Embroidered Baby Clowns

I made a little baby bag to hold a receiving blanket and two little stuffed animals for a fun baby gift! The handle is two ribbons twisted together.


I rolled up the receiving blanket, tied it with a ribbon and stuck it between the brown monkey and green frog. The cute stuffed animals blended perfectly with the colors of the clown designs.


Here is the clown design with added lettering that I stitched on the blanket! Receiving blankets like these make great gifts! I have made tons to give away. It makes it more special when I personalize it with the baby's name, date of birth, weight & height. I usually try to find out if the nursery is decorated with any theme and try to base my design on that.

I always keep several pink, blue, yellow and green blankets with embroidery designs already stitched. If I am in a hurry and need a quick gift, they are ready to grab and wrap!

Some Cute Embroidered Clowns

Clare posted a link to Pippa's quilt photos on her blog. Pippa's photo displays some of the cutest machine embroidered clowns!!

I have a several design packs filled with cute little clowns. When I purchased them, my thought was to create a clown quilt with bright, fun colorful fabrics. I would add in the machine embroidered clowns! That is still on my to-do list! :)

I have use the embroidered clowns for baby gifts & blankets. See above post.

Why Did I say "Yes"?

Someone asks you to sew something that is unusual or seems to be impossible. You find yourself saying "Yes" without realizing it! When you get home and see the project at hand, you think to yourself, "How in the world am I going get this accomplished"?

I have done it many times -- some impossible project that I end up doing for someone!! It always gets completed correctly on time, but I may have lost part of my mind along the way! But I always learn something new and creative in the end!!!! :)

See what Debbie Colgrove and her seemingly impossible project - a 12' doll! If you can imagine it, you can stitch it!!

Wonderful Weekend!!!

I had a wonderful weekend holiday! I was able to work on my computer and take care of some business paperwork! It was great to have 3 days in a row where I could spread out and get to work!

Yesterday, my family and I spent some fun time with extended family and friends! So now I am ready for another week to begin! :)

Try Again

For some reason Blogger does not want to hyperlink my text. So you can go to my gallery page and click the link to download the design from there.

Memorial Day Theme Project

A tribute to the United States and its fallen heroes. This is a reminder that we need to pray for our country, its leaders and the soldiers fighting overseas!!

A closer view of the embroidery and freehand stippling surrounding it. This was a free embroidery design offered by Bernina after 9-11. The design is no longer a freebie, but you can download a similar free design here.

EDIT: See the post above to download the free design!! :)

Memorial Day Sale!

!!!!!! is the Keyboard Definition of Excitement

I know this is off the sewing related topic, but it is something that has been on my mind every time I publish a post or write an article! But in reality it can be applied to sewing, quilting and embroidery.....read on to find out!

My sister, a college student with a major in journalism, is always telling me to contain my use of exclamation points! I tend to use this form of punctuation frequently in my writing. It never fails...any time I am at the keyboard, I hit the ! key.

What is the purpose of exclamation points (!!!!!)? You know, it's that little symbol that appears on your screen you hold down the shift key and hit the number 1 key. According to Webster's dictionary the official definition is this:

a mark ! used especially after an interjection or exclamation to indicate
forceful utterance or strong feeling -- called also exclamation mark

But an exclamation point contains so much more than the sentence above! It generates a sense of excitement, joy and happiness!! I AM excited and thrilled with the sewing, quilting and embroidery projects I am creating. How else can I express that on a computer screen?

I love seeing new fabrics and imagining the projects I can invent! I love to experiment with new notions and tools that make my sewing quicker and easier! When I stitch with a unique thread that achieves the look I am after, it's thrilling! Anytime I am in my sewing room, whether it is creating an embroidery design on the computer, cutting quilt pieces, stitching fabrics together or pressing a finished project, I am happy, content and loving every moment!

What better way to convey my excitement except through the use of !!!!!!!!! Shouting with a joyful voice and jumping up and down won't travel through the phone lines to the computer screen. (And, NO, I will not post any photos of this! :)) So I resort to the use of exclamation points!!!

