Quilting - potholders from black cherry and pink fabric

 I made this set of potholders from the two pieces leftover black cherry fabric.  I paired with a black and white floral fabric which was the best match from my stash.  I added a pink stripe across the black cherry fabric and then used the QAYG - no binding potholders technique which I have been using a lot for my many projects!!  They coordinate with the black cherry casserole carrier.  All cotton fabric and cotton flannel batting which makes the best potholders!!!  Therese

Quilting - denim zippered pouches for pens & pencils, art supplies, make up, cords or make up!!!

I worked on denim pouches this week.  I used scraps of denim that were being discarded from the fabric sale because they were two small for much of anything.  I added the scraps leftover from the denim journal covers as well.  I dug through my zipper stash and found a few that were the right length  -7" to 8".  I added a piece of fabric to each end of the zipper to allow the zipper to not be in the side seam at all.  Gives a bit of an accent as well.  I cut a piece of denim about 8.5" x 10" or so and then added the zipper between the two cut sides which creates a loop.  I decided to have the zipper on the front side instead of the top.  I covered the side seams with bias tape to make the inside of the pouch neater.  Check out the photos below - the back side of the pouch and then the pouch turned inside out - you can see the blue bias tape on the two side seams.  I remember as a student making our own "pencil cases" for school out of denim. They are great surfaces for embellishing with blue ball point pen!!!!  These pouches will certainly fill the need for carrying pencils, pens, crayons, etc but can be used for phones, , electronic cords, art supplies, make up, etc as well.  Will have these on the merchandize table for Gramma Link Africa later this year.    Therese

 

Quilting - pink and black cherries casserole carrier - reversible

I brought home a casserole carrier from our fabric sale sorting session that only needed a bit of velcro.  I usually wash all the fabric I bring home so in the washer and dryer it went with everything else.  Bummer! The black cherry fabric shrunk and now the lining was too big and was bulging!!!  I decided that I needed to fix it so I unravelled the seams and gave it an upgrade to this wonderful pink fabric!!  I added a strip of pink to the black cherry fabric to make it large enough and a different batting because the one it came with was not the right size and somewhat insufficient for the task of keeping a dish hot or cold.  I used the same QAYG - no binding method I have been using for my potholders which works really well.  Black Cherry was 22" square, pink was 24" square, handle 23" long (3.5 wide - folded in a half inch and then in half and stitched down both sides),  6.5" loops (1.5" wide folded in quarter in and then in half and stitched on the one side).   As you can see from the photos it can be used with either side facing out.  Therese

 

Quilting - denim bookmarks

I have made up some denim book marks using scraps leftover from other projects.  I cut strips 1.5" wide from the scraps I had available and then stitched two back to back with the "good" side out which on some of these is the worn, distressed and textured side.  I cut a few individuals and then stitched the remaining ones into a long strip from which I cut lengths of 6" - 8" depending on where the closest overlap was.  I then stitched on both sides of where I cut the bookmarks and then used my crop a dile to make holes at the top.  I will be finishing all the holes with stitching using variegated thread.  That will be a good slow stitching project for the next few weeks.  I am leaving them without other decoration and will be promoting them as DIY art projects where the recipient can add their own embellishments or art to make them their own.  It could be in the way of stitching, gel or ball point pen, markers, acrylic paint, Inktense watercolour, etc.  A fun project!! 

I am linking to Kathy's Quilts - Slow Sunday Stitching!!    Check out the inspiration that these talented creators provide as they share the links to their recent projects!!!    Enjoy!!!!    Therese

 

Quilting - Fabric Gift Wrap with sparkly fabric!!

