Wonderful Wednesday #76: Wild Olive Stitch Club

While doing some research on incorporating embroidery in English Paper Piecing, I found the perfect way to bring both together - Mollie Johanson of Wild Olive is doing a FREE Jam a Month Stitch Club this year using EPP!

Download the patterns

Mollie has already made the first 6 patterns available on her blog:
January: Orange Marmalade
February: Cherry Preserves
March: Raspberry Jam
April: Grapefruit Jam
May: Blueberry Jelly
June: Pineapple Marmalade

You can try your hand at embroidery and EPP using these patterns or there is also an option for cross-stitch too!

Mollie's Jam of the Month Quilt

This weekend I carefully cut out all the EPP shapes Mollie provided for the mini EPP quilt, so I could try to visualize the size and how it fits together:

Ok, I am almost convinced that I should try to make this mini quilt... but I admit I'm intimidated because I've never made a quilt before! But a small one does seem like a good way to start...

Fun with Half Hexagons

In the meantime, I started playing with half hexagons in a nice orange, to match my cute jam embroidery:

When you cut hexagons in half, there are so many possibilities for framing a central hexagon! The arrangement above is one way...

Here is another:

And here is yet another possibility!

Please note my edges don't exactly match up because I forgot to include the seam allowance in my half hexagons - if you cut your half hexagons properly, they should line up perfectly!

If Only Quilting Was Taught in School

I admit I had a hard time in geometry (they always said in school that you would either be good at geometry OR algebra but not both) algebra was a bit more my thing as it was more like writing sentences and learning a language.

As much as I love shapes and color, drawing them out in geometry and the very dry way they were discussed bored me to death. But sliding these colorful shapes around taught me more about angles and shapes than I ever learned as a child. Maybe basic quilting would be a good subject for school, as it teaches you so much more than how to make a blanket!

Ok, so I've really traveled far afield in this post - suffice it to say EPP has changed my perspective on quilting and handmade items, and I thoroughly recommend it!

If you're looking for an easy, free way to start with English paper piecing, Mollie's Jam a Month Stitch Club is perfect!

Wonderful Wednesday #74: Mollie Johanson

I hope you were inspired by my Project a Month post last week on English Paper Piecing!

Maybe you'd like to try your hand at EPP, but don't want to dive too deep just yet - well, this lovely FREE Father's Day card tutorial by Mollie Johanson is perfect for you! I just adore this bow tie - and it has me remembering with fondness my dad's epic collection of ties. Sadly I didn't keep any, but the memory of them lingers on. :)

Isn't it funny how once you start doing something, you begin to notice it everywhere? That's how it is with English Paper Piecing and hexagons lately - I see them everywhere! This is an older tutorial by Mollie, but super cute and super quick to make just in time for Father's Day!

Christmas Countdown #21: Mollie Johanson

A wonderful free pattern, Posable Gingerbread People by Mollie Johanson are on Handmade Charlotte.

If you adore Mollie's sweet style as I do, there are lots of holiday themed patterns in her Etsy shop as well:

Patterns: Mollie Johanson

Just shared some exciting news on my blog. It's ABOUT my new writing gig. http://t.co/KG4Hv2wpw6 pic.twitter.com/FslkemjgcJ

— wild olive (@molliejohanson) September 30, 2015

Mollie Johanson from Wild Olive has been really busy recently, not only has she started writing for About.com, where she shares some really useful tips and some free patterns, she's also recently posted on her own blog, some really cute Dia De Los Muertos patterns, also free to download.

Have you seen the free #DiaDeLosMuertos #embroidery patterns on my blog? http://t.co/KG4Hv2O0nE pic.twitter.com/bcCHyhrNUs

— wild olive (@molliejohanson) October 8, 2015

I love this time of year when the Day of the Dead patterns come out!

Stitch Love preview!

Hi all! Recently the lovely Mollie Johanson of Wild Olive was kind enough to send me a copy of her new book Stitch Love: Sweet Creatures Big and Small.

It is pure adorable-ness.

Have a cup of coffee, tea, or the brew of your choice and take a quick peek at it with me this morning! :)

Even the dedication is wonderful.

How gorgeous is this butterfly project? You'll see beautiful photography like this throughout!

I haven't said eep! lately - but this pup is eep-worthy. :)

Furoshiki cloth? I don't know what that is. But I want to make one!

Possum, you are so much cuter than the critters that steal my cat's food.

Hello Yeti, I love you.

There are pages and pages of critters beautifully stitched by Mollie on linen - it's such a perfect way to get inspired!

Aww, shucks, thanks for the shout-out, Mollie!

In short, if you love cute, small projects that are quick to stitch, you'll be happy to have this little gem in your library. Thanks again Mollie, for the preview of Stitch Love: Sweet Creatures Big and Small and thanks all, for joining me! :)

Stitch Love Valentine Blog Hop: Silly Skunk!

Hello all - thanks to a lovely Valentine blog hop by Mollie Johanson, in celebration of her new book Stitch Love: Sweet Creatures Big and Small, I'd like to introduce you to a free Silly Skunk pattern!



