A Bit of a Break....

So much has been going on over the last couple of weeks that has kept me away from blogging or even catching up on my blog reading....

Most of my time has been spent worrying and caring for my precious pup...

  

It all began as routine blood work before having some dental work done.  But her blood work was a little off and so she was put on prednisone.  While on the prednisone she contracted a nasty intestinal bacteria.  Needless, to say we spent several sleepless nights.  She has been on an antibiotic and is feeling better...but she is an old girl - 14 yrs old.  We all love our pets so much and seeing them get old or ill is very difficult.  But for now she is doing much better.  

In between all the puppy care, I have had a couple of projects to complete for Quilt Market in Houston.  I should be able to tell you more about this later...

It is fun to be able to work with fabric not yet released....and this particular designer is pretty darn amazing...so it is always a joy to work with her fabric!

And, in the last couple of weeks, there have been birthdays!  Mine and a very good friend who has a birthday just a few days before me!   We both love all things Anthropologie!  So a little yummy smelling bar of soap and a handmade needle case fit the bill!

        

I enjoy making these needle pouches...and they are very useful!

Perfect pink stripe lining and a piece of wool felt for tucking needles into.  

I also had some left over blocks because of a measuring error on my part....ooops....so I made a couple doll quilts for a couple of cute little girls....

    

a very scrappy quilt with a scallop border.

And then for the little sister another scrappy quilt!

 

Now Emma and Madeline can keep their dolls nice and warm this winter!

As I said, I also celebrated a birthday!  And received some wonderful handmade gifts!

My dear friend Rachel from Family Ever After stopped by one evening with the most precious mini Dresden!

     

The Dresden Plate block is so near and dear to my heart!  I love this teeny version with sweet embroidery!  It was a happy day!

And my other dear friend, Susan, from PatchworknPlay sent a package bursting with fun!

she knows my love of fun socks!

But best of all, is the Dilly Bag she made using a piece of vintage patchwork I sent to her last year!

 

 

Amazing!  I absolutely LOVE it!  Thank you, Susan!

And I finished my birthday celebration by having lunch with my good friend, Mary Jo!  She is another lover of fabric and quilting!  It was great to see her impressive stash of fabric and chit chatting about quilting.  She is dear.  

Lastly, I have to say to my bee mate, Mary from Mary On Lake Pulaski...your block should be at your house this week!  Sorry I am so late!

happy sunday!

mary

 

merry monday.....

It is a grey, rainy day here....okay with me

I can think of several alliterations that fit this day...monday...June 11

monday melancholy, monday memories...

time is measured so differently now.

But.....today I am going to call this merry monday!  Forget the rain

forget the grey

it is a great day for stitching...

my most recent makes are for potential classes...

A little very simple reverse applique pillow.  Just to get the taste for reverse applique and a little embroidery to boot!

And then a fun, fresh quilt....hand quilted .....

I think it will be known as the Big Zig....

This is one I have been planning on as a class, but life got too busy....

Stitching zigs and zags with perle cotton...

   

I will be sitting here today...stitching away!

Merry Monday!

mary



Linked- Chain Stitch Tutorial

Hey this is Molly! So as promised by my mom I am coming up with a series of embroidery tutorials for some of my favorite stitches.  I love the linked- chain stitch and use it often... its great for borders, creating pretty little flowers (called a "lazy daisy") and adding accents to fill up blank space.  Its also a cool stitch to know because it looks complicated, but in fact, is really easy to do! So here we go... :)

Ok, so to demonstrate these stitches, I have decided to put them all into a sampler.  In order to make sure I stitch in a straight line (which is not my forte) I lined some making tape up with a ruler and applied it to the fabric so it could direct my stitching.  After this I'll probably just follow the guideline of my first row of stitching.  Also, for this project I am using a piece of toweling as my background fabric, mostly just because I like it.  However, if you are thinking of making a sampler or any embroidery project you can really use any type of material as your background (Note: linen is not my fabric of choice because it tends to shift away from you and sometimes you end up with some wonky lines).

Next I put my work in a hoop.  This is pretty self explanatory, but you want to make sure that you get most of the fabric into the hoop, even if the place where you are going to start is way at the top like it is right here.

