Crayon time...

A couple of people have emailed or commented that they like the "Baltimore Rhapsody" blocks but don't like applique.  I am experimenting with turning a block into a stitchery!

I've watched my friends use this technique with Crabapple Hill stitchery patterns, so I thought I would give it a try.

First, using a light box and a .005 black Pigma pen I traced the design LIGHTLY on my background. The washout blue pen won't work here because the crayon wax will cover the marks and make them impossible to remove.  A pencil would probably work.

I like this skinniest of Pigma pens because I can cover the marks with floss easily, even when working with light and pastel floss.

Next, you have to color the design with a WHITE crayon first (see the first picture).  Make sure there are no touches of other crayon colors on your white crayon, or you will get color where you don't want it!

The Crabapple Hill gals actually sell boxes of just white crayons...you can find them here.

This is the first time I have ever used the white crayon in a box of Crayola's!

Then, color to your heart's desire!  I LOVED coloring as a kid!  My teenage daughter and her friends like to color to escape from the stress of of high school.  She actually asked Santa to bring her coloring books last Christmas and this cool crayon tower (see it here).  It's so cute to see 16-yr-old girls sharing Disney princess coloring books!

I color over the white.  You can blend colors and shade to make things look as realistic as you like.  I just try to stay inside the lines.  I find that my background stretches a little as I color, but that will fix itself later.

I work on my slick, smooth table so that I don't get any weird, unwanted textures.

After I've finished with the crayons, I put paper towels on my pressing surface, place the background CRAYON SIDE DOWN on the paper towels, and press with my iron.  This sets the crayon and removes any excess color onto the paper towels.

Then I put my traced work on a piece of thin, cheap, white flannel and baste them together so they won't shift.

Now I am ready to outline stitch with colorful embroidery floss (2 strands), followed by embellishment with French knots, other stitches, and maybe some tiny seed beads.

I am excited to finish this and see how it works out.  I really like the results so far...and the coloring was just what I needed last night after a stressful day.

In stitches,
Teresa  :o)

Calendar stitcheries and preparations...

I'm here, I'm here, I'm still here!  Where did the last 2 weeks go?!?  PREPARATIONS!  But first, check these out...(in no particular order).

January...

 

February...

April...

 

December...

 

May...

 

June...

 

July...

 August...

September...

 

October...

 

November...

March...

These are beautiful Kathy Schmitz designs that are supposed to be stitched in all black and form one small wallhanging, but I decided to make them into individual very small wall hangings...something to change out every month.  I also decided to add a little bit of color to each one.

I still need to quilt simply and bind each one, then they will be a finished Christmas gift for one of my sisters.

Sorry not to post in so long...thank you to those who have emailed me to see where I've been.  As some of you know, my husband and I started doing some home improvement projects and painting half the inside of the house at the end of the summer.  We had been putting it off for years and finally made a commitment to do it.  Then we were blessed to find that my Dad, Stepmother, and my favorite Aunt wanted to come for Thanksgiving.  We were so excited!  Needless to say, we put it in high gear and will be finished with everything by the time they get here on Tuesday.  Whew!!!

Thank God they are coming...no telling how long we would have dragged all this out without the delightful threat of house guests.  Now it will all be done for the whole holiday season.

I always work better with a deadline in mind...

Have a fantastic Thanksgiving holiday!

In stitches,

Teresa  :o)

Some vintage Teresa - take two...

Still painting the bedroom, so nothing new to share today...more vintage projects, though.  I'm starting my Christmas lists, so it was good for me to re-visit some of these projects.  I did get some more hand quilting done on little Asa's quilt last night, after removing paint from my hands.  I hope to be finished with that soon! 

This wall handing was in a quilt magazine a couple of years ago (I can't find the issue right now...).  I think it was called A Partridge in a Pear Tree and features detachable pear-shaped ornaments that hang from little red buttons on the simple tree.  It was hand appliqued, machine pieced and hand quilted.  Here's a closer look at the ornaments:

This fun little wall hanging was made for a friend...I loved the phrase, then made the tiny rail fence blocks to put around it.  It was hand quilted, in the ditch on the fence blocks and in the background of the stitchery.

This next wall hanging is a birthday keeper from Nancy Halvorsen and Art to Heart.  I made a couple of these, for parents and parent-in-laws, but never made one for me (sad face).  I need one for myself!  I cheated on the applique and just used heavy duty Heat and Bond and just fused.  I knew this would never be washed (and that it might need to be updated and re-done at some point).  I did hand quilt it, though.

I liked these three projects because they made nice gifts and were fairly unique.  Thanks for letting me go down memory lane...this also motivates me toward thinking about THIS YEAR'S Christmas gifts - the clock is ticking!

In stitches,

Teresa  :o)

Love, love, love...

(This is the top half with more detail.)

I LOVE Valentine's day, and I love Valentine/heart quilts and fabrics.  I also love music.  I made the above quilt as a wedding gift for some musician friends of mine.  The pattern is an easy stack and whack.  I made one with bright pinks and black/white fabrics also.

It's fun to get the heart quilts out every February.  Here is one I made for our bed...It has flying geese all around, even on top, but the border has been folded back (it's a super queen).

It was too tall for the show it hung in, and it is hard to get a good picture of it on our bed due to the foot board.  It was in a Nancy Halvorsen book; I think the name of the book was "Best Friends."

My BFF Ola and I teamed up on the next one for a sample for the shop where we work (The Quilting Season, Saline, Michigan).  We personalized one of the nine blocks and gave it to my young daughter.  It was an Australian stitchery BOM pattern called "Love Is" (Rosie Quinlan, I think).

I also love making applique hearts in all colors for small wall hangings and table toppers.

I've been collecting Valentine and heart fabrics for a long time and need to make a big scrappy quilt...maybe for next year!

In stitches,

Teresa  :o)

A Cozy Quilter's Christmas...

This is a stitched and scrapped wall hanging made for a sample at the store last Christmas that I now am able to bring home and hang up.  (We had a few more patterns this fall to sell, so I took the sample back to the store until the patterns sold.)  But now it's hanging on a door and I'm very pleased to have it up!

The pattern is from Crapapple Hill and was originally for a pillow, but I didn't want to do all that hand stitchin' and hand quiltin' and have someone sittin' on it!  LOL  I did it as a wall hanging for a 12-inch hanger.

This was my first time using crayons to color in motifs in a stitchery, but it won't be the last!.  It was very easy to do!  I recommend Crayola Crayons.  After coloring what I wanted, I layered the colored area with 2 paper towels and pressed with a hot iron until no more color came off.  I did this before stitching.  I know some people do it after stitching.  Of course, don't do this if you transfer you embroidery design with the blue water-removerable, disappearing pen (the heat of the iron will make it impossible to remove the disappearing pen completely and ruin your day!).  I like to transfer with a brown Pigma pen, so it worked fine.

The scrappy stars and top border were all red and neutral in the pattern, but I like the sparkle of adding green as well.  Striped binding is my favorite! 

It was my first experience with Weeks embroidery floss (a lovely varigated one for the writing - everything else was DMC), and I nearly died when I was gently spritzing away my blue quilting lines and the words just started to run a bit on my background...YIKES!!  Fast action on my part (and a little bit of white Crayola crayon) "stopped the bleeding" and my blood pressure returned to normal.  I had no idea that the Weeks floss was so prone to running.

For those of you experienced in using Weeks floss, does soaking the skein in vinegar or Retayne help to make it colorfast??  My heart won't take another experience like this one!!

In stitches,

Teresa   :o)