Slow Stitching - a few more squares for my pink and green quilt

 I am back to exercising in the house as the weather outside is cooler and is it darker in the morning!!

I have set aside some time each morning to work on my slow stitching project which is to create some embroidered appliques for a quilt I would like to make for my spare room bed.  I have the squares ready to go with the "flowers" stitched in place and I simply need to add embroidery as I see fit when I am working on these squares.  It is good to be back to this project!!  Therese

Sewing - potholders with different fabrics

The image above is of the backs of the potholders.  For this set I stitched and cut a similar set of half square triangles and sewed them back together.  I added a green strip, batting and a brown patterned backing.  I added little diagonal hangers and then stitched the backing to the front to finish off the potholders.  I added quilting lines in the dark triangles this time.  One more set ready for Christmas.  

Therese

Sewing - another set of potholders with points and borders

Another set of potholders for Christmas!!  I layered the two large half square triangles, pinned them, drew a line from corner to corner across the two colours, stitched a quarter inch from the line on both sides and then cut them apart on the line.  I stitched them to each other to create points.  I did the same for this set.   I added strips of red all the way around and then added batting.  I cut backers from some vintage cotton fabric which worked quite well colour wise.  I stitched two little hangers, stitched them to my top layer and then bound the potholders by folding the backing to the front and stitching it into place.  I added quilting lines in the light triangles.  The colours of the fronts are a little off - they are like the last set which I linked to.  Another set to add to the ones I will be bringing for our Christmas celebration this year.  Therese

 

Sewing - Quilted potholders for Christmas

Another set of potholders for Christmas.  This pair were made up from a set of half square triangles which I cut in half and then sewed back together.  I added a dark red band all the way around to have enough fabric to turn over to the other side.  I added some green leafy cotton on the other side along with a little hanger across the corner and then folded the red over and sewed the binding in place all the way around.  I quilted a square in the center of each - one square, the other on point.  I like the one on point better.  There will be more potholders from these squares so I will change up the format so make them a bit different.  Therese

 

All occasion card featuring a pieced background in browns and yellows, a torn vellum piece with faux stitching, an embossed strip and a fussy cut bird

 I was on a roll with this concept and have made quite a few cards featuring the little birds I laser printed.  I have a few more cut out ready for future cards!!  This card features a pieced background where I embossed the top section with polka dots (SU) and highlighted them with ink.  I added a piece of vellum to where they join which has several lines of faux stitching.  I overlaid a strip of brown cardstock which was also embossed with polka dots (CB).  I added this large layer to a kraft card.  I watercoloured the little bird to coordinate with my card!!  It has been fun using these fussy cut birds!!!

Therese

Quilting - potholder quilt from scraps

I just finished a project that I prepped earlier this year for the quilting retreat.  It is a potholder quilt (45" 57") that my Mom started when she moved to the lodge and in the end was having trouble quilting the images in the middles so when she passed I inherited it.  She had wanted it to go to a great grandchild and so I will now see about getting it to its new home.  

This is a quilt as you go technique where you cut a front, batting and then a larger backing.  You layer the front and batting centered on the backing and quilt a design to secure all the layers.  Once your pieces are all ready to go you sew two pieces to each other by layering the backings to each other and sew a line near the edge of the front/batting layer.  Then, you iron the large allowances flat, fold them in half and sew them down to the fronts.  You can stitch together as many in a row as you wish and then as many rows as you wish.  The rows are connected in the same manner as the individual squares.  Finally, you fold over the edges and sew them to the quilt and you are finished!!  I stitched a variety of images usually with one line though a few have overlaps or backstitching to line up the piece.  It was fun to stitch stars, butterflies, balloons, houses, flowers, trees, kites, boats, muffins, light house, drum, swirly heart, leaf, bonnet, etc.  

