A Short Video of some Motifs/Techniques Learned in the Free Courses!
Here's another little embroidery design for you. Just print the image and size as you need.I'm playing around with Illustrator as you can tell!Enjoy. 
Finished up a little six inch block for Lynn, over on the HGTV Message Board. Here are the close up photos.
This is one is a set of six that the group is doing. The other block included already in the set as finished has lot's of beads...and I have tried to follow that lead here too. Of course, I had not problem with that...since I love beads!
and isn't it just wonderful! Just gorgeous!Thanks go to the talented stitchers in the round robin...not to me.Huge thanks to Lorrie R., Lyn G., Meg W., and Cathy L.These ladies really did a super job with this block.Want to see some close up photos?Of course you do!
Isn't this a gorgeous pillow!Sheila...a dear "follower" was kind enough to send me this photo and let me post it. THANKS! This pillow will be a gift to her sister.It is very nice to see when someone finishes a project with one of my free designs.You may remember that the entire alphabet of free "Wednesday Wine Country" monograms was posted last year.Great to see them being put to good use!
You know that it can only last as long as it takes for all the plastic parts to melt!Oh, I surely hope to have to "eat those words"...and that the Emerson folks prove me wrong!Today, after two days of back-breaking work...seriously...I made a trek to WalMart with my SIL...to get a new television for the sewing room. It is 22" size...cute little thing...about 2 inches thick...on a little plastic stand...and still cost a whopping $160 before taxes! I know, it's "unseemly" to talk about money...but really...for less than 5 lbs of plastic?The one good thing about it is that it has a connector for a computer...so I can use it as a monitor too. And since I need one of those for the desktop computer...perhaps it will do "double" duty.After another trip to town tomorrow...for the right cable at Radio Shack of course! Sure hope the extra load of being a television and a monitor doesn't cause it to melt faster!Oh, the back breaking work part was re-shuffling all of the "stuff" in the craft room, the sewing room, and the bedroom (half of this little house!) to make room for a double-recliner (think loveseat on steroids) in the craft room.Only, it now is not a craft room...cause it was only about 8 x 10 feet in size to start with...and the addition of the new furniture and moving my largest television in there (with a reading lamp for stitching of course, and side table) sucked up all the space. The only evidence left of crafts is my design wall, a long 8 ft table on one side (with sheet covering the legs...so don't look underneath)...and a family of plastic drawers holding tons of stash!The television came from the sewing room...so a replacement was needed. Took me three days to push, pull, nudge, tug, and shove...and hours more time to organize, vacuum, dust, etc as I went...just to end up with a "space" in the sewing room that needed a new television.I'm so sore, tired, and "kinked up"...that I could not sleep last night. Seriously, not a single minute...so got up finally around 3 a.m.after rolling over and over in bed like an alligator had me at the bottom of the swamp marinating for his dinner! Aidan was asleep, and I was too tired to stitch...so read instead. Hope, that I get some sleep tonight!Thanks for hanging in there with me these past couple of weeks...I know that I have not posted much. But, just have too many "other" things going in the family right now.I'm too tired to cook! And, almost too tired to eat...yeah, I said ALMOST! Got some deli meats and cheeses today...so that Aidan doesn't starve before I get my energy back. Or, some energy...think, I'll go drag the Geritol bottle out and take a swig...wonder if that will keep me up tonight?Well, we'll see.... BTW...received my Midnight Fantasy Garden block back in this afternoon's mail...and the ladies did a spectacular job with it. I just adore it...and will try to get a photo tomorrow to share.
Okay, here's the deal. I woke up this morning...and could not believe what I had been thinking. Now, usually, dreams are just not very memorable at my house. And, as a result...I don't usually recall them at all. Or, if I do, they slip out of my brain pretty fast after waking up. But, not this morning. And that fact alone is somewhat disturbing...why remember THIS dream? Well, I'll let you decide.Last night, I was a pollster...yep, a lady with a clipboard (it was before internet) asking burning questions to the public. And here were my questions...ready...really this is just too weird...or perhaps I'm seriously disturbed? I'll let you decide that...Q: When sleeping alone, do you sleep in the middle of the bed or on mostly one side?Q: If you sleep mostly on one side, is it the side nearest the clock?SEE...Weird! Or should I be concerned and seek immediate medical attention!
