Crochet a String of Hearts...........

A friend sent me this link to crochet a string of hearts. She thought it might be used for a crazy quilting seam treatment. The video is in Russian but I think it's easy enough to follow.

There is supposedly an English version on their website but I wasn't able to find it but did find some other interesting things:)

She-Ru Knitting and Crochet

The World Of Needle Craft Is Certainly An Unusual Place......

 The world of needle craft is certainly an unusual place. This is something I had never heard of before.

Kantha Embroidery of West Bengal......

An interesting form of embroidery.....and quilting as well. Enlarge the video to see all the stitching detail.

WIP........

More about my crazy quilting sampler on line class with Kathy Shaw.

I'm finding that the silk ribbon embroidery is not my forte.  It looks pretty though. Anyone who can master it rocks in my books...LOL I would say it takes lots of practice to get it right.

I found it was very difficult to keep the soft integrity of the silk ribbon while pulling it through the two layers of fabric. Pliers were needed when doing the vine. Bad planning on my part. A lot of my leaves are over areas where the seams meet and there are four layers of fabric. Ah well this is how you learn stuff...what not to do.....right?

We have now been introduced to Fly Stitch Roses and French Knot Wraps....eeeek !!

Thank goodness there are videos.

I'm posting the videos here so I can find them again. Also you might like to give SRE a try.

Fly Stitch Rose

French Knot Rose

 
Rosebud Made With French Knot and Beads

Twirled Ribbon Rose.....

Anyway, here is my effort. I think I may be done with this. I'll finish the edges and put it in my stitch diary book for further reference. I've learned quite a bit from this class and I'm considering taking Kathy's intermediate class when she offers it.

If you're interested in cloth doll making, I have also started a new class with Angela Jarecki called The Traveler: Anya and Baba. You can find out what I'm up to over here.

I'm joining up today with The Needle & Thread Network...come on over and see what my fellow Canadians are up to.

Take care:)

WIP

Well my sampler block for the online crazy quilting class I'm taking with Kathy Shaw is starting to fill up. I've done almost all the steps except the ribbon embroidery.

I remember doing silk ribbon embroidery years ago when Brazilian embroidery was a big fad. Silk ribbon is not easy to handle. It takes a light hand, patience and practice but the results are very pretty.

I really love the work of Di van Niekerk. She does such lovely work and she makes it look so easy. Kathy posted a link to Di's YouTube video on doing the iris stitch and I thought I'd share too.

Also here is her video on spiderweb roses...they are often used in crazy quilting....

Di van Niekerk has other videos if you are interested....here. 

Til next time.....

Take care:)

Added:
A great source for embroidery stitching how to's is Mary Corbet's videos which you came find ...here.

The Snowman Song by Phil Keaggy........

Paper, Scissors, Glue.......

The on-line doll club that I belong to had a challenge to make an album or book out of old CDs.

Source: Cloth Doll Artistry

I've never done any mixed media stuff before but I as I had about 40 old CDs I figured what the heck. I have to tell you that this was too much fun....so much fun in fact that I may make another one:)

I started out thinking I'd do a Steampunk book......as I love Steampunk......but I'm not sure if I truly stuck to my theme.

It may be more like Steampunk meets Monty Python....LOL

So here is what I made...

The Cover...

Inside....

I really didn't have a clue what I was doing but I persevered. I got a bit carried away and instead of four or fives pages I have a few more:)

Below is a video showing how to do a simple album. I chose not to punch a hole in the CDs because I simply didn't have anything that would put a hole in them. Instead I used ribbon as hinges and it worked out well.

A little hint. If you are going to make one of these books and use ribbon as I did then put your hinges on first and put the book together. That way the hinges won't show because you will be covering them with your paper:)

After I was finished I covered the edge of each of the CDs with a thin gold cord. The majority of the images I used came from The Graphics Fairy. There are lots of places where you can get free images. Here are just a few that I have on my blog list.

Digital Two For Tuesday

Stampin D'Amour

Free Vintage Digital Stamps

My Fanciful Muse

Magic Moonlight

Vintage Holiday Crafts


Take care:)

Morbidly Cute........Dumb Ways to Die............A Public Announcement

Make the 10-Minute Tablerunner

I Love This Lovely Owl:)

I've posted this before but the link went missing. So adorable:) I find this video so stress

reducing...aaaahhhh......

