The Grandbaby room - crazy quilting blocks!

 

I hope you enjoy these two little wall pieces for the grand baby's room at our house.

I love to crazy quilt and the sweet little focus fabric were so fun to work around.

* These pieces are in 12" X 12" light weight plastic frames with NO glass.

* focus fabric is the same Forest Friends fabric by Audrey Roberts for 3Wishes I used in the baby quilts I posted in December.

I hope you are enjoying a wonderful day!

MaryEllen

Happy Valentine's Day! Shabby chic fabric hearts.

I hope you are enjoy my bowl fill of shabby, chic Valentine's Day hearts.  This project was quick and fun to make. It's one of those projects were you do one and you want to make a few more! They are a little like Valentine's Day candy in that way!

My bowl is filled with hearts in two sizes.  I started off making paper hearts with cardstock paper for patterns.  I used vintage white and off-white fabrics for the base of the hearts.

Then I went to town adding lace, ribbons, buttons, twine and old jewelry pieces. All the hearts are stuffed with leftovers of 80/20 batting.

Lots of lace, buttons, ribbons and old pearl (fake) bracelet. After I finished the heart I whipped stitched on the outer coil of lace.

Twine, ribbon and vintage lace piece.  Sweet and simple. I think this is my favorite!

Buttons and bows! The buttons are hand stitch around the outer edge. 

Layers of eyelet, all different widths make up this heart with an eyelet and rick-rack bow and a vintage earring for embellishment.

As you can see each heart is a little bit different which made it so much fun. I have them on my dinning room table but a single heart could sit on a shelf or with a little ribbon loop it could hang from a hook or doorknob.  Stuffed with lavender they would be fun sitting in the bathroom.  And stuffed with walnut shells they could be a pincushion.  Maybe as a gift for a sewing friend.

I hope you have enjoyed seeing my shabby chic hearts.

If you are interested in the table runner in the photo it is one I made last year.

You can find more information about the table runner under the label: holiday/ Valentine's Day, My Valentine, Feb.10 2021.

Have a wonderful day everyone and HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!

Vintage linen table topper and free motion quilting fun

Hi All! Today's post is a cute little vintage table topper. 

Year's ago I found a stack of wonderful vintage Dresden Plates blocks.  Each block is 14" X 14".

Aren't those fabrics wonderful, and each block is all different fabrics.  The fabric blades are machine stitched and then hand appliqued to the muslin blocks with long running stitches. 

I felt the piece needed a bit more presence so I added the vintage block with it's batting to a piece of beige fabric and hand stitched it in place. I then added a second piece of batting for the whole piece. Then I moved on to experimenting with various machine quilting designs.  Because of the way the two battings were placed I was able to get some wonderful depth in the quilting.  Unfortunately it is rather hard to see in the photos, but if you look carefully at the blades you may notice it.

Also of note, is the center area.  My guess is the original maker intended on covering the centers with something.  They are all a bit wonky.  I, however, wanted to stay true to the pieces and left them as is. 

I'm loving the piece and how it looks with my Wedgewood vase over the center.

I couldn't resist a beautiful Photo of Ireland to go along with the Wedgewood vase. 

Ireland trip 2007 would so love to go back!  

Hope everyone is having a wonderful day!

Pumpkin Patch. Fall holiday decorations with a crazy quilt twist.

Happy Fall everyone!

As you can see today's project are some fun embellished pumpkins.  These little guys are made using some of my own fabric designs and some easy embellishing.

Back in November of 2019 I did a post call Fun with Paint showing how to "pour paint".

Above is one of the canvas panels I worked on that day. This canvas panel is 11" X 6 .25.

These painting were so much fun to do and I loved how they turned out.

After that post I decided to try having fabric made from some of those paintings. I photographed the Canvases/painting and sent the photos to Spoonflower to be reproduced on fabric. Above is a photo of the original canvas next to the design printed on cotton fabric. (21 .5" X 17 .5").

