adding a needle as a design element

I have done a few designs where I used a real needle in the piece rather than a stitched needle… I think it looks neat. When I was finishing up this model I took pics so I could share how to do it:

You’ll need to leaving a blank space in your stitching where the display needle will go. Make sure you stop with the thread on top, and remove your stitching needle.

Run thread through the eye of the display needle and stick it in the fabric wherever it needs to go, then re-thread your stitching needle.

Complete the stitch to hold the display needle in place, and finish the backstitching like normal.

There you go ;) And if we zoom out:

Have a marvelous Monday!

 

make a little box

**repost from 2005… I don’t think anyone read my blog back then ;)

OK first things first, gather up all of your materials: tacky glue, super sticky tape, a square of batting, beaded trim, scissors, a little paper mache box, and your stitching! A snack of some kind isn’t a bad idea to have on hand, either…there are a few of those waiting-for-the-glue-to-dry moments involved in this project.

Smear a bit of tacky glue on the box top and attach the batting first, then run a double line of the super sticky tape all around the edge. (If you have wider tape, probably a single line will do, but all I had on hand was the 1/8″ stuff.)

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Next, with the batting side up, lay the stitching over the box top (making sure it’s centered) and press the edges onto the tape. Flip it over and trim away the excess fabric, leaving about a half inch or so depending on the depth of your box lid.

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At this point, you need to finger press the fabric into neat corner points and fold over the edges, just like the doing the corners when wrapping a present. You’ll need the tacky glue to hold the points down; use cute clips to hold the fabric until the glue dries. Actually, I’m sure that not-so-cute clips would work fine too… I just happen to be addicted to fun office supplies.

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After the corner folds are dry, run a line of the super sticky tape all around the inside of the box lid edge. Cut notches at each corner–doesn’t have to be precise, just enough to get the extra fabric out of the way so it will fold in nicely! Fold each of the 4 edges in, straight down, and press onto the tape.

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Time for more tape! Run a double line all around the outside edge of the box lid. The box will need to be raised to work with the dangling beads, so use the box bottom turned sideways as a handy working base.

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Press the beaded trim onto the tape, starting at the back. The bottom of the ribbon/trim should be just barely hanging over the bottom edge of the box lid. When you get around to where you started, cut the trim leaving just a smidge for overlapping. Glue that tiny tail down (time for the cute clips again) and let dry.

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Aha! There it is all done… a neat little box for your desk! BTW, the trim used in this example was purchased at WalMart (as was the little box, actually) and the design used is from My Mark, “life’s mottos”.

 

tutorial time: ornament with wire hanger

** this is a repost from last year, in case you missed it then :)

Gather up: stitching, a matboard square cut to size, coordinating wool felt, wire, and a bead.

Lace the stitched piece onto the matboard square…

then glue the laced board onto a piece of felt. (I used Tacky Glue)

Loosely fold the wire length in half and string bead up from bottom; bend out wire legs.

Run the ends of the wire under a few fabric threads near the top edge of the ornament. Pull through until center hanging loop is desired length and cut wire about an inch from edge. Curl wire in and viola!:

BTW, this is the same finishing method I used on my ornament in the 2008 JCS issue.
Happy ornamenting!

 

art / picture quilt tutorial (part 1)

With all this gloomy weather, I was feeling the need to work on something cheery. I also wanted to play with fabric, so I started a bubble-blowing quilt. I thought I’d share my process here, hoping you’d find it more interesting than yet another round of travel photos.

I first created a simple line drawing on regular printer paper, then put fusible web (sticky side down) over the top and traced the outlines with a pencil. I cut around the outline to get this:

I drew dividing lines randomly on my cutout (they’re random but I always try to stay with the general shape of each element) and used an x-acto knife to cut those pieces apart to get these:

Next I rummaged through my fabric scraps to find the colors I wanted to use. BTW, one of my personal rules for making these little art quilts is that I have to use whatever I have in the scrap tub… it adds an extra challenge and helps to reduce the pile!

After I had my fabrics figured out, I ironed the fusible web bits onto the scraps and cut them out… then remembered that I had forgotten to grab a background fabric!

I wanted this girl to be blowing bubbles in the house so this wallper-ish design was perfect for the background. I peeled the paper backings off all of the fusible bits and laid them on top of the green fabric. It’s like working a puzzle and it usually takes me a few tries before I get the pieces exactly where I want them.

Oh- did you notice that she’s facing opposite of how I drew her? I found out the hard way that lettering (or anything that matters directionally) needs to be reversed before tracing. Anyway, after everything was in place, I ironed the whole shebang. Hmm… I don’t seem to have a picture of that… you’ll have to look at the last pic to see how it all ironed down.

My girl was blowing hot air– she needed some bubbles, asap! Since bubbles are simple round pieces, I used a different approach for making them. I ironed squares of fusible web onto the back of several blue fabric squares and traced around a few round things I had in the kitchen. There’s no need for pre-drawing with easy shapes.

So far so good, but this girl didn’t have any hair! I didn’t want the title of the quilt to be “The Baldheaded Bubble Blower”, so I found some brown fabric and made hair for her:

And then I put the quilt away. The next step will be sewing around the individual pieces and then I’ll start adding embellishments, then…? I never know when these are done until they’re done, if that makes any sense. Very little planning goes into the art quilts I make because an idea can evolve so much during execution. More pics of the next steps when I get around to it :)