Country Garden Stitchery

I worked with some new fabrics over the Christmas holidays, Sandi Henderson's Secret Garden collection. Very vibrant colors and unique color combinations in the fabrics with large repeats. I found a very easy quilt pattern in an older Quilts and More magazine. Large nine patch squares alternating with 9 1/2" squares. It was very easy and went together quickly. I had several fat quarters I was working with and ran out of fabric so I had to match some of my other fabrics. I thought it turned out nice. It definitely brightens up a room! I am going to put a very soft backing on it maybe in a soft pink. I went on a designing spree to for cross stitch patterns and designed three new patterns for spring 2012. This is the first pattern I've started on and I'm thinking of calling it "Spring Blues". I'm using some lovely hand dyed silk from the Thread Gatherer. I love using silk floss, really recommend it if you haven't used it. I hope to ...

This is my latest hand embroidery project and I'm hoping to have them done for January. I felt like doing some bluebirds, such happy little birds. I tried some different flowers and more satin stitches along with my favorites I put in every pattern. I found some wonderful linen tea towels at a quilt shop not long ago and I will put part of the design on one of those too. Merry Christmas!

I have another stack of fabric samples to play with. I love sewing with fabrics that I designed. If you haven't tried Spoonflower I recommend it, so fun! I used my "Blue Roses and Berries" fabric for this needlecase. I put a little strip of pink ribbon and used a decorative stitch to sew it on. The inside has a couple pockets and a piece of wool felt for sharp things. I liked the dusty pink shade that printed on this one so I called it "Dusty Pink Rose". Sometimes it is difficult to tell what the color will end up when it is printed. The ink drawing turned out nice and crisp and I was happy about that. I added a little lace trim to this one. It is the same on the inside as the one described above. This fabric is very bright and cheerful with watercolor flowers. I called it "Spring Flower Garden" and it has little dragonflies buzzing about. A very loose wet-in-wet techinque so the colors blended in an interesting way and printed on the fabric very v...

I finished my new hand embroidery design called "In the Neighborhood" and am planning a sewing project to finish it using Sandi Henderson's new fabrics called "Secret Garden". The greens in the fabric match my green flosses in the embroidery really well. Last weekend we held our annual Christmas Fair in the old post office in town. It was very nice with so many wonderful arts and crafts for sale. Really nice fragrant handmade candles and soaps that made the whole place smell wonderful. Lots of nice art and cute ornaments. Pottery, scarfs, cards and jewelry. It was a very fun time and I think it enhanced the Christmas spirit of the season!

These are the last few projects I've made with my Spoonflower fabrics. This is a little zip pouch using my Butterflies in Orange fabric. I've been trying to use the last of my samples and make things for our local art show Saturday. I have a new shipment of samples coming in the mail any day now. I'm very excited to see them. I used a lot of my ink drawings in them and a lot of pink, I really like pink. A little pincushion, I think I made a total of eight of them, using my Lavender and Blue fabric. I'm sure I'll make more of these. They're a fun little project. This is my latest project I made over the Thanksgiving weekend. I used all of my autumn themed fabrics and one sample from another artist on Spoonflower, Helen K. She paints in watercolor and does extraordinarily detailed work. I love it. Buy one fat quarter and get one free this week on Spoonflower 11/28/11 through 12/02/11!!!

These are the last few pincushions and zip pouches I've made for our art fair in a couple weeks. I liked how they turned out so wanted to show them individually. I used my Lavenders fabric and a commercial lavender plaid fabric to compliment. This one has my Ice Cream Cone Plaid fabric in pastel colors and a pink ribbon. Bright and cheerful. This a holiday inspired pincushion with my Stockings fabric paired with a light mint green alphabet fabric and purple ribbon. Sometimes it is nice to venture away from the traditional Christmas colors. I had a red zipper I wanted to use with this and I quilted the outer fabric with red thread to accent with more red. I used my Sweet Peas fabric which has a stippled illustration of sweet pea flowers. I used my Bees and Leaves fabric from my wildflower collection for this zip pouch. I paired it with a blue zipper and green ribbon for the zipper pull. Fun lively fabrics and gifts.

I've been busy sewing again getting ready for our annual art fair. I finished up my pincushion spree this week and thought they turned out pretty good. I have a nice variety of color combinations. This one uses my Bright Balloons fabric from Spoonflower. The balloons have different patterns inside them. I bought a fat quarter set of Beatrix Potter fabrics a couple years ago to make some things for my little niece (she's three and so sweet) and I had some fabrics left over and a light green alphabet matched my Daisy Blue fabric very well. Sometimes I get nice clear pictures like this one and wish I did for all the pictures I take. I haven't figured out what I do different when they turn out good... anyway one of my favorite colors for last Morning Glory in Lavender paired with a lavender plaid. These little pincushions are very fun to make, but I'm ready for something else now.

I finished my redwork cross stitch pattern. I really like working with all one color. I can get into the "zen" of stitching and completely relax and stitch. Really enjoyable. This little pattern has mostly cross stitches so it is easy to do that. And if I want to stitch it again in another color I can (this is the second time I've stitched this pattern :). I think I will design a different one though rather than doing it a third time... I bought my fabrics to finish this pattern a while ago. I really liked the snowflake fabric with turquoise dots. It added just the right element of contrast from being too red. I have quite a collection of pillows now. I've started making them with the envelope backs so they are easy to remove and I can store them when the seasons change. Pretty soon I will be getting all of my Christmas decor out. Love to do that.

