Working on Something for Summer and a Tip....

I'm pretty much a beginner quilter but that hasn't stopped me from trying to design a wall hanging.  

It all started with this pattern from Buggy Barn.

I just loved the center flower basket.... perfect for wool appliqué.

 I wanted to make something more scrappy for summer in red, white and blue. 

I found some French General fabrics in the colors I wanted. 

I made the center wool appliqué and did the quilt squares. 

One problem..,

I think these squares are too scrappy.  

I love the fabrics.  

I just think I need more solids or smaller prints to make this block work. 

 I just don't like them for this project.  

So with the left over fabric and buying a neutral fabric I made these blocks.

Now these pinwheel blocks look so much better to me. 

I had the piano key stripes cut so I added them to make the wall hanging larger. 

Used the left over red for a border. 

 I like how it all came together.

I have it all pinned and ready for quilting.

 For quilting I want to outline the wool appliqué and stipple the background on the block. 

I'm not sure how I going to quilt the rest.

Now here's my tip....

I take a picture of my quilt to see how the blocks and fabrics are working together. 

I will do this to audition fabrics for my borders too.  

I don't have a design wall and taking pictures works just as well.

Happy sewing,

Leanne

Organizing and a Tip....

If you do any stitching you know how hard it is to keep your threads neat and organized.

I've tried so many things but nothing has worked. I always end up with a pile that looks like this.

I don't know what colors I have and what I need to buy.

 

Well I found the solution!

This has changed my life...no really!

It's called Floss-away.

Little zip lock bags with a hole punched in the top left corner and a metal ring.  They also have a place where you can write the color number.

I found these on the JoAnn's website,



 

See how nice the floss fits in. I feel so much better when things are organized.

I don't have to take time to unknot the floss before I stitch.

 TIP: This is a good one if I do say so myself.  I do this to a lot of my bags holding crafty things. 

I cut into the bag about 1/4 of in inch to let all the air out when the bag is zip locked.

This way the bag lays flat.

 See how nice a neat they all look.

It's so easy to see the colors you have.

I have a ring for hand dyed floss, one for DMC floss and one for variegated floss.

 



 

 I've been doing a little cross stitching, crocheting and stitching penny rugs.

I finished these shamrock penny rugs for St. Patty's day.

I just love the hand dyed wool shamrocks on the black wool. I think it gives the piece a lot of interest.

 

I try to think spring but with temps in the teens and snow falling every other day it's hard to imagine.

So when the snow starts to fall I start working on snowmen...just getting ready for the fall craft fairs,

 

 

 

I posted these on ebay.  I have Valentine Penny Rugs there too.

Click here if you are interested,

 

 

 

Enjoy your weekend,

Leanne

Still Stitching and a Good Tip...

You would think a person would get tired of stitching....

Not me!

I finish one piece and I'm off to the next piece.

I should say I start several projects at one time.

Here's a good tip...

I like to cut out the shapes of several projects at one time. 

This way I take out all my wool, make a huge mess, cut out my projects and clean up. 

I can also tell what colors I'm running out of.

 I just love this runner! 

The black background really makes the objects pop.

 I made this runner using a pattern but I added my own touches.

I wish I could remember who's pattern this is.

You might remember this penny rug...I made it in black.

I really like how this looks..perfect for spring and summer.

 I made a few spring and summer penny rugs.

 This green is my favorite!

I have these penny rugs for sale on my ebay.

I have more pictures and a little write up about each piece.

Click here to see everything I have on ebay.

You can always email me if you would like to purchase directly from me.

Here's a new runner I designed and made.

I made this runner two ways. 

One way using a solid piece for the pumpkins and stitching to give it dimension.

And one way using several pieces to make the pumpkins.



I just love all the yummie hand dyed wools!

I plan on stitching tomorrow...leap day...what better way to spend our extra day!

I'll continue stitching as long as the weather stays cool.

Once it gets warmer then yard work starts which leaves less time to stitch.

Enjoy your day,

Leanne



How I add tongues to my penny rugs...

This week I've been stitching as often as I can.

One good thing about winter I have more time to stitch!

 I just love this pattern!

It looks so different just by changing the background.

 I know I showed you this sunflower but now I have the tongues basted on.

 A few tips on How I add tongues to my penny rugs.

1. Before I'm ready to add the tongues I mark the back of my top piece about 1/2 inch from the edge all the way around. This is my guide I use to line up the end of the tongues.

2. When I'm adding tongues to my wool applique I do the hand stitching on the 3 sides that will show. I then machine sew the bottom, chaining the pieces together. Make sure the tongues are in the color order you want them to be before you sew.

3. Flip your finished piece over and pin your chained tongues... remember finished side down. I then machine baste the tongues keeping them lined up with that 1/2 inch guide you made.

4. Pin the backing to the top and hand stitch using a blanket stitch. You will have to stitch the top and then stitch the back. I double up my stitching on the space between the tongues. Take out your basting stitches.

5. To finish I lay the top face down on a thick towel and place a double layer of muslin on top and press with steam.  Lay on a flat surface to cool.

6. Enjoy!

I think the tongues add more color and a perfect way to finish off your wool applique.

If you have any questions just ask.

I'm off to stitch...I want to get these pieces done this weekend.

Enjoy your day,

Leanne

I Love A Good Tip....And I Got A Good One For You!

For the last few evenings I've been cutting out circles, circles and more circles.

Yes, I do cut each one out by hand.

It's really not that bad.

In one of my earlier posts I told you about how I was overdying wool well I wanted some circles out of that "new" wool. If you want to see that post Click Here.

 I found these templates for circles at JoAnn fabrics. They are perfect for what I do. 

I've used every size for various projects.

Now here's my TIP. 

Yes, it's such a good tip I have to capitalize and bold it.

 I use the templates to drawn a circle on sandpaper.

 I used 80 grit because that is what I had, you can use whatever your have.

I then cut out the circles and mark what size circle it is.

You place the circle on your wool sandpaper side down and cut out your circle.

The sandpaper grips your wool and you can cut out a perfect circle each time.

 I place the cut circles in bags labeled with the size.

 You can use your circles to make a pillow top like this unfinished one.

These circles are coasters.

I made them last night.

I love the colors!

I can't decide if I like the black background or grey background better.

Well I hear laundry calling...

Enjoy your day,

Leanne