Willow Cushion Top November 4, 2010

3 cups of tea and 1 aching back (and 2 aching knees) later…

but all of my teeny tiny “Willow” pieces are FINALLY fused to my linen cushion top!

Don’t Look Now! “Willow” pattern can be found HERE

My friend Gayle and I have been working on these together every Friday for the past few weeks

with homeowrk assignments to be completed by the following Friday.

You can check out her cushion top HERE.

This is quite an ambitious project for two gals who have never done applique before…

not sure what we were thinking???

But we’ve managed to muddle through with only a few mistakes ;D

We still have to sew down all of those little pieces with our sewing machines

then quilt the top

and turn it into a pillow…

I know so much more to do!

But I will happily take my time on the next few steps

and look forward to having a finished “Willow” cushion by Thanksgiving(ish)…

maybe I am being a bit overzealous with that date considering I have several other projects with deadlines, ha ha.

In good time, right?

PS ~ sorry for the lousy lighting on my photo, but it is raining here as it does every Thursday!  These Kaffe Fasset and Martha Negley fabrics on my top have the most beautiful bright colors

Happy sewing,

Colette

February Girl November 2, 2010

This lovely red oval hoop just arrived from the UK!!!

I was finally able to finish hooping up my “february” girl

and she is ready to be mailed to my secret Scrappy { Hoops } Swap partner!

“Februaury” by Sarah Jane embroidery pattern HERE.

I used THIS tutorial by Aneela to do the raw edge applique.

The back edges were cut with pinking sheers

and then glued the frame.

I used a Kaffe Fasset fabric for the back with a little raw edge applique.

This little hat was inspired by a pattern in Kajsa Wikman’s new book “Scandinavian Stitches”.

I can’t tell you how much I love THIS book and seriously want to make everything in it!

Her blog HERE is equally inspiring and fabulous!

And…I have even started on a couple of projects inspired by her lovely quilts and pillows

The little heart on the hat is cross stitched on 27 ct linen.

“february” and “mamaloves2read” were FMQ with a variegated thread on white linen.

Really, I had so much fun making this scrappy little hoop and can’t wait to make one to match R.’s new bed quilt…

more on that and my other projects later ;D

Happy sewing,

Colette

Easy Appliqued Tees February 9, 2010

My Joann Fabric package finally arrived yesterday with my threads ~ whooohooo!  Finished up two birthday gifts that have been taunting me (can’t believe it took almost two weeks for my package to arrive!) I just wish the lightening inside my house was better so you could see how cute these projects really turned out.

The detailed instructions for making these can be found in “Bend-the-Rules Sewing” by Amy Karol.  I purchased two white 100% premium pima cotton baby tees on Etsy from readytoembroider in sizes 2T and 3T for a 1 and 2 yr old (respectively), thinking baby tees run a bit small.   These run a bit big so it wasn’t necessary.  I am thinking they are going to have to grow into these…

I followed the instructions on the HeatnBond Lite to fuse the fabric to the tees and then used a zig-zag stitch on my sewing machine with an open-toe darner foot to stitch around the shape.

For the gnome tee I cut a 2.5″ circle using a compass to raw it first and set my width to 4 and my length to .2.  I love the” little gnomies” orange fabric that I purchased on Etsy from alittlesweetness.

This is the first time I have ever done applique and I am impressed with how easy it is!  In the future I think I will fudge with the settings on my machine a bit to change up the zig-zag.

For this tee I used an Alexander Henry fabric “ready set robot” in red.  This time I just cut about 1/4″ around the robot with my scissors and set my sewing machine width to 2.5 and  length to .5.

R. made a couple of birthday cards and we wrapped them up with a piece of tissue paper and adorned with a ribbon and those great recycled paper flowers (I will never need to buy bows again!!!)

Gifts 5 and 6 finished!  These appliqued tees will definitely be turning up at lots of birthday parties this year.

Happy sewing,

Colette