Applique Shorts

I have held on to a number of boys clothes from Alex in the hopes that Abby would wear them.  Well she will as long as they are girly.  Could not get her to put on any of these shorts pre applique. 

After a long day of playing,  it was hard to get Abby to pose for me. 

I used fabric from my stash and for this butterfly I was inspired by a skirt from Mini Boden.  Adorable clothes, a bit pricey, but full of great ideas I can do. 

I love how the khaki shorts turned out.  I used a mixture of 1930s prints along with some free motion embellishment. 

This next one is cut from a Jane Sassaman fabric that I have had in my stash for awhile.  With a butterfly on one leg and a spray of flowers on the other, the bright colors are just perfect for a little girl.  Even got a compliment from a gal at Barnes & Noble. 

Set for the summer with out spending a dime. 

Abby's Fairy Garden

I have been collecting pictures of fairy gardens via Pinterest for awhile.  I thought it would be a fun summer activity for the kids and get them involved in picking out some flowers and planting them around their own gardens.  This past weekend, I got a start on Abby's fairy garden, Alex is going to have a dragon's lair tucked in a corner planter. 

To get started our garden fairies needed a house.  I had been on the hunt for a good fairy house at all of the local garden shops but found nothing.  Searching the internet,  I found this one, but it was a little too pricy and I loved the look of  these,  but seemed a bit too time consuming to create.  So I started to search around the house and came up some scraps left from the great deck construction of 2009. 

The houses are made from  the post sleeves and caps.  I drew a door on with a sharpie and the dear hubby cut them out. 

I added a few rock trails and hope to add some flowers and more landscaping this weekend.  I just love the start to our fairy garden. 

The other big project is the yard is completed as well.  A play fort for the kids. 

Sticky Tape Flowers Tutorial

As promised here is the tutorial on how I made the flowers on Bricks Mortar Fabric Thread.....

What you will need: 

• Fabric for the flowers – 2 shades of yellow fabric, one for the front and one for the back
• Steam a Seam 2
• Flower Stencil I used the stencil Double Chrysanthemum from Laura Murray Designs
• Sticky/Scotch Tape
• Embroidery Floss I used DMC size 8 Pearl Cotton in Variegated Mustard
• Embroidery Needle
• Seed Beads I used vintage beads available from Old Stock Supply on Etsy
• Beading Needle and Thread
• Sewing Machine with Free Motion setting
• Iron
• Scissors
• Pencil
• brown colored pencil or fabric marker

Directions…

1.       Select main fabric and back fabric for flowers.  I like to use a lighter tone for the back so the pencil marks are easy to see. 

2.       Make your fusible sandwich.  Take a swatch of main fabric big enough to fit selected stencil and press firmly on to the Steam a Seam 2 sheet.  Steam a Seam 2 is unique that it is slightly tacky and will stick to the fabric without ironing.  Cut out the swatch and then press the back fabric to the other side of the Steam a seam.  So you will have a sandwich of fabric, fusible and fabric now follow the directions for the product and fuse the sandwich together with an iron. 

3.     Trace the stencil or draw your own flower petals onto the back fabric.  Keep in mind if the patter is not symmetrical it will be viewed from the opposite direction when flipped over to the right side of the fabric. 

4.       Cut out the petals to the flower and try to keep them in order.  It was difficult with so many petals I ended up numbering them so I would not get confused.  Also, I cut just to the outside of the pencil line so the pieces were a bit bigger.  Don’t worry too much about the pencil markings as this will be on the back of the flower. 

5.       Next lay all of the petals in place where you want to attach the flower….

 

6.       Then use sticky tape to hold down the tips, be sure to leave the center clear of tape, that is where we are going to sew them down. 

7.   On the center of the taped flower use your sewing machine and sew around in a circle a few time being sure to catch each petal with a few stitches.  The yellow flower that I am touching has the petals stitched down. 

