Grandpa.  He and my Mama had nine children and twenty grandchildren.  We spent most holidays and Sundays at their home with other family members.  He loved to watch baseball.  His favorite teams were the Reds and the Yankees. 

I'm so blessed to have been born into a family with wonderful fathers (grandpas, uncles, and of course my dear DAD). 

HAPPY FATHERS DAY TO MY DH AND SON!


Thursday, June 17, 2010

Completed Magnetic Memo Board





I completed the magnetic memo board for my son's Father's Day gift today.  The GDs spent the afternooon and we took pictures to put on the board.  I also added the word DADDY in Scrabble letters.  They are also magnets.  The girls were thrilled with their gift for Daddy.  We wrapped the board and placed it in a large gift bag. 

I had purchased a white and blue cowboy hat last weekend in Payson.  They were perfect for the picture on our front porch.  I also bought the quilt at WalMart in Payson last weekend.  It looks great on  the white porch bench.  The blue wooden pony also has a special place on the front porch.  I thought the photos turned out great.  The oldest is 7 and you can see where she is missing some teeth. 


Tuesday, June 15, 2010

Father's Day Magnetic Memo Board






I made this Father's Day memo board today.  It is another of the "using my stash" projects.  The frame was purchased from Goodwill for $1.00.  The images were leftover from a class I took over the weekend. I already had the round magnets and covered them with some of the leftover paper.  I did purchase the magnetic paint but there is enough to do many future projects.  The background was cut from a cardboard box and painted with the magnetic paint.  My original idea was to cover the paint with a scrapbook paper but I decided I liked the look of the paint.  I still need to add magnets to D A D scrabble letters and place on the board. 

Friday, June 11, 2010

June Fabric Postcard


This is my June Fabric Postcard for Fabric in Altered Arts 2.  We don't have a theme this month.  Since I had this fabric left over from the jelly roll bag, I decided to use it for the postcard.  I made the flower by twisting one of the jelly roll strips and sewing along the edge with the hemming stitch on my machine.  I had seen a flower made this way but it was glued to a felt circle .  I decided that I would try stitching the flower to my quilted background.  It worked and I plan to try some on other projects.

I wasn't in the studio on Wed and Thursday.  I am providing transportation for the GDs to attend summer camp and classes.  The five year even has homework for her Reading Readiness class with ASU.  But it's fun and she likes it.  The seven year old is in theater camp and loves it.  She told me the other day that she is going to be an Actor.  They play "Director May I" instead of "Mother May I".  She told her little sister that a director was the one that gave instructions to the actors.   She is looking forward to turning eight.  Then she can audition for the Children's Theater plays.  I'm off to a quilt show this weekend.  Hope to post pictures next week.

Tuesday, June 8, 2010

Jelly Bag




I completed this Jelly Bag today.  It is another of my "use my stash" projects.  The jellyrolls were left over from one of my tablerunner kits from Fat Quarters Shop.  The kit included fabric that I cut into jelly roll strips.  There was enough fabric to cut two jelly rolls from each piece.  The tablerunner only used one of the pieces.  You can see the tablerunner here.

The bag pattern was given to me by my friend Susan.  It is a Jelly Roll Friendly pattern by Bunny Hill Designs.  I had everything I needed to complete the bag in my studio.  Even the covered button kit.  I'm having fun using some of my fabric stash.  Still have lots to go!  I think I know who will receive this bag but I'm not saying at this time.  It will be a family member.

Monday, June 7, 2010

Pillow for the Coffee Lover





I finished this pillow last week but had to wait until the weekend to add stuffing.  It seems that WalMart no longer carries the stuffing that I used to stuff the last pillow.  It was called Cluster Stuff by Morning Glory.  I purchased it at WalMart a few months ago and loved the down-like feel it gave to the pillow.  So I had to settle for regular stuffing.  Here is the finished pillow.

It is one of my "using my stash projects".  The squares and backing fabric are left over from  a quilt kit I purchased last year from Fat Quarter Shop.  The kit was called "Cherry on Top" and was made from this coffee themed fabric.  I find that the Fat Quarter Shop's kits often have left over fabric. The fringe is another of my thrift store purchases.   I'm thinking this will become a gift for a coffee lover in the family. 

Here's a photo of the little quilt made from the fabric.

