Kitschy Kitchen Stocking....

Last year my niece and her husband bought an old home in Southern Ohio...

She spent the bulk of a year working on updating the house and making it their own.  In a couple of weeks she is hosting an Open House and I can't wait!  I love old homes!  And I know she has made this home something special...hopefully I can remember to take pictures to share :)

When my niece saw that I was working on a little clamshell stocking project, she mentioned that it would be cute to have a clamshell stocking to hang in her kitchen with a few vintage utensils.  

   

Being the World's Best Aunt....I went to work!

I began with a 3.5 inch clamshell template.  Because my template is 3.5 inches, I made a 3.5 inch grid on a piece of Kona Cotton.  Of course, I used a Frixion pen to mark my lines.

    

I love fussy cutting fun kitschy fabrics with my clamshell template!

 

Then I use a dab of Roxanne's Glue Baste-It to secure my clamshells to the foundation fabric...

 

Beginning at the top of the foundation fabric, the clamshells are simply added between the grid lines and every other row is staggered....

 

Notice I cut a little more than an 1/8 inch outside my drawn line for turning under.  And with the Frixion pen I don't need to worry about my drawn lines. The heat from an iron will make the marks disappear.  It's always a good idea to test first, though.

Next using my favorite, Richard Hemming Milliner needles and Aurifil 50 wt thread, I simply appliqued the top curvy part of the clamshell.  You do not need to turn under and applique the scooped out section or the point.  These areas will be covered by the curve of the row below it.  Brilliant!!!!

  

Once my clamshell fabric was complete, I backed it with a piece of cotton batting and  I quilted it using Valdani perle cotton in black.  Then, I simply placed my stocking template on top of the fabric and cut out a stocking shape.  Since this stocking is going to be hanging in a kitchen {and to save time} I only used clamshells on one side.  The other side is a solid piece of food themed fabric. 

 I added a lining in a black buffalo check flannel and a scalloped cuff!  Pom-poms and braided yarn for hanging!

And there you have it!  A kitschy kitchen stocking!

Have fun with all your holiday makes!

xo mary 

First Finish of 2013.....Flowering Vine

The Flowering Vine....

Flowering Vine is an applique pattern from Denyse Schmidt.  A great pattern for those new to hand applique.  Simple shapes, plus the bonus of learning to make bias strips for the vine.  I have mentioned before that I prefer to use bias bars rather than the bias tape maker...for stems at least {more on that later}.

    

I used a Moda Crossweave as the background fabric.  This is actually a deep denim color.  I find the crossweaves a bit tricky to photograph...they are very rich and I love the texture.

If I have any complaint about the crossweaves...they do tend to stretch a bit.  But it is manageable.

The flowers and leaves are from Denyse Schmidt's, soon to be released line...Shelburne Falls.  LOVE. IT.

   

For the backing fabric, I borrowed a favorite choice from my friend- Heather Graham {not the actress ;)

I used a Melody Miller fabric...nice and wide so I didn't need to piece....

Flowering Vine is completely hand quilted with #8 perle cotton...Valdani Thread {my favorite}....

This quilt will be hanging in the shoppe {Sew To Speak} and will be a new class this winter {YAY}

happy thursday!

mary :)

Special.....

Things have been a bit quiet on Molly Flanders...

I have been working on a couple of special projects.

Hopefully this will come together the way it looks in my head...and then I can give you all the exciting details...

I could eat Essex Linen for breakfast, lunch and dinner!!!  I love working with it and I LOVE stitching on it!

So my other fun project that has kept my hands stitching away...

is the quilt for Molly and Kyle.

   

 I feel fairly safe showing this to you....Molly doesn't pay much attention to my blog lately....a little preoccupied - me thinks :)

Happy Tuesday!  

mary

Painting With Thread....

I did a little painting today....with thread...giving my Christmas scene a little detail...

.

My stitching is intentionally sloppy organic to give this a child like appearance.

I used my free-motion foot, dropped the feed dogs and, in most cases, used Sew-All thread {Gutermann}

I would usually choose the lovely YLI 100% cotton thread for a project like this, but I have found with the layering of fusible adhesive.... the Sew-All holds up a little better.  It is not so bad on small pieces, but on the longer stretches of stitching the YLI is just shredding....

Also....a little tissue paper under the areas where I am stitching directly on the background fabric...helps eliminate some of the puckering...the tissue paper acts as a stabilizer {you could also use a light stabilizer}

Hope all is well with all of you.  We have had some fierce storms the past couple of days...nothing compared to poor Joplin though.  It breaks my heart to hear the stories. 

Take care...

mary

***my blogger is still not letting me leave comments on blog where I must choose a profile.  It works fine on the pop up window for comments....I have changed my comment section to the pop up type...I have my fingers crossed that all will be resolved soon :)

   

Lovelies....

I picked up some lovely fabric and fabulous buttons while at work yesterday....

The buttons stacked with roses will go on the back of a Dresden Pillow....

