aaahh! not real monsters...

* no monsters were harmed in the making of these pillows :)
Following my last post, I am fairly certain my grandma never made any monster pillows.

I came up with these guys on my own - using the faux fur as inspiration. I can't figure out which one I like best - though the one with glasses bares a striking resemblance to my husband :)

I'm calling these guys book buddies [at least that's the name I have arrived at for now]. Great for old and young alike, the pocket in the back is the perfect stash for a newspaper, crafty inspiration book, or a favorite Little Golden Book. They are up for grabs in my etsy.

spring has sprung...

Yep, spring sprung, and sprang out of here! I feel like my poor neglected blog missed a season. My sewing crafting space, however, was certainly active place to be. A combination inspiration and the need to save some pennies led to a few creations I sold through my etsy and my lqs. Pinnies have proven quite addictive. I found these egg cups and knew just what they were destined for.


It is always fun to dig through the scrap box and dig out the perfect little piece of leftover fabric and the button that adds a little extra.

Another find was this 9 compartment egg tray, it is still under construction :)

The spring line up doesn't stop there - I was looking through some vintage homemaker magazines and found this little applique pattern. Hubby doesn't quite get pink birds, but I enjoyed mixing up the colors.


I hope your spring was a memorable one - I have lots to show and tell!

framed...

Continuing on with the parade of Christmas gifts, I made these for the moms - my mom and Derrick's mom. I have really gotten into anything with an adorable little face recently. Kawaii is a Japanese word that means cute - and those little smiles and big eyes certainly are cute! I love this line on the wikipedia page: "In some Asian and western cultures, the Japanese word for cute (kawaii) has joined a number of other Japanese words borrowed by overseas Japanophiles." The term 'Japanophiles' makes kawaii seem like some disease or jailable offense.

I bought some cotton tea towels by Paperchase at Borders that inspired this project. [These towels will never see a dish - I picked them up purely for the fabric :] I continue to stretch my top stitching muscles; I'm so glad that the sketchy look is in.

I have been getting my fill of paper piecing lately [still working on my New York beauty quilt]. This scene is collage of a couple different patterns found in the book Down In the Valley [a REALLY great source of paper pieced templates!] Derrick's mom's style is primitive, so I coffee stained it and baked it in the oven to give it a more distressed look.

I love how the red border gives it the look of being matted - completely coincidental, the finished piece was a little too small when it was completed.

Another little perfect-for-the-holidays project I made was this little headband. I am over the moon for all those little hair flowers that are popping up everywhere. This fascinator was easy enough - a purchased head band, some faux flowers, a feather, glitter, and a couple of buttons. I arranged and hot glued them onto an oval of wool felt. Great [simple!] accessory for a fancy dress party.

pretty penny...

I am back on the unfinished object [ufo] bandwagon! Over the weekend I chalked one up on the finished list. A long time ago in a place far away I made these pansies out of hand dyed wool. [seriously a long time ago; like 7 years ago!] I rediscovered them while sorting the massive pile of UFOs. I put it into the 'this doesn't have too much work left on it' stack.

Anywho, I had 4 pink and 4 purple pansies finished and out of those I made one large penny rug and two small penny mats. I love the coffee colored wool next to the purple and pink.

The small mats would be perfect on a table or even for a trivet. the original plan was to stitch 4 flowers along the edges of each of these mats. Ultimately I thought it looked to crowded - one per mat really helps the pansy to standout.

Are you working on any ufos right now? Would love to hear about your progress :]

spring trading post...

I am kinda hooked on swaps - it is so exciting to send off a special gift to someone that you've never met. [and then to wait for the mailman to come each day :] I like researching; checking out their blog and flickr photostream - finding out what they gravitate towards. The ORBC quilting group is in the middle of a May swap, and here is what I sent off to parts unknown:

I really enjoy re-purposing vintage items. I used a raw edge applique technique to bring this tea towel back to life.

I also sent along a set of six Hunky Dory prints by Moda. Hope she enjoys :]

one. two. tree...

