WIP Wednesday #16

Hi friends! I have been busy, busy making so many stuffie friends offline, but time management has not been my strongest skill recently and I have not managed to work online sharing into my schedule. But today was the last day of school for the year and I am going to add sharing in where school pick up was! I will be at the Homefarm Market this weekend and then the Blaine 4th of July, which will probably be my biggest show of the summer, is in less than two weeks so I am on crazy making mode right now. Plus I am at the Lynden Farmer’s Market nearly every weekend through September. Like I said busy, busy! Here are some of the things I am making this week:

Here are some Large Darlings and Sweater Darlings that just need faces and ribbons. That stack in the front is more Sweater Darlings I sewed today that need to be cut out, turned, stuffed, closed, and faces and ribbons added. Lots to get done!

This is a basket of the Tinies I have finished so far this week. I sell Tinies the most so I like to have lots of them ready to go!

These are more in progress Tinies that I marked face placement with pins. Don’t they look creepy and stabby at this point in the process?!!

And here is a little sneak peek of something I am working on- little beds for the Tinies. I got this prototype done this week but will not have any for sale quite yet. Isn’t the tiny quilt and mattress and pillow adorable though? I can’t wait to get some more done. Maybe by 4th of July? We will have to see.

I’m happy to share a peek into my studio! What are you guys working on right now?

Happy Making-

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The Happy Heart Pincushion Tutorial

I am still on my heart project kick! I’ve just been enjoying making heart things so much and they have all been very well received. Several of the kids in my boys’ classes said the Happy Heart Ornament they got for Valentine’s Day was their favorite and both of my boys heat up their heart rice bag to snuggle by their feet every single night. So fun! So today I have a cute little heart pincushion for you to make! The best part of this project is I used a couple of my precious, most favoritest fabrics that I have a hard time cutting in to. But, I made these heart pincushions and I use them every day now with all of the embroidery I have been doing and also just around the studio. I love that I get to use something made from my most loved fabrics so that I can enjoy them every day! If you scroll to the end of the post I made some heart pattern weights as well. Let’s get making!

Happy Heart Rice Bag Warmer Tutorial

Happy Valentine’s Day friends! I found out about an extra Valentine’s Day celebration for one of my kiddos at school so I decided to make an extra heart project for him to give to his classmates. I made these cute heart shaped fabric bags filled with rice and I thought I would share a tutorial for you guys to make them as well. You can put them in the microwave and warm them up for a minute and use them as a heat pack, or you can put them in the freezer and use them as a cold pack. You could even heat them up and then put them under your sheets by your feet to warm up your toes!

They are quick and easy to make and are a perfect Valentine’s Day gift. They would also be a sweet Christmas gift, or get well soon gift, or a birthday gift, or they would be a nice thing to send to a new to college student away from home for the first time. The options are endless, and I am sure you have all of the supplies you need on hand already. You might find yourself making a whole batch like I did!

Sashiko/Boro Inspired Patchwork Happy Heart Tutorial

I’m back again with another version of the Happy Heart Ornaments I have been sharing this week! Pinterest has been showing me a bunch of Sashiko and Boro projects recently and I thought it would be a fun to do a little experiment with that kind of style for the heart ornaments! I know I am not alone in hoarding little teeny tiny scraps of my favorite fabrics from over the years, including bits that are really too small to be useful. That little gnome on the bottom right ornament was the inspiration for this version! I found it while I have been playing in my scraps with all of the other ornaments I have been making. It is much too small to be useful, but too precious to throw out.

I understand that this version is not actually Sashiko or Boro since it is not hand stitched. But you could certainly do that too! I just love the Wabi-Sabi style of these, especially since sewing with raw edges is not something I normally enjoy and this pushes me outside of my crafty comfort zone.

Just like with yesterday’s tutorial, I will show you how to do the basic sides and you can click back to the original tutorial for finishing instructions. Let’s get started, shall we?

Patchwork Happy Heart Ornament Tutorial

I’m back today with a variation on the Happy Heart Ornament I shared with you yesterday, yeah! I frequently cut my scraps into 2.5″ squares that I put in a container to have ready to go and am always on the look out for good 2.5″ square patterns. Plus, I love mini charm packs! I made an ornament with a few of those squares while I was working on the heart ornament pattern and loved how it came out, so I thought I would share how to make it with you guys! This tutorial is going to be very similar to the one I posted yesterday, but I know sometimes you need to see things exactly to help when making something.

Happy Heart Ornament Tutorial

I’ve got a fun little ornament tutorial for you today! I am going to show you the basic version today, but then I have a couple other patchwork and pieced versions as well I will be sharing over the next couple days. I hope that this cute little heart can act as a blank canvas for your creativity to shine!

You can sew these by machine, or by hand for a lovely little handwork project! I’ve been really enjoying small, slow stitching, handwork projects recently. They would even be a great first project for getting a kiddo into sewing! I can’t wait to see what you make!