So if you some of you ladies out there are punctuation experts, ignore my outbursts of excitement. I know it's exclamation point overkill, but I just can't help it!!!!!!!!!!!!!

New Fabrics from Benartex

The Fed-Ex truck visited me this week and just look what he left!! Beautiful treasures of fabric from Benartex!! Now I am itching to stitch something in these luscious colors of cream and purple! Maybe you will have some creative ideas where you can use these fabrics! Click on the link below the fabric swatch for more information.

Benartex Yours Truly Creme Tone on Tone

Benartex Yours Truly Creme & Purple

Benartex Yours Truly Purple Floral Garden

The purple floral garden print is the same floral pattern I used for my Beyond the Color Purple Quilt. Only it has an ivory background with burgundy roses. A purple variation would be beautiful in the same quilt pattern!!

Look for Ideas Everywhere

Ideas for quilting and embroidery are everywhere. We often don't realize all the ideas that are around us, just waiting to be implemented into a project with thread and fabric!

As you are shopping, running errands or just attending required meetings, look around you for sewing ideas! You might find inspiration for decorating a garment by seeing some embroidery on someone's denim shirt. As you pass by the colorful t-shirt aisle, you might be delighted with the range of colors and implement the color hues in a quilt.

Alex Anderson shares her ideas, "I'm inspired by magazines, advertisements, window displays at my favorite shops, even paint chips at the home decorating store."

Read the full article here.

Keep your eyes open and you will never know what you will discover!! You are limitless to what you can create with your sewing machine and your imagination!! :)

Great Tool in the Laundry Aisle

Magic Spray Sizing is a product available in the laundry supply section of your local store, but did you know it is useful for embroidery as well?

Spray on to stiffen or add body to many fabric types from washable sheers to denim. Spray on items that have been pre-washed before embroidery to restore body.

Spray on cloth and apply to stubborn hoop marks. There is no need to iron – just dampen the marks slightly with the damp cloth. This method is particularly effective for removing hoop marks on items that are prone to marks made by contact with plastic, such as distress dyed fabrics, neon dyed fabrics and dark-colored knits such as t-shirts or sweatshirts.

I have use spray sizing on fabrics for stiffening and adding body, but have not tried it for removing hoop burn marks. But then, I rarely hoop my fabric for embroidery. I hoop my stabilizer, spray it with 505 Spray Adhesive and adhere my fabric to it. It is so much quicker and prevents all those unwanted burn marks! :)

Find more great tips from Great Notions.

Can Iron Scorch Marks Be Removed?

Have you ever touched a garment or fabric with too hot of an iron? It's easy to scorch, but can be difficult to get the scorch marks out. Here are some tips for making those marks disappear!

Scorching is caused by pressing with an iron that is too hot for the fabric, or by pressing too long in one spot. This created the brownish-yellow discoloration on fabrics containing natural fibers such as cotton, linen, silk, wool and rayon.

Synthetic or man-made fabrics such as polyester, acetate, acrylic and nylon can also be scorched if they're combined with natural fibers. Quite often, man-made fabrics melt instead of discoloring, producing a shiny look or completely melting a hole in the fabric.

Experiment using one of the following remedies in an inconspicuous area of the garment or on a fabric scrap to see which will work best. Note: Treat the mark as soon as possible after scorching for best results.

For a light scorch mark, brush gently with a soft brush or dry sponge to remove the discoloration. If the fabric is washable, wash as usual using detergent.

On white fabrics, try sponging the area with a diluted solution of hydrogen peroxide and water. This solution won't damage fibers, but it can remove color, so only use it on whites. Don't use it on nylon fabrics.

A solution of water and all-fabric or oxygen bleach (1 quart water to 1/4 cup bleach) can be used to scorch the soaked garment. Wash as usual to remove the solution.

In cases where the scorch cannot be removed or the fabric is melted, try covering the area with an appropriate embellishment such as embroidery, stenciled or stamped design, or a pocket.

If you scorch wool fabric by using an iron that is too hot, rub a nickel on the scorch mark. The scorch mark will disappear. Be careful to use a clean nickel on light colored fabrics. See more tips at Sewing Tips.