I seriously love this block! And, am really surprised...because the "theme" really was a difficult one for me to get a good grasp of. Wine=grapes to me...and I had a hard time going beyond that. But, lucky for me...the other ladies in my group...the ones that stitched this block! for ME...had no difficulty at all!
Here is the simple empty block that I mailed off to the group...And, I so love the results that returned to me! I'm searching through my fabric stash for just the right piece to create a pillow from this. I want it in view all the time. It might just have to live on my permanent design wall for a while...just so I can enjoy it each day.Thank you ladies (Beryl, Carol, Darlene, and Meg) for the wonderful job!And to my blogging buddies...here are some closeup shots of the block, so you can see how great it really, really, is up close!
Wish you could see it in person...it is even so much better than photos show!
A while back...I posted about a ribbon embroidery style basket...here.
This is that same design, modified some...and done in embroidery.
I'm thinking this might make a good class project...and am also thinking about adding some more floral volume ...but, no time for that right now. We'll let the muse mull over the design and then see how that turns out.The basket is stitched first (stem stitch), then the vines (back-stitch), then the leaves (feather-stitch), then the cluster flowers (French knots), and last are the rose flowers (woven rose stitch). Take it one layer at a time. It is seriously not difficult and was finished in about 3 days. The threads are all Perle Cotton, sz 8 for this project; in colors #1201, #1216, # 1208, and #1221; purchased from Thearica over at CrazyQuiltingSupplies.
Here is Ellie's second embroidery bib.It would be just as appropriate for a boy as for her.It is done is simple back-stitch embroidery. My flavors of choice were chocolate, pistachio, and strawberry (dark brown, light lime green, pink perle cotton threads, size 8). The cone is done is dark gold perle 8...all threads are cotton.
And, I'm thinking that the design would also be really cute done in fabrics...as applique layers. If you do fusible applique...then you already know that each ice-cream layer shape would be traced on to the fusible webbing and then ironed to three different fabrics (remember to add a little for tucking under each other). I might just try that myself sometime soon...maybe for a pillow top? Oh, wouldn't that be cute ironed to a little t-shirt front! I can picture some plaids, polka dots, stripes for the different ice creams. (If anyone does this before me, please send me a photo of the finished work...I'd love to post it!) I have no idea with I'd have the time to actually get it done...but will now be shopping for plain little t-shirts I'm thinking! Yikes! More projects!Next, I've got to get back to my "regular monthly stitching" before I get too far behind on my Block of the Month quilt blocks...and my Take A Stitch Tuesday samples!
Here is the ice-cream cone embroidery design for y'all! Hope you enjoy stitching it!Both this design and the monogram design I posted yesterday too about 2 hours each to stitch, an extra hour for sewing on lace, turning, tucking in ribbon ends...it was about six hours from start to finish to complete both bibs. Don't think everything "hand-made" takes loads of time..you will seriously be surprised at how fast things can be stitched. Especially a design like this, where you can do the entire think in simple back-stitch! Give hand embroidery a try if you have not done so already. You can so impress your new mom-to-be with a hand made gift that she will (hopefully) cherish enough to have a family keepsake.By the way...a question for you...as I'm sure some of you already do this...I want to purchase some hang-tags to insert into my hand-made baby things. I want them to say something simple so that they can be used on quilts, garments, purses...etc. Not sure if I just want them to read "Handmade by Shawkl Designs" or something else. Do you have any recommendations for having these done? I don't want thousands...but still would like a decent price for them.Thanks for any suggestions.
Ellie's monogram bib is finished.
The pattern for the bib is really simple...an extra large bowl...and a cup will make the circles. You can then elongate the circle if you desire. Or just use a rectangle shape with curved corners...and the coffee mug. Large children than newborn-3months?...use a bowl instead of the cup. Viola...you have a pattern! Do you have an "E" in your family...if so...here is the embroidery chart for you.
