Don't forget to leave your email if it isn't viewable in your profile! Giveaway ends Wednesday night! :)
Monday, January 31, 2011
Giveaway!
Amanda & Ashleigh of The Frosted Pumpkin Stitchery have kindly provided me with a copy of their Valentine Truffle Gang Cross Stitch Pattern to give-away to one lucky reader!
Check out the tutorial for making it into a card below and comment THERE to enter! Let me know what you're working on at the moment!
Don't forget to leave your email if it isn't viewable in your profile! Giveaway ends Wednesday night! :)
Don't forget to leave your email if it isn't viewable in your profile! Giveaway ends Wednesday night! :)
Sunday, January 30, 2011
How to Turn Cross Stitch into a Holiday Card
A cute, crafty alternative to your typical Valentine's Day card! Stitch up some chocolate truffles for your sweetheart.
Go grab the a valentine cross stitch pattern from The Frosted Pumpkin Stitchery and get stitching!
Sewing Level: Beginner Friendly
Materials:
- Finished Cross Stitch
- Card Stock
- Scissors
- Pink Thread
- Water-Soluble Pen
- Bone-folder (optional)
1. Take your card stock and fold it in half. Use a bone-folder or your fingernail to crease the fold.
2. Measure 15 squares on all sides of the stitching pattern and mark with your water-soluble pen. Cut 1 square inside the pen marks.
3. Center your cross stitch over the front of your card. You may choose to use a glue stick (just a little!) to secure. Gently unfold your card before sewing it down.
4. Load your sewing machine with coordinating thread and stitch around your cross stitch 3/8" from the edge. Stitch around it twice, making sure NOT to backstitch. When stitching, try to line up with the cloth to sew in a line of holes.
5. Turn over your card and pull your threads gently to bring all the threads to the back. Knot and trim.
6. Pull three rows off your Aida cloth (one at a time!) on all sides. This gives you a sweet frayed edge.
7. Voila! Find an envelope or wrap in tissue paper!
Go grab the a valentine cross stitch pattern from The Frosted Pumpkin Stitchery and get stitching!
Sewing Level: Beginner Friendly
Materials:
- Finished Cross Stitch
- Card Stock
- Scissors
- Pink Thread
- Water-Soluble Pen
- Bone-folder (optional)
1. Take your card stock and fold it in half. Use a bone-folder or your fingernail to crease the fold.
2. Measure 15 squares on all sides of the stitching pattern and mark with your water-soluble pen. Cut 1 square inside the pen marks.
3. Center your cross stitch over the front of your card. You may choose to use a glue stick (just a little!) to secure. Gently unfold your card before sewing it down.
4. Load your sewing machine with coordinating thread and stitch around your cross stitch 3/8" from the edge. Stitch around it twice, making sure NOT to backstitch. When stitching, try to line up with the cloth to sew in a line of holes.
5. Turn over your card and pull your threads gently to bring all the threads to the back. Knot and trim.
6. Pull three rows off your Aida cloth (one at a time!) on all sides. This gives you a sweet frayed edge.
7. Voila! Find an envelope or wrap in tissue paper!
Friday, January 28, 2011
Favorites
1. they're multiplying, 2. Do Good Stitches Bee Quilt, 3. Hello my name is Amanda... 10:365, 4. Linen Bag with Vintage Quilt Strips, 5. do. good stitches Faith Log Cabin quilt, 6. A year in scraps..., 7. pumpkin spice, 8. Hankie Quilt, 9. Year of the Rabbit Needlebook
Every week I go through my favorite photos on Flickr, and choose nine sewing/quilting related projects to showcase here. These photos and projects are not my own, you can find the original images and creators by clicking the coordinating links! If for any reason you do not want your project featured here, please email me and I'll remove it!
Happy Friday!
Every week I go through my favorite photos on Flickr, and choose nine sewing/quilting related projects to showcase here. These photos and projects are not my own, you can find the original images and creators by clicking the coordinating links! If for any reason you do not want your project featured here, please email me and I'll remove it!
Happy Friday!