See some more ideas for removing scorch marks at Google.

Butterflies in Flight

My finished Butterflies in Flight! I embroidered these fun, flighty butterflies on a yellow cotton, added a purple marble sashing and used the yellow print to draw all the quilt colors together.


The butterflies are an OESD design pack. I stitched each one in three colors, purple, pink and green, varying the colors on each butterfly. With the BeJeweler wand, I added crystals to each each butterfly in various places on their wings. It adds a bit of sparkle and glitz!!

An Embroidered Quilt Label

Quilt labels are a fun and essential addition to any quilt or wall hanging. It is very important that you label your work. It is also very fun to create different kinds of labels. My favorite method of applying a label is to machine embroider it directly on the backing fabric before the quilt is completely quilted. Here's how it works:

I safety pin the quilt top, batting and backing together. The pins need to be 3-5" apart to hold the layers securely. I use curved safety pins which make it easy to go down and back up into the fabric. This is just a small lap quilt so I put a pin in each corner of the block and in the border.

After it is completely pinned, I am ready to stitch. I am stitching in the ditch on the outside of the purple sashing. I use a walking foot with clear thread in the needle and yellow thread in the bobbin. I will quilt all the squares except one of the bottom corner blocks. This will be the block where the label will be stitched on the back.

After all the blocks are quilted, except for one corner, I'm ready for my label. I mark where I will be stitching on the corner block by placing straight pins in the ditch along the stitching line. I put the straight pins in on the quilt top, being sure that I go all the way through to the back. It is difficult to see the pins because of the print, but my finger is pointing to where they are pinned in the fabric all around the purple sashing.

I turn the quilt over to the back and the straight pins allow me to see exactly where the stitches will be. Don't confuse the straight pins with the safety pins! Following the straight pins as a guide, I can easily mark a guideline with a blue water soluble marker to show me where the stitches will be. My label should not extend beyond the marked line.

I can mark a vertical and horizonal line to mark where I want my design label to be placed. The marked square easily lets me stitch my design so it is straight with the block instead of guessing and ending up with the label being stitched crooked.

After I have taken out the safety pins and straight pins, I can separate the backing corner from the rest of the quilt. Then I can place the area of backing fabric I want to stitch in the embroidery hoop, put the hoop on the machine and embroider the label. I am only stitching through the backing, not the entire quilt!

After the embroidery is complete, I take the fabric out of the hoop, carefully press the design and lay out the quilt. Once again I put straight pins in the ditch of the purple sashing on the top of the quilt, going through to the back. When I turn the quilt over, the straight pins should be pretty close to where my blue marker outline is drawn. If it is not, I may need to shift the layers a bit to make them match a little better.

I can go back to the machine and stitch in the ditch on the outside of the purple sashing from the quilt top. This finishes my quilting and keeps me from quilting into my label. Spray a little water on the blue lines and they will disappear. Then I can finish and bind the quilt as normally done.

Here's the finished label after the quilt is bound! I usually include in the label a design that matches with my theme on the quilt top, the quilt name, my name and the finished date.

I hope this gives you some ideas for applying quilt labels! This method works very well if you are not doing a large amount of quilting that is very close together. In that case, you would need to stitch the label on a separate piece of fabric and then handtack in onto the quilt.

You can see some other ideas for quilt labels here.

Needle Threading Solutions

Sewing and embroidery machines that have been developed in the last 10-15 years are fantastic!! They have all the bells and whistles I like to use and cannot do without!!! One feature that I cannot live without is my needle threader. It saves time with every single thread change, especially when stitching embroidery designs! :)

But some of you may have those old sewing machines without all the fancies, but it still gives you a great stitch! Sewing About.com has some solutions listed for threading the needle on machines without that prized needle threader!

Keeping a piece of white paper next to your sewing machine can be a great help! Just set the paper behind the needle with one hand and thread the needle with the other. This white background makes it a little easier to insert the thread in the needle eye.

Mother's Day Projects Remembered

Mother's Day is this weekend and recently my thoughts have drifted to this day and what preparations I need to make for it! It also has been a reminder of Mother's Days in the past!

