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From the Sewing Expo:
For the next few days I will be sharing the goodies I picked up on my recent field trip. Today it is this totally cool piece of yardage.
Is this not truly awesome? Secret project in progress...
Ddd
To make a special card with dry embossing I decided to double the delight.
I ran the cardstock through the Cuttlebug with a corner floral folder and used a foam blender to color the raised portion with 'Spun Sugar' distress ink. Then I ran the cardstock back through the Cuttlebug with the script embossing folder. I followed that with the foam blender and 'Old Paper' distress ink, keeping it off the floral area.
I added a couple of die-cut corner swirls embellished with pink 'dew drops'. I added a diecut text last.
Ddd
I was given a challenge to sew up a handbag using a plastic one as a model. It was the right size and shape but a poor choice of materials for the user.
I pulled out the leftover fabric that I had used on the cushion the other day and some complementary floral fabric to use as a liner. I used iron-on interfacing on both pieces before cutting.
I measured the model bag and wrote up a plan of cutting and construction. I had to make plans for a different way of attaching handles as the model had leather ones attached with rivets. The closing zipper and an inside pocket were also eliminated.
As it happened I had a packet of magnetic snaps in my stash that I had picked up on clearance several years ago.
So, here is the finished purse:
Here you can see the magnetic snap closure:
Here is a view of the lining. You can see that the straps are also lined so you get a little view of that blue and golden fabric there as well.
This all went together in a couple of hours - including planning time. Next ones (yes, there will be more) will go faster since I can skip that step altogether.
Ddd
In my new sets of MFT fundraiser stamps I got two of them with bears. I especially like this sleepy bear sharing his nap time with a little mouse.
I colored these up on watercolor paper with Distress Markers and added a little line with Sharpie marker to ground him. Rounding the corners lends a more casual feel to the image.
I matched each bear up to come background papers, drew in doodle lines, and stamped the sentiments.
On this last one I replaced the sentiment with some little dream hearts.
The background papers with hearts and 'love' text match the theme.
Ddd
As a followup to the whacked bunny ears I went looking for other line image stamps in my collection that could have the background removed to make them shape shifters. I came up with a poppy image and not only cut out the petals bue made slits between the elements of the inner flower so it could shift too.
I applied the image to the acrylic block, stamped one poppy on watercolor paper then adjusted the petals to stamp two different arrangements on each sheet. I ended up with 4 groupings.
After coloring (Distress Markers and watercolor techniques) I trimmed them very close so the images would spill out of the frame. Each was paired up with matching papers and mounted to card fronts.
The doodle lines were drawn in with Sharpie marker and the sentiments stamped from the new bunny stamp sets.
Ddd
Today (like Thursday) is only a half day at the Expo so the list of workshops is shorter:
Quick Gifts From your Stash: Think all you can make from your treasured fabric scraps is Scrap Quilts? This class is filled with OTHER creative ways to use your mountain of scraps. Cindy has some great gift ideas and she will provide some unique sewing tips and techniques that will save time and money.
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Stash Buster Scrap Quilts: Have more fabric than you can use in two lifetimes? This is all about making beautiful quilts from fabrics you already own. Marti’s trunk show is packed with tips about selecting fabrics, understanding and using color value effectively. Marti will share tricks and tools to make cutting and sewing scrap quilts easy and efficient.
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Successful Quilt Piecing: Set yourself up for success!! Mech will review piecing and pressing techniques that help make quilting easier and more beautiful, whether you plan to do the quilting yourself or have it done. A great class for beginners. Limited to 30 people. You'll note that I have focused mainly on quilts but did throw in some other workshops for using up fabrics in other ways. Ddd |
Another day on my field trip. Today's workshops are:
More Quick Gifts to Make: Sue is known for Quick, Quicker, and Quickest Gifts and this class is all about her newest and favorite gift projects. You will see ideas for every age and virtually every occasion. This is Sue’s favorite topic and many of these projects can be made in two or three hours.
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Spring Leaves Art Quilt: Festive leaves floating through the air cheer your soul. Make this gentle leaf quilt with fused fabrics, an easy pattern transfer process, and decorative rotary cutter blades. It’s a simple design with lots of variation and options for embellishment and personal design.
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Successful Paper Piecing: Trouble getting to the point in your quilt piecing? Paper piecing is easy, precise and variable (you can enlarge or reduce the blocks). Most importantly, you get perfect points every time. We supply pattern, fabric, and inspiration. Bring scissors and glue stick for this hands-on experience.
