Christmas Ornaments

     I made these little ornaments as a Christmas present many years ago.  I stitched the finished designs onto felt so I could stuff them with polyfill.

Mini Tree Skirts

     Craft felt has been one of my favorite things to use in my embroidery projects.  I made these little tree skirts at the same time as my Little Stockings. 

Chocolate Bunnies

At first I couldn't remember very much about this project even though I had made four bunnies as Easter presents for family members back in the 1990's. But as I began to think it all came back to me. I used a favorite soft toy bunny as inspiration, after more than twenty years he is still a favorite. I sketched his likeness onto paper then cut it out to use as a template for the craft felt. I made a front and a back stuffing him with polyfill and sealing it up with a blanket stitch. His cotton tail is a yoyo and button, the egg was filled with chocolate. I used dark brown felt for my Auntie Christine, as if it were a real chocolate bunny.

Cotton Candy Quilt

I made this quilt for Gavin's first Birthday (Sam's nephew). The batting scraps I had dictated the 39"x55" size.


I chain stitched the letters with the pearl cotton thread I got for Christmas from Sam. I marked with a pencil where I was to going to stitch helping to keep everything neat and even.


I did the binding a little differently than I usually do so I was a bit nervous at the corners, hence some puckering. My brother Jonathan bought me a leather thimble for my birthday, it is fantastic, miles better than my layering on band aids for some protection against hand quilting.


The backing was one large piece of coordinating fabric that had enough overlap to use as the binding. I've never worked with such bright colors before so this quilt was a huge departure. Not long into my project I began to really enjoy playing with all the primary colors. Sam says Gavin loves monkeys so I'm hoping he likes this quilt and will one day realize the letters spell out his name.

Chunky Monkey Complete

I turned last years Birthday present into a hat and scarf set. I made them using Sam's knifty knitter loom that comes in a set of four different sizes. With close guidance from Sam (also modeling the hats and scarf) I quickly finished the brown hat, it went so well I made the white hat with plenty of wool left over to make a matching scarf.

All Used Up

I had a great time making projects out of the yarn my Auntie sent me. I knitted happily away while watching the winter Olympics...pushed through the challenge of crocheting the bobble stitch with poor lighting...and hoping the two balls of white yarn I had would make a shawl large enough to wrap around my extra large frame!

Plum

All this wool was added to the list of goodies I got for my Birthday...these are from my auntie Christine.

Chunky Monkey

My Birthday present from my brother Jonathan...I wanted a more interesting wool than my usual Red Heart Super Saver. I am looking forward to crocheting this thick wool into something for myself.

Cotton Candy

My Birthday present from my father...he picked them out himself! I want to make some child quilts so this is a great idea to get me started on my projects.

Looking For The Wrong Thing

I can't even remember why I was looking in my storage boxes last night but my hunt was a success...I found this silk ribbon embroidered heart that I thought appropriate for Valentines Day.

Willa's Winter Coat

Even though my little westie Willa has a double coat to keep her warm I thought a handmade fleece would help on the coldest of days. This red plaid fleece is over ten years old. I first tried to crochet a sweater type coat for her but my putting her front legs through the holes every time annoyed her (biting). So plan B, I bought some fleece at $15 a yard and got to work. Because the fleece does not unravel when you cut it, it was easy to measure the piece of fleece on her body and mark the shape I would cut. I hemmed the edges just to make it look neater and used two snaps for closer under the belly. I could have done the same for the neck area but instead I made it like a turtleneck. I completely forgot that Willa wears a harness so I made a hole where the ring is for the leash. When I bring it out for walks you can imagine the excitement, she hardly stands long enough for me to snap it on.

Custom Cat

My Auntie Kathleen asked me to make a sewing project of her cat Thomas. I combined parts from different cross stitch patterns to make this collage. The original color in the pattern for the cat was gray so I changed it to match his orange coat. I remember I enjoyed working on this project and I'm glad I took a photo of the pillow before sending it around the world to Scotland.

Silk Ribbon Embroidery...Easy Elegance

I fell in love with silk ribbon embroidery in 1997 after watching a sewing program. I didn't know how difficult it was going to be but I wanted to give it a try. At a quilt store I bought the book "Learn To Do Ribbon Embroidery In Just One Day" by De Selby and some beautiful silk ribbon. After intensely studying the book I began to stitch and found it surprisingly easy.

How It All Began

I recently heard that a families creative interests sometimes skip a generation like cooking, art or sewing. For me that thankfully was not the case. My mother Carole made this needlepoint collage.

Cost Effective

I always have enough in my sewing stash to put together a little present. Floss and aida cloth are very inexpensive considering how much use you can get out of them for small projects. I made these for my mother, I found frames at the "Dollar" store to give them a finishing touch.