Baby Boy Quilt

Just finished a quilt for a newborn baby boy out in California.  This was an easy quilt to piece as you can see.  Went together very quickly.  I think the colors are pretty cool and neutral enough for the little guy.

 This was my first attempt at edge to edge machine quilting on my embroidery machine.  Because my biggest hoop is 5x7 it took a lot of time and 64 hoops to complete the quilting.  Love the finished look but it was soooo time consuming.

Glad to be finally finished with it and now off this quilt goes across the country to it's new owner!

Diana

Embroidery Buddies!

I just finished machine embroidering some sweet little blankets for two of my nursery children at church.  They are turning three next week and I thought a personalized snuggle blanket would be just the right gift from their teacher.

 I got the blankets from Country Club Embroidery Blanks face book shop.  They are very reasonably priced and they ship quickly.  The quality is very good too!  And if you purchase from her there are free embroidery designs to match the stuff toys.

 The lamb is for a little girl and the puppy for a boy.

The designs stitch up nicely too.

I have already ordered more buddies for upcoming birthdays!  Don't want to run out and disappoint one of my little ones.....

Diana

Tea Towels For Christmas

Getting a few of my Christmas gifts done ahead of time!  I machine embroidered and sewed up about 11 tea towels.

 I did a few with the french utensils and a few with the rooster.  The material is bought by the yard and cut into towels.  The printed tea towel were made from fabric I got on spoonflower during the fat quarter sale a few weeks ago.

 This is definitely my favorite!  Love the pretty silverware.

So pretty......Hope everyone loves these towels as much as I do.

Diana

Very Sweet Bibs

Can you believe I have never made a bib before?  Been sewing my whole life but this simple project has never been on my to do list......until my husband asked me to make some for a coworker's new baby in China.  Normally I would make a quilt for the occasion but it is soooo hot in China right now he thought a quilt would go unused.  So some bibs it was.

 I had a lot of much fun making these.  I got the pattern online here.

 I used fabric instead of terry cloth on the back.

 Machine appliqued "shabby" style.  That means I left raw edges......kind of like "country" style potatoes means I don't take the time to peel them.

A little ric rac and some snaps were all the notions needed to complete these adorable bibs.  And in a few days these will be on there way to China and a sweet little baby girl.

Diana

Make It Do!

I don't do much hand embroidery anymore.  Once I found out that an embroidery machine could do it better and quicker, I put away my floss and hoops and bought a machine.  I never looked back until I saw this adorable pattern . Even though it wasn't available for machine embroidery and needed to be done the old fashion way, I knew I had to try it!

 It took a few evenings to make and my skills were definitely rusty.  My stitches could have been evener and I did stress a bit about that.....then I decided that my efforts were good enough and to just relax and enjoy the process!

 Isn't it the sweetest thing you ever saw?  If you want the pattern you can get it at Sarahjanestudios and make your own.  I promise you will love it!

Diana

Halloween Quilt and Table Runner

I made these Halloween quilted decorations for my son way back in July!  Talk about planning ahead.  He has three little boys and I thought they would enjoy the bright orange and black color combo.  Plus the fabric has monsters all over it.....they will love that.

I made a table runner and wall quilt.  The runner came first and the quilt was made from the left over charms and fabric! 

So easy to put together.  I even sewed the binding on by machine instead of by hand (gasp).

 Shadow quilted around the machine appliqued "boo".  The quilt and table runner were machine quilted.

 The table runner has three large blocks.  They are all the same block design but I used different fabric placement for a scrappy look.

 Look how different each block looks. 

I didn't have a long enough piece for the back so I pieced it by using  a few charms to stretch it!  I think the back now looks good enough to display too.  I find this set strangely cheerful and just scary enough for the little boys. 

Diana

Aqua and Red Kitchen Towels

My favorite color combination!

 I made these towel to match the color scheme of our vintage trailer, but I don't know if they will end up in there.......I may put them on my etsy shop......

Just love these!

Diana

Mascot For The Vintage Trailer!

Have you ever made something that just didn't want to go together smoothly?  So, that was this project.  First the gold frame was given new life with pretty aqua paint.  All went well until I started the embroidery.  So many problems.  I wanted it to work so bad I just kept handling each issue until finally it was done!  Yeah!  I took pictures and started my post....and then I noticed something.....hmmm.....are there two T's in knot?

