Joyful Journaling

Happy Tuesday friends! If you follow my social media, then you may have heard my extremely happy news - I finally got my fancy sewing machine back from repair in mid-March and I have been sewing up a storm daily. I was worried when it took months for repair, but the backordered parts finally arrived and my machine is sewing perfectly again. I have been making and listing a lot of items in my Etsy Shop and working on a few client orders...plus I have been working on projects for Poppie Cotton and ThermOWeb...and making a few gifts and personal projects. I have even been making time for new cross stitch designs and ideas. With the crazy new night schedule, I find spending time in my studio is keeping me sane and happy. I was also able to take four days off and help my local quilt shop (The Quilted Sunflower) for the Ad Astra shop hop, which is always inspiring and fun. It has been refreshing to take a step away from needlework finishing and some of the more cumbersome client projects and work on things that truly bring me joy. Here are just a few of the photos I can share...

Another project I worked on was this special framed piece for my mother-in-law - a gift for her birthday. Half of the heart is a map of where we live and half of the heart is a map of where she lives. I was quite happy with how it turned out...

Finally, you may remember this pillow I designed in December, playing around in my studio for the Poppie Cotton Christmas Countdown Challenge. I decided to enter it in the Nancy Zieman Productions 2023 Pillow Sewing Challenge. You could enter one photo of one pillow that was made in the last year and write one or two sentences about it.

This was my entry:
My Pink House Pillow is an original design, has an envelope back and uses a 12” x 12” pillow form. My pillow features fusible appliqué with blanket stitching, rick rack around the perimeter and a ¼” button for the doorknob.

The winners were announced in a blog post on March 26th, and I was on the list! I am receiving a June Tailor prize package, including: Quilt As You Go Morning Blend Table Runner package; Quilt As You Go Venice Placemat (set of 6) package; Quilt As You Go Venice Table Runner package and Magic Seam Wand. I haven't received my prize package yet, but I am looking forward to it!

Thank you for visiting with me today! I will be back on Thursday to share my latest ThermOWeb project tutorial with you. A little hint...my project is for Houses Make a Home Week...and you can see it on the ThermOWeb Blog on Wednesday. Until then, I wish you a happy and creative week...

Pretty Projects Aplenty

Hello friends! It is Friday evening and I thought I would stop by for a creative post, filled with recent sewing and quilting projects. After a day week  month filled with computer issues and challenge after challenge, I decided to visit with you and share some sewing studio accomplishments. I have been working on all sorts of client projects, as I am doing some extensive traveling over the next few months and I am trying to get the piles under control. I am model stitching and sewing in the late evenings, working on some new charts and patterns, as well...it is a very fine balancing act. It has been awhile since my last project post...because life...and there were way too many images to share, so here is an assortment of Project Bags, Needle & Scissor Keeps, Quilt Retreat Mats and Stitch Starter Ruler Sleeves. I believe almost all of these were custom projects for clients, where the customer supplied the fabrics (there are a few of my own fabric creations tossed in, too) and these were all made with my own pattern designs...enjoy!

Also on the sewing front...a little over a month ago, I took a wonderful Free Motion Quilting on Sewing Machines class from Liz Granberg-Jerome, the owner of Gypsy Dreamer Quilts. I rarely have an opportunity to take a class (I am usually teaching them)…and this class was something special! I didn't have much free motion quilting experience and Liz was such an excellent teacher - seriously, if you have a chance to take one of her classes, make sure you attend! Here is a photo of the sample I worked up in class - my first attempt at free motion quilting. Now, I just need time to practice...because this is definitely a technique that improves greatly with practice....

This evening I will take a break from client projects and clear my head - I plan to do some model stitching on a new cross stitch design that brings me joy and watch a movie. I just need to take a very deep breath and regroup. I will be back again soon with recent needlework finishing...and there is a lot of that to share, as well...

Thanks for visiting...and a special thank you to those who commented and messaged me about my previous post - I tried to reply to everyone that did not comment from a "no reply" account. I truly appreciate the uplifting and kind words...I really do!