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...

Bountiful Bags

Today's post is all about projects bags...yes, piles of them...large project bags, small project bags, and tool bags. I have been done some serious sewing...that is, until my fancy sewing machine decided it needed to see the doctor...yep, she is acting up, so will be headed in for service (this afternoon)...she needs a little TLC (hopefully just a good cleaning). Until then, I am using my basic Singer without all the bells and whistles...which works, but is not ideal. As you can see, I have been managing to fulfill orders - they are just taking me a bit longer {sigh!}. I am still steadily working through requests, so if you are waiting, thank you for your patience! Here is just a snippet of what has been on the sewing table and keeping me busy...

Time to get cleaned up and head to the quilt shop (Joyce, I'm headed your way!) - say a little prayer or send some positive vibes to me and my baby (my sewing machine)...

I'll be back very soon with some cross stitch finishes and a couple other sewing projects...plus details on my latest magazine published designs...

Winter White Ornaments

Holiday Cottage - approximately 4.5" x 4.5"

I managed to finish quite a few machine embroidered lace ornaments over the last couple weeks...if you have followed my blog for quite some time, then you know I make these each year to slip inside Christmas cards and tie on packages. This year I decided to make some to put in my Etsy shop...and not only did I make snowflakes, but I made some holiday cottages (gingerbread houses) and some ice skates. I actually got quite a few completed before my sewing embroidery machine decided to act up (it is still unhappy - waiting for parts - a new belt and housing mechanism - boohoo)...and I listed what I have in my Etsy shop last night. These ornaments are made on my embroidery machine...and are technically called "free-standing lace"...they are made entirely of thread! 

For those of you not familiar with an embroidery machine, here is a little idea of how these snowflakes are made - using digitized designs, the machine embroiders the ornaments on water-soluble stabilizer...once the design is completely stitched, you put it in water and the stabilizer dissolves, leaving you with a beautiful piece of lace made completely of embroidery thread. I like to put a piece of white ribbon through the hanger on each snowflake before placing it in a card or on a gift. Each large snowflake can take anywhere from 45 minutes to well over an hour to make, so I usually set up my machine and let them embroider while I am working on various other crafts in my studio...each cottage and ice skate take quite a bit longer, as they are larger and quite detailed.  In the photos you can see a selection of my embroidered snowflakes ...average size of the small snowflake is 1.75" W x 1.75" H...medium snowflakes are approximately 2.75" W x 2.75" H...and the large snowflakes are approximately 3.5" W x 3.5" H. The holiday cottage and the ice skate are a little bit bigger at approximately 4.5" W x 4.5" H. Many digitizers offer snowflake designs for machine embroidery, but if you are interested in these particular medium and large snowflake designs, they are designed by Criswell Embroidery & Design - the holiday cottage and the ice skate are digitized by Anita Goodesign....you can purchase digitized designs from both of these designers on a disk at your favorite quilt shop or by downloading them from their website.

Large snowflakes - approximately 3.5" x 3.5"

Ice Skate - approximately 4.5" x 4.5"

Small Snowflakes - approximately 1.75" x 1.75"

A selection of wrapped ornaments...

I have listed all of the ornaments I have completed...and with my machine waiting for parts I am not sure if I will be able to complete more before Christmas - if you have been waiting for these, please do not hesitate. They will be shipped on heavy cardstock and wrapped with GiftGloss to keep them nice, clean, and flat.

On a happy note: I have approved the printing proofs for the new designs and they will be delivered next week - so they should be available around the 1st of December...I will post more details in the next couple days. AND...I am very close to be able to share my big design surprise with you - just be patient a few more days...

It is a beautiful day and after wrapping up just a few more details at my desk, I am headed out for a long brisk walk - my training continues to go well - and a big thank you to those who have already supported my Komen 3-Day walk with a donation - I heart you all!

Pillow Talk

Earlier this week, I finished several pillows to send to my mother for her birthday...I had fun working on three pillows for her...and I am so glad I got them completed before my sewing machine needed to go in for repair.

SIDE NOTE: yep, my sewing/embroidery machine experienced a little hiccup yesterday and had to make a trip to the doctor today - she needed a little TLC...it turned out to be a simple belt issue and I was extremely relieved - I made it home and managed to sew for about 10 minutes before the exact same thing happened again...ugh. My dealer is about an hour and a half away, so I couldn't be more discouraged - the sewing machine tech will not be in until Monday morning, so Monday we have an appointment to head back and have the belt put back in place. Boohoo...my whole weekend without my fancy schmancy sewing machine...good thing I have a big cross stitching deadline to keep me busy!

Okay, enough about that whining - back to the pillows. The one in the top right photo with the tree button is a small pillow - maybe 3" x 3"...my mother has an adorable tiny rocking chair that belonged to my grandparents, so I thought it would be cute to send her a little patchwork pillow to display with it for the holidays. The two larger pillows (below) are 9.5" x 9.5" - the Redwork stitching is actually machine embroidery from an older Inspira Redwork Collection with the cutest designs (I just love them!). After the embroideries were completed, I cut them into 6.5" blocks and added 2" dark red print border strips....then backed them with a fun red and white print (hearts) and stuffed them firmly. I thought they finished up extra cute...and turns out, they matched my mother's living room perfectly. I figured she could use the one with the ice skating mouse during the winter...and the one with the rabbits gathering vegetables in the spring/summer....and if she wants, she can turn one around and show the red heart print for Valentine's Day.

