Hand Stitched Treasure: February 2015

I love our house, but there is quite a draft that blows beneath this door every winter. Our solution has been the use of an old towel, but it is so unsightly that we hide it when guests are over. Hmm...

Today, I used a snowy window pane fabric and this tutorial that Laura Bray shared at katydiddys.blogspot.com. (I found the tutorial on Pinterest.)

The tutorial was very easy to follow; however, it does assume you know how to make a fabric loop if you choose that optional feature. I used the method I have liked the most while making purses in the past.

I wanted a half-inch wide loop that was roughly 3-inches long and I used a half-inch seam allowance.
To determine the width of fabric you need, multiply the width you want by 4.
To determine the length, add the length you want the loop to be to the seam allowance and multiply that by 2.
So, for my width I multiplied 0.5 x 4 = 2 inches wide.
For the length I added 3 + 0.5 = 3.5 and doubled that number. 3.5 x 2 = 7.
I cut a 2 x 7-inch strip of fabric.

I folded the rectangle in half lengthwise (right-sides-out) and ironed a crease along the fold.

Next, I folded one side of the fabric in to meet the center crease (wrong sides together) and ironed a crease along this new fold.

I did the same with the second side.

Then, the fabric was ironed again, with the raw edges of the folds inside along the center crease.

Next, I stitched roughly one-eighth of an inch away from both edges.

I folded the length of the strip in half and stitched the loop together (using about a quarter-inch seam.)

This loop was stitched into the open (stuffing) end of the draft blocker as instructed in the tutorial. (I placed the loop so that half an inch of the bottom edge slipped into the tube. This hid the stitches seen along the raw edge on the right in the photo above and gave me a 3-inch long loop.) The loop will allow me to hang the draft blocker in our hall closet during the months it is not in use.

I chose the snowflake pattern because it is wonderfully wintery. It does not exactly go with the carpet in our entryway, but I love it anyway! The only problem is that it does not sit flush against the edge of the door, so some air is still able to travel up the door and into the house, but I am exploring a few ways to prop it up a bit more to solve that issue.

This was an incredibly quick and easy project and it certainly does block most of the draft, so I am quite happy. No more old towels in the entryway! Hurray! :)

Thank you for stopping by!
Renee

Thursday, February 26, 2015

1 Xmas Item a Month February 2015 Finish

In June of 2012, I made this block for my first Crazy Quilting International (CQI) Round Robin. (If you crazy quilt or plan to learn how to crazy quilt, you may join CQI on Yahoo or on Facebook.)

The center rose was cross-stitched on black fabric using the Leisure Arts Pamphlet "A Regal Rose and Distinctive Floral Alphabet." (There is a link to the pamphlet under "My Favorites" at Amazon.com on the sidebar to the right.)

The round robin began in July of 2012 and ended in January of 2013. This is how it looked when it returned home. Absolutely stunning! What a talented novice group.

Embellished by Crystal S., Hazel T., Shannon C., and Mardeen L.

I mailed the block to Shannon C. in ID and she framed the center rose with a lace trim, ribbon and added lovely seam work as well as the beautiful silk ribbon border along the bottom of the block.

I believe Shannon mailed it on to Crystal S. in OH. Crystal added the lovely wisteria and the dragonfly among other lovely details.

Hazel T. in MO received the block next. She added the amazing Brazilian embroidery in the upper-left, along the top, and (if I remember correctly) in the lower-right corner.

Mardeen L. in CO completed the block with the delicate hanky, the lovely button cluster flower, and leafy vine with flowers along the right side of the block.

Until now, the block has been tucked safely away, waiting for me to transform it into a 12-inch pillow. I used this pillow tutorial (again) at lemontreecreations.blogspot.com to transform the block into a pillow cover. (It was a little tricky, as the embroidery pulled the 12-inch block in to about 11.5-inches, but I made it work!)

Embellished by Shannon C., Crystal S., Hazel T. and Mardeen L.

It is SO much prettier in person. The temptation to keep this for myself is pretty strong, but it has other plans this Christmas.

Please stop by the 1 Xmas Item a Month blog to see more lovely gifts and Christmas projects!

Wednesday, February 25, 2015

WIP Wednesday 02/25/2015

Is it really the last Wednesday in February already?!

It has been a busy week for me and a productive one. (Although, I did realize I have not fully completed a project to add to my 2015 Finishes page yet. I have 3 days to fix that!)

HAED Cross-stitch Progress:

Roughly 300 x-stitches were completed on my Heaven and Earth Designs (HAED) Santa and the Mouse Freebie Ornament. This freebie is no longer available. However, it is a small section of this chart and the artwork is by Scott Gustafson. Current free HAED charts may be found here. (My favorite is the Freebie Ice Princess - the artwork is by Hannah Lynn. It is a small section of this chart.)

Santa's hat has been filled in a fair bit this week. Last week's progress is shown below for comparison.

Beginner's Crazy Quilt Class:

The majority of my stitching time this week has gone into the block I am making as part of the free Beginner's Crazy Quilt Class taught by Kathy Shaw at Shawkl.com. I have a bit more silk ribbon embroidery to add before adding motifs and beads. I do so love the way the white fabrics make a perfect canvas for the embroidery. It is a fun class!

Registration for the next beginner's class will be open March 20th-22nd if you want to join the fun!

Goals:

My goals for this week include:

Completing at least 100 x-stitches on the HAED Santa and the Mouse chart.
Finishing my Beginner's Crazy Quilt Block.
Working on an item for my Etsy shop. (It is currently empty.)
Finishing my 1 X-mas Item a Month project.
Finishing my project for the Tree Bird Blog Hop at Sew We Quilt.

Thank you so much for stopping by. I hope you have an amazing week!

