Holiday Tutorial Series- Erin Why not sew...

Erin from Why Not Sew is an amazingly talented lady. We have featured her before, and keep asking because she is just that good! For reals. Just looking at her blog will make you happy, cute projects, pretty pictures, happy colors. Check out her tutorials, love. She has some great free patterns, this mixer, I must make it! I follow her on Instagram, bloglovin and pinterest, all her posts will make you smile! Thanks Erin.

Hi! Thank you to Heather and Megan of Quilt Story for inviting me to join the Holiday Tutorial Series! Today I have a tutorial for making a super cute ornament. There is some crochet involved with these cuties and If you do not know how to crochet, no problem! I will give you links to some resources for crocheting. You can just as easily skip the crocheting, if you wish, and they are still just as cute. You could use ribbon, pre-crocheted trim, pom-pom trim etc. in place of the crochet instructions I give to you. Whatever you decide I hope you give them a try. They make great little gifts and a really fun addition to your holiday decorating!

::Supplies::

~ 2 pieces of wool felt about 3 inches in diameter (regular craft felt can be used but you must exercise caution when ironing on your bird, place a towel between your iron and felt/applique piece if using poly. craft felt)

~ 1 piece of pretty fabric, a 2.5" square is big enough

~ 1 piece of heat'n bond or wonder under (fusible web)

~ A handful of poly-fil

~ Embroidery needle (something that 6 strands of floss will fit through)

~ 1 skein of embroidery floss (I used DMC color 321)

~ crochet hook size E

~ bird template HERE (this is from the Quiltstory tutorial I did in 2011. The bird can be used for this too.)

Let's get started!

Trace the bird template onto the paper side of your fusible web.Cut it out leaving a scant 1/8 of an inch away from the drawn line.

Iron the bird paper side up, fusible side down, onto the WRONG side your piece of  fabric.

Cut away from the fabric ON the drawn line.

Peel the paper off of the back of your fabric. A pin or needle inserted gently through the paper can help with out fraying your fabric.

 Iron your bird onto one of the wool felt pieces.

Applique the bird to the wool felt. I used the thread sketching technique. That's achieved by using your darning or open toe foot and dropping your feed dogs. Use your favorite method.

Wind your embroidery floss around a clothespin. This will save time trying to undo an inevitable knot while you are working!

It only takes a second and it's saves so much frustration.

Thread your embroidery needle with all 6 strands of embroidery floss. Just a little less than an arm span long. Knot end. Place your 2 pieces of felt together. Bird side up.

Hide your knot on the inside of the 2 felt pieces.

Blanket stitch about 2/3  to 3/4 around the outside of the 2 felt pieces.

Stuff with poly-fil.

Finish blanket stitching to the end catching your first stitch when making your last stitch. You want an even number of stitches for these ornament. For this one I used 20 stitches but for other ornaments I have used up to 26 stitches. It just depends on how close together you will want your scalloped edge. 

Now onto the crocheting! Let me preface this by saying I can crochet. I learned to crochet when I was a teenager BUT I am just learning to read patterns and I certainly have not written any patterns before. I've made washcloths, scarves and hats. That's it. So this is going to be very simple explanation. I use chain, slip stitch and double crochet for this ornament. How to's for these 3 stitches are below.

chain

slip stitch and another slip stitch

double crochet and another double crochet

Plus there are many crocheting videos on You Tube.

Size E hook (it's small)

Find the stitch that is at the very top of your ornament.

Slip stitch into it. You will have a loop on your hook.

Double crochet 7 times into next blanket sitch.*note* If you have more than 20 blanket stitches, say 24 or 26, you can double crochet a lesser amount into the blanket stitches. I used 6 double crochets on my ornaments with 24 blanket stitches. They are less squished looking that way. Again, this is all just your preference.

This will form your scallop.  Sorry about this picture it is not so easy taking pictures while crocheting :) Slip stitch into the next blanket stitch, Double crochet into the next, etc. alternating the two stitches. You should end up with a slip stitch in the very first blanket stitch you started crocheting into.

After you slip stitch into the last blanket stitch, chain double the amount of stitches that you would like your hanger to be. I chained 34. You may like yours longer or shorter. Then slip stitch back into that first blanket stitch where you started and ended crocheting. Cut your embroidery floss leaving a few inches. Pull through your last stitch / loop.

Weave your ends into the back of your crochet work (about 2 shells). Cut floss being very careful not to cut your work.

