sunburst potholder & bursts of beauty

A burst of sun is an almost every day occurrence for us here in the summertime. And when we drive around, we see bursts of sunflowers in gardens everywhere!
.


Using this book Kitchen Basics in Cotton -- which I have used before -- I crocheted another potholder. This time using colors that remind me of sunbursts & sunflowers.
.

Young Girl Crocheting by Bouguereau--1889
.
And then I found this gorgeous painting, Young Girl Crocheting and it instantly took my breath away. Ahhh. The colors. And she appears so content & satisfied with just thread & hook in hand.
.
.

I used a G hook and Sugar 'n Cream from Lily.
.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

.

And then this, I must share!

.
I received a email from Bia from Sew You Can Fiber Arts Center. Her poignant email struck such a chord in me because she is passionate -- and I mean passionate with a capital P! -- about sharing her love for sewing with the youth of today. One of the groups that she works with made the fabric flowers that I shared here on my blog -- oh, my GrAnna would just be amazed at the desire to make these flowers that were named after her.
.

A Girl Sewing in an Orchard by Edmund Charles Tarbell 1891 -- purses & hats made by the SEW YOU CAN girls

So when I picture my grandma & young girls sewing (and yes, I found another painting--A Girl Sewing in an Orchard -- that depicts this simple love of handwork) I realize that yes, indeed! this profound love of needlework is being passed down to further generations....and that is truly a burst of beauty, isn't it?

Thanks, Bia. For knowing that & sharing that.

shaded embroidery, fabric scraps & vintage eyelet lace

If you love embroidery -- and I do! -- you must pick up this book:

Clare Hanham explains shaded embroidery so well with her wonderful pics and directions.

So after paging through this, a huge dose of creative inspiration surges through my body (this is when my family tries to quietly escape out the front door....)

And I start scrounging through my fabric scraps, embroidery thread and found pieces of vintage eyelet lace...

.And begin.

In her book she starts you out with very basic 3 shades of pink embroidery floss and simple long/short stitches to make this flower.

The piece becomes so vivid with just the subtle changes of colored thread.

I was pleasantly surprised --okay, shocked really -- with these results.

.

Quite easy. Quite do-able. And when becoming so frustrated with having to count out stitches in a cross-stitch pattern, well -- this may be the answer!

And now I must figure out how to finish off this tiny piece.

finally joining

.
I am seeing white. Lots & lots (...........did I say 'lots'?) of white. . All of these white hexies are being hand sewn....
.

.
...and finally being joined to the colorful grandmother's flower garden blocks.
.
.
I loooooooooove the way these blocks come to life. Half of the fun of this quilt is matching the fabrics. The other half is the quietness of piecing these hexies together.
.
Now. Let's see. How many more to go before this is a queen-sized quilt?

crazy for a purple pillow

I'm a bit crazy for purple. And it's funny -- I have found that others either love this color -- or hate it.

I love it. And I love embroidered flowers. And I love the sweet ambience & serenity of this English Country cottage.

I simply printed a pic from a computer image onto muslin that had been ironed onto parchment paper. So easy, although truth be told -> my husband would freak if he knew I was running fabric through our printer.

.

And then pulling a whole slew of purple fabrics, I built this crazy block by just adding & sewing & cutting & more adding & more sewing & and more cutting purple fabrics.

.

Then the embellishment begins and ironing on vintage embroidery transfers, I 'planted' a thread garden.

.

Someday. I will reside in such a place as this.

But for now, it will have just have to be a crazy pillow.

grandmother's flower garden

Motivated by Robyn and her great love of hexagons, I have once again tackled these gorgeous blocks that seem to always get tucked away somewhere.

I seem to tackle them with such gusto, only to put them back in a plastic ziploc and re-shelve them. I can only attribute this undesire to complete them because they are all sewn by hand.

If you are familiar with the paper-piecing method, then you know that each hexagon is cut out and then 'sewn to' a paper hexagon template -- all by hand.

~

Now -- I love, love LOVE this pattern. And I love, love LOVE even more the grandmother's flower garden quilts that are done in all of their beauty & splendor.....

But all of these hexagons can be a bit daunting.

And a bit time-consuming. Okay. Very time-consuming. Notice that I have not told you how long I have been working on this quilt. And. I. won't. *grin*

But Robyn's enthusiasm has bowled me over. And she has completely kick-started me into diving once again into stitching these retro blocks. (btw-if you haven't been on the receiving end of her love of quilting -- you must visit her -- and heartfelt prayers for her as devastating fires have made their way into Australia.)

Close-ups of some of the blocks:

Isn't that one of the greatest pleasures of quilting? -- putting the different fabrics together in such a harmonious blend?

