Celebrating the 4th

I just could not resist doing these shirts for my youngest granddaughters.

I learn something with everything I make.

The girls liked the shirts when I delivered them this morning

and put them right on to wear.

The 4 year old proudly showed me the sign she and her sisters had made,

and wished me a happy 4th of July.

I hope everyone enjoys a safe holiday

and may we always remember how precious our freedom is

and how high the cost.

An early 4th

One of my dear granddaughter's turned 4 this past weekend.

For her party she chose a lady bug theme.

So I decided to have fun with my sewing/embroidery machine

and decorated a shirt for her to wear for the party.

She loves to play in her little kitchen so I also decorated 

an apron for her to wear in there.

To finish it off she got a little table and chairs

to go in that kitchen 

so I decided a tablecloth was also needed.

My hamper was about the right size to try it out.

I had fun learning how to rearrange the little leaf with ladybug

that was built into the machine

to spice things up a bit.

I am not sure if I had more fun making these 

than she will have wearing and using them

but maybe it will make good memories for both of us.

Finishing the Pot Holders

I got sidetracked with other projects to sew,

and to embroider as I learn 

this new machine.

However, I finally got a break and went back to finish

what I began ending up with 8 potholders.

As I made each pair of pot holders

I learned something else.

Sometimes about the machine and 

sometimes about the pattern.

It feels good to make progress

 and to be able to see

the results too.

And even better to end up with something practical

that can make nice little gift additions

to a kitchen basket.

Birthday Embroidery

My little granddaughter has a birthday coming up this month

and chose Lady Bugs for her party theme.

This sparked my imagination 

and I decided to decorate a little apron

since she loves to play in her little kitchen.

I had fun playing around with the little lady bug on a leaf pattern

that was in my machine.

So many possibilities!

So I added them to a tea towel

to be used as a table cloth

on the little table and chair set she is getting.

It will be about the size of this hamper so I tried it out

and I think she will like this.

Maybe even as much as I have enjoyed making it!

The Magic

Continued from Sore Brain Cells

To prepare for the magic,

I lifted one corner of a top triangle and folded it back.

Then I lifted the corner of the triangle underneath it.

I laid the first triangle corner back down,

 followed by the second triangle corner.

This is the beginning of a pinwheel effect.

 Now pull an opposite triangle corner up,

and once again fold back the triangle corner underneath.

 Again, lay the first triangle corner down,

followed by the second triangle corner.

Magically you have revealed this pinwheel

which is double sided.

At this point I had to cut a rectangle of fabric 1 1/4" by 4" and pressed it lengthwise in half

and then pressed each edge into the center fold

 and again folding and pressing that original center fold,

I stitched it down forming the fabric to be used as a loop for hanging.

This I folded in half to make a loop

and inserted it at one corner between the triangles and the front

and pinned and stitched around the outer edge of the hot pad.

DO NOT leave an opening to turn.

Clip the corners.

 Now you can magically turn it right side out

by pulling it through the opening in the center back where all the triangles come together.

Front.

Back.

I know the corners don't meet.

It will probably bug me every time I see it.

But I will also remind myself that this is how we learn.

Focus on learning the new machine and new pattern

and the technique will improve on it's own.

I already feel a little more confident with my machine.

It is the first step.

Sore Brain Cells aka learning new things

For Christmas Santa brought me a new sewing machine.

The old one though top of the line with Singer

when I purchased it in the early 70's,

just wasn't keeping up any longer.

I spent the next three months taking classes,

because quite frankly I was intimidated by all these buttons

not to mention an instruction guide an inch thick!

But oh so excited.

And nervous.

And eager to begin.

April brought multiple birthdays 

and house repairs

and a surgery,

but today I finally felt better and into the sewing room I went.

I had watched a segment on Fons and Porter where they made cute coasters.

I thought this would be a great project to learn my machine

 and try out some of the MANY decorative stitches

while using up stash materials.

However, since I had some thermal batting I opted to make them a bit larger.

I was right.  This was a good project to learn on.

And I will be making a few more as I learn to use the laser guide

and pivot feature as well as changing feet to stitch other designs.

I am sure my finished products will improve too.

Right now I am focusing on learning and getting comfortable with the machine,

and am not concerned about corners that did not meet or fabric tucks,

(the moving foot practice will come another day).

But enough on this side of the pot holder.

The key to their project was the folded back...

After doing the decorative stitches on the front and batting,

The back consisted of four squares folded and pressed in half to form triangles.

With the front of the pot holder face up,

I laid the first triangle down on any corner.

The second triangle on an opposite corner.

The third triangle lays across the first two pieces.

The last triangle lays opposite number three.

The magic happens next.

(I broke this down into two segments due to the large number of photos, so please go on to the next post to see the magic.  Also I apologize for the changes in camera angle that make these steps a bit confusing but my dog kept moving and I had to work around him.)

Magic beans and flowers

As shown in Ready for Easter

Here are the flowers.

The story is that before Easter I will give the 3 year old granddaughter

some 'magic' beans (jelly beans) and plastic Easter cups

and we will plant them.

Then on Easter morning the girls will find these flowers

which are just crocheted with a dum dum center.

The idea was not mine though I chose a double flower for the fuller look.

Not sure they will grasp the meaning but the seed is there to come back to at a later date.

A Valentine for Mother

I got a little something for my mother for Valentine's Day.

And put it in a bag,

which seemed a little plain.

So instead of making a card to go with it,

I decided to just decorate the bag.

Think she will like it?

Better question might be will she remember

 what Valentine's Day is?

Doesn't really matter

as she loves the attention most of all.

Last one for the season

I ran across this velvet before Christmas in my stash

and decided to make a scarf.

So I found some fringe and beaded edging

but then got busy with the holidays.

I finally had some time to play and embossed the velvet.

That was the easy part.

I have made scarves and pin cushions before with velvet I emboss.

It is challenging sewing but this just would not cooperate.

I finally ended up having to sew it by hand.

The colors in this velvet are different and the camera just wasn't picking them all up.

I selected it because it was brown with pumpkin undertones.

But the embossing brought out a pale blue!

Under certain angles or lighting,

 which I could not capture with the camera,

it looks blue on blue!

In these photos the fringe braid stands out lighter but in fact it matches very well.

Well on to the next project.  

Arm Knitting

Worn out from crocheting doll dresses for Christmas,

I decided to do some Arm Knitting.

I had tried it some months ago and found it to be a fast and fun diversion

and so bought some yarns to play with

but then other needs took up my time.

After Christmas though is a time I try to relax

and just enjoy things that require little to no thought,

like my annual jigsaw puzzle.

There is however, still a quilt in a frame taking up my dining room,

so I decided that was the perfect excuse to just play with some new craft.

I have a few setting around but the two baskets of yarn were taking up the most room

so they were the first choice.

Anyway, here are the results.

The blue and purple cowl

and bronze and brown long scarf

so I could try out both styles. 

Normally I prefer scarves

but with this texture and colors 

the cowl is my favorite.

Now I am back to sewing pants.

I cannot believe I lost weight over the holidays,

but it is certainly motivation for sewing new clothes!