50 States Stitching: Week 3

I'm a little behind on my 50 States Stitching project this week. We were away for a few days last week so I'm playing catch up, while working on some tight deadlines coming up soon too! Week 3 was New Jersey; I can't even say that place name in my head without putting on my best Jersey accent! >.< can you?

I love how this little guy is shaping up for Connecticut, that Happy Go Lucky plaid print looks so fresh! Hopefully I'll be back tomorrow with my latest FWQ blocks, here's hoping! ;-)

50 States Stitching Project: Week 1

Hi friends, happy Wednesday! I've started a new long term project last week and I'm so excited to share with you today! My family and friends in real life know I love all things American! and can talk endlessly about the many, many different places I want to visit! You only have to take a look at my Pinterest board 'places to see' and realise it's actually just the U.S. I want to see, ha! So of course I love all things Americana - those patriotic red, white and blue colour's always seem to draw me in. 

When I saw that Mollie from Wild Olive had started the 50 States Stitching Club it didn't take much thought other than to jump straight in and join! It's a one-year project that will honour each of the states in the union, while paying homage to state embroidery patterns, American quilts, and kitschy state souvenirs all in the delightfully cute Wild Olive style; so expect a lot of cute smiley faces ;-)  

Each week we get a little embroidery pattern, called a 'teeny weeny'. With a short blurb about that particular state, and why the said embroidery pattern has been chosen - which I completely love, as I get to learn a little fact about the different state's each week. And yes, I have already tried to casually bring into conversion the fact that Delaware was once described by Thomas Jefferson as a diamond, 'small but valuable'. lol.

At the end of the 52 weeks of sewing we should end up with a complete set of state star blocks, and alternating stripe blocks to make a quilt. What also caught my eye with this pattern is the use of English Paper Piecing techniques! Yay! Once you have embroidered the motif it's then mounted on a pentagon shape, with equilateral triangles for the points to form a star. The only snag with the pattern for me is the EPP shapes don't follow a standard size so I can't use my Paper Pieces shapes for them, doh! the 2" size is too big and the 1" is too small... so I had to cut out my own, which I didn't realise takes for-ev-er, and isn't always very accurate I came to learn. Oh how I've spoiled myself with pre-cuts! Mollie has suggested a decorate running stitch to applique the star to the block but I've gone a little more minimalist using an invisible slip-stitch. I've chosen to keep mine with a patriotic feel using traditional colour's, and Kona White for the stars - it just felt right!

I'll be sharing along my progress each week here on the blog to help keep me on track and motivate me to stick with it. If you fancy taking the plunge and joining in the fun you can sign up here. Next week Philadelphia! Hope you can stop by. xo

Homespun Magazine, June 2014

Hello, hello blog friends! I just wanted to pop in today and show you this fantastic feature I have in this months Homespun magazine!! I'm so crazy excited about this I can't even tell you! Ok, maybe I can ...

If you're not aware of Homespun magazine, it's a beautiful sewing and quilting magazine from Australia. It really is so, so well put together; featuring projects you really do want to make! Though I know I might be a little biased saying that ;-) I was contacted by the lovely editor last year after she spy'ed my other embroidered shelf edging project I had been working on. 

After a little discussion I went ahead and sketched up some motifs and tested out some embroidery designs. Do you remember these on the blog last year? Soon after I had two shelf edgings made, complete with cute scallop edging. 

So there you have it; from initial designs to the final piece :-) I'm really pleased with the article (all 5 1/2 pages of it!!) and how it's all come together. Because I worked on it such a long time ago, I'd actually forgotten how it looked so I was really intrigued as to how they would photograph the finished project, but they did a perfect job so it was such a treat receiving a copy in the post! Wouldn't it be so cute in a vintage cabinet, with some lovely china? Hopefully this might spur me on to complete my cherry themed shelf edging, which has been patiently waiting for me to finish. We shall see.

They also did a little interview with me which was fun. If you're in the UK. and fancy picking up a copy, you can find it here; (although, this latest issue is not available yet) I actually purchased a previous issue from there before and it was easy and arrived very quickly. I'm not sure where you can buy it in the U.S.? but I know you can also get a digital version of the magazine too, if that helps anyone? 

My latest embroidery design project

I've been working on some embroidery designs for a commissioned embroidery project recently. Birds have been the chosen theme, and although I'm really not much of an artist - I eventually sketched out some cute little birdie's, all of which look rather plump! It seems there's no such thing as delicate skinny birds in my imagination! ;) The floral background is a new vintage sheet I got last week!

I also finished up two more farmer's wife blocks this morning before work. I have been neglecting my FWQ for so long! It was great to get back into the swing of it yesterday. Now I have a good selection of 1930's reproduction prints in my stash it's becoming a lot easier to make up the blocks carrying on with my vintage'y vibe. 

#18 Century of Progress / #2 Autumn Tints

On the subject of fabric, I also picked up a few fat quarters from the Briar Rose collection. It was Amy from nanacompany that inspired me to purchase after I saw those delightful pot holders. I couldn't resist any longer! I'm not sure what the future hold for these, but there will be petting and admiring in the mean time. xo

Christmas Reindeer Embroidery Pattern

Hi everyone, I hope you all are having a good week! My grand plans of finishing the maple leaf quilt over the weekend didn't pan out as I'd hoped because I couldn't get hold of any cotton batting, so instead I had some time to dream up new ideas and play with more Christmas fabrics!  