 I have come to appreciate fabric gift wrap (furoshiki) and acquired this jersey knit fabric that was so very sparkly that I could not resist making some gift wrap with it.  It is a bit heavier than the fabric I have used in the past but does tie a decent knot.  I managed to make over eight wraps with the yardage I had in several different sizes.  The smallest is 15" square and the largest is 38" square with most being about 23" square.  These wraps do not need any other embellishments and use knots to secure the contents therefore store flat in very little room and   Check out below the very many ways you can tie these wraps below.    I usually use the Kakushi Tsutsumi technique for wrapping my gifts.  Therese

Quilting - bright and cheery jar openers from fabric and shelf liner

 I have made a few more of these jar openers!!  I made a few a while back and you can check them out here.   I cut the shelf liner (6" square) and the fabric (8.5" square) and then combined them in the same way that I make up the pot holders.  You can check out the tutorial for QAYG - No binding Pot holders.  I really like how well these came together.  I had to use paper between the shelf liner and the foot of my sewing machine when I was sewing the X on the center of my openers.  This X helps keep the layers together when you use the jar opener.    A few hours of sewing that was very productive.   Therese

Quilting - aprons and coordinating potholders for the Gramma Link Africa fundraiser

I worked on these two aprons with coordinating potholders today!!  I've had the fabric for a while and since have found some navy fabric to coordinate with it so I could make the potholders.  

The aprons are adjustable with a long tie that goes through casings in the armholes which forms a loop that goes over your head and then ties around your waist.  I found the pattern and instructions on Instructables. This site is great and has a LOT of tutorials on a WIDE variety of subjects - cooking, outside projects, crafting, etc!! There is a search feature so go and check them out!!!  

The potholders were made with some of the same Budweiser fabric and scraps of navy blue and red.  I used the same GAYG technique that I have been using for some time.  Check it out here on You Tube.  So a few more projects ready to for the sale in June.  It was a very good day of sewing and I am happy to be finished these two.  I have enough scraps to make a few more potholders so I will cut those out this week and maybe get them stitched up next week.   Nice to have small projects in the wings when you have a bit of time to sew!!!  Therese

 

Slow Stitching - little fabric embellishments for handmade cards - stitching and Inktense watercolour

I have been working on some fabric embellishments for adding to my handmade cards over the last few weeks.  I made this flower one a while back.  I found ivory squares in my stash of precuts and have been working on finding elements I can stitch to or on them so they can be featured on my cards.  I have cut a few shapes and the little bird above is one of them.  It is pretty much a half a circle but once it is stitched in place and a beak, tail feathers, legs and a heart wing have been added it looks very much like a little bird.  I have stitched all of these to horsehair interfacing that has been trimmed and then raveled a bit to add texture.  I have added a square of iron on interfacing on the back to keep them all square.  I stitched my elements onto the front of my coordinating card fronts so they can be removed by the recipient and included in a small project.  

The butterfly was stitched and then coloured with  Inktense watercolours.  

The two above were stitched with little cup shapes which I turned into some fun flowers with some stitching.  They were stitched to the interfacing with coordinating thread. 

The two above were traced from die cuts (CB - star   SX- flower) and were coloured with Inktense 

watercolours after they were stitched!!!  I am learning a bit more about how to control the

bleeding on these though the bleed through on these have not been detrimental to the designs. 

I am happy with how these turned out and I have a few more in the works so will have something

to stitch when I go to Knit and Stitch at the library tomorrow.  

I am joining Kathy at Kathy's Quilts for her Slow Sunday Stitching.  There is always some

great projects for inspiration in this group of stitchers!!  Check them out!!!  

I have also finished off my cats though I did come up with a much faster way of getting 

them done because it was becoming a challenge to stitch any more of these.

You can check them out here. 

I showed you the hand stitching on my jean journal covers a few weeks ago. 

You can check out the fronts here.  

Therese

 

All occasion cards with woven strips layered over a decorative paper background and heart and butterfly embellishments

 I continued the theme of  layering woven paper strips over decorative papers for these cards I made for my exchange partners!!  For the orange card I pieced the decorative paper by flanking the middle section with two strips of a different paper.  I dug scraps from my stash and wove them with distance in between so the background paper would show nicely.  I really like how well that worked out.  I used a die cut heart collage (Calico Collage) element and layered it onto a brown circle die cut (Nestibilities) and then onto a dark red scalloped circle (Nestibilities).  I paper pierced each scallop and then mounted this focal element to my card with 3D foam tape after I added my layered background to my large ivory card.  

