Scrap Stockings!

I decided to try something I had been thinking about, punch needle stockings, using scraps from my leftover box. I started late yesterday and finished them this afternoon, so they do work up quickly. I plan on making more and hanging them from a jute line, with mini clothes pins and using it as a garland.

This is a fun project to do if you have a lot of leftover floss pieces and a great way to use them up. I drew the stockings onto the backing, in reverse of the direction I want them to hang. It doesn't matter what size they are, I made mine long and skinny so I could fit two on the backing that I use on a mini rug frame. These I did with a crazy quilt pattern, using black for dividing lines. The next ones will be strips of colors. I will be antiquing them, so it doesn't matter if the colors are a bit bright.

Here is what I did so far. I will make the rest and hopefully by friday I will have a finished garland to show you. You are welcome to use the idea for yourself, use a hit and miss scrap look or add designs or letters to spell out words, have fun.

Today we had two hawks sitting in the nearby trees. We threw some pumpkins out in the back garden and I think they were waiting for some mice to come by for the pumpkins and a treat for the hawks;) I wish I could get a good shot, but when I get too close they fly away and it is hard to keep a zoom steady, when you are moving in the yard.

Flower Garden Crazy Mat Progress!

This week I have been working on my wool crazy mat and the bird stitchery. I want to use the mat before summer is over and finally getting to the end. Once I finish the last wool appliques, I can add the stems and extra stitching. On the original they added a border, but I am just going to add a backing and do a blanket stitch around it.

I am trying to stay close to the colors they used and using what I have but hard to see the true colors and shades in the photo. The flash makes the colors come out too brassy and the blacks too light. I also find that they way I pieced the blocks made them smaller so I have to reduce some of the flowers to fit.

The pattern is by Primitive Gatherings and I think it will be a nice pattern to keep for the flowers and make smaller pieces with them.

The original also has a spider web, where the white daisy is. I turned it around and left it plain. I tried some pearl cotton on a couple of the flowers on the right, I like the thicker thread for the stems, what do you think? I found it at a yard sale and over dyed it so it is dark and light green shades.

More Eggs!

I am on an egg craze, lol.
It is fun experimenting and trying different types and inspiration for all of you, to try your own.

I went fabric shopping and found some cheater fabric, so of course I had to get some, to try some quilted eggs.
I cut out the egg shapes and using a piece of batting behind them, quilted them with black pearl cotton.
Then I sewed them together and stained them. Great way to make quick eggs to fill a basket.

I need to watch how I sew my tops to keep them more rounded and next time I will try two pieces of batting to get it to look more quilted.



And this egg took me a while. I used fabric and artist markers to color in the design first. Then I outlined it with black and did a little fun stitching. I can get a little shading and blending with the markers, but I might try painting the next ones with acrylic. If you would like to make your own egg, you can find the design at Mary Corbet's.

I did not use anything to trace the design on this one. I taped the design on my light box, then I taped the fabric over that. Then I colored in the design, so I could just outline it with the black, afterwards. I did antique it with walnut ink, but the flash washes away the antique look.



And last but not least, I made a couple more scrappy eggs to add to my other basket. I asked Moki to hold them for me, so I could get a picture, that was a mistake;)

Primitive Easter Eggs!

I decided to finally take the rest of my Christmas items down and redecorate.
It has been a rough winter and still sore, but tired of my house, so cleaning a bit at a time and one way to make it fun, is to make new things to decorate with and as you can see, I am ready for spring and the first thing is Eggs to fill my baskets with.

I got an idea and it is something anyone can do, quick and easy and a great way to use up scraps.
I started by using card stock and drawing some egg shapes onto it. If you can't draw one, you can find them on the internet.

I used weavers cloth, I have a ton of primitive white that is no good for punching, but perfect for this.
Double your cloth and lay the egg shape on top. I used an art pen to trace around the egg, you can use anything, it won't show.
Then I marked the front and back, so that I used the right side which is important when you sew them together. My eggs are asymmetrical so I need to make sure that they fit when I sew the edges.

Next is the fun part. Get out your scraps and cut them into any shape you like and lay them over the fabric egg. Pin the pieces down and turn it over. Cut off the excess fabric around the egg, that helps when sewing. Now you can sew down your pieces. You can do a blanket stitch, whipstitch or make it fancy like a crazy quilt. You can tuck the edges of your fabric or sew over the raw edges. Once you have your pieces sewn, you can trim your eggs by following the white fabric.

