It's a Chicken Thing

Chickens and kitchens are a pairing that I've seen around off and on for a long time.  So when I ran across this Hei Hei inspired embroidery sketch from Thanks for the Adventure I had to add it to my stash.

Lately I've been stitching out towels for Christmas.  And those towels have been stitched on a waffle weave style towel.  Well this time I decided to do it all completely different.  This time I stitched out my rooster on a flour sack towel.

Now I'm not sure how I feel about these flour sack towels, but there are people out there who just love them.  Or so I'm told.  😀  So I figured why not.

All in all I do love the way that he stitched out.  The colors of thread I used are not 100% accurate but I used the closest colors I had.  But then isn't that what "inspired" is all about?  Taking the real thing and creating something based on it?  Either way I'm loving how the colors I used pop against each other on that white background.  And maybe next time I'll come up with some clever saying I can add to the design....

Snowballs in August?

I thought I'd venture out and try something new again.  I mean, why not?  Especially since I've toyed with trying this for some time now. 

Several years ago when I bought my first embroidery machine I came across a pattern for creating Snowman Snowballs.  The Embroidery Garden is the company that sells them and I first heard about them when I purchased a copy of Designs in Machine Embroidery back in December of 2012.  In that magazine was an article that featured a Nativity Flameless Tealight Cover set.

Since then I've often visited her website, looking at her various patterns but always too afraid to try them.  Until now........

Armed with some white fleece, the Snowman Snowballs Set 2, a sewing and embroidery machine I set off to stitch out a couple of these snowballs that have haunted me for so long.  And now that I've completed these three I'm left scratching my head wondering why I was so afraid give them a try.

They're definitely a bit larger than I expected but that's okay.  Now I just need to decide if I want to make little hats for their heads or just leave them as they are.  I'm thinking I'll leave most of them as they are and when I get more made I'll look for a bucket that I can package some of them with and then just sell others individually.  In a town where we never see snow these are bound to be a hit. 😉

It's a Hero Thing

I love it when I can combine my love for papercrafting along with my love for embroidery.  Today's project is just such a combination.

A while back I added the Little Heroes file from Marjorie Ann Designs to my stash.  And over the course of a month I created three other such card and burp cloth sets featuring Superman, Batman and Captain America.  But today, I get to share a set featuring the Hulk.

The stamp set I used for this card is from the Jaded Blossom stamp set titled Super Hero (same set as the revamped, but before it was 'revamped').

For the burp cloth, I used the recently released Hulk applique from Stinkin Cute Applique.  He was absolutely fun and easy to stitch together and I tell ya her designs just keep getting better and better.

Since my other heroes were stitched on a cloud print flannel I decided to stitch my Hulk on the same print.  It's a flannel print that I found at Hobby Lobby and is appropriately called cloud print. I think this is one of my favorite flannels that I have found for use with my burp cloths.

And there you have it.  Another collision of two of my favorite crafts.

Peter Pan Burp Cloth

I'm not gonna lie.  I love Peter Pan.  Not that I'm a fanatic about the cartoon, but I love the story and characters.  And so whenever I get a chance to create a craft that features Peter Pan or one of his companions I jump at it.

(Did you see the lantern or night lights I made last year?)

Today I have another burp cloth that I've made and this time it features the delightfully fun Peter Pan himself.  The Peter Pan sketch is another inspirational design created by Thanks for the Adventure.  Just like all the other designs I've stitched out he stitched beautifully.

Now I just need to decide what I want to stitch on the remaining 10 or so cloths that I need to finish....

Tiana Sketch Baby Dress

It's been a while since I've embroidered on an article of clothing.  I'm still not that comfortable with it as I have difficulty placing clothes on my hoop.  But when it comes to doing these little baby dresses it's not so bad since I can just place the stitching at the bottom of the dress.

And so today I share with you the last of the baby dresses I have on hand.  I had purchased several of these cap sleeve dresses in different sizes, and colors, from Hobby Lobby.   The smaller ones up to about 6 or 9 months were perfect, but I discovered that the one year dresses had an issue with the opening for the head.  I had one I made for my granddaughter that I could not get to fit over her head.  To remedy that I had to cut a slit and create a button hole.  Needless to say, I reached out to corporate about the issue and they said they'd look into it.  Either way I won't be buying anymore of the larger sized dresses.  Too risky.  The shirts they sell though have been wonderful and I will be working with more of those in the near future.

For this dress I found this great sketch of Tiana over at Thanks for the Adventure.  Since I had just made a greeting card with Tiana I thought I'd make a little dress too.  I have always loved how beautifully these sketches stitch out and this one was no exception.

