When a friend is hurting or going through a difficult time, most women send a card or take that friend to lunch. But women who sew stitch something.
And as you know, I sew. Thus, when a dear friend was slammed hard and fast with a truckload of woes, I went to my beloved Brother Duetta (4500D) to offer some small measure of comfort and support. Continue reading
My grandchildren love having special holiday pillowcases. My personal favorite for bed linens is pima cotton, so I normally use pima for the pillowcase body and a seasonal or novelty cotton print for the contrasting hem.
Photo courtesy of Creative Needle magazine
One of the things I love most about machine embroidery is the limitless opportunity to personalize items relatively quickly.  When my daughter’s sorority sister, roommate and then matron-of-honor, Minna,  gave birth to her first child, I wanted to do something very special. Because Sam’s grandparents had been shopping for him since the announcement of Minna’s pregnancy, he had more than a closet full of beautiful clothing. So I decided cutsey personalization would fill the bill.
Minna and her husband are huge Disney fans, so with my beloved Brother 4500D, I embroidered several burp cloths, bibs and outfits with Disney characters. Continue reading
These little teepee bags, whose zippers are approximately 8″ long, were party favors for granddaughter Laurel’s 5th birthday, a My Little Pony/Unicorn party. Ignorant as about all things Pony, this Nana was on a steep learning curve. Only when Laurel became enamored of the hairy, rubberized little equines did I realize that I needed to check it out. Continue reading
Grandma quilts have love in every stitch. Author Unknown
Just before his third birthday, Robert became enamored of the I Spy books he checked out of the library. With this in mind, I decided an I Spy quilt would be a great gift for his birthday.
Robert spies his quilt.
Robert was so pleased with his I Spy quilt. After he opened the package, the other children were quite intrigued and began examining the items in each square. Feeling a little overwhelmed by the festivities and his guests’ enthusiastic manhandling of his special quilt, Robert announced that he was going to take a rest. And please would Nana come with him.
With one hand he grabbed a corner of the quilt and with the other he took my hand. We went to his room and snuggled a little while before he was ready to face the bedlam that attends 3 year-old birthday parties. Ahhh…Nana heaven! Continue reading
Two things I dislike about my granddaughter–when she won’t take her afternoon nap, and when she won’t let me take mine. ~Gene Perret
This Swiss flannel blanket is one of my daughter Rebecca’s favorites for her baby Alastair. It is embroidered with designs from Hatched in Africa. The floral “C”  is from their Daisy Monogram and the butterflies are from Daisy Heirlooms 1.
More details about the quilt are posted here.
Â
When my daughter and son-in-law got the good news that they were to be first time parents, they requested a Harry Potter nursery. I was at a loss. How was I to make this look soft enough for a baby and yet maintain the requested theme? I like heirloom style and soft colors. Harry Potter is neither.
With all the visual fodder in the lengthy 7 book series, it was necessary to narrow the focus.
Keeping in mind that Rebecca specifically requested bright colors, I went to the drawing board. I like to start a nursery decoration plan with a quilt. That establishes the color scheme and allows many spin offs and opportunities for accessories.
After deciding on “fantastic creatures” I set to work, looking for designs that could be edited and customized to meet the description of critters from unicorns and fairies (the easy ones) to a thesteral, Pygmy Puff and snidget. Continue reading
Posted in baby accessories, machine embroidery, quilts, serger