The blue card followed the same path - large decorative background, woven strips layered over it and glued to a large green card.  I found the stamped butterfly image in my stash (SU).  I layered it onto a light blue, used a border punch on the bottom edge and then added a red fiber onto which I looped a short piece.  I layered this onto a dark blue rectangle of cardstock.  I mounted this focal element to my card using 3D foam tape.   These are off to my partners in the exchange in the next few days!!  Therese

All occasion card with a woven paper embellishment over a decorative paper with a watercoloured cabin

Another of my March cards!!  I added woven paper strips over a decorative paper background - really like the look.  I left about a quarter of an inch between the strips to allow the background paper to show through.  I watercoloured this cabin image (public domain vector images), ran my pattern tracing wheel on all four edges and then layered it onto a piece of dark green paper like the background.  I watercoloured the white dots so they would recede and provide a better border for my cabin image.  I trimmed the bottom with scallop decorative scissors and then added a line with a brown gel pen.  I added my cabin with 3D foam tape to the front of my card after I added my multilayered background.  

Therese
 

All occasion card featuring a woven paper strip embellishment over a decorative paper background with a little watercoloured puffin

Working on cards for the month of March and decided to try something different for the backgrounds.   I chose a variety of strips from my stash and wove them with a bit of gap in between.  That left enough space to feature another decorative paper which works really well.  I modified the decorative paper with brown watercolour to get it to coordinate and contrast better with the weaving.  I adhered the weaving to the decorative paper and then added this large layer to my large green card.  I added a watercoloured puffin  (CLKER) with an orange decorative paper layer.  This orange layer was also modified with watercolour to tone down its contrast.  The white dots were too strong - they look much better with a bit of orange!!  

Therese
 

Slow Stitching - a little stitched flower to embellishing a handmade card

Over the weekend I worked on getting some small  slow stitching projects to take to Slow Stitching today and after a couple false starts I came up with some small fabric pieces I can use to embellish my handmade cards.  The little off white/ivory squares of fabric were found in my stash of precuts and I managed to come up with a few images that would work well in the space.  I traced them with my gray pigment marker and then embroidered the image with two strands of embroidery thread.  I did the flower center in yellow with a few French knots and then the flower in blue and the stem and leaves in green.  I pressed it really well and used my Inktense Watercolours to paint the inside of the shapes.  I only had a little run through the edge of the flower near the stem.  The leaves worked out really well.  I added a bit of watercolour around the image to soften the contrast of the composition.   I cut a piece of horse hair interfacing to  3.5" x 4.75" and stitched my little fabric piece to it with  green thread.  The horse hair is a bit maleable so I added some stabilizer behind it to keep it square.  I will have to figure out to attach it to my card front.  It would be fun if the person receiving the card could remove it and add it to a project.  I will figure out something.  Lots of fun and many options for subject matter!!  Therese

Quilting - the last of the cat squares embellished with fabric strips

I worked several days this week on this project in hopes of getting them all done and being able to clean up the scraps and put everything away.  They are all done!! It was a fun project and I am really happy with how they all turned out and now I will have to brainstorm a way to highlight them in a quilt. 

Therese

 

Denim journal covers made by upcycling jeans and their pockets

I am late getting these up on the blog because I gave them up before I was finished getting all the photos I needed for blogging.  I managed to get them back and have now taken my photos.  I made the journal covers to hold composition books which are available locally and makes these journal covers reusable!!!  It was fun to upcycle jeans into these covers by just piecing around the pockets to get enough fabric to wrap around the composition books.  I added hand stitching on at least one seam on each cover in a different colour just for fun!!  The pockets make a great place to keep pens or head phones and add a lot of texture and detail to the covers.  Will keep an eye out for jeans for giveaway so I can make a few more!!  Therese

 