It is a great technique for building a quilt a few squares/rectangles at a time.  This quilt is made from polyester cotton fabrics and flannel squares as batting.  Therese

Sewing - Potholders using scraps

 I have been working on making potholders and decided to make a set for Christmas gifts this year.  My Mom was the one who always made potholders for family Christmas gifts and since her passing I thought I should take up the tradition.  I have made a few sets but Christmas is coming fast and I am very far behind!! I made these with a couple sets of flying geese that I made up in a size that would be appropriate for making potholders.  I used coordinating cotton fabric scraps to finish them off.  I used a different manner of adding a hanger.  I used the same stitched length of folded fabric but applied it diagonally across the one corner instead of adding it to the binding process.  It allows the potholder to be hung but also provides a neat and clean surface that creates a nice trivet for the table as well.  I will need to see what sort of feedback I get to see whether it is a really good idea or not.  I store mine in a drawer next to the stove and so do several of the other members of my family.  

So I stitched the flying geese with cotton scraps and used the balance of the fabrics to create the tops of the potholders.  I cut three pieces of flannel as the batting, added the front and then stitched on the hanging tab.  Next, I added a larger backing (1" to each side) which I folded in half and then onto the front and stitched it down all the way around.  I did some top stitching after I was finished to keep all the layers in place as these get washed quite often.  One for set for the Christmas stash. Therese

Slow Stitching - handstitched PEI to my dirt dyed fabric on the back of my potholders

 I added hand stitched letters to the back of all my potholders in the rust colour of PEI dirt!!  I simply drew the letters on the fabric with a pencil on one of the corners and then embroidered them with stem stitch.  

I am joining Kathy at Kathy Quilts for her Slow Sunday Stitching.  Always lots of inspiration and 

interesting projects so be sure to check them out!!

Therese

Sewing - potholders backed with PEI dirt dyed fabric and a colourful scrappy bowtie quilt block on the front

 For my next set of potholders I chose to make the Bowtie block.  It consists of four large blocks (2 in one colour/pattern and 2 in a different one) and two small blocks in one or the other.  You sew the little blocks diagonally onto the corners of the contrasting colour blocks, trim off a 1/4" from the seam and press it over to complete the block.  To finish the block you sew all four to each other.  I really like this block and it is super easy to do.  I will have to research how many ways they can be laid out to make different designs.  Same as before - three layers of flannel for the batting, a little hanger on the corner, an oversized backing and the folded over binding to finish off the potholders.  I added some quilting lines all around the inside of the bowtie.  It is much more visible on the solid fabric.  You can see that I used the pattern for one of the bowties and the solid for the other.  A different look!!  Therese

Sewing - potholders backed with PEI dirt dyed fabric featuring a pinwheel block made with small flying geese

 For this set of potholders I decided to make this pinwheel quilt block.  I knew how to make Flying Geese blocks so I dug out some red fabric to go with the lighter background which I had picked out and made some flying geese units using this No Waste Flying Geese tutorial .  I figured how to customize the size so I could make them the size I wanted my potholders (around 7.5").  I made up four sets (4 at a time) and then laid them out so they formed the pinwheel pattern.  I sewed two together to make the squares and then sewed the squares together to make the quilt blocks.  Again, I added three layers of flannel for the batting, stitched on the little hangers across the corners and then added the backing (extra 1"on all four sides) and bound them by folding the sides in a half inch then folding the remainder over onto the front and stitching it in place.  I added quilting lines inside the pinwheel flying geese to keep all the layers together.  I just realized that I could have made the flying geese in two different colours and that would have made the pinwheel stand out more!!  Next time!!  Therese

Sewing - potholders backed with PEI dirt dyed fabric and scrappy log cabin quilt block on the front

