Five Petal Monogram - W

  W is for winter...today is cold and windy! Thankfully, no snow or ice.

Pin Cushion Design (PCD) - Three

  Hope you are not getting bored with these yet...cause, here's another one!

  There are two additional symbols in this chart...for different size pearl beads. This is the easiest one yet to stitch...only Stab Stitch ribbon leaves...Wrapped Stitch ribbon roses. And some free-handed featherstitch (or you could do fly stitches) for accents...done in a thin metallic thread (I used #4 Krenik braid).

  As usual, here is the reverse pattern marked for punching out the little red dots...to show the placement of the leaves and flowers.

  Here is the layout for stitching. All of the PCD designs use the instructions and placement guides shown on the first tutorial for these pin cushions. And the How-To construction directions are in part 2...of that first tutorial...so page back to that as well.

Pin Cushion Design (PCD) - Two

I can't seem to stop working on these pin cushions...and my muse is so happy about that!  Here is the second design for you to stitch up. 

 It has simple Fly-Stitch roses...with French Knot centers. Here, the French Knot and two fly-stitches just below that...are stitched in 7mm silk ribbon...in the same color (purple). End with a third fly stitch in green for the stem....done in 4mm silk ribbon.

   Some ribbon Stab Stitch leaves with 7mm silk ribbon are used to fill in some of the space around the flowers. A second flower is the embroidered Bullion Flower with French Knot centers. Create this with 8-wrap bullions, using 2 strands of floss. Stitch 4 bullions to create a cross type design...then fill in between these with two additional bullion in each of the four open spaces. The finished flower will have 12 bullions...and a little space left in the center for those French knots (1-3). This design has dragonfly charms (show as [] in the design), and purple montees. The montees could be substituted by other beads if you don't have them on hand.  

   As with the first design...here is a reverse chart...with red dots added to mark the top/bottom of the leaves and the center of the flowers to help in placement. For the pin cushion tutorial...print these so that the outside circle is about 4 inches. Of course, you can use larger ribbon and print the pattern larger...for pillow tops, framing, etc.

Calendar Error Alert!! Please Read!!

 My apologies! Today, a friend contacted me to let me know that my 2013 calendar has some mistakes...on the calendar pages. Apparently, it was VERY late when I checked these template calendar pages against my Microsoft 2013 Calendar...back in 2012 when I was designing it.   Why? Because I have added dates to some months! Thankfully, all of the months DO begin on time, but some run too long...overlapping with the next month. So, please make sure to go and update these too long months if you already have a calendar. Also, I seem to be having trouble typing my "20's...cause I have some numbers twice, and the required number not at all". Geez!   Thank you so much Shelley for helping me out with this by letting me know that there is a problem!! Sending huge cyber hugs to you!   Now, I can't change what has already been printed...but, I have changed the file with MagCloud so that there won't be any more problems (assuming that they send out the correct file).   I am more than willing to send a pdf file to anyone who has the original calendar and would like an electronic version of the new one. It can be opened and used on your computer...or you can print it out. Just send me an email so I can reply with the file attached.
 Again, my sincere apologies! Sitting here with loads of egg on my face...so embarrassed!

A Box of Candy Just for You...

Is it just me, or does this artwork from Dover Publications make you hungry? Saw this on Craft Gossip, isn't that site just great!!  

Five Petal Monogram - V

V is for Valentine's Day!  Hope all of y'all have a wonderfully...and treat yourself to something decadent; like a chocolate truffle! Hugs,

Need Buttons??

FireMountainGems now has buttons! Thought you might want to know.  You know that you can never have enough buttons!  And, these are really pretty...just right for those button clusters in your crazy quilt work. Hugs,

Five Petal Monogram - U

U is for Uck...it's raining again!  

Pin Cushion Design (PCD) - One

This design uses silk ribbon for all of the flowers and leaves. The wrapped roses are 7mm black edged rayon ribbon and the French Knot gathered roses are 13mm wine silk ribbon. The stab stitch leaves are 13mm green silk ribbon and the detached chain (lazy daisy) leaves are done in 7mm bias cut varigated green/brown color silk ribbon. Then 3mm dark blue crystal bicone beads and green crystal montees have been scattered around the flowers to add some sparkle. As with all flower designs, you could also change these roses out to a different style and/or type of flower head that you might enjoy stitching; add some feather stitching or some springs of French Knot babies breath; change it up and make it truly your own design.  