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Top Secret Bindings: Learn how to make a perfect binding in this Know Before You Sew™ lecture. Problems like rounded, pointed, and tucked corners, lumpy finishes, and bindings that are not filled to the edge will be covered. Make your own sample and learn about bias, grain, double-fold, strip width, mitered corners and a smooth ending.
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Eleanor Burns Five Perky Patterns: Eleanor shares her five newest patterns featuring accurate techniques and tools to achieve great perky points. Braid in a Day, Kylee’s Kite, Storm at Sea, Oriental Fan and Mini Dresden Plate offer a great range of variety—something for everyone! Come join the humorous presentation Eleanor is famous for.
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Finishing Touches for Your Quilt: This is the class for alternative quilt binding techniques. Learn ways to do a scalloped edge, or how and when to consider a picot treatment instead of traditional binding. Learn how to use tools combined with tips and tricks to make a flawless, unique finish for your original quilts.
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Kick It Up a Stitch: Nancy Zieman and her side kick—or should we say Sous Chef—Mary Mulari invite you to a second helping of Kick It Up a Stitch. “Lettuce entertain you” is the motto of their newest sewing and cooking extravaganza. If you attended the first helping of Kick It Up a Stitch, you know that sewing and cooking have a lot in common. You can sew or cook very simply—then Shazam! you’ll learn how to Kick It Up A Stitch. Nancy and Mary promise plenty of sizzle, spice, and sass, plus an entirely new menu for the second helping show. With the exception of the last, these are all 45 minute sessions. Ddd |
Today you will find me... gone! I am off to the Sew and Stitchery Expo in Puyallup Washington for a few days.
Today the workshops I will be taking are these:
Nancy's 30 Favorite Quilt Tips: Don’t miss this lecture featuring 30, yes, 30 tips to celebrate 30 years of Sewing With Nancy! Garnered over three decades, learn Nancy’s favorite cutting, piecing, layering and binding tips. You’ll ask, why didn’t I think of that? |
Quilt Improvement Show Eleanor Burns: With years of experience and an impressive tool belt of quilting magic, Eleanor will once again bring her unique and humorous approach to the quilting stage. She will share insights into specific techniques she has pioneered aimed to help every quilter—from the beginner to the advanced. The long list of techniques discussed and quilts displayed will leave your head whirling. These are a couple of ladies I have been watching on TV and the web for years so I am excited for the in-person exposure. Ddd |
I mangled the ears on my other bunny stamp and had a go at making some cards with it. This one is of a bunny roasting marshmallows over a campfire. I resisted the urge to blacken the marshmallows or set them afire - just left them white like they are straight out of the package.
I used lots of different color combos for the different rabbits but colored the fire and grass consistently. I trimmed the panels, rounded the corners, drew in doodle lines and mounted with a variety of matching papers.
The greetings are stamps from the bunny sets.
Ddd
The bunny stamp I used yesterday has these big loopy ears. I decided to do a little surgery on him to make him more flexible. Here's how:
Here you can see the flat material inside the ears. This is what I removed:
I folded the ear in half from the end and used sharp scissors to cut a slit:
With the ear flattened back out I put the point of the scissors in the slit and cut the material out:
This is what it looks like after the surgery:
The bunny still lays normally on the acrylic block if you want it to:
But you can lift the ear off the block adjust the line and stick it back down:
Adjust one ear or both:
Now you can give your bunnies more personality. These are the cards I made - same stamping, coloring and mounting process:
Some are less successful than others:
I have another bunny stamp that I plan to subject to the same treatment before stamping him.
Ddd
I recently picked up some stamps from My Favorite Things and two of them are adorable bunnies. I stamped one of them on watercolor paper a few times and used Distress Markers and a water brush to color them in.
I pulled out a variety of shape dies and used a technique called 'out of the box' to cut the die shapes while leaving bits of the bunny and hearts overhanging the shape edge.
Then I scanned through my papers to select two or more to go with the coloring of each image. These are the cards I ended up with.
Something really fun with this stamp tomorrow.
Ddd
I offered to make a cushion to turn a small chest into a seat for an apartment. The chest has a rim along the back and two sides so the cushion was designed to fit in this space.