Quilting - finishing the cats without hand stitching

I have so many cats yet to slow stitch and I am no longer looking forward to doing them so I have decided to finish them off in a different way.   I spent some time today working on them.  I have found some small pieces of coordinating fabrics and will add them to the borders of the cats as strips.  I lined them up and then stitched the one side. I pressed the fabric over, trimmed it off at about 1" and then folded the edge under and pressed again.  I stitched that side down with white thread.  It works quite well and I like the way they look - a bit like stained glass.  There were a few that were tricky because they had several small sides that had to be done before the longer ones.  I eventually figured it out!! I am about half done the remaining cats so one more sewing sessions should finish them off and I can put them into the quilt pile and find some bright fabrics to add to them to make a quilt top.  It was a fun day of sewing and I am really happy they will soon be ready to be incorporated into a quilt!!!  Therese

 

 

Large birthday card with a fast car, embossed flags and shiny gears

This card is for the other grandson - brother of the other.  I started with a large black card and added a striped blue background.  I trimmed two long flags and embossed them with gears (TH-Sizzix) and Diamond Plate (CB).  I die cut three gears (TH-Sizzix) from silver cardstock and mounted them over the flags.  I colour printed the car (CLKER) after I added the font greeting. I ran  my pattern tracing wheel on all four sides to add some paper piercing texture.  I tied on a thin cording between the greeting and the car then mounted it to my card using 3D foam tape.    Therese
 

Pet bowl mats made from animal fabric and some pieced side bars

 I have been sewing for our Gramma Link Africa fundraising effort.  These are two pet bowl mats I made with some pet fabric I found in my stash and some pieced fabric in coordinating browns.  It was fun to put together and piece the side bars.  I made these like I have been doing the pot holders - GAYG - No binding.  I put cotton batting inside and a sturdy fabric on the back to make these durable and washable.  Therese

Quilting - another casserole carrier in fun stripes and a bright yellow interior

I was on a roll and made another casserole carrier yesterday!!!  This one used a cast off of heavy weight fabric in fun stripes.  I pieced the 22" square and then stitched it to one of my batting squares.  I trimmed it to the size of my fabric after adding the stitching.  I trimmed out a 24" square of the yellow fabric for the inside and then pinned the two get together very closely.  I added quilting lines going the other way which are completely absorbed into the design of the fabric.  Next, I bound the edge by folding the yellow over the stripes in the same way as I have been doing for the QAYG - Potholders. This way of finishing a piece works really well for me.  I can get my corners lined up and properly stitched.  I added a 22" handle and two 6.5" loops in yellow to finish off my carrier.  

Therese

 

Quilting - square casserole carrier in soft green floral and brighter palm trees on the inside

I made another casserole carrier for fundraising for Gramma Link Africa. I used a beautiful warm green floral cotton fabric which feel so soft.  It was part of part of a cut out garment which we were not going to be able to sell so this will give it another life.  I used a palm tree cotton from my stash for the inside.  It worked out really well.  I used one of the battings I made the other day and chose to layer my pieces (22" square) and then sew all the way around leaving an opening to turn it right side out.  I trimmed the batting to the edge of the fabric pieces before turning it.  I added two rows of top stitching in coordinating thread around the perimeter after a good pressing.   I used scraps of the palm tree fabric to make my handle (23") and my two loops  (6.5").  It feels a little lighter because it has light weight fabric and a lighter weight batting but I expect it will do the job of keeping a casserole hot or cold. 

Therese

 

Quilting - made up some batting sandwiches

 I made up some batting sandwiches for the casserole carriers I have been making.  I used polyester batting remnants from Mom's stash.  When I brought them home they were headed to the second hand store but in the mean time it only seems reasonable to use up as much of this "free" resource as I can.  I am using a polyester sheet that was headed for the garbage because of how thin it was but it worked perfectly for making layers for both sides of the batting.  I cut several 24" squares and then laid the batting pieces on one and once it was covered I laid another one on top and stitched up several lines to keep everything in place.  Worked really well.  I expect Mom did this as well because there were several bags of small to medium sized pieces which was nice for getting four of these done!!  I will be using them up as I continue to make casserole carriers for Gramma Link Africa.  Therese