To make the pumpkins I cut three circles, (Using all my available fabric) and set to work embellishing them. I used a variety of threads and stitches as well as beads.

I  ran a gathering stitch around the top and pulled tight. The balls were filled with leftover scraps of batting. Wool scraps were used for the stem and leaves. Fancy yarn was tacked in place as another embellishment. 

 I love crazy quilting and this little project reminded me of that look.

I hope you enjoyed this fun fall project.

Have a great day everyone!!

A little bit of color and little Organization

 I had of show off my orchid in full bloom.  This is the first time I've had a orchid come back and bloom a second time! Its been a year of waiting and babying my plant but it was worth it!

The art piece in the background is an old one ("Forever Yours" 2010) made way before starting this blog. 

I actually believe this may have been my first Art Quilt.

It was one of my first art quilts and was an original take on a peacock feather.

The piece is all done with tiny scrapes than covered in net and free motion quilted.

Finally, it's embellished with stick on rhinestones. The quilt is 14 .25" X 13 .5" and mounted to a 18" square painted canvas.

 detail.

Part two of this post is quick look at some new organization ideas I'm adding to my studio.

Because I've been adding online shopping to my life this past year I've found I'm using some new products.  To keep straight which products I really like and where I purchased things I've added some new list along side items in my studio.

 

A look at my interfacing stash.

The thread drawers.

The batting bin.

If you look close you will notice a blue folder with a list attached in each photo.

The list notes each products name, which projects I used it in, if I liked it and would buy again, where I purchased it, and an area for notes and comments.

This is a new idea for me and we will see how it all works out.  I'm hoping it will make shopping easier. I'll keep you posted on how it all goes. If you have any other ideas or comments please let me know.

Thanks for stopping by. 

Have a wonderful day!

Tag Challenge

 Today I'm posting a photo of my first 11 Tags in the Anne Brooke's 52 week Tag Challenge 2021, (#52tagshannemade)

This has been so much fun and I'm learning so much.  She has been showing so many new technique and old favorites in used in new ways. I've really been inspired! Please check out her Facebook page and You Tube channel for yourself. Look for:   Anne Brooke Textile Artist.   On You Tube look for: #52tagshannemade 

I really wanted to show you all my tags in the hope you will jump in the challenge.  The tags are small and we are only 11 weeks in so still time to catch up. 

You can also see Anne on her facebook page. Look for Anne Brooke's.

Thanks Anne for all your great ideas!!!

Have a wonderful weekend everyone!

My Valentine. Patchwork table runner.

Hi Everyone!  

Today's post is a special table runner for Valentine's Day.

 Note this pattern is charm pack friendly! 

With Covid keeping me at home for almost a year my fabric stash is not only running low but I find I'm left with only a variety of odds and ends to use up.  Today's design is using up scraps of white and red fabrics from my stash, a hand full of leftover red fabric pre-cut in 2" wide strips and parts of a charm pack.

Because I wanted to use the charm pack I needed to make a pattern that would accommodate dividing  a 5" square. I also wanted to use a heart motif.  As I have a Scandinavian  background I've always loved Swedish woven hearts.  Many of you may remember making these as the cute little paper baskets back in grade school.

Today you can find tons of ideas and pattern variations for Swedish hearts on Pinterest and other design outlets. I encourage you to check them out. For my design concept I needed to work with the restriction of that 5" charm pack. That 5" restriction was something I hadn't seen anywhere. So below is how I developed my own design. I hope the concept is something you find helpful for your Valentines Day projects.

Cutting the charm pack squares. I used 2 red and 2 light squares.

The squares I cut are  2" X 2". (8 red and 8 light)

One long 5" X 1" strip of each color is used. 

The extra 2" X 2" square is saved for the corner blocks in the sashing. 

The small 1" X 2" scraps and one of each color 5" X 1" long strip are waste.