I had an idea for a cute and kitschy reindeer embroidery after receiving this sweet little Cath Kidston Christmas gift guide through my letterbox, I loved the idea of a vintage style Rudolph with a bow on!! 

So I got my sketchbook out and started drawing, eventually it turned into this! Stitching him up was so fun! I forgot how much I enjoyed embroidery, and it's a perfect project to get into the festive spirit, while watching Christmas tv! 

    

You can purchase the PDF Rudolph the reindeer embroidery pattern in my etsy shop. He's only $2.99 / £1.93 so it hopefully won't break the bank! I have also included my floss colour codes so you can make one just like mine :) 

I thought the reindeer pattern was calling out to be a pillow, of course ;) so after embroidering the design on an 11" piece of white cotton, I trimmed it down, and added border strips measuring 4" wide. Then cut the backing panels, and stitched all the way round the edge! It's a super quick project and could be perfect for gift giving.

Enjoy! Jessie, xo

Cherry Stitching

I've been working on an exciting new project for my house these last few days! I thought my kitchen shelves need something a little extra, so I've been busy stitching cherries for some shelf edging. I love the look of these kitschy cherries, if you are a follower of my pinterest boards you will know I love all things vintage, especially kitchenware! which is where the inspiration came for this design.

I drew the design freehand, and transfered it to the fabric with an embroidery transfer pen. I'm planning to stitch a scalloped edge for the bottom, maybe with some pretty trim for the top, (unfortunately I don't have enough of that one in the picture - and I have no memory of where I picked it up from. I guess that's my curse for being such a hoarder of crafty goods!).

It's my first experience in embroidery, and I'm enjoying every minute. 10 down so far, 33 to go! Let's see if I'm saying that when I'm done?!

p.s. thank you all so much for your lovely, lovely comments on my previous post. I was so pleased to be featured in a magazine :) sorry I haven't got around to replying to you, I've been in DIY mode again - finally painting our front door! Can't wait to share pics soon! xo

Drawstring Tote

I got some time over the weekend to make this cute little drawstring bag. Using the famous pattern by Jeni; you can find the tutorial to make one yourself over here. I made it to help motivate me to complete my cross-stitch project as it's the perfect size to house my floss :) I've been hoarding the lovely floral fabric for donkeys years, it's an old japanese print I bought from Cotton Blue etsy shop (sorry I don't know who it's by? but I just love it!) The lining is part of the Red Letter Day collection by Lizzy House. It came together nicely, and it's a great project for an afternoon. Though I did get Robin to help me sort the handles out, I couldn't quite get that part!? He does have his uses hehe!

Still not finished my cross-stitch wall hanging! The yellow tray part of the design took me ages!! so I kind of got a little bored of it for a while but since that's done finally, I've got back into it more :) looking forward to getting it up on the wall! What have you all been working on?? xo

Organised Embroidery

My cross-stitch project has been lying around our living room for quite some time now, I like to pick it up when I have time so putting it 'away' never seems to happen. So, I decided to make something pretty to hold all my supplies in :) what do you think?

I was inspired by this one, after some online searching, and thought to myself hey, I could make one of those! (in much nicer fabrics!) So after some deliberation of what fabrics to use I decided upon an old Cath K print I've been hanging on to for a while - added a bit of pink binding and giant ric rac and hey presto! organised supplies in no time! I think it would be useful for all sorts of crafty activities that I do while watching the t.v :) Hope you're all having an enjoyable week :) see you tomorrow! Jessie, xo

W.I.P. Wednesday

I will soon be able to check the patchwork pillow off my sewing 'to do' list. I started it yesterday and it's going to be finished tomorrow hopefully. I'm so excited about it, it's turning out rather nicely :) I've finally managed to use some of my lecien flower sugar print that I've been wanting to cut into it for so long but haven't found the right project to justify it haha! I'm such a hoarder with my 'nice' fabrics! I really just need to get over that fear...

I've also been ploughing on with my cross-stitch wall hanging project. It's a much longer process than I originally thought, but I'm enjoying every minute. I need to think about how I'm going to frame it too? I was thinking of having a fabric border :) oh and in other good news, I found my lovely Liberty's embroidery scissors! They've been missing for months, but I recently found them burried away in the depths of my sewing room, hooray! It's a good day :D

Sweet Treats Embroidery Project

I treated myself to some new embroidery skeins a couple of days ago and got started on the apple pie wall hanging project from the Sweet Treats cross-stitch book. It was the one that really jumped out at me from the book so I had to give it a go straight away :) I haven't done any cross-stitch in years, but it soon came back to me after the first few stitches. 

It's so nice and relaxing, and perfect to do while watching the TV - as I lose interest veeeery easily! I just completely switch off and daydream about my next project! Am I the only weirdo that does this??

Floral Tapestry

I've been working on this floral tapestry for a little while now. It's the second one I've done, do you remember my first one? My mum managed to pick up a second hand standing frame at the car boot so I have been using that to complete it - it's soo much easier than a hand-held frame, much quicker! 

The pattern is a CK design from her book 'Stitch'. I had my eye on making it as soon as I saw it, and I think I will now have the perfect spot for it as a cushion cover for the armchair in our new house :) 
pssst... I also noticed on Amazon that she has a new book 'Patch', coming out this November, just in time for my birthday :) I'm sure we can expect more inspiring and cheerful projects to come!