Drawstring Gift Bag Tutorial

Reusable fabric Christmas Gift Bag Tutorial sample

I have a fun tutorial for you guys today! For ages I have wanted to switch to reusable fabric gift bags for Christmas gifts and this last year was the year! We got snowed in the week before Christmas so I put that time to good use sewing up a storm. It was such a fun and quick activity with so many ways customize and really make it your own, I thought I would share a how-to for you guys. I know there are like a gazillion tutorials for gift bags out there, but I decided to do a no-stress (or significantly less stressful) version for you based on what you have at home. Then, if you too are like me and you get snowed in you can still make some gift bags!

Supplies

  • Fabric- as small as a fat quarter is great! I give more dimensions and samples at the end of the tutorial, but whatever you have on hand will work. Specifically Christmas themed is great, but anything will work really.
  • Drawstring: ribbon, cording, twill tape, etc. If you don’t have anything (I didn’t), you can sew up double fold bias tape and make a drawstring out of that.
  • Sewing machine and basic sewing supplies (cutting mat, rotary cutter, thread, iron, etc)
  • A safety pin

I bet you guys have all of these things at home!

WIP Wednesday #6

Hi friends! How was your Thanksgiving? We had a lovely time with family that we had not been together with on Thanksgiving for several years.

I have been working on a new project I am so excited to start sharing with you guys! Studio time has been limited the last month or so with kids sick, me sick with the lingering crud, holidays and life, but I have a new pattern line I have managed to snag a few minutes to work on. Meet my new friends!

I am calling these guys B’s Darlings and I am working on a whole line with interchangeable clothes and accessories. The animal dolls themselves will be sewn and then I am creating both knitted and sewn clothes and accessories, which I am loving! Since I have been writing both knitting and sewing patterns for a month shy of 14 (fourteen!!!) years, it is bringing me so much joy to combine the two in one line. I have started with just bears for now, with one that accidentally came out looking like a cat, so some kitties will be soon to follow (plus many more creatures I hope!). My next step will be to write up and lay out the patterns for you guys to make your own, but I am also planning on offering a few of the Darlings as finished toys as well.

This is the gorgeous stack of linens and yarn dyed organic cottons I have to play around with to make more Darlings. I’m excited to see how they come out, and I can’t wait to keep making more tiny clothes and knitted items.

Thanks to the magic of life I just got invited to sell my first Darlings at a Pop Up sale at an artist friend’s pottery studio and I couldn’t be more excited! I will be busy making bear friends (and hopefully some cats and other creatures) for the next couple weeks and the sale will be from 11am-4pm on both 12/17 and 12/18, just in time to snag those last minute gifts for the holidays! I will share the address and more info later, but make sure to mark your calendars now!

I hope you like the Darlings as much as I do! I will share my progress as I get ready for the sale. And, I am planning to get the pattern released in January so you can make your own Darlings as well.

What about you? Are you getting time in this busy part of the year to get a little sewing, knitting, and creating in? I’d love for you to share with me in the comments what you are working on!

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WIP Wednesday #5

Hi friends! I don’t know how things are going with you guys, but it has been rather whackadoodle dandy around here! We have had some illness go through the house which has stuck around and is still lingering, and it has meant not much WIP happening around here. But I have gotten a few things finished that I can share!

I did get the giant quilt plus the smaller football quilt finished for my Stepmom. Buuuuuuuuut I didn’t get pictures taken before I handed them over. Oops!

My second Christmas quilt is “on” my long arm frame, as you can see in the above photo…..

I got a few little ghosties finished to give to my youngest and his trick or treating friends on Halloween, but that was the day we came down with whatever illness has held on and he ended up not going. I guess I am ahead for next year!

And finally, this is a fun little sneak peak of what I am working on right now and hope to share very soon!

What projects are you up to? Are you working on Christmas present sewing? I have a few of those projects to start next!

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WIP Wednesday #4

Hi friends! Well, it has been a rather wacky week and I haven’t gotten very much sewing done since the weekend. I haven’t gotten the giant nautical quilt loaded on my long arm yet, but I did get started on a football quilt my Stepmom asked for that she is going to gift to her 9 year old grandson.

Here are the fabrics I picked. I found a cute Seahawks bundle on Keepsake Cottage Fabrics and they had the fun helmet fabric as a backing bundle as well. Then I added in this fun football print as well.

We decided on just a simple patchwork of squares. I started cutting them at 6″ (so they would be 5.5″ finished), but a couple of my fat quarters were a tiny bit under 18″ after I pressed them so I ended up making them 5.5″ squares, which will be 5″ finished. This is as far as I got though…I think I got through most of the things that were keeping me out of the studio so far this week, so hopefully I will get more cutting and sewing time in tomorrow and Friday and will maybe get enough time for piecing to get the quilt top finished!

What is your WIP Wednesday project this week? Have you had a wacky week like me? I’ve heard it seems to be going around!

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