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
Wednesday
I've been slowly stitching away at the cocoa mug, and thanks to Christina reminding me to use a blunt needle, it's coming along a lot better! I picked up the super cute truffle gang pattern from The Frosted Pumpkin Stitchery yesterday! I'm going to stitch it up for Michael's v-day card I think! :)
Finished up Brooke's block for Bee Hexed In! I love her color choices!
Picked up a few goodies thrifting on Tuesday! A Dream On Butterfly sheet/pillowcase in brown! And a blue/green sheet that has been on my wishlist forever! I also stocked the shop with lots of cute pillowcases! :)
One of my very favorite vintage sheet patterns! I hope there are more colorways!!
This sweet papercut made by Crystal arrived this week! I can't wait to pick up a frame for this beauty, and to choose the perfect vintage sheet to use as a backdrop! This pink and orange one is definitely in the running! Crystal just opened up a sweet little etsy shop if you'd like one of your own! :)
He just looks so sweet in his big box, I cannot resist him!
Today I love the..
Smell of: Crisp morning air
Sound of: Imogen Heap
Taste of: Smacks cereal!
Sight of: George bunny
Feel of: Sweatpants :)
Good Things about Today:
- Managed to get some errands run
- It didn't get dark until after 5pm today!
- 3rd Rock from the Sun!
- First class on Friday is cancelled!
Finished up Brooke's block for Bee Hexed In! I love her color choices!
Picked up a few goodies thrifting on Tuesday! A Dream On Butterfly sheet/pillowcase in brown! And a blue/green sheet that has been on my wishlist forever! I also stocked the shop with lots of cute pillowcases! :)
One of my very favorite vintage sheet patterns! I hope there are more colorways!!
This sweet papercut made by Crystal arrived this week! I can't wait to pick up a frame for this beauty, and to choose the perfect vintage sheet to use as a backdrop! This pink and orange one is definitely in the running! Crystal just opened up a sweet little etsy shop if you'd like one of your own! :)
He just looks so sweet in his big box, I cannot resist him!
Today I love the..
Smell of: Crisp morning air
Sound of: Imogen Heap
Taste of: Smacks cereal!
Sight of: George bunny
Feel of: Sweatpants :)
Good Things about Today:
- Managed to get some errands run
- It didn't get dark until after 5pm today!
- 3rd Rock from the Sun!
- First class on Friday is cancelled!
Monday, January 24, 2011
The Art of Choosing: Fabric Folding Tutorial
Fabric Folding Tutorial
Today I'll be showing you how to fold all your fabric cuts that are a yard or less, down to the same size. This is really helpful for storage and organizing because you can mix yardages. I fold the fabrics in my stash this way and it works great! I think I may have originally seen this method over on Christina's blog.
Despite my camera shy-ness, I decided to make a series of videos showing how to fold six different size cuts of fabric. Please ignore my weird voice and the horizontal orientation of the videos!
For fat quarters or yardage that has scraps cut out of it, I simply try my best and use an uncut piece as a guide when folding. For my stash, anything that's less than a fat quarter or 1/4 yard I store it in my scrap bin.
The next post in this series is on Fabric Stash Storage Ideas.
Saturday, January 22, 2011
Catch up!
Started my Mendocino quilt! Each block will have a mermaid or large octopus center and then framed in colors from that fabric!
Stitched up the Hope circle's December quilt for do. Good Stitches! do. Good Stitches is a fun charity quilting bee over on flickr! Rachel just wrote up a lovely post about it if you'd like to learn more or get involved!
I have been keeping to my Stashpact11 goals so far! No fabric buying has happened since some solids at the very beginning of the month! Wonderful swap fabrics have been coming in instead, making it much easier to be good! :)
Speaking of fabric swapping! I finally finished my Park Slope collection!! This is my favorite fabric line and I couldn't have done it without my swapping buddies!
George gets two photos today!
Thank you all for your great response to my series post on Tuesday! I'm looking forward to preparing this week's post!
Today I love the..
Smell of: Twisted peppermint candle
Sound of: Imogen Heap
Taste of: Diet Coke
Sight of: Mendocino fabrics
Feel of: Warm scarf
Good Things about Today:
- Managed to get some errands run!