 It is been a fun week of sewing!!  I have made up a few sets of potholders as souvenirs of our trip to PEI using the fabric I dyed with PEI dirt.  I dug through my fabric scraps and found some that coordinated with the dyed fabric and a few that coordinated with them before I got started. I did some internet research on log cabin quilt blocks to see if I could find some measurements so I could make them the size I needed for potholders.  I did find one place that had measurements that were close so I simply increased the size of the center square a bit (2") and then cut strips of 1.25" wide from two of the scraps I had picked out.  I just sewed the first strip to the center square, trimmed it square and then sewed the strip to the other side and trimmed it square again.  Just kept going around changing colours when needed until I had completed two full corners in the two different fabrics.  They ended up a bit bigger than I expected and I am not sure why but in the end it may have been that my seam allowances were a bit off.  I added three layers of flannel as batting, trimmed them square and then cut backings from my dyed fabric an inch bigger on each side.  I chose to add an unconventional hanger on these ones which makes them more versatile as they can also be used as trivets.  For the hanger I added a folded and stitched strip of fabric across a corner once I had the front pinned to the batting and stitched the ends to the sides so they would stay in place when I was sewing the folded to the front binding.  The binding process worked really well and they look neater without the hanger on the corner.  I added two quilting lines diagonally across the middle - one around the edges of each of the two halves of the potholders to keep all the layers together  

It was easier than I expected to make these quilt blocks so I went looking for a place which would give me instructions on a few more quilt blocks I could try.  I found Threadbare Creations which had a link under Quilting to Classic Quilt Blocks.  I looked them over and found a few I was willing to try.  

Therese

Sewing - cotton dyed with PEI dirt

We recently visited Prince Edward Island and my sister and I decided to give dying fabric with PEI dirt as they do on the island for T-shirts.  We gathered some dirt by Confederation Bridge, added some water to make a slurry and slathered it all over our white cotton quilting fabric!  It was so fun and after letting is sit for a few days in a plastic bag we rinsed it in the ocean and washed it with the other PEI Dirt Shirts we had bought.  It came up quite a bit lighter than we expected but I will be incorporating it into potholders as souvenirs of our trip!! Therese

 

September Card Club - card #3 - paper napking and ribbon for quick & easy card

 

For our last card we adhered paper napkins which had all the back layers removed to a rectangle of light coloured cardstock after liberally applying glue to its surface.  Smoothed it down carefully to remove bubbles though I see I was not as successful at getting the napkin well adhered as I had hoped.  We glued the sides and top and bottom to the back of the layer and then added a length of ribbon before adhering this large layer to the front of our cards.  To finish them off some of us tied our short piece of ribbon to the one on the card.  Several tied a knot in the short piece and added it with double sided tape and one adhered it flat on the other one and I provided little buttons for the ends!!!  Love that this group is very creative and are always ready to do it their way!!!  Therese

September Card Club - card #2 - decorative paper, watercoloured digital images and a layered strip

 For our next card we adhered our decorative paper to our card front and then watercoloured our images.  Once dry, we added paper piercing using a pattern tracing wheel and adhered it to a square of cardstock  with distressed edges.  We adhered this element to our card front and then layered our paper pieces to a strip of the same cardstock and mounted it over the image using 3D foam tape to finish off our cards.  A new sketch for me!!  Therese

September Card Club - card #1 - Versamark on card front, frame die cut, embossing and metal dragonfly embellishment

 

 It was so great to get back together with my card making friends for a great evening of creativity!!  We just returned from our PEI vacation so the kits had been made up before I left.  I had to reacquaint myself with my inspiration and I was grateful for the instructions I had printed.  

We used Versamark ink on our card front to create subtle texture (SU).  We embossed our vellum strip and our little square of cardstock using two different embossing folders (CB) and then proceeded to arrange our elements on our card front and estimated where we needed to apply double sided tape on our vellum so it would be hidden by our frames.  I flagged the end of one of the vellums and trimmed the other one even with the bottom of the card.  We glued our frames in place and then adhered our little squares inside the frame.  The metal dragonflies were adhered with 3D foam tape to finish off our cards.   Great to be back to making cards!!  Therese

All occasion card featuring a little bear with a balloon and a pieced decorative paper background

This card is for a friend of mine who loves to garden.  I chose this cute little bear relaxing with a balloon tied to this ankle (Pixabay) for the main focal point.  I added faux stitching to all four sides and then mounted it to red cardstock.  I pieced a background using two different decorative papers and added a line of faux stitching.  Adhered the background to a ivory card and then mounted the image with 3D foam tape.  

