Orange, pumpkin, tomatoes, and berries

So today was another day off so we made the girls big pin cushions. I made a large orange, my oldest made a pumpkin and the youngest two made hot pink velvet tomatoes.

My oldest and my self have already put ours to use. The other girls I am sure will load theirs up soon with supplies. I made the youngest two for them they stuffed them, but my oldest made hers for a first try I think it came out pretty good.

Berries, Beads, Sequins

So I had Monday off of work and my daughters wanted to make something with Mom. We had gone to a quilt fair last week ( I was bad forgot to take pictures even though I had my camera). Any way at the quilt fair there was a garage sale and a free table the girls grabbed all kinds of little scraps from the free table.

This is where the story begins they have been pestering me in a good way to figure out what to make with those fabric scraps. Then Saturday they went to a church activity with their Pai and one daughter came home from the festivities with a small bag of wood shavings (something about digging threw wood shavings to find candy) I was at work so not sure what happened at the activity. So add this to the pile of stuff they want to craft with.

Scraps of fabric and wood shavings to me equal berries. So we got to cutting out 12 berries and inners (yes this hurts my wrist but the girls where having fun). I sewed them on the sewing machine then the middle daughter stuffed and the oldest daughter and myself sewed the tops closed. This was easy for her as it just like closing a yo yo which she has made tons of. Then we got out my sizzixx and some green antique wool and a flower dye cut and cut tops for these.

Next I handed the oldest two a jar a sequins and said they could embellish the berries. The youngest thought she was to young to do this although we asked if she wanted to. She said no and preceded to tell the oldest just how she wanted her three berries to look in the end. I used beads instead of sequins on my velvet berry I liked my other two left alone as the upholstery fabric was cool as is.

I printed the pattern for the berries off of Martha but I didn't even read the instructions after all berries are easy to make. Make a muslin liner, stuff and and close then make an outer shell and place liner in it and close attach greens and hanger and embellish done.

Now each daughter has three berries for needles and is started on her way to having her own sewing kit. We will have to work on this more this summer, next up tomato pin cushion.

yoyo quilt help

I haven't worked on the four patch yoyo quilt in a while, we have about 5 different yoyo quilts in different stages of finished. So when we went to Nevada I took it along as one of my car travel projects. The yoyos are all safety pined together so when ever we stopped I could pick up the project and fold it and everything stays in place. I want to make more yoyos in the future to make this a little bigger but at the moment we just need to get the current yoyos all sewn down and in place.

When we got home from Nevada my oldest daughter agreed to help me some on it. Nice to have a child old enough to add an extra pair of hands to a project. My daughter is sitting on the yoyos that are already sewn together she isn't sitting on the safety pins encase one opens.

Blogiversary: win an apron

So July 5th is my blogs anniversary (blogiversary). I can't believe it has been two years since my first post. I decided I wanted to give away a reproduction copy of one of GGH aprons ( which apron reproduction that can be won is still a surprise that will be posted the day before the winner is announced). You haven't even seen all of the aprons yet so it is a big surprise(over 30 of them) way more to come. All are welcome to enter just leave a comment on this post about either something you learned from my blog in the last 2 years or something you just liked that I posted or something you would like to see more of on my blog (no profanity or any thing of that sort) or all of the above is fine too and please leave a way for me to contact you. A winner will be drawn on the July 19 th that gives you a few weeks to leave a comment tell all your friends this should be fun. I will close entries at 5 p.m. on the 19th Utah time. Plus I should have all of Great Grandma Harbaugh's aprons posted by then too for your viewing pleasure.

thanks sunshine

Where to find Vintage apron patterns

In the process of trying to date GGH aprons I have been looking on line at vintage patterns for sale. Here is a link I think people will like if they are looking to buy vintage patterns.
sovintagepatterns.com
decadesofstyle.com

This has nothing to do with aprons persay but this site has some cool sewing accouterments
kelmscottdesigns.com

Part 5: Sewing and increases / tools

Supplies and tools:

