Autumn Jubilee 2022 Cornucopia progress, quilt label and bowl cozies

I’m working towards finishing another Autumn Jubilee project that I started in October. (If you are new here, the directions for this project came from the blog From My Carolina Home. ) The Cornucopia project was meant to be down as a wool project, but as I previously explained , I went with cotton. (If you haven’t read that post, go take a look).

I decided that my Cornucopia needed some quilting, so that was done, just casually outlining the cornucopia to the edge of the fabric. Nothing fancy. I decided the piece was due for some trimming and I squared it up to 18.5×18.5. I dug out more matching fabric and cut a piece about 19″ wide. I cut two pieces out of that about 12″ x 19″ each and hemmed one edge. I overlapped those two pieces for an “envelope style backing” for a throw pillow. I made sure to double tack where the two edges overlap, and trimmed and turned it right side out and gave it a good pressing.

Of course, it’s bigger than most of my other sofa pillows, so a quick order on Amazon and I have 18″ pillow inserts arriving today.

UPDATE — Pillow inserts arrived…..looks happier stuffed!!

18 inch pillow insert from Amazon arrived

Other projects — I mentioned previously I needed to make a label for my “2 Season Quilt”, and I had that stitching on my embroidery machine while I was quilting the cornucopia. I used medium weight cutaway stabilizer in my hoop, tack down a piece of batting, and then float the label fabric, tacking it down with a basting stitch. I find having that piece of batting really gives some “teeth” to the embroidery.

Still need to trim the jump threads

When I design my labels, I use the free version of Embrilliance software. This label has 1/2 inch lettering and was done in my 8×8 hooped. I resized wording slightly smaller on the embroidery machine screen, then pulled in 2 different 4 x 4 hoop designs. I had to resize the designs slightly smaller to make everything fit in the 8×8 field. Those adjustments were done on the screen on the embroidery machine.

Once I trim all the jump threads on the label, I take a piece of lightweight fusible Pellon 911F, and with the glue side facing the pretty side of the label stitch around the edge, then slit the Pellon and turn the label out. Before turning the label I trim the seam to 1/4″, and go a bit closer with the stabilizer and batting that are in the back of the label. That keeps it less bulky in the seams. I also trim the corners.

I did trim with a rotary cutter and ruler in the 6th photo, but before turning, I took out my small scissors and trimmed away all the batting and stabilizer excess in the seam allowance, taking care to not trim the the label and pellon. I run my finger around the seam on the inside, poking the corners out and kind of rolling the edge of the seam in my fingers. Then off to the ironing board to affix it to the back of the quilt.

I put a pressing cloth over the label and really press for a good bit of time. Because there are 3 layers above the pellon (label, stabilizer & batting), it takes a bit of time for the heat to affix the label. Once it is fairly secure, I am ready to stitch it by hand to the quilt. The whole point of the pellon is to have a nice edge, without having to fold under etc. In the spots where it is peaking out along the edge, I will nudge it under with my needle when hand sewing the label down. The glue dots hold it fairly snug to the back of the quilt, so removal of the label would not be very easy.

Ready to hand stitch to the “Christmas side” of the quilt

I just love my Janome 11000 embroidery machine. I know I’ve said that before. I bought it used about 4 years ago, and have learned so much about formatting layouts on the machine screen, and it is just a workhorse. If you are ever in the “used market” and find this model, you won’t regret buying it.

Other projects I worked on recently were BOWL COZIES. My sister Cathi was visiting this summer and used the one I have and asked me for some. Funny story – in October I made her two bowl cozies, and I also made her two plate cozies…..and mailed them to her. A plate cozy is made in a similar fashion, just a bigger square of fabric/batting and less of a dart. I found a You Tube video with directions if you want to give it a try..

Plate Cozy – quilting in a spiral in the center to keep it flat

Plate cozy – quilting in the center in a spiral to help keep it flat

When I got home from my trip in November, she mentioned the package never arrived…sure enough, it was delivered…to her OLD address. I hope those people who live there now are enjoying her birthday gift! I was rushing to get it shipped, while my brain was already on my cruise. I pulled the wrong address off my phone when I typed the shipping label. SIGH! (It’s only been a year since she moved!!)

Anyway, I got busy and made more, but this time, I made 4 bowl cozies. Of course, because I was using fat quarters for the first sets, I didn’t have any more of the same fabric. This batch came from yardage, but I’m not certain how much of it was left. Someday I might make her some of those plate cozies too, but not this week!

Fits my cereal bowls just right

4 bowl cozies

When I made the these 4, I cut the fabric a bit larger than most patterns call for. I think I used 11.5″ squares making this set of 4. I did a little tack stitch in the center to keep them from pulling apart in the center. The quilting was done “before the pieces were sewn together and I noticed with mine that it likes to pull apart when washing. The tack stitch solved that. On the previous set I did a bit more elaborate quilting. But, when you are in a rush, necessity is the mother of invention. I managed to get all four of these made, assembly line style, rather than one at a time. So, if making cozies for gifts, that’s my pro tip. Also, I included a note, reminding her to use them like pot holders to hold the bowl and to NOT cook the cozy in the microwave. Even though I used all cotton everything…I don’t want to be responsible for a house fire!

The package arrived and the bowl fit! My sister sent me this photo with one of her bowls in it. I’m glad I upsized from the typical 10″ square. Who knew they made square bowls?