Hang and Enjoy!!!

Veteran's Day quilt from Crafty Resolutions...

Christina from Crafty Resolutions submitted this amazing Veteran's Day quilt. I love the story of this quilt!  I also love Christina's blog, everything is so "pretty,"  the photos are great! She makes some pretty great quilts too, go check it out...I think this is such a special personal quilt, made from Uniforms from this Active duty family. I will let Christina share the story...

Today is Veteran’s Day, and I wanted to share with you the story of a quilt I made a couple of years ago. This quilt is not perfect, and it showing signs of “love”, but it is one that means a lot to me.

In 2011, I received the news that I was going to be sent to Osan Air Base, South Korea for 12 months. Because of the location, this included the painful realization that I couldn’t take my family with me. I had been separated from them before, but never for such a long time. Leaving them for any amount of time is always difficult, but a year seemed like an eternity. It makes me want to cry just thinking about how it felt to know I would have to leave my then 1, 5, and 11 year old. I love being in the Air Force and I knew that extended absences from the family are part of the job, but I think every service member experiences the fear that their family will forget about them, or the bond will not be as strong once they return.  I knew that I needed to remain level-headed for my children, and find a way to adjust to life temporarily without them.

Before I left, my husband bought me a sewing machine for Mother’s Day. I decided that I was going to spend my year doing something I’d always wanted—learning how to quilt. In Korea, quilting helped me in so many ways. More specifically, it kept my mind busy and focused on something other than my heartache. When I wasn’t working, I was sitting at my sewing machine, reading quilting blogs, or watching video tutorials to learn everything I could. That year I made 11 quilts, and today I wanted to share with you the one I made for the oldest of my three children, Trevor.

The quilt was made with uniforms that belong to my husband and me, and they have been worn in locations all over the world—from Iraq to Europe to North Dakota. Two of the camouflage patterns on the uniforms have been retired, so I like to think of it as a piece of Air Force history.  I wanted the style of the quilt to be simple and modern and chose to make a chevron pattern that resembles the rank we wear on our sleeves. And now that I have a little more experience (and my eye is a little more critical) I see that the chevrons aren’t exactly symmetrical, the binding is imperfect, and if I had to do it again I would’ve probably chosen to quilt it differently; but it still one of the most meaningful quilts I have created.

Trevor was born into a military life, and has sacrificed just as much for his country as his father and I have. He has had to constantly change schools, leave old friends, make new friends, and say goodbye to his parents over-and-over again. He is a trooper. To show my appreciation for him and everything he has done, I made him the quilt to say “thank you”.  Because when one member of the family enlists in the military, the entire family joins with them. They too have to make sacrifices, and experience their own hardships, and uncertainties. They impatiently wait for you, just as much as you look forward to seeing them again.

Once “our” year was over, and I returned home again, I was overwhelmed by all the hugs, kisses, and tears. My fears that our bond wouldn’t be a strong dissolved. Within a few days life fell back into its normal crazy routine, and I was amazed at how quickly my children adapted to life with “mom” again. For Veteran’s Day we honor those who have served to protect our nation; however, as a member of the armed forces myself, I think this day should also honor those loved ones that provide us with unconditional love and support, give us the strength we need go on, and are waiting for us to come home again. 

HST Koi Zipper Pouches

Hello hello :)

I love getting lovely stacks of fabric.  I got this gorgeous Don't Be Koi from Honey Be Good.  I love it.  I usually get a stack and it sits for a lot longer than I want it to.  I decided this time I was going to make something straight away! :)

So many lovely prints in this line.

I have a niece who just left to serve an 18 month LDS mission in Georgia.  This means she is packing and moving a lot.  I have three zipper pouches that I use everytime I go anywhere, so I decided to make her some as well.

A while back Heather and I stocked up on colorful zippers and a few zipper pulls.  I do not remember which shop but I know we got them on Etsy.  Seriously best stash purchase ever.  I use them ALL the time.  It is so awesome to have them on hand for projects.

Finished sizes are about 10.5" x 12", 10.5" x 7" and 10.5" x 5".  I decided to add HST's to one of them and I think it turned out really cute!  It's on both sides.

And there you go!  Easy peasy project and I feel so satisfied having used my Don't Be Koi already.  And it is still available at Honey Be Good.

Come back tomorrow!  I have an important post and we really really want feedback from YOU!

Baby Burp in style burp cloths....

REPOST FROM OUR OLD BLOG FRESH POPPY DESIGN...