Large birthday card with a fast car and embossed flags and stripes

 Grandsons are growing up and now interested in cars!!!  I created this card for one of them.  I started with a large red card that fit in an envelope from my stash.  I added this very cool square background paper and then added embossed stripes in red and green which were embossed with gears (TH - Sizzix) and Diamond Plate (CB).  I tucked three little green flag under the stripes which were also embossed (Diamond Plate CB, Lattice SU, Checked TH Sizzix).  I laser printed the car (CLKER) after I added the greeting with a font.  I ran my pattern tracing wheel on all four sides and then mounted it over the stripes using 3D foam tape.    Therese

Easter Egg card kits

 With good success at making the St. Patrick's Day card kits I decided to make up some for Easter.  I started with the egg.  I downloaded a simple shape from the internet, sized it to fit on my pastel cards which fit loosely in the envelopes.  I printed on paper and glued it to a cardstock scrap to make a template.  I trimmed white rectangles that allowed just a bit of extra space all the way around and then traced the egg shape on one side.  I found this set of papers in her stash that were all pastel colours in very beautiful watercolour papers which were perfect for the egg.  I trimmed 8 strips for each egg at 1/2" wide and 4" long to fit on the white rectangle.  There was a large gap in the middle so I trimmed green strips from my decorative paper scraps to fill in that space at about 1.25" x 4".  I die cut the grass from green cardstock from my stash  - one for each card.  The process of creating the card is that you glue four thin strips to the back of the white rectangle at the top and then another set at the bottom right next to each other.  Then glue the green one in the middle of the two to full cover the rectangle.  Then you turn it over and cut out the egg and when you turn it over you have this wonderful Easter egg.  You glue the egg to your card front (all pastel - pink, blue, lavender, yellow) and then glue the grass just over the bottom of the egg.  I really love how the egg turned out!!  It can then be embellished with glitter, sequins, stickers, etc as they wish.   Totally fun!!!!!  Therese

St. Patrick's Day card kits

 My sister owns a daycare and is always looking for activities for the kids do to.  I had offered to make card kits for her and we connected at Christmas where she handed over a box of supplies - cardstock, decorative papers and envelopes.  She would be happy to take whatever I could make with them.  Yesterday I decided to see about making a few card kits as I had missed Valentines!!  I made 23 card kits for St. Patrick's Day.  I die cut three white hearts and then die cut three smaller green hearts from various decorative papers from my stash.  I trimmed out green cards to fit loosely inside the envelopes.  I made up some instructions for the daycare workers along with how many kits there are and have provided this sample.  The process is to glue the green ones to the white ones, glue the three to the front of the card after placing them where you are happy with them then drawing in stem with a green marker.  They could then be embellished with glitter glue, sequins, stickers or any other embellishment they might have on hand. 

Therese

Custom baby card featuring lace, lacy punched border, ribbon and fabric flower embellishment

I received a request from a friend for a couple special cards for events that are coming up in her life.  This is for a friend of hers who has just become a grandmother of a baby girl.  I started with a pink card base and added a pieced background.  I punched a rectangle of pink cardstock with the eyelet border punch (SU), added a piece of lace and a length of ivory ribbon over it and adhering them to the back of the strip using double sided tape.  I added a tiny brad to hold my tag.  I used a off white stamp pad to colour a white brad so it would coordinate.  I adhered this piece over where the papers join.  I added a beautiful lacy fabric flower embellishment over the ribbon.  I colour printed the words, die cut the tag, embossed it with floral border (SU) and then sponged on a bit of off white ink to just tone down the white a bit.  I tied on a piece of ivory crochet thread which I slipped under the brad to secure it to the card.  To keep the tag in place I used two small pieces of 3D foam tape.    Therese

 

All Occasion cards featuring laser printed images on transparencies over layered hand decorated backgrounds with eyelets

