sashiko pillow

Here is the finished sashiko sampler sewn into a pillow with a blue linen backing. Always bittersweet to finish a hand sewing sashiko project because they are so meditative and relaxing.

the knitty gritty club

                                                    Sashiko sampler in progress

                                                            Scarlet's penguin

Some friends and I recently started a Mother, Daughter craft club. Actually, Marith started it in December with tea, cookies and ornament making and we all had such a good time we continued it.

Last Saturday we had our second get together and the ladies worked on sashiko projects and the girls on needle felting projects. We named ourselves 'The Knitty Gritty Club' and we will plan to meet about once a month. I love that we are going to have this dedicated time together to socialize and learn and teach new skills. The girls are having so much fun too.

susanne by citronelle

I had been missing my sewing room the past few weeks and with a few hours over a couple days I remedied the situation. I first sewed a sweet soft doll similar to one I had seen online and liked a lot. I used cotton muslin, embroidery thread, wool and Liberty of London quilting cotton.

Then, I wanted to sew a dress and I saw I had enough of one of all my time favorite prints, Betsy, by Liberty of London to make a tunic using the pattern Susanne by Citronelle. I also made it last year and was so happy with it. I did sew it wrong once first...not sure where my brain was and it came out like it would fit a doll. Ha! So funny how little errors and bam! a girls dress could be a dolls dress- should have shown a photo of that. Scarlet saw it and immediately wanted to put it on and take photos. What can I say? The seven year old gets me :) I'm just so in love with this print!

gingham smocked shirt

I was at Purl Soho a week ago and purchased a kit to make a Smocked Dress and Shirt. I've admired this pattern for a while especially in this grey gingham with red thread. I found the embroidery peaceful and love the little puckers. The smocking is called honeycomb smocking and I thinkI should have made my stitches a little tighter. The smocking is in the front and back and there are two shoulder ties. It fits my daughter like a tunic. This photo was taken while in progress. Here is a link to the pattern

summer lines embroidery sampler

I love having a hand stitch project to work on a little at a time here.
Rebecca Ringquist makes really fun samplers and it's a great place to practice your embroidery stitches. I think this is my fourth one from her line. The next one I am going to start is a paisley design. I have my eye on the color wheel as well.

sashiko mat

I took inspiration from one of my pins to make up a freehand design with interlocking circles and embroidered a little quilted mat to rest my mug on or to use as a potholder. I embroidered on Kiyohara linen blend fabric and used turquoise sashiko thread and then bound it with the same material. It is nice and thick since it is three layers of fabric with batting in between. I have some more fabric cut out for another one. It would be nice to have a set of these.

love what you love make what you make

Love what you love make what you make...

I made myself finish something before starting something new. Design by Rebecca Rinquist. I always enjoy working with her samplers.

summer fun

Dyeing wool with myroblean

Some of the crafts I have been doing this summer include tie dyeing, friendship bracelets, jewelry making, embroidery, lots of knitting (sweaters for me) and I am now starting to dye yarn with natural dyes. Perhaps I will get around to showing some of these. Then there is the garden- I can never tend it as much as I want but still it always gives and lately with lots of tomatoes, cosmos, nasturtium, cucumber, chard, kale, arugula, apples, herbs, beans and the last of the blackberries.

excited about making some jewelry with these pretty beads

Other then a french press sleeve there has not been much sewing the past few weeks. I hope to get the machine in good shape soon and I am also working on a major overhaul of the craft room which is in dire need of some organization. I need a more efficient space where everything really is in it's place and a lot of editing needs to happen in there.

August which usually is not my favorite month wound up being pretty good with family adventures and not too hot days. School starts Monday and we are all ready and excited.

drop cloth stitch sampler

I finally finished my Stitch Sampler 2010 by Rebecca Rinquist. This is the second sampler I have done from her designs, the other being Cake. I would love to get a subscription for the 12 month Stitch Sampler but, I am more likely to buy a single for my next one and am trying to decide which to chose. I am leaning towards the Love Embroidery Sampler. Samplers are fun to learn on and there are many stitches I am still mastering and many more to learn. My great grandmother did beautiful embroidery and her stitches inspire me whenever I pull out something she made. Sashiko embroidery is also a favorite of mine. It's a really nice alternative to knitting for something portable and relaxing.

winterwoods ABC x-stitch sampler

All finished and framed. Now to find the perfect place for it. This cross stitch really was a lot of fun.

nani iro quilt

A lap size quilt in cotton gauze hand quilted in matching threads just finished.I love the deep saturation of the colors on the front. All Nani Iro fabrics.

alphabet sampler

I am working on the alphabet sampler by Alicia Paulson. I decided to start it the day I read about her adopting a baby girl a few weeks ago. I was so happy when I read the news on Alicia's blog. Hers was one of the first I read years ago. The kit had been sitting around for a few months now so I was happy for the excuse to start something new. I forgot how fun cross stitch is. I am up to the 'teacup' now which is next to the letter 't.'

produce bags

I've been wanting to make some of these for ages and was recently re-inspired.
I used some muslin pieces I had leftover from other projects to make simple drawstring bags in different sizes. I plan to make a few more since four won't be enough once I get some more muslin. So much better then those plastic bags.

cake sampler

I finished Cake!

An embroidery sampler by Rebecca Rinquist.
This was a lot of fun to work on and it gets me excited about finishing my other sampler by her. I learned a few new embroidery stitches through this piece which was exciting. It has been really relaxing to work on this type of work over the summer since it has been so hot. I'd like to frame it someday perhaps with some sewn on fabric border.