Winter Themed Card

 

We are hosting a church fellowship at our home this January.

This is the invitation card that I will be sending.

I used an Anna Griffin embossing folder for the swirled snow aqua background.

The snowflakes are from Martha Stewart punches.

I sprayed them with glue then sprinkled them with Martha Stewart glitter.

Very blingy in person.  :)

 



 

The cute swirled snow stamps on the inside of the card were done with a stamp set

and pigment ink from Close to My Heart.

 

I thought the whole snow theme was appropriate considering it will be

January and we are in one of the snow capital states of the U.S.

 

Have a blessed weekend, my friends.

 

 



And to all, a good night . . .

The night will be good underneath my warm, newly finished, Christmas quilt.

The pattern and fabric are by Anna Griffin (Christmas Toile).

 

 

 

The fabric is quite busy and I think it is easy to lose sight of the quilt design.

There are wonky stars inside each block.

 

 

 

The thing about those wonky stars is that all four seams come together right in the center.

That can cause a big 'bump' in the middle of the star.

Who needs bumpy stars!

 

 

My solution to bumpy-centered stars was to clip the seam just to the stitching.

Then I could press the seams in opposite directions to help minimize bulk.

It worked fine, but I just learned a better way to de-bump centers.

I will share that in an upcoming post.

 

 

I did the quilting on my Bernina 750.

The back is from the coordinating quilt print by Anna Griffin,
and the binding is a solid red from Riley Blake.

 

 

 Have a very warm and restful Christmas night, my friends.

"Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you,
he is Christ the Lord."
~ Luke 2:11 ~

 

 

Beaded Christmas Ornament

When I was a kid, my mom purchased beaded ornament kits.

We would sit for hours making our delicate Christmas ornaments.

I treasured those fragile, beautiful, sparkling balls covered in beads.

My mom had a severe stroke almost 16 years ago.

It left her without the use of one arm, a leg, and an eye.

She now has Alzheimer's also.

She lives in another state.

She stayed with us for a while this November and early December.

She sorted all these little beads for me.

It was too difficult for her to 'string' the beads on the pins.

I did that part.

 



 

The ornament kit is from Mary Maxim.

Red is my favorite color.

 

 

This is my most treasured beaded ornament.

Thanks, mother.

 

 

 

"Listen, my son, to your father's instruction and do not forsake your mother's teaching.

They will be a garland to grace your head and a chain to adorn your neck."

~ Proverbs 1:8-9 ~

 

 



JOY-ful Bunting

I found a great embroidery design shop on Etsy.

The shop name is BigDreamsEmbroidery.

 

 

I adore the mason jar applique design.

So versatile and can be used year-round.

 

I opened the design file in my embroidery software.

Then I added lettering to spell out JOY.

Lastly, I chose thread colors to match my fabric choice.

 

 

 

My embroidery machine did the rest.

 

 

The fabric is by Anna Griffin.

The thread is OESD.

 

 "Let them give thanks to the LORD for his unfailing love and his wonderful deeds for men,

for he satisfies the thirsty and fills the hungry with good things."

-~ Psalm 107:8-9 ~

 

 



Quilted Home Dec Pillow

I've veered onto a quilting path as of late.

I am winding my way through new projects to spruce up my home.

 

 

 

This new quilted pillow features a machine embroidered medallion front and center.

The embroidery file and the pillow instructions are included in the Craftsy

Elegant Embroidery class taught by Amanda Murphy.

 

 

The fabric is French General's Josephine line.

A solid kona cotton is thrown in for contrast

and to 'ground' all those prints.

North Star is the name of the pillow and embroidery design.

 

 

 

Feather quilting enhances the border stips.

 

 

A button closure on the back allows for easy removal for washing

or switching out for the seasons.

 

 

 

Simple buttons from my stash worked nicely and didn't cost me anything.  :)

 

 

Moving along on my quilting path,

here are the pieces for my quilt,

all cut and ready to sew.

 

Have you taken any Craftsy classes?

IMO, Amanda Murphy's class is top notch.

She is a terrific teacher and talented designer.

Not only do you get multiple quilt, table runner, and pillow patterns

along with video instructions - she also includes

the digitized embroidery files.