  Here is the design and the reverse for marking dots on your foundation fabric (optional). If you right click the image above and save it...it should print the correct size at 100% and fit on a standard 8.5 x 11 sheet of paper. The outer "dashed" ring should measure 4 inches across. Also, I strongly recommend that you always use a hoop when stitching these Pin Cushion Designs to keep your work flat and help keep it neat. A hoop that has the bottom ring wrapped in some scrap strips of cotton or seam binding will help you get a nice secure piece...and greatly reduce slipping of your background fabric while working. Here's some extra information for you, that might be helpful.   Spider-web or Woven or Wrapped Roses: See instructions in the SRE Basic Stitch Guide for working these.   French Knot Gathered Rose: Anchor your ribbon to the back of your work and needle up in the center of your rose location. Hold the ribbon in your left hand and your chenille needle in your right hand (reverse if you are left handed). Wrap the ribbon around the needle a couple of times (clockwise) to start a French Knot...then, point your needle downwards aligning it with the center of the ribbon as you hold the ribbon straight. Pierce the ribbon about a half inch below the twists...and continue to pierce the ribbon ever half inch or so...in an up and down motion until you have gathered the ribbon on the needle.   

Now, pierce the fabric about where you first came out with the ribbon.

   Pull the ribbon through...and the french knot will be formed on top of the stacked folds of the ribbon created by your gathering. Pinch this little flower and "spin it" with your finger tips...and a nice little ribbon rose will appear.   

Anchor your ribbon to the back of your work. Anchoring Ribbon. Take a tiny stitch to the back of your foundation fabric...but, not through the top fabric.   

Now, before pulling the ribbon completely out...pierce the last one inch of ribbon and pull. This creates a little stitch on the back of your work...without a knot or excess bulk. Ending Ribbon. Simply lace the ribbon under some prior embroidery stitches, ribbon stitches, or between the foundation and top fabrics and cut.  

Pin Cushion Design Tutorial - Part 2

If you have ever made a pincushion using a Compact Disk as the bottom...then you'll have no trouble with this tutorial. It is essentially the same kind of process...only I like to use canning jar lids instead. This tutorial is sized for the "wide mouth lids"; but could be reduced with very little effort to work with the regular size lids too. Canning jar lids are available in most standard grocery stores...you might have to ask "where". You don't need the "rings"...just the lids. Here where I am, they are about $3.50 for a dozen. If you can't find the lids...then any pair of sturdy circles measuring about 3.25 inches across the center will work. Cut them out of quarter inch wood, for example...but remember to sand the edges! Hugs.   Supplies Needed: Fabric for top of pin cushion (nothing too stretchy or too dense) Fabric for foundation of top (muslin, thin cotton) Fabric for inside lining (muslin, thin cotton) Cotton or Cotton/Polyester or stuffing Silk Ribbon, Embroidery Threads, Beads, Etc depending on the specific Pin Cushion Design chosen Two wide-mouth canning jar lids Strong thread/cording to gather and tack tightly Optional: E-6000 Glue

Step One: Trace the Circle on the Design sheet at Part 1 of this Tutorial on to your Foundation Fabric. This tracing is on the back of the fabric.

Step Two (Optional): Each design will include a reverse design that includes "dots" to mark the position of major elements in the design...such as the top/bottom of leaves, center of large flowers, spokes of the wrapped rose, etc. Transfer the dot markings from your chosen Pin Cushion Design to your Foundation Fabric Circles to mark placement of flowers, leaves, etc...as you wish. You can also freehand all of the design if you don't want to create it so literally.

To transfer the dots...first, punch a hole with a needle over every red dot in the design. (This photo has no dots, I just used the top/bottom of leaves and the center of flowers, etc and eyeballed where to punch. Then, I went back to the design sheets and added little red dots ...which will make it easier for you to see where the needle should put a hole.)

Here is how the design looks with just the holes on the back. 

Now, use these holes as placement for a sharp lead pencil...and transfer the "dots" to the muslin foundation fabric.

Step Three (Optional): Annotate your design so that you can clearly understand "what the dots mean". Here, for example, I have used different colored pins to go over the dots again for different design elements (red dots for the spokes and center of the Wrapped Roses, larger pink dots for the French Knot Gathered Roses, green dots for the leaves); have draw a line between the top/bottom dots for each leaf; and (later on) have added a squiggly line to remind me of which leaves were detached chain stitch ribbon leaves instead of the stab stitch ribbon leaves.

Step Four: Place the Top Fabric over the foundation fabric. Be sure to keep the annotations side of the foundation fabric down, so you can see it. Stitch these two pieces of fabric together by running a machine zig-zig along the outside drawn line. (Forgot to take a photo before the stitching was done...but, hopefully you get the idea from this "after" shot.)

 

Step Five: Complete the embroidery, silk ribbon, and beading as the design reflects. (Shown in Part 3 of this tutorial). Set this completed top section aside for now.

Step Six: Take the fabric for the lining and trace a circle using the outer-most circle on the Pattern in Part 1 of this tutorial. Using a strong thread/cord gather this circle until you have an opening about 2 inches across. Tie off the cord/thread. (I used a ball of perle thread to show you that there is an opening when this circle has been gathered up.)

Step Seven: Fill this "lining bag" with poly fill. Use small amounts...over and over...stuffing and packing until the lining resembles a tight little round pillow. Take a piece of cord and criss-cross over the opening to keep the stuffing in place and to draw up the sides to create a nice shape. Poke more stuffing inside if you need to to get this nice and firm. This will be the inside of the pin cushion.