• Glove to protect hand you pull thread with (I am right handed, the glove is worn on my left) but you can wear one on both hands if you want. I have leather thimbles over the fingers of my glove to save my fingers even more. All the damage you see to this glove is from braiding, same goes for the thimbles.
• Bodkins or needles. My favorite is the top one. It is from my Great Aunt; she used it to make rugs over 60 years ago. Next is the one below it found thrifting. The bottom ones are the type you find at most stores in a package like to the right in the photo. I don't like them -- too short, in my opinion. They are hard to manipulate.
• 6-ply linen cord. You can also get a nice, thick, strong cord from any cobbler. They have two types: waxed and unwaxed. Unwaxed is cheaper, waxed is twice as much. I repaired a few of my Great Aunts rugs right before she died and realized she had used waxed cord on some and unwaxed on others. The waxed cords where still pliable and subtle where the other cords had become dry and brittle. I don't have waxed cord to use, but I think for the long run it is better. However, it has a drawback: it is hard to get a knot to seat in it very well. This makes sewing (lacing) harder to do. But, if I had both types of cord, I would use the waxed over the other just for the durability of it.
• Swinging gate clamp. This is used when braiding, but I realized I didn't show it in the last post with an explanation, so I am tossing it in now. This is used to hold my braid when braiding. I can push the braid away from me and the gate swings open to let it move through the gate. If I pull towards me the gate holds firm and doesn't let the braid move. That's very useful when braiding and is highly recommended. Clamps to most tables.
• And, of course, you need a length of braid to stitch together.

First you will need to cut a length of cord. Tie a knot at the tail and another right after the needle or bodkin to make it easier to stitch.
OK, on to explaining how to lace the braids together. Just so we all know, for me this is hard to explain in writing and easy to demo in real life. So if you have questions, please ask because I may have missed a photo (but I don't think so).

• Insert needle into the top of the t start. Make sure to go through some of the fabric inside the braid to secure the knot. Cut excess threads hanging out
• Pass your needle inside the braid till you pop the needle out on the inside of the curve 3 twists down on the inside curve of the braid.
• Go back up to the first l over m and stitch under the braid. You are not catching any fibers anymore, just going in between the strands of the braid.
• Now, skip the strand next to the spot where the needle popped out of the braid the first time, and pass the needle through the space between the strands. Picture of needle point at the red strand shows that I am skipping that strand.
• Back to the top of the t start, pass needle under the first r over m.
• Back to other attaching new braid, skipping next strand on braid, stitch under the next. In other words, every other stand is being stitched. In my case, I am skipping the reds. These skips are known as increases and is adding bulk to the rug edge to make it easier to make the curves. You only do increases on the braid that is being attached to the rug. You NEVER skip any braid strand on the part of the rug that has already been attached.
• Back to t start and stitch through the second r over m.
• Continue in this pattern until you get to where both sides of the braid you are adding to the rug have three colors in their twists. In other wards, till you get past the apple peels.
• Place a safety pin at the t start pointing away from the t; this will point to where you will make all your color changes later in the rug.
• You will continue lacing the braid to the rug, but now you only make increases where needed; this takes some practice. You can place t pins in the rug to make sure you are staggering your increases. If you don't stagger them, your rug will not be round but will have a free-form shape, especially if you always do them in the same spot. You increase when you feel you have to stretch the braid to make the next lacing. If you don't have to stretch it, then don't increase. If your rug is cupping you have not done enough increases; tear out lacing and do that part again. If your rug has a wavy effect, you have too many increases; tear out that part and stitch again with fewer increases. If your fabrics are not the same weight, both of these two things can happen, too. It just takes practice to know which is happening. If you switch to a fatter or heaver weight wool, do not increase that round. If you switch to a lighter or thinner weight wool, you will have many more increases that round. Best to stay to one weight.
• Wool rugs are very cushy and thick; some people are surprised by this when they make the rug. Trust me, your shoulders will know you are working with something heavy!
• When stitching, make sure to pull your linen cord hard to pull lacing stitches together. With wool, cotton toweling, and plain quilters cotton, your stitching should not show, with jeans that is a different story because the jeans don't give much to hid the stitches. I like my stitches to be hidden and have only made one jean rug for this reason. I don't like to walk on what is holding the rug together, because if the stitches show that means they are being walked on, and the vacuum is beating on them, wearing them out faster. Since the lacing cord is not as thick as the rug is, it wears out soon and you will have to make repairs. This is one of the main reasons I will not buy store rugs, because they have little tiny sewing machine thread holding the braids together on the outside of the rug, not hidden inside like the ones I make. So, it doesn't take much wear to wear out those threads and then your rug falls apart. My Great Aunts (the ones still living) are still using the rugs that they and my great-grandmother made over 60 years ago, and they still have 60 more years or more of wear left in them. I only repaired 6 holes in over 13 rugs in their house (to hard of work for their 90-plus year bodies), and those holes were made by the kitchen table's legs wearing out the fabric from sitting in the same spot for so long. In other words, the rugs where like steel if made well and flipped and rotated often, like at spring cleaning time.
• When your thread starts to get short, also shown in the picture below, you will need to add more cording. You can use a square knot or a weavers knot. I use a square knot, but both would work great. The weavers knot would be a better choice for waxed thread. When adding thread, leave the tails long so when you stitch the tails can be woven under many braid strands to hold the knot secure and to keep it from untieing and unlacing.
  