Therese
 

Anniversary card featuring handmade paper, an embossed red rectangle with gold highlighting, an embossed mesh rectangle and a serendipity heart

Another anniversary card!!  I started with a red card.  I used a piece of my own handmade paper for my background, layered on an embossed red layer which has swirls highlighted with gold, a embossed mesh then a serendipity heart!!!  I stitched down the center of the heart which secured all the layers to each other.  I added some lines of faux stitching with my pattern tracing wheel before adhering this large layer to my red card.  

Therese
 

All occasion card featuring a decorative paper background, decorative vellum, stitching and embossing

 I cute little bird which I water coloured to coordinate with my card!!  I watercoloured the edges of the white card, added a layer of floral decorative paper, a strip of blue cardstock, a strip of decortive heart vellum and then an embossed strip of peach cardstock (CB) which I flagged on one end.  After layering them all I stitch through the center of the peach strip which secured all the pieces!!  I added this large element to my card.  The little bird was fussy cut before colouring and then mounted to my card using 3D foam tape.  Cute!!!!  Therese

All occasion card featuring a fussy cut bird layered over a background featuring hand decorate paper, vellum and stitching

 This card was another on the same theme as the others I made earlier!!  I chose a neutral decorative paper, stamped leaves all over in a soft green ink and then added watercolour in green and brown to make a unique pattern.  While it was drying, I found some vellum scraps in gold and red which I tore and layered to make a decorative layer on my background. I layered it on my background, added an embossed strip of brown cardstock which I stitched on through all the layers.  Everything was then nicely secured!!  I added some faux stitching to the vellum afterwards by sliding a cutting mat under the vellum and running my pattern tracing wheel over several times.  I fussy cut  the bird (Supercolouring) and coloured it to coordinate with my card!!  Love how it worked out!!!  Therese

All occasion card featuring a paper pieced decorative paper background, embossed vellum, a stitched strip and a fussy cut bird

 For this card, I created a pieced background using a variety of coordinating paper scraps.  A log cabin look on the left hand side and several strips added to the right to make it the correct size for my dark brown card.  I embossed (CB) a torn piece of vellum and secured all my elements by stitching down a strip of brown over the top of them.  I adhered this to my card and then watercoloured my bird (CLKER) to coordinate.  Not the right colouring for a chickadee but that it the way art goes sometimes!!  Therese

Anniversary card featuring embossed handmade paper, vellum, mesh and a serendipity heart

 Another anniversary card featuring all of my own handmade papers!!!  I embossed the small sheet of green (SU).  I laid two purples next to each other and added a strip of yellow which I stitched on which created by background.  I tucked the heart vellum under the edge of the yellow strip and over the green piece.  I added a rectangle of embossed mesh and then a gold embossed serendipity heart.  I stitched down the center which secured all the elements to each other.  I added another line of stitching to secure the end of the vellum layer.  I added faux stitching with my pattern tracing wheel on all four edges before adhering this large layer to my green card.    Therese

All occasion card featuring a hand decorated background, embossed vellum, stitching and a fussy cut bird

 A fun birthday card for a special person!!!  I started with a piece of blue scrap book paper and added a layer of stamped leaves in a light green colour of ink.  I watercoloured over them with blue and green to make a muted background.  While it was drying I tore and embossed a piece of vellum using a leafy branch embossing folder (CB).  I laid it over the background and added a strip of tan cardstock.  I used a decorative stitch on my sewing machine and stitched all of the pieces together using blue thread.  I mounted this large element to a tan card.  The bird (Supercoloring) was sized and laser printed and then fussy cut.  I watercoloured it to coordinate with my card!!! It was mounted to my card using 3D foam tape.  I printed several birds so will be using them on future cards.  Therese

Anniversary card featuring handmade paper, embossed vellum and mesh and a stitch serendipity heart

I have been working on getting cards ready for the special occasions of my family members.  

