Star Wars and Sunsets

Posted on December 13, 2015 by | 16 comments

 

A Star Wars apron made and monogrammed for a friend.

A red-lined Star Wars apron made and monogrammed for a friend.

 

Star Wars fans are so excited about the opening of  The Force Awakens movie.   Well aware of that marketing opportunity, 11 yo granddaughter Laurel has been busy stocking Star Wars items in her Etsy store, SewAmazingGifts.  

 

3 buttonsWM

Fabric covered buttons have either a pin or rubber band back for ponytail or flip flops. She is selling them for $3 each at her Etsy shop.

 

Today was a Star Wars marathon. We worked together in the sewing room as she made samples and filled orders.  First she finished the apron she started last week.  It just warms my heart to I see her comfortably and happily stitching away on my Brother Dream Machine.   Seeing her progress through the years makes this Nana so proud.

I pressed fabric while she sewed and covered the buttons.  We were so busy that I forgot to take a picture of Laurel at work.

The pins and ponytail buttons were made with Hope Yoder’s fabulous Button Cover Machine.  It’s such a great addition to my sewing room–it’s quick, fun and offers so many opportunities for creative gifts.

 

Hope with her button machine,

Hope shows her button machine and samples at her Sewing At The Beach booth.

Continue reading →

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Posted in accessories, button machine, machine embroidery

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SOS Urgent Need for twin Wee Care Gowns

Posted on December 9, 2015 by | 4 comments

Heartfelt thanks to Jamie who has gowns on hand and ready to ship today!  The sewing community is so caring and especially loving in a time of need like this.  Thanks to all who make these gowns for little heaven-bound angels.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I am away from home and just received a plea for wee care gowns. A friend of reader Sarah has just lost twin babies at 20 weeks. If anyone can provide 2 burial gowns and the comfort they would offer please leave a comment or send e-mail to me at NC cabin@aol.com. I will put you in touch with Sarah. What a heartbreaking loss.

 

 

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Hinshaw Shadow Work Collection for Sale!

Posted on December 6, 2015 by | 4 comments
shadow embroidery by machine from Suzanne Hinshaw's Charming Embellishments collection

shadow embroidery by machine from Suzanne Hinshaw’s Charming Embellishments design collection

 

Heads up, Ladies!  Jan just shared a link to an Ebay auction of Suzanne Hinshaw’s Charming Embellishments    shadow work by machine embroidery collection.  The opening bid is $100.

The description reads:  Wow – hard to find Suzanne Hinshaw’s Shadow work by machine. Charming embellishments. New in package, I opened it to photo for listing. It states that it is for Husqvarna Viking machines. Not sure if the format works on other machines. Stated on floppy disk Hus/.Shv format Designer One.

This great package includes the floppy disk, book, and placement guides. It has 25 shadow work by machine designs. Cherries, poppies, Happy Birthday and Holiday Christmas and Hanukkah. Copyright 2000.

Free Priority shipping for winning bidder.

But around 2003 at Martha Pullen’s School of Art Fashion in Huntsville, I helped Suzanne in her booth at the teacher selling night.    The price of each collection was $125.

Designs from this set were used on a Christmas collar for my granddaughter.  Several of the other designs were used for more projects.

If you’ve been looking for any Hinshaw designs, this is one opportunity.  But be cautious.  I won the Ebay auction for the only collection I do not have, her Ladies and Babies collection.   It was a plagerized copy that soneone had color sorted so it wouldn’t work.  A full refund was given.

The fact that this set comes with the book and templates makes it seem legitimate.

So there you have it. I know nothing more about this auction than the description I have copied and pasted so you won’t find Janice Ferguson’s Good Sewing Stamp of Approval.   I hope one of you ends up with this great Hinshaw collection.

Thanks, Jan, for letting us know about this.

 

 

 

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Posted in heirloom sewing, shadow work by machine

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2 Aha! Moments and 1 Stocking

Posted on December 1, 2015 by | 22 comments

 

Z stocking all2x

 

While working on this stocking or a friend, I had two AHA! moments.  Now that’s a good sewing day!

Many of you, I am sure, have long since experienced these aha moments.  But for some readers…

 

3cfbffa3de64c4f2d727f44c57e367b3

 

I was ticked pink to discover two new problem solutions.

My first problem was the design.  I love the Winter Pines alphabet which is currently being offered for free, one letter at a time every few  days, from Sonia Showalter Designs.  Every single design on her site is spectacular, with artistic flair and flawless stitching.  It is one of my favorite embroidery sites.

Winter Pines  seemed perfect for this bulky knit stocking.  But the alphabet was only up to the letter “O” when it was time to get started. I needed “Z” for Zahra.  No time to wait for the entire alphabet so…..