And these vintage fabrics that look as if they came from my grandma -- undoubtedly fabric choices that are some of my favorites!

bmmmmmmm

Huge gulp of breath because I know that I have to complete sooooo many more before this will ever grace my bed. But being part of the Great Hexagon Quilt-Along, well -- I feel as if these women are sitting right here & motivating me with each stitch that they are taking.

bbbbbbbb

Time to sew.

huge to me

Although this may appear to be just tiny bits of stuff -- just ask my husband & kids about the tiny bit of 'stuff' on moms.craft.table -- I am actually busy.
~
ahem.
~
Okay. So maybe I'm just playing around with ideas for a crochet granny square purse using purples, pinks and golden yellows of the softest yarn.
~
But I am also working on paper-piecing these flower garden hexagons. A project started many moons ago, but the with the house quiet and the sun finally streaming through the windows -- these tiny projects are somehow so huge to me -- I can't wait to get my fingers on them.
~

~~~~

Oh, and here's a peek at Georgina the Giraffe -- yes, I found a pattern! More pics tomorrow.

show some sewing love pt. 2

(ahem...no peeking, Harley!)


Hearts, cupcakes & puppies. Just the thought of all 3 of them conjures up 'sewing love' in some way or another.
~

This is part 2 of Dandelion Quilt's, Show Some Sewing Love swap.




The flowery, brown fabric looked so delicious -- like chocolate frosting on a cupcake -- that I just had to make a cupcake to go with her tiny heart quilt.

~

The cupcake pattern is from this yummy, yummy book.

~~
~

Said with a content smile -->'Definitely showing some sewing love.' I'm hoping she can feel that when she receives it.

showing some sewing love

(Disclaimer: If your name is Harley ---> Stop reading now.....

you'll ruin the surprise...)

~

I am participating in Dandelion Quilts

Show Some Sewing Love Swap

and this is what is on my 'design table' for that swap.

~

What begins as a blank canvas turns
~

into -penciled in- ideas

& sewn paper-pieced blocks.

Add small stitches of embroidery

& those 3 simple blocks turn into

~

a kitty-approved wall-hanging.
~
(Fabric is bits & pieces from my stash -- mostly Hobby Lobby yardage
& the paper-pieced block patterns come from

Carol Doak's 300 Paper-Pieced Quilt Blocks book.)

so ornamental

These German bell ornaments were gifts that I made for very dear friends & teachers this year.

And although Christmas has already passed, I did want to show you how beautiful they turned out & yes! they are oh, so versatile.

Choosing from the tons of fabric, ribbon and beads available everywhere --- well, goodness, you can personalize these to fit just about anyone. The directions can be found here and although the folding seems complicated, just keep thinking 'folding a paper airplane.....'

another bag

The current fashion craze of black nail polish and skull & cross-bones adorning clothing....eeeehhh. Not exactly my thing. Okay, truly not my style, but when our teen asked if I could make another bag for another friend, I made it to her modern specifications.

And then we found this rather cute skull fabric at the fabric store. Actually, not too scary and quite adorable when coupled with the flowery, black fabric.

And the friend -- well, she loooooooooooooved it. Along with the black nail polish that came with the bag.

~~

Yah...well. My desire will still lie in the vintage-y goodness of the fabrics from my grandma's apron & tattered quilts found hidden in an attic.

fabric flower tutorial

Many of you asked me where I got the fabric, pattern & flower for this bag.


Fabric: top edge from denyse schmidt and bottom flower fabric from Walmart.

Pattern: from my head which is just swimming with pictures & patterns that I have seen in the countless books, magazines I have or even from women carrying them in stores, restaurants, church etc....


Fabric Flower: from a book that came from my beautiful Grandma Anna. I don't even remember the name of the book, but I do remember the fabric flower.



Here is the tutorial for

anna's flower

Begin by choosing your fabric. One color, two colors --- doesn't matter.






Trace a circle on your fabrics. This one is approx. 4 1/2 in. in diameter.





I usually cut out 4 circles from one fabric and 4 circles from another fabric.




Find the center by ironing a crease down the middle.




And using ruler & rotary cutter, cut down the center of all the circles.





Your half circles.






Fold each half circle in 1/2, wrong sides together.


Sew approx. 1/4 in. seam down the straight edge. Feed all the 'petals' through your machine w/o cutting the thread.

A petal necklace.....

Clip the threads that join these petals. Turn right side out.

Begin Bottom Layer of Flower

Use upholstery thread and stitch a running stitch on the bottom curve of each 'petal'.

Add your next 'petal' with that same running stitch.

Keep adding 'petals' to this same length of thread, alternating the fabric. I use 9 half circles for this bottom layer of the flower.

Pull tightly on the thread to form the flower. Secure with backstitches. Leave a 8 in. tail when cutting thread.

Top Layer of Flower

Repeat steps for top layer of flower as you did with the bottom flower. I use 6 'petals' for the top layer. Leave a 8 in. tail when cutting thread.

Using the 8 in. tail of thread, stitch the top layer to the bottom layer of fabric flower. Do not cut threads. You will use this thread to secure the button.

Use a button for the center of the flower. Fabric covered, or your choice of button/bead etc.

Using the 8 in. tail of your thread, sew button to the center of the flower.

Bring both threads to back, tie knot to secure.

Trace a circle on felt to cover the back center --messy thread part!-- and using fabric glue, attach circle to back of flower. Add a pinback if you choose.

...and you have a

flower from anna's garden.