The cozy fits the square bowl

What are you working on in your sewing room? Are you distracted by holiday cooking and Christmas decorating this weekend?

Are you deep into the latest Bonnie Hunter Mystery Quilt? I am following along, watching and saving the clues. I can’t do it because I have TOO many UFO’s, on hangers, waiting for borders and quilting. And way to many other projects in baskets and boxes and bins to start something else new.

Watch for my next installment of “finishing up Autumn Jubilee“, and maybe finishing up binding on another project or two. (My 2nd cutting table is absolutely buried in stuff and the only way to make headway cleaning it up is to grab the stuff I can finish quickly and get them out of the way!)

I know most of the people who follow my page are here for the quilting, but I am still working through the photos from my Canada and Colonial America Cruise, and the next travel post is coming soon, with highlights from Sydney and Halifax on Nova Scotia.

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend.

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Week 2 — Stitching with a grand daughter- Autumn Jubilee Quilt Along progress is slow –

Friday was “Week 2” of the Autumn Jubilee Quilt Along. Check the link for the pattern and block settings. Below is MY update. But first – I had pressing stitching to do!

I started on Friday morning with some fun sewing with my 6 year old granddaughter. When she arrived, she announced that she would like to “go sew”. Well, what grandma can say no to that, so off we went to my sewing room over the garage. When asked, she explained she wanted to make scarves for two of her dogs. You see, the last time she spent the night, we made a scarf for her newest dog, Tilly. So, scarves for 2 large male labs was on the agenda.

Not remembering sizes to cut, I looked to You Tube, and chose this video from Lorrie Nunemaker – https://youtu.be/rN63jQHP9DE . My granddaughter was diligent in watching from start to finish, where I was just there for some basics; sizes mostly. I brought out my tote of kid friendly fabric, and she chose 2 pieces. When asked, she explained that her dog Rudder, a very senior black Labrador, liked pink, and would be “happy to match the nightgown that grandma already made for me”. When asked, she said yes to putting the dog’s name on the scarf, like the lady in the video. So, after she ironed the fabric, with great emphasis on spraying it with water and getting out any wrinkles, I did the measuring and cutting. She helped me “find” the right numbers on the cutting mat. It was a tough explanation when I said the next press didn’t need quite so much water sprayed on the fabric. 😉 Watching the video with Lorrie, she observed that the pet names were put on the scarves, so of course, we did that as well. She sounded out the name and figured out what letters we needed, and keyed them in on the embroidery machine screen.

She iron, pinned, and stitched the triangular scarf for the dog. She understood the instructions to turn it right side out, pinned the gap and pressed, then top stitched to close the gap. She even helped me “squeeze the handle” on the kam snap setting tool. Of course, she selected the appropriate colors of snaps!! Before you know it, we were on to scarf # 2, with a short lunch break.

On this one, she explained that Rufus liked to play games and Red was his favorite color. Well, of course it was! Oh did she make me smile, and who’s to argue with a 6 year old about what her dogs do and don’t like! She remembered why we did each of the steps and asked after she turned and pressed the black scarf if she could sew it herself by hand. So, out came the needle & thread, and a demonstration about threading a needle with a needle threader and she closed it right up. We did top stitch around all 3 sides as well. Red snaps for this one and we were done in no time at all.

All that fun with a 6 year old, left me busy until nearly 3 pm, when I was able to get back on my own to the sewing room and start putting my blocks together for the #AutumnJubilee2022 quilt along.

I printed out the PDF that Carole provided in the blog post, and gathered my basket of pieces we worked on during week 1.

First block I kept out on the table so I could use it as a template –

Before dinner time, I had 8 blocks constructed and played around with a layout on the design wall.

Carole had a lot of layout suggestions on her blog post, and I love the one where you form a star and have a secondary pattern too.

Saturday I went to a local quilt show, and had more grandma duty, so I really only had time to work on 2 more blocks. There is “always tomorrow” to sew the remaining blocks. I do want to get them sewn and ready to assemble in the next 2 days. I have some travel plans beginning on Wednesday and will be gone for 2 weeks. You might get “one more Autumn Jubilee” post before I fly off for my next adventure.

My wrap up question to you is – Do you sew with children? How young and what types of things do you like to do with them?

A machine embroidery week

I just love when I can take some time and work with my Janome 11000 embroidery machine. Early this week, I went to my monthly Embroidery Club. Our leader, Anna, is a whiz with all things embroidery. This month, she spent about an hour showing us her tips and techniques for successful embroidery on T-Shirts and other garments. She gave us a good lesson in marking our item to ensure we get the embroidery exactly where we want it to be.

lining up and centering

Using a water erasable marking pen, and your grid that comes with your hoop is beneficial to getting centered. NOTE – keep the iron away until after you remove your marks!

Another trick she showed us was using a “hooping guide”. This hooping guide was made of foam core board and had pins in it. It was made specifically for her hoops, and really helped you line things up when the items were marked.

You set your outer hoop over the lines, place your item on the board, and push the tacks thru your markings to hold in place, then put your top hoop on. Really, a genius design. I think I will make a set of those boards!!

Another tip she gave us was to use spray basting to put our stabilizer (no show mesh) on the back of the shirt, and that kept it from shifting around while we worked to hoop the t-shirt. I used 505 spray and that worked for me. It’s a temporary adhesive, so you can trim away the excess after the stitching is done, and it doesn’t show through your shirt as a big rectangle. I’ve ironed on the fusible no show mesh stabilizer, then had to peel it off when the area covered was so much bigger that the area of stitching. Lastly, she reminded us to use a Ball Point needle (75/11) when doing t-shirts.