Thing Two Burp Cloth

Can you believe that today is August 1st?  That means it's just 52 more days until Fall begins and 146 until Christmas.  So for those of you that participate in the craft shows that means our time for getting ready is about over.  My first show for the season is always Oktoberfest and that comes one week after Fall begins.

As you've probably guessed by now I'm trying to fill a different niche this year.  While people love homemade greeting cards and such they don't sell very well in my area.  Since I had played around with embroidery a couple years back my husband decided it was time to give it another whirl, and so he bought me a new machine.

I'm not quite ready for embroidering clothes yet.  Goodness knows I've tried.  Some have turned out and others have failed.  Either way I'll continue to try as I grow and learn.  For now though I'm enjoying other projects - like baby burp cloths.

When my children were little I quickly realized I could never have enough burp cloths, and the same rang true with my granddaughter.  It was this aha moment that prompted me to find a nice sewing pattern that I could use for making my own cloths rather than using diapers or other style blanks.  I wanted something unique and all my own.  

Now that I've told you my story, I share with you another burp cloth I've created.  As with all my burp cloths I use a pattern I found from Simplicity, pattern 2924.  It has a lot of great baby accessories and perhaps I need to begin making some of them too.

I loved the way that my Thing One burp cloth turned out last week so I decided to use the same flannel fabric for Thing Two.  It's a nursery flannel with Grey Baby Words that I purchased from Joann's.  In between my flannel is a cotton batting that is perfect for that extra absorbency.

The Thing Two applique is from Stinkin Cute Applique.  It's a relatively new shop on Etsy that has some really cute designs.  I've stitched out several of them now and they just keep getting better and better.  So if you like to do embroidery you should really check out their shop.

Nightmare Book Pillow

I thought I'd do something a bit different today.  Instead of starting the week by sharing a greeting card I thought I'd share a new embroidery project.  

So today I'm sharing a new book pillow that I made.  Last year I found this great Nightmare Before Christmas fabric at one of my local craft stores.  And, as I so often do I purchased a yard just because I liked it.  I had no project in mind.  Nothing special at all.  I just wanted it.  

The fabric must have sat in a pile for months before I finally used it.  It wasn't until Halloween last year that I was inspired to create a Halloween tree for my husband.  Halloween is his favorite holiday, and so I made a Nightmare Before Christmas themed tree.  And what tree is complete without a tree skirt?  That's right I used a piece of this fabric to make a tree skirt for his Halloween tree.

Once complete I still had plenty of fabric leftover.  So when I saw this sketch of Sally over at Thanks for the Adventure I knew another book pillow was in order.

The verbiage I added using the Comic Strip font from Applique Corner.

Gingerbread Minnie

Remember last week when I shared the Gingerbread Mickey towel I appliqued? (You can find that post here.)  Well, this week I decided to make his companion, Minnie.

She turned out every bit as cute as the Gingerbread Mickey and I was thrilled to have a complete set.  Until I remembered that I had reduced the size of Mickey because I initially thought about adding some verbiage on the towel with him.  So now I need to go back and recreate another towel with each of the appliques in the appropriate sizes so I can have actual sets that 'match'.

Appliques with Character has both Mickey and Minnie as a set here.  BUT, you can also purchase them separately and save money.  Don't ask me why, and it may just be a special she's running, I don't know.  Either way she has Gingerbread Mickey and Gingerbread Minnie currently in her dollar section.

So if you like embroider these are a great find for making some special Christmas gifts.

Christmas Advent Towel

Hey everyone!  I'm back with another Christmas in July project.  This time it's another kitchen towel.  I found this fun design over at Thanks4The Adventure - where I find so many of my fun designs.  This particular design is called Advent Christmas Tsum Tree.

Right away I am going to admit that I was remiss when I stitched this project.  While my towel turned out looking good it could have looked better.  How you ask?  Well, I forgot to use my WSS (water soluble stabilizer) on top of the towel so that my stitches would not sink.  Personally I like to use Floriani's Wet N Gone but any brand will do really.  (I've used the brand from Joann's with success as well.)

Now I know what you're thinking.....well, if you've followed some of my other posts where I've embroidered towels.  Why would I use WSS on this towel when I've talked about using Heat 'n Gone?  The answer is because this particular towel has an applique for the "base" of the project that would help hold the stitches in place (in my opinion).  And with the Tsum Tsums being a filled stitch I didn't want to have to iron over that much embroidery to remove the topping.

At the end of the day though I suppose it doesn't really matter which stabilizer is used for the topping.  It's really a matter of preference.  Either way though I'm still learning as I go, and trust me when I say there is A LOT to learn.  

