Learning New Things

I am working on my project for the "Modern Mini Challenge" over at Ellison Lane Quilts.  Jennifer has been doing a blog series on Mini's so we can find our inspiration - there are some wonderfully talented folks out there in blog-land!

This is my first "quilt".  However, as you may be aware, I am a free spirit when it comes to design, so I have to admit that my mini will be functional.  Not as in "it hangs on the wall and looks pretty" kind of functional, but as in a "hey, that's way cool - what do you mean it hangs on the wall?!!" kind of functional.  Confused yet?

OK, I'll reveal a little bit about my project on this post, but I want to wait until it's done to reveal the whole shebang (mainly because it's not finished yet!).  Prior to being sidetracked into this challenge, I was working on a "Quiet Book" for my children.  So every page had "something to do".  That bled over into this quilt a little bit.  

These adorable aliens can go INTO the house and space ship.  Yep, those bits are not just for looks, they are actually pockets!  Yay for keeping kids busy!!!  

(Speaking of keeping kids busy, has anyone seen my third alien?  I think someone toddled off with it....)

I admit I am no professional.  I am probably going to be crazy enough to try to make another one of the space ships.  I learned a bunch while doing this one.  First off, I learned how to make buttonholes with my new (to me) sewing machine!

Not excellent, but it'll do for the kiddos.  (Thread snapped in the middle of sewing.  grrrr.)

I had some fun trying to figure out exactly how to make the space ship.  I added the ric rac with itty bitty French knots to add a bit of color.  I like how it turned out!

I also got to "play" with Peltex.  It's really neat stuff (of course - it's made by Pellon!).  It is a thick stabilizer with heat-activated adhesive on both sides.  It makes the aliens (and space ship) sort of stiff but flexible - like spongy cardboard!

Typically, after I put something together I look at it and think of all the embroidered bits I can add.  I was not sure about the Peltex, because it is so thick.  However, it was surprisingly simple to sew through - even by hand!  

Here are some of my house windows.  My original design has a porch, too, but I'm working on that.  I love that I can sit and do a bunch of hand-embroidered details on this project.  Makes it relaxing, fun, and doesn't feel alien to me (ha!).

I only have until March 5th to finish it up, but I'd better get cracking - especially if I want to re-do the space ship with all of my new found knowledge!

Quiet Book UFO (Part 2)

In Part 1 of my Quiet Book posts I mentioned that most of my pages were someone else's idea.  Most of the gumball machine pages I've found teach colors, but since I already have a colors page (see Ice Cream page, below), this gumball machine teaches patterns!  Stripes, swirls, checks, plaids, polka dots, and spots, oh my!

The Very Hungry Caterpillar counting pages (I want to add more "texture" to these pages, though they are quite busy...).  I love that I can use up some scraps that were gifted to me.  Makes it more precious to me!

Ice Cream Scoops (teaches colors)

Like I said, the pages are not finished.  This page is a maze, with a car and two "parks".  Sunshine is trying to get the car into the pocket, and the page is too flimsy at the moment for her to have much success.  Hopefully it will be much easier when the pages are finished.

Picking Veggies from the Garden

And here is the rocket in space page.  Spunky, my sweet creative 5 year old asked if I could make the moon into a pocket.  (Great idea, Spunky, but you'll notice that the moon is smaller than the rocket.)  He asked if we could make a comet, but since I didn't know what a comet should look like, he drew me one:

He picked out the fabrics and the trims, too.  Creative little thing, isn't he?  I love working with my Spunky!

So now the rocket has a comet to explore!

Which leads me to an observation.  I am not sure about anyone else's experience with Quiet Books, but Spunky was NOISY when playing with this page.  Anyone else out there have that kind of a kid?  He is a chatterbox!  I love him to pieces, noisy or not, but the irony was not lost on me.  Come to think of it, Sunshine had all of her 2 year old self in the middle of the floor saying "BUCKLE UP!" in her loudest voice.  Makes me want to re-think the "Quiet Book" title....

Can you imagine THAT at the doctors office, church, or (yikes!) at a funeral?!!!

Blessings to you!

:) Caren

Quiet Book UFO (Part 1)

When I was about 7 months pregnant with my youngest child, I started "nesting".  Most pregnant ladies nest by decorating or cleaning up for a nursery (or so I've heard).  Not me.  I started sewing.  Or at least, I started dreaming of ideas for "after the baby comes".  Ha.