I constructed it in my head a couple of times and then started whacking away at 2-inch foam and some upholstery fabric. I had two white zippers in my stash and made them work by coloring the tape with Copic markers and stitching them end to end. They meet in the center of the back.
I made the construction like a box so there is a seam at every edge of the foam.
Here you can see the zippers where they meet
The zipper is hidden by a placket. Too many waves in the placket for me but it was difficult getting the sturdy zipper tape and the slippery fabric to play nicely together. It will be on the back of the cushion anyway.
This is a better color rendition than the first photo of the whole cushion. We'll blame that on the shiny fabric.
Ddd
I worked on a couple of Christmas cards this week! These are stitched on white cardstock and mounted on foam tape over snowflake embossed card bases.
Both of these are made with stitching stickers from Dazzles.
Ddd
I love this little free pattern of a dog and his bone. I created on kraft paper with a verigated thread and matched backing papers to the thread.
Colors: kraft, burgundy, goldenrod (not gray, cherry, lemon yellow)
Ddd
I finally used this paper embroidery pattern as it was intended - as a bookmark.
I kept it pretty straightforward and actually followed the directions, too. Who even knew I could DO that?
Colors are butter yellow for the background, emerald green for the backing, purple for the ribbon, lavender for the flowers with purple centers and dark moss green for the stems.
Dear camera-makers: Please invent a digital camera that sees colors in their true form and reproduces them that way. Why should I have to resort to describing colors when I have a photo to show? Thank you.
Ddd
M-A-N-Y many years ago I took some college classes in weaving. I recently ran across several projects that had been long stored and thought I'd share them.
This is a kilt I made for my hubby in his family's tartan (Royal Stewart). I wove 6 yards of fabric, designed and made the kilt.
There was enough yardage left that I made a miniature kilt for our son (about age 1) and this neck scarf for my father-in-law.
My weaving was back in the day when long skirts were the thing. I made this houndstooth weave for my mom.
This skirt I made for myself - plain weave with a border of pattern weave at the bottom.
I made baby blankets for each of my kids but don't have either of those handy to show. I do have this wall hanging that I made with 100 handmade brass bells woven in.
I do still have a floor loom but have not had a project on it for at least 25 years. So many hobbies, so little time.
Ddd
Tired of chilly weather, I was inspired to work on a 'spring' project. I gathered the three remaining wooden birdhouses I had bought a while back for altering. The common element on all of these houses is that they have two entrance holes for the birds.
I selected a variety of bird and spring printed cardstocks to use on these. I trimmed the papers to fit the flat surfaces - two per house - and attached them using Scor-Tape (it holds like nobody's business).
I used Distress Markers to color the exposed wooden surfaces - roof edges, bases, perches, and inside the holes. The markers were pretty bold even though I used pastels - a matter of how the wood soaked in the color - so I went over all these wood surfaces with Picket Fence (white) Distress Stain.
I used Distress Ink pad and a foam blender to darken the edges of all the paper corners for a shabby chic look.
As a last step I took beige eyelash yarn and cut a length to glue in the opening of each hole to look like nesting material.
Ddd
The circular elements on this waxed paper background provided a perfect layout to add button stickers down the left side. I placed one button in each circle and then layered another button over the top of each, popped up on foam tape. The yellow illustrated panel is a sticker tag that fit perfectly. But it had white birdcages on it that did not show up well. I used a fine-line pen in brown the trace them out. Then I stamped the text in the center, bordered it and mounted it on foam tape.
I used second and third generation stamping to repeat the text on the background and added two coppery puffy hearts over the tiny stamped ones.
Ddd
I'm still searching for the perfect use for the brick embossing folder - I don't think I found it today either.
I used it for a waxed paper background and colored with fired brick. Then I ran it back through the folder to raise the bricks. Next I used gathered twigs distress ink to darken the bricks. Hmmm. I went looking for feature elements and came up with these metal-rimmed tags in two colors and two sizes. The two reds are mounted with large glue dots and the pewter is mounted on foam tape.
The camera did NOT like focusing on this card!
I added silver peel-off greetings inside the tags and two silver borders across the bottom of the card.
Ddd
This waxed paper background of daisies got colored up with bright yellow Distress Ink for a cheery spring card. I found some sunflower stickers in graduated sizes and layered them. Then I added some diecut white corner brackets for framing and rounded two opposing corners.
I found a thick acrylic heart sticker with text and a daisy and placed that in the lower right of the floral grouping.
Ddd