 


Sunday, June 6, 2010

LIFE'S A STITCH



















A Fabric Accordian Book


I made this little fabric book for the Mini Scrap Book Trade on FAT (Fiber Art Traders).  Wanda the hostess posted a link to Teesha Moore's website where she demonstrated these stitched covers.  The instructions for the trade were that we could fill the entire scrap book or leave some space for our partner to embellish.  I decided to leave a few spaces for my partner.  After studying various mini-books, I decided to make an accordian book with fabric pages. I used Pel-Tex as a base for the pages.  The title "Life's a Stitch" is stamped on the first page.  Since it is a "scrap" book, I used scraps from my studio to embellish the pages.  The fabrics are actually leftover quilt bindings that are stitches to the pages.  The stamps are from the Sew Special collection by Clear Art Stamps.  I made the butterfly on the front cover a few years ago with my embroidery machine.  A button and silk flower complete the fabric book.   This trade enabled me to again "use my stash".  One of my goals for the year.  Thanks to Wanda for a great trade. 


Saturday, June 5, 2010

Letter "L" Quiltie - Luminescent Layers


This is my quiltie for the Letter "L".  The theme was layers.  I decided to use this layered flower and blackground that I had made during an online class.  It is mounted on a layer of felt with a fabric backing.   I named the quiltie "Luminescent Layers".

 The background is painted fusible web.  I layered parts of silk flowers on top of the painted fusible web.  The next layer is angelina.  These are covered with a layer of tulle which is stitched to the background with Sulky's Holoshimmer thread.  Beads were then glued to the center of the flower.  This piece was stitched to the felt and fabric quiltie.   I think you will agree that my "Luminescent Layers" quiltie has LOTS-A-LAYERS.  It will go in the mail to Penny (our hostess) on Monday.  The group is Fabric in Altered Art 2.

Pink Kitchen on Pink Saturday






Today while surfing the web, I came across these wonderful pink kitchens.  They are available at WalMart and many other retailers.  I immediately thought "Pink Saturday". 

They didn't had anything like this when I was a child.  My sister and I had a toy metal range and it was basic white.  But my mother's range was basic white so we were pleased to have a little range just like hers.  Can you imagine playing in this lovely pink kitchen!  Oh, the hours I could have spent preparing food in this Pink Kitchen.  Oh well, I did make wonderful mud pies in my basic white one but I'm sure baking in a pink oven would make the pies even better.  

If you like my pink kitchens, you should check out the pink shoes on Anne's blog.

Thanks to Beverly at How Sweet the Sound for organizing these Pink Saturday posts. 

 Happy Pink Saturday to all.


Thursday, June 3, 2010

Something's Fishy (but it's a good thing)









Aren't these lovely.  The colors are really brighter than in the photos.  I usually take my photos outside but today the beautiful blue sky gave everything a blue tint.  When I tried to remove the blue, the colors became more muted.  Well at least they are no longer blue.  I stopped by my local Goodwill this morning after breakfast with a friend.  I found these treasures for less than 8 dollars.  The plates are in wonderful condition but there is a small chip on the gravy boat.   No problem because they are going to our vacation home in Ky and the gravy boat will become a centerpiece for the kitchen table .  The plates will be displayed on the kitchen wall above the table.  I purchased fly fishing fabric some time back to cover the chair seats.  They will all look great in the kitchen.

I tried to locate similar plates on the internet with no success.  The bottom marks indicates they were made in Western Germany by H & G Selb Bavaria Germany Heinrich.  Here is a copy of the mark and another of just the H& G mark from the internet.




If any of you have any info on their approximate date or other info, I'd love to get it.  For now they will be carefully packed in a box for our trip to Ky in the fall. 

I'm off the work on my coffee pillow. 


Wednesday, June 2, 2010

Charm Pack Pillow



Today I decided to return to working on my goal of "using things from my stash".  I wanted to make a bright pillow for the greatroom and remembered these leftover "charms".  They are from two charm packs that I purchased at a thrift store a few years ago.  I had previously make a tote for a swap on Fabric in Altered Art with some of the squares.  There were enough remaining squares to make both the front and back of the pillow.

After I finished sewing the squares, I remembered that I had purchased a large pack of fringe at the thrift store last year.  The color was perfect for the pillow.  I had a bag of stuffing in the closet and was able to finish the pillow this p.m.  I'm very pleased with the pillow and it now adds a bright spot in my greatroom.  Tomorrow I plan to make a coffee lover's pillow with left over "charms" from a coffee themed charm pack. 

Tuesday, June 1, 2010

June First and Time for a Change




I decided that today I would reverse the quilt in my greatroom.  It is a reversible quilt that I made in a class a few years ago.  The reverse side is made of flannel fabrics and isn't as bright as this side.  Summer will be here soon and I decided to brighten things up.  The fabrics on this side were left over from another quilt class.  That quilt top is waiting to be quilted.  I will be adding a couple of other bright quilts to the walls later today.