Part 1: Prep work and cutting fabric
Part 2: Will be about sewing the strips together and forming reels
Part 3: About starting a t-started rug
Part 4: How to start a round rug, apple peel style
Part 5: Sewing and increases / tools
Part 6: How to change colors
Part 7: Ending in a taper
Part 8: Butting last one or two rows of the rug for a smooth finish

Old sweaters/ Conference Saturday project

So, what to do while listening to conference on Saturday Morning and afternoon. Get rid of the pile of old sweaters sittings at the foot of my bed that I have been meaning to tear apart for awhile. So, as you now know, I had a bunch of old sweaters (cotton rayon blend); these all had some sort of embroidery. Not really my style any more, and most didn't fit well, either. So what to do with them?

1. First, salvage all the buttons; lots of good MOP (mother of pearl) buttons on these sweaters to be saved, and a few cool beads. After you pillage the buttons and such, what next?
   
2. Cut as many 9 1/2 inch squares as you can, save short sleeves (I have another project for them in mind) and the large scraps (same project).
   
3. Cut white 100% cotton fabric squares, also 9 1/2 inches square. (I have not done this step, yet). I plan to back with cotton fabric to help prevent the wavy look I have seen on other such afghans. Don't know if this will work, but I will give it a try. I plan on using 1/2 inch seam allowance. Bigger than normal, but I am hoping this will help with some raveling that may happen.
   
4. When all are sewn together with a bat and a back, I want to tie the front to the back with crow feet quilting. A sort of quick quilting-tie with an embroidery look.
   
5. Bind edges; I am thinking old silk from same pile of clothes to get rid of, or old-fashioned satin blanket binding. There are also jeans in this stack to add to my jean braided rug.
   

I think it will be cute and if not, it will still useful.

YoYo progress on Halloween Star Quilt

In case you all thought I forgot about this project, or scrapped it, I haven't; it was just put on the back burner for a while. I still plan on having it done for next Halloween. I have included one of my children as a size-sort of reference. She is a typical 6-year-old in size, if that helps all who wondered how big this was so far. End goal is big enough to fit on my double pillow-top king-size bed. I have a ways to go, to say the least.

other posts on this quilt

• Not Much Progress

• Center Medallion Complete

• Halloween YOYOs

• Start of Halloween Yoyo swap

For those who are curious, I am still job hunting.

English Paper Piecing Question

This picture was posted in The English paper piecing group on flickr. A discussion arose about how to baste large hex pieces. My tutorial explained it, but visuals are better. I do have permission to show this example of how not to do it by its maker, Anne Brumley. Pictured are her first blocks; I actually think they are well made. I do not see the stitching between the blocks, her fabric choices are vibrant and lively. I just want it clear that these are well-made blocks, and the only thing I wanted to clarify was all the basting threads. All the threads you see have to be removed; there are also lots of them, which makes that time consuming and your fingers will hurt from going through the papers so much with the needle.