This one....

applique the center circle....

And add some hand quilting with perle cotton!

Hope you are having a lovely Sunday :)

mary

EXCITED....EXCITING!!!!

Wow!  I have finished quilting the Gypsy Kisses {pickle-dish} quilt.....

The pattern is from Kathy Doughty and Sarah Fielke's Material Obsession 2....I started this quilt way back in October!!!!  Pickle-dish is a block design I have always loved...and since I knew the Quilting Fairy wasn't going to bring me one, I had to do it myself.  What's a girl to do?

The pattern calls for 4 rows of pickle-dish blocks (3 in each row), but I didn't need a quilt that large so I made mine 3 by 3....the final measurement is about 93 inches square....more or less....

The arcs are pieced using foundation piecing and then the entire arc block is hand appliqued onto the background....the center eyes are appliqued to the center section of the arcs....

I added a piano key border to the two sides and a background border to the top and bottom....and hand quilted the quilt with perle cotton...

I absolutely LOVE this quilt....as you can see by all the photos :)

  

Other news that has got my heart a thumpin'....I was tickled to find out that Carla is featuring my blog today as she celebrates her one year blogiversary.  Her blog is Lollyquiltz....she is one talented lady so I am thrilled that she wants to feature little old me.  And not to mention that she has been blogging for a year now....that is something to be applauded!!!  Visit her blog...she is planning a giveaway tomorrow!!! 

Now that my pickle-dish is quilted....it is time to start my Tea Party {Strawberry Fields} quilt....

This is a pattern by Sarah Fielke from the first Material Obsession book...I am telling you - I can't get enough of these books...these women are some seriously talented gals!!!

I marked my quilting lines with a Hera marker....

A Hera marker leaves a crease line to follow rather than an ink mark....

I have chosen my colors...perle cotton of course....

love hand quilting :)

Finally,  with all the excitement going on....my quilt, the quilt along at Lily's Quilts {which is just too much fun}, the tea party at work and all the fun stuff going on at Sew To Speak, and finals and cleaning the bathroom :(  ...... I forgot to mention that I won another award!!!  I was honored by Cindy at Rose Room Quilts with the Stylish Blogger award!!!

As a recipient of this award I have to list 7 little known facts {or not so little known} about me....hmmmm.....

1. I am a child of the 60's 

2. I was born in Ohio and attended THE OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY....Go Bucks!!!

3. I am married to Mike

4. We have 3 beautiful daughters and one mutt

5. Everyone in my family has an M name...which made it difficult to yell someones name without stuttering....Mike, Mary, Molly, Maggie, and Mary McNeil 

6. My dog's name is Flanders...and I love every inch of her :)

7. I want to live {at least part of my life} in Ireland...proudly we are of Irish heritage

I will need to choose other blogs pass on this award...YAY...another excuse to peruse the blogs!!!

Okay- sorry for the very wordy post!!!

mary

Applique'.....applied

Now that all my arcs are finished...I have stitched a machine basting stitch (white thread) along the edge of the foundation paper before actually removing the paper...

Not only does this give me a line to follow as I press the 1/4 inch edge under, but I find this basting stitch (white thread) gives the edge a memory of sorts so that it turns under more easily...

Then I baste the entire arc to the lovely background fabric (Betty Dear) with a black thread...both the white basting stitch and the black stitch will be removed after the arc is appliqued....

Of course, in applique the goal is to apply the shape to the background fabric without the stitches showing....

I begin stitching from underneath the background fabric and come up slightly under the edge of the shape being applied and I just take a bite of the edge of the shape....

Then if I go back into my background fabric directly under the spot where I just took a bite....my stitch will be hidden....

I have found that if my stitch is forward of the edge of my applied shape as I take my needle back into the background fabric....the stitch will show.

All the forward movement will happen on the back of the background fabric...

Once all the arcs are applied, I will piece the rows together and then fill in the background sections (between the rows) using applique'......so it is coming right along.....

I had a lovely dinner last night with my sweet friends from work....it was my first experience with 

Indian Cuisine....yum!  I was delighted to discover they use a lot of potatoes...perfect for an Irish girl like me!  I had a fabulous time....thanks friends :)

Mary

2011 Is Off to A Great Start!!!!

The arcs are pieced and the "eyes" are appliqued.....

(excuse the stray threads)

This is a pickle-dish pattern from Material Obsession 2....called Gypsy Kisses....

The pattern calls for 12 blocks (each block is about 24 inches) - and the finished size of the quilt is HUGE!!!  Much larger than I need...so I am making mine a 9 block quilt.

The next step is to applique the arcs to the background fabric....the lovely Betty Dear....

Hope everyone had a lovely and safe New Year's!  Ours was very low key....although with college age children about it is a bit worrisome - they will understand when they have children of their own :)

And here they are goofing off at their cousin's wedding....from left to right....Mary Mac, Molly and Maggie....cousin Joe in between....yep....those are my girls!!!

Welcome 2011!

Mary ;)