I managed to get quite a few snowflakes and ornaments machine embroidered before the aforementioned "belt issue", so look for those this weekend - I just have to get them photographed and added to my Etsy shop...

My two new Blue Ribbon Designs ("Berries, Birds, and Blooms" and "Sunflower Serenade") that are being released in the very near future are at the printer and I will see a proof on Monday - once they are good to go, I will determine the exact release date information and post about the specifics - stay tuned...

It has been an incredibly busy (and somewhat frustrating) week...and I am now off to my stitching nest...I will be having a late night model stitching marathon!

Middle School Math

I'm always up for a sewing challenge....even when my schedule is hectic...so when my husband came to me a couple weeks ago needing squeeze bags for his upcoming hunting trip, I jumped in...

First off, I had to find out what a "squeeze bag" is...well, a little research told me they are basically tubular bean bags that stretch vertically when squeezed. Used for long range shooting, you rest the stock of your gun on the squeeze bag...when aiming, you squeeze the bag and the pressure causes the bag to go up, raising and lowering your gun with steady precision....plus it also provides comfort for extended shooting sessions. Okay, I guess that makes sense...

Next, I had to figure out how one was assembled. My husband's friend who is going on the hunting trip has one...but wanted additional sizes and a few adjustments...so I borrowed the one he has (shown in the top photo on the right side) and took some notes. They wanted the the circumference a little larger...the bags filled a little fuller...they wanted three height sizes - 4.5", 6.5", and 8.5" (all with the same circumference)....and they really didn't want or need the Velcro handles (good deal!). Now I have some measurements and an idea of how they are put together.

The next step was to get supplies - this step made me smile - normally, I can't get my husband to step foot in a sewing/crafting/quilting shop, but he wanted input on the fabric, so last Monday we headed out into my world - our first stop being JoAnn Fabrics. We needed a pliable canvas-type fabric - strong and sturdy yet soft and squeezable...and of course, it had to be in a "manly" color or print...after walking the entire fabric section, I showed him a camouflage fabric I thought would work...and after a quick call conferring with his buddies, we were at the cutting table getting a piece of Realtree Camouflage Twill cut. Great we have the fabric...now we needed the "stuffing" - I had purchased several bags of poly pellets already, but after finding out I was making six squeeze bags, we decided we needed at least four more. Now here is where I start giggling - JoAnn's only had one bag in stock - so we grab it and check out....needing three more bags, we head to Hancock Fabrics, just around the corner - they only had teeny tiny bags that were way over-priced...so then we headed across the street to Michaels - and after walking the entire store on our search, we found them and were able to get the three additional bags needed. Yep, my husband had to go to JoAnn Fabrics, Hancock Fabrics, and Michaels all in one afternoon - it was too funny (and something that will probably never happen again in our lifetimes)!

Supplies and notes in hand, it was time to get to work. Here is where the middle school math has to kick in - I knew the diameter we were going to use for the circular ends was 5.5" with a .5" seam allowance added - so now I needed the circumference measurement to cut the pieces for the tubes...well, digging deep into my brain for those math skills from many years ago, I remembered that diameter x pi = circumference....hmmm, and I never thought I would ever need that in my adult life. So now I know the circumference is 17.25 and I had the height measurements they wanted for each bag, so I was ready to cut. First I fused a nice, soft, medium-weight interfacing to the back of the twill fabric, to give it a bit more stability and form...then I cut all the pieces - 12 circles and 6 rectangles. I started by sewing the rectangular tubes first, leaving an opening in the center of each for turning and filling...then added the circle caps to each end. Let me tell you, if you need practice with curved piecing, then making squeeze bags is definitely for you - by the time I attached all twelve caps, I was an expert! I then sergered all the seams, as these bags are going to have a lot of use...and let's face it, men are not delicate creatures - these bags are going to be thrown around and punished. Each bag was then turned, filled 90% full with poly pellets, and the openings hand stitched closed. It cost me and average of just under $10.00 to make each custom bag (the poly pellets were the main expense) plus labor (which I told my husband was going to be EXPENSIVE)...not bad, since a single bag sells for $25.00+ in hunting stores....and these were exactly what they wanted. Challenge completed...and plus my husband and his hunting/shooting friends are happy...



 As a little reward, I am taking the afternoon/evening off to go on a date with my hubby - we are headed to the Swine Festival - yes, you heard me correctly - the Swine Festival (where cork meets pork). It is actually an outdoor benefit event for the viticulture and enology program at Des Moines Area Community College -  fifteen of central Iowa's finest chefs prepare samples of gourmet pork dishes and fifteen Iowa wineries will pour samples and offer wine for sale....plus live music and other assorted activities. It should be a fun evening and I plan to relax and enjoy myself...