8.     A tip I found in Allison Aller’s Crazy Quilting book was to use colored pencil to shade the flowers.  Super tip, a few lines of the brown pencil really gave the flowers a realistic touch…. Then I used the pearl cotton to create the embroidery knots to cover the machine stitches.  I used a variety of dark colored vintage seed beads to fill in the center.

Bricks Mortar Fabric Thread

My entry for the 2012 Alliance for American Quilts is finished, just need to put on the label and hanging sleeve.  I will be a bittersweet moment again this year to pack up my quilt and send it off,  I just love how the quilt turned out.   Even got my husbands stamp of approval with his comment "Now, you are keeping this one right?" 

Bricks Mortar Fabric Thread

Bricks and mortar are the foundation of a home just as fabric and thread are the foundation of a quilt.   

 A close up on the 3-D flowers that I have dubbed "sticky tape flowers".  Each petal is cut out individually then attached and embellished with embroidered knots and seed beads to create a incredibly realistic looking flower. 

A tutorial on the flowers is in the works. 

My pattern on Knit Picks

You know when you have exciting news but are hesitant to share with too many people until it happens. Well, a few weeks back I submitted my Colorwork Ornament pattern to the Independent Designer Program through Knit Picks yarns and today it live on their site.  Check it out. 

So exciting. 

Three

Our little Abby turned three this past weekend. She is slowly becoming less of a toddler and more of a little girl.

I made her a rainbow cake that I have seen several versions of on the Internet.  I created mine using two white cake box mixes, the butter cake recipe from the Cake Mix Doctor, and some gel food dye.  I used each box mix to make three layers of the cake.  I thought it was a good plan,  but I ended up with a cake that was very tall. 

I made a double batch of the butter cream frosting recipe also from the Cake Doctor cookbook and used very little between the layers and had just enough to frost the sides.  And assortment of rainbow colored sprinkles were use to decorate the top. 

The cake was enjoyed by all, especially the birthday girl. 

Sneek Peek

I have been tossing around the idea of up sizing my Mischief Makers toddler slipper patten for some time now.  But I finally got down to it and came up with a twist on the design but used the same construction of toe up all in one piece slipper.  And after a bit of tweaking here it is.......

Knit up in Pattons Classic Wool in Plum Heather. 

Would love to know what you think. 

40

My Alliance for American Quilts entry has been nagging at me to finish it up....

I decided to add some flowers, and after some discussion with a fellow quilter on not having just the right color yellow to create some flowers that would pop against the brick background.  She came through with a bag of "screaming" yellow colors that really popped. 

The flower petals are individually cut out and then attached to add a little dimension to the flat brick.   

I have some beading to do and embroidery I would like to add,  but overall it is coming together.   

In other happening around here,  I celebrated my 40th birthday at the end of March. Not much fan fair and very few "over the hill" jokes. I did bake myself a cake...Strawberry from The Cake Mix Doctor. 

Craftsy

I discovered a great site to showcase all of my patterns in one place.  Craftsy.  Come on over and check out all of my beading, quilting and knitting patterns the freebies and for sale....all in one spot, ready for immediate download....

Colorwork Ornaments

Hot off the keys of my computer,  my newest knitting pattern is ready and loaded to be purchased on Etsy and Ravelry. 

Colorwork Ornaments offers 18 different patterns to create eye catching and intricate knit ornaments
in contemporary and traditional Sanquhar knitting designs.  I have written and charted all of the patterns.  I hope you find them as addictive as I do.....

Each finished ornament measures an 7 ¾ inch circumference (about 2.5 inch diameter)

Materials

- Yarn: fingering weight wool in two colors (approx. 25 yards of each color)

I have used the following Knit Picks Palette yarns in various combinations:
White
Cream
Oyster
Doe
Black
Currant
Hollyberry
Delta
Navy

- Needles: 5 Double Pointed Needles in Size 1 (2.5 mm)
- Stitch Markers (4)
- Stuffing
- Crochet hook
- Tapestry needle
- Hemostats (optional, used for stuffing the ornament)