Thing One Burp Cloth

While searching through some of my favorite Etsy shops this past weekend I found this great new design that was released by Stinkin Cute Applique.  I've always been a huge Dr. Seuss fan so when I saw this Thing One inspired applique I had to have it.

For my first use I had to create a burp cloth.  I pulled out one of the pre-cuts I made using this great  nursery print baby flannel I found at Joann's.  I thought this grey and white print would be the perfect background and help the colors from the applique pop.

Once it was all stitched out and together I was not disappointed.  I really love the way that this one turned out and I can't wait to try putting this design on a shirt or some other fun project.  Who knows, maybe I'll find some Dr. Seuss print fabric and make a book pillow.   That could be fun.

Oooooh, the ideas that are swirling in my head......

Gingerbread Mickey

It's another Christmas in July project and today it's another Christmas towel I've embroidered.  Well, okay this time the towel is appliqued.

I first saw this cute Gingerbread Mickey when I was going through Pintrest.  Of course I had to save the pin so that I wouldn't forget to go back later and find the file.  However, when I did the file was available with someone who wanted more than what I ended up purchasing it for.

Appliques with Character has the Gingerbread Mickey along with Minnie and a lot of other great designs.  I purchased it from her for next to nothing.  He's a great design and stitched out wonderfully.  

I was tempted to add some verbiage to the towel but opted not to for the first stitching.  I thought something like Christmas calories never count would be cute.  Maybe I'll try that the next go round.

Santa, I Know Him

It's time for a Christmas in July project.  Today I'm sharing a Christmas towel and matching ornament that I created.  I found these great waffle weave towels on Amazon for a great price so I decided to purchase a pack to play around with.

For this towel I used the North Pole Santa's Elf sketch from Thanks4theAdventure.  Out of the various companies I've seen offering sketches, Aimee's is by far the best.  I love that her designs look finished and stand out no matter what you're embroidering them on.

When I stitched out my towel I did something different than what I hear others do.  In the different groups I'm in I hear the ladies talk about using a water soluble stabilizer on top of their towels.  But, in a stabilizer class I took the instructor talked about how WSS washes away and after a while the stitches start to drop.   She then went on to say that using a heat removable topping like Floriani's Heat 'n Gone eliminates that issue.  So I've started using Heat 'n Gone on top of my towels.

For my ornament, I did a google search for the ninny muggings quote, found one I liked and traced the image.  While that was cutting, I added a couple drops of green, red and yellow alcohol inks in the ornament and sprayed a couple puffs of compressed air to swirl them around.  I've only made a couple of ornaments like this but they're pretty fun.  Especially since no two are alike.

Belle and Beast Reading Pillow

I thought I would try something new and create a reading (or book) pillow.  I've seen a few of these floating around in one of my Facebook groups and they're pretty awesome.  Especially if you love to read.

There are a couple different blogs I visited that have directions on how to make these.  The Polkadot Chair shared directions for an 18" square pillow. And She's Kinda Crafty shared directions for a 16" square pillow.  Since I'd never made these before I opted to start with the 16" pillow.

This was a good week to try this project too because Joann's has fabric and pillow forms on sale.  I really had no idea what fabrics I would use for my pillows.  I mean, I knew I wanted to make at least one with Harry Potter fabric and I did find some.  But I also found the very last yard available of this gorgeous Beauty and the Beast stained glass fabric.  

Once home it was time to decide what sketch I wanted to embroider on the pocket fabric.  After looking at my options I settled on a sketch of Belle and Beast Reading from Thanks4theAdventure.  The quote is one that I liked so I stitched it out using the Elias font from Applique Corner.  Sadly I did something wrong with my hooping/stabilizer because when the quoted stitched out my fabric puckered.

Overall though I love how this reading pillow turned out.  So much so that I'm thinking after I make my other 16" pillow I'll give the 18" one a try and since it's a larger pillow I'll make the study pillow covers for that one.

That's Just Skippy

I always loved the Disney classic Robin Hood.  That cute little bunny Skippy was just adorable so when I saw an embroidery sketch of him I just had to add him to my stash.  At first I wasn't really sure what I'd stitch him on, but as my love for making baby burp cloths has grown I decided I'd stitch him on one of them.

Skippy Bunny is from Thanks 4 the Adventure, and as with all her designs it stitches out quick and beautifully.  I've seen several others that offer sketch designs but none that are as gorgeous as these.

