Posts from — December 2008

I had so much fun doing the Christmas Mantel Scarf, and I wanted to use the pattern in a different way. The design is called Heirloom Lace. I turned the shapes sideways, and added some cross-hatching in the center section to highlight embroidery.

I used embroidery patterns from Carolyn Faulk at Embroidery Designs by Carolyn — they stitched out beautifully. You could make one of these for each season, or for everyday use.

After all of the embroidery was complete, I made a facing for the table runner to hide the embroidery on the back. Then I added a cluney lace to the edges. You can click on each picture twice to see the largest version.

Now available! These table runners are available in kit form, so you will be able to add your own embroidery and edging trims! Click here to order!

Lou Ann from Maryland had this to say about her Table Runner Kit: “It is every bit as beautiful as I had expected.  My weekend project will be to finish it and put it on my table.  Thank you so much for your beautiful work!  Now, do I want to add a monogram to the small area like you suggested ………. add something to the middle ………. to the ends of the middle so I can use my candelabra.  I have a lot of thinking to do as I loved your suggestions – all of them!!!”

When I saw the pattern for the popular White Chocolate Quilt, I just knew I had to make one. I had lots of scraps in the beige tones, but not enough for the larger squares, so I decided to modify the layout to use the fabrics I already had. By adding shades of green for the larger squares, I created my White Chocolate with Mint Quilt.

The first step was to piece lots of fabrics together on the longarm machine to create strips that could be cut into squares. Next, I placed fabrics right-sides together on the longarm, and used a digital pattern to sew lots of half-square triangles together. After all of the cutting and pressing was done, the blocks were assembled. It took a large surface to try a few layouts — arranging and rearranging until I found one that I liked. All of the large blocks and border were pieced, and then it was ready to quilt!

You can click on the pictures below to see the steps I used for assembly. Each picture will open to a larger size when you click on it again.

You can order the original White Chocolate Quilt pattern from McCall’s Magazine.

We’re currently adding the embroidery designs back to this site, and we are having a few growing pains. You can access the designs by clicking on the left side of the page where it says Embroidery store, or in the yellow box at the top of the page in the link that says The Embroidery Store is now open. When you arrive at the store, some of the individual designs are marked as Out of Stock. This is one of the growing pains that I mentioned, and our web master will be fixing this just as soon as he can. All of the designs are available for your shopping cart.

Another growing pain is on the Collections page. You can see the name of the collection, but none of the individual designs that are in the collection. I’ve decided to feature two of the collections here, because they have a Christmas theme, and they are on sale right now!

Here are two of the collections — the Christmas Train collection, and it’s adorable stitched on a mantel scarf, and the Christmas Candles are wonderful on towels, table linens — anywhere that you want a touch of applique and glitz:

Here is a great way to get an early start on your organizing projects in your sewing room!

My fabric stash was starting to have a life of it’s own — and threatening to fall off of the shelves and onto the floor! I could never find what I needed, and if I did find it, the fabric was a wrinkled mess. Here’s a picture:

Then I discovered that Linda of Putting You In Stitches has the perfect solution. She has fabric boards that are cut to just the right size to put my fabric on with ease. Some of my boards have less than a yard, and some of them have more than 4 yards on them! Check out what a difference it makes with organized fabric shelves!

You can order these fabric boards by contacting Linda via email at Linda@PuttingYouInStitches.com.  Check out her photo memory quilts while you are there! Enjoy!

Here’s a project I’ve been wanting to do for quite some time …. a Christmas mantel scarf.

Using a design called Heirloom Lace from One Song Needle Arts, I quilted six repeats of the design across a fabric panel that was 84 inches wide. The total height of the design is just a little bit over 18 inches. When the designs were complete, I put another layer across the top of the “quilt sandwich” while it was still on the machine.  Straight lines were sewn down the sides and across the bottom — leaving the top edge open for turning. I trimmed all of the excess fabric, clipped the points, and turned the facing inside out. Minimal pressing was required to smooth out the points, and the top edge was serged closed.

See below for more pictures. Don’t forget, you can click on the pictures to make them larger.