My first shirt turned out pretty well, but I realized too late, the crew neckline of the shirt is a bit “wonky”. So, I was a bit disappointed in the result, but feel like after I washed the shirt and actually wore it, no one but me would see what was so obvious while it was lying flat on the table.

So, do check the quality of the shirts you plan to work with. I have a dozen HANES t-shirts available to embroider (in the cabinet for 2 + years), so I wasn’t worried about ruining anything. One thing I observed is that the no show fusible mesh has a tendency to shrink a little and that is disappointing. An iron is helpful with these heavy t-s as they do wrinkle up in my washer quite a bit. I suppose after the are washed a few times, they will soften and look a bit better coming straight out of the clothes dryer.

After the club lesson, I decided the next day to do another one at home. Reinforce what I learned etc. Hooping t-shirts is a struggle to get things lined up, and I avoid doing them. I feel like I learned a few things with the demonstrations and having handy guides for measuring, and for hooping really help.

Ready for another cruise

I like to color match my bobbin to my top thread, so I stitched all the blue elements first before switching to a red bobbin and red top thread.

I won’t refer to where this design came from because I have an annoyance with the digitizing of the shadow surrounding the words. If I was to stitch this out again, I would leave that off, because it just stitched poorly.

I do pre wash the tee shirts before stitching on them. They are 100% cotton and I don’t want them to shrink after the embroidery goes on. I do the same thing to dish towels or any other cotton garment. So say, it makes it look “used” if you are gifting. I think that washing them AFTER the embroidery is finished is helpful too, because you handle the heck out of the thing. If you gift it, you can tell the recipient that it is “freshly laundered and ready to wear”. Your iron is essential before stitching and after washing.

This week, one of the Autumn Jubilee projects was involving machine embroidery. Instructions can be found on Carole’s blog – https://frommycarolinahome.com/2022/10/12/autumn-jubilee-embroidery-sew-along-2/ . In her blog post, I am the “Mary” she is referring to. We often talk back and forth about tips and techniques we learn doing machine embroidery.

Here is my set up and I will explain as I go. I chose this design from Julia’s Needle Designs for my project.

Fall Borders 2 – Julia’s Needle Designs

I chose the 5×7 design you see above and loaded it in my machine. Because the size was larger than the final block, I used the options in my machine to slightly resize it, reducing it to 80% of the original size.

I created my wording for the block using fonts I have and setting it up in Embrilliance software on my computer. Once I had it saved, I imported it into my machine with the above design. I could see both designs on my screen and maneuver the placement until I was satisfied. Once all the “tech stuff” was done (very easily I might add), I got my fabric and hoop ready.

I hooped cutaway stabilizer in my 8×8 hoop. I cut a piece of Warm & Natural batting to the shape of the hoop, and used a tack down stitch to hold it in place.

Take note of the pin at the top of the hoop.

I put pins around my hoop where the stabilizer is sandwiched in. This keeps your stabilizer from being pulled down into the hoop and really helps when you have a very dense design. I do NOT hoop my fabric. Instead, I place it where I want it to lay on top of the hoop. (The only thing hooped is the stabilizer).

Once it is positioned where I want it, I run another tack down stitch. You could use a shot of 505 spray, but with my machine and the tack down, it is unnecessary.

Trace Outline (tack down) is basically a basting box.

I also tack down my water soluble stabilizer on the top of the fabric. This keeps me from having edges get caught under the foot and making a big mess, and keeps me from putting pins inside my hoop to hold things. That just saves a headache.

excess fabric folded and pin out of the way

One final thing I do before starting the stitching is to slip a piece of tear away UNDER my hoop. It will tack down with the first few stitches and won’t slide around. So, this set up has 1)water soluble stabilizer, 2)fabric 3)batting (all floating and tacked stitched), 4)hooped cutaway and 5) tear away floating under the hoop. This would work for a design with 30,000 stitches, but you can see looking at my screen, we only need to worry with 10,797 stitches.

The pumpkin border stitched out nicely,

and so did the wording.

All that may sound like overkill, but it does give a nice result. For now, I think I will leave it “in the hoop” and wait to see what the next step will be. I still have the opportunity to add more stitching if I decide, as long as I leave it in the hoop. That makes aligning easy! My machine will save the design for me to “edit” and add another element if I chose. Once you un-hoop, it is not so easy! I’ll wait on the trimming to see what happens next. Don’t you just love a bit of a mystery?

I hope you found my techniques and tips helpful if you are new to machine embroidery or if you are struggling with getting a good quality project done. Do let me know what your tips are for working with your embroidery machine.

Friday when you read this will be the next part of the quilt along! My bin is at the ready for me to sew and I can’t wait to see what we will do with those pieces we made last week and all the cutting we did.

I’m trying to fit all these projects in before I leave on a trip next week, and stay caught up. I’ll miss the rest of the month, but have enjoyed #AutumnJubilee2022 so far. Are you stitching along, or enjoying some of the books and recipes?

Autumn Jubilee update

Last week, I shared with you my 1st project for #AutumnJubilee2022 . This week, the next step in the Autumn Jubilee Wool Stitch Along, was to “embellish your wool Cornucopia”. Go take a look at Carole’s post when you finish here, and see how fantastic her project is coming along. As you may remember, I deviated from the Wool & all that hand stitching. When I read today’s post, I got inspired to get busy, and do the machine applique stitching on my fusible applique pieces.