- Finished another quilt block
- Cleaned up the apartment a little
- 3rd rock from the sun! :)
Stitched up the Hope circle's December quilt for do. Good Stitches! do. Good Stitches is a fun charity quilting bee over on flickr! Rachel just wrote up a lovely post about it if you'd like to learn more or get involved!
I have been keeping to my Stashpact11 goals so far! No fabric buying has happened since some solids at the very beginning of the month! Wonderful swap fabrics have been coming in instead, making it much easier to be good! :)
Speaking of fabric swapping! I finally finished my Park Slope collection!! This is my favorite fabric line and I couldn't have done it without my swapping buddies!
George gets two photos today!
Thank you all for your great response to my series post on Tuesday! I'm looking forward to preparing this week's post!
Today I love the..
Smell of: Twisted peppermint candle
Sound of: Imogen Heap
Taste of: Diet Coke
Sight of: Mendocino fabrics
Feel of: Warm scarf
Good Things about Today:
- Managed to get some errands run!
- Finished another quilt block
- Cleaned up the apartment a little
- 3rd rock from the sun! :)
Favorites
1. Contemporary and Vintage Baby Quilt, 2. 2 blocks done, 3. Project Palettes: Amsterdam, 4. Yellow and Grey Lady of the Lake Progress, 5. blues and greys, 6. I wish I had a washing line., 7. great white north bee pink star block #1, 8. Tea Cozy - front (2010 UFO #3), 9. i am lOVING...
Every week I go through my favorite photos on Flickr, and choose nine sewing/quilting related projects to showcase here. These photos and projects are not my own, you can find the original images and creators by clicking the coordinating links! If for any reason you do not want your project featured here, please email me and I'll remove it!
Happy Friday!
Every week I go through my favorite photos on Flickr, and choose nine sewing/quilting related projects to showcase here. These photos and projects are not my own, you can find the original images and creators by clicking the coordinating links! If for any reason you do not want your project featured here, please email me and I'll remove it!
Happy Friday!
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
The Art of Choosing: Recognizing a Fabric's Overall Color
Recognizing a Fabric's Overall Color
Today we're going to discuss how to identify a fabric's overall color. This may seem somewhat straightforward, but it can be tricky. It will be really helpful later in the series when we discuss organizing a stash by color and creating color schemes. And don't forget, there is no right or wrong way of doing this. This is simply the way I do it!
I've broken this down into three different parts. First, I'm going to show you examples of different types of fabrics. Second, we'll dissect the color palette of a few fabrics, and finally you'll be challenged to identify overall color of a few difficult fabrics. For more information on the fabrics in each stack, simply click on the image.
Tone on Tone Fabrics
Tone-on-tone fabrics use different tones/shades of the same color to create a pattern. This makes it very easy to identify an overall color. These types of fabrics are great basics to start with when putting together a color scheme. They're often referred to as blenders, because they blend well with other types of fabric prints.
Color + White Fabrics
These fabrics are generally made up of one single color in addition to white or cream. The white is used to create the pattern on the solid background. The color is more dominant than the white, making these relatively easy to identify. Another great place to start when organizing a palette, and also a type of blender.
Fabrics with Small Accents
These fabrics have generally a strong background color with small accents of other colors. Again, at first glance it is easy to identify the colors of these fabrics. The accents are minimal enough that they don't take away from the overall color. When choosing fabrics for a project however, it is important to be mindful of these accents.
Fabrics with Large Accents
Here is where things start to get tricky! These fabrics have large accents of other colors. They have strong background colors, which can sometimes be used to identify the overall color. However, in this case especially, the accents cannot be ignored when putting together your palette. While it is not necessary to have all accents represented in the palette, making sure that the colors work well with your palette will make it feel more cohesive. These are great fabrics to build a palette around. We'll discuss more about building schemes around a single fabric later on in the series.
Multicolored Fabrics
These fabrics are made up of many different colors and are therefore often difficult to identify. Think of these prints as being bossy. When building a palette they can't be ignored, they really jump out at you and can make or break your color scheme. Another great place to start when building a palette.