I've been busy sewing for our local art fair the weekend of December 1st. I've been using my Spoonflower samples to make the little pincushions above. I'm glad I made them in advance so I can enjoy them for a while. I like their cheerful colors and shape. Pattern is from Details by Des on Etsy. I've also made some small pouches for the fair. Perfect size for your purse to put whatevers in. This is made with my Green Coneflower fabric. This is very lively fabric and looks nice sewn up. I used the same zip pouch pattern and size but with my Foxglove Zen fabric. For the quilting I used sewing thread that matched the fuchsia flowers and liked how that turned out. I used my Fuchsia Blooms fabric for this one. This is the last one I made using my Love in a Mist fabric and think it might be my favorite. I had to take a break for the online Needlework Show that I participated in this week so hope to be back to sewing soon. These little projects are fun.

I found a fun pincushion pattern on Etsy from Details by Des and it is super easy and fun to make. I used some of my Spoonflower fabrics to make it and a commercial fabric. This is the bottom (I uploaded in wrong the order :) and I used my Blue and Green Dots fabric. The top has my Tropical Fish fabric with a little of the blue dot fabric for the fabric button. Really quick to make. The only thing I would do different is use more stuffing. It is good to use lots of stuffing for a nice full look and no puckers. I've been busy putting things in my shops for Christmas gifts. This is a handwoven scarf made of cotton yarns with glass beads randomly placed in the fringe. The weft is a wonderfully soft cotton ribbon yarn. I'd love to have sheets or a sweater made of soft cotton like that. Oh, and the online Needlework Show starts tomorrow! Hope you'll stop by and say hi.

I've been working on new designs for 2012 and some lavender came to mind. Lavender is one of my favorite scents and flowers. I have lavender sachets in my linen closets and will buy all the lavender scented house care products on the market...just smells clean and fresh to me. I like the brown and purple color combination and I added a little green and so far so good. My last two Christmas designs for the year. Burgundy silk hand dyed floss on white for the design above. I like the crisp clean look of it. I probably won't have it done by the Needlework Show but soon after. I finished this cross stitch design last weekend and made it into a table square using some flannels I had. I made it the same way I made the bluebird table square. I usually cut the squares to match the shape of the design after trimming it down a bit. Easy holiday decorations!

I picked up a collection of charm squares from Moda a while ago and the colors matched my new bluebird design perfectly so I decided to make a charm square table topper for a new decoration. Can you see him up there in the corner? He blends nicely I think. I trimmed the cross stitch fabric around the design to match a charm square and then sewed rows of the squares together. I didn't put any batting in the table topper. Just put a backing on it with a coordinating color. I had a very small 2x2 charm square from another set I bought and sewed that onto one of the squares for more texture. It is on the third row up from the bottom. I thought it was neat how the colors of the charm pack and my design went together since I didn't plan it. I like being able to use my stash and then feel good about buying more... I am saving my little bluebird pattern for the Needlework Show I will be participating in on October 20th. It runs from October 20-25 online so you can browse the participat...

I've been working a lot on new needlework patterns lately for the Needlework Show next month. I've done a little bluebird cross stitch and I am looking forward to matching fabrics, but I'm not quite sure how I want to finish him yet. I think he'd look nice in a frame yet a little ornament sounds cute too. As it gets colder my interest in sewing increases so I've been taking inventory of my fabrics and sorting thinking of projects. I liked how all of these fabrics went together. I have a pattern for an easy wall quilt I'm thinking of doing. I finished this design this week. I used Weeks Dye Works flosses and 28 count linen. It is a small design that I want to surround with Christmas fabrics of the same color theme. I'm thinking of heading to Reno to the quilt shops this weekend to see what I can find.

I've been sewing up some autumn market and messenger and tote bags , all kinds of bags... Bags that can be folded up easily to take with you to the farmer's market or just to have near in case you need to use it. I like them on display in the house too, very colorful. Also some patchwork scarves . These are fun and easy to make with leftover fabrics. I sewed the fabrics together with a little soft chocolate brown flannel. They are decorative and soft and will keep you warm when the weather gets colder. This is a little felt bag made of handwoven wool fabric lined with some Royal Princess Mary Engelbriet fabric and fun fuzzy handles made with novelty yarns. Very cute.

I've been embroidering on some lovely organic cotton/linen towels and thought they could be used for basket liners or candle mats. I love the color and the feel of them. They have serged edges to prevent fraying and the edges have a lacy look from the serging. I was sorting through my growing stack of samples from Spoonflower and I liked the way this bunch went together. I really like to make runners for my buffet and china hutch and like to change them with the seasons. This colorway seems "wintery" to me so I think I will work on that soon. Our local art/craft group called "Sagebrush Sisters" had our first harvest fair ever and first show of the season. We usually always have a Christmas fair and wanted to see how a harvest fair would be. It was very fun and we decorated with corn stalks, bales of straw, baskets, gourds and other fall items. We hold the show every year in the old post office that the city has preserved nicely. It has great lighting with large...