Before I could start the machine applique stitching, I needed to do a couple of things. I layered up my project with a piece of Warm and Natural Quilt batting and a piece of Pellon 806, stitch and tear stabilizer, behind my background fabric and batting. I will confess to using some 505 spray to keep everything in position until I could get a few safety pins in place. You may ask why do all that before applique stitching, and the answer is, I like the stitches to have something to “bite into”. I could use just batting, but putting the stabilizer behind the batting keeps me from getting all that batting fluff in my machine. Of course, some will get in there with each puncture of the needle, but my feed dogs will be clean.

I pulled out threads that I thought might work well, and started with an Aurifil tan, a 50 wt cotton for around the cornucopia and other light colored items.

Aurifil 5011, 50 weight cotton.

I also used some Coats & Clark variegated thread, which is also a 50 weight quilting cotton. This was used around many of the leaves and pumpkin.

Coats and Clark quilting thread

As I stitched, I decided that I needed a dark red and a green, and pulled those from my wall of embroidery threads. Using a blanket stitch, (#42 on my Janome 8900) I was soon finished. (I did take a short break this afternoon for an eye appointment, and was SO happy that they didn’t dilate my eyes, and I could get back to stitching!)

Machine applique complete

After reading Carole’s post today about embellishing her Cornucopia, and her suggestion to maybe do a little embroidery, I decided that I would do just that.

Early this month, I downloaded a cute embroidery design from Sew Sweetly, and thought it would work nicely on this project. If you are looking for cute Fall designs, the ones sold by Sew Sweetly stitch out very well. You might remember I used some of Sew Sweetly designs in a 2020 project during Autumn Jubilee 2020.

I decided to add the embroidery design on an angle on the left corner of the project, using the same thread colors that I had previously stitched with in the machine applique. The exception is the gold for the leaf. I couldn’t use the Coats & Clark in my embroidery machine, so I pulled a deep gold for one part of the embroidery. Note, I started with a 5×7 design, and resized it by reducing it to 80 % and rotating it in the machine. In the photo below, you can see the basting stitch that my machine does (black thread); which really helps me with the placement.

I think the final stitching looks pretty darn good. Note – the machine embroidery was done on my Janome 11000. This time I used the 6×8 magnetic hoop, and just hooped a piece of tear away stabilizer. I did a basting stitch in my hoop to hold the project in place, showing me the “field” that it would stitch in. Once the stitching was finished that stabilizer that was hooped easily tore away. There is still a piece on the entire back of the project that will be carefully removed once the project is closer to finished.

So here is how it looks at the end of Monday – and oh, dinner was late because I was just having such fun!

I’ve pretty well decided it will be a wall hanging. I think I might want to do a bit of embellishing stitching on the leaves, acorns, and pumpkin so that Pellon will stay on the back until I know I am ready to quilt. I’m kind of waiting for the “next” from Carole at From My Carolina Home, just in case she has another brilliant idea. When I cut the background piece, I cut it at 18×21, so I do have some room to play a little bit more. It’s a nice size for a small wall hanging.

Are you stitching along with #AutumnJubilee2022? ? ? Go take a look at Carole’s blog and keep your eye on her wide variety of projects! She will be covering everything from quilting, cooking, sewing, stamping gardening along with the wool applique, and there are lots of giveaways. When you follow, tell her I sent you!

Happy Stitching!

Crumb quilt #1

Last month I shared some of my scrap quilting efforts. Primarily, I play with scraps because I can’t bear to waste anything. In the last year or two Pat Sloan was talking about scraps and “crumb quilt blocks”. She was SO organized and orderly, making blocks from the leftover bits and pieces of the current project; storing in her baskets and roll around cart. Oh if only I had that tidy mindset! Working with scraps seems to generate MORE scraps. If you missed out on that whole conversation it might be fun to look back at her blog – https://blog.patsloan.com/2021/03/what-is-your-scrap-quilt-iq.html . Pat does a daily you-tube video along with writing a blog post daily….again I say…if only I had that mindset.

Anyway, I dug into one of my scrap baskets and started sewing crumb blocks with no apparent rhyme or reason. Just grab the next piece out of the bin, and sew. Most of what I grabbed out of the bin were leftover blocks, the reject blocks that didn’t measure up, odd bits and pieces cut away from the borders and sashing of quilts and stuff that came into the donation boxes that I couldn’t figure out how to clean up and sell back at the guild meetings. Anything that was just “too big” to put in the dog bed filling bin went into these blocks. You will see some bow tie blocks and spool blocks that went back and forth to multiple guild meetings before I gave up and determined nobody would buy them. I’m sure some of what I had collected were test blocks from projects and other peoples “oops” blocks. Some of these crumb blocks have a color family, others are not. Random piecing…stitch, press, square, stitch, press etc. Working with scraps seems to generate MORE scraps. I just sewed hunks and chunks together to make these blocks. When I got to around 9″ I stopped and squared the block to 8.5″.

Last blog post I think I showed you this –

I managed to sash all 100+ blocks that were in my crumb blocks container. Too many for my design wall all at once.

While I was going through all the blocks trying to find the right balance, I noticed I had a series of blocks with a pink triangle and a lot of white space. I decided to do a little “machine embroidery” embellishment on those blank spaces. Here are a few –

Those two blocks will probably appear in Crumb Quilt # 2 or #3.