Analyzing Fabric Prints
When analyzing a difficult (or any) fabric, often the first place I like to look is the selvedge. Those little colored dots can be helpful. While small, they do provide a look at the colors used in the fabric separately. It can also be helpful to tape up your fabric and look at it from a distance. Now let's dissect some fabric!
Flea Market Fancy by Denyse Schmidt
This fabric is mainly made up of gold, pink, ivory, and brown. The two dominating colors, gold and pink, are represented equally in the pattern. This makes it a judgement call! I tend to stick this print in with my golds!
Midwest Modern II by Amy Butler
This fabric has a lot of different colors. It's made up of dark pink/red, two shades of pink, two shades of yellow, and turquoise. Because three of the six colors used are pinks, in addition to the background color being pink, I categorize this fabric as dark pink/red.
Good Folks by Anna Maria Horner
I always struggle with this fabric! It's composed of brown and pink with small orange accents. I think that there is more pink than brown, but the brown stands out when this fabric is among other pink fabrics. Because of this, I generally consider this fabric brown.
Sugar Snap by Melissa Averinos
This fabric is made up of ivory, two shades of pink, orange, and two shades of turquoise. the background color in this fabric helps first identify this fabric as ivory. However, the accents are bright and pretty dominating, which leads me to place this fabric in the multi-colored section of my stash.
Weekends by Erin Mcmorris
This fabric has tons of different colors. Two shades of pink, two shades of burnt orange, gray, ivory, green, and white. The dominating colors are pink and burnt orange, but there are so many different colors that I categorize this as multi-colored as well.
Challenge Fabrics
Now it's your turn. If you'd like, give these four fabrics a try! Share your opinions in the comments. You can guess the color or type of fabric, or both.
The next post in this series is on Fabric Folding.
Monday, January 17, 2011
Giveaway Winners!
Sunday, January 16, 2011
This Weekend
Finished up my Dream On quilt top this afternoon. It's made of 4 charm packs and kona in corn yellow cut into charms. I'll be backing it with the Dream On inspiration vintage sheet that I thrifted, and bound in various dream on prints from Amanda! Thanks again for sharing dear!
Played around with some turquoise!
Organized some of my vintage sheet collection by color!
Been swapping away, which means happy mail!
George :)
Check back tomorrow for the winner of the giveaway!
Today I love the..
Smell of: Cinnamon candle
Sound of: Despicable Me
Taste of: Blueberry waffles
Sight of: Finished quilt top!
Feel of: Wool socks
Good Things about Today:
- Finished up my quilt top!
- Watching Despicable Me!
- Chit-chatting with quilty friends :)
Played around with some turquoise!
Organized some of my vintage sheet collection by color!
Been swapping away, which means happy mail!
George :)
Check back tomorrow for the winner of the giveaway!
Today I love the..
Smell of: Cinnamon candle
Sound of: Despicable Me
Taste of: Blueberry waffles
Sight of: Finished quilt top!
Feel of: Wool socks
Good Things about Today:
- Finished up my quilt top!
- Watching Despicable Me!
- Chit-chatting with quilty friends :)
Friday, January 14, 2011
Favorites
1. I Think I Love You, 2. Baby Mish Mash, 3. Wonderland quilt top finished, 4. Moon Tree, 5. sunday sewing, 6. little Forest quilt (with a few gnomes), 7. Bag Front, 8. Herringbone Linen - Modern Whole Cloth Quilt, 9. Mug Rug Swap Round 2 for Emedoodle
Every week I go through my favorite photos on Flickr, and choose nine sewing/quilting related projects to showcase here. These photos and projects are not my own, you can find the original images and creators by clicking the coordinating links! If for any reason you do not want your project featured here, please email me and I'll remove it!
Happy Friday!
Every week I go through my favorite photos on Flickr, and choose nine sewing/quilting related projects to showcase here. These photos and projects are not my own, you can find the original images and creators by clicking the coordinating links! If for any reason you do not want your project featured here, please email me and I'll remove it!
Happy Friday!
