Wall Art

I started working on these back in the fall, and pulled them out when I was reorganizing some of the things in my craft closet last week. I used a light table to make my own embroidery patterns, traced them onto some bright scraps of fabric from random fat quarters I had, and used 5 bright colors of embroidery floss to stitch them out. That's the state in which I picked them back up. I found that I had 3 small sized canvas frames and centered and stapled them. I liked the way they looked, but thought they could still use a little more flair. I remembered seeing a pattern in a local quilt store for a flower by Heather Bailey. I'm not sure if it's the same one, but I found some rough instructions on her blog for some cute pop-up flowers. In the sticky, 80+ degree heat we've had the past week, I made 2 flowers and a little bird while watch streaming Netflix directly in front of our fan. I made rough flower and bird sketches and cut them out to use as patterns. To finish the wall hangings off, I pinned the flowers and birds through the canvas, enabling me to rearrange them if I want in the future.

Flower Assembly:

1. Cut 2 flowers from different colors of wool (felt would also work).
2. Bottom layer - Stitch around the edges of one flower with embroidery floss.
3. Top layer - Stitch around the edges, but pull a little tighter so the flower petals stand up and out.
4. Make a small sized yo-yo to layer on the top.
5. Cut various sizes and thicknesses of yarn to create loops or sprigs to layer between the top flower layer and yo-yo.
6. Stitch through all the layers to connect them. You can add buttons, beads, brads, or leave them with just the yo-yo on the top.

Laundry Bag

Last week Rebecca and I got together to work on cutting our fabric. I got most of the monkey fabric cut out for a crib set, but had to take a brain break and finish later because I forgot to make sure the pattern on the fabric was running the correct direction. I caught myself in time to recover, and ended up refreshing my math skills in the process. I'm using patterns for a crib skirt, fitted sheet, crib bumper, and laundry bag from the book Amy Butler's Little Stitches for Little Ones.

I completed the Cheeky Monkey Laundry Bag the other night. I just love all this sock monkey fabric! It was pretty basic and quick to make. It just took a while to iron on all the fusible interfacing, but that's what a television in front of the ironing board streaming BBC productions of Agatha Christie is for, right?! The monkey's head is designed to stick with Velcro to make it easier to wash without reshaping his cute face.

2009 Quilt Shop Hop

The Western Washington Quilt Shop Hop was once again last Wednesday through Sunday. My mom and I visited 13 shops on Wednesday, and another 7 on Thursday. We visited shops in Lynden, Bellingham, Anacortes, Everett, Bellevue, Renton, Des Moines, and some in between.

The shop hop included about 60 stores in the state that created 8.5" blocks from a collection of fabric designed just for this event. Each shop uses 3

pieces of fabric, one of them a coordinate of their choosing that is not part of the collection. We both liked this year's fabric, but weren't crazy about the main flower and butterfly print. One of the first shops we visited (Fourth Corner Quilts in Bellingham) had used the collection and added several bright prints of their choosing, which we loved! We bought a few half yards there to split and make our quilt with.

My favorite shops were:

• Forth Corner Quilts, Bellingham
• The Quilting Loft, Ballard
• Quiltworks Northwest, Bellevue
• Keepsake Cottage Fabrics, Bothell

One of my goals on the shop hop was to find enough sock monkey fabric to make a crib set with. I knew this would be difficult because that line of fabrics came out about 4-5 years ago. I ended up finding enough, picking up different pieces at about 6 different shops. Some of them were even on sale!

I also found the following exciting fabrics!

Paddington Bear & Eric Carle's Brown Bear - The Paddington fabric was half off and perfect for some other Paddington fabrics I've been accumulating slowly for a kids quilt. The Brown Bear fabric will work well for a baby quilt gift.

Anna Maria Horner Flowers - I've had my eye out for this fabric for a while as well. It's from an older line of Anna Maria's fabric, but it will be perfect for the couch throw pillows I'm planning to make!

And lastly, I found some cute patterns!

(Can you believe this is my 50th post?!)

Birthday Birdie Sling

I was given a super cute Amy Butler purse pattern and a gift certificate for fabric for my birthday that I finally had the time to make! It turned out to be pretty easy. I pulled it out on a Sunday afternoon and finished it up the following morning. As always, the cutting (my least favorite part) took the longest.

I made a couple changes to the directions. I used a third fabric for the straps, rather than using the same color as the band around the top of the purse. Also, I added a magnetic snap to the band as a way of closing the top of the bag.

