ATV Sweatshirts

These were an order for a customer who wanted  matching sweatshirts for a couple who enjoy riding ATVs. I digitized the outline of an ATV and added the text.

Hers is pink:

His is neon yellow:

The recipients loved them!

Angelic Trio

I found this trio of Angels/Cherubs at a thrift shop last week. I  am not sure what they are made  of? Is this chalkware? Plaster? This is out of my realm of vintage sewing expertise, so if you know what they are I'd love to know. I'm pretty sure they are old- maybe the 1950s or 60s?
Here are pictures of each one- the middle one is supposed to sit on the edge of a shelf.

These will  become a new tradition to decorate for Christmas. Though I suppose they could stay out all year. If you know what these are, please post a comment. Tell me if they were a good deal for $2??

It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas...

I did not skip Halloween and I am very excited about Thanksgiving! But have you noticed that the stores are already full-bore on to Christmas? I will admit I have watched a few Hallmark Christmas movies already and I may have played a few songs here and there. It is my way of getting things done early while it's still fun!
So, last year I planned to stitch this gorgeous Christmas Kitchen cross-stitch sampler, but I ran out of time. Yesterday I had some free time, so I tackled this 60,000 stitch project. It took about 2 hours.

This design has 10 different creams/tans/browns, which I didn't have, but I made do and I think it looks great! This stiched in my  6x10 hoop on white Aida cloth. I used both Robison-Anton rayon and polyester threads. That was the only way to have enough colors! I think I will frame this,  but I could also turn it into a quilted wall-hanging or pillow. I'm  not sure yet! What would you do to display it?

Smocked Newborn Floral Bubble

This was a fun project! I wanted to make a truly newborn-sized smocked bubble. So many "newborn" patterns don't fit until the baby is 12-15lbs. Even a 9lb newborn is TINY. So, I calculated and reduced my Chery Williams' Bishop Bubble pattern to 93%. I then smocked and constructed as usual and it's a perfect fit on my newborn-sized reborn "Elisabeth".

Here it is modeled. She also has on a smocked bonnet I made. I will share more photos of that later.

It is a perfect fit.

Here is a closeup of the smocking. I did a 1/2 space wave at the top and wove 1/8" ribbon through. 

The rest is just a wave pattern with pink flowerettes.

The sleeves are also smocked with ribbon run through and tied.

The fabric is a luscious floral lawn that is very soft and has a bit of  sheen. Really pretty!

Hand Knit Bonnets

I have been on a knitting kick this spring. I started with 30+ dishcloths and when I got sick of those, I moved on to some other items. Here is a bonnet that could be called "Knit in a Day" bonnet. It is a very soft worsted yarn called "Feels Like Butta" no, that's not my New England accent- it's really called that.
I love the pretty lilac color. This is a newborn size, modeled by Elisabeth, a doll my daughter made me! The pattern is Crooked Little Baby Bonnet.

Here;s another quickie knit. This one is the beautiful fan and feather pattern that I have fallen in love with. It's deceptively easy to knit but looks fancy.
Also in worsted weight yarn, this one is FREE on Ravelry HERE.
They both still need their ribbons attached.
I have several other knits to share and also some quilting! Lots of handwork lately.

Ducks Love Rain!

My quilt guild had a challenge to make a quilted wallhanging with the theme "LOVE."

The max size is 20"x20"- otherwise you could do anything you like. I decided to enlarge my vintage ducky with umbrella embroidery design to fit my large hoop. I pieced and quilted the front BEFORE I did the embroidery, so that the embroidery stitches wouldn't be covered by the quilting stitches.

My 2 pet ducks LOVE rain, water, puddles,  etc. so that's how this fits the theme! I named this quilt "Puddle Ducky".

Buy the Duck with Umbrella Embroidery Design HERE.

I had a fun time making this from 30's prints and a yellow background. 

The quilts our guild members made will be raffled off to make money for our guild.

I only have a little picture of the others, but we got a nice variety of colors and patterns!!

I love challenges- they are a fun way to get a project done!!

Mother's Day Kitchen Sets

My parents have lived in the same house since before I was born. I lived there till I got married and it wasn't until this Easter  that I realized my Mom didn't have any real oven mitts!! We were shuffling things in the oven with dinky potholders and the knit dishcloths I had made her. That gave me my inspiration for her Mother's Day gift.

This first set has purchased mitts (I got them on Amazon) and I think they're really pretty! I added a pretty yellow Williams-Sonoma kitchen towel embroidered with a colander filled with pansies. I have always wanted to stitch this design and it turned out as pretty as I hoped!
The dishcloth is one of many I knitted this winter. It's a self-striping cotton yarn. These are great as dishcloths, pot holders, trivets, mug rugs, etc.  and they are super easy to knit!!

The second set is for their house near the beach. The mitts are short ones that just cover your hand. I thought I'd see which style she likes better. My Mom seems to have heat-proof hands just like my Grandmother did, so perhaps these will be plenty.

Thisset has shells on the mitts and I embroidered a jar of fireflies on the blue W-S kitchen towel. I used my new glow-in-the-dark thread for the fireflies' aura, but then the fireflies (gray) didn't show up much. This design would have been better on a light background.
The knit dishcloth here is a blue/turquoise variegated cotton.

Here's a closer view of the embroidery. The gray looked good for the jar, but I should have separated the fireflies and stitched them in black. I'm eager to see how they glow in the kitchen after dark.

My Mom is awesome and always helps me out. I hope she enjoys these kitchen sets!

Finally, here's the delicious cake my  kids got me for Mother's Day!!

Volleyball Bear

I had a custom order t-shirt for a bear recently. They wanted a team logo. I quickly digitized and stitched  this on a baby t-shirt from  Walmart.

Ignore the WSS on it!

The player's Grandma made the bear- I think the whole  thing turned out very cute!!

Valentine Kitchen Combo: Hearts & Chocolate

I absolutely love cross-stitch  by machine! It is so easy and you really can't tell it wasn't done by hand.  This pretty heart was stitched on a white kitchen towel with a red striped border.

I combined it with a chocolate brown cotton knitted dishcloth that I made. I have made several of these and I thought this set made a nice gift for a friend.

Do you like them??

Happy Valentine's Pencils

It was a long January, but hopefully spring is coing and more sewing and fun things are ahead! These emoji pencil toppers were for Andy to give with his Valentine cards.

I got this design  for $1 at Ronel's. It has 8 different faces, but we chose 4 and I combined them to stitch 12 at  once in my 200x300 hoop. What a joy to have the large hoops!! In just 2 rounds I had 24 toppers done. I trimmed and glued  them to some fun pencils. I think they look great! Best of all, Andy liked them and so did his classmates!