Meanwhile….. Since I had over 100 of these blocks, I did a bit of sorting and pulled out all the ones with the red sashing and all the ones with the darker green and blue sashing. They went back into the box. I had to put my thinking cap on for how to put these very different blocks together and I went “SHOPPING” for just the right fabric. I bought enough fabric (6 yards) to sash at least 2 Crumb quilts. I bought 3 yards of two different fabrics. One for the darker blocks and one for the brighter blocks.

Once I sorted out which blocks I wanted, I had to decide on how wide to make the sashing with the blocks I had chosen. I wanted the blocks to float a little, so I went with a wider sashing. It also meant that I needed to remove a bunch of blocks or I would have a massive quilt. I put about 10 more blocks back in the box. Here is the result – a great size for a picnic or a twin bed!

This nice tone on tone green did the job. I think it helps unify the quilt with so many funny blocks. I used 24 of the 100+ crumb blocks for this project.

Can you spot all the blocks with machine embroidery? Here are a couple of close ups —

Notes about this quilt – the crumb blocks were 8.5″ before I added a round of sashing (various colors). All that sashing came from my 2, 2 1/2 and 3″ strip bin. I needed width of fabric to go around the blocks. Once they were sashed, I trimmed all the blocks down to 11″. (Weird number but it was working). Green sashing and cornerstone blocks are all 3 1/2″. The corner stone blocks all came from my “Bonnie Hunter Scrap Storage” bins. Bonnie refers to her system as “Scrap User’s System” . I have to rethink how I refer to my bins…..Stop Storing and Start USING!

What do you do with your scraps?? Time to start using, not storing I think! I have to say, I’ve never met a scrap I didn’t like!

Tiny projects

June was a time for a couple of TINY Projects. Sweet Pea designs had a fun “stained glass” project for the June Keep it Simple sew along. They call it a Stained Glass Key Hanger. The link will take you to the pattern, which is till available on the website. (Do go subscribe to the group on Facebook, that way you get the discount code for the monthly projects.)

Of course, the more I saw completed on the Facebook group, the more I wanted to make it. My friend June was having a birthday, and I thought it would make a fun gift for her. I decided to NOT make it a key hanger, rather just a small wall hanging, for her door, or wall next to her entry at the assisted living. She likes to change out the decor by the season. I started the project when I went to our Embroidery Club meeting in early June. Since it is done in 2 halves, it was a perfect project. Stitch time according to the machine and actual time of course are quite different. Depending on the chosen size of course the times are increased. I estimate that each half of the panel takes about 2 1/2 hours because of all the trimming of the pieces. So, 5 hours total at the embroidery machine, but I did it over the course of a couple of days.

I did the 5×7 stitch out on my Janome 11000, as the pattern did not offer an 8×8 choice. I dug in the scrap drawers and pulled fabric that I thought would be fun for June.

Tiny wall hanging for June

The finished size (before the hanging sleeve) is about 6 1/2 wide and 9 3/4 high. I did an “envelope style” back rather that the one indicated in the pattern.

Backside of June’s wall hanging

I had fun with this “in the hoop” pattern, and decided I needed to make one for myself too.

My second wall hanging

I did the back the same way.

I did that because turning out with small pieces like this is tough. I used a medium weight cutaway stabilizer. There is batting in there as well, and it gets rather “stiff”. The directions called for you to use two pieces and leave an opening for turning, and then slip stich it closed. Lazy or easier….not sure, but it worked so well for the first one, I decided to do it on the second as well.

When I gifted the first one to June, I gave her my wall hanger with the wooden dowel. It is a 12″ hanger. I ordered a couple of new ones, and ended up with “all wrought iron” hanger. Somehow, June’s looked ok on the wooden dowel but the all wrought iron hanger with mine looks silly. So, back to shopping on Amazon and Ebay. I ordered an 8″ and a 6″ hanger form each of those places for these little projects. When they come, I will swap out June’s to a smaller hanger.

I did a little “video” tour of the quilts I have in my living room. I am enjoying putting some on the wall and over the back of chairs. Have a look! (Yes, that first wall is the archway between dining room & living room, with the grandkids heights marked in pencil right on the way! 😉 )

I am really enjoying these small projects done in the hoop. Yes, there is some sewing as well, but what I like is that I can have a finished project rather quickly. What I love about these in the hoop applique projects is I can really dig in the scrap drawers and not cut into any yardage. Everything in both projects, including the batting and backing came from scraps. I still have 6-8 LARGE quilts in the sewing room that are “all but done”….waiting on borders and quilting. Someday………..

What’s under your needle?

Wildflower Windows

In April, the Sweet Pea Embroidery design company had their “KISS” – Keep it Simple Sew along challenge. The offered pattern is discounted during the sew along to participants. There is a deadline to submit your finished project photo on the Facebook group. The pattern was called Wildflower Window Cushion and was available for hoops from 4×4 to 8×8. I chose to stitch out the 8×8 blocks. I used my Janome 11000 to do all the stitching.

The block pictured below has so much texture in the embroidery and lots of thread changes too. The white background, and the batik green around it are supposed to be the window pane and frame.

Once it comes out of the hoop, you trim the stabilizer back to the outer stitching line. After that is done, you trim the frame to 1/2 inch from the stitching. This gives you good seam allowance without so much bulk. During the stitchout, the batting is trimmed back as well.