You really don't need much to do an embroidery project, but some supplies that will be essential are: an embroidery needle (different from a regular needle because it has a large eye), a hoop (right here I am using an 8 inch hoop, but they come in many sizes) and embroidery floss.  Now, embroidery floss comes twisted in strands of six, its fine to use the embroidery floss as a whole, but I generally split it in half so that there are only three strands in the thread that I work with.  (that is shown above)

 

 

So now its time to start stitching! You want to come up through the bottom of the fabric at your starting point.  Then you will put the needle back through the fabric very close to or at the point where you came through...

 

...then you want to pull the big loop you have made into a smaller loop (this loop will still be bigger than you want your actual stitch to be, but it will be much more manageable to work with). 

After you have made the loop bring your needle up through the fabric about a quarter of an inch away from the point of origin. (Note: where you bring your needle up through the fabric at this stage determines how long your stitch is going to be. It can be longer or shorter than a quarter of an inch, but very long linked-chain stitches tend to close up and look less plump)

Next you will want to hook your loop on the needle.  After this pull the rest of your thread through the fabric and the loop creating a tear drop shape with the thread coming up from the rounded part.  ( You don't want to pull too tightly during this step because too much strain on the "teardrop" will also cause it to scrunch or close up and may not produce the desired effect).

Now for the final step! You will essentially make a small stitch originating from where the thread is coming up from the rounded end of the teardrop and going back into the fabric a small distance away  (this stitch should really only be half as long, if not less, as the chain or teardrop).  This stitch is the "link" in the chain stitch and also serves to anchor it. 

And this is what your stitch should look like after it is completed!

 If you want to do a row of these stitches you would want to come up for the beginning of your next stitch underneath the "link" part of the preceding stitch (as in the picture above) so that it looks as if these chains are linked together.

And this is what my row looked like after it was completed (and all the tape was taken off ... lol).  This was my first tutorial ever - so hopefully everything was clear and helpful. Have fun stitching! 

-Molly

 

She Has Crossed the Finish Line....

I am proud to announce that Molly has completed her first ever quilt!  Yay! 

This quilt was inspired by a vintage Crazy Quilt and soon was emblazoned with her own signature....

She began with a dresden plate for the center.  Hand appliqued and embroidered on the top only with lots of stitches and color....

She flanked the center with quarter dresdens, and again added lots of fabulous stitching....

Peacock Lane was added for the wide borders and a coordinating fabric for the corner blocks....

Once the top was finished, Molly quilted with perle cotton {making her mommy very happy!}

The back was pieced with this vibrant sugar skull fabric {remember she was a Spanish major}...and again Peacock Lane in pink....

The binding was pieced....

    

Molly is thrilled!

I think we may have a new quilter! 

Stay tuned - she has some sweet embroidery tutorials to come!

mary....and molly :)



Stitches....

Embroidery stitches are lovely....tiny works of art....properly placed and perfectly executed....

Lovely Molly!

I visited my favorite little flea market yesterday....truly a diamond in the rough!  I found something so exciting....although like my little market, a bit rough around the edges...

It is a quilt top....just a top...not finished...it has some holes....but all hand pieced.

The fabrics appear to me to be 1940's....have a look....

When I spotted this - I immediately thought of Clare from Summerfete....and her English Paper Piecing....

I am so drawn to this quilt top....I want to know who made this?  Why did she stop working on it?

I think I can save enough of it to finish it.....

Have a wonderful weekend....

mary

Happy 4th. of July!!!

Such a busy weekend....and this year it almost seems never ending.....the fireworks began Friday night and have been booming ever since!!!

I worked on some blocks....and Molly worked on her Crazy Dresden...in between the fun and the food!!!

This is a fun checkerboard star....I really like this block, but it needs a little tweaking...

I used freezer paper to paper piece it and it does have a few inset seams, but not too bad!

I would say a great All American Beauty!!!

Earlier in the weekend I had a notion to try a Glorified Nine Patch....

Then still on roll with the arcs and the flowering snowball block....I tried a melon block in black and white...

And I will leave you with Molly's Crazy Dresden...the center of the center block is complete....

Now she is working on quarter blocks....

Have a wonderful Independence Day!!!

mary