Yummy Felt Craft Project to Make

Anyone for pretty donuts?

This new felt craft project  from May Blossom is sure to put a smile on your face.

Little girls will be delighted to have this scrumptious collection of felt donuts amongst their tea party accessories. And the best part is that there is not mess to clean up after the event.

I have fond memories of having tea parties with my girls and their invited doll and teddy bear guests. Mind you the other guests were not very talkative and I had to make all the conversation myself.

Or arrange these donuts on a special plate in your kitchen so that your friends will think you have been cooking up a storm. Only hope that they don't take a bite!

I recently received a humorous email from an amused sewing friend whose husband couldn't resists the look of one of Simone's cup cake pin cushions.

 

The look on his face would have been priceless.

Click here to find out more information about this delightful new felt craft project

Easy Machine Quilting Tips

Looking for some easy machine quilting tips?

You're excited, you've just finished your very first quilt and you're very pleased with yourself. And rightly so!

But then you're struck with the realization that the quilting process is ahead of you. You start to panic. You have no idea where to start? You couldn't bare the thought of making a mess of things at this stage. Not when you have invested so much of your time and effort into this project, not to mention money.That would never do.

Sure you could take the easy option and get a professional quilter in but really you want to have a go yourself. You want this quilt to be your masterpiece from start to finish. And fair enough too, I totally understand how you feel.
So where do you begin?

Here are my tips for easy machine quilting.

1 Ideally choose a backing fabric that is wide enough for the quilt top, consider the colour and pattern of the fabric. Choose it to match the colour of your quilting thread and if you are new to machine quilting decide on a patterned fabric that will be forgiving.


2 Press your backing fabric and quilt top. If you are using a cotton or wool batting it may need pressing as well to get out any fold lines. Trim any lose threads, these can shadow through if quilting over a lighter fabric. Depending on the size of your quilt, tape the backing fabric to the floor or table right side facing down. Place your batting over the top and then your quilt on top of this. Your backing and batting should be bigger than your quilt top.

3 Take time preparing your quilt, by this I mean that you need to decide whether to baste your quilt, or to pin all the layers together. As a general rule hand quilters baste their quilts in a grid fashion using a needle and thread and machine quilters prefer to pin. Use safety pins and  pin every 10-15cm (4-6"), starting from the middle and working out.(yes you will need a lot of pins for a full size quilt and yes your fingers will probably get sore)

4  In most cases easy machine quilting does not involve marking out a pattern on your quilt top, it can be done in sections using your quilt design as a guide. If you want to quilt a shape, you will need to transfer your pattern onto your quilt before attaching all the layers together. Do this with a water soluble marker or tailors chalk, lead pencil can be difficult to remove.

Most easy machine quilting involves stitching in the ditch (this means following the seam line). Or you can quilt straight or curved lines by sewing your first line of stitching and then follow it with a special bar to space the following lines. (look in your sewing machine accessories compartment and you may discover one of these)

5 Once you have decided on a overall quilting plan, consider your thread choice. Use machine quilting thread which is slightly thicker than ordinary thread and choose a contrasting colour (for the more experienced quilter) or complimentary colour (for the beginner quilter). Use the same colour thread in your top and bottom bobbin.

6 Adjust the stitch length so that it is a little bigger then normal and use a walking foot. This is a special foot attachment that feeds the layers more easily through the machine. This is a must for easy machine quilting.

7 If your quilt is large you will need to roll  up the edges and secure the roll with quilting clips. Quilts can be heavy so another tip is to place a chair, small table or ironing board next to your machine to help give support. Quilt from the centre out, working on a section at a time. Sew in your thread ends.

8 Once you get more experienced you may want to try free hand machine quilting also known as meandering stitch or stippling. This involved lowering the feed dogs on your sewing machine which allows you to move the quilt top around under the needle to stitch in a random design. Ideally lines should not cross over. My advice is to practice this technique before starting on your quilt top.

I hope these easy machine quilting tips have shed some light on the quilting process and that you now feel more confident to give it a go. Happy quilting.
Warmly Lenna
PS For more helpful information visit the resource section of
www.stitchingcow.com

New Felt Decorations to Make this Christmas

Check out these delightful felt decorations from May Blossom

Have you started planning your Christmas sewing yet?

Well don't worry if you haven't. I'm way behind myself (some things never change!)

The good news is that these brand new felt decorations could be exactly what we need to get you inspired.

And because they are worked by hand we can whip them up of an evening in front of the TV.

These little cameo decorations would be perfect hanging from your Christmas tree, or they would add some extra flare used as a tag on a special Christmas gift. Each design features a winning combination of hand applique and simple embroidery.

Simone Gooding of May Blossom uses quality hand dyed wool felt for her designs and is happy to share here supplier with you. That means you could re-create these beautiful colour combinations yourself and take all the hard work out of deciding on colours.

 Check out this cheeky little character.

I think I will have to get busy and make a collection of these. I have a long hall way with bedrooms running off each side. They would be ever so special hanging from each door knob. I wonder if the kids can decide without squabbles which one to have hanging on their handle.