AHA #1.  I took one of the previously downloaded letters, deleted the letter itself and then inserted a similarly styled “Z” from my Brother PE-Design.  Because that program has so many fonts and allows unlimited sizes, I found the perfect “Z”  to fit the cuff.  A bit of adjustment was required to make certain the letter stitched first and to remove the heavy satin stitching under the pine designs.  But it worked.  I was so pleased to get just the design I wanted.

Now, can you see the sort of challenges this stocking presented with regard to hooping the cuff? Initially, only two options came to mind.

A. I could open a side seam to lay the cuff flat and stitch it to tearaway stabilizer.  But a whole new world of difficulties would arise by opening a satin lined, knit seam and then sewing it back together again. Uh, nix that option. Continue reading →

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Posted in Holiday Projects, machine embroidery, techniques

8000 Paper Plates and Thankfullness-giving

Posted on November 20, 2015 by | 9 comments

Thanksgiving is just around the corner and so is tomorrow’s arrival of my grandchildren.  I love, love, love this time with them,  but not much else will get done.  So in advance of Thanksgiving Day, 2015, I am reposting memories from a few years ago.

 

thanx buffet guys

See that little hand reaching for a sample?

 

This was a wonderful Thanksgiving day. As in several past years, we celebrated Thanksgiving with family and friends across the state, at the home of our son-in-law’s mother.  Always the gracious hostess and host and always fabulous cooks, Carol and her husband, Alan, prepare most of the traditional food.  The menu included roast turkey and pork loin, mashed potatoes, two gravies, and several sides, while the extended family guests bring desserts and more sides.     The desserts filled the entire table in the breakfast room.  With the exception of yours truly and my daughter (who studied the culinary arts from me), they are all fabulous cooks.

 

thanx towels 2cr

 

Late Wednesday night after my lemon pound cake was baked and my other dishes were prepped– stuffed baked pumpkin,  garlic green beans and corn pudding–I sewed.  Embroidered dishtowels are my standard Thanksgiving day hostess gift. The brown gingham-bordered towels are from AllAboutBlanks and the designs are a combination of files.  The fall leaf spray is from  Kreations by Kara Autumn Wreaths (a GORGEOUS collection)  and the text and pumpkins were added with my Brother PE-Design. Continue reading →

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Posted in embroidery blanks, Holiday Projects, home dec, linen blanks, machine embroidery

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11 year old’s Etsy Shop

Posted on November 15, 2015 by | 4 comments

etsy lace heart pillow

This antique lace  pillow is the first product in granddaughter Laurel’s just opened Etsy shop,  SewAmazingGifts.  Measuring just 8.5 x 8.5,” it would be a petite reminder of sweet sentiments.  She has decided that the machine embroidered text could vary from a monogram, to other phrases such as “Friends,” Sister,” “Mother,” “Hope,” and more. The backing is vintage damask.

She has been earning money with sewing since she was 7, when she scored big at the county fair for her entries, including her first quilt. Her second quilt, Kisses and Hugs,   also won best-in-show, generating even more cash and incentive to sew.Then she started her little business, Laurel’s Specialty Sewing.  But the Etsy shop is another step up in the business world.

Of course,  I was excited when Laurel asked for my help designing products and setting up her shop.  We went to on-line and she was immediately taken with an image of a similar pillow.

“I want to make that!” she exclaimed.  And she wanted to make it now. She knew her Nana had all she would need to make a boat load of similar heart pillows.  She’s seen my stash.

A few bags of antique textiles were pulled out of storage bins and we got started.  It was so much fun!

Laurel has sewn with me enough to recognize tatting, hemstitching, cutwork and Swiss embroideries.  Then as we sorted through the the bags, she was introduced to coronation cord, chemical lace,  teneriffe, Irish crochet and more.  As per my suggestions, she selected a variety of textures. Continue reading →

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Posted in antique textiles, home dec, machine embroidery

The Last Hurrah

Posted on November 3, 2015 by | 18 comments
Aliya, newly turned 4 years old

Aliya, newly turned 4 years old

This was posted a few years ago. I came across it while looking for another photo and think it is worth posting again.  Aliya continues to be a delight and a beauty.  The dress is now scrap. But as I distribute the outgrown garments from our last and final granddaughter, Vivian Rose, the message is still meaningful.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Seeing little girls in heirloom dresses just makes me purr with happy contentment.  And seeing a dress I made so long ago come back to life on another beautiful child is one more dividend for the time and effort that went into making it.