Then you sew them, front sides together on your sewing machine, leaving an opening on the bottom. Stuff them and sew up the bottom and you have primitive eggs of your own. Another method I use is to sew scraps together until I have a size, large enough for the egg. Then I use a piece of batting and using black floss, stitch around the edges to give it a quilted look. Then sew them together. You can also use tea stained fabric or ticking and do a prim stitchery to make eggs. There are endless possibilities. I really think if you are adept with crazy quilting, this would be beautiful done with embellishments, as well. My method is the lazy way to do crazy quilting;)

I decided not to stain these eggs, they are darker in real life, but lighter in the picture. This is a dark area, so I like a little pop of color. The bunnies are ones I made last year, but I think some prim bunnies would look nice on the bench too. I am also adding a few more eggs to the pile.

Scrappy Kitty

I recently saw a photo, that had a box filled with kitties and I love it.
So, I thought I would make one of my own. I have a box and nothing in it, so perfect to fill with kitties.
First I drew out a kitty shape. Then I took scraps out of my basket and sewed them together to make two pieces a bit larger than the cat pattern. I did make sure that the face area would have a neutral shade, so the features would show up.
I used freezer paper and traced the cat design and cut it out, then placed that right sides in with the other piece. I sewed it by machine and cut off the excess, making a snip at the curves for turning.

I used regular stuffing and sewed him at the bottom. I went without a tail, since these will be box sitters. He is 10" tall.



This is the box he will go in. I love how it came out and will make a skinny and fat one, to have a variety of kitty characters.

Pattern Sale!

While I am working on finishing up new projects, I thought I would offer a sale this week.
From now until Sunday, buy one pattern and get one free of equal or less value.
So, if you buy one, you add in the comments, what other one you would like and you will get that one for free.
You can find my patterns at the woolensails link, at the left.

I am working on a new cross stitch pattern, from an older pattern, so look for that with my 300th Post!
And we all know what that means;) Can you guess which pattern I am redoing?

Crazy quilt block

I finally finished my crazy block. I had no pattern, I just stuck some wool together and put things on it.
I do have a crazy quilt book that I use for stitches, but I cannot figure most of them out, so I make them up.
I cannot get a nice photo with flash, so it looks way off. I adjusted the contrast to tone it down, but I will have to take a better shot in outdoor light. It does look much more prim in person.

Testing and Experimenting

I belong to a wonderful quilt group and they have decided to do a signature block swap. Well, I decided not to join. Why? Because I cannot write, lol. I have the worst handwriting, my brain does not connect to my hand during writing, so I scribble. The girls were unrelenting and talked me into doing it with them, so I guess I am going to have to practice my penmanship skills, what little I have, that is. Today I decided to try out some pens and markers, I have, to see how they would wash up.

I should have taken a picture before hand, but I did write the names of the pens, so you can see what ones show up, after a wash.
Some washed right out, as you can see from the blank spaces and ones like the rub a dub and the Zig writer, bled out a bit in the wash. It was a fun test though and I still think my faber castell artist's pen, writes the best and holds it's ink. I also did this on a piece of fabric with no backing, so it was harder to write. Someone mentioned using freezer paper to support it, while I write, so I will try that on a small block to get the hang of writing on fabric.



Another project I am working on is, a crazy block. Every one is talking about making the new wool crazy blocks and I have always wanted to make one, so I made one up to practice on. Some stitches I can figure out, some make no sense. I added a few appliques and will do stitchery and maybe some words in the rest of the blocks. I might just bind it and use it as a hanging, way too much work to make a whole quilt like this;) Taking a picture with flash is tough with so many colors, came out way too bright.

Crazy Hearts

Today I was doing a lot of cleaning and lugging boxes of junk to the cellar and wore myself out.
I couldn't get motivated to finish any of my projects and I don't want to start new ones until I do finish them, so I made up some hearts. I used a white cotton and laid pieces of scrap fabrics I keep in a basket. Then I sewed stitches on with floss. I have no idea what I was doing, just keeping my hands busy. Some of the fabrics lifted off the stitch area, but I left them like that and then sewed a wool backing and stuffed them. I wanted them to look old anyways, so with the stain and rips, I got the right effect;)

I might try it again by sewing pieces in a block, then cutting out the heart shape. That way the edges will stay put and I can do crazy quilting over the seams. Or I might try it on my machine or both. I like to experiment with simple things to get practice on my stitching and machine skills, so this is a good project for that.