Is it really March? No, it can't be - it was just January! My life in the spring is chaotic and overwhelming. Crafting and blogging are two of my sanity savers and it has been hard to get either of them into my schedule lately. [so, basically, I'm without sanity = crazy] I shared my block for the February swap with you here. I liked the challenge of being able to design my own tree and worked on several variations before deciding to send the one I did. I decided to turn the blocks that stayed with me into pillows [my current obsession :]

::tree #1::
This is my first attempt at needle sketching - I drew the pattern onto white duck cloth, then stitched over it with black thread, twice. I like the sketchiness of it [my mil said it 'looks french' which is good :] I raided my scrap box for the leaves and the little patchwork border. This guy is available in my etsy shop.

::tree #2::
This is like the primitive relative of tree #1.

The tree and the leaves are hand-stitched [I used a buttonhole stitch for the leaves]. Then I coffee stained the center panel. I already have a home in mind for this pillow.

Overall I really like how they turned out - I got to use my piping/cording foot and add my twill tape labels to them. They both have envelope style closures so that the pillow form can easily be removed.

note: can we say 'HELLO SUNSHINE!!' Finally the sun has seen fit to shine on Ohio and I am lovin' it! yeah vitamin d [I love when people talk about how hard the winter is because they don't get enough vitamin d from the sun - while I will give you that the sun is a source of vitamin d, the average Ohioan can stand outside all day even in the summer and still not get the amount of vitamin d that the body needs]

swappy...

Finally finished with my February swap block! Melissa asked for a machine appliqued tree block similar to the cluck. cluck. sew. tutorial. I auditioned alot of designs to try and incorporate a little bit of me into the design. I actually drew this pattern out with my tablet [getting a little better at drawing on my computer, yea for me!] She sent along steam-a-seam 2 and I LOVED working with it :] Because of the tackiness of the adhesive, you could play around with where you wanted your pieces until you ironed it to make it permanent. Another plus was that it was much easier to take the backing paper off of the fabric without removing the adhesive in the process - I end up with alot more frayed edges when I use wonder under. I think with my next JoAnn's coupon I might experiment with it some more!

Oh, by the way: you MUST check out the giveaway over at a la mode fabric :] she is a little crazy and it is showing up in what she is voluntarily giving away!

up, up, & away...

I really should be finishing my assignments… but I wanted to show you my little travel wallet!

In January I will be flying to Georgia for a training intensive (basically a graduate level course in a week - yikes!) I saw this pattern in the spring 2009 issue of Stitch magazine – which is fabulous btw, even if it is a little on the pricey side.

Made from wool felt, there is a place for a license, passport, and e-ticket. I love the plane! I added the button and elastic loop – it makes me feel safer carrying my ID through the airport. My only regret is that I should have used a heavier interfacing. I thought two layers of felt (unwashed) fused together with wonder under would be enough, but it’s still a little on the weak side. I’m excited to use my handy-dandy travel companion! Maybe I’ll even get my luggage tags finished before I go…

note: this was a ufo (unfinished object) – so excited to scratch it off the list!

pillow expo...

It is always exciting when I can showcase a FINISHED item in my post, and today I have three! I can hardly believe it myself, but I followed through with making coordinating pillows for my wonky log cabin. In total, I made four pillowcases and three throw pillows. I love them!

Nope, can't take creative credit for this one either; but didn't it turn out well? (thanks cluck. cluck. sew.) I love the little nest in the center, and isn't it perfect to go with the wonky log cabin?

Remember this one from a post awhile ago? This one was the most time consuming - I made a template from a picture with the aid of photoshop. Then I traced the template onto wonder-under. Several hours of cutting, ironing, and zig-zag stitching later - this pillow finally emerged!


I love selveges... I didn't know that I loved them til everyone else began using them, but I do. Check out the selvege flickr group for more inspiration.

Update: The two larger (18") pillows are 'envelope' style, so the covers can be taken off. The selvage bolster is sewn closed.

spring in summer...

Hooray for the second project to emerge complete from the cardboard box of unfinished objects! By my calculations these wool pieces have been cut out in a plastic bag for 4 years.

This project has been an interesting process - originally to be appliqued onto a skirt, my ideas on how to finish the project were many; maybe a bag, perhaps a pillow, a pretty wallhanging, or even a table runner. But as a happy coincidence, this little flower basket fit perfectly into a vintage frame I had! I am very pleased with my self as I made my own backing board and even used finishing nails to hold the project in place.

It feels good to see something through to completion - so many pieces of my life never see a concrete conclusion. So I shall celebrate today!

note: the laptop bag is moving along, still a ufo (UFOs=UnFinished Objects)