Hugs,

Renee

Sunday, February 22, 2015

Beginning Crazy Quilt Class Progress - Basic Seams Added

Let me just say, I am loving the Beginning Crazy Quilt Class Kathy Shaw offers through Shawkl Designs! There are things I have discovered I do the same as Kathy, and there are other things we do differently. It is so much fun trying new methods.

Above is a picture of my block with the basic seams and stitches. Next, I will be adding some of the silk ribbon embroidery.

At the time of this post, it looks like registration for the next beginner's class will be March 20-22, if you are interested!

Thanks for stopping by!
Renee

Please note: I had a few technical difficulties making this post. I do apologize if you subscribe by email and received a blank post!

Wednesday, February 18, 2015

WIP Wednesday 02/18/2015

I did not manage to post last week, but I did manage almost 90 x-stitches on the Freebie Santa and the Mouse Ornament chart from Heaven and Earth Designs. I hoped to add more to it this week, but did not manage it. This has been a very busy week with my family.

The picture below shows how things looked on February 4th. Santa's forehead has been filled in a bit more.

To be on track with my goal of 100 x-stitches a week, next week I need to have about 220 stitches. We will see if I manage it with the work I am doing on my block for the Beginning Crazy Quilt Class taught by Kathy Shaw. (I hope to share my progress soon!)

Please note: this free chart is no longer available at Heaven and Earth Designs. It is a smaller part of the Santa and the Mouse chart found HERE. There are now 2 free charts available and one of them was only recently listed. If you are interested in checking them out, there is a link HERE. (I am not affiliated with the site in any way.)

This week I did manage to just about complete a project for the Tree Bird Blog Hop coming up next month at Sew We Quilt.

A friend and I also decided to venture out on our first local quilt shop hop. The Snowflakes and Stitches Shop Hop takes place in the Portland/Salem area of Oregon. It began on February 7th and ends on February 21st. It includes 15 shops. My friend and I made it to 9 shops on Saturday in Gresham, Hillsboro, Beaverton, Forest Grove, Tigard, Lake Oswego and West Linn. Today, my husband showed me how much he must love me and went with me to the shops in Wilsonville and Molalla. I hope to make it to the last four shops in Salem, Keizer and Dallas before Saturday.

Thanks so much for stopping by!
Renee

Tuesday, February 17, 2015

Crazy Quilting International Under the Sea Do Your Block Round Robin

Well... I was not planning to participate in any round robins this year. I was going to focus on finishing a few items on my To Do List.

However, when Nicki Lee asked me about joining in with the Crazy Quilting International (CQI) Under the Sea (UTS) Do Your Block (DYB) Round Robin (RR), my resolution caved and I opted to join in the fun.

I had a couple of ideas for blocks for this RR, and had a hard time choosing which one to go with.

My first thought was to do 2 sets of blocks. One would include the beach, sea and sky and the other would include the ocean and ocean floor. Each set of three blocks would fit together to make a little seascape, so I would have one wall quilt with the beach and one of the depths of the ocean.

In the end, I went with my second idea. This would include 2 blocks with the sky and sea, 2 blocks with only the sea, and 2 blocks of the sea and the ocean floor. Once the blocks return home and are all embellished, I plan to frame them with what I believe sane quilters call an Attic's Window; so, it will be like looking through 6 panes of a window to see the blocks in the view.

Today, these blocks will begin their journey to the east coast so a talented lady can begin her magic.

This is going to be so much fun!

Thank you for stopping by,
Renee

Thursday, February 12, 2015

A Drawing from Veronica

If you are here for the Grow Your Blog Party, you will find that post here.

Last night my son handed me another beautiful piece of artwork by his friend Veronica. He said she drew the whole thing yesterday.

I absolutely LOVE it.

(If you missed my post about her Christmas cards,

please check them out here.)

Unfortunately for you, my photo does not do this piece justice...

Hopefully, you can catch a few of the amazing details.

I just had to share!

Yesterday was the 10th and final day of the

We Support You Blog Hop.

I am so thankful to Madame Samm at Sew We Quilt for organizing this amazing show of support to women battling breast cancer.

Pat at Life in the Scrapatch has been a fantastic cheerleader.

Life was busy yesterday, so I am finally going to hop on over to see the final posts in this wonderful blog hop.

I do hope you will join me!

Here is the schedule:

Feb 11^th

Buzzing and Bumbling

In Stitches and Seams

All thingz sewn

The Slow Quilter

Quilts From my Crayon Box

Sew We Quilt

Tuesday, February 10, 2015

Have a Latte Fabric and We Support You Blog Hop Day 9

If you are here for the Grow Your Blog Party, you will find that post here.

To see my We Support You Blog Hop post, click here.

Just look what arrived at my house today!

What a fun way to spend the Amazon gift card

my dad gave me for Christmas.

Thank you, Daddy!

These fabrics were designed by Dan DiPaolo for Clothworks.

I love that the Clothworks website has a "Where to Buy" feature

to see which fabric and/or quilt stores near you carry

the fabric collection you are looking for.

Only one showed up near me and it was quite a ways away.

So, I was thrilled to find the entire collection

at Amazon.com for $9.48 a yard.

(Please note: I am not affiliated with the product, but do receive a small credit for purchases made from Amazon through my blog.)

The Have a Latte Blog Hop

hosted by Madame Samm at Sew We Quilt,

Pages

Saturday, February 28, 2015

Tree Bird Blog Hop Schedule and Other Announcements

Intermediate Crazy Quilt Class (ICQC) - 101

Crazy Quilt International "Sit and Stitch" Retreat 2015

Tree Bird Blog Hop

Friday, February 27, 2015

Draft Blocker