Crumb Snatchers

Crumb Snatchers is the name of our little sewing group - my two eight year old granddaughters and me. They first learned about seams by sewing together old sheets I had ripped apart into strips. Now they have moved on to crumbs and strips and are making their parents a little pillow for Christmas. And after that they will make a hotpad for them.  Here Belle (aka Isabelle/Izzy/Bellarina) models with a chunk of mushroom fabric she chose to work with because her family loves to go mushroom hunting.

Here she is with the front of her pillow which is stuffed but the opening not yet sewn shut. She picked fabrics with things her family loves...birds, hot peppers, roses, and anything Irish...

...and here's the back of her pillow with fish and mushrooms and a special strip on which she wrote some lovely sentiments as well as the date she made it.   I think she also noticed she her pillow had a big indent in it which we decided to call character.

 And here is Crumb Snatcher Kayla still working away on her pillow back. Unfortunately the pins in her seam were facing the wrong way and after I told her that her smile was not as big.

And here is the front of Kayla's pillow.  Of course her main fabric has hearts. That is so Kayla.   And now I'm wondering why Belle is in the background looking so grouchy.   I think she wanted me to show her how to hand stitch her opening shut and I told her she had to wait until slowpoke Kayla had hers stuffed so I could show them both at the same time what had to be done.

Asian Challenge Pillow Complete!

My Asian challenge block has now turned into a 14 inch pillow for my sister for Christmas. As you can see it doesn't go well with my couch or my decorating style so I'm not sad to give it up. My sister likes the Asian motifs and she appreciates handmade.

Here it is from a different view so maybe all the stitching will show up.

This was the sixth stitch of the challenge - lattice stitch. I had a difficult time being able to see the threads let alone weave them. I used perle #8 on the smaller flowers and used 3mm satin ribon for the larger red one with the orange french knot center. I see a stray thread in this picture that I didn't see when taking the pic so block that out with your mind since I don't know how to photoshop it out.

One of the extras we were supposed to add was a fan. This is mine out of silk ribbon.

And there you have it.. a Christmas present finished for my sister. Now back to the list...

Asian Challenge - Bullions

This week's Asian Challenge stitch is the bullion stitch. I used 3 strands of DMC variegated thread and filled center with 10/0 seed beads.

Latest CQ

This is Beryl's block for the "Anything Goes" RR. The block had beautiful gold/orange/yellow fabrics so I chose an analogous color scheme since I seem to like that combo most. I pulled all my purple, red and orange threads (and a touch of green) and stitched several seam treatments and then filled in with the twisted silk ribbon chrysanthemums.

This is Kerry's Tea Time block. I didn't pick any special color scheme. I just tried to use what was in the block. I started with a small cross stitched teapot and cupcake done mostly in gold to pick up the gold in the piece on the block. I did a curvy seam treatment up in the upper right corner in the same colors as the circles on the fabric. I added the teapot and cup buttons. They stuck too far out and were too heavy for the block so I made a tiny hole to insert button back into hole so button would lay flat. It looked much better that way. The silk thread vine with pink silk flowers that meanders around doesn't show up too well. And finally, I appliqued on some varied flavors of tea bags. This was the last of the blocks for this RR so I'll be mailing them home to Kerry soon.

This is a block I made for the CQ4Newbies Asian Challenge. It follows same color schem as Beryl's block...red, purple, orange. As challenge moves along we will be introduced to several different seam treatments that need to be added as well as some other items. A big embroidered dragon is going in the middle! I don't really like the Asian blocks; however, I just remembered that my sister is now a Buddhist (one in a long line of religions she has embraced) so I will be making this 16 inch block into a pillow for her for Christmas. 

Pillows

Two 18" and four 14" pillows ready for gift giving. Nothing fancy - but practical, removable, and washable. And, I can make new pillow covers for them every year for Christmas gifts too!