I made up a few gerber diaper burp clothes...super fun, easy and cute!  Just a little heat and bond, I did a straight stitch right close to the edge...

If your machine has the capability, play with the embroidery stitches. Makes is personal and a little extra cuteness doesn't hurt anything!

I used my funny little animal prints. Love how they turned out...

And if you think your baby only needs burp clothes for the first few months, I have been using these on my 3 year old girl. Yucky noses, faces etc. I think I will need them around for quite a while!

First-First Friday Finishes...Meg's Christmas Gift

Welcome to our first First Friday Finishes-whew!

Megan told you a bit about it here. Mostly we both wanted incentive to get some of our WIP's finished.  We each have a shameful amount.  The idea is to finish projects you've already started.  Check the sidebar to add the button to your blog:

Also we will still have Fabric Tuesday, no worries!!

Including each others Christmas gifts. We always give each other later than Christmas, because we know the other won't have it done. Takes off the pressure. We made a deadline. In fact, I believe Megan's gift to me should come in the mail tomorrow, we said March 1. Hmmmm...?

Megan's kitchen is aqua and red. I thought I would whip up some quick little place mats. I have been one to underestimate how much time a project will take. I did the same here....

But it was worth it. She loved them! She said they were in her top two Christmas gifts I have made her! That made me happy :)

Meg's Turn:

First I LOVE the place mats from Heather!  They are so cute and I've already got loads of compliments.  Thanks sister :)  And I wouldn't check your mail tomorrow :/

Okay so my finish was really simple.  I needed to add a quilt tag to to my son's birthday quilt! It was so close to being complete and I had this tag sitting around for weeks.  I will share the whole quilt in a couple weeks, but here's the tag added:

The quilt was finished, quilted and bound.  I appliqued and embroidered a piece of fabric and whip-stitched it to the back of the quilt.  It looks uneven but it isn't :) This is his favorite part of the quilt.  The first thing he said was "Hey! That's my name!"  I did a quilt label tutorial here.

Alright, hopefully some of you have your own finishes to share here so we are not alone...link up your FINALLY finished projects!

Fairly Merry-Hannah's Garden quilt...

Mary created this quilt for a friend who lost her pet. What a great gift. I love the Sunflower burst your eyes are drawn to. I also love how the color values match their pet.  You can read more of the story here. What a great gift to a friend. Mary is a fabric lover and quilter. She blogs at FairlyMerry, cute name. Here are her quilt finishes, amazing! Be sure to visit her blog...

I promised some photos of Hannah's Sunflower Garden quilted.  I didn't get photos of the completed quilt before gifting it.  They kicking and yelling graciously let me have it back for a few days for photos.  The husband had asked me to make his wife a sunflower quilt and a reminder of their pet who had passed on.  He was going to pay me, but as I took almost an entire year to find my rhythm with this quilt, I decided to gift it instead of taking payment.  (they are friends, so it wasn't too much of a stretch)

The sun hitting the quilt just so made it look especially bright.  Sunflowers should be happy, bright, fun, and make you feel good inside. Somewhat like a quilt.

Some of the quilting is grid style, I like to use that for stability.  I used FMQ to make sunflower petals through the panel pieces of the sunflower.  I also made small sunflowers in the center of the lighter blocks, you can see them well on the back.  

For the back I used a sunflower batik, and I was just a tad short of having enough for the entire back.  But, I used that to my advantage for something I wanted to add at the bottom.

In the quilting I wanted to add a small outline of 'Hannah' who was the pet of this quilts new owner.  Hannah was ill and went on to heaven before her time.  I traced a photo of Hannah and stitched over the outline on the back of the quilt.  You can barely see her on the front - as if she is hiding in the garden.  They had wanted a reminder of Hannah, but I didn't want the quilt to be sad, and this way, I feel as if she is there if they want to see her, but not obvious.  She was a very handsome dog!  

Here is the photo I used:

Hannah 

I received a very nice note from the quilts happy home, that alone was enough to make me all warm and fuzzy feeling inside.  But as we had talked about Hannah when I gave her the quilt and she said how sad she still was.  I encouraged her to make a home for a new dog - as that is what kept me going last summer when I had to let go of my own old girl.  In her note she told me that she was inspired to move on from her sadness and will bring home two boxer puppies later this month.  I will need to remind her later, that I did NOT in anyway encourage her to get two!  

Black and white showing value in the quilt.