I know my Miss Nine will want this one.

And perhaps my Master 13 could have the mushroom because I'm sure he would have  a mushroom or two growing under his bed amongst the dirty socks!

I think hubby would have to have this little guy above.

Yes I definitely need to make a start otherwise Christmas will be here before I know it.

If you would like to add these cute little felt decorations to your "to do sewing list" just click the link below.

Click here for Christmas felt decorations.

Happy Christmas sewing!

Warmly Lenna
PS And don't forget to enter my free lighting give away, click here for details

Nursery Rhyme Quilt Fabric Kits

 

Fabric starter kits for the new nursery rhyme quilt by Little Green Cottage are available now at Stitching Cow.

Last week I spent days cutting and sorting fabric. Not that I'm complaining. I love nothing more than playing with fabric, even if it involves folding and packaging it for someone else to enjoy. And hubby is very relieved to have a few less bolts lying around the house. 

Here's what my kitchen table looked like:

 

The starter kits contain most of the exact fabrics I used for the applique in my new nursery rhyme quilt, unfortunately I did not have enough of the cream background fabrics or the green border to include although these will be easy to substitute. I have just taken all the hard work out of choosing colours for the block designs. 

 

Thankfully they have been moving quickly because last week my delivery man came to my door with a new range I had ordered for a future project. Hubby shook his head and signed as more bolts entered through the front door.

But more about that later.

If you're looking for a new quilt project head on over to the nursery rhyme quilt information page. There you will find close ups of the blocks and details about how you can join the monthly e-pattern program for only $10.50 per month. It's a fantastic way to tackle a more challenging quilt project. And while you're there grab yourself one of the starter fabric kits, they won't last long. 

Warmly Lenna 

PS If you're an Aussie blogger don't forget to check out my lighting give away

 

New Block of the Month Nursery Rhyme Quilt

Proudly presenting a brand new block of the month Nursery Rhyme quilt pattern by Lenna Green of Little Green Cottage.

Sit back and enjoy this slide show presentation:

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

More information about this unique quilt project can be found by clicking the link below.

Click here to see more of the new block of the month nursery rhyme quilt pattern

Free Give Away for Craft Bloggers

I want to share a little secret which will help you to achieve expert results with your sewing projects.

As a teacher of patchwork, quilting and hand embroidery I picked up this secret long ago. It's not a secret that is heavily guarded, nor difficult to learn yet I am amazed at how many sewers are yet to discover its importance.

I won't keep you in suspense any longer, my secret is all about adequate lighting.

Now stay with me here. Let me ask you a question.
Do you have the correct lighting for your sewing needs.
And I don't mean an over head light hanging from your ceiling.
I mean a strong light that can be directed over your sewing so you can clearly see what you are doing.

Years ago  I came to realize the importance of lighting and ventured to my local lighting shop. After explaining my plight to the helpful sales assistant I was advised to purchase a floor lamp that had a pivoting action. This elbow effect meant that I was able to position the light over the top of my work without annoying the TV watchers in the room, and it also meant that I could sew during hot summer evenings without
perspiration dripping from me.

What a relief.

That fabulous light, bought almost 15 years ago, is still the same light I use today.
It has become a dear friend to me and has seen me through many a sewing project.

Getting adequate lighting is a must if you are serious about your sewing, and your eyes will thank you as well.

So let me ask you again what is the lighting situation in your craft area?
If it's not that great then I have some exciting news for you.

 My friends at  Buysterlighting  have generously decided to join forces with Stitching Cow for an incredible give away.

We want to give one lucky sewer a free floor lamp, valued at over $100.00

It has a stylish black finish and one of those fabulous adjustable arms so that you can position the light over the top of your work area. Perfect for hand and machine sewers.

 Click here for more information about this lamp.

Entering this generous give away is very simple, although you do need to be a blogger and living in Australian.(Sorry international bloggers this one is not for you)

All you have to do is:
* link Stitching Cow in your list of favourite blogs
OR
* include the banner below on your blog linking back to Stitching Cow

 Just right click and save the image to your computer. Next add the graphic to your blog embedding the link http://www.stitchingcow.com

Then leave your comment here together with a link back to your blog for verification, it's that easy. Also let me know what you would like to see more of on the Stitching Cow blog.

Oh and please check that you do not have the "no reply" installed because I will need to be able to contact you if you win.

Just imagine you could be the winner and enjoying this quality lamp in your home, you'll wonder how you ever did without it.
Good luck!

The winner will be announced December 1st 2010

Warmly Lenna
www.stitchingcow.com

PS And don't forget to let your other sewing friends know about this amazing give away, they will thank you for the tip.

Pin Cushion Fun

I've just been doing some research on pin cushion designs. They are so much fun to make and it's impossible to stop at making just one. I totally understand why people collect them.

Look at these wonderful creations I found on Flickr.









I feel very inspired!
Happy pin cushion making!
Warmly Lenna

PS Which on is your favourite?