Four 2" X 2" white square and one 2 .5" white square are needed. 

The 2" X 2" squares will be used to make four half square triangles.

Finished block.

Sashing is made up of the extra 2" X 2" blocks and 7" X 2" white strips. 

My layout.  

The outer border was a leftover  2" wide strips from my stash.

Finished piece. My Valentine.  

20" X 51.5".  Quilted on my domestic machine in a meandering line with hearts design.

Batting is a piece of flannel. I find the flannel is thinner and works great for table decor.

Have a wonderful day!

BLUE VIOLETS STUDIO

Hi everyone,

So today's post isn't fiber but I'm really excited to show you the work I did making a sign for my studio.

Originally I had planned on doing a sign for my laundry room. I've seen some cute ideas and I was thinking it would be a great addition to the room   However, the ironing board really didn't work with the wall space in the laundry room. After a few weeks looking at it just sitting in the corner of my studio I decided that was where it really belonged. So today I finished painting this cute piece for my studio.  I love it and it makes me feel so inspired to stay creative.  

In these days of quarantine any little push to stay motivated is important.  Making your space fun and a happy place for you can really make a difference.  I hope my project may get you thinking of ways to make your space special.  Remember it doesn't need to be fancy, big  or professional, just a touch of something personal to you!

Watch for the quilt in the background in a future post.

 Have a wonderful day!

Winter Wonder Wall Hanging

 Last summer I spent some time sitting outside slow stitching little redwork embroidery designs. I've had the book Redwork-Winter Twitterings on my shelf for awhile. Theses cute designs just needed to be played with so with no real plan a decided to play.  This week I went to work making something with those cute little embroidery bits .

I'm calling this piece Winter Wonder.

The layout of this piece is original but the wonderful little embroidery designs are by Pearl Louise Krush from her book Redwork-Winter Twitterings.

As you can see I went with Bluework instead, using scraps from my stash for the patchwork designs. I also added lace, yo-yo's and a few buttons.

The finished piece is 19.25" X 27.75"

Free motion quilt was done on my domestic machine.

I used a variety of free motion quilting designs, I also left some areas without quilting to give some depth to the piece.

I'm showing a view of the back to highlight that I always finish with a hanging sleeve of some type and a label. This means the piece is all done and ready to go. 

For the label on this piece I included my name and the date as well as the name of the embroidery designer and her book title (Pearl Louise Krush, Winter Twitterings)

 Hope you are having a wonderful day!

Christmas Table Runner

 I hope you enjoy seeing the transformation of this damaged old runner into anew Christmas keepsake.

I love collecting vintage textiles of all kinds. They can be a lot of fun (and cheap) to look for at antique shops, garage sales and thrift stores.  I had this wonderful old runner in my vintage textile stash, but it was in terrible condition.

I needed to find some way to make it usable and get it back out of it's box.

Below are more photos of the edges and some holes in the body of the piece. 

Using 100% cotton worsted yarn I repaired the damaged areas on the body of the piece.  Then I cut off the damaged edges. To fully clean up the edges I needed to remove about 3" of the design on each of the long sides of the piece.  With the damage gone I did a blanket stitch all the way around the edge.

I was really lucky not to have any raveling.  The piece has been used and washed many times over the years and it seems that the original cotton yarn is now so tight and the fibers so bonded together they didn't ravel. The density also made it hard to get a needle through to do the blanket stitches. 

 

With pieces I could salvage from the sides I added  flower appliques. Vintage buttons are used for the centers.

Sorry I really should have had a photo of what was cut off.

 

I'm really happy with my final results.  The original width (about 22") was nice but the damage was just to extensive to deal with.  Current size 15.5" X 64". The current width is about the same as my store made runner (16" X 72")  I'm using the extra runner under my piece to give it a bit  more presence. I liked the gold color but I also tried red under it which was also nice.

FINISHED

Hope you enjoyed the transformation of my runner.  

Have a wonderful day!