Wednesday, April 12, 2017

Big Stitch Bunny Tales, part 1

 
I'm working on a quilt for my new baby granddaughter. The only purchase I made on Black Friday was from Missouri Star Quilt Co. I was in full scale holiday madness with a retail job at the time and did some quick online shopping, choosing this sweet Bunny Tales panel along with some accompanying fabrics. My oldest daughter has always loved bunnies -- even had one for a pet -- so when I saw the momma and baby bunnies among the pretty peaches, pinks and oranges, I knew it would be perfect.

  
I wanted to personalize the quilt with both the baby's full name and nickname so hand-embroidered "abby" on the momma bunny's kerchief. I've added simple borders with the carrot and polka dot fabrics. 

 
For the back, I machine embroidered a large panel with her full name and birth date, a butterfly to mimic the butterfly backing fabric, and my Made With Love info. This piece was inset on the lower back.

 
Having been enamored with big-stitch quilting for some time, I felt this panel was the perfect chance to give it a try. I'm using DMC #5 perle cotton floss purchased at Michael's.

 
My Mom had a quilting stand and hoop that she no longer uses and she very kindly shipped it to me for this. It is completely awesome!

 
See the cute little jeweled butterfly on the momma bunny? That's a needle minder, a magnetic place to hold/rest your needle when you stop. Mom had included several of these with the quilting stand. So fun and functional!

 
I am having a great time doing the big-stitching! I've always been a fan of hand-embroidery and this is so fast and so pretty. I'm just picking elements in the panel to feature and outline that will hold the quilt layers together.

Once I've finished the oval design center, I'll machine quilt the rest of it and finish with carrot striped binding. I'll post again when it's done, but wanted to share how much fun the big-stitch quilting is ... I highly recommend giving it a try!


Monday, April 3, 2017

Beaded Scissor Fobs

 

Beaded scissor fobs ... who knew? Am I the only one who didn't have any or even really knew about them? Not only are they cute, they help you locate your scissors in piles of ongoing projects and identify them as yours in classes and at retreats.

Mom emailed me last week and asked if I still had beading supplies. Back when we owned our stationery/gift shop, we sold a lot of handmade items including beaded bracelets and eyeglass chains. Since I never craft halfway, I have many, many boxes of tools, beads and charms just waiting to be made into something useful and cool. Whenever I get into a new craft, my hubby always says, "Do you have to have everything???" And, yes, I do. 

Anyway, Mom had sent a couple of ideas she'd seen on Etsy and off I went. Turned the kitchen table into bead central and just played. I had some cute charms, including a tomato pincushion from Missouri Star Quilt Co., paint palette, feather, bumblebee and hearts.

Sent the 5 fobs on the left to Mom along with a cute new pair of embroidery scissors I got at Michael's with a 60% off coupon (on the second fob from the left). Woohoo!

I had forgotten how much fun beading is but have confirmed a couple of things about myself:

- Mom wanted hers to be 3" to 3-1/2" but that's only long enough for a few beads. I had a hard time editing and could put thousands of beads on each one. And I do not exaggerate! I literally strung them, admired them, measured them, sighed, then took beads back off.

- Also, I'm not into, or apparently able to handle, asymmetry. Nope, everything has to be balanced and even and fair. Like my life ... again, no exaggeration here!

Scissor fobs ... they're pretty, easy to make, would make great gifts and are wonderful for your own cute little scissors. It's a thing!

So many projects, never enough time!