There are 40,243 stitches in this block and my machine shows that the time it should take, at 600 stitches per minute was 114 minutes. That doesn’t account for the time for thread changes, trimming etc. I figure it took me about 3 hours.

Ready to trim

All trimmed up

I decided to go “scrappy with my window frames”, using some batiks from the scrap drawer.

Block 2 with the red poppy

The blocks with the applique like the red poppy didn’t take as long to stitch. I layered a tulle over the fabric for the flower on the left, and it added a shimmer and dimension to the flower.

I was on a pretty good roll by the time I got to the 3rd block. It was another applique block so it went pretty fast.

46,403 stitches – machine time 130 minutes – 17 thread changes

Once everything was all stitched out, I arranged the “windows” for assembly.

When I assembled them, I decided to add a narrow strip of sashing between all 4 blocks, and around the outside. Once I put the envelope backing for the pillow on, I stitched about 1″ in from the edge to make a bit of a flange. I stuffed the project with an 18″ pillow. I used all scrap batik for the project, including the backing.

I figure overall, it took me about 12 hours to make this project, using up about 1 1/2 yards of scrap fabric. Fits just right in this rocking chair.

I loved the pattern so much, I stitched out 2 more blocks and made them into placemats for my friend, June, who lives in assisted living. I think they will make a nice Mother’s day gift for her, and replace the fall placemats that are currently on her table.

All the fabrics came from the scrap bins and June’s box of fabric. I had fun with the variegated thread on the flower edges.

The fabric for the borders and backing were leftover twill from making a couple of aprons last year. I thik they will make great “reversible” placemats.

backside of June’s placemat

I think I got my monies worth for the pattern and used up some scraps as well. I’m counting a total of 1 yard of fabric “out” for the Stashbuster 2022 challenge.

Tally up for the #STASHBUSTER 2022 Challenge – 2 1/2 yards out for the month. Nothing new in. Cumulative 16 1/2 yards out, year to date.

Are you having any fun with machine embroidery or the Stashbuster challenge?

Small Town Charm project completed

NOTE — Edited to share the “last” photo.

Edit — The free pattern for Small Town Charm embroidery blocks is no longer available.

I wanted to share my completed Small Town Charm project with you. The blocks I have shared in previous posts have been incorporated into a tote bag for my friend June. The bag was made with short straps to go over her walker handles, and buttons to hold them in place. It also has ties on the side to keep the bag from swinging while the walker is in ‘motion’.

Before I made this project I took a look at her existing bag and measured it. Those measurements were important as I created the new bag, since I didn’t have a walker handy to test the fit.

I had fun figuring out which fabrics I wanted to use for the bag, making my choices from that one box of fabric I had dumped out and sorted. I really wanted to make the bag for June using her OWN fabric. My hope is the fabrics will be ones she remembers having. While they don’t have the same elegance as the beautiful blues and golds in the bag picture above, they do remind me of things she likes. And, when I agreed to make the new bag, June didn’t make any color requests. Well…you know that I like things scrappy!

Trying out possibilities

I played around with lots of color combinations, and thought about how I wanted to “construct” the bag. Once the decisions were made, the extra bits of fabric came down off the wall, and the construction was pretty simple.

After the front and back of the bag was made, I layered it with Pellon 973F (Fusible Fleece) and did some quilting. I made the straps, and put the bag together.

Waiting for lining

Once the outside of the bag was made, I chose one of those pretty pink fabrics and made the lining. I added pockets for both sides of the lining. I used the fusible fleece in the pockets too, so it has some body.

Construction is similar to lining any tote bag. Once your lining is ready, you slide the main bag inside the lining, with pretty sides (right sides touching). You have to make sure you leave an opening for turning. My opening was on the side, just above the edge of the pockets.

Right sides together

Those little clips are great for holding the edges of the bag together and keeping everything lined up during the sewing process. You can see the stitching of the pockets on the back side of that lining in the photo above.

Below, is the inside of the bag showing the pockets.

Once the bag was pulled through the opening and turned “right side out, a quick press along that top seam, and of the lining before top stitching around the upper edges. I use my clips then as well to make sure there is no shifting.

Button holes in the straps for two closing positions, and some bright shiny buttons on the Flower Shop side of the bag.

The blue bag she had previously had a bit of velcro tab to keep the bag closed. I added a 3″ strip of velcro near the top edge of the new bag, skipping the tab. I also added two pockets on the sides of the bag, where she can keep a packet of tissues if she likes. The ties for the walker on the bottom are made from June’s stash of bias tape binding.

The bag has a “scrappy quilter” look to it I think. My husband, who knows her so well, thinks she is going to “LOVE” the new bag. I had fun making the Small Town Charm embroidery blocks, and building a bag that will be functional for her. I’m glad I have had a little experience making bags in the past few years, or I would never have tackled this without a specific pattern in hand.

If I was making this into a tote / purse for myself, I would not have used the dimensional awning on the flower shop, but I knew the bag would be stationary once attached to the walker, and I think the flower shop will face out, so it won’t get mashed during use. For myself, I would use a magnetic closure, and put a couple of key ring loops inside the bag to have a spot for hooking my car keys. (Hate hunting in the bottom of a bag for keys!) Because of where / how June lives, she really doesn’t use keys.

Do you enjoy bag making? Any tips? Do you have a favorite pattern that you make frequently?