I used felt for my skunk, and some bits of Mountain Crewel Wool and vintage red DMC floss. A quick stitch, and a perfect quick Valentine hoop for a friend. :)



I also put the skunk into a few little Valentines for my friends, and came up with the skunkiest puns I could think of. Groanworthy, but fun! :)

Here is a list of all the Stitch Love Valentine stops, for your enjoyment:

Monday: Shiny Happy World [http://www.shinyhappyworld.com/] ; Wild Olive [http://wildolive.blogspot.com/]

Tuesday: Little Dear Tracks [http://littledeartracks.blogspot.com/]

Wednesday: Lark Crafts [http://larkcrafts.com/]

Thursday: Hugs Are Fun [http://hugsarefun.com/]

Friday: Feeling Stitchy [http://www.feelingstitchy.com/]

Saturday: Pretty By Hand [http://prettybyhand.com/] ; Wild Olive [http://wildolive.blogspot.com/]

Stay tuned for a lengthier review of Stitch Love: Sweet Creatures Big and Small soon - and thanks, Mollie, for sharing this sweet Valentine pattern with our readers!

Countdown to Christmas: Sweet Baby Jesus

Stitched by MissEnota

Isn't this an adorable rendering of baby Jesus by MissEnota? Find the free pattern on Mollie Johanson's wonderful 25 Crafts of Christmas: Embroidery.

March Stitchalong: week 4

Time for some balloons! These little guys were so cute all on their own that I didn't see the need to go crazy with any fancy stitches.

I've got a couple of competing pinks going, but I think it's pretty cute all in all. At the end of this month's stitchalong, I'll be framing each piece in a hoop and hanging it in my craft room as a sort of Feeling Stitchy birthday gift all year. What are you guys gonna do with your stitchalong pieces?

Look at this sweet piñata on patterned fabric by TheMarchOwl:

Love this sweet little guy stitched on purple by viji52:

kghawkes stitched a cake card for her grandma:

Luciana stitched a felt version of the balloons, with a beaded border:

And here's an adorable orange piñata stitched by KJ

Want to join in? Download the free patterns designed by Mollie Johanson, stitch up one or all, tag your photo "MarchStitchalong2012" and add it to the pool.  :) Just one more week! Be sure to tag your pics and I'll include as many as possible in next week's final wrap-up post!

Download the PDF
Week One
Week Two
Week Three

March Stitchalong: week 3

That's right guys, it's cake time. I was very fickle with this cake, and did a lot of stitching and re-stitching, so as luck would have it, I wasn't finished until precisely yesterday evening. I practiced my couching on the birthday candles, using 4 strands of embroidery floss - I love the woven sort of effect it created. Then lots and lots of french knot frosting. Now I see how addictive french knots can be. I am a fellow french knot junkie, it appears!

I was super-happy to see lots of you joining us this week on the March stitchalong, so without further ado, let's see some stitching!

Awwwwww! Check out this quilted birthday card stitched by mega4beth - sweetness! I love that sweet and simple color scheme - gorgeous.

Here's an adorable piñata stitched by LaWhimsy

I particularly love that she included an idea sketch. If only I was so prepared! :)

Here's some more birthday cake, stitched by viji52

I think I see some beaded eyes? Great idea!

Daisyeyes stitched her piñata on a t-shirt - great job stitching!

I love how 1.2.Stitcharoo created a whole birthday scene with the motifs - and that one of the balloons is sad.

Creative and sweet!

And just look at this gorgeous little cake by Luciana

I love those wavy, two-colored candles - and that's a delicious looking cake! :)

Well, if all of this cuteness has inspired you, feel free to join in! Download the free patterns designed by Mollie Johanson, stitch up one or all, tag your photo "MarchStitchalong2012" and add it to the pool. Can't wait to see more! :)

Download the PDF
Week One
Week Two

March Stitchalong: week 2

Have any of you started on the March stitchalong yet? As for me, the second I saw Mollie's patterns for this month, I had them printed out and ready to go. :) Sometimes I love the beginning stage best of all - lining up all your colors, tracing everything out, still not quite sure what everything's gonna look like...

I started by lining up a couple of palettes of bright colors:

I wasn't sure which palette I liked best, so I mixed it up and used colors from both:

Yeah, you knew I would go for that cute little piñata first. :) Eeeeeeeep. Isn't he a cutie? I've been loving all the crazy french knot projects you guys have posted lately, so I decided to stitch up his saddle all in french knots:

I thought it would take forever, but it was pretty quick. It also didn't take half as much floss as I thought it would - just 3 medium-lengths of floss. More french knots for the bridle. Oh, and I used all 6 strands throughout.

One of you was lightning-fast and stitched up a piñata, too:

This seriously adorable version was stitched by Artful Magpie. I love that she was adventurous, and used a bright color as a background!

As for next week, I've already got the next motif in the hoop:

Want to join us? To join, stitch any or all of the birthday motifs for this month's stitchalong (thank you, Mollie!), tag them "MarchStitchalong2012" and add them to the embroidery pool! See you next week!

Download the PDF
Week One