Sprout

Here's my "baby".  He just turned one year old this month.  And this week he started walking (for real), and drinking regular milk!  And this week I have finally started my Quiet Book (it is not anywhere near being finished, hence UFO, or UnFinished Object).

So here, my friends, is a sampling of my un-finished pages (so far):

Matching Shapes

Yep, I let the kiddos play with the pages - raw edges and everything.  I love that I can see Sunshine's binky in this picture.  It will remind us of how "long ago" this book was made (assuming it ever gets finished, of course!)

Picking Apples (unsnap & put them in the basket)

Ohio State Tic Tac Toe page teaches a little Ohio history, too!)  I love the ladybugs vs. buckeyes instead of X's and O's - they turned out exactly as I had envisioned them.  That little flag was a LOT of work, but on the bright side, I learned how to make French knots!  Added the state motto: With God all things are possible, and our state bird (cardinal).  That's a lot of learning on one page :)

Generic "Build-a-Burger" page

Most of my pages were made from someone else's idea.  I can't give credit because there are so many different variations floating around the world wide web, but I'm grateful for the start in the right direction!

Lace & Tie the Football page has the scarlet and gray (scraps from my Buckeye Princess dress) for the Ohio State Buckeyes, a subtle hint of what college team our family is affiliated with.  Now if I could only find those shoelaces I stashed away for this project a year ago....

Have any of you, dear readers, made a quiet book?  Do tell!

:) Caren

Chair Name Tag Thingies

(honestly - I have GOT to find a better name for these things!)

Hallelujah!  My chair name-tag thingies are finished!  (Remember this post?) They are basically like pillowcases that go over the back of my sisters dining chairs.  I finally finished all 12 of them.  Mom, Dad, seven children, and three guests are all going to have their own unique chairs!  

My brother-in-law ("DAD") is not as conservative as my husband, but still, I'm hoping he doesn't look at these and get dizzy.  Or shield his eyes and run away.  That's some crazy fabric, huh?

Rosalie, on the other hand, will really like them.  I'm hoping they all will.  I mean, that's 6 months of work so - yeah, I'd like them to be appreciated.  But then again, they're kids (*sigh*).

I didn't want to put individual pictures of all of them, that would make this post really long, and honestly, I didn't think anyone (other than myself) would want to see each of them.  So here's my collage.  Fun, huh?

All of my letters are hand-cut and appliquéd in some fashion.  I stitched around the edges of all of the letters as well as all of the shapes, including the critters so that nothing would come off without some effort.  And they're all made with some amount of reverse-applique.  And vinyl.  And love - lots of it!

So now they're in the mail.  I'm praying that they are big enough (I never got an exact measurement on the chair backs).  If they're not big enough, I'm practicing my speech to my sister: "Look on the bright side - you can always stuff them, then everyone will have their own little pillow!"  (Who knows - maybe God will stretch them in transit?!!)

:) Caren

Will this project EVER get finished?!!!

Do you have projects like that?  I usually tell people to start small so they don't get overwhelmed and quit before completion.  On this project, however, I did not take my own advice.

So what is the project?  Well, this is a little in-process photo I took.  It is the applique for a chair cover.  Not just any chair cover, though.  See my sister has seven kids.  And she asked me a while back if I could make something that gave each chair a name (assumedly so there were not so many squabbles over who sits where).

She has 12 dining chairs total, and if my math is correct, that's 9 family members plus 3 guests.  So I'm putting names on 9 and the other 3 will be different creatures.  (A frog, a cat, and a lizard - they live in Florida).  A while ago I scored some discounted vinyl at the Joann's in town.  Since most of the family is under 15, I wanted to make sure these were fully machine-washable and would stand up to a lot of abuse.

So I made most of the names out of vinyl with reverse-appliqued letters.  Praise God they turned out pretty good!  That was a LOT of work.  See, here's how it went.

First, I printed out the names.  Then traced them onto Freezer Paper (I love that stuff!).  Then I ironed the freezer paper right to the front of the vinyl. Beneath the vinyl is a fabric (fabrics for all of the names were different).  Took it to the sewing machine and stitched around each letter (like I said - a TON of work - most of it was hand-cranked instead of using the pedal).  Then for the fun part!