10 Minute Blocks & Quick Tricks

Thread Painting

There was nothing on TV and I was bored so I took a look at some videos about stuff and I found this very simple demonstration on thread painting. I know it's more complex than this but for a newbie like me this seems not so intimidating as some I've seen:)



I have a very old sewing machine and it has a straight stitch and a zig zag and not much else. I was very surprised to see that they were all that the demonstrator used.

Take care:)

Oddly Strange and Beautiful........

Riusuke Fukahori creates this art by painting in layer by layer with acrylics. The result is an amazing art piece that looks impressively real!

Handmade bags with textile artist Marilyn Pipe

I thought this was pretty interesting. I'm still looking for an idea to use the bag handles I received from the Felt Fairy in January....maybe I will give this a try.....

Textile art - creating new surfaces using fabric scraps

So after I found out all about yo-yos and puffs I did a bit more searching and I found this video...



I have lots of little bits of fabric as my mum taught me by example never to throw any fabric away no matter how small and insignificant a bit. She had a lot of sayings one being "waste not, want not". She used bits as trim on aprons and pillows and anything and everything. She really liked to make her own buttons too.

So I looked for some bits that were sort of coordinated but really I was looking for the smallest pieces I had.

Some...:)

I had two pieces of muslin about 14 in x 15 in that I used for the backing and just randomly placed the bits to cover the muslin.

 
I didn't have any organza but I did have some scraps of bridal tulle so I used that instead. Then I randomly stitched here and there both ways. Anyone who is a whiz at FMQ would be able to make a lovely pattern but as I was just experimenting I did any old thing. My goal was to make sure the bits were anchored down.

The result....it did tone down the colours of the fabrics but I now have two very sturdy  pieces of fabric to make something with....maybe a pillow for my sewing room:)

I added some odd pieces of fiber threads

Would I do this again...absolutely. I can see all kinds of uses for this idea. I have box of bridal tulle and crinoline netting in pale mint green from my DIL's prom dress and I have been wondering what to do make with it....hmmmm:)

Take care.

Sewing Fabric Yo-Yos and Suffolk Puffs....

I don't know about the rest of you but I seem to have lots of little scraps of fabric that I don't want to throw away. I was looking around for an easy project to use these bits up that I could do while watching TV or listening to the radio or even sitting outside on the deck. I've also noticed recently that yo-yo puffs or Suffolk puffs have had a revival of late so....


I found this idea on www.hancockfabrics.com.....under Free Projects - Sewing Projects. It's a PDF but I have copyied it here for you to see.

It reminded me of a tablecloth I made many years ago. You could make it in any size or any shape.

http://www.hancockfabrics.com

http://www.hancockfabrics.com

Just in case you have never made a puff before..... here are two videos to show you how.........

 Here is the link to the file that she mentions in the video......http://www.knitting-and.com/embroidery/pdf/yoyo.pdf......if you page down you will find a graft for your yo-yo designs.

So puff away...................:)

Take care.

How To Make A Mannequin Pincushion......

I thought this was kind of cute and very easy too. A nice gift for someone who sews......

Here is the website that it comes from for further information and the template..........DIY Dish.

Take care:) 

p.s. Is it just me but these girls remind me of Marie Osmond...?

Fabric Postcards.....

My online doll club is having a challenge to make Fabric Postcards with the theme "Lazy Summer Afternoon".

We can make as many cards as we want as long as they are made from fabric...the card can be stitched, painted, have small amounts of paper, photographs and embellishments but predominantly it must be made from fabric.

These cards are not going to be exchanged as it is a "show and tell" challenge only.

I have only made one fabric postcard before for a swap and at the time I didn't know that there are "rules". So this time I thought I'd do a bit of research.

Here are some videos I found on YouTube........there are lots more:)

I found a couple of Flickr groups for inspiration too.....

• Fabric Postcards Pool 
• Fabric Postcard Exchange 
• Fabric Postcard Swap

Take care:)

The Story of Keep Calm and Carry On

Kaffe Fassett