In the way I do it, all you have to do is cut six small threads; just six small nips of the scissors, then pull the papers out (which saves time) and just leave in the basteing threads.

So, you do a back stitch in each corner where the fabric folds over on top of itself. Then, in the middle of each side of the hex you do an ever so tiny stitch that goes through the fabric and the paper. I have made a few things with this technique, so I promise it is simple and not hard.

Go all the way around in this manner; cut thread when you get back to the beginning. I hope this helps whomever does bigger pieces in English paper piecing. Below are other examples of Anne's work; she uses silk in some of her work, and it is lovely. She picks very nice fabrics and has good hand piecing skills; she is a very nice hand seamstress.

Thinking Valentine's

I was a florist for many years, it is how I put myself through collage and what I did for the first few years of our marriage as employment. I also sort of grew up in a flower shop as my Vavo owns one and I lived with her when I was a child. So many days as a child was spent playing in an empty box of flowers with paper dolls or making dolls from broken off flower heads. Don't ask; it was fun at the time. I liked Valentine's Day at that point in my life; it was fun watching all the people come to my Vavo's shop and get pretty things she made.

As a teenager working in flower shops, I really hatted the holiday. I never seemed to have boyfriend over that holiday or, if I did, he felt he had to get me something, not because he wanted to but because he figured he had to because of a holiday. The other type of boyfriend was the one who figured you worked in a flower shop so you never want to see a flower again; aren't you sick of them yet. To say the least, I hated that day.

Now that I am grown, don't work in flower shops anymore (for 11 years, that is), and I am finally having fun with this day again. I still don't expect things on this day because I have never liked people feeling pressured to get me something, so no worries there. I guess it is different now because I usually get Valentine's made by my daughters because they want to and they love me. I know this because they make me Valentines all year long, not just on V's Day.

I have actually had fun with this holiday since having kids and a husband, not in that order. I am not worried that the man in my life will feel guilty if he does or doesn't get me something; he knows I am good either way. I always felt this was a florist's holiday; a way to make money. I think it was just crazy for them to go insane for 4 weeks to prep, and no sleep for the last two to make and deliver, then crash for 3 days. Not really seeing relatives and friends as you are working 20 hour shifts; just not worth it, to me. Insanity, for short.

OK, I am not totally on board with this holiday, yet, but I do like it now. I have fun making stuff for it and sharing time with my family. Oh wait, that is the originally meaning of the holiday, the part I like (the love part, not the guilt part which I dislike). Yes, I seem to be ranting, but this holiday always does that to me. The holiday of love was always a holiday of stress when I was younger. Now it is a holiday of love for me, and I feel sorry for all those who are still in the holiday of stress and guilt mode.

About the photo above

On to the fun of decorating. I have always liked decorating for holidays. My Christmas decorations are still up. I like putting holidays up, but dread taking them down, sad I won't get to see them for another year. So I usually swing to the next holiday as soon as I can, in this case it is Valentine's Day. Isn't this cool fabric? I am thinking heart yoyos, but I bet you could guess that from the photo. This will probably become garlands, pins and ornaments for the day. Fun crafting time, that is always good.

So I hope those of you who love this holiday have fun with it and those who dislike it find something fun to do and those, like me, who enjoy the sentiment but not the stress, relax with your families and friends.

In case anyone wants to know, the above fabric is Moda's 2008 Valentine's Day line.

Winter Quilt block swap at MJF

This is a swap that was over at MJF last month. I haven't decided if this is one or two quilts because there are two color schemes happening: a winter one, which is white and blue (snow men and ice), and the other is red, white and green (Christmas). Since I am still waiting on one set and for me to embroider 17 snowmen, more details on this below. I might wait on that decision for now.