When I was prepping card kits for my January Cardmaking class I printed a few extra images on transparencies!!  I always get over ambitious and printed more than I need.  So this past week I took the time to put together the backgrounds from my stash of hand decorated papers and make up these cards.  I coloured most of the images a bit on the back with markers to highlight the image and provide good contrast against the backgrounds.  The Briar Rose  - source unknown. The fern is from Trish Bayley - no longer online.  The ship - no credit available.  The Floral heart's source is no longer on line.   I really love how bright and beautiful these cards are and that is credit to the beautiful background papers.  I used eyelets to secure the transparencies to the layered background papers before I mounted the backgrounds to my card fronts.    Therese

 

All Occasion cards featuring paper pieced backgrounds and little watercoloured images

 I had started sorting pieces for these kits for my last card making class at the end of January and this past week I finally cut all the extra pieces I needed and got the cards made up.  It always goes so much faster when some of the pieces are already to go and card kits are fastest.  Quick and easy cards in minutes.  With every thing cut and ready to go I got these done fairly quickly.  The colouring takes the longest time but I love the process so that is what I do for the sheer joy of watercolouring.   The little potted plant is from Craft Starters - I recently bought a variegated snake plant so I added some different colours to the leaves to replicate the look.  More depth and dimension and therefore a bit more interesting!!!  The little cupcake is from Black Berry Jelly Digitals.  I watercoloured it to coordinate and then added a little clear glitter to the sparkles and the flower centers.  The Canada Geese are from Arthurs Clipart (no longer on line).  I used a diamond format and left them black and white.  The little cup is a stamped image which I acquired in an image swap and do not have credits for it.  I watercoloured it red to contrast nicely. It is layered with a brown scalloped circle (Nestibilities).  So a few more cards for my stash!!!  

Valentine's card featuring a serendipity background, an embossed strip and a fussy cut heart

This is my Valentine's card for DH.  I did get it done on time.  I am just slow at getting it onto my blog.  I started with a deep maroon card and then created this fun collage background using a scrap of hand decorated paper to which I glued a variety of paper scraps.  I then added some tissue paper which I had coloured to give a bit of red to the background.  It did not show up as much as I would have wanted so I used a deep red stamp pad and just touched the surface once it was dry.  Perfect!!!!!!  I trimmed a strip of red and embossed it with a heart embossing folder (CB) and layered it with gold paper before adhering it to my card.  The heart is from a clipart site and I added the Always before printing it.  I fussy cut it, used a black marker on the edges and then coloured it to coordinate using gold shimmer paint for the heart and red watercolour for the banner!!!  I used 3D foam tape to adhere it over the red strip!!  We had a good meal at home and played my favorite board game - Carcassonne!!  We will go out on the weekend when it is not so busy! Therese
 

Custom birthday card with a dictionary page background and a watercoloured book shelf with ribbon

 I made this card for a friend who has a special person in her life celebrating a significant birthday!!  This person is an author and loves to read and books!!!  I found this wonderful book shelf (Pixabay) which I watercoloured after adding a font greeting.  I trimmed the bottom edge with scallop decorative scissors and used a push pin to pierce each scallop.  I ran my pattern tracing wheel on the other three sides.  I added green ribbon that coordinated with the fern border and tying a short piece to the length to simulate a bow.  I dug through my dictionaries for creating (they are falling apart) and found the words wonderful and woman that perfectly framed my image.  I trimmed the dictionary page and layered it with background paper that contains letters.  I adhered the background to a blue card and added the book shelf image using 3D foam tape.  Two great cards to celebrate significant events in life!!  Therese

Slow Stitching - cross stitched mugs

I will be working on a few little cross stitched mugs to embellish some mug rugs I want to make.  It will be my first go at this sort of project but I am looking forward to incorporating these little mugs into these projects.  I did not find a pattern I liked online and I did not have any in my pattern book so I made one up!!  I will be using Derwent Inktense Paints to colour the cup and the background to coordinate with my fabric.  It will be a fun project!!  I will stitch a few more mugs, cut them apart, colour them and then add fabric all around them when I make the mug rugs.  Therese