I made this one for an anniversary!!  I layered embossed vellum over commercial handmade paper and added a yellow ribbon tied with one knot to hold them together.  I layered the serendipity heart over a piece of mesh which was embossed with gold and silver embossing powder and then onto a piece of my own handmade paper.  I stitched through all the layers down the center of the heart and then adhered this large element to my terracotta card front.  Very happy with this sketch and will use it again!!  

Therese
 

All occasion card featuring handmade paper, stitching and watercoloured daisies

A card for a friend who is celebrating her birthday soon.  I started with an almond card.  I trimmed brown handmade paper and added a small sheet of marigold handmade paper and then the daisy image (my doodle).  I stitched around the flowers with my sewing machine in yellow thread and then added faux stitching to the other layers using my pattern tracing wheel.  I watercoloured the daisies to coordinate!!  

Therese
 

Sewing - finished my bright blend quilt with a red broadcloth backing

I have finally finished this bright quilt (47"' x 63") which I made up with the scraps of blend fabric that were donated to GLA.  I added a batting and then a red broadcloth (cotton poly blend) backing.  I wanted to be better at quilting a pattern so I decided to do squares on the pinwheels.  I pinned everything very carefully and then started in on the squares.  I should have done all the middle first and then moved to the sides.  Needless to say, that with all the pushing and shoving that is required to sew a square in each pin wheel the results were not stellar.  I started by unstitching half of them because there were large puckers in the quilt top.  After taking that much out I decided to remove all the stitching and starting all over.  Best decision!  I stitched down the middle and then added two more lines of vertical stitching on each side which nicely secured my layers.  Next, I trimmed my batting and backing and stitched the backing to self bind the edge of the quilt.  After I had it all finished I decided to stitch up the squares I orginally had stitched which worked much better now with all the layers nicely stitched together.  I had added halves to the edges and decided not to do those so I had to scrub off the pencil marks so it was washed again!!  The pencil marks came out!!!  I am happy with the final result but it was the loss of a full days work but a valuable lesson learned.  That is how life goes!!  Learning is sometimes time consuming!!!  Therese

 

Sewing - a small quilt with the last of the jungle fabric

I have made up a little quilt (36" x 38") with the last bit of Jungle fabric and some of the cotton fabrics which arrived with the last donation from Edmonton.  You can see that there is a rainbow of colours. I dyed the yellow and the orange to finish up the colours of the rainbow.  Really happy with how well that turned out.  I found a green cotton in my stash to go with it and so added it to the top and bottom of the Jungle fabric scraps.   I also had enough for the backing.   I am a novice quilter and after taking a photo the stripes do somewhat overwhelm the jungle fabric.  If it proves to be unacceptable for the merchandise table I will pass it on to the Linus project.  Therese

Dyed some light yellow cotton fabric - a brighter yellow and orange

 

I used some Tintex dye (Brilliant Yellow and Mandarin Orange  $1.60 each) which I bought at Dollarama to dye some of the light yellow cotton fabric I have on hand from the donation for GLA we received.  It worked really well.  I did a  half package and weighed fabric for the dark dye recipe.  It took 30 minutes for each batch and then I added more fabric into each one which gave me a lighter colour and then I mixed the orange and the yellow and got a light orange colour.  Nice to get a variety of hues in those two colours.  I have added some of these to my Jungle quilt.  It was colours I was missing and could easily be dyed from what I had on hand.  Therese

GLA - Grandparents Tea @ Cronquist House - September 7th

You are all welcome to come to our Grandparents' Tea in September.  There will be good food and a fabulous atmosphere for celebrating with a cup of tea!!                Therese

All occasion card featuring handmade paper, ribbon, embossing and vellum butterfly