Sheryl Lynn's Blocks (sewgirlie)

Tammy's blocks

jessica's blocks (smoothiejuice)

Camille's blocks

Cheryl's blocks

Creatmyworld's blocks (Beth)

Khartquilt's blocks (Kathlen)

Grace's blocks (Katmom's)

Denise's blocks (levisgrammy)

Linda's blocks ( yarnmamma)

corrinne's blocks

Corrine's came all the way from Kuwait where she is in the service.

Kathy's blocks (Ktknits). I'm waiting on those still; because she had some issues in her life, I am good on waiting for them to arrive.

Wendy's blocks (sunshine)

I was going to do two sets of embroidered blocks but ran out of time, so I embroidered and pieced blocks. The snowmen were to be the second set, but that never got swapped so I have 17 of these drawn. I might use them as filler blocks between the other blocks. That is, once I get them embroidered. I also have one more tree to embroider as well; 3/4ths of a tree is more correct.

pattern for the three bears

I have been asked by several people what pattern I used to make the bears. Here it is: I bought it at a thrift store for fifty cents; it looks to be from the 1980's.

Information on outside of pattern:

• Called Dream Spinners
• #118 ... and The Three Bears
• By Great American Quilt Factory, Inc.
• makes size 17, 20 and 24 inch patterns
  

There are three on ebay right now for about 5 - 13 dollars, counting shipping.

Obviously, I added faces and such to the faceless bears in the pattern, and I didn't use the fabrics they used. But then, I never follow a pattern 100% because there is no fun in that.

This is a good pattern and the pieces are a good size, making them easy to use. Looking at the picture on the package, I would have never purchased it in a store because it just didn't interest me. I originally purchased it because it was in a bag that had lots of taffeta pieces in it that I thought I could use for a crazy quilt. That never happened; I ended up using some of those pieces in these bears (pink, blue, and cream for the ears and paws). So, I ended up actually using the fabric for what the original owner intended: a fabric bear, not a quilt. I only remembered this pattern when my children started talking about the bears. I think I have had it for 5 years, just sitting in a box not knowing what to do with it; but I saw that the pattern had potential.

Part 9: felt / sequins / big glitter ornamnets

Supplies:

• felt
• sequins, any type
• big holiday glitter (I used snowflakes)
  
• beads or any other embellishment
• thread
• needle
• embroidery floss
• thimble, if you use one
• scissors

Because I am showing two ways of attaching sequins with and without holes, I made 4 ornaments; two for the giveaway, and two for my tree. This post counts as two ornament posts (you can leave a comment on yesterday's so that you get your name entered for today and yesterday) one for yesterday and one for today. Feel free to go back and post a comment on any that you haven't posted on to get the max entries for this giveaway.

Order of events:

1. Get sequins and felt, and figure out your layout
2. Sew on sequins/glitter (with sequins, of course, go through the holes).With glitter you are couching the piece of glitter down. Make sure to get a thread that is a close match to the color of your sequin/glitter.
3. Add other embellishments such as beads (you can do French knots instead of beads; I just like holiday ornaments with more, not less, so I used beads).
4. Edging; I did blanket stitch for some, and just an angeled stitch (a real wide satin stitch, meaning lots of space between the stitches) for others. Side note: You can make two and stitch them at this point front to back if you have an advent tree that is free standing. This way, no one would see your stitches on the back. I didn't do this because mine face the quilt, all hanging, and the backs are not seen.
5. Add hanger and you're done!

Aprons Galore. . .

Want to make aprons or just love looking at patterns? Go to Tip Nut; there are 56 free pattern links here from which to make aprons. Think last-moment items to make for Christmas.
Types of aprons they list:

• Lined & Reversible Aprons
• Dishtowel Aprons
• Craft Aprons
• Housekeeping Aprons
• More Aprons
• Knit & Crochet Aprons
• Clothespin Aprons
• Children’s Aprons
• Vintage Style Aprons & Vintage Patterns
• Men’s Aprons
• Cute & Cool Apron Related Finds

And the socks were hung....