So far this purse has been the best I've made yet. It's deep and has large pockets. My favorite part is that it has one wide strap, rather than 2 narrow ones, which usually make my shoulder and neck hurt. The side is great because there's enough room to toss in a sweater and my knitting.

New Bling

I've had this piece for a necklace for a while, but kept waiting to use it because I was afraid I'd mess up the length of the necklace or something silly like that. My cousin's wedding was this last Saturday, and I knew it would match my dress well, so I ended up stringing it and making earrings to match!

The Icarus Scarf

I've finally finished this crocheted scarf! It turned out to be an easy project that I could carry with me to work on whenever I had a minute or just wanted to enjoy the sun.

The Icarus Scarf pattern came from The Purl Bee. I didn't use the silk yarn she did, but I managed to find some decent (and 75% less expensive) yarn at Hilltop Yarns in Bellevue. I used a size G, 4.00mm hook and it came out great!

Of course my kitties had to involve themselves somehow, so they managed to keep the yarn on the swift for me as I converted it into balls. However, the fast spinning motion made them all squinty.

First Yarn Shop Hop Project

I just finished my first project purchased on the yarn shop hop last week! This was a fairly simple knitting project. It was supposed to be a stockinette knit stitch worked flat and sewn up at the end, but I really don't like purl stitches if I can help it! I used the pattern, but just did it in the round with 4 needles all in a basic knit stitch, and it worked! 

Yarn Shop Hop

Today I visited 9 Seattle area yarn shops as part of the 2009 Local Yarn Shop Hop! I started out close to home in Lake Forest Park, wandered through Seattle, and then back to the Eastside for Bellevue and Issaquah. In the process I explored Phinney Ridge, Wallingford Center, and the Madison Park area; all places I'd never been! It was a challenge to read directions and try to drive at the same time, but it ended well. 

At each participating shop (there are 23!) I received a free crochet and/or knitting pattern for a one skein project. The shops had the yarn they used for their projects on sale, along with daily drawings in each shop. It was fun to see the variety of projects and familiarize myself with some new favorite stores! The free patterns I brought home include, a felted tea cozy (I always thought they were cheesy until I saw this one), several scarves, fingerless mittens, a stuffed octopus, a child's side button sweater, a market bag, and a beret. I think I'm going back to get the yarn for the tea pot cozy tomorrow, and I bought the yarn for the fingerless mittens. 

These bright yarns are for this scarf pattern. 

This is the yarn and tiny #2 sized needles for the fingerless mittens (pattern from Cultured Purls in Issaquah).

I got this yarn to make a baby hat with for an upcoming baby shower.

Here are the shops I visited and my thoughts on them:

1. Village Tea & Yarn, Shoreline - I loved this shop! It was elegant and cheery, plus they serve tea!
2. The Fiber Gallery, Phinney Ridge - This store didn't float my boat. It was a little to homespun and cold for me. 
3. Full Circle Yarn, Ballard - Probably the bottom on my list. Cluttery and old patterns. 
4. Bad Woman Yarn, Wallingford - Loved this one! It was packed full of great yarns and patterns, and the folks running the shop were very helpful and cheery. Lots of crochet patterns.
5. The Weaving Works, U District - Didn't love it or hate it. A large portion of their shop is dedicated to weaving, spinning, and dyeing. 
6. Acorn Street Shop, Ravenna - Didn't love or hate this one either. They have a lot of yarn, and quite a few patterns, but not much for crocheters. 
7. Tricoter Knitting Specialists, Madison Park - This was a nice shop, but very pricey. Most of their yarns were in the $15 - $60 range! Again, not much for someone who crochets.
8. Hilltop Yarn East, Bellevue - I still love this shop! They have a good price range in yarns, and their market bag pattern looks amazing!
9. Cultured Purls, Issaquah - This was also a nice shop, however not many crochet patterns. 

Mother's Day Gift #2

I made this little wooden scrapbook for my mom a few weeks ago, and have been wanting to put up the pictures, but knew if I did that it wouldn't be a surprise for her anymore! I took pictures from over the past 4 years of Tom and I and made them into this little books with lots of cute papers I've collected. 

And the Winner Is...

Cindi! The winner was chosen here. Thanks to everyone for entering the earring give-away! I've sent you an email, and will look for your reply within 24 hours. I'll do another give-away of something I've made soon!