Step Eight: Take strong cord/thread and gather the finished top of the pin cushion.Place the stuffed lining and then one of the large mouth jar lids into the top. Draw up the cord and gather the top around the lining ball of stuffing...and around the jar lid. Draw this up tightly (that's why you need really strong cording). Take a few stitches to anchor...and then criss-cross the excess thread until you have secured the gathering pleats as nicely as possible. You might need additional pieces of cording to get this neat.

Step Nine:

Using the canning jar lid as a guide, cut a circle of felt about one-inch larger than the lid on all sides. Gather this around the lid. Secure the gathering thread.

Step Ten: Use E-6000 glue or tiny stitches (or both) to secure the bottom felt piece to the top of the pincushion. You can also cover any space between the two with trim if you desire.

Tomorrow, we'll talk about the first of the Pin Cushion Designs (PCD) in this series.

Pin Cushion Design Tutorial - Part 1

I've been working on some designs for pin cushions...or they could be used flat on book covers, pillows, etc.

However, I need to also tell you "how" to create the pin cushion once the design has been stitched. So, there needs to be a general tutorial really...on custruction...before the real design is shared.

So, I'll be taking a couple of days to post a tutorial on how to use the designs and how to create a really firmly stuffed pincushion once you've stitched the designs.

Today, here is the basic layout of the pincushion top section and the Legend that I'll be using for the different elements of each design. This will change as time goes on...and I add new elements to the list. But, I'll update that for you when it needs to be adjusted.

You'll need this to understand the positioning of the embroidery, beading, and silk ribbon work...and how big to cut your fabric, foundation, and lining.

Tomorrow...I'll walk you through the creation of the first design (lot's of photos)...Then, on Tuesday I'll post the first pin cushion design...PCD-1

There is a second design completed also...and it will be posted when I get the example stitched. There will be others to follow, so it might be a good idea to set you up a file folder for downloading these photos as each design is posted this year.

Hope you are going to find this new design adventure beneficial. Feel free to use the symbols to and blank charts to create your own designs as well.

Five Petal Monogram - T

 

Missing...Almost...

 

  Well, what a couple of days I've had lately! Nothing too dramatic...just boring stuff mostly. I did manage to finally get the drapes done for my brother, and I'm sure he was glad about that! I learned that black fabric makes a wonderful catcher...for every human and dog hair in my house! And for every fuss ball, dust particle, and piece of thread off of my sewing room rug!   My laptop has been super slow. And no, it's not a virus or such. I keep it equipped with software to stop that kind of stuff...even though I still am tormented with spam on my email and blogger comments...which annoy me to no end.   Nope...my problem is that this little cutie (see I'm talking nice...it may be listening...) is an older model...with only a 32-bit processor. Now, when I got it...I had no idea if 32 was a good number or not. It has about 2GB of RAM...which is nothing in today's market of 8GB normally. This means that large downloads of "updates" just take up so much space...it has to be "cleaned out" every now and then.   So, about a year ago...I went to Office Depot to see if more RAM could be installed. The technician opened her up...(I about had a heart failure)...and pronounced that there was an empty port...so I could add another 2GB of memory. Wonderful! Let's do it! I paid the about $50 for the extra card and he installed it...but...it didn't "take". After another 30 minutes of trying to figure out why...and checking his techie manuals...which said that the card should work. He finally determined that the processor speed was the problem. The memory of 4GB could not be "read" by a processor that would only handle about 3.2 (or really 3) GB...hence the "32" part of the 32-bit.  There were no memory cards for 1GB on the shelf...so I was stuck.
Instead, I purchased an external hard drive "notebook"...(about $100...but they took the $50 un-usable card back...thankfully) which holds about 150 GB...limitless to me! All of my photos (including all of the CQJP and Blog stuff), my documents, and large programs not sit there...and I direct my traffic to them at the "H" drive, instead of to my normal "C" drive. This speeds things up considerably.
Now, for the problem...some programs, sites, etc...just don't give you the option to change the drive you want "stuff" to go to. So, every time I update these softwares...I get more stuff on my C drive...and have to go in and manually move it to my H drive. I spend a couple of hours yesterday doing that. Then, I spend a couple of more...transferring other files. Then, I ran some cleaning software and also decided to de-frag my C drive to get things in a better "alignment" so to speak. All together...my little laptop got a workout...about 6 hours of constant moving, compressing, adjusting, etc. Most of this time, nothing else could be happening...so only checked my email between "events"...which was about every 2 hours or so.   BUT, the good news is that my baby (see, another nice term) is purring...and happy! My latest boring drapery project is done! And, I'm designing some silk ribbon project ideas for you! So, if you have read this entire boring post...you are in for a treat soon! Okay, even if you didn't read it...you'll still get the treat. Now, I'm off to go stitch the example I just finished designing! Come back and visit tomorrow...and it will be almost done I'm sure! Hugs, hope everyone has a great weekend!