Because I am not a mother, I have not been at the receiving end of this day, but the giving side is another story!

My sisters and I always tried to make something special for mom! In our early years it was a unique decorated card, paper craft item or a simple sewing token. In later years it became a purchased item, but mom still owns those items we made when we were young.

The apron that didn't turn out quite right, the electric mixer cover that has an odd hump to it and the toaster cover with a "toasted" corner are all past gifts that I see in the kitchen everyday! I look at these now and see the crooked seams, uneven edges and incorrectly stitched piping and think to myself, "I can't believe my stitching was that bad!"

But I also remember the time spent sewing each item and the anticipation of seeing mom open her handmade gift! It was something to anticipate each and every year! Mom didn't see all the defects, she saw the love and appreciation that was woven into each item!!

Share your past or present Mother's Day gifts received or given! I'd love to hear your creative ideas!!

Fun & Easy Mother's Day Gifts

Need a quick, fun and easy something to whip up for Mother's Day? Take a peek at some fast sewing projects just for that special mom!!

Invisible Thread

What is "invisible" thread? When and how would I use it? What are the benefits and disadvantages?

Also known as monofilament, this thread is a thin strand of nylon or polyester, either clear or "smoke" colored. It is used when you want your stitches to disappear into the fabric. Popular applications include quilting, blind stitch appliqué and hemming drapes. It is also used in the needle when stitching Bernina’s hand-look quilt stitch.

Monofilament thread can be used in both the needle and the bobbin. If you are free-motion quilting and want to use a color to match the bottom fabric in the bobbin, that’s fine also. If your machine has a "hand-look" quilting stitch, you’ll want to use monofilament in the needle and a color in cotton or long staple polyester in the bobbin. This stitch gives your projects and machine stitch that looks like hand quilting. If you haven't tried using this feature, you should give it a try and see what neat result you can accomplish!

When using monofilament thread, put the felt pad on your vertical spool holder before putting the thread on the holder. Pull the thread from the spool before threading the machine to be sure it feeds smoothly and evenly and there are no rough spots on the spool that restrict the thread. The size and type of needle should be compatible with the size and type of thread and with the fabric.

Monofilament thread is a little tougher to stitch because of its texture. It tends to curl easier than cotton or polyester. It is also more difficult to thread the needle eye because of its clear color! :)

But, oh, the great things that can be stitched with this clear thread make it invaluable! I use it in the needle for stitching in the ditch on many of my quilts, hand or machine invisible applique and handwork such as sewing on beads or sequins! It's great because the thread is hidden and so are your mistakes!

Here's a tip for using monofilament thread for handwork. Cut off a length of thread and run it under a warm iron. The thread will straighten, making it easer to thread the needle and stitch. Be careful not to leave the thread under the iron or it will melt, it just needs a little heat to take out the curl. :)

Quilting Labels Revisited

Claire posted a note about quilt labels and wanted some ideas for different types she could use on her quilts. Here is a prvious post I wrote on labels a couple of weeks ago.

I am in the process of finishing a small lap quilt for a class on Monday. This week, I will post the procedure I use to machine embroider a label directly on the quilt back.

Question About Blogger

Does anyone have a solution to why my all my photos uploaded to Blogger do not contain a link to a larger photo?

When I upload photos in my posts, only the first one will open into a larger view. Any photos in the same post have the same little white mouse hand when run-over by the mouse, but will not open a larger link.

Has anyone else had this problem? Or does anyone have a solution? It doesn't seem to matter what format the image is in....

UFO Finished!!

I grabbed this project as I ran out the door on Saturday. I taught I class using chalkcloth and showed different projects that can be created from it two years ago. I needed this message board to be half completed for class and have not completed it until now!! I just had the binding and rod pocket to stitch down. It was the perfect project when we were waiting at the airport! :)

Here is a closer view of the embroidery above the chalkcloth. These jungle birds are stitched in bright, vibrant colors and match the bright colored fabric perfectly!!

Two pockets are stitched right below the chalkcloth for holding chalk and an eraser or whatever else finds its way inside! The bird is mirror imaged for a neat effect.