A standing

Everything they say about the timelessness of heirloom clothing is true.  Twenty-nine years ago, my blue eyed blond Rebecca frequently wore this to church as well as a few weddings.  She was a veritable Vision of Loveliness.  Then it was on loan to my dear friend Gale for her towheaded, blue-eyed Anna, Vision of Loveliness #2.  Anna wore it as much as Rebecca had. Continue reading →

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Posted in girls, heirloom sewing

Thanks to Blanks–Quick Gifts

Posted on October 31, 2015 by | Leave a comment
From ho-hum plain to sweet with the help of machine embroidery and spaghetti bias.

From ho-hum plain to sweet with the help of machine embroidery and spaghetti bias.

 

Lately, I’ve been in need of a variety of really fast projects, for a baby, a bride, a guy, a little girl and a young lady.  I know of nothing faster than starting with ready-made blank items.

I started with the baby gift.  Years ago I bought several of these blank bibs, bonnets and caps made of Aida cloth or with Aida cloth inserts.   You know how a technique strikes you suddenly.  Machine embroidered cross stitch–yup!

 

plain aida bibs

The plan was to embroider all of these bibs, bonnets and baby baseball caps.   But that didn’t happen.  Oh, I did embroider several for the pregnancy center our church supports.  But I sold most of them for a pittance.

When the needs rolled in for these in-a-New York-minute projects,  only one plain white one bib was left, though I’d rather have had one with blue gingham binding.  Why does it always happen that you have things lying around for years, then once they are gone you need them ASAP?  Who knows?

Even with the cross stitch embroidery, the white bib was boring.  So I pulled out some spaghetti bias from my stash and stitched it right on top of the white bias binding.  I was generally pleased with this little gift.

It seems to me that cotton thread makes machine cross stitch look more like hand stitching.  So the bib was stitched with 50 wt. DMC machine embroidery thread.  I really like that thread.

Then I moved on to something for the bride.  A new but vintage handkerchief from my collection was just what I needed for a second project.   The linen, hand crocheted edging and hemstitching fit the bill for “something old, something new, something borrowed (well, it COULD be loaned), and something blue.”  This was reeeeeally fast. Continue reading →

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Posted in accessories, baby accessories, bags, embroidery blanks, machine embroidery, sporting gear, techniques

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A Small Token of Appreciation

Posted on October 18, 2015 by | 6 comments
Icolin and our Lab Rastus who adores her.

Icolin and our Lab Rastus who adores her.

 

This is my Jamaican friend Icolin.  I love her and so does our Lab Rastus.  She does my housework and keeps my home as orderly as she can manage while dealing with my untidy habits.   I am so grateful that she frees me up for more time in the sewing room.

More than that, she is a loving, serene presence who goes about her business humming–EVEN when she is trying to make her way through my sewing room.  No mess is too much for her.  Dependable, hard working and sweet as pie, Icolin is a devout Christian woman.   She shares my troubles, lives the gospel and prays faithfully for my family and any friends in need.  Icolin is a genuine treasure.

 

I love this woman.

I love this woman.

 

I wanted to do something to show my appreciation, even something as small as embroidering this apron for her.  When I gave it to her, she flashed her beautiful smile and thanked me in her musical Jamaican accent.  She loved it. I could listen to her lilting, island-girl talk for hours.

 

The crown is from Zundt's Regal collection.

The crown is from Zundt’s Heraldry collection.

 

It made me happy to offer her this small  token of appreciation for her hard work and loyalty.  Now that I think about it, there are many others who deserve some tangible expression of my gratitude.  But Icolin is at the top of my list.

Have you made a “small token of appreciation” for someone special in your life?  I’d love to hear about it.

6 Comments

Posted in kitchen, machine embroidery

Birthday Gift Pillowcases

Posted on October 12, 2015 by | 3 comments

1-2 pcases

 

My ongoing, escalating computer troubles came to a head today when the machine just plain died, right there on my desk.  It didn’t make a final death groan, but I made some pretty loud sounds.  Until the replacement arrives, I am using my husband’s laptop.  It’s like walking to the corner in someone else’s shoes.  You can get there, but it is not comfortable.

While the computer was in its terminal stages, I’ve wanted to share these pillowcases with you.  They were a birthday gift for my precious daughter, made with love in every stitch.  Rebecca is an amazing young woman, an incredible mother and wife, and the daughter anyone would love to have.  She dreams big, so these big, silky, pima pillowcases against her pretty face should help facilitate those dreams.

Much as she likes bright colors, she requested neutral tones.  Since they moved into their new home 17 months ago the walls have changed colors three times.  So for her home dec style, neutral is good. Continue reading →

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Posted in heirloom sewing, machine embroidery, shadow work by machine

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