This is on the door of my sewing room. I was home from church on Sunday with two sick kids, one who has been sick since Monday at 5 a.m. the other just for a little bit (I think indigestion or something fleeting like that). The first I am thinking this is her last day of being sick; no fevers today, just a cough and a runny nose. Cross my fingers; sleep would be good after a week of being kicked at night and woken up for water, medicine, and socked in the mouth a few times while asleep. Yep, she wakes up scared from the fevers and comes out swinging. She has quite the hook on her; I have the fat lip to prove it. She apologized so many times when she was awake, but I told her it was OK because how can you be grumpy at a person who does something in their sleep, and doesn't know they are doing it, and is sick? I just can't. Anyway back to the topic: I wanted to write about socks, the type you hang by the fireplace, not the type you get in the middle of the night from a sick six year old.

I have been trying to figure out what to get, make, my husband's older sister and her family (I don't think they read this blog, I think the other siblings do on occasion). Anyway, I remembered an old promise (10 + years old) that when they where done having kids I would make them all Christmas socks. Well, she is pregnant and said she was done two babies ago. So I figured I best just make those socks and add as needed. Counting bun in the oven, there are a total of eight in that family. So I got out my fabric samples from upholstery store books and got to making some socks. Eight in one day! I thought it would take much longer than it did; I hope they like them. There are only two females in the family, so the rest are for boys; I hope at least six look boyish, or at least passable for a boy.

What does the antique baby dress have to do with this post? Nothing; it is just what hangs on my sewing room door when I am not taking photos and using the hook it hangs on.

I'm still having lighting issues in my sewing room. My husband and I think it is because of the color of the room. It is a bonus room above our garage, and the ceilings are slanted and lower than in the other rooms. So all the light in there is bouncing off of this color on the walls that has a pink under-color; thus all my pictures right now have a pink cast to them. I am going to have to make a small white room or something to take photos in so I can correct that problem or something because this is driving me crazy!

12 step program

WIPs/ Part 0 : ?

Here are a few things I am currently working on. One is a crazy nine patch that I was in swap for the blocks.

The other is the start of a project that I plan on putting on this site with instructions of how to make one for yourself. An advent calender; you are looking at the back of it in this photo.

Crayon Art in Quilts

This was a question asked on flickr, though others might have it too. There is a note on this photo on flickr that reads crayon art right over the two tree drawings. So here is the explanation.
-------------
Santo Pano Patchwork says:
Crayon Art ? How does it work ? Fabiana.

Sunshine said:
This can be done a few ways

1. Color on paper; lay paper on top of fabric and iron. Have paper towels between iron and paper so excess wax doesn't transfer to iron. (Image will be reversed; remember when writing words and things that have to face a certain way)
2. You can color straight to the fabric then iron to heat-set pigment; again have paper towels between work iron to absorb excess wax (best to use high-quality crayons for either way because you have more pigment and less wax).
   

Santo Pano Patchwork says:
Thanks for the tip, I've already tried and it has worked perfectly. I've got a good result, from my first time with this technic, I'll try to improve next time.
Thanks again for being so kind.
With my best wishes.
Fabiana

Holiday Tutorials On This blog

Clicking on words will take you to tutorial; clicking on image will take you to where that image is hosted on flickr.

1. We three trees
2. Pomander Balls
3. Cream cheese Mints
4. Kid's airplane ornament
5. Holiday Brooch
6. Old fashioned rock candy
7. Kissing Ball
8. Embroidered Felt Ornament
9. Holiday Journey -- Not a tutorial, but a fun family activity
10. Triangle Hair scarf; easy gift
11. Yoyo doll vintage-looking gift

Fall Quilt Top

I have assembled the quilt blocks from the swap at MJF. This will make a very good sized sofa blanket. Not too big or so small you can't share with the person at the other end of the sofa. This will be nice for the fall months in the coming years. I doubt I will get it all quilted before this fall is over, so next year hopefully. There are all kinds of styles in this quilt from embroidery to appliqué to pieced and rick rack, yoyos and button embellishments. I am glad I signed up for the swap twice; I like this amount of blocks. I am going to embroider in the center block with the names of those who participated in the swap, and I might embroider some leaves there, too.