 My oldest aunt has passed away at 91.  We are headed to the funeral this weekend and I got this card ready for her family.  I started with a white card and chalked the edges in pink.  I added faux stitching to the edges of the trimmed handmade paper, then an embossed strip and a pink sating ribbon.  I hand stitched the ribbon to the center of each motif using white thread.  I tied on three short lengths of the same ribbon on the right side and a hand embossed butterfly on the left hand side.  I added a green body to the butterfly (SX) to help it stand out and to accommodate the glue I used to secure it to the card.  It will be nice to see our cousins again!!  Therese

Sewing - pink baby blanket with pink, striped & white squares and happy face flannel backing

I cut the five inch squares of cotton fabric for this quilt a couple of weeks ago and took a sewing day yesterday to put it all together.  I stitched together the front matching the corners really well.  I created the backing using some happy face flannel and added a strip of the same pink as the front as I had to trim out a stain.  I layered the backing, the batting and then the top and pinned it really well.  I added diagonal lines of wavy decorative stitching in white thread to quilt all the pieces together and trimmed it to the edges of the front.  I usually like to use the backer to bind but it was not large enough so I trimmed strips of the striped fabric to create a binding.  I bound the top and the bottom and then added the sides.  It took quite a bit of fiddling to get diagonal lines on the corners so I will be finding a better way next time.  I am happy with how it worked out (31.5" x 40.5").  It will be going into our inventory for the fall Gramma Link Africa events in the fall.  Therese

Sewing - cute chicken potholders

 I made these cute chicken potholders for my sister who just had a birthday.  The chicken fabric and the coordinating borders were scraps which I trimmed to 7.5" once they were sewn.  I backed them with d to flannel batting and the red backing (9.5") and added two lines of quilting.  They are self bound with the backing fabric.  I usually cut the front 7" and the backing 9.5" but they worked out fine.  

Therese

All occasion card featuring a hand decorated background, black embossed border, embossed flowers and hand drawn border and leaves

 One of my sister's is having her 65th birthday and I made this card for her.  I started with a hand decorated background that had a variety of paints on it.  I stamped it with a flower image from the set using Versamark clear ink which gave a bit of a darker look to the stamped images.  I embossed the swirly floral border twice and the little flourishes twice as well with black embossing powder.  I stamped the flower onto coordinating coloured cardstock scraps and embossed them with pearl embossing powder.  I fussy cut them and added a tiny brad in the center of each.  After positioning them I removed them and doodled flowers, stems and leaves of them before mounting them to the background with 3D foam tape.  I doodled a wavy border all the way around and then glued this large embellished background to a blue card.  One of my other sisters hosted family to celebrate!!!  A fun weekend!!   Therese

Cards - a cute little butterfly over some floral paper

 I made this fun heart card for my daughter and son in law's anniversary!!!  I always use hearts and this little butterfly (Cre8tive Hands) seemed the perfect thing for their card!! I watercoloured it to coordinate with the decorative paper, added paper piercing and then a bit of glitter with a clear glitter gel pen.  I layered it onto a light blue.  I added paper piercing to the background and then decided to add a flight path so I added a little line of paper piercing to the butterfly and then finished it off with a fine tip markers once I added the image to my card.  Totally fun!!  She is a sewist so she will appreciate the interesting way of using the pattern tracing wheel!!  Therese

GLA Sewing - a colourful jungle themed tote with bright stripes

I created a tote bag with some of the final scraps of the jungle fabric I committed to earlier this year!!  I have added some strips of cotton blend in coordinating colours to make the panel wide enough for a tote bag (13" x 18").  The back piece was pieced but you can hardly tell as the pattern lined up almost perfectly.  The handles, bottom and top edge are also from cotton blend fabric which is closer to a jade colour rather than the turquoise it seems to be in the photos.  I added a red broadcloth (cotton polyester blend) lining, a purple pocket inside and boxed the bottom corners.  I added an elastic and button closure in between the handles.  Totally fun project!!  Another item going to the GA merchandise inventory for our fall events.  

Therese