I took my itty bitty embroidery scissors and cut out the inside of each letter, to reveal that fantastic fabric underneath!  See how the vinyl makes those letters POP?!!!  Super coolness!!!

My sister is in town right now on vacation, and this was supposed to be her Christmas gift, but as you can see, it's not finished.  So I took her to dinner last night (thanks to husbands who took care of the kids!) and showed her first the fabrics, then each of the name/creature plates.  She was astonished.  Loved them.

So now, I just have to add the plates to the fabrics, make all 12 into pillowcase-style chair coverings, and hem.  No biggie, right, now that the hard part is over.  Should take me a bit less than the 6 months I've already been working on this project.  No problem - what are sisters for!
:) Caren

Random Mermaid Stitchery

I have had this mermaid "in process", hanging on my wall for months now.  I decided to give you a little look, even though it's not finished.  It is part applique and part embroidery.

I started with a little doodle of this mermaid (I used a lightweight fusible web so it ended up reversed).

 I added some big seaweed pieces and began to embroider, creating as I went along.  I love the little snails.

And I like the 3D effect of the starfish.  I cant remember how I made them, though, only that they all started out like that skinny green one on the left.  Just skinny and green - boring!  So I kept adding layers until I was satisfied.

This is an interesting project, because I do not have a sketch (except the mermaid herself) to refer to, I'm just doodling along with my embroidery.  A fun keep-my-hands-busy project, adding bits here and there.

I'd like to add bits of "stuff" to her hair.  I'm thinking maybe some iridescent seed beads?  Hmm.  Still thinking on that one.  And by the way, she's looking at something in her hand.  I haven't decided on a pearl or a necklace/chain.  Or maybe something else.

I am usually a "get it done" type of person.  I prefer the smaller projects that I can finish in a short amount of time.  But for some reason I'm ok with this one being unfinished, hanging as-is on my wall.  I did tuck the extra fabric under the hoop so it didn't look so unfinished - my husband's "suggestion".  (This is a 14-inch hoop, in case you're interested.)

I'm thinking of adding neon tetras at the top (because they're my favorite fishies).  Feel free to send me some suggestions in the comments section.  I'd love to hear from you!

:) Caren

Stockings (Part 2): Applique

As I said in my last post, I am working on making Christmas stockings for kids in foster care as part of the Stockings for Kids project.  I have finished up three patchwork quilted stockings, and I am bursting at the seams with ideas for applique designs and I'd like to share them with you.

First off, we have the Christmas robot and the kitty with a tree.  You can't see the note at the bottom very well, but it makes me chuckle.  I wrote "fortunately I sew better than I sketch!!!"

Here's the kitty with the tree.  It looks so different from the sketch, though the applique pieces are the same, because of the fabric and embroidery techniques I used.  I wanted the kitty to be stripey.  I think this fits the bill.  You can't tell from the picture, but I used a backstitch for the star and a blanket stitch around the hat.  I have found the perfect white button for the pompom at the tip of the hat.  So assuming the kids don't take off with my button, it should be finished up tomorrow!

Here's my slightly wonky Christmas robot.  I want my stockings to look handmade.  Not bad quality, but just "off" enough that they can't be mistaken for mass-produced.  I do all of my embroidery by hand (which was not easy on this one, since the body/arms/wheels were made from vinyl).  I wanted this robot to be slightly wonky (like Wall-E after he got smooshed at the end of the movie).  I think that's how we humans are.  Smooshed.  But God has a way of healing our hearts and putting things in place like no robot can.  So I am praying that the child who receives this stocking will also receive Gods healing - way down deep in his (or her) heart.

I know I already showed you this picture, but I just love the details.  I was trying to figure out how to make stitches that resembled rivets.  I think this works pretty well - and I love that my 90 cent bag of embroidery floss from the thrift store had just the perfect shade of "robot grey" (my name for it).  And those glasses!  I can just imagine a cute little near-sighted robot going into the optometrist saying "take me to your candy cane glasses."  

Next up, a chilly penguin, and a sweet kitty with her teddy bear (I'm thinking pink fuzzy fleece for the kitty).  I'll keep you posted.  

Chow for now!  :) Caren