EDIT — bag delivered and installed!

#DimeSewAlong

Flower Shop Small Town Charm block

update (March 2022) – the free pattern is no longer available

I worked on the Small Town Charm -Flower Shop block on Sunday and Monday. When I set it up in my embroidery machine, it gives me the stitching details. I did remember to watch the you tube videos before I started. I have to tell you that I set the you tube speed setting at 2x to buzz through the very chatty video. These blocks are stitched out on my Janome 11000 machine. They are free downloads from Designs in Machine embroidery. I’ll put links for the block and the video at the end of the post.

Flower Shop details

The Flower Shop block has 28 color changes, the stitching time is 75 minutes, and there are 29610 stitches in the project for the 5×7 size project. I stitched it my 8×8 hoop.

What you “don’t see” on the screen, and what has to be done while the project block is ready to begin is all the preparation for the machine applique. Fabric choices must be made, and the fabric needs to have some wonder under applied to the back for the applique. The wonder under/heat n bond lite help with the trimming.

Oh, and those thread choices…..I probably added 4 or 5 extra in as I went along. My big ironing station is to the left of my embroidery machine and I use it as a staging point for the threads. Usually I have my thread lined up on an old calendar page for color change order, but not with these blocks. I did a run thru with the color sheet, and on the machine I paged thru the various colors, but what I really did was zoom in closely on the pattern on my computer and make some color plans.

Thread and bobbins, applique fabric fill the ironing station.

I have a basket on the ironing station with the prepared fabrics and leave my self a corner to press if I need to use the iron. And bobbins….I often wind a bobbin with a similar thread if there is a lot of heavy stitching. This precludes any chance of a bit of white bobbin thread showing. I use children’s pony tail holders to contain the loose tails of my threads.

The previous block was made using a bit from my stash, and I thought I would chose my background fabric for the next block out of a box of my friend June’s “stash”. (You might remember that I packed up her sewing room 3 or 4 years ago when she moved to assisted living, and I am still going through those boxes organizing.) The applique pieces come straight out of my scrap drawers.

I decided to just “dump out” the box with the reds, pinks and blues on my big table to select fabric. It was labeled SORT and had the colors on the end of the box, so I am actually doing double duty. No wonder it takes me so long!

Upending the box of pinks and reds to sort

I thought she might enjoy seeing some of her own fabric in her bag. Of course, just dumping it on the table made a mess, and I am gradually measuring and refolding and sorting it all. In the process of the sorting I have plucked out several more pieces I think will work for the bag I am going to make. No doubt I will be digging for turquoise and purple soon.

Ironed and neatly folded

The fabrics got restored to their box after doing some pressing and folding. I found some great fat quarters, and other fabrics that might get introduced into this bag. There was way to much 1980’s dusty rose or mauve for my taste in this box! You will see the choices I made later, as I am still ruminating on them.

It’s pretty exciting to see the machine counting down and to know I am nearing the end with no troubles during the stitching. 3 minutes to finish the 29,610 stitches! And that spool in the bottom left corner tells me I am on color #27 out of 28. PHEW…….

3 minutes left!

There is a second hooping for the block on the left to be done, and it is for the awning. I was able to actually stitch out TWO awnings in one hooping. They stitch out quickly, but are quite fiddly to turn. I ran the stitching for the awning twice, and had trouble during the turning, so stitched it again on my sewing machine.

Below are the two blocks side by side, and I still have to put the awning on the one on the left.

Two blocks nearly finished

I spent nearly an hour turning the awning and getting the little scallops to pop out. They were challenging and tiny. I used a pair of forceps to poke around and hold and help me turn. My tweezers were too pointy and ended up poking a hole and I had to re-stitch that bit.

I decided to make the awning dimensional, but tack it down snuggly as it will get a lot of handling on a bag. I think it turned out well.

Finished Flower Shop block with awning

I thought I would share a couple of comments on how I did this block. I hoop my stabilizer, and then put a piece of batting on top and run a basting outline stitch over it to tack it down. Then I floated my pink background fabric and ran another basting stitch to tack it down. After that is done, I start the design, and the first step is a placement line for the building background. I didn’t want the pink to show through, so I added another bit of batting on top of the pink, in the same space where the building will go. Then I place the building (yellow fabric) over the placement line. I use a piece much bigger than the outline, and run the tack down line again, and then trim and do the rest of the stitching. The extra layer of batting gave those stitched in bricks extra dimension. Plus, it really helped with all the heavy stitching on this block without adding more stabilizer. (This digitizer did not give a placement line and a tack down line for several parts, so, it was a bit of a challenge.)

Another choice I made was to add a little “fabric in the window” of the door. I fussy cut that pink floral from an absolutely hideous print I found in June’s box!

I980’s floral & check……hideous…..but worked for fussy cutting!

And, as I mentioned I added extra colors in my thread choices. I used some variegated threads for the blossoms and stopped the machine to change the green threads for the various leaves of the plants and for the various baskets. To give the blocks some “continuity” I used the same plaid fabric for the sidewalk on both blocks, and the same yellow “building” fabric on both blocks.

