Falling Leaves - Finished!!!

Well I finally got to sit down and finish Deb's runner.  I've collected a lot of Jenny Haskin's books and designs ( I swear I'll make one of the quilts one of these days.) LOL.  And I really like how she joins the blocks.  You put all 3 layers together (top fabric - batting - backing), embroider your design and quilt it however you like and then cut it to the correct block size.  You then take 2 of the blocks & using an edge join foot on your sewing machine, you zigzag them together.  She calls it the "Jenny Join".  Here is a close up on a test block.

Below is a picture of 2 of the large blocks joined by zigzag stitches.

 When you have your blocks joined in this manner, you then choose a decorative satin stitch to cover the zigzag stitching.  You load the bobbin with the same color thread you use in the needle.  And it looks like this.

Looks nice doesn't it?  LOL.  Now we have the completed project with the binding sewn.

Service Project...

I'm not sure I've mentioned it before but I'm a member of the Tulsa Smocking & Heirloom Sewing Guild.  Our service project of giving back to the community is making a pair of fetal demise gowns for those families who loose a baby at birth. Each member of our guild work on these sweet, tiny gowns. Some smocking their gowns, others embellish their gowns with shadowwork embroidery or in my case, the gown is machine embroidered. We each make 2 gowns that are alike. One is worn by the child and the other is given to the family in a lovely memory box with the child's footprints. It's a very nice outreach that is offered to families at such a sad time.  I just finished my gowns and thought you might like to see a picture of them.

Here is a close up of the embroidery.

"Inspired by Threads" Contest

About a month ago I entered 2 garments, shirts, into the "Inspired by Threads" magazine contest.  Both shirts are featured here on my blog.  They were the Ladybug sleeveless top and the Candlewick N Roses long sleeve shirt.  We had to say which Threads article was our inspiration for making whatever project we made.  For the Ladybug shirt, Threads issue 150 "Whimsical Ideas for Fresh, Fun Blouses" was my inspiration.  In making the Candlewick N Roses blouse, Threads issue 140 "Three Takes on the Classic White Shirt" got the creative juices flowing.  The editors chose the top 5 candidates and both my shirts made it!  And then everyone was asked to vote for their favorite!  Guess what?  My Candlewick N Roses shirt won!  How cool is that?  I've provided a link below so you can see the article at Threads magazine's online site.

http://www.threadsmagazine.com/item/17086/and-the-winner-of-the-inspired-by-threads-contest-is

Falling Leaves part 3 - The Idiot can't measure

Gah!!!!  I thought something looked just wrong with my runner.  Well...I was so focused on getting the width correct on my pieces I FORGOT ALL ABOUT THE LENGTH!  So instead of being around 26 X 48 its going to be 26 X 32.  Way shorter than I wanted.  I don't have enough fabric left to re-cut and re-embroider because its from my stash and is about 20 years old.   I'll just have to make do with the piece as is.  You can picture me kicking myself for having my head in the clouds.

Another reason I'm a little off is that my dear friend Elaine is moving from Tulsa to Tampa/Houston.  Her husband has been transferred and they will live in Tampa full time and visit their family in the Houston area.  We met while attending the Embroidery Club meetings at B-Sew Inn and hit it off.  Elaine and I both love heirloom sewing and took smocking classes from Silvia (Delicate Stitches).  Elaine you will be missed alot.

Falling Leaves part 2

I've finished embroidering the 2 strips of black fabric with the lacy leaf designs.  Here's a picture of what I've done so far.   Yeah...I know my picture taking skills need a little brush up.  LOL.  I promise; I cut and draw straighter than this picture shows. 

Now I need to decide how I'm going to quilt it.  I'm pondering using embroidered quilting for the large areas on the middle and border pieces that will be attached to those above.  I'm taking a free-motion quilting class on Monday morning to brush up on those skills.  I'd like to free-motion the leaf embroideries.  I'm still thinking about it.

Falling Leaves Runner for Deb

My sister Deb wants a runner for her new coffee table for Christmas.  I've come up with a design and she's shopped my stash.  Here are the fabrics she chose.

Here's picture of the design I came up with and how I want to use the 2 fabrics Deb chose.  Its a pretty rough drawing but I just wanted to get it down on paper to better visualize it. 

I've cut out the pieces I need for the black fabric that is going to be embroidered with leaves.  I've given the pieces an extra bit of fabric at each side for some shrinkage in the embroidery and quilting.  Below is a picture of the cut piece adhered to the batting with KK2000.  I've also drawn my center line and used my 5 X 7 hoop to draw the 2 outside lines pictured.  I know its a little hard to see the markings but you can click on the picture and it will get a bit bigger.  But you'll get the idea of what I'm trying to achieve. 

Next, I've laid out the templates for the leaf designs in the places I'm going embroider them.  I'll mark the positions and do the embroidery.

Happy Holly Days!

Yes I know I've been pretty slack with no posts for over a week.  But...I have been sewing & I've finished another project, this time for my Etsy shop.  I love making table toppers.  Some might find it tedious but I really like planning and laying out the designs.  And...I have about a gazillion designs and probably won't use them all in my lifetime.  LOL.  And with the Christmas holidays coming up, I thought using some pretty holly designs might be nice.  The designs used here are from www.hatchedinafrica.com  and called Elegant Holly.  I'm now working on a quilted topper for my sister's coffee table, but I'll be making another topper shortly - black fabric with bright poinsettia designs.  I'll outline my whole process and what products I've used to acheive these results.  Here are pictures of the topper.  Enjoy!