Love that.

 

 

Happy Sewing





Diaper Carrier and Hoop Wall Hanging

Yep, it's another Diapers to Go diaper and wipe carrier baby gift.

This is by far, my all-time favorite gift to sew for new mommys.

The lovely recipient of this one already has a girl version that I made for her several years ago.

She is expecting a little boy this time, so I chose the gray, yellow, and black theme.

I also added a cute little embroidery hoop wall hanging embellished with her new son's initials. 

He is REW III, that's why I added the three little hearts after his initials.

 

Some shell stitch crochet around a wooden embroidery hoop adds a sweet frame to the hooped fabric.

The raw edges of the hooped fabric on the back side are completely covered.

Hug Snug rayon seam binding was the perfect finishing touch.

 

The walking foot was perfect for quilting straight lines across the outer shell of the diaper carrier.  But when it came to the inner pockets . . .

I decided to experiment with some quilting.

The left polka dot pocket panel has a square grid quilted on it.

The right side is quilted with a feather pattern.

Hmmmmm, no synergy between the geometric grid quilting and the feather quilting.

I opted to quilt both sides with the square grid pattern.

That's better.

If you're looking for a fun, quick, and very much appreciated baby gift, this one fits the bill.

Before this young mom knew I would be making a second one for her, she actually asked if she could purchase one from me.

I reassured her that I already planned to gift her with a new one.

It's nice to know she really liked the first one.

 

I have a new home dec item to share with you as soon as I get it photographed.  Until then . . .

 

"Love one another, just as Christ has loved you."  (John 13:34, paraphrased by me)

- Pam -

Charming Black and White

yes, friends, yet another charm pack table runner from Pieces from My Heart pattern #376

the charm pack is Moda Shades of Black

that cute fabric pumpkin with the burlap stem - made by my daughter and granddaughter

 

i've made this table runner so many times i don't even refer to the pattern anymore

that, plus, it's just a simple, simple, quick table runner to assemble

 

 

 

this one is a gift

i quilted simple flower shapes

only the top and the batting are quilted together

 

 

 

because of how the scalloped edge is added, the back is not quilted

 

i used one of the quilting stitches on my sewing machine to sew around the edge

love the effect of the straight stitch with the 'bar tacks'

 

 

until next time - Pam

Black and White Color Block Dress

Yes, friends, it was a windy day!  We have very few windy days here in Utah and this was one of them.  Wind or no wind, I was not to be deterred from this photo shoot.  Mostly because I was already dressed up, and had gone to church, and I was not wearing the same outfit the following Sunday just so I could get 'good hair' photos!  The same outfit two weeks in a row?  *Gasp*

This is my second version of Vogue 8667.  The first one had the cowl neck with short sleeves.  I still love it, and wear it quite often.  I made this one without the cowl neck and sleeveless so I could comfortably wear it with a sweater or jacket.

My fabric choice this go 'round was ponte.  It is a very stable one-way stretch knit.  That said, it is still a knit fabric and I tried to avoid any fabric rippling or distortion by omitting the back zipper.  The upper body is underlined with fusible easy-knit, which can be used as an interfacing or an underlining.  I chose easy-knit so the bodice would still have some cross body stretch so I could get it on without a zipper opening.  I won't kid you, even with the slight amount of stretch, it still takes some wiggling to get it off and on, (ahem).  Here's the wrong side of the fabric with the underlining fused to it:

I opted for several different seam finishes in this garment.  Where those two black and white seams are joined, I applied hug snug rayon seam binding; and I used my serger to sew the skirt to the bodice.  The skirt is lined with black ambiance rayon lining.

And now it is confession time.  In my zeal to get this dress cut and onto the sewing machine, I forgot to take up the center back seam allowance where the zipper should have been inserted.  Instead, I simply put the back pattern piece on the fabric fold and cut the piece.  Therefore, it was necessary for me to add a pleat to the back waist.  LOL

An embroidered rose on my sweater adds just a touch of color to the ensemble.

I used my embroidery machine to add the rose to my very well-worn (as you can tell by the pills) black sweater.

I like this dress very much and I plan to sew up a cropped jacket of some sort to wear with it when the weather turns colder.

Until next time -

Pam