Drat!  I can't believe I didn't catch that.  After all that trouble (embroidery download issues, breaking thread, puckering, running out of bobbin thread........) I still had a blaring error.  Maybe no one will notice.  Drat!  So I took it out of the frame (no easy task as I had stapled it together), spent some time and all my patience ripping out the extra T, cleaned every stray thread, put it back in the frame, stapled it close and took more pics.

 So here it is again.....with only one T.  And I love it.....again. 

Soon it will hang over the bed in the camper the A-Frayed-Knot. 

Which is a good thing cuz I think I need a nap.

Diana

Baking Day Towels

Wash day, shopping day, cleaning day......none of them are nearly as fun as baking day.  And how better to enjoy time in the kitchen than having cute little vintage looking dish towels that are this cheery!

 Chicks and bluebirds in simple line embroidery roll out the dough and then dig into the pie!

 So domestic!

Some one couldn't wait to be served a slice!

I bought these designs at Julia's Needle Designs here and here.

Diana

Vintage Camper Kitchen Towel And A Machine Applique Tip!

I have definitely got vintage campers on my brain!  I made this towel (one of two) as a quick project to get some sewing time in.  With so many other things going I haven't done much sewing lately.

The camper is machine embroidered on 100% cotton toweling.  I really like the toweling.  It is sturdy and absorbent and just a great fabric.

 This is what it looks like if it is folded for hanging on a stove handle.  Soooooo cuuuute!

I love the red polka dot camper.  So here is a tip I wish someone had told me when machine appliqueing ---- spray starch the applique fabric so it is nice and stiff.  That makes everything lay nice and smooth so it doesn't pucker.  You don't have to pin it down or anything, it works so much better than limp fabric! 

Diana 

This towel(s) is available on our Etsy Shop. 

Soccer Towels

I got the idea to make two of my grandchildren soccer towels!  I made each one to reflect their personalities.

This one is for my oldest granddaughter Abby who wants to be a "cat lady" when she grows up.  Strange, I know, but she and her little friend both have that goal!  They think they are hilarious......

I used "Letter It" from Amazing Designs to layout the fonts.

 

My grandson is obsessed with Grumpy Cat.  I have been looking for a design of the famous cat for months and finally found this one.

Again, I used Letter It for arranging the fonts. 

Diana

Glamping Quilt!

Check out my newest quilt using Moda's Glamping by Mary Jane Butters fabric line!  It is a miracle that this quilt is even on the blog........not because of the quilt or anything connected with making it, but because of my dog-gone internet!!!!!  HATE IT!!!!!!  OK now that I have gotten that off my chest I can talk about this adorable quilt.  I am super obsessed with vintage trailers right now.  And since I can't seem to get one of my own, I have been making do.  IF I HAD ONE I would decorate it all cute in aqua and pink with a little red thrown in for good luck.  Maybe a little like this quilt.  Made with two charm packages and a bit more fabric for the white border, backing and binding, it was easy to put together. 

 

Here is a close up of some of the fabrics.  You can barely make out the machine quilting I did myself with my regular Elna sewing machine.

Here is a little trick I have picked up along the way.  After the quilt is quilted but before I bind it, I run the edges through my serger!  Not only does it cut off all the extra batting and backing but it also makes a nice neat thin edge to attach the binding to. 

The design for the little trailers that bump down the road along the top of the quilt are available from this Etsy Shop.  I did do a few tweaks to simplify the design.

I used colors and fabrics from the quilt.

Love these little trailers!  I guess I will have to keep dreaming of another trailer that might someday find at home in my driveway.  Sigh!

Diana

Retro Dress Quilt

I am so excited to show you a quilt/wall hanging that I just finished after months of on again off again work!

Made for my sewing room, this quilt features machine embroidered 50's style dresses in different red prints. 

Because it was for the wall I didn't worry too much about how close the machine quilting was. 

Here are some close ups of a few of the dresses.

 

You can find the machine embroidery design here.  It was was so fun to make each of these dresses!   Plus this quilt will give me something pretty to look at while working at my embroidery machine.

Diana