You can see my sewing room message board here.

Debbie Caffrey Class

The quilt I chose to do from Debbie Caffrey's quilt class last Thursday is Show Off Your Fat Quarters. You are supposed to use 18 fat quarters, but I chose to use 9 fabrics in 1/2 yd. cuts. So I will have two blocks that will be the same fabric.

I am using a white tone on tone for the background and different colors of navy/blue/periwinkle for the splotches of color. So far I've been pleased with the color combination!


As promised, here are the 4 blocks I have completed. I need 14 more just like these, strips to piece in between the blocks and then the sawtooth border strips. But I DO have all my block pieces cut, so now I can just sit down and stitch away for several hours. I would like to incorporate some embroidery in some areas, but I'm not quite sure where yet. My goal is to have at least the top completed by June! I'm not sure that is feasible with all my classes I am teaching and other projects, but I am going to give it a try!! :)

Ready for a New Week

We had a wonderful weekend bringing my sister home from Wichita! I'm ready for a new week that will be a little less hectic than last week. I have several projects outlined to do for this week, so I need to get busy. :)

Hooray!!

Today will be a busy day; I will be moving from one thing to another! This morning I teach a beginning sewing class and then leave for Wichita (3 hrs. away) to pick up my youngest sister who is flying home from South Carolina! She is returning from college for the summer. It will be fun to have her home all summer!!! I've got to run, but I hope to post more updates on Monday! :)

Fun, Exciting, Busy Day!!

I had a wonderful time at my quilting class yesterday!! I was able to get all my quilt pieces cut and some stitched together for my project! I will post a photo of the blocks I have completed and post some other comments when I get a chance today or tomorrow. :)

Quilting Class

Tomorrow I am taking a class from Debbie Caffrey. I chose Show Off Your Fat Quarters from her book Quilting Season. I am using a white background with colors of blue that coordinate together. The photo above is the one from her book done in various pastels. I am looking forward to an exciting day learning more quilting techniques and having fun with fellow Miss Kitty Quilt Guild members!!

Finished!!

Hooray...this stained glass project is finished!! Yesterday my time was spent at the sewing machine stitching all the bias tape around the fabric appliques. I quilted around the bee and some of the flowers and leaves and bound it in black to finish the stained glass look. The black bias tape truly enhances the whole project!


I even put a very difficult label on the back this morning!! :)

May Day Treats!

I'm off to teach my sewing class this morning, but stopped to share my May Day Treats with you! These little bags of goodies are for my students, but Happy May Day to you also!!

Blog Changes

After I had to stop on my stained glass project, I headed for the computer and made a few changes to my blog!! The new look matches my website more than before!!

Bumbling Along in Stained Glass

Here is my latest project I have been stitching on! It's called Bumbling Along in Stained Glass, by Bear Paw Productions. It take a while to trace all the applique pieces, cut them, fuse them on, and stitch down all the bias but it is definitely worth the effort!


I was able to get all the fabric cut and then fused onto my background piece. I used one piece of fabric for all the flower petals; I just cut the petals out of different areas of the batik fabric.

Then I started fusing the black bias tape on with my Clover mini iron. The curves are the hardest part to fuse on; if it weren't for the bias stretch, they would never lay down flat without creating tucks!

I finished fusing the bias onto the bee! His antennas are tricky....the sharper curve, the trickery it gets! But they laid into place pretty well.


I moved onto the leaves and flowers. The leaves are finished and one flower is complete! That's where I had to stop...the metal rod of the mini iron is hot too and you should NOT press down on it with your fingers! Trust me...it is not fun, it burns like crazy!! I decided I needed to quit at this point. :(

So I have two more flowers to fuse bias onto and then stitch down the bias on both edges. There is a fabric border which creates a stained glass window effect which I will fuse on after I have the bee and flowers stitched.

Once I finish the fusing and stitching of the bias...it will be a breeze to finish! I made one like this two years ago for a class I taught. It was a few days before class and I had to have it finished, so I spent three long nights cutting, fusing and stitching. It was fun, but I decided the next time I did one, it would not be in that short amount of time!! :)