Whenever I am working with these applique type blocks, there is a lot of stopping, taking the hoop off the machine (project remains hooped) and trimming along tack-down lines etc. Depending on how well the digitizer did the stitch selection for tack-down, there is a chance for error or pulling. On both blocks in this collection, the tack-down only ran one series of stitches. The other thing I noticed is with the satin stitching and how narrow the unlay zig zag stitching was. I have experience with other digitizers (Sweet Pea designs for one) who do a much better job with this step. So, fair warning, when you run the tackdown on this design, run the step a second time. I ended up with my “sidewalk” pulling in one corner. Now, that could be because the zigzag underlayment wasn’t wide enough for the satin stitching or my fabric gave way due to the open weave of the fabric. The wonder-under / heat n bond light should have prevented the fabric pulling .

I knew that I had to fix that little pull once I took the project out of the hoop. I loaded the same silver thread into my sewing machine and did a tiny zigzag all along the edge of the sidewalk along the satin stitching. Yes, if you zoom in on the picture with the awning you can see it, but it saved the block. Not show worthy, for certain, but it will keep the bit from coming loose on a finished bag. I did a similar repair on the Ice Cream Scoops block. Hey, stuff happens, but it helps to have a way to fix it and carry on. My husband spent a few minutes looking closely and couldn’t find the fix. I am pointing it out to use as a lesson on how I “recover and carry on” with a block. Too many hours to get frustrated and be dissatisfied, when fixing it is possible.

The table in the sewing room is cleaned up again, and the thread back on the wall racks. The blocks are on the design wall with some fabrics that I am considering. The bag pattern is still being considered as well. A rainy day, perfect for sewing is ahead.

By the way, did you see the post – it note on the very first picture? I think the last time I changed my needle in that machine was July 3rd, and I’ve done a project or two since then. The post it note helps me remember when that was, and since it is the 1st of September, perhaps it is time to clean the machine and change the needle! How often do you change your embroidery machine needle? Curious…….Thanks for stopping by and commenting.

Links to the You Tube video sew along for the flower shop – https://youtu.be/dJN7665_d4I

Link to the pattern – https://www.shop.dzgns.com/collections/designs-projects/products/april-small-town-charm-project?variant=39278270742597

#DIMESewAlong

Small Town Charm – Machine Embroidery project

EDIT – March 2022 – the free pattern is no longer available.

I happened to “trip over” a post on a Facebook group I belong to that directed me to the cutest group of machine embroidery blocks being offered for FREE. Of course, I had to go look!! And register….and then go watch you tube videos…and now…figure out HOW in the world I am going to make them and put them into something useable. The collection I am loving on is the SMALL TOWN CHARM group. It seems a new block comes out once a month, and of course, I have downloaded all of the available ones from January – September.

My friend in assisted living asked me to make her a “new” bag for her walker, and I decided I would incorporate a couple of these fun blocks in the bag. I picked out four to stitch out and have ONE finished.

SCOOPS Ice Cream shop block

This is a 12″ background block. The embroidery was designed for the 5×7 hoop. took quite a long time to do, and I have done quite a few “machine embroidery/applique” blocks in the past. It’s a good thing I have a “general idea” of how these work, as the printed instructions were not nearly the same quality as those you get with some patterns. Now, truth be told, I didn’t read all 6 or 8 pages of the PDF instructions BEFORE I started, so that could be part of the problem. AND, I did NOT watch the YOU TUBE video I linked below for this particular block until I was ready to “put the awning on”. It took me about 3 – 5 hours to do this one. LOTS of thread changes, tack down stitches, flip & sew , and TWO hooping’s.

What I plan to do differently…next block… is WATCH the video all the way through first, then print out the accompanying templates for placement before I start stitching. I’ll share that block as it gets going and time how long it takes to do.

One thing I did for this SCOOPS block was use my 5×7 hoop. I really should have started with my 8×8, and shifted the entire project to the bottom of the hoop, and then I would NOT have had to rehoop to attach the awning section. Sigh…lesson learned. To be honest, I watch the You Tube Video on how to make the September block and got overly excited.

First – here is where you go to get the free blocks , free on DIME Designs and Projects website – https://www.shop.dzgns.com/collections/designs-projects/designs-projects_free-designs

Then, off to YOU TUBE – https://youtu.be/uvw1g_wtTtM to watch OML Embroidery (Sue is the presenter) show her methods in this stitch along. Hat’s off to Sue for the lively conversation and tips. Sue does a video for each month’s block.

I did prep my fabric for the applique by using Wonder Under on the back of the pieces. This gives you a cleaner cut (in my opinion) as you are trimming following the tack down stitch. I still need to go back and do a little “clean up” trimming, so I will catch those little bits that show when you zoom in. I also put a layer of quilt batting (Warm and Natural) under my block fabric, on top of the cut away stabilizer. This gives the heavy stitching something to bite into and a little dimension to the design. I float my background block fabric (the pink multi color) in the hoop and do a basting stitch to anchor it. I also follow Kay’s suggestions at Kreative Kiwi, and use pins on my stabilizer at the edges of the hoop. Those pins make a huge difference when stitching out something with a lot of heavy stitching.

I think this block and a couple of others will make a fun addition to a tote bag for my friend June’s walker. Maybe it will catch the eye of another resident, and facilitate a conversation and a new friendship too. Who knows? The bag this will replace was beautifully made by another resident, but is starting to show some wear. I think it might just need a good washing. June has given me her requirements for pockets etc, and I took lots of pix of the existing bag so I can meet her size requirements and attachment needs for the walker.

What’s under your needle this week??

#omlembroidery #machineembroidery#embroidery#DIME#designsinmachineembroidery

#DIMESewAlong