The fabric is a print that I found at Joann Fabrics called Snuggle Flannel Fabric - Chevron Gray Small.  I've used it for several of my burp cloths now and I just love how each of them have turned out when I use this particular print.  Sadly though this was the last I had of this print so now I'll have to go back this weekend to see if they have more.  

Belle Bust Burp Cloth

Of the different Belle style burp cloths I've made I have to say that the one I'm sharing today is my favorite.  I love the way that she stitched out and the overall look is (in my opinion) just gorgeous.

If you're new to my blog I began my burp cloth making adventure about three or four months ago.  At first I thought about using cloth diapers like I see so many others do, but then I realized my cloths wouldn't be any different.  So I went off in search of a pattern for making my own cloths.  That's when I found this pattern from Simplicity.

Another thing I decided to do to set my cloths apart from others was to use flannel fabrics.  They're soft fabrics and when I add the cotton batting in between the flannel the burp cloth is nice and absorbent.

As for the particulars for this burp cloth, the Belle bust applique is another fabulous design from Thanks For the Adventure.  The fabric is a flannel that I found at Joann's.  It's called Beauty & The Beast Friends.

Too Cute To Throw Back

I found this ever so cute Whale & Hook flannel fabric at Joann's the other day and thought it would make a great addition to my burp cloth collection.  I knew I wouldn't have a problem finding a design to put on it since I have several sea life designs.  But Applique Corner released some new premier designs which included this adorable Too Cute to Throw Back applique.

Of all the different sea life designs I have, yes, including my whales and crabs, I thought this one was perfect for this fabric.  Next time I make one I might even be more bold with the fabric choice for the fish applique.  😀

Until then I think this one will be perfect for any cute baby around.  

Mad Hatter Burp Cloth

Well it's another rainy day here in Florida.  Perfect for sitting home, drinking coffee and just playing in the craft room all day.  Sadly, I can't do that and need to go to work instead. 😉

But, before I do that I have a project I would like to share with you today.  It's another burp cloth but have no fear as I will soon be branching out to start on my towels and other items for the Christmas season.

This is another flannel fabric that I found at Joann's.  It's called Blue/Brown Dot.  Pretty original huh?  Hey it works though.  Because this is a basic print many different appliques or sketches would work well.   This time I chose to stitch a sketch of the Mad Hatter.

What I love about this guy is that his sketch includes an autograph.  So it looks like he's signed his own portrait for a fan.  Isn't that a fantastic addition?

Sleepy Bear Burp Cloth

Combining a printed fabric with an applique can sometimes be difficult for me.  Especially when I've purchase a fabric just because I love the print.  I mean I'm at the store and I have nothing specific that I'm looking for I just know that I want new fabric.  

Such was the case during a sale Joann's was running on their flannel fabric.  They run great sales like this often but when I have a little extra cash I'll go to the store and take full advantage.  After all, why buy something for full price if you know you can get it for half or less?

During one of my recent trips I came across this Celestial Sky print and I knew it would be great to use for my burp cloths so I picked up a little to play with.  Well it's been sitting in my fabric cabinet for about a month.....waiting.  And finally, the perfect applique came along.

I found this cute as can be Bear on the Moon applique over at Stinkin Cute Applique.  If you haven't checked out her designs yet you sure should.  Her store has only been open for a couple months so she's still growing but what she has to offer is pretty awesome.

And how about this beauty?  Doesn't that applique go perfectly with this fabric?  It's as if she knew just what I needed.  

Peppa Pig Burp Cloth

While shopping at Joann's the other day I came across this cute flannel fabric featuring Peppa Pig.  Now I'll admit that I'm not a huge Peppa Pig fan, but since I know others who are I thought I'd pick up a yard to play with.

Well of course this fabric called for an applique so I went to Etsy to check out what some of my favorite shops had to offer.  And then I also checked out a couple of shops that are not on Etsy.  After all was said and done my search ended when I found this Peppa Pig over at Appliques with Character.

She stitched out beautifully, and I couldn't be happier with how this burp cloth turned out.

Baby Groot Burp Cloth

Today I have a fun embroidery project to share with you.  It's been a while since I've sewn a burp cloth and since I had a couple of them cut out I just picked one, found a design I liked to compliment the fabric and off I went.

 

As you can see the design I chose for this cloth is Baby Groot.  He's from Thanks for the Adventure.

Isn't he a cutie? 

 

I love how this sketch stitched out on the green plaid flannel, and it looks even better in real life.  The best part is that these sketches are always great when you need a quick, last minute gift for someone. 

 

I don't remember how I came across this company but I'm sure glad I did because she does phenomenal work.  Not only that she's the only one I've found that does sketches like this and I absolutely love them as much as the appliques.