It does not have to go on a bib of course...try it on a tote-bag, or book cover, or countless things!
Ellie's initial was stitched in shadow embroidery, as were the tiny leaves. The large leaves were done in feather-stitch, the flowers in back-stitch, and the vine in stem stitch. All of the embroidery work for this was stitched two strand Silk Mori embroidery floss from Krenik because a friend kindly gifted me some...too expensive for me to purchase on my own. It is glorious to stitch with, but I'm saving it for small projects since I have just a wee bit to work with. It would be bad to start a project and run out...there is no where around here to get more...and ordering online and waiting would be pure torture!I highly recommend the thread however...if you have not tried it...and get the chance, do it! And if you have some and don't like it...mail it off to me...I'd gladly use it! Hugs!I have not forgotten about the "generic" bib design I promised...and am stitching on it...so hope to have that for you tomorrow!
The next project is a bib for Baby Elizabeth Jane...who is due in the next few weeks to arrive! This is the outline of the embroidery and bib shape traced on to linen. But, before I get started on this project...let me show you a couple of photos from yesterday's Baby Shower for "Ellie".The mom-to-be (again) is my niece, Shannon. My youngest sister Jan arranged the shower for her yesterday, including some games (they are not in the photos). The funniest game was a race...between two teams. Here they are, my grand-daughter Aidan and my younger sister Anna racing against my niece Melissa (Shannon's sister) and Jean (Shannon's MIL).
You can also see Tracy, my youngest brother's wife...whom lives next door in the photo.The teams were a pretend Mom and Baby...and the idea of the game is for the Mom to "diaper" the Baby. Each team was given a paper bag with secret contents and told that ALL of the contents had to be used. What was in the bag? ...well...one full roll of toilet tissue!
Anna and Aidan won...but only because Anna "stuffed" Aidan and the tissue into the bag so it would stay up...along with half of the TP roll ...unused...as Anna announced that Aidan was now a boy...and the TP Roll was her &*^%$ (I'm sure you can fill in this blank)! This was Aidan's first shower to attend...and she had a great time! We all enjoyed tons of food and Shannon got loads of baby clothes and needed items. And, everyone loved the little dresses and blankets that I've been working on these past couple of weeks...thankfully! Do you international ladies have Baby Showers in your country? Just wondering if they are as "crazy" as some of ones my family plans. We always have tons of food of course, and the new Mom gets tons of baby things as gifts, and we play GAMES. Some games are pencil/paper types...like taking the baby's proposed name and determining how many words can be made with the letters...that represent baby items. Or, perhaps a BABY CROSSWORD puzzle to complete within a given amount of time. Oh, I could give a long list of "pencil games". But, the real fun is the "race style" games.The last baby shower in the family was for my nephew and his wife...and I decided on the games.My teams of Mothers had to Feed the Baby...and were given a choice of two bags. One bag contained a jar of baby food...peas or prunes; the other bag contained a jar of applesauce. Each team was lucky...and chose the applesauce. They had to feed those "babies" the entire jar...with a baby spoon. Each team was given a bib (dish towel) to also go around the baby's neck. My sister Anna was one of the babies...and my sister Jan was her "Mom". Jan stuffed that spoon into Anna's mouth as fast as she could...and Anna promptly "spit up" into that bib! They were so funny...and this story probably tells MORE about how my family works and plays that you should know!! Ha! I'm working on a bib pattern with shadow applique embroidery motif, generic in style for ya'll, and will get that posted this week (hopefully)...as soon as I get it done in Illustrator.Hope all are having a glorious weekend!
I just had a good little laugh with Aidan...and thought you might enjoy one too. Here is the image that greeted me as I looked up from the computer keyboard. Aidan looks like a sausage in the casing...as she got herself wrapped into this piece of scrap flannel fabric. Note the beaded evening purse to complete her outfit!
But, the ingenious part is how she did it...
it took her 60 pins to make it work! Shows a lot of determination and creativity I think. Made me laugh...
